Chapter 37 - Silence

Slamming the office door, Rosa's heels clicked on the wooden floor. She had cleaned herself up in Hoyt's office; she was looking a lot better with her makeup done and her hair preened. It was great in how just making her appearance look better, it made her feel better in herself, transforming herself into the force on Rook to not be reckoned with.

Rosa stepped out of the building, and welcomed the heat of the island into her, soaking it all up.

"Tell Hoyt to come down to the loading bay." she said to one of the privateers, who was leaning against a wall.
The man jumped up straight at Rosa's command.
"Right away, Miss Volker." the man said and he scuttled off to find Hoyt.

Rosa continued walking down to the loading bay and slowed a little when she passed the area where her and Rich had once sat, the day she had met Vaas. Rosa stopped and touched the old, wooden crate and sighed.

"You'd know what I should do, Rich." she said to herself, "You always knew what I should do. Tell me, Rich, please."
Rosa brushed off some of the dirt on the crate and pushed a dirty rag off of it. Something caught her eye and she blew the dirt away and rubbed it with her hand.

Right there, in front of her eyes, was a carving in the crate. It was a simple heart with 'R+V' scratched inside it. Rosa and Vaas had done it together, a little into their relationship. Cheesy, but they were young in love and they didn't care. Rosa stroked the carving with her index finger and took a deep breath.
'Maybe it's a sign.' she thought to herself.

She took one last look at it, smiled slightly and made her way to the boat. Rosa threw her backpack off, dropping it in the front of the boat, opening it up and checking she had everything. Hoyt's letter was safe in the bottom.

"Going so soon, my English Rose?" a voice said from behind her, "You've only been here a few hours. You'd think that you weren't enjoying my company."
Rosa turned to see Hoyt stood by the back of the boat, on land.
"That's exactly why I'm leaving, old man." Rosa said, sarcastically, winking at Hoyt, "I know what I need to do. I have to go and make things right."

"As long as that's what you think. Don't be getting yourself into any fucking trouble, okay? Anything happens, you just jump straight back on this boat and come here."
"Okay, Hoyt. I'll let you know."

Rosa flung her arms around Hoyt's shoulders and buried her head into them. She inhaled in his smell and sighed.
"You can tell me what has happened, Rosa. You know you can." Hoyt mumbled.
Rosa pulled out of the hug and flashed him a weak smile.
"I'll be fine. It's nothing." she replied, lying through her teeth.

Hoyt raised an eyebrow and she forced herself to smile further, until he looked more relaxed.

"Stay safe!" Hoyt called as Rosa started the engine, hearing Hoyt cursing as water was thrown all over him. She couldn't stop laughing and pushed her foot down, driving back to North Island.

About 5 minutes into the journey, her stomach filled with dread and she had to slow down a little. Rosa was shaking and was gripping the wheel so tightly, that her knuckles were white. She chewed on her lip and then completely stopped pressing the accelerator. The boat stopped and shuddered and Rosa stared into space.

What the hell was she doing?

Pulling the key out of the ignition, Rosa rested her head on the steering wheel. It had taken her a lot longer than anticipated to arrive back at North, and when the familiar compound appeared on the horizon, she nearly threw up, unsure whether it was a combination of fear, motion sickness, or baby sickness. Nothing made sense.

She reluctantly pulled herself out of the boat and her legs felt like jelly. Maybe she was wrong to come back so soon after the fight. She knew that she would have to confront him eventually and in Vaas' words: 'There's no time like the present.'

Dragging her feet along the dusty path, Rosa mustered up all of the courage that she had and entered the compound.

Silence.

It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop and there was nobody to be seen. Rosa was surprised that a tumbleweed didn't came past her, it was that deadly silent.

"Hello?" Rosa called.
Nothing. She walked further into the compound and there was nobody about. No pirates or strippers, no hostages or rejects, no Raul and especially no Vaas.
"What the fuck is going on?" Rosa said to herself.

She went to the warehouse and pushed the creaking door open and called out Vaas' name. No answer came. She walked back out into the sunlight and stood in the centre of the compound. Rosa turned her head, this way and that, trying to spot anyone in the buildings.

"HELLO?" she shouted and there was still no reply.
It was getting creepy and eerie, with no-one about. Rosa expected something to jump out at her. The hum of a car engine, interrupted her thoughts and she ran to the gate of the compound, her gun at the ready.

"AHH!" she cried, as she jumped around the corner, her gun ready to be shot.
"Hey! Don't shoot!" shouted a pirate and Rosa was taken aback.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON? WHERE IS EVERYBODY?" she shouted.
The small group of pirates put their arms up in defense.

"Something's happened, Rosa." one of the pirates said.
On closer inspection, the pirates looked battered and bloody, cuts across their faces and blood on their bodies. They looked a mess, their clothes ripped and covered in dirt. Rosa slowly put her gun down.

"What the fuck has happened?" she managed to breath out; she felt like her heart was coming to come out of her chest.
"The Rakyat. That message they put on the warehouse? It was a threat. A small group of them stayed behind, infiltrated the compound this morning, captured us all and set free the hostages."
"Vaas?"
"They've got them all Rosa. We only just managed to escape. The Rakyat said that they're waiting for you."

Rosa stopped breathing, everything felt like it was coming down around her. Her blood boiled and then she came back to reality. The anger pulsated through her, a hot venom that had a desire to slaughter every last Rakyat on the islands.

"I'm going to kill every one of those mother fuckers." she growled, "We're going to get Vaas and the others back."
"We'll need to plan it first, Rosa. There are only a few, but they're prepared. We need to be ready or else we'll all be killed!" said one of the pirates who was sat in the back of the truck.

"You're right." Rosa said, her blood still burning, "Tell me everything you know."

You didn't think that the Rakyat were gone forever did you? Happy reading guys!