Wild Side [h.s au]

Chapter 9

I roll my eyes and I notice Alex doing the same. "But on a serious note," Niall continues, "what are you up to?" When I open my mouth to reply, he's quick to cut me off, "and don't even try lying to me. One word from me and H would have your ass. Not that I'd literally let him have it since I quite fancy it." He grins, walking beside us and plopping onto the couch. "Talk."

. . . .

"I sure as hell hope you know what you're doing, El," Louis says. "If David finds out about this, we'll get punished. But if H finds out, we'll get punished, he'll kill us then punish us again."

"I mean, he will obviously find out, but once we come back with good news, he won't be harsh on us," I say, smiling at him. "Well, that or I hope you can run faster than him."

The moment Louis realised Niall, Alex, and I are planning something, he's decided to join us, talking Jess and Tori into it as well.  The six of us have managed to muster up a plan to leave the base and reach Rogue. Niall, Alex, and Jess will stay here to help with distractions while Louis, Tori, and I will go and talk to Ace.  Sounds simple, but it's going to be tricky to leave the base, let alone without H noticing our absence.

"Okay, you two know what to do," I tell Alex and Jess. "And you," I look at Niall, "go and deal with H."

"You owe me big time for this, babe," Niall tells me. "We'll talk payment later, yeah?" He grins sheepishly.

Niall walks toward the main building to take care of his part of the plan while the rest of us head toward the gates.  Louis jokes and chats with the soldiers guarding it shortly and they end up opening the gates for us, the five of us ushering outside. We're heavily armed, just in case.

We round the high walls circling the base, reaching the other side with a bunch of warehouses that serve as food storage, vehicle garages, weaponry storage, and similar.  There are soldiers lined in front of the warehouses, making our job harder. In order for us to sneak into the garage and steal one of the vehicles, Alex and Jess will have to distract them.

"Okay, you two," Louis tells the two of them. "Make us proud."

They nod, beginning their act. Jess walks out at the clearing, gaining attention from a few soldiers. While they try to explain to her she's not allowed to be there, she acts being upset and wraps one of her arms around her stomach while placing the back of her other hand on her forehead, feigning sickness. I almost snort since she's using the oldest trick in the book. She drops to her knees, starting to wail dramatically, as if she's in severe pain.

Alex rushes to her side, kneeling beside her. "Step away from her! My love? Oh no! Why are you tossers just standing there? My girlfriend is carrying triplets, and I'm gonna be their daddy. Help me!" Jess subtly smacks him on the chest. "Uh, I mean, help her!"

"Aren't you the guy from Vortex?" One of the soldiers skeptically asks. 

"Yeah and? Want a piece of these?" He flexes his biceps.

"What bullshit is this, what are you two-" the other soldier starts.

Alex makes a half shocked, half disgusted face while scoffing. "I happen to be good friends with David and if you refuse to help my pregnant girlfriend, you can kiss your army career goodbye, okay, I'll make sure you work on some corn field all day-"

"Oh for the love of God!" Jess shouts, grabbing her weapon and pointing it towards the soldiers. "I'm hormonal and I need help. Now!"

Oddly enough, their poor acting has distracted all the guards as they rush toward them, allowing Louis, Tori, and me to run toward the garage, managing to sneak inside.  I'm amazed to see the number of vehicles and army tanks inside, some of them smaller but faster, the others bigger and more advanced, but surely slower.

"We're taking this baby right here," Tori says, stroking the hood of one of the vehicles. "So beautiful, I've always wanted to ride it."

"You should be doing that," Louis points to her hand stroking the vehicle, "and saying that to me."

I can't help but laugh at his innuendo while Tori glares at him, opening the door on the driver's side. "We're lucky there's always a key in each vehicle, so it's easier to react when it's urgent," she says as she sits inside.

Louis is quick to occupy the passenger's seat while I'm left to sit behind. However, before I do that, I walk back toward the doors, having to open them so the vehicle can get outside. I poke my head through the door, seeing a group of soldiers still gathered around Alex and Jess. Alex notices me, and I give him a signal to somehow get them away.

"Okay, you carry her," he tells one of the soldiers. "But be careful where you put your paws. And you two help him, she's carrying triplets after all."

I manage to step outside and fully open the door, my heart almost stopping when one of the soldiers almost looks my way. However, Alex reacts quickly, dropping to his knees and yelling he's feeling sick and seeing the light.

I run back inside and quickly jump into the vehicle as Tori presses the gas pedal, basically sending us flying forward.  She expertly operates the vehicle, taking sharp turns and driving down the dirt road, leaving shocked soldiers behind us. Nothing but dirt, sand, and a few ruins quickly surround us, the once lively city settled kilometres ahead of us.

Since Rogue is settled all the way in the South and Hazard is in the North, we have to drive through the remnants of the city. It's no man's land, meaning there is always a chance of getting attacked by one of the armies.

"We're close to leaving our territory," Tori says. "We might run into our scouting groups unless David has taken care of them."

"Maybe we should've taken the route through the woods," Louis says. "But that's also risky. It's been less than a minute and I'm getting stressed."

"You begged to come, Louis, suck it up," I say. "It will be fine, try to relax."

"Hand off my thigh, Lou," Tori warns him.

"I'm nervous and that relaxes me!"

"Well, it's distracting me and I'm driving!"

"You always find excuses, I swear to God-" Louis starts, but gets cut off.

"Now is not the time, why do you always do this?" Tori exasperates.

"So are you two a thing?" I ask, leaning forward so my head is between their seats.

"No!" They answer at the same time.

I smile widely as I lean back, shaking my head. The rest of the drive is mostly silent, with an occasional banter between the two of them. And as we leave the safety of Hazard's borders and cross onto the free territory, I can only pray we manage to reach Rogue without any casualties.