Hey! Sorry guys! I know I tend to disappear a lot but I'm back! Hope you guys enjoy the story!
Every little thing seemed to bother him. Everything just seemed...unnatural. It had started a few days ago. Keegan would see a shadow, or a curtain would move, or a dog would bark. Everything just seemed wrong. He had investigated several times and would come up with nothing. Merrick had told him that he was just stressed but Keegan didn't think so. Every little thing made him uneasy and he found himself investigating more and more.
Keegan had started to get increasingly paranoid about the girls' safety. It had seemed like so much had happened lately. Cade's words echoed in his head, 'You can't protect us from everything.' That may be true, but he could sure as hell try.
It was dark outside and everyone had settled down in the living room again. Merrick and himself had fixed up the windows and put thick curtains up. That way no one could see in. Rachel had gone down into the basement to find a board game or something for them all to do. They were starting to run out of movies to watch. Ivy was at the kitchen table drawing, as usual. Cade was upstairs cleaning and sorting out the attic. She never liked not doing anything. It seemed the girl was always trying to keep busy. She was probably having a case of cabin fever.
Keegan couldn't shake the nervous feeling in his gut. Something just felt off. It was too quiet. Too calm. Keegan found himself squirming in his seat from discomfort. He looked around and saw that Merrick was slightly tense as well. He stood up and went to check on Ivy in the kitchen. As he rounded the corner, he saw Ivy standing up with her arms raised above her head. Keegan froze, but only for a second. His body knew what was happening before his brain. He reached for his pistol but as his finger tips brushed the barrel, another gun was pressed to his temple. Keegan stopped.
Shifting his eyes to his left, he saw a man wearing a Federation uniform. He put his fingers to his lips and pressed the gun harder into his temple to signal for him to keep quiet. He reluctantly pulled his hands away from the gun and raised them up. Looking forward he saw several other men with their guns raised. It was a trap. One of them had grabbed Ivy around the neck and pressed a gun to her head. Keegan felt anger swell up inside him. If they so much as touched her he would put a bullet between their-
"Move," came the quiet yet firm command.
He was directed back into the living room with his hands raised. The moment he stepped through the doorway all the Ghosts were on their feet, weapons drawn. Before any shots could be fired, Keegan felt an arm snake around his throat. The gun was pressed into his temple. Ivy was brought into the room in a similar fashion. "Now now, I'm sure you wouldn't want me to put a bullet through your fellow soldier's head," the man who held him said. Keegan could hear the smirk in his voice.
Merrick kept his gun trained on the man for a moment before sighing. "Put them down. Do as he says." Reluctantly, they tossed their weapons to the floor. Keegan internally groaned. How could they have left themselves so vulnerable?
"Never did I think the Ghosts would be stupid enough to send their entire team to look after a couple of children. Pathetic." Keegan was roughly pushed forward with the rest of the Ghosts. He turned quickly and growled when he saw one of the men pull Ivy closer.
"Don't touch her!" He snarled.
The leader of the men raised and eyebrow and looked over at Ivy. Keegan's protectiveness over her seemed to intrigue him. Slowly, he walked over towards her. He was making a show of his power over all of them. Or at least, he was trying to. He gently lifted her chin with his right hand to get a closer look at her. Poor Ivy was shaking madly. She shut her eyes tightly and tried to jerk her head away. Keegan could see a few tears slip down her cheeks. The man bent down lower to Ivy's level. "Shhh, don't cry. There's no need to be scared," the man said in a falsely soothing tone. He used his thumb to wipe away her tears.
"You touch her again and I'll rip your damn head off!" Logan snarled.
This only caused the men around them to laugh. They had been surrounded at this point. Corralled like cattle with no place to go. Thankfully, Logan's outburst seemed to bring the man's attention back towards them. That was, until, he saw Rachel. "Ah, this must be the older Russ sister, correct?" He stepped towards her but Kick quickly positioned himself between her and the Fed. "Don't even think about it," he hissed. Rachel clasped onto Kick's arm like her life depended on it. She buried her face into his back. She was also shaking, too afraid to even speak.
The man straightened up. "Well now, where is the youngest sister?" He rested his hands on his hips, waiting for an answer even though he knew he wouldn't get one. "I know there are three girls. What was her name? Cade wasn't it?"
"She isn't here," Keegan said deadpan. A lie. And the man seemed to know it too.
He shook his head and pointed a finger towards Keegan with a sigh. "You see, I think you're lying to me."
"He isn't," Merrick chimed in.
The man simply laughed and pulled out a rather large knife. He twisted it about in his hand, examining it. The light gleamed off the object intimidatingly. Keegan knew what he was going to do. He could only hope Cade had heard the commotion and left to go get help. He wasn't sure though because of the thick attic walls. Cade probably had no idea what was going on.
He was snapped from his thoughts when the man started back towards Ivy. "You see, I don't like hurting children. Doesn't quite sit well with me. However, that doesn't mean I am above doing so." He ran his fingers through her brown hair. "So I'll ask again, where is Cade?" No one dared to answer.
The Fed shrugged and gently rested the knife against Ivy's cheek. "You know, since I already have all of you Ghosts here, I don't really need the girls. I could just off them. I wouldn't push my luck if I were you." Tears were now flooding down Ivy's face as her body was wrecked with silent sobs.
He was right. They didn't need the girls. Keegan knew the only reason they wanted them in the first place was to hurt him. Now here he was, himself and the other Ghosts. Wrapped up like a god damn Christmas present. How could they have been so unprepared? He was supposed to protect them. Rachel tried to reach out for her sister but Merrick caught her before she could run into the clutches of the men. "Please don't hurt her!" She cried. "Please don't hurt my sister!"
The man smiled at getting a reaction from Rachel. "I won't hurt her if you tell me where your little sister is, sweetheart."
Keegan was praying to every god he could think of that Rachel wouldn't rat out Cade. She wasn't that stupid right? If she gave away Cade's location then nothing would stop them from hauling them all off. The only reason they weren't in handcuffs or subdued yet was the fact that the men didn't know where Cade was. He hoped she had heard the commotion and ran off. That would buy them some time.
"She's spending the night at a friends! She isn't here!"
Clever. The lack of hesitation in her answer made it seem all the more true. However, the man wasn't buying into it. "I still think you're lying to me," the man gave a fake sigh of disappointment. "And here I thought we could be great friends." He brought the blade away from Ivy's cheek, only to swipe it sharply across her face. Ivy cried out as the blood seeped down her face from the fresh cut.
Logan went to help Ivy but the Fed closest to him quickly kneed him in the gut, sending him to the floor. Rachel was sobbing at this point. Her makeup was running down her face. Merrick was holding on to her tightly so she wouldn't run to her sister's aid.
The man straightened up and addressed his men. "Spread out and look for her."
"You won't have to look far."
Keegan looked past the men and could see Cade standing in the Kitchen. She was standing there with a rifle drawn. It wasn't the large hunting rifle Keegan had used. This one was smaller. It was a Ruger 10/22. But hadn't that been locked away? Why hadn't she just gone for help?
The man turned around and smirked at her. "Alright little missy. No need to point guns at people. You could shoot your eye out."
"Or yours." The seriousness in her voice made the man's smile falter. He changed his tactic.
"You might as well put it down. I don't need you alive you know."
"You might as well let my sister go because I sure as hell don't need any of you alive either," Cade countered.
The man drew is pistol and pointed it directly at Cade's head. Cade wasn't that far away. There was no way either one of them would miss if they decided to shoot. The Fed was a trained soldier and at that distance it wouldn't be hard for a head shot. He also had the advantage of a sidearm. Those were meant for close quarters. Cade's rifle was meant for distance and outside. If she was scared, she didn't show it. This whole situation had turned into a standoff and Cade was handling it pretty well.
"You wouldn't want my friend here to rip open your sister's throat would you?"
Keegan could see Cade's eyes land on Ivy. "Ivy," she was speaking in a commanding voice to keep her panicking sister calm. "Do you trust me?" Ivy just nodded vigorously. "Good." She turned her attention back to the main Fed. "Say hi to my dad for me, asshole."
Everything happened so fast. Cade pulled the trigger to her rifle, sending the leader crumpling to the floor. Keegan heard the bullet wiz by his head and into the wall. The man holding Ivy let her go and drew his fire arm. Cade didn't waste any time, she turned and bolted out the kitchen door towards the woods. The man and two others followed.
Keegan dropped the Fed closest to him by violently snapping his neck. The man crumpled to the ground in a heap. Kick grabbed the other Fed and slowly suffocated him. They both went down on the floor, the Fed kicking out in an attempt to get free. Three Feds were dead but three more were now chasing Cade. Whatever their original intent was, it had all gone to shit.
Keegan and Merrick quickly went out the door. None of the men or Cade were anywhere to be seen. "Cade! Cade!" Keegan called out desperately, praying that she would say something back.
"You three protect these two, get them somewhere safe! We're going for Cade!" Merrick barked. He picked up his weapon as well and Keegan's and gave it to him. A few shots rang out in the distance, making Keegan's heart skip a beat.
He felt a strong hand clasp his shoulder. "Cade has her gun. That could have been her."
"Damn it Merrick! I know what a .45 sounds like! That wasn't Cade's rifle!"
Merrick didn't answer for a moment before releasing his shoulder. "Come on."
Both men charged into the woods, searching for any sign that someone had run by. It was too dark to tell without stopping and they didn't have that kind of time. The only place Keegan could think of was the spot where he had followed Cade to. The one by the stream. It was the only place out here he knew, so naturally that's were he went first. They made it to the rock and managed to get lucky. Keegan could see blood smudged across the face of the rock. Someone had been here. Hopefully it wasn't Cade's blood.
"Cade!"
Merrick quickly tried to track the blood but it led into the stream. Had she fallen in? It may have been a stream but it was large enough to have a current. If Cade had been hurt and had fallen in then she would have been swept downstream. "Come on!" Keegan followed the stream with Merrick. He kept his eyes on the water to look for any signs of Cade, but it was dark and hard to see into the water.
"Keegan!"
He turned when he heard Merrick's voice. Looking over he saw that Merrick was standing over a Federation soldier who looked half drawned. The man was panting and slumped against a tree. He was trying to squirm away from Merrick but he smashed his foot into the man's shoulder, pinning him to the tree behind him.
"Where is she?" Keegan hissed.
The man shook his head and tried to squirm out from under Merrick's foot. "I don't know what you're-"
"The little fucking girl you were chasing!" Keegan snapped as he pulled out his large knife. The man shook his head and kicked out in a desperate attempt to keep Keegan away. However, his attempts were futile. Keegan grabbed him by his neck and pulled him up to a standing position before slamming him back into the tree. Keegan grabbed the man's black face covering and ripped it off. "I'll kill you I swear! Tell me where she is!" He pressed the knife hard enough into his neck to draw blood.
The man yelped. "The w-water!"
The water. She was still in the water. Keegan slit the man's throat without a second thought. Merrick and him both went towards the water. "Cade! Cade!" Even Merrick was calling out at this point.
"Keegan?"
Be barely heard the voice at first. "Cade!?"
"Keegan!"
They ran toward Cade's voice. Keegan's heart nearly stopped when he saw her. She was in the middle of the river, clinging to a rock. He noticed a faint pink tinge in the water running behind her. She was bleeding from somewhere. Yet, the current was too strong for her to swim over to them. If she let go of the rock she would most likely get swept away.
"Cade! Stay where you are!"
"Yeah...I wasn't planning on letting go."
The river wasn't too terribly wide. He could lock arms with Merrick and be within arms reach of her. "Merrick, grab my arm." Merrick quickly grabbed Keegan and started edging towards the water. He was taller than Cade and was finding it difficult to stand. The water came up to his neck, which meant Cade couldn't touch. He waded out until both his and Merrick's arm was fully extended. "Cade, you're going to have to push off the rock and grab my hand." Cade tired to shift around so she could reach with her left but she nearly slipped off the rock.
"Just use your right hand Cade!" Keegan panicked. She wouldn't be able to turn over and use her left, they were on her right side.
Cade shook her head. "I-I can't...my right arm's busted..."
Keegan hadn't even noticed that Cade had been using her left hand and only her right forearm to help cling on. It was dark and he couldn't see the extent of the injury. "You have to Cade, give me your right hand."
She looked unsure but she reluctantly reached out with her right hand. She tried to edge further off the rock to reach Keegan. He was only a few inches out of reach. "Push off towards me and I'll grab you," Keegan said. Cade still looked uncertain. "Cade, I promise I won't let anything happen to you! I will grab you."
Cade gave a slight nod. "Ok..."
"On three. One...Two...Three!"
Cade pushed off the rock and Keegan grabbed her wrist. Almost instantly Cade started screaming out in pain but Keegan didn't let her go. Merrick started to pull them both back onto the bank. Keegan kept a death grip on both Cade and Merrick until they were all on the bank again. Cade immediately jerked away and fell onto her knees, shaking and clutching her shoulder. Keegan didn't realize how cold it was until he had reached the bank. Now hypothermia was a real threat. But first he needed to see Cade's shoulder.
"Let me look Cade."
She was shaking and looking at the ground. She shook her head no and attempted to stand but either the shock or cold prevented her from doing so. She shook her head and scooted away from Keegan. "Ok well at least tell me what happened. How did you hurt it?"
"One of the men grabbed my arm and jerked me towards him. It popped but I managed to get away and run."
"Sounds like you dislocated it," Merrick said.
Keegan knelt next to Cade. "I'm going to relocate it for you ok?"
Cade shook her head. "No! No, it's fine..."
"Cade I have to relocate it."
Cade shook her head and edged away, only to scoot into Merrick. "Easy." He gently pulled her into his lap. "It'll be quick. Then we can get back to the others." Cade looked up at him and nodded. She shut her eyes and clenched her teeth. "Ok...ok just make it quick."
Merrick took her left hand for her to squeeze and held her still. Cade turned her head away from Keegan, averting her eyes. She tried to look at Merrick. He tried to keep her attention on him. "Easy, just talk to me, don't even think about it," Merrick said as Keegan felt and examined the injury.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry I ran like that...I just wanted to get them out of the house. I just wanted you guys to be safe. I-"
"You did the right thing. You did what you had to do. You're very brave Cade."
Cade smiled. "Thanks that means a lot coming from-"
Pop! Keegan snapped Cade's arm back into her socket. She went to scream but she caught herself by covering her mouth, muffling her cries. After the shock wore off she started spitting profanities. "You mother fucking son of a bitch! God fucking damn it! Jesus Christ! Piece of shit!" She clutched her shoulder but she had stopped shaking. "Ok...ok that feels much better."
"Anything else?"
"My side hurts but I don't know what-"
Keegan immediately lifted up Cade's soaked shirt. Much to his shock, there was a bullet hole in her side. Cade had actually been shot. She twisted her head to view the injury and gasped. Merrick quickly turned her head away and back towards him. "Shit...I didn't know they had actually hit me...I didn't feel anything!"
"Your adrenalin is probably through the roof. It's preventing you from feeling the full pain of the injury," Merrick explained.
"Damn it! It's bleeding bad," Keegan muttered. He pulled out his knife and cut a strip of his shirt away so he could wrap it. Cade was starting to shake a little more now that she could see the injury.
"I feel like it's starting to hurt more now that I know it's there..." She muttered. Merrick cupped her chin and made her look away and Keegan tried to stop the bleeding. That explained why she was so pale. She was loosing blood.
"We need to move. Now," Keegan said.
Merrick pulled out his radio. "Kick, we found Cade."
"Good to hear. We took Jacob's old vehicle and left the house just in case."
"Alright. We'll take Cade's truck and meet you somewhere safe."
"Roger that."
Keegan reached out to help Cade up but she waved him off. "Just...give me a second ok?" She was trying to catch her breath.
"You ok?"
She nodded. "I'm just tired."
That made Keegan panic a little bit. She was loosing blood. If she fell asleep now she might now wake up. He didn't allow her the time to rest. He grabbed her arm and hoisted her off, much to Cade's displeasure. "Let's get to the truck. You can rest later." Cade looked pissed but she didn't argue with him about it. He kept a tight grip on Cade's arm and kept her close. Keegan wasn't willing to risk loosing her. Especially since they didn't know where the other men were.
"What happened to the other men?"
Cade shook her head. "I don't know where they went...I just- I didn't..."
"It's ok, don't worry about it."
"We're heading back to the house right?" Cade asked.
Merrick nodded. "Yeah, we're gonna take your truck and meet up with the others." His gun was drawn and he was covering both Keegan and Cade since Keegan was distracted with trying to help Cade.
"Can we stop and grab my rifle?"
"Depends on where it is."
"I tossed it by the porch so I could run faster."
Keegan was about to say no but he could sympathize with Cade. As a sniper, his rifle was everything to him. It was a part of him. He was nothing without his rifle. It was his life. Cade probably felt the same about her rifle. It was important to her. "Alright, I'll grab it while you and Merrick get in the truck."
"Thanks Keegan."
"Don't mention it kiddo."
They quickly headed back towards the house but they kept quiet. With the others gone there was no way to tell if more Feds were inside the house. The house could be surrounded for all they knew. "Take it slow, we don't know the situation. Merrick, take Cade around back and get in the truck. I'll be there in a second."
"Got it." Merrick took Cade by her arm and led her through the trees around back to the garage. Keegan crept up towards the back of the house quietly, sticking to the shadows. The back door was a glass sliding door so he could see inside. There was no movement. He could see the barrel of Cade's rifle glisten in the light coming from the house. He crept forward and picked up the Ruger 10/22. It was more of a rifle built for shooting targets and hunting small game. Yet, it would still do a lot of damaged if fired at someone.
He picked it up and slung it over his shoulder. It had been tossed aside into the dirt but it was still fully functional. Maybe he could help Cade clean it up later. He went around back were Merrick and Cade had gone.
He saw the two sitting in the truck but Merrick hadn't started it up yet. He climbed into the passenger seat quietly and shut the door. Merrick turned on the engine and peeled out of the driveway, not wanting to risk getting caught incase someone was inside.
Keegan glanced back at Cade. "You're gonna be ok, sweetheart."
Cade was slumped in the back seat. Now that he could see her face better he could see how pale the poor girl was. He was afraid for a moment that she would fall asleep on them. "Hey Cade? Sweetheart? Stay awake for me ok. Tell me about what happened at the house."
Cade signed and sat up more. "I heard someone talking downstairs. I didn't recognize the voices. I crept down the stairs and got my gun from the safe. All I saw was that man with my sister. He was gonna kill Ivy. I had to shoot him Keegan. I had to."
"I know. You did a real good thing. You were protecting your family. I'm proud of you."
Cade smiled at Keegan before lazily looking out the window. Merrick handed Keegan his phone. "Here, call Kick and see where they are."
Keegan quickly dialed up Kick. "Kick? Where are you guys at? Yeah we're fine. She's ok but she is injured. You have your med kit? That's good. Where? Alright, well we are-"
"Watch it!"
Keegan didn't even have time to turn his head as a large truck slammed into them, sending the vehicle off the road and causing them to flip. Everything had happened so fast. Everything quickly went black.