A/N: Okay, I'm SUPER sorry for the really long wait, but I've been incredibly busy, especially with finals in school. :/ This chapter isn't quite as long as the others either, but I wanted the next chapter to start where it is. So, even though I made you wait a while for what to me seems like a really poorly written chapter, enjoy! :)
Chapter 8: Attempt
Olivia knew it was still dark. She also knew that the darkness would make her escape easier, but then there was the matter of Peter.
She knew she would never just ditch him, but he was all the way across the clearing. Even with it being dark there was no way she would make it all the way across undetected. Giving a sigh, Olivia's eyes fell on the nearby river and she got an idea. She could easily slip into the water, go downstream until she was out of the clearing, then come out into the forest and walk around to where Peter was. It seemed like a good enough plan to her, and she set to put it into motion
She started with the strap on her right wrist. It had a simple clasp, but she was using her left hand and she was extremely uncoordinated with it. "Damn it." she hissed under her breath as the clasp failed to be undone.
After five minutes of struggling, she finally managed to loosen the strap enough so that her wrist could slip through. Rubbing the raw skin on her arm, Olivia took a deep breath and set to work on the straps on her legs.
Being able to use her right hand made it so much easier, and in less than a minute, she was free. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she laid back and acted as though she was still tied down.
All she had to do now was get in the water, get out, and get Peter. It sounded simple enough, but she knew she had to be careful.
Glancing back at the camp for the last time, Olivia saw that everyone was too busy to pay any attention to her. Quietly, she slipped off the cot and landed with a gentle thud on the ground, her side burning in protest.
Slowly, she crawled to the edge of the water, and without testing the temperature, she swiftly dove in. She hardly made a splash, and when she came up for air, she was gasping.
The water was extremely cold. It was coming from the Rocky Mountains, and felt like ice. The only good thing was that it made her side numb. Going back underwater, Olivia swam out towards the middle of the river, pushing off the muddy ground with her legs.
Once she was a few feet in, the ground dropped off unexpectedly, and Olivia fumbled to regain her footing but failed. The swift current caught her and brought her even further from the edge, and she began to panic.
She knew how to swim, but she couldn't move the left side of her body. Every time she tried, a searing, unbearable pain shot up her side.
Trying to kick her way to the surface with only the right side of her body, she brought her right arm up and broke the surface of the water, bringing it down again to pull herself up, but was unsuccessful.
Deciding she would deal with the pain, she tried to kick her left leg, but it didn't respond. It wasn't that she didn't want to move it, it just didn't, no matter how hard she tried. It had stiffened from the cold and pain, and wasn't working.
The water was now beginning to gain speed, foaming as it surged past rocks. Olivia continued to struggle, but it was pointless. She felt the tug of the current, and moments later, she collided with a large rock, knocking what little breath she had left out of her.
Pushing herself up from the rock into the air, Olivia gasped for breath, trying to keep her head above the rushing water. She tried to stay on the rock, but it was slippery, and before she could take another breath, she was pulled under again.
She was in a very fast and shallow part of the river, but Olivia didn't have any more strength left to pull herself up. Her body relaxed and went limp, and the current continued to toss her around like a ragdoll.
Rushing past another rock, her head clipped the edge of it, and she saw stars, blacking out. The water was beginning to calm again, the moonlight shimmering across the smooth water, but Olivia was nowhere to be seen.
"Make a pile for everything." Saunders directed his men, "Food in one pile, tents in another."
The cleanup was going pretty smoothly with it being so late at night. Nobody had been killed by the bear, but a few were injured. One man was a doctor, and was currently tending to the wounded in a makeshift tent they had made out of scraps.
Satisfied that they were back on the right track, he decided to check on Olivia. As he walked towards the river, he could make out the cot, and it seemed rather flat to him. It appeared as though nothing was on it, and it was closer to the river than before.
Picking up his pace, he squinted at the cot, and sure enough, there was no one on it.
Cursing under his breath, Saunders sprinted towards the cot, and found how she escaped: one of the straps had ripped. Shoving over the cot in his frustration, it clattered on the rocks and fell into the river, causing the water to splash.
"She probably slipped into the river," he muttered, picking up the cot, "then she probably would have helped..." trailing off, his head snapped up, "Bishop."
Leaving the cot where it was, Saunders ran straight to the tree Peter was at. Peter was still there, and was fully awake, staring at Saunders questioningly.
"Don't give me that look," Saunders nearly shouted, grabbing Peter by the collar of his shirt and lifting him off the ground, "Where is Dunham?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Peter muttered, confused, "She's where you put her...isn't she?" halfway through his sentence, he realized that she most likely escaped. He was thrilled, of course, but it didn't seem like her to just leave him behind. Sure, he would prefer she just left him and went on her own, but he knew Olivia, and she wouldn't leave someone behind, no matter what.
"No," Saunders spat out, tightening his grip on Peter, "she isn't where I left her, and I'm having a hard time believing that she just left you for dead."
Peter had to admit, the guy had a point, but he truly had no idea where she was, "I swear I have no idea where she is, but I am glad she got away." pausing for a moment, he decided to push his luck, "And really? You obviously had no idea who you were dealing with, did you?"
Saunders gave Peter a punch in the jaw as a response, then hissed in his ear as he coughed blood, "You're lucky we have to go to Mexico, otherwise we'd have more time to search for her. But we'll get her, don't worry." slamming Peter back against the tree, he left, determined on finding the girl and Dunham as soon as possible, hopefully without telling Faber.
"Hey!" he called out to his men as he walked towards his destroyed tent, "We have a problem, Dunham escaped, so I need half of you to search for her, she should be somewhere near the river. Find her and bring her here, alive!"
At that, the men scattered, gathering their guns and supplies. Some stayed and continued to clean, while others dispersed into the forest. Saunders had a sinking feeling that he wouldn't find her, but he hoped he would get lucky.
"Don't you think we should call the police?" Olivia heard a woman's concerned voice say, despite the pounding in her head.
"Honey, were in the middle of a national forest, what police?" A man's voice said, and she felt her head being propped up with something soft.
"Well..." the woman hesitated, "I feel like we should be doing something more than this! She looks really hurt!"
She was more than "really" hurt. There wasn't a part of her body that didn't have cramps or bruises, and her skin tingled from sunburn. Groaning, she rolled over onto her side and gasped from the sharp pain. She quickly returned to her back and opened her eyes, finding the concerned woman hovering over her.
"Paul!" the woman called excitedly, "She's awake, come on over!" Olivia was still in a daze, and was temporarily blinded when the woman moved, allowing the sun to shine directly on her face.
The man came over and sat beside the woman, "Hey, are you okay? We found you on the side of the river and pulled you out, you were in pretty bad shape." pausing, he fixed his statement, "Actually, you still are."
Olivia wasn't sure if she could speak yet, her throat was on fire, but she slowly brought herself to a sitting position. They were in a small clearing, right beside the river bank, and the man and woman both had hiking backpacks.
When she remembered that they were in a forest, her memory immediately flashed back to her. She had been in the river, trying to get Peter, when the water got control of her. Peter, she had been trying to get Peter! And now she was God knows where, and Saunders probably knew she had escaped by now! In her distress, she quickly stood, and immediately regretted the decision.
The trees were spinning all around her, the bright light of the sun making it nearly impossible for her sensitive eyes to adjust, and she fell against a tree, panting. The man and woman got up, quickly coming to steady Olivia, "I'm fine," she said, trying to brush off the woman, "I just need to get to Boston-"
"First you need to rest." the woman interrupted, gently tugging Olivia back to the ground.
"No," Olivia protested, trying to stay up, "You don't understand, I work for the FBI and I need to get back to Boston, someone's life may depend on it."
Skeptical, the woman looked at her husband, and only received a shrug, "If you work for the FBI, what are you doing here?"
Olivia sighed, this wouldn't be fun to explain, "I was kidnapped, along with a colleague of mine. I escaped and tried to help him too, but the river current got me."
The couple only stood there in awe, not believing what she just said, but Olivia had lost her patience, "Are you going to take me or should I go on my own?"
"Uh, well-" the man stuttered, "Fine we'll take you, but we have to leave now, are you sure you're up for it?"
"Yeah," Olivia said as she grabbed her now dry coat from a tree branch, "Let's go."
"Okay Bishop," Saunders said as he slashed the ties on Peter's wrists, "Here's the deal, were leaving, and we can't find Dunham, but the priority right now is the other girl."
Peter slowly stood and stretched his arms, fully aware of the gun that was pointed at his head, "And me?"
"You're coming with," Saunders said matter-of-factly, "I have a feeling Dunham will be coming back for you, so you should come in handy. Now go!" he commanded, bringing the gun against Peter's head and shoving him into one of three boats in the river.
The boats were fairly small, but they were brimming with supplies. Sitting on the ground, Peter reluctantly allowed his hands to be cuffed around a metal bar and took note of his surroundings.
There were boxes after boxes after boxes, and each was labeled in sharpie. They were stacked high on each other, and Peter wondered if the boats would even move under all this weight. More were still being stacked, and Saunders had left to take care of a few last minute things. Five minutes later, they were cruising down the river, despite having to get around some fairly shallow and rocky water first.
As they were going down the river, Peter thought of ways to escape. When he didn't come up with any ideas at first, he let his mind wander to what Olivia would do. Sadly, he knew Saunders was right, Olivia would come back for him, whether or not it was a good idea. He just hoped he could get away before it came to that.
A/N: Review? Please? I'm not too confident about this chapter, so it would really help me if you told me how I did, and schools out this Friday, so updates should be faster. Thank you!