Chapter 3: Re-Captured

Heinrick saw the recognition flash in the blonde's eyes, and he smiled. "Ah, so at least someone remembers who I am," he said, taking a step towards the blonde. "Now, I must remember you. Who could ever forget those beautiful blue eyes?" He turned back to the brown-haired man. "I'm going to give you two options. The first option is that you stop what you're doing right now and come with me. Nobody gets hurt. Not yet, at least. The second option, you can keep attempting to blow up the boat and I kill you and your blonde friend. What do you choose?"

Heinrick then walked over to Brittany and got her to look at him with by lifting her chin up, so they were face to face. Hundreds of horrible memories flashed through Brittany's mind. She froze, unable to forget the horrors that Heinrick had unleashed upon her and her family.

"Come on darling," the man was in his later forties, with gray hair showing up at his hairline. Britt still recognized the dark, black eyes that had caused her to have nightmares. "Your family, and that pretty little girlfriend of yours. Well, they got what they deserved. I couldn't stand to see those blue eyes hurt, but they made the choice to fight against me, and look where that got them."

Britt pulled out her knife and gave him a cut on his cheek. The man stood back a step. "That wasn't smart." He said, hitting the girl and knocking her out cold as her head slammed against one the crates holding the money. Heinrick then turned to the brown-haired man and did the same, knocking him out as well. He grabbed both of them and began to drag their unconscious bodies out of the boat and towards the stairs which lead back to land.

What Heinrich didn't know was that Skylar had managed to activate one of the bombs, and only one bomb was enough. The explosion caused a loud booming sound, and chunks of wood flew everywhere while smoke filled the air. Anna, who had just finished taking out a guard, heard the explosion and smiled. "They did it!" She yelled, "They did it!"

"Has anyone heard from Britt or Sky?" Josh asked through their walkie talkie system as he made his way back to the pier. "I haven't heard them since they-" that was when he stopped dead in his tracks. He saw a dark figure dragging their Britt and Skylar towards one of the trucks.

"Take these two to the camp, we're going to have some fun tonight." Heinrick stated, throwing the two into one of the trucks.

"Fuck," Josh said, making sure to stay hidden.

Anna heard Josh curse over the walkie talkie, and she paused. "Josh, what's wrong?" She asked. No answer came from her brother, so Anna repeated her question. "Josh, what the hell happened? Answer me!"

"They managed to blow up the boat, they were caught and captured. I think they're being taken to the camp." Josh stated, swallowing a lump in his throat. "They're being taken back to the camp where Brittany originally escaped from."

"Oh my god," Anna murmured, her eyes widening in shock. "Oh my god. We have to follow the truck! Can you still see it?"

Josh looked at the truck, and saw it heading north out of the city towards the camp. "It's heading north towards the internment camp. Meet me back at the pier and we'll drive after it."

"Dale, did you hear that? Bring the truck around to the pier and pick up Josh and I," Anna said.

"I'm already on it," Ragsdale replied, putting the key in the ignition and bringing the truck around to the pier. Both Josh and Anna race back to the pier, climbing into the truck before Dale put her foot on the gas, driving up behind the truck.

"Shit, shit, shit." Anna said to herself, her heart beating fast as they made their way to the camp.

Once Heinrick and his followers got to the camp with Britt and Skylar, they dragged the two of them in handcuffs to the courtyard. "Leave the boy," Heinrick said. "Bring the girl, to the interrogation room."

The soldiers did as Heinrick told them to, putting Skylar in a cell and then bringing Brittany to the interrogation room.

Not far behind were Dale, Josh, and Anna. All three of them were terrified. They had succeeded in stopping the mission, but Brittany and Skylar had been captured. Every second that passed, the feeling of dread in Anna's stomach only grew worse.

"Fuck, I hope they're alright." Josh said as Dale pressed her foot on the gas pedal.

"Or even alive." Dale said, driving faster up the road.

"Well, well." Heinrick said, kneeling down before Brittany. She had been strapped down to a chair, and was squealing in horror. Heinrick untied her mouth so she could speak. "I knew I wouldn't forget those blue eyes. It's really too bad that you had to watch your family suffer, to watch your family meet their fate. And then you escaped, only to brought back, right where you belong."

When the blonde didn't speak, Heinrick frowned. "Have you become mute? Speak!" He screamed, slapping her across the face. "I'm sure you've been wanting to kill me for years, haven't you? Well it's a shame, because now I get to kill you."

Brittany sat there silently, watching his black eyes. "I feel sorry for you." She finally spoke up. "To feel the need to kill all these innocent people, to watch people lose their families, what ever happened to you? To make you want to take everything away from me, and from millions of other people, takes only the saddest man in the world, doesn't it. I pity you." She said before getting a deep knife cut to her hand.

"I don't want your pity." Heinrick said, glaring into her eyes. "I just want to see your beautiful, kind blue eyes before I kill you." He continued to glare at Brittany, his eyes never leaving hers. "It will certainly be a shame to not be able to see those eyes again after I kill you. It's no matter. There will be others just like you, others with beautiful blue eyes, and I will kill them too, just like I am going to kill you." He paused, smiling smugly. "And don't even bother hoping that your friends will come rescue you, because if they have any common sense whatsoever, they're already long gone."

Brittany sat there, tears welling up in her eyes. She shut her eyes for a moment before opening them again, feeling her adrenaline kick in as Heinrick brought a different knife over. "You're going to suffer, just like the rest of your family did."

Anna and Josh had hopped out of the truck once they had made it to the camp. Anna had about five different grenades in her pocket, as well as a bunch of backup ammo. "You go and look for Sky," she said. "I'm going to go find Brittany."

Heinrick turned his head and smiled an evil smile. "If you scream, I'll make you suffer more." He said, and he began carving a word into Brittany wrist, causing the girl to squirm and scream out in pain from the sharp knife's blade. He pulled back once he was done and smiled at his word. On Brittany's wrist was the word "alone," and the girl was crying from the pain.

It was actually quite easy for Anna to slip past the guards. She stayed back in the shadows, moving from building to building, until she finally reached the largest one, which she assumed was the main complex. She knew that going in the front doors would be suicide, so she found a side door and used her hunting knife to break the lock. The brunette quickly went inside, shutting the door behind her and surveying her surroundings..

It was oddly quiet in the building, and there were no guards to be seen. Anna held her knife in one hand and her pistol in the other. She walked around cautiously, unsure where to go until she heard a scream that made her face go pale. "Brittany!" Anna muttered to herself, running in the direction of where the scream had come from.

"At least your family didn't die alone like you will." Heinrick whispered in her ear. "At least they had someone to hold them."

Brittany didn't say anything, she just sat there, her voice hoarse from from screaming. She had a feeling this was the end. But just outside of her door, Anna looked through a small hatch, and saw what was going on. Heinrick had a hold of Britt's bloody arm on which he had carved the word into her wrist.

Overcome by a sudden rage, Anna kicked the door open, not even needing to break the lock. A look of shock was on Heinrick's face, and a look of relief on Brittany's. "How the hell did you get in here?" Heinrick demanded, turning towards Anna. "You better turn around right now if you know what's best for you."

Anna gritted her teeth together and raised her pistol. "Never," she growled.

Heinrick smiled and laughed. "Very well," the man said, rushing towards Anna with his knife. The brunette ran towards him as well, aiming the pistol for his head.

Time seemed to slow down as the two ran at each other, Heinrick wielding his knife and Anna with her pistol. Anna was too blinded by her rage to realize that Heinrick's knife had pierced her stomach. She looked down, saw the knife sticking out, and then looked back at Heinrick. "I. Hate. You," she hissed, holding the pistol up and pulling the trigger. She didn't see where she hit the man, though, because she was already on the ground.

Heinrick fell to the ground, wincing in pain. Anna's shot had hit him in the shoulder. Brittany watched in horror, and then she felt a sudden urge to break out of her restraints. "Anna!" She yelled as she broke free. Brittany grabbed Anna and picked her up, running her across the long hall to the medical bay, where they kept the wound healing medicines.

The blonde girl could feel her wrist bleed out, and she was starting to feel woozy and lightheaded as she carried Anna to the medical bay.

Once they got there, she went for the instant healing serum. There was only one left and she was going to use it on Anna. "Breathe Anna, this is going to hurt a little, so just…breathe for me." She said, feeling her blood loss in her wrist increasing. She then gave Anna the shot that would give her the relief and healing she needed right before Brittany herself fell to the ground.

Anna cried out in pain, breathing heavily. Soon, however, the pain subsided. Anna pulled the knife out of her stomach and tossed it on the ground. "Brittany?" She asked, coughing. No response came from the blonde. "Brittany? Are you okay?" Anna said, bending down and picking the blonde up. "Shit," she muttered, looking around for anything she could use to stop the bleeding from her wrist.

"Anna?" Josh's voice called from her walkie talkie. "Anna are you okay? Where's Brittany? Did you find her? I have Skylar here." He called out, waiting for a response.

Brittany lay there on the floor, unconscious. Anna was in a panic, she couldn't let Brittany die. If she did, she'd never be able to live with herself.

Josh continued to talk through the walkie talkie until Anna snapped out of her daze. "Yeah, I'm fine. Heinrick stabbed me but I'm okay. I have Brittany here in the medical bay, and she's unconscious from blood loss. Please, get here quickly! Guards could come any minute," Anna said. She took off one of the sheets from a bed and wrapped it around Brittany's wrist. "There. That should stop the bleeding for now."

The young blonde girl remained unconscious in Anna's arms, her heartbeat was faint but was still alive.

Just then, Skylar and Josh burst through the front door. "Fuck," Josh said. He picked Brittany up and carried her through the hallway as they tried to escape. Skylar went through, unlocking all the doors to the cells, telling the prisoners to run as fast as they could to get out of there. Anna could feel her heart racing as everyone of the prisoners ran through the hallways, outnumbering the numbers of men guarding the hallways.

Once they broke out into the night, Josh, Anna and Skylar ran to their truck. Brittany was still unconscious in Josh's arms once they lay her down in the back seat of the truck. "Drive! Now!"

Ragsdale put her foot on the gas pedal as soon as they all got in the car, and the truck sped away from the camp. It was dark out, but somehow Dale navigated through the trees, and soon they were out on an open road again. Anna finally caught her breath once she was sure that they weren't being followed. "Oh my god. Oh my god," she muttered over and over to herself.

"Breathe Anna, breathe." Josh said, comforting his sister.

"You didn't see what I saw." Anna snapped back, referring to what Heinrick had been doing to Brittany. Torturing her, scaring her, trying to kill her. "If she dies because I didn't get there on time...if she dies because I didn't save her...I don't know what I'll do," the brunette whispered, holding her head in her hands while she tried to fight off tears.

"Hey, hey it's going to be alright." Josh whispered, pulling his sister into a hug. "Don't blame yourself, okay? She made the choice to join us, she knew things weren't always going to go to plan. Just take a couple deep breaths, she's going to be alright." He murmured.

After a while longer Josh went up to help Ragsdale navigate. Anna stayed at Britt's side. She tended to the wounds on Britt's wrist as the girl lay there, lifeless. When Anna saw the actual word carved into Britt's arm, she felt her gut wrench. "Alone," in small but visible letter, were sitting there, deep in Britt's skin.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Anna whispered, a few tears falling down her face. "I'm sorry I didn't get there in time. I'm sorry I let him do this to you. I'm so, so sorry," she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Just then, a cough came from Brittany's lips. It was faint, but when another cough came it was stronger. Brittany's eyes began to flutter open, and she began hyperventilating, thinking she still somehow near Heinrick. The beat of her heart rose, faster and faster. "Where am I?" She said, her eyesight slowly coming back to her, the amount of blood she had lost made her vision blurry.

"We got you out of there," Anna said, quickly wiping away the tears on her face. "We're in the truck now, and we're never going back to that horrible place."

Brittany winced once she felt the pain in her wrist, and she looked down. Seeing what Heinrick had done once the letters became clearer she felt steaming hot tears fall against her cheek.

Anna saw Brittany begin to cry, and her gut wrenched. "I'm so sorry, Brittany. There was so much more I could've done, so much more I should've done. I'm so, so sorry," Anna said, a lump growing in her throat.

THe young girl took Anna's hand in hers. "This isn't your fault, in no way what he did is your fault." She then looked back at what Heinrick had done to her wrist, and then teared "He's right, what he wrote on my wrist. I am alone." Brittany said. "He isolated me, and then made me watch every single one of my family members die. He's the one who made me alone. That's what I am." She said, crying softly.

Anna sat there in silence, not sure how to comfort Brittany. She had never been very good with emotions, and had always tried to stay out of situations where she would have to talk about emotions with other people. "You're not alone anymore, Brittany. You're with us now. You have Dale, Skylar, Josh," the brunette paused, biting her lip, "And you have me."

"But you hate me," Brittany said. "Don't you?" She said, looking at Anna with red, tearstained eyes.

Anna looked into Brittany's eyes. "No, I don't hate you. I never did hate you, Brittany, even though I was a bitch to you. I never hated you, and I never will."

"If you never have hated me, why did you treat me like you did? I've been pretty convinced over the last week or so that you can't stand to have me around." Brittany said, holding her wrist when it stung. When Anna stayed silent for a moment, Brittany spoke up again. "Why, Anna? Talk to me." She said.

"I treated you the way I did because my pride was hurt when we first met. You easily overpowering me made me feel terrible. I felt like I wasn't strong. I felt like I wasn't good enough. That's why," Anna replied, looking down.

"So you treated me the way you did for the last week because I hurt your pride?" Brittany said, feeling a little hurt. "And what changed your mind, seeing me almost lifeless? Did take you that long to swallow your pride, I had to save your ass and almost die in order for you swallow your pride and be nice to me. Yeah, that makes me feel much better." She said, getting choked up and shedding a couple more tears.

"No, no. That's not what I meant. Please don't cry," Anna said, "You're misunderstanding me, Britt. I didn't mean it to come out that way. What I meant is that I-" The brunette stopped talking and looked away from Brittany.

"That you what?" Brittany asked, obviously hurt in more ways than one now. "Just say it, let's see if it can make me feel worse than I already feel." She said, crying at this point.

Anna remained silent, debating on whether or not she should finish her sentence. She really wanted to; she wanted to tell Brittany how she felt, but she didn't want the blonde to hate her. "I-I can't tell you, because you'll be the one to hate me," she said softly. "If I tell you, will you promise that you won't hate me?"

"I promise," Brittany said. "You're still not my favorite person right now, but I promise to forgive you at some point." She said genuinely. "Just tell me, the real reason. Nothing about your fucking pride, give me the honest to God answer."

Anna nodded, then took a few deep breaths. She brought her gaze up to meet Brittany's eyes. "The real reason is that...I think I'm in love with you," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. She immediately looked away, preparing for the blonde to lash out at her.

"What?" Brittany said, not really able to hear or understand what Anna had said. "Can you say it so I can hear you?" She asked, wondering why Anna wouldn't look at her.

Feeling her cheeks turn red with embarrassment, Anna looked away for a few more minutes. "You know what, screw it," Anna muttered to herself. She turned around so she was looking at Brittany once again. "I think I'm in love with you. There. That's the reason."

There was a dead silence between the two of them. Brittany had definitely understood Anna that time, and she had to admit her heart had just sped up a little bit. "Anna, I-"

Anna gulped, knowing what Brittany was going to say. "No, don't say anything. It's fine. I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that. I'm sorry," the brunette said, looking away as tears started to well up in her eyes. Before Brittany could say anything, the truck came to a stop, and Anna got up. "I'm going to go get something for you to eat." She said, trying to keep her voice from sounding shaky. And with that, Anna got out of the truck, leaving Britt under Dale's watch for the time being.

Britt lay there, unable to understand what she was feeling at that moment. She hadn't heard those words in a really long time. Not since her days in the internment camp.

Dale looked over to Brittany, who looked unusually pale. "Hey Britt, is everything okay? You look like you've seen a ghost," the older blonde woman said to her.

"Huh?" The younger girl answered. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just woozy that's all." She said, which wasn't completely untrue. But not completely true either.

Meanwhile, the other three were getting snacks for the road. They had stopped at a rest stop and were looking through the different snacks of the vending machine. Anna was silent, which didn't go unnoticed by Josh and Skylar, but they figured that if the brunette wanted to talk about it, then she would. Once they had gotten some bags of chips and other similar snacks, they went back out to the truck.

"Here. I got you some chips and a water. I hope that's alright," Anna said to Brittany.

The blonde girl kindly nodded, and took the chips and water. "Thank you," she said, as genuinely as she could. An awkward silence happened between the two of them.

Anna nodded, then remained silent as they continued driving. She wanted to know what Brittany was going to say before she interrupted her, but at the same time she didn't, because she feared that she would end up heartbroken. Anna was quiet, even though her thoughts were racing during the internal debate in her head.

On their way to Lincoln throughout the next few days, Brittany and Anna remained distant unless the whole group was together.

Brittany had been wanting to talk to Anna about what had happened the night of England shipment, but Anna would find any excuse not to talk to her. And Brittany could understand why, fear of rejection. The truth was, Brittany was still in love with Hadley, the girl in the photo who she watched die at the camp. But she couldn't bare to hurt Anna anymore than she had already seemed to.

"What's going on sis?" Josh asked. They were getting gas in Missouri, and Brittany was with Skylar and Dale, getting some more snacks. "You've been unusually non-hyperverbal."

"Nothing's 'going on,' Josh. I'm fine. Please just leave me alone," Anna replied, not making eye contact with her older brother. "I'm really not in the mood to talk right now, that's all."

Josh stopped his sister, tucking her hair back and looking her in the eyes. "I know something happened between you and Brittany that night we rescued the people from that camp. I'm not saying you have to tell me right this minute, but just know I'm here to talk alright? You seem upset, and I'm just looking out for you. That's my job as your older brother."

Anna smiled gratefully at Josh. It was only a small smile, but it still said a lot. "Thanks, Josh. I appreciate it, I really do. I don't really wanna talk about it right now, but you'll be the first I talk to when I am ready," the brunette said, still smiling a little bit.

They finished filling up the tank and then Josh got behind the wheel, as it was his turn to drive. Anna chose to sit in the bed of the truck, even though there was enough room in the backseat. She just needed some time to clear her head.

That night when they had stopped in an abandoned campsite, Brittany walked over to the lake, skipping rocks. It was soothing, and got her mind off of everything that was going on at the moment.

Anna rolled out her sleeping bag, looking out in the distance and seeing Brittany by the lake. She decided that enough time had passed, and she needed to talk to Brittany about what happened the other night. The brunette walked towards the lake slowly, thinking about what she was going to say.

Brittany looked at the peaceful, moonlit water. It calmed her down a little bit as she took a deep breath. She heard footsteps behind her and she turned around to see Anna walking towards her. "Hey," she said calmly as the brunette walked up, turning back to the lake and skipping another rock, smiling when the rock bounced several times against the surface of the water.

"Hi," Anna replied, standing beside Brittany as she continued to skip rocks on the water. "So, I've been thinking a lot about what I said the other day, and I just wanted to formally apologize. I know that you're still in love with your girlfriend from the camp, and it was unfair of me to put you on the spot like that. I completely understand why you don't reciprocate my feelings, and I want you to know that I'd still love to be your friend, because you're a really great person." When Brittany didn't respond at first, Anna held out her hand. "Truce?"

"I know you don't want to be just friends," Brittany said, turning to Anna. "And I'm sorry that I can't feel the same way. But I don't want you to say everything is okay and that you're okay with being friends when the other day you were crying after you told me that you loved me." She said, reaching her hand out to take a hold of Anna's. "I want you always be honest with me. So, with that said, you can hate me for not feeling the same way."

"I know that I can hate you for not feeling the same way, but I'm not going to. And you might not understand why I don't hate you, but it's simple. Friends don't hate each other, and I am being completely honest when I say that I'm okay with being just friends," Anna replied, looking into Chloe's eyes. "I'm not lying to you, Britt. I really am okay."

The younger girl didn't know what else to say, so she just nodded. "Okay, okay yeah." She said. "I believe you." They shook hands and then Britt said, "I'm going to stay out here a bit longer. You go ahead and get some sleep, I have the first watch."

"Alright. See you later," Anna said, turning around and walking back to the camp site. A little part of her hurt as she walked away, but she pushed it aside. She truly was willing to be Brittany's friend, and she would just have to ignore her feelings for the time being.

Brittany sat down on the grassy hill, looking up at the sky, searching it for answered, even though she knew she couldn't ask the ones she loved for answered. She felt terrible, even though Anna had insisted that she was alright with being friends, a part of her felt like she had just broken Anna's heart.

Meanwhile, Anna had somehow managed to fall asleep, but the only thing that she dreamed about was Brittany and how she had been rejected by the blonde. The dream wasn't exactly pleasant, but Anna did her best to ignore it until the dream ended and the rest of her slumber was dreamless.

When Josh had come out to take Brittany's spot on watch, he noticed the young girl sitting on the grass looking at the stars aimlessly. "Hey, are you stargazing?" He said, smiling as he walked up and sat next to her. Brittany just nodded, still looking up at the stars. "When Anna and I were little, our parents always took us stargazing. My mom had a book of pictures of the different constellations, and we'd have a little competition to see who could identify the most constellations in the sky," Josh said, trying to make casual conversation.

"That sounds like it would be really cool," Brittany said, smiling as she looked up to the sky. "I always have the night sky fascinating, ever since I was little. I've never felt so small." She said with a chuckle. After a moment, Britt looked down at the ground. "Have you ever lost someone you thought you were going to spend your life with?"

Josh looked over to Brittany, whose tone had gotten a lot more serious. "Uh, well, not really," he answered. "I mean, I lost my parents when I was little, but I don't think that's what you're talking about."

"Okay, well, I have. Her name was Hadley Shaver, and we met right before we were abducted into the camp." Brittany started. She then went on to say that they fell in love, promising each other that once they got out of the camp, that they would spend the rest of their lives together. That was, until Heinrick had other plans. She ended the story with Heinrick killing Hadley slowly in front of her when they were nineteen, by shooting her numerous times.

"Wow," Josh said, unable to figure out what to say next. "I'm so sorry." He stated.

"I only am telling you this because I promised myself to Hadley and I still am not over losing her. I'm still very much in love with her." Brittany said.

"Okay, why should I know this?"

Brittany looked back towards the truck and then looked back at Josh, sighing. "Because Anna told me that she thinks she's in love with me, and I feel like I hurt her by telling her I can't love her."

Josh wasn't surprised by this revelation, even though Anna hadn't told him herself. "Ah, so that's why there's been some tension between you two over the last couple of days," he inferred, everything suddenly becoming a whole lot clearer. "Well, I'm not really sure if this is much help, but I can tell you this. Anna's never been a person to get really attached to someone, so if she told you that she thinks she loves you, there's a good chance that she means it. That being said, she's also very understanding, and even though she might be hurting now, she'll get over it because she's strong, just like you."

"So, she won't hate me will she?" Britt asked hopefully.

"Of course not," Josh said. "She's just never been one to open up about her feelings because well, it's only been the two of us for the last seventeen years. Rejection and heartbreak are things people learn to deal with at their own pace. But Anna is a loving person, and she could never hate you. For hell's sake, the girl sprinted into the camp to find you."

Brittany bit her lip. "Did she really?" The blonde asked.

Josh nodded. "Yeah, the truck hadn't even stopped and she was already gone. If it weren't for the walkie talkies, we wouldn't have had any idea where she was," Josh said. "She cares about you. We all do. She just cares about you a little bit more than the rest of us."

Britt felt her heart flutter at the thought of Anna doing that for her. "Thanks for giving me a pep talk Josh, I'm going to get some sleep." She said, smiling patting his shoulder.

"Any time, Britt. I've been told once or twice that I'm an excellent giver of pep talks," Josh replied, smiling back at Brittany before taking over the watch so the blonde could get some sleep.

Brittany walked back over to the bed of the truck, seeing Anna sleep soundly with her feet facing the back window. The girl looked adorable when she slept, and Brittany couldn't help but smile. Brittany leaned down and kissed the brunettes cheek before smiling and climbing into the backseat, getting into her sleeping bag to try and get some rest.

Yes, we have been updating this story a lot! And we hope you are enjoying reading it as much as we are writing it. Anna is falling for Brittany, but they've agreed to be friends. Though there may still be something for them in the future. Also, this Heinrick dude is a psychopath, let's hope that they stop him and the Freedom Healers.