"That's a lot of guns," Ted whispered.

He and Naomi stood up.

"We should take them!" Naomi said spontaneously. Clearly, the previous shock had left her.

"What?! No, we don't know who these belong to!" Ted argued.

Naomi stepped closer to him. His heart raced- not because she was inches from his face, but because they'd found a random briefcase filled with guns in what appeared to be an abandoned city.

"Listen to me," she whispered softly. "Whoever owns these guns is probably not a good person. For all we know, they could belong to the idiot who kidnapped my sister. Therefore they should be in the hands of responsible people, such as ourselves."

"Naomi," Ted whispered back, although he could not hide the worry in his voice. Naomi pressed a pistol to his hand. "I don't even know how to fire a gun."

Naomi finally backed up when he took it. She spoke a little louder. "Eh, don't worry. We probably won't need them anyways. I'll show you when there's time."

"Um thanks, I guess..." he looked away shyly.

Naomi almost laughed out loud. The innocent and worried look on his face was somewhat comical to her.

She smiled as she looked at his averted eyes. "No pro-"

His eyes met hers at the exact moment a familiar siren sounded.

"Crap! The police are here!" Naomi ran a hand across her face in distress.

"Hurry! To the car!" Ted called out.

The trio sprinted out of the old mall and across the empty streets. It wasn't until halfway that Britney noticed Naomi's new accessory.

"What are you carrying?" she sputtered between breaths.

"We found it in that building. It has a bunch of guns. Pistols, to be exact," Naomi had better control of her voice. "Stop."

They slowed down to a halt.

"Take one," Naomi said, pulling a handgun out of the briefcase.

"This is insane!" Britney gripped the sides of her head.

"Come on, we have to get to the car. NOW!" Ted pressured them.

Britney looked at the pistol, away, then back and snatched the pistol. The three began to run again. Suddenly, they stopped.

A car, not belonging to them, was parked in the center of the street. In front of the car were two women- an older one and a younger one. One white, one black.

"Put your hands up! The police are on their way!" The older woman commanded while holding out her own firearm. She wore a high bun and dressed in a blue blazer and grey slacks.

"Shit!" Naomi stomped.

***

"Mary, what's happening out there?" Julia quietly asked, scooting closer to Mary.

"I'm not sure..." Mary whispered.

Julia turned her head and took a glance at the window. She let out a gasp.

"What is it? What do you see?" Mary's questions rushed out faster than she'd intended to.

"Naomi! She's talking to us outside the window."

"What's she saying?"

After a brief pause, Julia answered. "She said don't open the window. She also said don't get out of the car."

"Oh gosh... What the heck is going on out there?"

Julia turned back to Mary. "Mary, I'm scared!"

She began to whimper. Mary held her tight. "Don't be. I'm going to take care of you, I promise!"

***

"Everyone, pull out your guns!" Naomi ordered.

Britney obeyed.

Ted looked at her hard and shook his head. He didn't know how to fire a gun. Even if he did, there was no way he'd shoot another living person. Naomi raised her eyebrows impatiently and nodded at the gun in his hand. At last, he looked away and raised it.

"Leave us alone or we'll shoot!" Naomi shouted.

"Go ahead and shoot. I'm not scared of you," the older white woman mocked.

"I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice," Naomi squinted.

She cocked the pistol, aimed it up, and shot.. into the sky. She didn't have the heart to kill someone. Unfortunately, she wouldn't have killed anyone either if she had dared point it at either of the unknown women.

"What the?" Naomi's eyes widened as random pieces of paper blew around the soft breeze.

"Is that the best you can do?" the older woman cackled. "Aim it at ME this time."

Rage filled within Naomi, and in her mind, she knew that the woman wouldn't be affected by the bullet. The three shot at once, multiple times to see if their shots had the same effect.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Britney said aloud.

"You see? Those guns- well, open the cylinder and see for yourselves," the woman interjected.

They did as told. And gasped.

"What the hell?! They're filled with paper!" Naomi screamed. She inhaled deeply and shouted louder than before. "They're filled with mother fucking PAPER BULLETS!"

The older white woman threw her head back and cackled hideously. The woman beside her stared blankly into the distance. Unlike the white woman, she wore casual clothes.

Alas, the quiet woman spoke. "Morgan, I'll be waiting in the car."

Morgan turned around and nodded in approval. As the silent woman walked away, two officers walked up and stood on either side of the screeching woman.

She held her head high and rested her hands upon her hips. Looking down at them with a smug smile, she announced, "You delinquents are under arrest for breaking into restricted areas and private property."

"Are you kidding me? No one even works here!" Naomi argued.

"That still gives you no right to break the law. Officers, I'll leave the rest to you." She walked away, her heels clicking noisily on the street.

"Guys!" Ted whispered loudly. "Mary and Julia are running away."

They cast a sideways glance to the area where they'd parked the car.

"What the..." Naomi watched as Mary quietly shut the car door and took hold of Julia's hand. Away they went.

"Look on the bright side," said Britney. "Maybe she'll go back and tell Lena and Maya to bail us out of jail."

"That is, if she even makes it," Ted added hopelessly.

"Shush, someone will find her," Britney scolded.

The two officers turned around and took off their hats.

"Hello, most honored officer," they greeted simultaneously.

The trio turned their attention away from the runaways to look at the officers.

A younger and handsome officer returned the greeting. "Why thank you, officers," he grinned.

Britney glanced and did a double-take. Was that really Jack?!

***

Britney found herself sitting next to "the most honored police officer" in his "most honored vehicle". She rolled her eyes. Why couldn't she just sit in the back with the rest of the said delinquents?

One of the other officers passed by Jack's window and propped an elbow on the roof of the car. "Ya sure you want that lady sitting next to you on the passenger seat? She looks like a handful," he grinned, clearly amused.

Britney felt offended. Jack laughed. She gave him a look. He ignored it.

"Nah, it's alright," he answered. Glancing at Britney, he said, "I'm sure she won't do anything." He gave a sideways smirk. Britney rolled her eyes and looked away.

"HA HA! Jack, if you come back with scars we're all going to laugh at you," the cop teased.

Jack and the cop cracked up together. Finally, Jack said his goodbyes. "See you later, I have to drop them off at the police station."

He rolled up the window and started driving the police car. Jack drove in silence as Britney watched the deserted buildings pass by the window. She was grateful they hadn't caught Mary and Julia, but couldn't help feeling a little worried. Would they really find their way back from a place that was five hours away from home?

In the back seat sat Ted and Naomi. Naomi tapped her foot nervously while looking out the window. Stupid police, they never helped. What will the crew think of her when they realize that the police recognizes her? Will they blame her for getting caught? Will they regret joining her rescue mission? She closed her eyes. Thinking that way wouldn't get her anywhere.

Ted, meanwhile, stared pensively at his knees. It was the only place he could look without becoming distinctively aware of his present situation. Turns out, there was nowhere he could look to forget his reality. He could not believe he got arrested. Worse, by Lena's brother Jack! He placed his hand over his mouth and gripped his elbow with the other hand. What is Lena going to think? Is she going to lose her trust in him?

Britney felt a burning in her chest. It wasn't a new feeling, however. It had always been there, though it would become more evident whenever certain things happened. Now was a good time to spew some fire.

"Why didn't you tell us that you were an officer when you came to visit Lena?" she said accusingly while glaring at Jack.

Jack kept his eyes on the road and shrugged. "I was going to, but you left early."

Britney squeezed her fists until her knuckles went white. That was NO excuse!

"Hey! Can we have some privacy back here?" a female voice called from behind.

"Fine, but don't try to escape," Jack responded sternly.

Naomi bit her lip and faced the guy sitting next to her.

"Te- Ted," she stuttered. She wondered if he could hear her heart pounding as loud as she heard it.

Ted looked up from his knees with a shocked expression. He'd never heard Naomi's voice shakey before... Come to think of it, he'd never really seen her look nervous. She was always the exact opposite of nervous.

He coughed softly and composed himself. "Yes?"

Naomi reached down and took off her seatbelt. He stared with bewilderment as the seatbelt slithered over her shoulder and to its original location. She scooted closer... and closer until their hips were inches apart.

"I have something to tell you," she said nervously while staring at her own hands resting on her lap. Except, they weren't really resting. She was clutching the fabric on her dark jeans.

Ted gulped. "What is it," he asked, once again averting his eyes.

Naomi took a deep breath and sighed. "Why don't I just show you..."

She looked up and placed her hands on his cheeks. Slowly, she raised her head and brought her lips to his. She closed her eyes as they connected.

Ted's heart rate accelerated. He couldn't deny the simple fact that he was surprised. He had no idea Naomi liked him. In fact, he wasn't even sure if he liked her back. Another girl kept coming to mind. Could it be.. he liked both?

Ted softly pulled away.

"What's wrong?" she asked timidly.

Ted sighed. "I'm sorry Naomi, but I have feelings for someone else."

Naomi finally found the courage to look into his eyes. She crossed her arms and disclosed, "You like Mary, don't you?"

Ted raised his eyebrows in surprise. "How did you-"

"I see the way you guys look at each other," she said sadly, once again looking away from his gaze. She turned around, ready to scoot back to her former seat. "If only you'd look at me the same way," she murmured.

"Naomi..."

She turned back to face him. "I'm ok with whoever you choose.. really."

He let out another sigh, not meeting her eyes either. "This is really hard, Naomi. I'll have to think about it."