The Runaways

Chapter Twenty-One - Problem Solving

"Well it was nice meeting you all but it's time me and Cleveland get out of here." Warren said as he stood up.

"What? Your leaving?" Corban asked surprised and with a subtle trace of sadness.

"Yeah! You just joined our little group!" Reece whined.

"It was never a permanent thing, me and Cleveland are in a race against time right now. The more time I spend here the more my daughter is tortured." Warren said in a serious tone.

"What? Wait you're actually going to try and split up? Sorry to break it do you but now is the worst time for that, we need to get out of here. The Syndicates are currently in a full fledged take over of this entire area, it all belongs to the Paramount Union." Blake said.

"The Paramount Union?" I repeated.

"It's the gang that just held us captive." Remington said as he looked over at Blake, "How do you know so much about this?"

"Right before I was hired to kill The Huntress I was hired to spy on the Syndicates. As of now the Paramount Union is the biggest Gang next to the Syndicates, which also means it's the Syndicates biggest threat." Blake explained, "Syndicates are going to be everywhere and if Remington was so valuable to Huntress he'll surely be worth something to the Syndicates."

"Oh trust me we know." I grumbled as I rolled my eyes.

"Who hired you to spy on the Syndicates? Was it the Huntress-deer-lady?" Reece asked.

"I can't say. My extreme customer confidentiality is part of my price." Blake replied.

"Well if Warren is trying to get to his daughter than shouldn't he be going toward the Syndicates since that's where she's being kept?" Reece suggested.

"It doesn't work like that." Warren said, "My daughter could be anywhere in the Midwest, they trade child slaves like it's some sort of fucking card game. A vigilante group infiltrates the Syndicates and pulls out any information on any kid and they trade records they have so parents like me can find them. It's how you know where to look, the only problem is that in order for this vigilante group to not get caught they only send out a limited amount of information, meaning who ever gets their hands on it first has a chance of getting to find out where their kid is. And that's even if they some how miraculously got a sheet with their kids name on it out of the thousands that are being trafficked." Warren finished explaining and sat down defeatedly.

"That... sounds impossible." Blake murmured.

"It's the only way I have a chance of getting her back." Warren muttered angrily.

"Well either way we should start getting a move on," Remington said as he stood up, "We got too many enemies in one area, once were safe we can then get all depressing or Warren and Cleveland can leave, whichever comes first."

Warren narrowed his eyes at Remington.

"Blake do you know which way would be the safest way to go to get around these guys?" Corban asked as he stood up.

"I might," Blake said as she stood up as well and started walking further into the wooded area.

We walked for about an hour before we ran into more Syndicates. We were at the edge of the forest the Syndicates has taken camp just on the edge of an open field. We stopped and hid a safe distance away as we decided what to do.

"Why can't we just walk out?" Reece asked, "We're not who they're after."

"My might not be but Remington is." Corban pointed out, "If Remington owes them that much money where they send someone after him it must be enough where they've put his face around."

"Either way with Remington or not we can be pinned  as either Sardale or Cedar Crest citizens which ar3 the two towns that the Paramount Union has control over. Or they can pin us as Paramount Union members, either way they'll either take us as prisoners, force us back into one of the two towns until they attack, or if they're feeling antsy they might just kill us just for the heck of it." Blake explained.

"We can wait til it's night and sneak past." Reece suggested.

"The Syndicates aren't stupid," Remington spoke up, "there's no way in hell they're not guarding any camp of theirs twenty-four-seven. Doesn't matter if they even have other camps just a few minutes walk away."

"Remington's right, Syndicates are always on guard, plus they also have an advantage, they've set up their perimeter around all the wooded areas so anyone trying to get out has no chance of hiding." Warren added as he turned to look over at Blake, "That is unless you know of another way."

Blake shook her head, "As far as I'm able to remember this is their weakest point."

"Even though they are guarding their camps at night we can run past in a diagonal and try to get as far away from them as possible while also making it into the field." Corban proposed.

"If we do that we risk being seen by the next camp over, then we'd have two on our tails." Remington said.

Corban put his hand up to his chin and thought for a minute.

Warren sighed, "This may not work but it's the best chance we got."

"Lay it on us." I muttered.

"Remington you have a gun correct?" Warren asked.

"A gun with extremely low ammo yes."  Remington said widening his eyes as he ethicized how low the ammo was.

"We can use that as a bluff, if their is only one or two guards we can take them as hostages until we're far away enough where we can make a break for it without getting caught." Warren explained.

"That's really risky." I said as I scratched the back of my neck nervously.

"I don't like it either but unless we think of another plan..." Warren said shrugging his shoulders.

"Corban you're good at problem solving," Remington said as he turned his head to look over at Corban who still had his hand on his chin as he stared at the ground thinking, "Do you have any ideas?"

"I have one... it goes along with Warrens plan but this one is risky too..." Corban murmured.

"We don't really have much of choice." Blake said bluntly.

Corban looked up at us as he cracked his knuckles nervously, "Who here is the fastest runner?"