Chapter Thirty-Two
She jumped in the helicopter, nobody even paying her attention. Except Jasper, his confused eyes watching her.
Once inside, she picked up a gun and heard someone talking. She almost wet herself, when she realized it was just the pilot.
It was loaded, she saw. And the safety pin was already off.
She walked to the pilot and he turned his head when he heard her.
"Was?" he said harshly.
"I'll see you in Hell," she said, raising the gun to his nose and shooting once.
His head snapped back and blood splashed everywhere. It also came on her face, to her greatest disgust.
He was dead and she stood frozen in that position.
It was supposed to make her feel better. Instead, she felt sick to her core.
"Alice!" a loud, angry roar called from outside.
Then, very quick, more shots were fired. She was going to die soon, she knew that. Jasper was probably dead by now. Her arms went weak and she turned, slowly raising her arms again.
She could kill another Nazi. It didn't make her feel better. But it did make the world a better place. She would take one more, before they took her.
Waiting, waiting, waiting to take one more life. Her shoulders were tense. But she stepped forward. She wasn't a professional. She couldn't aim. The better the shot, the closer the distance.
Someone jumped inside and she shot, but the man had somehow been quicker. He'd crashed into her body and caused her aim to be to the sky.
They fell on the floor of the plane together. Jasper's body pressed hers tightly and she felt how he yanked the gun away from her hand. That didn't prove to be very hard since her grip on it had been slack in the first place.
"Trying to kill me now, Alice?" he asked in a breathy voice, leaning down to sit on her upper legs.
"Jasper," she whispered. "Where are the Nazi's?"
"Dead."
"I thought... I thought they killed you. I thought you were dead."
"No," he said. "I heard a shot and I thought you killed yourself."
"No, no, no," she whispered. "I think I lost it. I killed the pilot."
She looked up at him, a little afraid.
"I'm sorry I endangered your life," she said quietly.
He stared at her, never moving away from her.
"You killed the pilot?" he asked.
She nodded.
"We have a helicopter for our own?"
"Uh...I'm not sure what that means?"
He leaned down and she expected a kiss. It was insanity.
Except, he didn't kiss her. He'd only leaned forward to watch her even more closely.
"You didn't endanger my life," he said. "You saved it."
"But you screamed my name when you heard the shot. That blew your cover. Our cover."
"I didn't care then. I thought you were dead."
She didn't understand the big deal.
"You killed them all," she said in surprise. "All those shots I heard, that was you killing three Nazi's. If you knew you're fast, why didn't you shoot them all before."
It would've saved Alice a lot heartache and confusion from killing the pilot herself.
"That wasn't an option," he said with an angry scoff. "You were with us the entire time. Innocent and unarmed. One of them would have shot you dead if I started fire. It wasn't a risk I was willing to take."
She gasped at that declaration.
"When I thought you were dead, I didn't have you to lose anymore."
She nodded, but also looked away awkwardly. He confessed something very strange. If it weren't for her, Jasper would've killed all the Nazi men easily. Except, with her on his side, he couldn't take the risk of getting her shot.
"You're face..." he said, wiping at her cheeks with his fingers. "Have you ever killed someone before? How are you feeling?"
"Why did you kiss me?" she asked desperately instead.
He only hesitated for a moment, before he said, "It was the only way I could think of to get you out of your shock. I'm sorry for that, by the way. And for squeezing your waist."
So that kiss, it was just part of his plan to get her out of her shock. Of course that was the reason. Than why did Alice feel so terrible?
"We're going to leave now," he said. "By flying this helicopter."
"Oh," she mumbled. "Yeah, smart idea. It's a good thing you know how to fly it."
"Are you a quick learner?" he asked, getting up slowly, with movement that didn't fit him.
She choked when she saw a blood on his chest. Quickly she scrambled up on her feet.
"I thought they didn't shoot you!" she accused desperately.
"So did I."
She wanted to check to wound, but he shook his head.
"It's time to go, before we miss our chance. Take your seat."
"I can't," she muttered.
She shivered when she thought of that body, still there in the seat. Jasper noticed and went to the seat.
"Look away," he said.
Alice turned her back to him. She heard huffs and puffs coming from Jasper and a loud thud when he probably dropped the body on the ground. She heard movements, walking and than one more loud thud. Probably from throwing the body out of the helicopter.
"Take your seat," he repeated.
She turned and looked in shock at the blood trail from the chair to the open door.
Reluctantly, she walked to the seat and sat awkwardly. Blood and skin was covering all the buttons.
He sat next to her.
"That stick has to be between your legs," he said.
"Uh...what?" she muttered, squeezing her left leg between the seat and the stick until her legs were apart with the stick in between.
"This stick is basically how you fly the helicopter. It's a sensitive tool. Compare it to your legs. It directs the helicopter."
No, they weren't really going to do this. Alice had never done something so big before.
"Place your feet on the tail rotors," he said, pointing down.
She put her feet gently on them, without pushing.
"Press the left one if you want the nose to go left, right if you want it to go right."
She shook her head.
"You raise and lower the helicopter with the collective control on your left."
"Maybe we should walk."
"I'm with you as we take off," he said. "Once we're up, it's easy. That is all."
He placed his hand on her right one and put it on the stick. The only reason it remained on the stick, was because his hand kept hers there.
"Pull the lever up, with your left hand."
"I can't," she said, shaking her head.
She placed her hand on it, seriously doubting she would actually do this. She accidentally pulled the stick closer to her and the entire chopper moved a little.
"The stick is sensitive," he said. "No need to give it hard yanks."
She wasn't yanking on it. She was trembling and nervous, her movements automatically became robotic.
"Sorry," he said quickly. "You're frightened. I'm glad that you are."
She swallowed thickly and turned her head to him. He saw her confused eyes. His own were actually showing hope.
"Being afraid means you still have something to lose. I know I've taken everything you had. But I'm glad you found something, whatever it is, to give you newfound reason not to want to die anymore."
That wasn't true. Alice hadn't found anything. Except Jasper. But she was uncertain if that was a good thing.