Staying Strong


Chapter 2

The metal handcuffs chaffed his wrists as he finally awoke from his short-lived rest. Mac tried to move, but he found to be extremely restricted. As his eyes adjusted to the extremely uneven lighting of the room, he attempted to figure out where he was.

He quickly figured out that the cuffs that were causing the pain in his wrists were held up with a large length of chain. The chain was linked to the ceiling, which was much higher than a regular one, that had to be at least 10 meters high. The uncomfortable position made the blonde-haired agent start to realise how vulnerable he really was.

Mac would have made a move to call or scream for help, but some-kind of gag made that kind of escape practically impossible. Besides, he had no doubt that the 'bad guys' were nearby… waiting.

A small breeze brushed across Mac's face and chest, bringing his attention to the fact that his shirt was missing. His shirt, along with his socks, shoes, belt. He could also feel the absence of his pocket knife from his back pocket.

He also began to notice the smell – fish and salt. Judging by the building and the smell, along with the crates in the back of the room, Mac came to the conclusion that he near the ocean – most likely at the local docks.

The strain from the weight of his body against his hands was starting to make his entire body ache. He reached, with his feet, to rest some of his weight on the floor, but it wasn't working. The Phoenix agent was hung at the worst height. He stretched out, but his toes could only just scape the ground.

As much as his hands and body in general ached, a sharp and splitting pain in his back was starting to overtake his focus. The bomb. Of course, he didn't make it out there unscathed. It was most likely a burn, and judging by his own pain, it was probably quite serious.

Just as his mind began to drift off from the pain, the bulky door was swung open.


"I can't just sit here and do nothing, Matty!" Jack's voice was loud but obviously scared and frustrated.

"Jack, I've told you – there isn't anything we can do until I have some kind of –"

"Guys, guys!" Riley chimed in, snappy and ready to explode. "I've found something. There was a black SUV with stolen plates heading away from Mac's place a few minutes after the explosion was reported. Whoever was driving managed to avoid traffic cameras but, I used the security cameras for a bunch of café's and service stations to pinpoint the direction they went."

A virtual map appeared on the screen in front of the team and a large area of it was shaded blue. "This is the places they could have gone within that time-frame." The young hacker finished her sentence, seemingly out of breath.

"Well, that's a start, good work Riley." Matty stated, giving her a caring glance before returning her focus to the map. "Now let's narrow down this list. Everyone get to work."