Bryna's P.O.V

True to his word, Adam shows up with a flashlight and two hip holsters with pistols in either of them later at night. 

My bag is already on my back, and my arm is newly wrapped, courtesy of a silent Aaron. 

"You two ready?" Adam asks softly. 

"As ever," I reply. I make sure my pistol is loaded, tucking it into my belt and hiding it under my shirt. 

Aaron nods, staying quiet. I had taken the time between when Adam left earlier and now to alter my plan slightly, so that if this ends up being a trap, I have a plan to get Aaron and I out of here as quickly as possible.

"Right. Stay as silent as possible. Keep your weapons on hand at all times," he instructs. "If you somehow catch something I don't, tug on my bag."

Aaron and I nod.

He jerks his head to the door and motions for us to follow.

The area around us is pretty much dark, except for the beam of Adam's flashlight. We walk in a single-file line, Adam leading, me in the middle, and Aaron behind me, still completely silent.

My hand rests on the hilt of my knife, the more silent of my weapons, as voices start up somewhere in front of us. Adam pauses, before ushering us into the shadows while he turns off his flashlight.

A group of men pass by, talking about none other than me.

"The bitch should just give up if she knows what's good for her," one man says.

Another man scoffs. "There's a reason most of the Escapees are guys. Women don't know when to submit."

"Well, she made it this far," a third man points out.

"Yeah. Only because she had others to back her up," the first man retorts.

"Still. She didn't die. That's more than can be said for others," the third man points out.

"Meh. She's good for some things. With her attitude, I wouldn't be surprised if she paid for her safety in more than one way."

I bristle at the last comment. 

Okay. So, I'm used to people talking about me like I'm trash. It's supposed to be a tactic to make me angry. But insinuating that I... use my body to pay for safe passage... That's just plain insulting.

Aaron taps my shoulder, knowing all too well that their comments are beyond insulting. He shakes his head, giving me a knowing look. I smile thinly, turning back around. The men walk past us, still talking and completely oblivious. I resist the urge to roll my eyes at them as Adam motions for us to continue on.

We continue walking, and I take note of exactly where we are, so if Aaron and I have to backtrack, we know where to go.

After a moment of sneaking through the dark areas, Adam pulls us to a stop and we duck behind a vacant tent.

"You see those vehicles over there?" he whispers. "The Jeeps?"

The Jeeps in question are across the lot we're in, surrounded by chain-link fence and guarded by two men with snipers of some sort. 

Aaron and I nod our consent. 

"Those are where we're heading. There's only one entrance that we can get through, and the other exit we can only get through if we have a car to leave. It's the only proper exit around here."

"So we have to sneak all the way over there, take out the guards, steal a Jeep, hotwire it, and then get through the exit without setting out an alarm?" I ask.

"It's simpler than that. There's a convoy going out later tonight. We get in a Jeep, hide, wait, and when the gates open, we depart from the group."

"How do we do that without alerting anybody that we're straying?" Aaron asks. "Safety precautions should prevent that from happening."

"Give me more credit," Adam huffs.

"How?! For all we know, you're leading us into a trap!" Aaron argues.

I place a hand on Aaron's chest and move him back, turning to Adam. "Aaron's right, we don't know if we can trust you."

Adam opens his mouth, probably to try defending himself, but I hold a hand up.

"But I don't think we have any reason to doubt you as of yet. Your ulterior motive, whatever it is, is benefiting us all in the end." I shrug. "So I'm trusting you. But if you pull anything, don't think I'll hesitate in putting a bullet through your skull, Adam. You've given no reason for us not to trust you aside from some story that you could have made up about now liking it here. I'm just letting you know what you have to lose if you betray us - your life."

Adam nods slowly. "Great. Like I said, you need to give me more credit."

"I give you enough credit, Adam. Doesn't mean I trust you. Please, lead on."

Adam sighs and begins to lay out our plan. 

According to him, our prison is an abandoned lot somewhere a little ways away from where we were kidnapped. It's square, with our prison as the only solid structure in the entire settlement. The vehicles are the only way in and out that everyone knows of. There are a few... illegal exits in the fence on each side of the square, hidden either in the ground or in the fence itself. 

To get to the vehicles with less chance of being spotted, we have to stay behind the tents, weaving through the rows of them. Then, we have to head to the larger tent usually associated with food rations and large events such as trials and public executions. Charming. From there we have to get through the entrance, where, by the time we get there with Adam's calculations, the guards should be taking shifts. We'll climb the fence, hop over, and get to one of the furthest vehicles, where we'll hide for thirty minutes or so for the exit gate to open. And when we're out, we're home free. Or so Adam claims.

I nod. "Seems flawless," I drawl sarcastically.

Adam sighs. "Look, if anything happens and it fails-" 

"Which it probably will," Aaron cuts in.

"-then you two will move on without me and get the hell out of here. You're my priority," he finishes, ignoring Aaron's comment.

I smile thinly. "I'm taking you up on that, Adam. Otherwise you're going to die. Just as a reminder."

"Heh," Adam replies. "Got it."

"We're going to die," Aaron mutters, so only I catch it. I ignore him.

Our trek across the settlement is fairly uneventful, aside from a few close calls and each of us in turn wanting to stab someone's eye out for either insulting or degrading us three either separately or as a whole. Assholes, the lot of them.

We're about three quarters of the way there when our stroke of luck falls through. An older man spots Adam lurking in half shadow decked with two guns, a flashlight, and a backpack presumably equipped with survival gear. Not exactly the best impression to give to a man who has a gun on his hip and apparently a very loud voice.

Adam lets out a low curse, and I happily do likewise. Damn our luck. Fate has it out for us.

Aaron pulls me back by my backpack to avoid discovery as a whole group of men hold Adam at gunpoint.

"We can make a run for it," Aaron hisses into my ear.

"Are you serious?!" I hiss back.

"Dead," Aaron replies.

"Do you know how to drive a damn Jeep?" I ask him.

He hesitates. "No..."

"Neither do I!" I growl. "And crash courses aren't exactly my forte. I'm willing to bet Adam does, though."

"Damn it all," Aaron grumbles.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," I agree.

He sighs and pulls his knife from his belt. I grab my gun, while watching Adam try negotiating with the surprisingly bloodthirsty men.

I yank Adam back as the first man grabs for him, firing a bullet at the man. Nothing to kill him, just bad enough to incapacitate him.

Adam grabs my wrist, dragging me in front of him, ultimately exposing me to the enemy. Aaron lets out a roll of profanity, trying to shove past Adam but failing as the aforementioned traitor pokes a knife at my back.

"Trust me," he hisses into my ear.

"You're holding a knife to my back," I reply. "How in Hell am I supposed to trust you?!"

"Would I set you up with so much to lose?" he argues.

"Uh, lemme think. ... Yes!"

"Dammit, Bryna, just go along with it."

Apparently, having Adam's father after them for killing a valuable resource is worse than killing the traitor and his partners in crime. They allow us to go through, albeit reluctantly, and we're pretty much home free.

Until Adam's demented father shows up when we're at the gate, flanked with perhaps the entire male population of the camp.

Adam gives me a boost over the gate, and I pray that my injuries will pull through for now.

I make it to the other side, wincing as the impact jars my leg and ribs, and duck behind a vehicle as the bullets start ringing out. Aaron's the second one over, and I cover for him behind the safety of the Jeep as he makes it over to me.

Adam makes it over, helping us fire for a moment before ushering us to a vehicle closer to the exit.

Marcus's men appear as we're approaching the Jeep, surrounding us completely.

Adam freezes, before turning to me dejectedly. "I'm sorry for this, Bryna."

Before I can react, there's a gun against my temple, Adam behind the trigger.

"What the hell?!" Aaron shouts, whipping put his own gun.

"Suppose you've never been double-crossed before," Adam muses.

"He has. I have too. And I'm near goddamn tired of it," I hiss. Without warning, I step forward, bring my knee up, and knee the damn traitor in his family jewels, knocking the gun out of his hand in the process.

He doubles over in pain, and I grab his spare gun, firing multiple shots in rapid succession at the men around us. I kick Adam in the knee, allowing him to fall over, and then fire the promised bullet through the spot between his neck and shoulder.

Aaron fires at the men around us, before shoving me into the open driver's seat and leaping over the hood, sliding into the passenger's seat via the shattered window.

"Keys!" I inform Aaron, who files through the dashboard. I open the sun-visor, and then the center console before finding them. I put then into the ignition and turn it until I hear the blissful start of the engine. I look at the lever to my right, and on the assumption that the capital "D" on there means drive, I move the lever into place and press on the pedal.

The Jeep shoots forward, and I yank on the seat-belt, clicking it into place as the bullets start again.

"Idiots never aim for the tires," Aaron mumbles, holding on to his seat for dear life as we speed through the chain link gate.

I flinch instinctively, but keep my foot on the pedal as we zoom out of range.

"I thought you couldn't drive," Aaron says.

"So did I. Apparently, I work extremely well under pressure. Guess crash courses work well, contrary to my previous speculation."

Aaron chuckles. "Fair enough."

I turn on the over-light and look around for the headlight button, because God forbid I run into something and cause us to crash.

Aaron reaches over me and twists one of the knobs, turning on the headlights.
I look at him, raising an eyebrow.

He shrugs. "My mom owned a Jeep. I remembered where the buttons were."

I sigh, shaking my head, and continue driving.

~~~

After awhile, Aaron goes to sleep, and I'm left on my lonesome, running through everything in my head.

I'm almost there, Bryan. I'm almost safe, just like you always wanted.

I'm not aware of the tears until they spill out of my eyes and onto my cheeks, hot and plentiful. I blink them away, wanting to focus on my driving without worrying about crashing.

Damn it, I'm not frickin' crying over my dead brother right now. I had almost seven years to do that. There is no way in hell I'm starting now of all times.

Despite that, the tears keep falling, and I give up on my efforts of trying to keep it in.

I sniffle, and that's when Aaron wakes up. Quickly, I wipe the tears from my eyes and focus on the road, not bothering to say anything to him.

"Brie...?" he asks in a voice heavy with exhaustion.

"Yes, Aaron?" I ask, cringing at my weepy tone.

He hesitates, then lays a hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright? Do you want to trade spots?"

I clear my throat, wiping a tear before it can fall. "I'm fine," I assure him.

"No you're not, Bryna. What's wrong?"

I sigh, in no mood to argue. "Everything, Aaron. Everything. Our country has been taken over by a madwoman, I watched my parents die before getting put into a camp where I was beaten and watched my brother take punishments meant for me. Then my brother died in front of my goddamn eyes, leaving me in solitude for two entire years before I met the guy who then betrayed me four years later. I managed to lose all of my friends in that amount of time, and I have nothing but freedom waiting for me in Rhode Island. I'm completely alone now."

Aaron's quiet for a moment, before cupping my face and wiping a tear off my cheek. "You're not alone, Brie. You've got me, and that has to count for something, right?"

I look at him, smiling softly. "Yeah."

"I'm not going anywhere, Bryna. I promise you that.  You're stuck with me now."

I laugh softly. "I can live with that," I admit.

He chuckles and removes his hand from my cheek, choosing to rest it on my knee instead.

He doesn't remove it for the rest of the night.

:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:

So, okay. I had this ready to publish on time, and then for some reason it didn't publish.

Sorry this is late, but I finally got the climax written out. Took forever to get it how I wanted it. I'm going to definitely delve into more detail when my laptop is working again, but this is the finished product as of now.

What do we think? Did Adam really betray them, or was it a spur of the moment deal? What about Aaron and Bryna? What do we think about them now?

Alright. That's everything.

Off to go plot more twists,

-Musical_Author