Disclaimer: I do not own any characters originating from the Alex Rider Series… unfortunately. I only own Mackenzie Adams and whoever else you don't recognize.

I am so so so so sorry! I didn't mean to take so long to update. Can you guys forgive me? ; ( Anyway I hope you like this chapter!

Chapter 7: Do Not Stop and Do Not Turn Back

Alex took one look at the house and then started toward it. Then he remembered me. He looked torn: should he go help out or should he stay with me? I'm glad to say he chose the latter because I had no idea what I would have done. He started toward me as he caught sight of men that were not dressed in the normal SAS attire surrounding the house.

"Come on! Let's go!" he said urgently.

"Go? Go where!" I hissed back.

He didn't answer, he just grabbed my hand and we ran, him half pulling me through the forest.

"Do you know where you're going!" I shrieked breathlessly.

"No."

"What! What do you mean no! We have to get help! Call your people. What about the camp? The SAS camp? Is it close by?"

"Yes." He pulled out a necklace and squeezed the pendant three times.

"Then let's head to their camp!"

"We can't head there right now."

"Why not? You said it was close by."

"It's 3 miles away. That's an hour in walking distance."

"So? We could do it!"

Alex suddenly stopped dead.

"Listen carefully Mackenzie," his voice deadly quiet. "Snakeheads aren't stupid. They know that the first place we're going to go is Brecon Beacons. MI6 will not help us immediately. They'll hope we'll eventually go to the SAS. And they also know that we can't right now. Our only hope is to stay here until it gets dark and then go there." He paused looking around. "Do you understand?"

"Yes," I nodded my head quickly.

A ghost of a smile touched his face and then he grabbed my hand again and we ran. He stopped one more time in front of some of the biggest trees I've ever seen in my life.

"Now we climb," he said matter of factly. [Apparently 'factly' is not a word. Oh well. = ]]

I choked on my spit. He looked at me strangely as if to say 'what is there to choke on.'

"What do you mean climb? As in climb this tree?"

"Yes. We'll wait up there. No one ever looks up," he pushed me toward the tree. "Now go."

"What? Why me first? You go!"

He sighed impatiently. "Do you want to fall on the hard ground and break your neck?"

I huffed and then put my hands on the base of the trunk.

"Um. There are bugs and stuff. They might bite us. We should find another hiding place," I started walking off, but he grabbed my arm and spun me around.

"Bugs are the least of my worries. In fact, it's not a worry at all. Up. Now."

Gulping I started up the trunk. I was three quarters of the way there when we heard voices.

Alex swore and then started up. "Go, go, go!" he hissed. He was next to me in no time. I was about to stop at the first branch but he pushed me upward. Now I was getting scared. I'm not scared of heights, but this tree was really high. I felt like to throw up, but I followed him anyway. There was blood and scratches on both of our arms, but we ignored them.

We stopped finally in the middle. Men and maybe women (you couldn't really tell, you just assumed they were men) were walking around the forest. And Alex was right. Not one of them looked up. I was trembling, pressed up against the base of the tree and holding on the Alex's shirt for dear life. I turned to him.

"What now?"

"We wait. It'll be fully dark around 9:00. It's 8:12 now," he said glancing at his watch.

It was the longest wait of my life. I jumped at every single noise, and let me tell you, there were a lot of noises. And while I was having mini heart attacks, Alex was sleeping.

…***************** …..

Alex POV

I wasn't sleeping, but I knew Mackenzie thought I was. I was aware of every noise. I could hear the rustling of leaves and the birds and beetles ringing through the night. I was also aware how Mackenzie jumped at every noise. Inwardly I laughed. She was such a funny kid. Kid. She was only a year and few months younger than me. I would be sixteen in a couple days, but the way things were going I would probably be spending it in Brecon Beacons… or defeating a snakehead.

"Oh. ." I opened my eyes, surprised.

"What?" I looked at her and she jumped at my voice.

"I thought you were sleeping!" she said accusingly.

"You thought wrong," I smirked back. She flinched again and gripped my shirt.

"What?" I asked again exasperated. She slowly pointed to the beetle on my pant leg. It was about the size of my thumb.

"What? This little thing? This is nothing," I said picking it up. Now she was trying to get as far from me as possible. I held it toward her (which I guess wasn't a good idea since we were in a tree.) And that's when it flew. Straight on her face. So as it's supposed to go her arms flapped back as she tried to keep her balance.

I guess I'm making it sound as if it was no big deal, but that's not true. I was scared out of my mind. The tree was really high up and a fall from it could result in a broken neck. And as much as I'm rude to Mackenzie she was growing on me. I didn't want her to die. So I leaped forward and grabbed her by her ankle. Her scream died in her throat and she looked up at me and I looked down at her. A weird feeling went through me. I don't know what it was. But looking at her the way she currently was: disheveled, her hair rumpled, dirt and tears on her face… It made me feel…. I shook my head sharply. I was staring at her too long.

I pulled her up and huffed.

"Are you ok?" I asked roughly. She nodded quickly and swiped at her tears, embarrassed. Not another word was said for the next fifteen minutes. We sat there side by side on the tree branch, leaning against the base of the trunk. As it got dark, I felt her grab onto my shirt. I let her. It made her feel safe, so I let her.

…&******&…

Mackenzie POV

"Mackenzie," I heard Alex whisper.

"Yeah?"

"It's time to go. I'm going to start down. You follow right after me. Be careful." He started down with me following. It wasn't as hard as going up.

When we reached the bottom he took my hand. I ignored the tingle that went through my body.

"We're going to do this quickly and silently. If we jog it's going to take us about 40 minutes if there are no mishaps. You ready?" I nodded my head and we started off.

It wasn't hard at first. But nothing is ever hard at first. Five minutes past, 10, 15, 20, 30. Alex was basically dragging me by now.

"Come on we're almost there. Look," he pointed. I saw nothing. He shook his head at me. Then he froze and swore. He looked around and then looked at me, his eyes hard.

"Listen to me Mackenzie. And listen good. I want to run as fast as you can. Look again. You can see the fence just a little." I looked and this time I saw.

"Good now listen. When you get near the fence do not touch it. It's charged with electricity. Start screaming the words Code Red at the top of your lungs and don't stop until you see someone in an SAS uniform. Do not stop and do not turn back. Do you understand?"

I nodded fearfully. "What are you going to do?" I whispered. He moved his leather jacket out of the way to reveal two guns. I looked at them and then looked at him. He looked right back. Then he reached out and touched my cheek for a split second. Then I ran.

My lungs were burning before I even started and now they were on fire. But I didn't stop and I didn't turn back. I heard shouts and bullets ringing through the air and I started to cry once more. But I didn't stop and I didn't turn back. Then I saw the fence. Remembering Alex's instructions I started yelling at the top of my voice.

"Code Red! Code Red!" I screamed over and over. I saw a soldier almost immediately. Then there were more. Shout were heard and orders. But before anything else could happen I felt something slam into my left shoulder. I looked to see the blood pouring out of my arm. I was just hit with a bullet.

"Mackenzie!" a voice cried. It sounded like Bear. The adrenaline had disappeared and I felt the most excruciating pain I've ever felt flow through my body. I felt someone grab me before I passed out. And then… nothing.

Reviews are more than welcome. They are loved.

Let me know if there are any errors everyone. I didn't reread this one too carefully. I just wanted to post it.