CHAPTER 14

Quick A.N

Thank you SO much for all of the ideas! Sorry I couldn't really respond to all of them as there were so many, but I REALLY appreciate all of the great ideas! I've already included quite a few into the story's storyline. Keep them coming!

So Sam and Hawk, that very night, had decided to take the long drive to Juarez. Luckily, they had remembered to take Hawk's car rather than Sam's as they knew that bringing a Mercedes to Juarez was just asking for trouble, and they both wrote long letters to their families telling them where they had gone, before piling into Hawk's car and driving away. They didn't say much to each other, as the two stewed in their thoughts for an eternity. Sam had given Hawk a quick rundown on everything that had happened and before she had even finished her sentence, he was sprinting for his car keys. There was no way in hell he wasn't coming along for this. He was going to show these gangbangers the fury of the Hawk, and they were going to get Miguel back.

A large part of Hawk's anger was obviously directed towards the assholes Miguel was staying with, but he was silently seething beneath the surface at Johnny and Eagle-Fang. What the hell were they doing, sending Robby after Miguel rather than him or Sam? Robby! The last person Miguel would want to see! If they truly wanted the people who could do the best job at convincing Miguel to come home, it would be him and Sam, no doubt about it, not Robby. But the fact that Eagle-Fang had done it this way had sent a clear statement. Though they had temporarily teamed up earlier in the year, and although they once again joined forces for the girls' final in the All-Valley, they were still very much on different sides. This whole war was no longer bad guys vs. good guys, no longer Cobra Kai vs. everyone else. No, it was a three sided conflict. Miyagi-Do vs. Cobra Kai vs. Eagle-Fang. It was an affair with no love lost between the three dojos, any of them, in his eyes at least. He wasn't scared though. He was ready for it all. Because he was the All-Valley champion.

When they arrived in Juarez and got out of the car, Sam took out her phone and looked at it. According to Find my Friends, Miguel had apparently been just down the street from them half an hour ago, before Sam's data had cut off at the border. The location he had supposedly been at was a house less than 5 minutes away from, and given the amount of trash and crap on the road itself, Sam and Hawk decided that it made sense to just walk it. Or at least it would've had they been back home in L.A. It was a huge mistake in Juarez, as when the two American teenagers walked down the street, they felt every eye on them. All of the people walking or driving down the street, sitting on the front stoop of the various crumbling houses and stores, even a bunch of people staring them out of their windows… they all stared intrigued at these new foreign intruders, some leering at them more eagerly than others. Sam and Hawk felt like fish not only out of water, but in a fucking frying pan! But they forced themselves to press on, as Sam knew that no matter how uncomfortable she was right now, Miguel was in a whole worse situation than she was!

Almost as soon as the pair had begun walking, the silent that had previously filled the air transformed into a cacophony of whistles, jeers and catcalls in the direction of the teenage girl.

"Hey, beautiful! Why don't you lose this joker and come be with a real man?!" A random man called to Sam from the other side of the street.

"Ooooh, what an ass on this one, Diego! Oooh, those legs! Makes that wife of yours look like a 9 year old boy." One of the many men remarked to his friend, loudly enough for Sam to hear him.

"Come on baby, just give us a peak at the goods! Your boyfriend doesn't have to know!" Another yelled, whistling and cheering raucous as she walked past him.

"Are you hungry?! Why don't you come in here? I'll find you a nice big banana for you to eat!" A man who owned a small fruit store at the side of the street shouted at a now positively terrified Sam. She felt her heart begin to start pounding as the orchestra of booming voices filled her ears. At that moment, she realised that her parents might have been right about her not going to Juarez. She stuck out there like a sore thumb, and she was bringing a lot of unwanted attention to herself. She was extremely frightened that at some point, these scary but harmless idiots would find that merely catcalling to her wasn't enough, and they would physically go after her.

"Just ignore them." Hawk murmured, as the pair began to speed up their walking, much to all of the mens' dismay. However, they soon had bigger problems, as four of the men they had just passed had begun to follow them.

"Nahhhhh, come on baby! What's the hurry?! Come back!" One of them exclaimed, matching their increased pace as they began to chase after the two teenagers, their verbal comments not yet ceding despite them being in hot pursuit of their prey, of their next meal.

"Shit. Shit. SHIT!" Sam stammered, her body threatening to crumble underneath her in fear. She had never been in a situation like this before, and she was understandably terrified, all of her karate training going out the window. The only one she remembered was, as her dad called it, the most important lesson in all of Miyagi-Do: no be there. While at first she had thought that advice was bullshit, and it was just a cowardly way to avoid standing up for yourself, at this moment, Sam realised how crucial the lesson really was. No be there. What she wouldn't give to not be here right now, to be back in her warm, comfortable bed in L.A. She realised that while no be there was bad advice for their karate rivalry where not standing up for one's self meant even more pain and humiliation later, there were certain situations such as this one that not being there was the best, even the only chance of survival.

Sam and Hawk ran like they had never ran before, sprinting at supersonic speeds like whirlwinds on flat land. They flew as their legs would possibly take them, gripping onto each others' arms and pulling each other down various turns, desperately trying to dodge and avoid the four advancing men. And to their amazement, the men seemed to be slowly losing them, steadily dropping further away. They didn't seem to be in much of a fuss about chasing them, their pace calming down considerably. Because as the moon rose over the pitch-dark streets of Juarez, they knew that these foreigners had no clue where they were going, while they knew the city like the back of their hand. Even if these foreigners managed to outrun them, it wouldn't be long until the locals had them trapped and that was when they'd truly go in for it. They'd dispose of that unfortunately looking boy - he was useless to them - but that girl… were they going to have fun with her!

Sure enough, their predictions turned correct pretty soon when suddenly, Sam and Hawk found themselves with their backs against the wall. Literally. They had made one turn too many and had found themselves in a dark, abandoned alley, at the back of it a dead end. They swiftly turned around, ready to sprint back the way they came, but they quickly found the only exit blocked off by the 4 men. Hawk and Sam were seriously panicking by now as the 4 men slowly moved towards them like a gang of Great White Sharks, their jagged, broken teeth not dissimilar to those of the great beast of the ocean. Sam felt like she was going to throw up. This was it. This was how her life was going to end. Because even if she didn't die, she was probably going to be locked in one of these guys' basement for the rest of her days. So much she had to look forward to in her life (college, first job, marriage, kids), but all of it about to be completely wiped out. The sweat dripping from her forehead began to collect tears on its way down her cheeks, as she shook uncontrollably. Meanwhile, Hawk was just as petrified as Sam. He had tried to shout and yell for help but no one could seem to hear them. This was the end. He knew it. Sam knew it. The men knew it. He knew that even at full strength, Sam and him probably wouldn't be able to take down the four men, but they were far from full strength. Both were mentally wrecks, and were also physically exhausted from all of the running. They were screwed…

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As Miguel walked down the dark street, the at once menacing roads now feeling a lot less ominous and a lot more familiar, he clutched the back of his neck in pain. It had been a long afternoon of training with his father, and he had been smashed against the ground more times than he could count, but despite that, he was happy. He was satisfied. He had learned more about fighting in the real world from his father in one day than he had in 2 years of Johnny's karate. He learned moves that although were undoubtedly illegal in karate, could potentially save his life. That being said though, his whole body was on fire, working overtime to keep himself standing and operating correctly after the beatdown he had endured. It, along with all of the fighting he had done earlier, had worked up quite an appetite, as Miguel's stomach snarled at him in hunger. He was absolutely ravenous, and had asked if his father wanted to go out with him, but unfortunately his dad had to go into work for a bit so Miguel was forced to eat alone. The teenager decided to leave the house and go to a nearby store to grab a bite. The one upside of the dying town was the food. It wasn't the fake, touristy kind of Mexican food that L.A served. No, this was the real stuff, served by grubby, decrepit restaurants but serving up absolute gems of a meal.

Miguel was practically drooling at the mouth thinking about the delectable dinner he was about to have when suddenly, a piercing scream echoed through the air, slicing through his thoughts and stabbing at his very soul. It was a blood-curdling yell for help, one filled with a mixture of despair, fear and anxiety, and those feelings were mirrored in Miguel's own body as his face went pale and his whole body went numb. He knew that voice. He knew that voice well. He had absolutely no clue how and why she was in Juarez, but he would recognise that voice anywhere. Not letting himself pause for even a moment, he began to sprint down the street, towards where the scream had come from. He took off like a madman, almost running over a couple of people on the sidewalk and almost being run over by a bunch of cars on the road. But he didn't care. He didn't look back. His vision had tunnelled, his mind now only able to see the alley about a hundred meters away where loud noises seemed to be coming from. In a dash to rival those of Usain Bolt, Miguel hurtled himself over to it, screeching to a halt when he finally arrived, panting and wheezing but barely feeling its effects as he looked down the alley and at the very back of it, found himself staring at none other than Sam and Hawk…