As Lindsay continued to explain everything, describing each movie in detail, the crease in Lennox's brow continued to grow. He had tried to interrupt several times, but Lindsay stopped him every time with a steady hand. Despite this, he could tell that she was anything but calm at the moment.
He was shocked at the fact that she knew Ironhide had been killed by Sentinel. Lindsay knew it was still an open wound for him, and her heart softened towards him. She knew the feeling all too well because she was a nurse. She had seen so many deaths, so many loved ones go. She herself had lost one of her closest friends and comrade only a couple months before, and the pain was still raw.
Once Lindsay finished, she leaned back against the wall, gently massaging her hip in a vain attempt to get rid of the pain there. Lennox watched her; he saw the sad, pained look in her eyes, and decided to at least give the benefit of the doubt for now.
A voice spoke up from a few cells away, surprising both of them.
"Lindsay?" Both Lennox and Lindsay heard the person shift closer to them.
Lindsay sat there, trying to think of the reason why the voice sounded familiar.
Recognition suddenly light up her eyes. "Natasha?"
"Lindsay! Oh, Primus, they got you too?" Natasha asked.
"Yeah. I guess I'm not as strong as I think, because I'm here. They probably knocked me out," Lindsay said, leaning back with a soft sigh.
"Not strong...?! Lindsay, you're the strongest woman I know! You know hundreds of ways to defend yourself, even if you weren't a nurse! Martial arts, tai-kwon-do, karate, the whole shebang!"
Lindsay sighed again, louder this time. "But none of that helped me, because I'm obviously here," she said.
"That's because they don't play by the rules. They want to make sure that they get whoever they want, and they'll do anything to achieve that goal," Major Lennox said. He shifted to get more comfortable, but forgot about his injured leg and grimaced at the pain.
"Lennox," Lindsay said, "what did they do to you?"
He sighed, sagging against the bars of the cell. "I was in Mexico when it happened," he began. Both Lindsay and Natasha stiffened.
"My team and I were there, along with Optimus and some of the other Autobots, when we were ambushed." His voice became strained. "They appeared out of the brush and the scattered homes, all of them armed more extensively than my own men. We were outmatched; there was at least three times as many of them as my team.
"It was a massacre. They fired on the 'bots brutally, and my men tried to stop them, but there was just too many of them. Few of my team survived, and those that did were captured. I just hope that we gave the 'bots enough time to escape," he said, sighing sadly. Lindsay realized that this was a side to him that he rarely showed, and made her sink into her depression even more.
"They didn't," she said mournfully.
Natasha broke down in sobs.
Lindsay stood up and moved as close as she could to Natasha's cell within her own.
"Natasha, shhh, it's okay," she said in a soft voice.
"They're dead! Nothing is okay!" Natasha wailed before continuing to cry.
Lennox looked at Lindsay with a questioning look, but she shook her head.
"Now's not the time to continue talking about the subject. It will just upset her more." Lindsay managed to pull herself to her feet from off the cell floor and walked towards the cell door. She grasped it and jerked. It rattled in the hinges.
"This door was poorly made. If I can find a weak spot, I might be able to force my way out. Give me a few minutes," she said to no one in particular. She stepped back from the door and studied it with a careful eye. She crossed her arms as she looked.
After a few minutes, she stepped towards it again, running her hand along the bar that was connected to all three hinges. Her sensitive fingers brushed against a hair-thin crack running down the bar. Lindsay gave the faintest of smiles.
"Lennox, do you have anything strong that could help widen this fracture in the metal?" She asked, all business now.
"No, they took all my weapons away when they captured me," he replied.
"Nothing at all? Nothing that could help?"
He pondered it for a moment. "No," he finally said.
Lindsay's attention turned to Natasha, who was now crying quietly.
"Natasha? Do you have anything?"
Natasha hiccuped. "What?"
Lindsay gave a frustrated sigh. "Do you have anything strong that could help widen this crack in the metal?"
"N-no, I don't. I'm s-sorry, Lindsay."
"It's okay. It's okay," she said distractedly, rising to her feet with a groan. She paced around in her cell, thinking.
"What about your glasses? They're wire, and could pick the lock," Lennox suggested.
"Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" She said, rushing over to the cell door again. She snatched the glasses off of her lean face and fumbled with the plastic surrounding the ear piece.
"It's a good thing they're only reading glasses," Lindsay mumbled, finally pulling the plastic off. She snapped the side of the glasses off and tossed the rest on the floor. She reached out of the cell with one hand and held the lock with her other.
She felt around the bottom of the lock until she found the key hole. She slid the wire into the lock and tried to open it.
After several long minutes, Lindsay began to get frustrated. "What the Pit is wrong with this lock?" she swore under her breath.
She did everything she thought she could possibly do to get it open, but it still didn't open.
"Frag this!" She said angrily. She turned away from the door, only to whip around and slam into the door with all her strength.
The cell door barely managed to stay in the hinges, but it was the click that made everyone stop.
The lock had opened, and now it hung limply on the metal bars.
Lindsay slowly pushed the door open with one finger. It creaked, but it opened with ease. Lindsay gave a triumphant smile before running out of the cell to Lennox's cell door.
It took her much less time to open the locks, which she was grateful for. Time becomes precious when things become dire.
Lindsay helped Lennox to his feet, despite his protesting. He hobbled out of his cell just as Lindsay moved to Natasha's cell and quickly picked the lock. Natasha rushed out as soon as the door was open.
"Lindsay," Lennox said, grabbing said person's attention. Lindsay turned towards him. Lennox was leaning against the wall, but the look in his eyes said he was determined and angry.
"The rest of my team are in the other cells." Without hesitation, Lindsay rushed over and started unlocking the other cells.
Soon, everyone was standing outside of their cells. Whispered conversations immediately washed over Lindsay and Natasha, the voices reverberating off the stone walls. Lindsay repeatedly tried to get everyone's attention, but her efforts were futile. Finally, Leenox gave an exasperated sigh and took the matter in his own hands.
A loud whistle echoed off the walls, almost drowning out the conversations. Everyone immediately quieted and looked around for the source of the noise. One by one, fifteen pairs of eyes landed on Lennox. Lindsay whispered a "thank you," to him. He nodded grimly.
"Okay, everyone. We need to find a way out of here. We gotta stay quiet, or we're gonna die," he said in a hushed voice.
"Talk about being blunt," Lindsay grumbled under her breath. Lennox heard her but ignored the comment.
We will need to go in small units in order to escape," he continued in a quiet voice, but everyone knew that he was taking the matter into his own hands, and doing a good job of it, as expected.
He broke everyone up into three teams, each group containing five people. Lindsay and Natasha were glad that Robert Epps was still alive; but almost everyone else they knew from the movies were killed, mainly from the ambush in Mexico.
Lindsay and Natasha were with Lennox and two others, and finally decided that the fangirls would go last, after much arguing, mainly on Natasha's and Lindsay's part.
"You guys are much more important than us, so we should stay behind to make sure that as much of your team can make it to safety before they find out we're gone," Lindsay argued.
"Besides," Natasha continued with a small sniffle, "You guys are the ones that are more deadly. And we are the civilians," she said, giving Lennox and Epps a small, sad smile. Epps had silently walked up and stood beside his friend and comrade in arms, his arms crossed, his lips set into a thin line.
They argued a bit more before the two soldiers finally let the subject drop; it was pointless to argue with the two steadfast fangirls, considering the situation they were still in.
Lennox turned on his heel and walked off, causing the quiet Epps and Lindsay and Natasha to silently follow the two men.
Their plan was quickly set into action. Lindsay and Natasha would act as their scouts, after a very heated argument among many of the soldiers.
The two fangirl friends ran ahead to the edge of the corridor and peered out as much as they dared, holding their breath. They realized they needn't have bothered; a long flight of stairs loomed above them.
"Stairs... My mortal enemy," Natasha murmured, trying to lighten the mood and make her friend at least smile, but failed. Lindsay looked back at her and gave her a cold look before turning and heading back to the soldiers, who waited close to the hallway that led to the seemingly ominous staircase.
"Well?" Epps said, crossing his arms yet again.
"There is a staircase that leads up to a closed door. There are no locks on our side of the door, but I have no doubt that they are on the other side," Lindsay said.
"So there's no way out," Lennox grunted.
"I'm afraid so," Lindsay said soberly. She was about to say something else, but a commotion from the other end of the hallway caught everyone's attention.
The wall exploded.
The soldiers all immediately assumed it was some sort of attack, and acted on that impulse. The fangirls, however, were just about scared out of their minds.
When the dust cleared, they saw a figure standing in the gaping hole in the wall.
"We don't have all day," the figure said in a female voice, her tone completely serious.
"Dawn?!" Both Lindsay and Natasha exclaimed simultaneously.