Hello again everyone! As promised here is the next chapter which continues from the episode chapter six is made of so ENJOY! Leave a review and let me know what you think of the story so far. *also just to re-iterate what I said in my AN in an earlier chapter (in this write I have made Clementine Mitch's niece but I do know originally in the TV show she is his daughter)* =)
CHAPTER SEVEN
We stopped and got out, Abe got busy pulling off one of the metal rods from the roof that kept the luggage rack on the vehicle.
Jackson, Jamie and Mitch pondered on how to get close enough to one leopard to knock it out without having the attention of the rest on us the entire time.
While they were all busy I got out of the vehicle and stretched before dropping down to do a few quick push-up's and sit-ups.
Knowing we would need the energy I checked out food supply and handed everyone a protein bar and a bottle of water, since we didn't have the time to sit down and open a can of food.
We all started chewing on the protein bar as I joined Mitch, Jackson and Jamie in the vehicle.
"If we can isolate one leopard from the group, we may have a chance." Jackson said.
"What if we can't?" Jamie asked. There was no answer from any of us as we all knew that this was simply what had to happen.
"Jackson, take this just in case." I said handing him a flashbang grenade.
He took it and gave me a head nod before joining Abe who had just finished fashioning a homemade spear. I got out of the vehicle as well and climbed on-top of the roof so I could see further.
"Need any extra eyes?" Mitch asked his head popping up over the back of the vehicle. I grinned and gave him a hand, helping pull him up the rest of the way.
"Jamie?" I asked.
"She wanted to try and get some sleep." Mitch replied his voice growing a bit quieter as he sat down next to me, facing the opposite way. Our hands met and laced without a word being spoken.
"So you said you wanted to get to know me better, ask away." I said.
"Okay, first question. Why the Seals?" Mitch asked curiously.
I snickered, "Honestly? I was drunk, I was eighteen, I had just gotten my first tattoo and thought I was the baddest thing around and the recruiter was hot."
"Oh…really? That's a little.." Mitch didn't seem to know how to take it causing me to laugh.
"I was hammered, when I finally woke up I was signed up and hungover. That's when I decided to never get that drunk ever again. But the Seals…it was good for me. The training sucked at first but things got better. It…it helped me a lot and I made a lot of good friends. How about you why a veterinary pathologist?" I asked curiously, wanting to get the topic off of me.
Mitch just got done explaining why when I saw Jackson and Abe on their way back bringing our get to know you game to an quick end.
"Their on their way back, can you let Jamie know if she isn't asleep?" I asked Mitch who nodded and got down while I kept watch on Jackson and Abe making sure that no leopards were following them.
When they got within five feet of the vehicle I jumped down from the roof and saw Jackson was holding a leopard cub.
I reached out to take it so Jackson could drive and hopped into the back holding it. Jamie was awake and I gave her a knowing look, I had suspected she had just been faking about getting sleep. She grinned sheepishly at me knowing she had been caught before she immediately was overwhelmed by the cub's cuteness.
We got back to the river only to see that the raft was now underwater, everyone got out but me since I had the cub to go see what was wrong while I began to softly pet the cub and speak to it in Icelandic.
Knowing that it had to be hungry and with its babies' teeth was still only able to eat soft things I checked the canned food and found a fresh thing of tuna that I began to slowly feed the cub whom I had decided to name Kujo, although I wasn't going to tell anyone.
When they got back to the vehicle Jamie told me what had happened and where we were going to have to go through.
"There is really no other way?" I asked Jackson and Abe although knowing that if there was they would have suggested it. They shook their heads and I sighed nodding and handing Kujo over to Jamie to hold.
"Ya'll should know that if they come at us meaning physical harm I will defend myself and the rest of you, violently." I said seriously.
"Please let us talk to them first if they should appear." Abe said.
"Sure, but if they start coming at us I am willing and able to kill." I told him letting him know there would be no hesitation on my part should things go sour.
I petted Kujo as he sat on my lap while Jamie fed him some of the tuna from the can I had opened earlier,
"Hey, are we sure that this is the best plan? I mean, maybe we should just drive fast and get the through here and not worry about the engine noise." Mitch said as he continued to scan the surroundings while Abe drove.
"No. We should stay quiet." Abe said firmly.
Not a nanosecond after he said that a cellphone began to ring, we all looked around for the source.
"What is that?" Jackson asked, his question making me roll my eyes as the stupidity of his question, honestly we all knew it was a cell-phone.
Mitch reached down into the backpack near his feet and after unzipping it he pulled out a cell-phone.
"It's Chloe's phone. Must've left it in my pack." He said surprised before handing it over to Jackson who had reached back for it.
"Hello?" Jackson said as he flipped open the cellphone.
"This is Jackson Oz. I'm a friend of Chloe's. Who is this?" Jackson said speaking to whomever was on the other end.
"She's been arrested. She's fine though. She's safe. She…she's in FBI custody." Jackson said.
"What do you mean? How do you know that?" Jackson asked his tone of voice telling me that something was wrong.
"What's going on?" Jamie asked Jackson who didn't reply as he listened to whatever the other person was saying.
"She didn't kill that agent." Jackson said firmly.
"Has Chloe." Jackson said sounding like he was finishing the sentence of the other person, Jamie looked worried so I took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze causing her to look at me,
"Chloe will be fine." I mouthed to her causing her to lighten up a bit but she still looked worried.
"Yes, I…I will. Of course. You do the same." Jackson said before hanging up the cellphone.
"What is it?" Jamie asked a look of dread back on her face.
"That Fed, Brannigan- he was killed." Jackson said.
Jamie glanced at me a look of anger in her eyes, "Reiden." She said.
"It had to be Reiden." Jamie said clarifying what she meant.
"If that is the case then what have they done with Chloe?" Abe asked, speaking our collective worried thoughts.
We stayed silent as Abe continued to drive us through the Mdube Army territory, rounding a turn we found another vehicle heading straight towards us. I put Kujo down and got my Glocks out as I glanced behind us to see if we had a way out.
"We're boxed in." I stated calmly as I took off the safety's and prepared to protect my sister and friends.
Abe pulled to an almost stop as the vehicle in-front of us with the kids and adult carrying weapons pulled sideways so we couldn't pass them, immediately reversing Abe tried to back us out but found the vehicle that had been following us from behind to close for comfort and unable to turn to the side Abe stopped the vehicle.
Immediately the people in the vehicle in front of us began to discharge their weapons in the air while hollering in their native dialect.
The people in the vehicle behind us did the same, a large male got out of the one vehicle and began to run towards our vehicle.
"Jupiter please let me try to talk to them." Abe pleaded, Jamie's fearful look but adamant head nod made me grit my teeth.
"Fine but I will kill them if they try anything." I all but snarled as I put the safety's back on and put my Glocks back into my bag and pushed it behind me angling it in such a way as to make it easy to grab but hidden from sight as I put Jamie who had picked up Kujo behind me as well.
Just in time as the guy who had been running towards our vehicle reached it and put his gun on Jackson while Abe slowly opened his door and stepped out, speaking to the 'soldiers'.
"What is he saying?" Jamie whispered to Jackson who shook his head,
"I have no idea." Jackson admitted quietly.
Something must have happened as one of the guy's held a machete to Abe's throat causing Jackson to holler,
"No, No!" And get out of the vehicle holding up one of his hands as he used the other one to shove open the door.
"Jackson!" Jamie said in a useless attempt to stop him.
"No. Don't hurt him. All right? Take me. Take me. Don't hurt him." Jackson said as he moved to where Abe was standing.
"It's okay. They're not going to hurt me. They think we have money or….or that we are worth money." Abe said trying to placate both sides by staying calm.
I slide a few of my daggers out of my bag and put two of them that had sheaths into the sides of my black combat boots the rest I placed behind me near Jamie, keeping my movements smooth and without as much movement as possible.
"What do we do?" Jamie asked.
"As long as they behave we all live." I said coldly as I kept my gaze on the soldiers who were staring at us from behind.
"We have no money, we have nothing of value and even you can't kill all of them without one or more of us being hurt." Jamie reasoned.
I didn't reply but knew she was telling the truth.
"We have him." Mitch said and I had a feeling he was talking about Kujo.
"What are we going do, sic a kitten on them?" Jamie asked her voice coated with disbelieving sarcasm.
"The needle on Abe's spear-hand it to me." Mitch replied ignoring her comment.
Jamie quickly moved and got the needle and gave it to Mitch but all of their movement caused me to wince inwardly as the soldiers immediately opened the back doors even as I heard Kujo squeal in pain.
"Hey what are you going? What are you doing?! No No! Jupiter! Jamie!" Mitch hollered as the soldiers reached in and jerked myself and Jamie out of the vehicle.
I stayed quiet allowing them to pull me out without complaint or resistance even as Jamie's and Mitch's fearful shouts of 'No!' and 'what are you doing' echoed through the air.
I didn't flinch as I watched Mitch get hit in the stomach with the butt of a rifle when he tried to come after Jamie and I, instead I counted how many men there were and began to calculate what I would have to do and in what order I would have to do it to take down the most amount of men in the quickest way.
Jamie and I were shoved into a semi-circle of men her hands were in the air while I kept mine at my sides and stood side by side with her watching as Jackson and Abe were shoved into the back of our vehicle with Mitch before the back door was closed on them.
Some of the soldiers started to get back into one of the vehicles as the others began to crowd in closer towards Jamie and I, one reached out to touch Jamie when I heard a growling nearby causing me to smirk at the soldiers in front of us.
"Jamie, stay close to me." I said quietly as a loud roar not ten feet away from Jamie and I caught the attention of the soldiers, the one man who had been sitting in the back of the vehicle Jamie and I were standing next to screamed and I knew a leapord had gotten him.
I pulled the machete out of the waistline of the nearest soldier and slit his throat before grabbing Jamie's closest hand and jerking her along behind me as we ran towards the guys while the soldiers behind us were hollering and shooting.
I saw the back doors of the vehicle swing open as Abe and Jackson jumped out just seconds before Jamie and I reached the vehicle I shoved Jamie inside first and jumped up onto the roof so I could protect us if need be.
Jackson and Abe ran to the front, Abe yanked out the soldier who had been sitting in the drivers side so we couldn't escape, and tossed him to the ground before starting up the vehicle, I grabbed onto one of the rails to keep my balance as we speed out of there.
Once we got far enough away Abe stopped so I could get inside the vehicle I left the machete on-top the roof as a back up should I ever need it, before climbing into the back and we took off again.
"That was great what you did back there." Jamie told Mitch as I play fought with Kujo on the floor.
"What?" Mitch asked.
"What you did with Kujo." I said clarifying what Jamie had meant.
"What are you talking about?" Abe asked curiously.
"..Mitch stuck the cub sorry, Kujo, with a needle. His pain sent a distress call. It was just like the lions in L.A. They communicate over long distances." Jamie said though I could feel her eyes on me.
"Oh, that was you!" Abe said surprised but with joy.
"Yeah, I just put their newfound mutation to good use." Mitch said.
"This little guy saved our lives." Jamie said as she reached down to pet Kujo.
I huffed slightly, "His name is Kujo."
I said quietly, pouting a little as Kujo nudged Jamie's hand before he walked back over to me and promptly curled up in my lap, falling to sleep quickly.
"We did it, Rafiki. Ah man, you saved my life." Abe said happily,
"I think…what…what happened?" Abe asked his tone changing to highly concerned causing me to glance up to the front.
"It's okay." Jackson replied faintly.
"What-what happened?!" Abe replied his voice getting more frantic.
Jamie leaned up to look over at Jackson and her eyes widened,
"Oh, my god! Jackson you've been shot!"
"Let me see. Let me see." Mitch said as he pulled off his long-sleeve button up shirt and leaned over the seat to look at Jackson whom Abe kept staring at worriedly barley even glancing at the road.
I moved into a half-crouch as I put Kujo in Jamie's lap,
"Hold him." I told her before turning my attention to Jackson who was now holding Mitch's long-sleeve shirt in a tight ball against his stomach.
"Abe can you stop long enough for Mitch and I to bring Jackson back here?" I asked in a way that sounded like a pleasant order.
Abe immediately stopped and I jumped out of the back, Mitch right beside me as we went around to Jackson and helped him into the back of the vehicle while Jamie, who had immediately climbed up over the seats, sat in the passenger seat half-turned around as she watched us worriedly.
I used a throwing knife and cut Jackson's shirt off so I could see the wound clearly,
"Get me some water and the small Emergency kit I have in my duffel bag." I said nodding in the general direction of my duffel bag as I felt around the edges of the wound and moved my hands to Jackson's back.
Not feeling an exit wound I immediately knew things were going to get bad, even as Mitch handed me the things I had asked for.
"Jackson there's no exit wound but your loosing a lot of blood so first I'm going to clean the wound and then I'm going to cauterize it. However we have to get the bullet out of you and since I can't see it and I don't want to blindly wretch around for it your going to have to be very still until we can get you to a hospital and they extract the bullet. Do you understand?" I said all the while cleaning away the wound and pulling a Zippo out of my backpack.
"..yeah." Jackson replied weekly.
"Good. Mitch hold him down. Jackson bite down on this. This will hurt." I said as I cut off the bottom half of my shirt and rolled it up placing it in Jackson's mouth before I flipped open the Zippo and started to heat up one of my clean throwing knifes, Mitch knowing what I was about to do grabbed Jackson's arms and pinned them down before giving me a nod.
I nodded back and then with a quick movement I shut the Zippo and placed the hot metal of the dagger against Jackson's stomach instantly cauterizing the wound even as Jackson struggled and screamed in pain.
"It's over now Jackson. You did good. For now your okay." I said slipping back into my civilian comforting routine without realizing it.