Straight Shot ➳ Oliver Queen

26. Something to Die For

C H A P T E R   T W E N T Y - S I X

SOMETHING TO DIE FOR

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Diggle's POV:

Lian Yu was much closer to being an island paradise than I had imagined. It was hard to believe that Oliver had experienced such trauma on such a beautiful island. As the old-fashioned plane sputtered over the island, I could see that almost the entire island was covered in dense, lush forest. The water glistened, reflecting the sunlight. Certain parts of the island were covered by a thick, white fog, which is what finally gave the place an eerie look.

The plane began dropping quickly and I readied myself, strapping on a parachute pack. This wasn't the first time I had jumped out of a rickety plane, but at least this time I wouldn't be doing it under heavy gunfire. Probably.

I opened the side door of the plane and took careful aim. When I got the go-ahead from the pilot, an old military buddy I knew back in the day. I had known he was good for the job: he was an amazing pilot and in addition, I knew he wouldn't ask questions.

I watched carefully and strategically deployed my parachute, feeling the catch of the atmosphere as I began slowly losing elevation, drifting closer and closer to the white sand beaches of Lian Yu. My boots touched the ground and I dumped the parachute, leaving it on the beach as I wasted no time digging out the map and one of the guns I had packed. I clipped the gun into a holster on my thigh and began trekking towards the outskirts of the jungle. On my way, I passed a stake driven into the sand, a masked draped over it. Half of the mask was a faded red, the other a worn black. Through the eye hole of the mask was an arrow, which sent chills down my spine: especially as an arrow was Oliver's signature.

Oliver had given me directions to a very specific part of the island, which I had strategically landed near. I was looking for a hidden shelter– one Oliver had briefly lived in during his time on the island.

It was difficult to imagine Oliver as anything other than the Oliver I knew now. It was difficult to believe he had landed here a careless, naive kid as the Oliver I knew was a focused, intense vigilante. But as I ventured further into Lian Yu, I began understanding. A certain paranoia haunted me. After all, Oliver had told me, I half expected some wicked mercenary to drop from the treetops and take me on with some crazy machete or something. I kept my eyes wide and a gun and knife within easy reach, just in case.

With every step, I kept reminding myself why I was here. Who knew how long Karter had left. The poor girl was dying. I may not have known her that well, but what I knew was that Karter didn't deserve to die. She was what was holding together the Queen family. More importantly, she was what kept Oliver going. Without Karter, who knew what would happen to the vigilante.

There were two scenarios I could imagine playing out: the first, Oliver would drop off the grid. There would be no more vigilante, no one to take out high-risk targets the police couldn't touch. There was no telling how many innocent people would die with Oliver protecting them.

On the other hand, Oliver could go off the rails– angry and vengeful. Dozens, even hundreds, of civilians could get caught in the crossfire. There would be no lives spared, and the victims would more than likely branch away from the list Oliver's father left him

Karter had already survived an absurdly long amount of time with curare in her system. Her time was running out and whether she lived or died on me now. I couldn't let that girl die. I hadn't been able to save Andy, but I could save her.

Further, in on the island, I stumbled across minute markings that Oliver had directed me to look for. To the untrained eye, they would be completely invisible, and even to someone with years of military training, they were difficult to spot.