Chapter Eight: A Plan.

Steve followed Elli back up the pathways, shaking with nerves and fury, adrenaline still pumping through his veins as he gripped the scrap of Alex's clothing. Elli kept occasionally shooting him glances over her shoulder. He hadn't told her about what happened, and for all she knew, Alex was back in the caves, taking a walk and calming down after the stress of the speeches.

Steve folded the scrap of tunic over his hands again and again, muttering to himself. Stupid, stupid, you fool. He grumbled to himself, Man up, you're supposed to protect her, and she could be dead?

Elli came to stand beside him, waiting as he walked towards her. She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. "You do realize Alex will be fine in the tunnels, right?"

"Mm," Steve muttered, pulling an iron nugget from his inventory and pausing at a communal crafting table to make a safety pin. Taking the scrap of fabric, he slipped it onto the pin, then put it inside his shirt, just over his heart. The pin rubbed against his skin, a constant reminder of how he'd failed Alex.

"She'll be fine. We redid them a couple years ago to be extra safe for women and children you kn-"

"Yes, I know!" Steve snapped, before taking a break, his shoulders slumping with embarrassment. "I… I get it. I'm just… nevermind."

"Steve-"

"Don't call me Steve."

"Why are you so upset!? You're making a scene! I'm your sister-in-law, ugh, Mr. Blocker." She hissed.

Steve rolled his eyes, but motioned towards an alleyway. "I can't tell you in public."

Elli raised an eyebrow, but grabbed a hoe from a nearby farm and ducked into the alleyway after him. As soon as they were out of earshot from anyone else, she folded her arms, trying to look tough but really just narrowly avoiding slicing her face.

Steve sighed. Elli was nice, but she was just a kid. She wasn't anything like calm, collected, fierce Alex. She was more like… if someone put Alex's soul into a kitten and then took away it's claws and teeth.

This frustrated Steve beyond belief. "Alright. Let me tell you, your government is corrupted. Someone in the higher-ups poisoned and kidnapped Alex. That's what happened, alright?"

"How do you know it was our government?" Elli asked, looking sceptical but gullible. "It could've been anybody."

"Could 'anybody' be able to get the nether wart and blaze rods in order to create poison?" Steve answered, trying to refute his argument.

"They could've used a poisonous potato." Elli answered, looking stubbornly pleased with herself.

He rolled his eyes, grumbling. Alex wasn't ever like this. At least she listened to him."You think just anybody could extract poison just like that?" Steve snapped his fingers. "I'm telling you, it had to be a higher-up."

"Okay…" Elli's eyes were beginning to widen as she brandished her scythe and began to back away. "Hey, maybe we can go to a doctor's office, and they can check you for-"

Steve stepped after her. "I'm not crazy!" He argued, fear seeping through his voice. If he couldn't recruit Elli, his chances of getting Alex back diminished significantly. "You have to listen to-"

"Stop talking," Elli snapped, looking over her shoulder nervously. She glanced at Steve whose mouth was hanging open suspiciously. "Yeah, and c'mere."

Steve crept across the gravel to Elli, and looked as she pointed down the alley at two teenagers standing over by the street.

One of them was one of Braxon's blond daughters, her ocelot-skin tube-top was falling down a bit, and her skirt was fluffed out, like a gust of wind had tussled it. She giggled and touched a second teenager… Jimmy?!

He was obviously uncomfortable, pushing her off repeatedly and backing away. "Look, Destiny, how many times do I have to tell you I'm not into you."

Destiny fluttered her lashes, pursing her lipstick-caked lips and giggling. "Oh, Jamie-wamie, you know I don't see you like that. My daddy says that you're of such high-quality blood. And… not to mention, you're so hot."

Jimmy swallowed nervously, trying to back away from her even more. "Destiny, would you just leave me alone?!" His voice had risen an entire octave with his nerves.

Steve gagged, looking away. Grooossss. He had forgotten how weird teenagers could be. Especially teenage girls. They were practically an alien species he had no interest in communicating with. Elli rolled her eyes, but got Steve's attention with a pebble at his feet.

"Destiny's Braxton's daughter," She whispered, "We could use her to prove your theory."

"It's not… ah, nevermind," Steve shrugged. "How'd we do that?" Thinking like Alex, he came up with a plan quickly. "We could kidnap her and hold her hostage until Braxon admits what he did."

"That's a terrible plan," Elli answered. "What would Alex say if she heard you say that?"

Steve frowned. "Okay, well, what do we do?"

Elli smirked. "We use Jimmy as bait. We convince him to go on a date with Destiny," She snickered, and Steve rolled his eyes. "And while he's inside, he can see if Braxon really did what you said he did."

Steve frowned, didn't know what to make of this. He wished it was Alex here instead of him. A brave person like Alex would storm Braxons home… she'd keep hostages, she'd figure a way to tame a zombie army or something, but… Alex wasn't here. And it was up to him to save her.

"Okay. What do we do?"

Just as he said that, Jimmy shoved Destiny away from himself and he ran towards the two of them, diving over a pile of garbage to hide. Destiny giggled at him. "Bye, bye, James-y! I'll see you later!"

Elli glanced at Jimmy as he stared at the two of them, gasping for breath. "I think I'm going to throw up."

"Well, I'm sorry," Jimmy grumbled. "What did you expect me to do? I can't hit a girl!"

"I know, Mr. Code-Of-Honor," Elli answered, folding her arms. "But, um, we need to tell you something."

Steve sighed, then explained what happened, what he found, and what they had to do.

"I can see that," Jimmy answered. "Braxon would 100% play dirty and take someone out. Especially an enemy. The thing is… you two've only been here for a day. That's not enough time to make an enemy, unless she discovered something super… uh… controversial?"

Elli wrinkled her nose. "Controversial?"

"Like… um… if he had killed someone, or… um… abused his wife and kids," Jimmy answered. "Something that could ruin his reputation."

"So, are you willing to go on a date with Destiny to try and discover what her father's up to?" Elli asked with a shrug. "That's our plan, at least."

"EW, NO!" Jimmy exclaimed, his face wrinkling in fear and disgust. "She's a freak! A pushy freak! She tried to kiss me!"

"We know," Steve answered. "And we think she might trust you the most, though. Come on, Jimmy you're our best bet at finding Alex."

Jimmy sighed, tugging at his black hair and repeatedly grabbing his jeans. "But what'll her dad think? I'm sixteen, and she's only fourteen!"

Elli rolled her eyes. "I guarantee that Braxon has no idea what his daughters do 90% of the time. She's already had another boyfriend."

Jimmy glanced around them, nervous. He saw Elli's pleading eyes first, and then the fear and love and ferocity Steve held for Alex second. Steeling his nerves, he took a deep breath.

"I'll do it."

Review Replies:

JimmyPenguin421: Ah, yes, I do love me some good kidnapping, also, Jimmy is going to have a heck of a time trying to find things out with Destiny hounding him like that.

Moatazabou4: Yeah, I'm guessing it'd be easier to cover up a kidnapping and not a death, but this chapter determined that was a lie… so… basic human decency? (Not that they… have any of that, but… oh well. (You guys stump me with your reviews sometimes XD)) Also, we know the world is infinite, but… they don't.

Elbert The Cookie: Not… literal dragons… yet. It's a figure of speech.

Scar Of Herobrine: Next chapter is when Scott (You) and Max (Moatazabou4) make a grand entrance. I guess I just like chasing relationships… XD.