Taken

Zoey (Chapter 37)

"We just need to run like hell," he said looking at the door. He looked at me, and I could tell he was debating whether he wanted to say something or not. "Zoey, lead the way. You've been out there, and you have the guns; you're our best option."

No pressure there, again.

"Okay, but what about John? We need to get him first."

"I know, I-"

He was cut off by the sound of voices in the distance. "We need to move now." He continued sternly. I didn't argue.

I went out the door first and cleared the hallway; no one was there and no one was coming. I motioned for the others to follow.

We moved as fast as we could, but I didn't feel like it was fast enough since two of us were injured. I began to panic; what if we were all caught? There would most likely be no escaping if that happened. I shuddered to think about being tortured. I knew for a fact I couldn't handle it. Just being stabbed once was horrible enough.

As we turned the corner, I heard voices yelling. We were now in the room where I had killed the first guy, and we hid behind the crates that the men had brought in off the plane.

"Jim's dead!" one man shouted.

Oh, yeah, that would be me; sorry...

Carson looked at me, a questioning look in his eyes. I nodded with my eyes cast off to the side. I certainly wasn't proud of killing the man, so I found it hard to look someone in the eye and say that I had. I felt Carson grab my hand and squeeze it before letting go. I smiled inwardly, knowing he was trying to comfort me; something a real father would do.

"Alright," Carson whispered after the men left the room in hunt of me. "It won't be too long before they realize we got out. I'll head back in and look for John. You guys look for an escape route..."

"Wait," I cut him off. "You can't seriously go in there alone."

Even Daniel looked uneasy. "Dad, that wouldn't be the best solution..."

Carson shook his head. "Daniel, you need to stay with them and get them out and..."

"Great," I said. "So I stay."

"No," they said in unison.

"I'm sorry, who got this far without help? Not you guys. I can handle myself. Daniel, take Michael and Chris out."

"How..."Carson started, but he was interrupted again.

"I'm okay now guys," Chris said. "I can help Daniel with Dad, and we can find the way out. Just go get John."

Carson hesitated, and so did I. I couldn't tell if Chris was "okay" enough to help, and I wondered if Carson could tell. Chris would only hold them back if he wasn't well enough to assist. I was really worried he was going to make me stay, especially when he asked for my gun. "Leave one with them," he instructed me. That meant he was taking me! I handed Daniel the other gun I had taken from the first guard. "We should have taken the other guard's guns," I heard Carson mutter under his breath; too late now.

"You three find a way out of here," Carson said mainly to Daniel and Chris, though he included Michael. "If you find one and we take more than 15 minutes from there, just leave. Got it?" Daniel nodded.

Carson looked at me. "Do everything I say." I nodded as well.

Before we parted ways, we all shared "be careful-s" and "we will-s" Carson and I went back down the hall, this time with him leading the way. Instead of going all the way down this time, we turned the first corner we came up to. Every noise I heard made me jump, which made me happy I wasn't happy the one with the gun; I probably would have fired a few accidental shots.