{THIRD PERSON}
Liam gazed upward at the ceiling of what used to be a casino, taking one last step where the property starts. Zhara looked to her right, noticing Liam's astonishment toward the ashy remains.
She'd assumed he had definitely seen this place before it was burnt down, and most likely had no knowledge of it parishing in the first place.
"Do they know when it collapsed?" Liam asked, now glancing over his shoulder at Ren, who was coming up behind them.
Ren answered, "About four years ago."
Zhara sucked in a breath as the small details started adding up. If she was right about these maps...
"Damn," Liam blew out, shaking his head.
"Check all open corners, we'll start on the north side," she heard Zion order his men. Many strong figures started quickly for the edges of what was left of the walls of the place.
Zhara observed silently as Zion loaded his gun, the others doing so as well. Were they really expecting to find some sort of enemy in there? The entire estate was visible due to the fallen walls, they could practically see every inch from here.
"Just to be safe," someone whispered from her left.
She snapped her head over, recognizing Isaiah immediately, shoulders easing in relief. He looked down at her, giving her a small smile that somehow relieved whatever anxiety was forming in her gut.
"Really? You brought grenades?" Zhara looked at the small weapons strapped across his chest.
He smirked, dark hair shifting as he shook his head. "These are my prize possession, Birdie."
"There isn't much left to blow up anyway..." she drifted off, turning back to the mess.
She wondered if they would find anything at all here. It would most likely lead them to the next thing they needed to find her father. She would search day and night if it came down to it. These maps had to mean something. The Lions wouldn't have found a way to get the papers to them if this was just for fun.
She was aware that their leader was quite the entertainer, so she wasn't going to be surprised if somehow this plan escalated into something they couldn't control.
Zion wouldn't be happy about that.
"Wrong."
Zhara snapped out of her thoughts, humming a questioning response to Isaiah.
"Zhara, my dear,-" he grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her completely to face him, "-there is always something that needs to be blown up."
He looked her in the eyes, seeming genuinely serious about what he was saying.
She nudged him away, trying to hide her smirk with a scoff. Isaiah grinned at the back of her head as she began walking ahead of him.
The dead grass crunched under her shoes and the wind picked up even more, unraveling a few strands from her braid. She hugged the thermalizing fabric of the coat tighter to her chest, following after a few of the others who started their move.
Zion had reacted to the hunt like a predator, searching and scouting for the next thing to help lead them in the right direction.
Zhara didn't want to be around him if this was a dead end. It would become her fault somehow, just like everything else that has happened up to this point.
She could admit that a few things were traced back to her, but this-- she had no knowledge of it. Her father was his own person, and that shouldn't have been her responsibility since the beginning of this mess.
Alphonzo always seemed to get other people blamed for his actions. And Zhara had a feeling it was never going to change until they did something about him...
Zhara looked in both directions before walking into what used to be the lobby of the casino. Only a few bricks and stabilizers that were left signified what part of the building this was.
"Anything?" she heard Liam call out to the searching men.
"Not yet!" they shouted back.
Zhara sighed under her breath, worried that she might have been wrong about her first theory.
But as she turned the corner into a hidden back room, her hopes returned. This was the only part of the building that still had a ceiling and a standing doorway. It couldn't have been bigger than the average public bathroom.
The only thing visible from the outside sunlight was a sink still attached to the wall, stained with spots of something dark. As she got closer, the faded crimson color became more prominent.
This was obviously a washroom of sorts.
She noticed that most of the visible white ceramic was dusty and smoky, even covering the possible blood.
The blood had been there before the casino burned down.
She blew on the side of the sink, watching as a cloud of different particles formed as a result.
Zhara felt her nostrils wrinkle as the dust and ash in the air made their way towards her. Waving her hand in front of her to clear the air, Zhara cringed as her eyes blurred.
She choked out a cough and stumbled backward, completely regretting blowing at the dirt in the first place.
She felt her foot hit the edge of something heavy and hard, causing her to turn immediately in reflex. There was nothing but a worn-out wall that was burned and chipping with paint. Until she glanced down.
"Shit," she breathed out.
She got low to get a better look at the steel box, realizing it was a safe. A safe without a keypad, only a strong padlock with a keyhole on the bottom.
She took a second to think, pondering her options.
What if this was the only clue? If she didn't tell anyone about it, they would leave thinking they found nothing...
What if there was a bomb in there?!
She shook her head at her impulsive thoughts, knowing that the chances were low.
This game they were playing was getting really fucking annoying to her.
She wasn't in the mood to have any more drama placed on her.
She should definitely get someone in here to look at it, because if not, they would think she was hiding something. And what could she do with a padlock safe if she didn't have a key to open it?
A key.
She stood quickly, moving towards the doorway she entered from.
"Zion!"
No reply.
"Liam!" she shouted louder, trying to get someone's attention.
She stepped out of the room, spotting Liam near the torn-up entrance to the casino. His frozen figure was turned away from her as he stared at something like an idiot.
"Liam, I found something!" he turned at the sound of her voice, realizing she was talking to him. He started towards her, face stoic and emotionless. She was a little weirded out at first, but then realized what he had been looking at when he moved out of her line of sight. Her lips parted in shock.
"What the fuck?" she hissed under her breath, turning back to confront Liam, only to feel him yank her back into the room she came out of. She exhaled quickly as his arms came down and pulled her body behind the old wall.
"Liam-" he shushed her and spun her to face him. He was looking out the doorway, making her feel a rush of anxiety. She pulled at his hands, trying to get him off of her. He wouldn't oblige, silently turning his head down to glare at her.
Fear pricked at her nerves, but she kept it hidden as Liam blocked her body with his.
He was...guarding her?
From what?
Zhara tugged at Liam's coat, trying to get his attention without him getting all pissed at her. He glanced down at her, whispering Italian curses as he pulled out his phone.
She tried shifting around Liam's broad figure to get another look outside. He was too busy alerting Zion on his phone to notice.
Zhara's stomach was tight as she took in the view of a mutilated dog corpse. Who the fuck kills a dog?
It was fresh, too.
But what made her feel even sicker was the small lump of a puppy sitting next to the bloody animal, obviously still alive. She assumed that the dead dog was its mother. It couldn't have been more than two months old. And for a baby Doberman, it was fairly big.
She was snatched back into the room abruptly, coming in contact with a very mad-looking Liam.
What was he freaking out about? It was a dead dog...
There must have been something else that he saw to have this reaction.
She gave him an unimpressed look, drawing her eyebrows together in confusion.
Zhara watched as Zion and a few other men turned the corner from the lobby, noticing the two of them before the dead animal.
Liam tugged Zhara by the arm to follow him as they moved to meet up with Zion and the others.
"What is it?"
Zion's words hung in the air before Liam pointed across the area, about fifteen feet away from the corpse.
No one's face changed until they all got closer, and noticed the item attached to the dead animal's neck.
Oh, that's what he was freaking out about...
The small device beeped, and a few numbers made themselves known as they ticked down as a timer.
2:59
Shit. There was a bomb here...
Zhara was right. And she almost laughed at the thought.
"We need to leave," Liam spoke first.
No kidding, dumbass.
"They wanted us to be rushed," Zhara thought out loud, turning back to the room with the safe in it. Zion followed her gaze without her knowing.
"What have you found, Raven?" he drew out, just like the night they were followed.
Zhara's spine tingled with a weird feeling. She silently looked back at him, motioning for him to follow with a simple flick of her chin. They needed to be quick.
She started towards the room again, letting her fingertips trail over the rough surface of the standing wall.
The safe was still there, obviously, and she bent down to see how heavy it was. She slipped her bruised fingers around the edges, tugging at the decent-sized box. She stood with it in her arms, knowing she would only be able to hold it for so long.
"We should open it when we get back."
Zion agreed, placing a hand on her shoulder as if to guide her out of the room. He kept his hand on her, letting it slip down to the small of her back.
If he wanted her to not drop this safe, then he needed to stop touching her like that.
Zhara and Zion walked out into the lobby again, seeing as most of the men had filed back into the car. They followed after quickly, seeing as the timer showed 1:37.
Zhara paused once their feet hit the grass, realizing something.
"Here, hold this for me," she said frantically, shoving the safe into Liam's hands. Zion watched the girl as she suddenly turned, going straight back into the building that could possibly blow up in less than a minute.
Zion's heart stopped for a split second. What was wrong with this girl?
"Zhara!"
She ignored Zion's warning, running back into the destroyed building. Zion didn't think before chasing after her, wondering what the fuck was going on in her head.
The adrenaline tore at his body, and he was trying to figure out how she was still so fast after being shot twice.
The beeping was still loud as he chased her into the estate. It was louder than the heartbeat in his ears. He looked around rapidly trying to find her, immediately spotting her near the dead animal's corpse.
"Zhara!" he shouted, causing her to look up from her spot on the ground. That's when he noticed the dark fur of the smaller dog in her arms.
The fucking nerve of this woman...
The timer beeped in a different tone, showing that they only had fifteen seconds left.
Zhara bolted in response, running towards Zion at full speed. Her face was flushed and her body ached as she sprinted, but she didn't care.
What she did care about was the fact that Zion wasn't moving, he was waiting for her.
What the fuck was he doing?
He waited for her to reach him, and then he ran with her, by her side. She breathed heavily as the timer got down to the last few seconds. Liam and Isaiah came into view, standing anxiously by the car. Once they saw that the two of them were still alive, they quickly opened the doors, starting up the engines.
The beeps faded into nothingness as they ran, wind forcing them to slow and feet crunching against dead grass. Everything moved in slow motion.
Five seconds was suddenly an hour, and she felt every single part of it.
The timer stopped, and Zion didn't know how far they were from the building, but he wasn't taking any chances. He grabbed Zhara's body, placing her against him as hard as he could, blocking her from any danger.
A ringing shot through the air and was soon followed by an explosion that vibrated and shook the ground.
And in that moment, the only thing on Zion's mind was the woman in his arms.