Blood and Bone | 1

4 | 9

      The next morning, we all sat around a too-small table in a tiny German coffeehouse, trying to get warm from the chilly air. Riley had pickpocketed a random man that had been passing by - to Finn and Gigi's shock - and now everyone was eating a meal for the first time in days.

     For a while, there were only the sounds of utensils scraping on plates. I wolfed down my food; I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten more than meager scraps.

      Then, Finn broke the silence by saying slowly, "I think we need to contact Mr. Hunt and the ONNT." There was a series of groaning around the table at the preposterous idea. I wondered if Finn's habit of always looking for the good in people would get us in more trouble than we were already in.

      "No, no, hear me out first," Finn insisted, looking around at everyone.

      "That's the shittiest idea I've ever heard,"Arlo said lightheartedly.

      "Agreed," Jaxon said, pointing his finger at Arlo.

      "He doesn't care about us," Riley snapped. "You're an idiot if you trust that man."

      "Why do you think we've been here so long?" Kane asked Finn, agreeing with Riley. "Because Hunt didn't even try to look for us."

      Trying to maintain a calm composure as everyone turned against him, Finn reasoned, "Yeah, probably because he thinks we're dead like the rest of the soldiers who went after the Club. If he knew we were alive, then the ONNT could help us."

      "But who's to say that he would?" Kane asked, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "He was only using us before, and now that he's got the information he wants, he doesn't need us."

      "He did use us," Jake spoke of the first time and all eyes went warily to him. "But that doesn't mean that he can't be useful himself."

      "What are you saying?" Jaxon asked, his familiar smile sliding off his face.

      "I'm saying that Hunt can be of use to us. He has weapons, soldiers and more supplies than we could want."

      "So," Riley dragged out the word as she gestured her hand aimlessly in the air, "you want to call Hunt here to do what exactly? Make him kill the entirety of the Club for us?"

      "No," Jake retorted cooly, staring into his cup of pure black coffee. "The Club will be harder to extinguish than that. Hundsen's dealings are unpredictable and I don't know as much as I'd like about the Club's current standing."

      "Then why call Hunt here at all?" Riley asked incredulously, flicking her dark hair behind her shoulder. "What's the point?"

      "Are you really that dense? To get what we need: safe passage back to New York," replied Jake, fixing his cold eyes on Riley.

"And what if he really is only using us for the information we were able to find?" Kane inquired, still skeptical of Jake's plan.

"It doesn't matter. I'm not looking to make friends. Once he brings us back, then we tell him exactly what we found. That way, he won't abandon us here."

It did make sense. But I felt uneasy about working with someone who could betray us so quickly. Hunt clearly did what he thought was best for his organization, and the ONNT's goals and our own might not line up. When it came back to it, we were still little more than his working prisoners.

"If we were to do that, how would we even get in contact with the ONNT in the first place?" I looked around. No one had any cell phones, and therefore, no way to connect with Hunt.

Riley shrugged. "Stealing a phone?"

"We don't have a direct number to get to Mr. Hunt," Finn reminded her and she leaned back in her chair, discouraged.

     Our crew was quiet for a moment, thinking of a way to get out of this situation. Then, Riley pushed her chair out, stood up and announced, "We need to go to a mall."

      Everyone stared at her. Rolling her eyes at the reaction, she stated, "There are usually stores that have computers on display. If we can access one, there might be some way to contact the ONNT."

"She has a point," Arlo noted, glancing over at Jake, who seemed to be the unofficial leader of this particular operation.

"Fine," Jake said, standing up. Everyone else followed and we went to search for a place that we could contact Hunt at.

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It was cold inside the mall. I pulled my black jacket closer to my body.

      I strode in the front of the group through the walkways. Salespeople offered us samples of their products in front of their stores, speaking rapid German. Glancing through front windows, I searched for a store that sold electronics.

      As we kept walking, I subtly surveyed the faces of each person that passed by us. It was a habit that I had developed as a survival technique; to find my enemies before they could find me. I was even more paranoid now that we were on the run from Hundsen and his men.

      A boy with his arm around a girl walked by. She was laughing at something he'd said. I could see, clear as day, that they were in love. I quickly glanced away.

      We also passed a group of four teenage girls walking together, all talking and joking with each other exuberantly. They all wore jovial smiles as they carried shopping bags on their arms.

      I felt more out of place in that mall then I'd felt in a long time. As I walked, I could feel the weight of the dagger at my waist. It was heavier than ever. And so was my heart.

I was only eighteen and yet I felt ancient. I'd seen things that I never should have. I'd done unspeakable acts just to stay alive. Now, I was left feeling out of place and unable to adjust back to the way I used to be.

As we passed by groups of friends eating at restaurants and families walking together, I couldn't help but long for my old life. The one before I was so broken, so haunted by what had happened to me. The one before I was so alone, screaming for help but with no one around to hear it. I didn't let myself think of it often.

I took a deep breath, mentally pushing the thoughts out of my mind. I didn't want to remember how things had used to be. What's done is done. I can't go back now, I thought. Then, I came to the realization that Jake had said the exact thing to me when we'd been in the truck alone. He'd also said that he'd burned out the person he once was and had advised me to do the same.

I let my eyes flick to Jake as he walked to my right. His usual stony glare was set in place and he walked as if he were in charge of the whole mall. It made me wonder if he'd truly followed his own advice. Most of the time, he was ruthless and stoic, like he'd been carved from stone and was determined to keep it that way. But during the time we'd been on the run together, I'd seen through the cracks of his armor a few times. Like when the faintest trace of a smile would make its way onto his face after I made a joke. Or when he defended me in front of our crew the day before.

I blinked a few times after I'd registered what I was pondering over. Why was I thinking about Jake? Out of all my teammates, he was by far the most dangerous. I had seen firsthand what he was capable of.

      I cleared my head of those thoughts and kept walking, now feeling very uneasy.