Breaking Their Hold

The entire ride to the airport, Mel was a nervous wreck. She thought she might actually vomit. Jimmy held her hand as well, making sure that she didn’t freak out as badly as she would otherwise. She found some comfort in his hand, knowing that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her if he could help it from happening.

“Mel, you need to breathe,” Jacobs told her, looking at her carefully in the rearview mirror. “We need to make sure absolutely nothing sets off suspicion. The Air Travel Administration has been told to heighten security measures to prevent you from leaving the state. Schlagger still thinks that you’re somewhere in the California wilderness. The longer we can keep him under that impression, the better.”

Mel just nodded, not wanting to speak. She was terrified to say anything right now. She didn’t want to let Jimmy in on the fact that she was feeling sick. She looked down at the small necklace that Mara had given her, toying with it in her fingers. She still couldn’t believe that Mara and her group had been so good to her.

She knew that they had risked a lot by harboring them. They could all have faced execution if they’d been caught, and yet they had still kept her, Matt, Jimmy, and Pierre safe from being found. They had shared their food, time, and shelter, and now, Mara was adding on to her protection by telling her of a safe location in Nebraska.

She couldn’t believe that she had become so lucky. Never had she thought she was ever going to get out of Haverly Hospital, and never had she thought she was going to be the one to lead this revolution. She was only one small, shy girl. She was nothing special. And yet, she was the one that was going to be helping to bring an end to Schlagger’s regime.

No one else said a word as they drove towards the small airport where the chopper would be waiting for them. Jacobs would be accompanying them only to the Denver Terrorist Task Force, where another one of his friends, a fellow undercover Revolutionist.

“Hey, now,” Jimmy murmured as he tilted her chin up so that she was looking at him when he finally noticed that a few tears had started slipping out of her green eyes. “You’re going to be fine, sweetie. We all are. Nothing’s going to happen to any of us.”

“How can you be sure about that, Jimmy?” She asked him, shaking her head before she looked up at him, shaking her head before she rested it on his shoulder. Being this close to him was definitely something that felt good to her, and she was glad to have him close to her. All she had wanted when she was at Haverly was to be this close to him, and now that she was, it felt good to her.

“Because I told you so, and I’m never wrong,” he said with a small smirk on his face. She could still see the worry in his blue eyes, although he refused to say anything. She knew it was because of how much he cared about her, and that was something that came as a relief. Even if it was a lie; even if she knew it wasn’t true, she’d let herself believe it for just a little while.

“Alright, guys. We’re close, so I need to put the restraints on,” Jacobs said as he pulled the vehicle to a stop a few miles away from the airport. Mel realized that it was in a relatively sparsely-populated area, probably because most citizens didn’t fly. In order to get on a plane these days, you either needed to be one of the elite rich citizens who could afford to pay off the Task Forces and the Policemen, or you needed to be a Government official.

Matt was told to hold his hands in front of him since he was so much bigger, although everyone else kept their hands behind their back. Pierre didn’t need to be restrained, though they knew he’d fly under the radar. Jacobs made sure that the cuffs placed on Mel were tight, but not so tight that they would cut circulation off like other guards may have done.

Once the restraints were all on, and they had been blindfolded as part of procedure, the realness of what was going to be happening stepped up. It scared her to realize that they were so close to having to encounter the very people they’d been hiding from.

The rest of the drive didn’t take long at all, and it seemed like the second they got there, things were off to a rocky start. She couldn’t see anything because of the blindfold, but she could hear Matt groaning and grunting in pain because of some of the Government officials who were starting to roughhouse him.

“He’s a big guy, Jacobs. What the hell is he in for? Can’t barely tell what the fucker looks like,” a cold voice said from near Mel. It sent shivers down her spine, and she couldn’t help but pray to whatever God might exist that no one recognized either her or Jimmy.

“The brute attacked one of our brothers,” Jacobs said, shaking his head. “He resisted arrest back in Fullerton. We’re deploying him and his friends to Denver. Turns out they’d been on the run.”

There was some laughter from the Policemen before she felt someone roughly grab her ass. “She in for prostitution?” The same voice who had insulted Matt asked, before he turned her roughly, his hands groping at her chest before she felt him slap her when she tried to pull away from him.

“No, this one was caught weaseling food out of a grocery store from what I’ve heard. Little runt probably couldn’t get a job because she’s underage. Parents probably made her do it,” Jacobs said before he laughed. “Just one more for us though, right?”

“Hell yeah,” the man laughed. No one said anything about Jimmy or to him directly, although someone said hello to Pierre in a rather respectful tone before Mel felt herself being led towards the chopper, which was already ready to go.

She let out a small yelp of pain when her leg got caught on the small stairs that were leading towards the chopper. She hadn’t been expecting her leg to get caught on them, but instead of someone stopping to help, they just pushed her headfirst into the helicopter before she was jerked inside and tossed roughly onto a chair. Someone’s body slammed in next to hers a few moments later, and then another before someone said they were taking off.

She was terrified throughout the entire flight. The blindfolds were never taken off to stop them from having a chance to see what was going on, and to stop them from potentially rebelling. The entire time that they were flying through the air, she felt someone’s hand lightly touching hers. She didn’t now whose it was, but it brought her a sense of relief and comfort, especially since she was terrified that this was going to end in a lot of pain and horror for everyone involved.

She still felt responsible for the fact that they were all on the run from the Government. She was the reason that Matt and Jimmy had gotten involved, and although Pierre wasn’t on their radar at the moment, she knew that the second Schlagger and his men discovered that he was a Canadian spy; they would order a Hit on him and put him in the black book.

Finally, the ride ended, and she was led once again out of the chopper before being put back into another vehicle. She had no idea who was driving now, since she already knew that Jacobs wasn’t going to be accompanying them. She could only hope that his friend really was another undercover, because if he wasn’t, she knew that she was responsible for whatever happened to everyone else.

The car drove for several miles, perhaps for twenty minutes before it pulled to a stop. “Hold out your hands,” a quiet voice said from the front seat of the car. “Pierre, uncuff them. You can pull the bandanas off as well.”

Mel took a deep sigh of relief when she realized what those words meant, and when she opened her eyes after being uncuffed and unblindfolded, she couldn’t help but immediately move closer to Jimmy. He chuckled lightly, although it was definitely a nervous chuckle before he pressed his lips against hers.

“What’s your name?” Matt asked the soldier, although his voice sounded weak. The man in front of the steering wheel took one look at him and frowned before smiling, obviously trying to hide whatever had upset him.

“Sean,” he told them. “Just Sean. It’s safer for everyone if we don’t deal in last names or real names, alright?” He said with a small smile. “And you…Kid, you really need some medical attention. I’ll make sure a doctor gets out to you when you’re in the—”

“No doctors,” Matt shook his head. “I’ll heal fine on my own. It’s safer,” he explained before he told Sean to start driving so they could get there soon. Mel didn’t know what this man was all about, but she did know that she didn’t trust him nearly as much as she had trusted Jacobs. She didn’t think he’d turn them in just yet, but she wanted to keep her eye on him. God only knew if he’d be the end of them.