Caught In The Crossfire//A 10k Story

Chapter 27

I woke up, my head pounding. I kept my eyes shut to reduce the throbbing in my head. I was laying down on what felt like a leather seats. I was moving, I was in a car. Maybe I passed out, maybe the 3 years of apocalypse has finally caught up with me and my body needed a break.

I reached out and grabbed 10k's thigh, pulling myself to lean on his lap. I turned and cuddle into his stomach and he placed a hand on my waist. Wait a second, this didn't feel like 10k. I cracked open my eyes and instantly shot up in my seat. "Murphy!" I shrieked. "I-I-I just thoug-" He stuttered before a strange voice cut him off. "You to shut it back there!" A man shouted.

I sit up and rubbed my eyes. We were in a strangers truck with 2 strangers. I turned to look behind us and there was a woman sat in the truck bed. Oh no.

"Murphy where the hell are we!" I whispered into his ear. He looked at me and bit the inside of his cheek. He was clearly nervous about something. "You were drugged," He croaked out. "What!" I said a little louder then I should have. "Shh keep it down! They drugged everyone after they saw I could walk with the Z's," he went back to a whisper.

"Murphy what the ever loving fuck! Why would you let them see that? Where are the others?".

"I didn't see them watching me! They tied the others and left them back at the golf course,".

"How long have I been out?".

"Not long, maybe about 20-30 minutes. We haven't gotten far,". He whispered and I sat back in my seat and sighed. This was not good. The others were tied up and probably still knocked out, Z's milling around. I felt the panic rise in my chest.

"Hey where the fuck are we going!" I shouted and leaned forward between the front seats. One of the guys, who's name I couldn't care to remember, knocked me in the face with the butt of his gun. It sent a shooting pain up my nose and through my face. "Sit back and shut the hell up!" He growled back at me.

I felt warm blood dribble down my face and drip onto the floor. I lifted my hand up and touched my nose lightly. I hisses in pain and bit my tongue. It was definitely gonna bruise, it might even be broken.

"Crap Jaime, you okay?" Murphy asked and tilted my head to face him. I nodded my head, "Just a scratch,"I said sarcastically. He shook his head and tilted my head upwards. "No its more like broken. Hey buddy, next time you hit her it will be the last thing you do!" He threatened the guy who hit me.

He scowled at Murphy through the rear view mirror. I groaned and wiped away the flowing blood. The driver handed me a tissue and Murphy snatched it out of his hand. He turned to me again and placed a hand under my chin to keep my head steady. He began to wipe away the blood from my face. His hands were scratchy and he was rough while wiping my face. I winced every time he put the tissue to my face, he was hurting me but I knew I needed the blood off of my face.

The truck stopped and Murphy was forced out of the truck. "You come with us and you-you stay here. Leave and you won't be getting your friend here back alive! Stay here with her," He barked at the lady in the bed of the truck. She nodded tightly and stood up, scanning the area with her gun. 

I heard the doors lock and the two men walked away with Murphy. He glanced back at me and nodded, telling me not to worry and to stay put. I sighed and closed my eyes, processing the events of today.

I knew I had no chance at running away because the doors were locked and the woman would easily be able to shoot me before I would reach the tree line for cover. Every time I reached towards the door, she would aim her gun and order me to sit back on my seat. I couldn't fight her as i had no weapons. I couldn't do anything. There was nothing I could do but wait.

An hour later..........

I had tried several times to find a way out but nothing worked. The lady had almost shot me twice, luckily she wasn't very good at aiming. I looked out of the window and scanned for Murphy. My eyes were skimming the trees to the right of me when the bushes started to rustle. I waited for a Z to stumble out. This could be my chance.

I steadied my hand by the lock on the door. Something shiny appeared in the green shrubbery. A gun! My heart filled with hope when I saw a familiar head of unruly white hair. It was the others. They had come to rescue Murphy and I, thank god!

I waited while Doc lined up the shot. I knew he would never kill her, unless she tried to kill one of us. A single shot rang out and the lady fell to the ground and shrieked in pain, her hands flying to her upper right thigh. "Ah, god damn it!" She cried out.

I swiftly clicked the lock and slipped out of the car, running towards the trees. "Get back here, argh!" She shouted and tried to reach for her gun. I quickened my pace and stumbled into the safety of the trees before she managed to aim her gun.

I didn't run straight for Doc just in case he had attacked any Z's. I crouched down and looked around to see if it was safe to move. When I was convinced it was clear, I stood up slowly.

"Doc? Doc is that you?" I called out quietly in the direction I thought I had seen him. I watched his head pop around from behind a tree and a look of relief filled his face, and I'm sure mine did the same.

"Thank god Jaime," Doc breathed out and ran over to me, pulling me into a short hug. "Thank goodness you're ok, we were all worried sick! Your face, are you okay? Where's Murphy?" He asked quietly.

"My face is fine, it's just a bruise and the two guys took him that way," I said pointing towards the way they went. Subconsciously, after he asked about my face, my hand gingerly touched the quickly swelling area.

"Okay, we need to go get Warren. C'mon the others are back looking this way," He started to walk and I followed him, still keeping and eye out for the kidnappers.

We walked out through the trees and into a small car park. I saw the truck and Warren was sat inside trying to contact Citizen Z. As soon as she noticed me, she dropped the radio and walked towards me briskly. It warmed my heart to see she was worried about me.

"Are you okay, what happened to your nose! Where's Murphy?" She questioned, the same as Doc, and placed a warm hand on my shoulder. I smiled slightly.

"I'm fine it's just a bump, the two guys took Murphy. They didn't tell me where but I have a rough idea of which way they went and where they could be heading," I said. Warren raised an eyebrow. "Where?" Doc places a hand on my other shoulder and I felt like I was being interrogated by my parents.

"The fort Knox of oxytocin" I said sarcastically. I continued to tell Warren and Doc about where they were heading, they soon caught on. 

A few minutes later, I was sipping some room temperature water when I heard my name being called from behind me. "Jaime!" That voice sent a flurry of butterflies through my stomach. I turned around to see 10k running towards me, his hair falling in his face and his gun bouncing on his back as he ran. "I'm not dead yet!" I laughed and opened my arms, ready for his hug.

To my surprise, he didn't hug me, but hurriedly placed a hand on either side of my face and kissed me passionately. His tongue slipped into my mouth and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I felt like smiling till the muscles in my face cramped. This was a feeling I could never get bored of.

"Okay you two, you're gonna need to breathe," Doc laughed after a few awkwardly silent moments. 10k pulled back slightly and looked straight into my eyes, resting his forehead on mine.

His eyes flickered from my eyes to my already bruised and swollen nose. "What the hell happened!" He panicked and raised his voice, stepping back slightly.

I crossed my arms over my stomach and look at the floor, "It's nothing really, I'm fine." I muttered, uncomfortable with him shouting at me. He noticed this and calmed a little but he was still tense with anger that riddled his features.

"That is not a scratch, it looks broken. Who hit you?" He replied, his jaw tight, and took my chin in his hand so I had to face him. He inspected my face, checking the damage before looking into my eyes waiting for my reply. "One of the guys who took Murphy and I," I mumbled. He spins around as quick as lightning, grabs his rifle and strides over to Warren.

"We're going after them!" 10k barks and no one disagreed. Everyone was slightly taken back by his surge of protectiveness but no one dared to argue with the hotheaded boy.