He shot her. Frank actually shot Darla. Tamara hoofed her way down the stairs with tears burning in her eyes as she held her injured arm, her stomach rolling. She couldn't get sick, not now. She had to keep her wits about her otherwise she'd end up dead, too. And that wasn't part of her life plan.
What was she going to tell Jason? Swallowing back bile, she hopped the railing to move down to the next landing using her good hand. If she didn't move fast, he'd catch up to her and if he did, she'd likely be dead, too. She had to hide, but where?
Sucking back a sob, she wiped the tears from her eyes so she could see and dashed around the corner. She watched as people were herded down the hall and contemplated joining them, but she had a feeling they were being rounded up—the next step in their captor's hands.
After being captured once, she had no intention of letting that happen again. Keeping out of site, she let her gaze scan over the crowd, trying to see if Logan was with them, but she couldn't find him. Damn it. Where was the meathead?
Upon hearing footsteps on the landing above her, she glanced up and saw Frank. Not wasting another second, she hopped the railing again and began running down the stairs. As she rounded the railing at the next level, she smacked her bad wrist on the railing and ended up biting her tongue in the process as she cried out loud.
But she didn't have any time to stop and baby it. She had to keep moving before he caught up with her. Huffing and puffing, she raced down the hallway, cabin doors on either side. She had to find a place to hide. Seeing one door propped open, she ducked inside and shut it behind her. Spinning around, she found herself in the housekeeping supply room, and a smaller Pilipino lady was staring at her.
Tamara lifted a finger to her lips to indicate to remain quiet. The ladies gaze dropped to her injured hand and her eyes widened in panic. Knowing that a cry was building up in the young woman, she rushed over and placed a hand over her mouth. "It'll be fine. We just have to stay quiet," she whispered.
One thing she couldn't figure out was why the woman was in here and not gathering with the rest of the groups at the muster stations. And she would have asked, but couldn't risk being heard while the man was outside the door.
Tamara jumped when there was a loud bang and she heard him yell, "Shit!" Good. He didn't know where she went. Waiting until there was silence outside the door, she poked her head outside and saw him moving down the hall, shaking his head.
"Madam, I need you to get to the captain immediately and tell him that there is a hostile takeover happening. Hurry, and be quiet."
And as the woman disappeared out the door on the other side, Tamara poked her head back into the hallway that she'd disappeared from and debated on what to do. Frank was continuing to walk in the direction they'd been moving. Now that he didn't know where she was, she should take th opportunity to check on Darla and make sure she's still alive. Get them help if she could.
Taking a deep, she waited until he'd good and disappeared himself before moving back into the hallway, retracing her steps. Silence had filled the halls and it felt a little eerie, like a ghost ship. Goosebumps covered her skin as she raced towards her friend, as she murmured, "Please be alive. Please be alive."
It didn't take long to get back up to where Darla was. Her friend was leaning against the wall, holding her stomach, her face pale and her lips a light blue and a pool of blood on the ground seeped from her side. She had to get her to the medical clinic. "Can you walk?"
"I don't know," Darla replied hoarsely.
"I'll help you up, just keep holding pressure on the wound."
This was the first time she'd ever been really thankful for all the training being a police officer has put her through. She wasn't a weak ill-equipped woman. Placing an arm around her friend and under her armpits, Tamara helped her stand.
If she could get her down to the clinic, she'd be able to help with her first aid training, but she hoped like heck that a doctor was still there. Darla needed surgery to remove the bullet fragments as there was no clear exit wound, otherwise it could cause health problems.
However, in order to get her to the clinic, they had to go down the stairs in the middle of the ship and that made it risky. They might run into the hostiles. But that was a risk they had to take. Her friend wasn't going to make it holed up somewhere else. The bleeding had to be stopped, and she wasn't about to lose a new friend. She wasn't good at making them. Women often felt intimidated by her or so it seemed.
"Come on, hun. You've got this," Tamara said when she felt Darla's legs begin to buckle.
"It hurts so bad," she cried.
If it was one thing she understood, it was exactly how much getting shot hurt. "I'll find you some pain meds, I promise, but we gotta keep going."
Slowly but surely they made their way to the bowels of the ship and into the doors of the medical centre. "Hello, anyone here?" Tamara called out.
"Well, well, well, look who have here," Frank said as he stepped out of the back office.
Now it was her turn to swear.
***
"Let's go back to your room, Jason," Logan suggested. "We need to leave the girls a message just in case they go back."
"What if—"
"Don't even say it!" he ordered. "They are fine. They have to be."
He wasn't even going to entertain the possibility that they'd been hurt or captured. Tamara was resourceful and knew how to survive and if Darla was with her, they'd both be fine. He had to believe that in order to keep his wits about him. If he worried about her safety, he'd mess up and get someone killed.
Quietly and carefully, they made their way back to the cabin and slipped inside. The last thing they needed was to be discovered and herded in line with the rest of the people. He wanted to do some reconnaissance and find out exactly what they were up against. They'd have to split up and see what was going on. See if they could find out where the passengers and crew were being taken.
Walking over to the desk, he grabbed a sticky note and wrote, 'If you see this, stay in the room. We'll be back soon.'
"Maybe we should give a time frame?" Jason suggested.
"Good idea."
"Think we should split up and do some investigating and then meet back here in an hour?"
"Works for me."
They'd be much quieter on their own and now that they had the access cards, they could snoop around in places they couldn't before. If his hunches were correct, the people would be gathered in the only large rooms on the ship—the main dining rooms.
"Check out the Pink Diamond Dining room. I'm going to go to the Blue Diamond hall at the back." Logan said.
Poking his head back out of the room, he was happy to see that it was empty. Stepping outside, they shut the door quietly behind them. "Remember, don't engage unless you have to. We're just gathering information."
"And here I was thinking I might get to have some fun," Jason replied, smirking.
They gave each other a fist bump and then went on their way. Logan crept along the hallway, listening to all the sounds around him. A few people had left the television on in their rooms, but there were no people to be seen roaming about. ***
Upon nearing the staircase, he heard a voice. Stopping, he pressed his back up against the wall. "Move it!" he heard a male voice order.
"If you didn't have that gun, I'd wipe the floor with your ass," a familiar voice snapped.
His breath hitched and his eyes widened as he peered around the corner. "hot damn!" he muttered under his breath. She appeared to be in once piece, but exhaustion was evident in her stance. She was swaying as she half carried Darla. Blood covered Darla's shirt and colored her legs red. Jason was not going to be a happy camper.
The man's back was to him, but the girls faced his direction. Tamara's eyes brightened when she saw him, but a look of warning held him in his place. Now he knew why she disappeared. She'd been captured. And by the looks of it, the hostiles on the ship were not against shooting innocent civilians.
"She needs help!" Tamara growled.
"So what. Keep moving!"
"How could you just shoot innocent people? She's never done anything to you."
"I can't keep moving!" Darla said weakly as her legs collapsed from beneath her, taking the both of them down.
Frank kept his gun trained on them. "I'm not about to let you two shitheads mess up years of planning."
"Is this really what you want? Did you want your dad to kill your girlfriend?"
Raising his hand, he brought it down hard against her cheek, knocking her backwards. She cried out in pain.
And that was all it took. "Try picking on someone your own size," Logan said, barreling towards him. The man didn't even have time to lift his gun before Logan tackled him to the ground. He dropped the gun, and it slid across the floor.
"Logan!" Tamara untangled her arm from her friend and reached for the gun. But just then, Frank with an unknown strength knocked Logan off him and dove for the weapon. Kicking her leg out, it connected with Frank's chest, sending him reeling backwards. Leaping up, she spun around hitting him with a roundhouse kick, knocking him down the stairs.
"No one hits him but me!" she snarled at him.
Logan beamed with pride as he watched Frank go head first into the wall on the landing below. "That's my girl!"
He reached for her, but instead of coming into his arms, she fell to her knees beside Darla, who was barely conscious now. "We have to get her back to the infirmary," she said.
"I don't think that's a good idea. This place is crawling with his men. Let's go back to Jason's suite, and then I'll make a run for supplies. We'll get her stable before I take this place down."
"You're going to need my help!"
"Not on your life."
"Just in case you forgot, I just beat him, not you. You need me."
His eyes bore into hers, a mixture of frustration and lust filling them. "I need you alive because after this, I'm never letting you walk out of my life again."
"If we get out of this..."
"We are going to get out of this!" he said with stubborn determination. Leaning down, he picked Darla up and rushed towards Jason's room. "Jason will be back in probably 30 minutes. Just tell him I've gone to the infirmary and that I'll be right back. Then we'll formulate a plan."
Tamara picked up the gun, happy to finally be armed and checked the clip. There were 4 rounds left. It wouldn't last long, but it gave them a small buffer of safety in the meantime. "Do you know what to look for?"
"Yes," he replied simply. "I'm trained in first aid."
It took about 5 minutes to get back to the room. Logan laid her friend gently on the bed and took a look at the wound. "She's going to need surgery."
"Ya, I kind of already figured that."
"Looks like you need help too," he said, pointing to her hand.
She pushed him towards the door. "That's minor. Just get what she needs before she dies."
Turning towards her, he pulled her into his arms. "Promise me that you'll be here when I get back? No more running."
Stepping on her tiptoes, she brushed her lips against his, sending a shiver of delight all the way down her spine. "I'll be here."
He gripped hershoulders, borrowing his eyes into hers. "Promise me!"
"I promise."
----
A/N
Thanks so much for reading this far. I hope you are enjoying the story.
If you find any mistakes, please don't hesitate to point them out. I am a little busy tonight, so I'm unable to edit it. But I wanted to give you the chapter.
What do you think is going to happen next?