Septiplier One-Shots

Choices PT II

And here's yet another fantastic chapter, written by the amazing author144 :D

Jack’s POV
I moved in towards the warehouse under the dark of night on light feet, keeping my ears open and my eyes wide for any signs of movement around me. The sound of the van’s engine soon faded from my ears, and I focused on the old building’s flickering lights ahead of me. The sound of gravel crunched underfoot as I walked with haste, and as I neared the entrance I noticed that there was no one else around. I figured that there would be people standing guard, but instead I found myself staring into the empty corridor that led off into the main, open room of the warehouse.
The warehouse was old, dilapidating, and the walls were yellowing with age and residue over time. The smell was awful, and almost resembling as if a group of people had been here for some time, and I had to wonder if the group inside here had been here for some time, waiting. I didn’t know why, but I had the sudden urge to find information while I was here. I wasn’t given a true objective, I realized now, West had just sent me in here. I supposed that I could learn what I could and then return.
I crouched behind the wall, listening to the conversations echoing off the walls as the people spoke on the inside. I risked looking around the corner, throwing my hood over my head so that my lime hair wouldn’t attract any attention. I peeked around the concrete walls, finding tables and chairs set up where a large number of men gathered around playing cards, smoking cigars, conversing. Some were hitting punching bags not too far off, and on the wall to the far right was a man tied to a chair, head hung limp, but it wasn’t hard to see who it was considering his bright blue hair.
Mark.
I instantly swung myself back around to the other side of the wall, my heart beginning to race. Mark was here, and I was pretty sure that he was alive. They wouldn’t strap him to a chair and tie him there if he was dead, would they? A part of me dared to take another look, and a second part of me willed against it. I knew that risking poking my neck in places it didn’t belong was already dangerous, and I didn’t need to look again to know that it was Mark who was sitting in that chair.
The windows beside me began to light up, and I realized that dawn must be on its way. My head snapped back as I heard all the men quiet down in the other room. For a moment, I could only fear that they had found me hiding here. Instead, there were sounds of people scrambling to get together, and then a loud pair of footsteps stormed in from the area where Mark was sitting. A man clapped his hands and then cleared his throat to gain the room’s attention despite its silence. I leaned in, listening.
“We’ve got our instructions. He’s helping keep them out there in that van, and our plan in return to distract them is this. We’ll need to tie one of you up and slip a bag over your head. You and a group of people will rush, blindly in sight, into another vehicle and drive off. The rest of us will fall back to the camp that we have about a half mile into the woods back here. We’re right beside a ravine, and there’s a trail down if we have to run and hide. We’ll wait there for further orders, let’s move!” the man clapped his hands again, and I stiffened.
Should I go back to West and Bob and tell them what I gathered? Or should I follow them and make sure that Mark stays okay? I peeked around the corner as the men all began to move. The second that I saw the men grab ahold of Mark did I know that it was time to make a plan. I turned, watching as another man began walking my direction. When he moved around the corner, I stood up and grabbed the gun I had. I pushed the other man, and when he turned around I hit him directly in the forehead with the butt of the gun. This knocked him out more efficiently than I expected, and I quickly dragged his body away. I removed his sweat pants that were baggy on me, and I switched our sweatshirts, throwing his hood over my head and striding back around the corner.
I began helping put tables away, chairs, and no one questioned that I was there. Even so, my hands were clammy and I began to panic. Would they know that I was a fake? What would they say if someone were to take my hood off and see who I was? However, despite my fears, no one questioned me or even bothered to shoot me a second glance. I put in the labor to help them and that was all they wanted. I stayed away from the people who were volunteering to be the decoy, and instead I joined the group willing to run into the woods.
I watched as a taller man heaved Mark over his shoulder, and I flinched when he did this. Mark was alive, I could see him breathing, but I didn’t want the man to hurt him. Instead, I could only watch as we gathered around the back doors of the warehouse, waiting in silence for the men in the vehicle to make their getaway on the opposite side of the building where West and the others were waiting for my return. At the sound of shooting, the man leading us gave a small hand signal and we sprinted into the woods that were straight ahead of us. We didn’t stop once, and I knew for sure that I wouldn’t have the endurance to stay up with these guys at the pace we took for half a mile. Even so, the group gradually slowed down until we made it to a small camp.
We set back up in the woods in a small clearing, surrounded by trees on a small hill so that we could see anyone coming. I was drenched in sweat by the time that we got there, and I looked over to see Mark being set on the ground. I saw the big man leave him lying there, and I made sure to keep Mark in the corner of my vision the entire time I was sweating and setting up once more. Once we were finished, tents were pitched and Mark was dragged into a large one with the tall man out front, guarding it, on the edge of the circle of tents.
We waited patiently for the other man to return, the inside man that was helping West and Bob chase down a fake Mark. Whoever this inside man was, I would be sure to give him a nice kick when I saw him again. I didn’t know who would be the kind of man to do this, but I waited and stared blankly over a pack of cards as I did. I didn’t speak, and no one seemed to expect me to. The men who were cheery and up for gaming were playing a rowdy game of poker in the corner, and the rest of us loathed their energy or ignored them.
Finally, around nightfall again, when my stomach was rumbling and I was seriously reconsidering my options of joining this group, did everyone begin to stand and applaud another man who was walking towards us. He had a large cigar in his mouth, and he stood tall with a broad chest. I had to hold in a gasp when I saw him, and I quickly ducked my head. He had large aviator shades on, and strolled in still wearing the uniform I had seen him in earlier.
It was Officer West.
I watched as he congratulated us on our mission of taking the YouTuber, and said that they would be paid a great deal if Mark was delivered to whoever wanted him the next morning. I watched his speech in disgust, and wondered how it could have been West who did this to us. I had trusted him to help me, and now I only felt anger surging through me at his betrayal. His gaze scanned the crowd, and I ducked my head again, pretending to lace up my boots. I was shaking with anger, and I glared at West as the crowd of men who had aided him praised him loudly.
“Tomorrow we’ll be paid for our work, and no one will know it ever happened!” West announced, and several men lifted a glass of beer as a toast. The air grew cold as a storm began to roll in, and many turned in for the night. I stood, watching West out of the corner of my eye and taking a bit of beer myself to both blend in and calm myself down. With a final glare to West behind his back, I watched him and everyone else turn in for the night. If there was ever a time that I needed to bust Mark out, it would be right now.
I turned back to the tent on the far side of the camp where the large guy still sat, and I stormed over, pretending that I was angry. The last thing that I wanted to do was pretend to be someone I wasn’t, as I was already in way over my head. Yet, with the thought of setting Mark free, I felt that same anger at West’s betrayal surge through me again, and I put on the best angry face that I could manage.
“Hey, my shift, move over.” I demanded to the man, and he looked up at me, jaw set.
“Excuse me?” he asked slowly, and I rolled my eyes as if he’d asked a stupid question.
“My shift, to watch the YouTuber. Move.” I repeated, and the man stood up. He was several inches taller than me, towering over me with muscles bigger than my head and a menacing stare. “Look, West sent me here with the shift change. Take it up with him if you want.”
“West?” the man repeated, and I felt my heart sink. He took a daunting step forward. “No one calls Brandon by his last name.” I paused, and suddenly I felt like whatever I said next would rely heavily on what happened as well. I took a deep breath as time seemed to slow, and then thought about Mark. My eyes opened, and I glared up at the man.
“Listen, asshole, it doesn’t matter what I call him. I’m not getting my ass chewed because you’re not going to let me do my job. If it’s such a big deal to you, take it up with him. But dammit, move so that I don’t get in trouble either. I don’t have time for this bullshit.” I snapped out, and the man looked genuinely surprised that I had stood him up despite his appearance and menacing look over me. He stepped back, looking a bit confused and slightly concerned.
“Alright, alright. Take it easy. I’ll go talk to Brandon,” he said, walking away from me and towards West’s tent on the other side of town. As it began to rain overhead, I knew that I didn’t have very much time before West found out that there was a mysterious stranger who was suddenly taking over shift of their prisoner and their money maker. I looked around, and then ducked into Mark’s tent. Mark was awake, and he looked up at me with an annoyed face, expecting the large man, and gaping when he saw me remove my hood and my green hair flashed in the night. I held a finger to my lips, and he smiled when I removed my knife and cut the ropes binding his hands. He hugged me, tightly, and I hugged back.
“Let’s get you out of here, buddy.” I whispered, and I took Mark’s hand. Looking around, my hood went back on and Mark snatched his jacket up, following suit. We walked into the dark woods, listening to the rain overhead, and walking as quickly as we could until we could start a jog once we were out of sight.
“The prisoner has escaped!” A cry rang up behind us, and without warning, Mark and I both broke into a dead sprint. “Find him! Capture him!”