"No!" screamed Joe, wriggling for all he was worth. He tried his best to unbalance Sampson but the foot in the small of his back would not budge.
Sampson pulled the trigger as Camille screamed. Callie's eyes closed. She had imagined dying trying to save her boyfriend a time or two but never trying to save his brother!
A shot rang out and Callie waited for the impact that would end her life. 'What was taking so long?' she wondered just before something hit her from the side. She opened her eyes as she fell to the ground and saw Camille lying on top of her.
"What..." Callie began but Camille shushed her.
"Stay down," Camille warned her as several more gunshots could be heard. "It sounds like we're in the middle of a war."
Callie turned her head and looked to where she had last seen Joe. He was lying still with his arms covering his head. 'Good idea!' she thought, covering her head as well. The gunfire increased in intensity before subsiding. Eventually, all was quite.
"Joe! Callie! Camille!" Frank's voice rang out.
Joe lifted his head cautiously but Callie and Camille both got to their knees. "Frank! Mr. Hardy!" Callie shouted as she saw them, her friends, and several other men enter the clearing from different angles.
Callie leapt to her feet and ran to Frank's side while Camille got to her feet and raced to where Joe was just now sitting up. "Are you okay?" she asked him in concern, pushing a stray lock of blond hair from his eyes.
"You escaped," Joe said, looking at her through glazed eyes. "Cool."
"Son, are you alright?" demanded Fenton, arriving and kneeling down beside Camille to look at Joe.
Joe looked up at his father. "Hi, Dad," he said, smiling. "I'm glad you could make it."
"What's wrong with him?" Frank asked, his forehead creased in worry as he and Callie joined them.
"They've been drugging him," Camille answered.
"Whatever they gave him appears to have made him mellow," Fenton observed with a frown. "We should get him to a doctor."
"No," objected Joe. "Please? I'll be okay once it's worn off. Can't we just go home?"
"What about the Assassins?" asked Callie looking around nervously. "Shouldn't we get out of here?"
"You mean there's more?" one of Sorrel's men asked in surprise.
"Doubtful," another answered. "We took out at least twenty since we got here."
"There's more," Joe spoke with conviction. "Matt's the new leader. He would have a lot around here, especially..." he broke off, not wanting to continue.
"Especially since you're here," Frank finished for him, helping Joe to his feet and placing a comforting arm around his shoulders. "Joe's right," he said, looking at his father. "We need to get Joe back to the states as soon as possible."
"Maybe Matt was one of the ones we took down," one of the men said. "We'll check around while you take your sons and friends and get out of here," he added to Fenton.
"Thank you," Fenton acknowledged the offer with gratitude.
"Everyone stay together," Fenton instructed the youths as they entered town a couple of hours later. "I will have to make special arrangements for Joe and the girls since they don't have their passports. While I'm in with the local constable, I don't want any of you wandering off."
"We'll stay put," promised Frank. "Just hurry," he added as his dad stopped the rental van in front of the local jail.
"Can we get out and stretch?" asked Camille after Fenton had gone inside. "We can stay near the van."
"She's got a point," Phil concurred with her request. "It is kind of cramped in here."
"Okay," Frank agreed. "But stay close. And you," he added, looking at his brother. "Stay next to me."
A few minutes after they had exited the van a large group of construction workers rounded the corner and headed their way. "Great," groaned Biff.
"Back in the van," ordered Frank.
Chet climbed in first, taking his seat in the rear of the van followed by Phil. Frank kept Joe by his side since they would be near the front. The construction crew reached the group of kids just after Tony had hopped into the van.
"I'm sorry. I don't understand," Frank said as one of the men tried to ask him something. Two other men gathered closer to Frank, all trying to talk to him.
"Joe!" Frank shouted desperately as the men crowded around the youths left outside of the van and separated them. "Joe!" he shouted again, trying to locate his brother in the horde.
"They have him!" Chet screamed from inside the van. He watched in horror as Joe was forced into a car on the other side of the street. Seconds later, the car was out of sight.