A Whole New Crowd

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

We got through the second door and the tunnel was dark again, but we took off. If something was in the way, we were going through it. I glanced back to make sure Gray was behind me. He was. A fierce expression was on his face, and I knew he wasn’t going to die. Neither of us were. As we soared down the tunnel, I began to think ahead. They would have men coming behind us, who would be weighed down by guns, vests, and anything else they had to wear for a uniform. We had a slight advantage, but they would radio ahead. Men would probably be waiting at the opening where I came in. They would try to cut us off.
We had to get there first.
A new burst of adrenalin came over me and I ran faster. Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw Gray falling behind. Our eyes met and a shared look passed between us. We had to keep going or we’d die. It was that simple. His jaw hardened and he bent lower, pumping his arms faster. He was back on my heels again.
Their truck had to leave the school parking lot. They would have to go back into town, then through two stoplights before it could turn around. It would have to circle behind the field. We could do this. We could beat them. Maybe.
Then I heard a gasp, followed by a thud, and braked, turning at the same time. Gray had fallen down. He was on the floor. His ankle was turned sideways, and he was bent over, grabbing it with a hand. The other was holding him up. He looked up, his eyes wide with panic. We both knew what this meant. I couldn’t carry him. We were losing our small window.
The blood drained from his face and beads of sweat formed over the top of his lip. He grimaced, bared his teeth, and then waved at me. It was a weak gesture and his hand dropped back to his ankle. He choked out, “Go. You can still get away.”
“No.” I shook my head.
“Taryn!”
I looked around, tuning him out. I had come for him. I wasn’t leaving without him.
“Go, Taryn. What are you doing?”
“I’m looking for something. Maybe I can use a stick to brace your ankle and you could still run then?” I was searching, scanning everywhere. The panic was burrowing deeper inside of me, poisoning every cell of my body. My chest was tight and I knew I was panting from running, but I shoved all of that out of my mind.
The goal was to save Gray. I just needed help. My eyes kept searching for something… Then we heard footsteps in the tunnel. My heart sunk. Gray glanced to where we had come from, but they weren’t coming from there. They were coming from where I had first entered the tunnel. We were too late. They had already cut us off and there was no escape. We were trapped.
A wrangled cry ripped up from the bottom of my throat and I dropped to my knees beside Gray. I was frantic. There had to be something—the footsteps were louder, they were almost on us.
“God,” a whimper left me. I couldn’t find anything. Then I began patting myself down. Did I have something on me that I could use? My knife—Gray wrapped his hand around mine and said, so damn softly, “Taryn. You have to go.”
I shook my head. I wouldn’t leave him.
His hand squeezed mine. “It might not be too late for you. It’s too late for me. You know this. Go, Taryn. Thank you for trying.”
Oh my god. A sob tore from me, but I wasn’t crying. I wouldn’t. There had to be something. “No, Gray. No.”
“Taryn—”
I shoved his hand off and glared at him. “I said no.” Then I yanked my knife out, tore off the bottom of my shirt, put the knife next to his ankle, and tied my shirt around it. I yanked on the knot, making it tighter, and then I grabbed Gray’s chin and forced him to stare into my eyes. “Get. The. F*ck. Up.”
He gave me a half grin, but I could see the strain. Pain flashed over his face and he grimaced. “You’re such a bitch.”
“Yes.” I stood, grabbed him by both arms, and yanked him up. “I’m also selfish, and on that note, we’re leaving. I don’t give a shit how long it takes us.” I pulled out the gun and held it in front of me.
”Hold with both hands. Keep the thumbs separate. Firm grip. Support it and it will support you.”
Jace’s instructions came back to me and I closed my eyes for a moment. We couldn’t run any further, but there weren’t a lot of footsteps. There was still hope. I could shoot them and we could keep going. Taking a breath, I let it out. Inhale. Exhale. Gray stood behind me and I waited, my heartbeat sounding in my eardrums. The person was close.
”If you shoot, aim for the chest, it’s the biggest target. The shoulder will wing. The leg will stop them. The gun is an extension of your arm. It’s a part of you. The firmer the grip, the better your aim will be.” Jace had been standing close to me when he said those words. We were at a gun range. It was years ago, but it was now too. I felt Jace there. He was still teaching me, as I was getting ready to shoot his men.
Gray knew what I was doing. He placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me support and I raised my gun.
Two seconds.
I wasn’t going to shoot the shoulder or the leg. I was going to shoot the chest. Whoever was coming, it was him or us. It was going to be him.
One second.
My throat was suddenly dry. My finger went to the trigger. I was ready.
“Taryn!”
My finger started to squeeze, but I saw who it was and a guttural scream ripped from me. I dropped the gun, and bent over as I dry heaved. My heart was pounding. Oh god. I lifted my eyes back up, horrified. It was Tray. I choked out, “I almost shot you.”
His eyes were wide, so wide that the whites of his eyes blinded me. He raked a hand through his hair, but dropped it and shook his head. “We have to go.”
A thousand questions flashed through my head. What was he doing there? What did it mean? A look passed between us and we both knew there wasn’t time. I jerked my head in a nod, then went to retrieve the gun. Tray went to Gray, studying his ankle. “Can you run?”
“Yes,” I said. He would have to.
“No,” Gray said, casting me a wary look. “She braced it with her knife, but I can’t run.”
Tray clipped his head in a nod, then moved so he was in front of Gray. “Get on my back. I’ll carry you.”
Relief crashed through me, causing a riptide of hope among the panic and terror. We weren’t done. We could still get out of this.
Gray glanced at me. He bit down on his lip.
I stepped towards him. The relief faded and the panic surged once more. My voice trembled, “Get on him.”
“Taryn,” he started, but Tray kneeled in front of him.
Gray frowned, and then Tray threw him over his shoulder. He grinned at me. “Let’s go.”
I nodded and started forward again, putting the safety back on, but I kept it in my hand.
Tray was right behind me.
Gray groaned. “My head is in your crotch.”
“Yeah. Don’t get too excited.”
There was laughter in Tray’s voice. Still going, I closed my eyes as the relief came back in. We could do this. As we kept running, I felt Tray behind me. He was urging me faster so I kicked it up a notch. We needed to get out before they headed us off. Another quarter mile passed. Tray’s breathing was steady. I glanced back. He had a firm grip on Gray, who had wrapped his arms around Tray’s torso to keep from bouncing around.
Could we go faster? The unspoken question passed between us and Tray nodded. He moved around me and began to lead. I couldn’t smile. I couldn’t enjoy this, but the sight of him pulling ahead of me almost brought tears to my eyes.
I pushed forward with a new burst of speed, and we were sprinting, going faster than Gray and I had been going.
We would make it. I felt it in my gut.
Seeing light in the distance, I shouted at Tray, “Did you leave the door open?”
“Yes.” He didn’t look back. He kept going forward.
“Is your brother coming?” I was shouting.
Tray didn’t answer.
“Tray?”
He still didn’t answer.
My heart dropped. We had no support. I had known, but I had hoped they would come for me. “TRAY!”
A scowl formed on his face and he glanced at me. “They weren’t coming.” He held my gaze for a second. “Even for you. Chance said they would have to canvas the school first, but the pep rally put everything off.”
They weren’t coming, echoed in my head. They weren’t coming, but he had.
“Thank you.”
He looked over at me again. I had so much more to say. I was sorry for the hotel. I was sorry that I didn’t know how conflicted I was about Jace. I was sorry for bringing him into all this. But I didn’t say any of it. We were almost to the door. There wasn’t enough time.
“I’m here, Taryn.”
My heart pounded, not from the adrenalin.
He added, “I came.”
“I meant what I texted you.”
“I know.”
When we made it to the door, we paused, slowing down to go outside, but I braked as I saw that the tunnel kept going. I hadn’t noticed it when I entered. Tray was outside, but he stopped and turned. I heard his feet on the gravel. Then he asked, “What is it?”
“This tunnel. I bet it goes to the river.” That made sense. It was how they shipped their product out. My heart started pounding again. Jace’s probably had a secret entrance down there.
“Taryn, we have to go—” As he said that, we heard shouts from the road.
I shook my head. Three of us couldn’t hide. They would find us. Hearing the engine of their truck and more shouting, I said, “They’re at the front of the field.”
Tray frowned at me.
I looked around. “Did you drive?”
“No. I walked in.”
We had Gray. What could we do?
“Taryn, they’ll search the woods for us.” They would find us. That was what he didn’t say.
A different plan began to form. “Okay.” I shoved down the fear and looked around. “There.” Pointing at a clump of trees, I said, “Put Gray there.”
“What?” He lifted his head from Tray’s side.
Holding onto him so he wouldn’t fall and reinjure himself, Tray helped him down so Gray was standing on his own again. Then he started for the clump of trees, and called out from behind him, “What are you thinking?”
“Gray, you stay there and hide. We’ll draw them into the tunnel. They’ll follow us and won’t look for you.”
Tray helped him sit down, but Gray cried out, “What are you thinking? Stop doing this, Taryn. Whatever you’re doing, just stop it. We can all hide.”
Tray hesitated. I waved him back over. “Text your brother, to tell him where Gray is.”
“What are you two going to do?” Gray was shouting at me. “You can’t jump into the river, Taryn. There’s a goddamn cliff. It’s higher than what Olympic divers do. You can’t do that. No way.”
Tray had pulled his phone out. He was already texting.
“I know.” A knot worked its way up from my stomach, resting at the top of my throat. “I bet it’s how they’re smuggling whatever they keep in here. They use the tunnel so that means there’s an entrance down there. We can try for it.”
The truck was right there. A few more seconds and they would see us.
“We have to go. Gray, get down.”
Tray reached for me. His hand wrapped around my arm and he pulled me close. A tender look was in his eyes and for an earth-shattering moment, time suspended. Was he going to say it too? Then he murmured, releasing me at the same time, “We have to make sure they see us.”
Oh. It felt like an anchor dropped to my feet. I forced myself to nod. “Yeah. Good plan.”
“We can close the door.” Spotting a piece of metal laying on the ground, he picked it up. “We can use this to wedge it closed. They’ll still get it opened, but it’ll slow them down.”
It would give us another head start.
The truck was closer. I started the countdown in my head. Three seconds. I moved back into the tunnel. I glanced at where we had come from, but there was no sound coming from that way.
Two seconds.
Tray was standing in front of me. He gripped the beam tighter.
I looked for Gray, but he was gone.
One second.
Now.
The truck veered around the last bend. Four guards were standing in the back of the truck. Each had a rifle in their hands and as they saw us, they jumped out of the truck before it stopped. They were sprinting for us. Tray heaved the door shut, then wedged the beam at the bottom of the door. They could still open it, but the beam would hold the door shut for a little longer.
Then he turned, his hand touched my back, and we moved as one. We sprang forward.
We soared down the tunnel. Tray was moving at such a fast pace, I couldn’t keep up. My lungs were straining. My legs stretched to the farthest stride they could go, and I pumped my arms, propelling forward. We had to get there. We had to find Jace’s exit.
As we kept going, they were pounding on the door behind us. Gunshots sounded out, then silence for a second, and a deep thud after that.
“Don’t pay attention to them.” Tray grabbed my wrist. He was pulling me behind him now. “The more you pay attention, the more it’ll slow you down. Keep sprinting, Taryn.”
I felt his strength. I felt his calm. His hand gentled, slid to fit into mine, and he squeezed my hand. We ran side by side and then I stopped hearing the men behind us. We were getting closer to the river. The current was slamming against rocks below, but we could hear it echoing through the tunnel. It was becoming deafening and we wouldn’t have heard the guards anymore anyway.
The tunnel was becoming lighter. We were almost to the end and then the tunnel suddenly straightened and we were there.
The edge was right in front of us. Tray twisted, throwing his body to the side. A scream ripped from me. I was going over. I couldn’t stop myself, but Tray yanked me back. I fell into his body and he wrapped his arms around me, shielding my fall with his body. His shoulder slammed hard against the wall and he grunted from the impact, but we had stopped. We hadn’t hurled off the edge.
“Shit.” His voice was right next to my ear. He tightened his arms around me, holding me for a moment. “That was close.”
The drop to the river was high. The tunnel was cut off. There was no platform. It was a complete drop to the river. Even the embankment was dangerous. Boulders and rock riddled the path to the river. If we jumped, we could hit the rocks. Dead. If we jumped and avoided the rocks, we’d be pulled under from the current. Dead again.
Tray was inspecting it with me. “We’re screwed.” He put it perfectly.