Forgive me for skimming over the technical details of abseiling and I apologise if any bits of it are inaccurate. Just close your eyes and imagine but that could be a bit hard as you have to read the text. Keep your eyes open and imagine.
Paulo crept across the ground, feeling terribly exposed. His eyes darted left and right, trying to spot any hidden dangers as he hurried towards the shed. Opening the door, he flinched, expecting the worst. Suddenly he was hurtling sideways and being placed in a headlock on the floor.
'Li,' Paulo gasped. 'Get off me.'
'Paulo?' Li hurriedly let him go then offered her hand and helped him to his feet. 'Sorry about that.' Paulo dusted himself off and peered around the room.
'Where's Amber?' Li tilted her head to the side of the room. As Paulo's eyes adjusted to the dim light, he could just make out a shadowy figure standing by a box. With her dark skin, Amber just about disappeared in the shadows. She beamed at him.
'We can handle this Paulo.'
'You have been gone for ages. We got worried then I came to look for you-'
'And got hammered by Li,' Amber finished Paulo's sentence with a chuckle. Paulo gave her a dazzling smile and nodded good humouredly.
'We should be going. Alex and Hex were getting worried.' Li gave a sly smile then hoisted a coil of rope over her shoulder.
'Well? What are we waiting for? Can't keep the invalid and his nurse waiting.'
After checking that the outside was clear, Li scurried over towards the cliff with Paulo and Amber trailing behind her. With a relieved look on his face, Alex checked over the gear that they had got. There were five helmets, five pairs of gloves, four harnesses and rope. Luckily each member of Alpha Force was wearing their sturdy boots so footwear wouldn't be a problem. They quickly got into their harnesses. Hex frowned when he realised that they were one harness short.
'I knew one of us should have gone with Amber and Li.' His friends looked at him in surprise. He held up his harness. 'They can't count. There's five of us and only four harnesses.' Li tutted as she fixed the rope up and helped Paulo with his harness.
'Silly Hex. I'm going to free climb down so that they can't follow quickly and the rope won't attract attention when they go back on patrol later.' Paulo looked worried.
'I am sure it would be ok to leave the rope there, Li.' Li shook her head.
'No. We can't take any chances. We have to be as far away as possible before they realise that we're missing.' Paulo still had a worried look on his face as he watched Li help the others with their harnesses. He remembered all too clearly when they had all been stranded on the island. Li had free climbed down a cliff after chucking down the ropes that the others had used so that the pirates couldn't follow them. The pirates had appeared sooner than expected and taken shots at Li as she climbed down. Paulo shuddered and pushed the memory to the back of his mind. The sound of music floated towards him and he realised that this situation was entirely different. They were escaping in the dark while their captors were occupied. Li would be fine. He had complete faith in her abilities but Paulo still couldn't get rid of all of his worry.
Li's voice jerked him out of his thoughts.
'Ready to go, Paulo?' He looked around and saw that Alex had already descended the rope and Amber was about halfway down. Paulo nodded and then looked over at Hex.
'What about you?' he asked his friend. Hex looked pale, but he was sitting up and had his harness on, a determined glint in his green eyes.
'I'm abseiling down,' he told Paulo firmly. Li clipped the rope to Paulo's harness and soon he was abseiling down the cliff. Paulo couldn't suppress an excited grin as his feet touched the ground. They were going to make it! Just Hex and Li to go and they could make their getaway. Paulo looked around as he unclipped the rope from his harness.
'Where are the cars?' he asked Alex, puzzled. It was Amber who answered.
'We picked the spot of cliff furtherest away from the main building. The cars are just around the corner.' Amber indicated with a flick of her hand. She was watching Hex's slow progress down the cliff with a frown. He shouldn't be abseiling with such a bruised stomach. But then again, Hex was stubborn and no one would have been able to talk him out of it.
There was a small ledge about five metres up the cliff. When Hex reached the ledge he sank gratefully onto it. His stomach and ribs ached and he was finding it difficult to breath. Paulo had given him painkillers before they set off and rubbed some more of the magic ointment on his stomach, but the harness wasn't making it any better.
Li peered over the edge of the cliff. Hex was slumped on the ledge and she groaned. He shouldn't have abseiled, Li thought. Now what were they going to do. There was only five metres or so to the bottom but Hex needed help to get down that last bit. Li couldn't go to him as she had to hold on to the rope at the top. All she could do was stand there and hope Hex found the extra strength to finish.
Amber made a split second decision. The ledge wasn't far up and she decided to give it a go. Li had tutored her in the basics of free climbing and she had taken a few lessons back home, but she was by no means and expert. But Hex was obviously in pain and Amber pulled off her gloves and boots and started to climb.
Paulo watched in astonishment as Amber carefully climbed up the rock wall. It was perfect for free climbing; there were loads of hand and foot holds spaced all over the place. Alex looked on with equal amazement. While Amber didn't float up the wall as Li did, she moved gracefully and didn't slip. In no time at all, she was pulling herself up onto the ledge. Amber shuffled closer to Hex and put a hand on his arm.
'Are you alright?' Hex gave a slight shake of his head but kept his face turned to the cliff. 'Is it your stomach?' Hex nodded but he turned to look at her now. Amber was shocked by the look of absolute fear and pain in his eyes. Amber squeezed his shoulder and tried to comfort him.
'We're going to go down now, ok? Li has to come down yet and we don't know when the party will be wrapping up.' Hex nodded then gave a shaky breath and lowered himself off the ledge.
'I think I'd better climb down. It won't hurt as much.' Amber nodded and signalled up to Li. Amber matched Hex's slow pace down the cliff, encouraging him all the way. While Amber knew that this would give Li fresh fuel to add to the fire, Amber didn't care. All that mattered was that Hex got down ok.
When they reached the bottom, Paulo signalled to Li that she could come down and Alex and Amber helped Hex over to a rock. He sat down gratefully. They watched as the rope dropped down the cliff, followed by Li's boots and gloves. Amber followed Li's every move. Compared to her friend, Amber must have looked like an elephant. Hex saw the look on her face and squeezed her hand.
'Thanks. You're not that bad at free climbing.' Amber shrugged and avoided Hex's eyes.
'I've had a few lessons and Li's shown me some tricks of the trade. I've got a long way to go before I'm as good as Li though.' There was an awkward pause.
'Amber-' Before Hex could finish, Li bounced over to them and tugged at Amber's arm.
'Come on. We're going to be the scouts.' She hurried away dragging Amber along behind her. Hex pushed down his frustration and took Paulo's offered arm. Alex supported him on his other side and gave him an amused look.
'What?' Alex laughed and looked at Paulo, who started laughing too. Hex scowled and ignored his two friends.
The cars were right where Amber had said they'd be. Frowning with concentration, Paulo carefully scrutinized each vehicle before deciding on a familiar looking truck.
'Paulo is that the car we...' He nodded and flipped down the sun visor to check for the car keys. Li suppressed a giggle as Paulo found the keys.
'It's good to see you learnt from your mistake, Paulo,' Li said. Paulo grinned at her. On their last mission, Paulo hotwired a car so that Alpha Force and the rescued child slaves could escape from the Scorpion. Only afterwards did he find the car keys hidden in the turned up sun visor.
'Such a shame though. Now I cannot have any fun.'
Amber tilted her head and looked at the jeep-like vehicle.
'Are you sure we aren't better taking another car?' she asked Paulo.
'This one will be the best if we have to go off road.' Hex gave a startled squeak and widened his eyes.
'Off road?' he repeated. When Paulo nodded, Hex groaned and rubbed his stomach. Amber was looking equally shaky.
'Paulo. Just in case you haven't noticed, we are on a mountain. The only "off road" you're going to be able to get is if we drive straight off the bloody edge!' Paulo smiled at her.
'All the more fun.' It was Amber turn to groan and sit down shakily.
Alex was looking at the seating arrangements. Paulo would drive and Hex would be best off sitting next to him. That left one more seat. Paulo seemed to guess what Alex was thinking.
'Who wants to ride in the cab with me and Hex?' Li stuck up Alex's arm.
'Me! Me! Pick me!' she whined. Alex gave her a withering look and pulled his arm away.
'Ok then. Since Alex is so eager...' The seating arrangements worked out, the three boys climbed into the cab while Amber and Li scrambled into the back. Amber felt nausea over welm her and she sat down on one of the benches. Li obviously didn't see her friend's expression, because she gave a grin.
'Pity Hex isn't here to-' she cut off as Amber glared at her, her brown eyes like daggers.
'Just leave it, Li.' Li backed off quickly, aware that Amber wasn't in the mood for jokes.
'Sorry.' She sat down next to Amber and rubbed her back. 'What's wrong?' Amber had tears in her eyes.
'Nothing. I'm relieved, that's all. You know. We're going to escape...' Li studied the back of Amber's head. She's lying, she thought. Something's bothering her and I think I know what it is. Li was about to ask Amber what was really bothering her, when the car engine roared into life. The two girls flattened themselves against the car wall, the hearts in their mouths. It sounded so loud. Paulo put the car into gear and they quickly drove off. Amber tensed, expecting bullets to slam into the car but nothing happened. She gave Li a delighted smile. They were going to make it.
Ling Cho had gone outside for some fresh air. There were so many people inside and the air felt heavy and stale. A little walk was just what he needed. Over the loud music, Cho thought he heard a car engine. He frowned and stopped. The music stopped for a second as the song changed to a different one, but a second was all that he needed. Straining his ears, Cho nodded. Definitely a car engine. Cho was puzzled for a second, then felt his mouth go dry. He ran to the prisoner cell and stopped dead. The padlock was open and the door was slightly ajar. His prisoners had escaped. How is this possible? Cho thought as he yelled for his guards. They must be somewhere up on the top here. They couldn't have climbed down the cliff. Cho stopped again. These weren't any ordering teenagers. No normal teenagers would try to take on a baby-trafficking organisation single-handedly. Behind their cell. Cho sprinted towards the cliff edge. Nothing here to say that they had climbed down. He peered over the edge and groaned. A harness lay discarded on the ground. Great. Just great. His guards piled in the helicopter with him and they flew down to where they had left the cars. The vehicle that had brought his prisoners up the mountain was missing. Barking orders, Cho grabbed his gun and jumped into the nearest car. The guard put the key in the ignition and the vehicle roared into life. The chase was on.
Paulo struggled to keep the car on the rough track. He was going as fast as he could but he was painfully aware of the headlights that had suddenly lit up the car park area at the top of the track. Their absence had been noticed. Paulo gritted his teeth and swore quietly. He had been hoping that they could have got a little further at least before Cho had come after them, but something must have alerted him that they were missing. Paulo turned his mind back to the job at hand and just concentrated on keeping the car steady.
Amber and Li were clamped to the wooden seats, trying to stay upright. The unmistakable crack of a bullet being shot echoed around the mountainside and the two girls forgot about trying to keeps seated. They threw themselves flat on the floor.
'How did they know so soon?' Li asked.
'Must have heard the car start up,' Amber replied. The guns had stopped being fired, but Li and Amber still lay on the floor, holding onto each other.
'Come on Paulo,' Li whispered. 'You can do it.'
Alex, Hex and Paulo jumped as the gun fired. Paulo swerved slightly but turned his mind back to steering.
'Will Li and Amber be ok back there?' Hex asked. Alex nodded.
'Of course. They know what to do.' But, just like Hex, he couldn't help but feel worried as a picture of Amber and Li, filled with lead bullets, lying in the back of the jeep came into his head. A few more shots were fired, but it all seemed relatively quiet. Too quiet.
Suddenly there was an explosion bang and the car shuddered. Three more bangs followed and the car jerked to a stop. Alex didn't wait to find out what had made the bangs. He hurtled out of the car, dragging Hex with him. Paulo leapt out from the driver's side and they raced round the back of the vehicle. Headlights showed on the track above them. The guards had stopped the car and let them come close enough before shooting down at them.
Amber and Li's frightened faces peeked out from behind the canvas flaps. Alex grabbed Amber's arm and Li was grabbed by Paulo. Alpha Force ran away from the car, into the dense forest that bordered the track. Headlights came closer and guards piled out. They swung huge searchlights around, trying to pick up their escaped quarry.
Down in the forest, Alpha Force clung to each other behind a boulder. Amber was clutching Hex tightly and he had his arms wrapped around her, but she barely noticed. Bullets crashed through the trees as the guards shot blindly into the forest. Li whimpered and wriggled closer to Paulo. Alex was breathing heavily and trying to keep calm. Eventually the guards stopped firing and the searchlights swung away. For the next few minutes, the five friends sat in silence. All seemed quite but it could be a trap. Carefully, Alex poked his head just over the edge of the bolder. A light burned his retinas and a triumphant shout came from the track. Alex cursed. It had been a trap. How could he have been so stupid.
Alpha Force ran, terror giving them speed. There were sounds of crashing as the guards followed them and peppered the forest with bullets. They put on a spurt and cleared the forest. The next section of lower track welcomed them. Far below, Alpha Force could see the city lights. It all looked so safe and cosy, but that had been where their major troubles had begun.
The crashing sounds were getting closer and Li could see headlights coming towards them on the track. A bullet whistled past her ear and slammed into a tree in front of her. She screamed and they were running once again. Only one thought was in their heads; get away.
A/N Da da da. Oh no! What will happen? I wish I knew. Actually, I do have a bit of an idea but if anyone wants me to add something in I will do my best. I will try to update soon as I know how frustrating cliff-hangers can be!