Just to confirm we're actually a quite a way away from the end of this story... you'll see why at the end of this chapter.
On another note school starts back up tomorrow so this will have to be the end of the daily updates.
A few hours later and Tom was searching for a reason to stay. The rubble had been cleared and the death of Sam Nicholls and the unknown rebel leader had been logged with no trace of either body. Tom's ever dwindling pool of hope had increased in size upon hearing this, hoping that somehow they had both gotten away, but the soldiers were quick to gently ease him out of this daydream and back into reality. She had been standing right next to the bomb. There was no way she was alive.
On some level Tom was glad that her death had been quick, he couldn't bear to think of her suffering. But on another level he was still so angry. He wanted someone to pay, but who? The man who killed her had the bomb strapped to his chest and was more than likely killed a split second before she was. The men who had followed that man's command were all detained or dead, and Tom couldn't very well go and ask Trent to let him kill a man simply because he needed something to take his anger out on.
"Tom? The jeeps are all loaded up, their waiting for you and me." Archer called, motioning him over to the jeep he was sitting in.
Tom numbly complied, still too lost in anger to really wrap his head around the fact that he was never going to see Sam or the place she died again.
"You sure you're ok to be driving?" Tom asked, nodding at the bump on his head.
"Well one of us has to and you're not going to get very far with one arm." Archer replied, nodding at his sling.
With a jolt Tom realized that Sam had been the last person to change the dressing, and that the piece of his shirt she had ripped up to make a sling was still supporting his shoulder and arm. For a moment he felt close to her once more, knowing that her fingerprints still remained on the fabric that he was wearing.
"Tom?" Archer asked uncertainly, "You can't stay here…"
"I know." Tom replied, and for the first time he actually smiled.
Sam may not be here with him, but she would never leave him. He still had all his memories and though at the moment they were too painful to even think about at the moment she was still there. He was also 99% sure whatever feeling was possessing him to look on the bright side would not last for long and that soon he would be returning to depressed state and so thought it best to get in the jeep and drive away from this while he still felt able to.
With a last look back he climbed into the jeep and nodded at Archer to drive away.
…
When Sam finally awoke she opened her eyes and found nothing in front of her but complete darkness. For a moment she thought she was dead, but then realized that she wouldn't be able to feel cold metal chains wrapped around her wrists and ankles if she were. Nor would she be shivering.
She tried moving but a distinct throb in her head warded her away from the idea, along with the reasoning that if she was being held captive she had no idea what to do if she managed to get the chains off of her body. So instead she simply stayed like this for a moment, wondering what her next move could be as she tried to gather her thoughts.
She had been searching for revenge against the man who killed her brother, she and Archer had snuck into a fort and there was a bomb strapped around her brother's killer's chest and he pressed a button then everything blew up-wait. No. She was hit over the head! But there was an explosion from somewhere and she distinctly remembered hearing something crash into the locked door…
Sam shook her head slowly. None of this made sense. By all rights she should be dead, but clearly she wasn't.
She was alive…. Somehow.
Was she buried underground? No. That didn't explain the chains.
Was she being held captive for ransom? Possibly.
As Sam's mind ticked through all the possibilities as calmly as if this was all a dream a startling truth began to dawn on her. If the bomb strapped to her brother's killer had been a fake then that meant he was still alive too. That hit to the head she took came from behind, meaning that he probably wanted her out of the way but not dead. But where had she been taken to? And did anyone know she was alive other than that man?
Did Tom know?
…
Hehehe…
Update 17/11/13: I'm going to suspend this story for a while as I need to focus on my school work. I may be able to update once in a blue moon but there probably won't be much until the Christmas Holidays or later.
Update 26/1/14: My grades have improved to the point where I was previously getting Cs and Bs and now i'm getting A*s, and I want to keep this going. I just applied to uni and I have a lot of stuff coming up so I'm afraid I will have to stick this story on haitus until I am done with my exams in the summer. I think my last exam is in late June, so don't be expecting anything sooner than that. Sorry! :(
If it's any conciliation I'm taking a gap year and so I should be able to update far more frequently!