Under Ground (24 page)

Before he leaves, he turns around
one last time. “And Thia, everything will be fine. But you need to
harden up. Shit’s about to hit the fan. I don’t know what’s going
to happen, but you need to be ready for the worst.”

I nod, my heart sinking, and then
he's gone. Kayla stands up, takes my hand in hers, and leads me out
of the living room, all the way down the hall. She opens the door
to a bedroom next to the staircase and turns on the
light.

“Do you need anything?” she asks,
her eyes shifting toward my backpack.

“No, I’m fine. Thank you for
helping me.”

“Anytime. And Thia..." She pauses
and sighs deeply. "I’m sorry about what happened. But Taylor always
holds on to his words. If he says we’re going to save Chi, he means
it. We’re going to do everything we can.”

“Sure, thanks.”

She pats me on the shoulder and
closes the door behind her. I sit at the edge of the bed and hold
my face in my hands, stress pumping through my veins. My head fills
with images of Chi and what might be happening to him right now.
Not knowing is worse than seeing it for myself.

I take my clothes off and leave
them on an armchair. I slip into my sleeping gown and turn to the
queen-sized bed. I probably won’t be able to sleep tonight. I lie
down under the covers anyway. The bed is comfortable, but the
torment in my head won't let me rest. I toss around and hardly
sleep all night.

I finally manage to doze off and
fall into slumber as dawn comes breaking through. Eventually,
noises and voices stir me awake. I get out of bed and put on the
clothes I was wearing last night. I open the door to the bedroom
and follow the sounds all the way to the living room. Some of the
men I met last time are standing and chatting with Taylor by the
fireplace. They don’t turn around when I walk in. They just keep on
discussing the plans to locate and rescue Chi.

“Chase and James, you’ll be in the
car with Thia and me. Akio will be in a truck with Kayla. Based on
what Bryan said, they always go through Flatiron Street on their
way to the camps. Akio, you'll wait with Kayla on Manhattan Avenue.
You’ll park there. James will page your walkie talkie when the
police are on their way. You don’t pick up; it’ll be your signal.
When you get it, you drive in the way of the police car and
intercept them. You need to block the path. They’ll probably lose
control. Make sure they don't hit you. Kayla, make sure you shoot
those guys dead, babe. The last thing we need is to get ambushed by
them. Chase, you get Chi out of that vehicle. Akio, we’ll meet a
mile away from New Tappan Zee Bridge. And be careful with Kayla,
man. I don’t want to have to hunt you down if anything happens to
her.”

“Yep, I’ll protect her,” Akio
replies. He's a man of Asian descent, standing tall with a stature
heightened by a thin frame. His dark eyes shine with intelligence
while his beautiful features are so symmetrical that he could have
been carved out of marble.

Kayla's narrows her eyes at Akio
playfully as she puffs with feigned disdain. "I'll be protecting
you
is what you mean!" she exclaims, and Akio's lips curl up
into a smile.

"Wanna bet?" he asks.

Taylor cuts them off, "How about
you don't bet on stuff like that. I'm not kidding, Akio. You'd
better protect her if you don't want to get your ass
kicked."

Kayla's brow furrows for real this
time. "I'll be just fine, Papa Bear, thank you very
much!"

Taylor is about to respond when I
step a bit closer and they all turn to me. Everyone greets me with
a simple nod. Kayla comes over to grasp my hand and lead me to the
kitchen, next door to the living room.

“I'm going to feed you! You'll
need the energy!”

“I’m not really hungry,” I
protest, half-heartedly.

“I don’t want to hear about it.
You look like you're ready to fall over. We have bacon, eggs, milk,
cereal, and grapes."

All fancy upper-class
food.

“I’ll have some eggs,
please."

"Do you like omelets?" she asks
while looking in the fridge. "With cheese?"

Kayla grabs a pan. I ask if I can
help, but she shakes her head. Her kindness warms my heart as I sit
down and watch her prepare a real feast for all of us.

Chapter 28

That
evening,
I get in the car with Taylor and the others. My
heart is pounding with anxiety. Taylor starts the vehicle and
drives through the city, straight toward Flatiron Street. The
police station where Bryan works isn’t far from there, so we know
Chi and the officers will be close by. Everyone remains silent
through the entire ride. Finally, we reach the street, and Taylor
parallel-parks before he turns around in his seat to lay out the
plans one last time.

After half an hour, Taylor’s
walkie talkie turns on. He glances at it. It’s the signal from
Bryan. My heart speeds up, and things happen at such a crazy pace
that I have trouble keeping track. Five minutes after the signal, a
police van passes by us. Taylor starts the car and follows the van
from a safe distance. I don’t see everything that’s happening ahead
of us, but I can hear gunshots, and the police van in front of us
swerves a few times before coming to a stop. Akio’s truck is in
view now. Kayla is at the window, holding a rifle.

Taylor stops the car abruptly. We
step out. Two guards exit the back of the police van. Taylor and
Chase grab their guns and start shooting. I’m horrified and stop
where I am. I’ve never seen a shooting before. It shakes me; the
sound is deafening. But I have to act now, or I could
die.

I look up, spot Chi, and run to
him. He’s sitting in the back of the van. His eyes are closed, his
head leaning backward. Sirens and shots resound around me. Of
course, we knew they'd have the van followed by at least one more
car. I don't stop to look around; I just hope a bullet doesn’t hit
me. I climb into the van and sit next to Chi. He doesn’t open his
eyes. His face is bruised. He’s been badly beaten. His lip is cut.
Blood has stained his entire shirt. There’s a deep wound on his
arm, too.

I'm sickened with worry. Terror
courses through my veins.
Please, Chi, be okay!
We may be
too late already. I lean over him and shake his body. He doesn’t
respond.

"Chi, wake up!"

I shake him harder. He winces and
a groan escapes his throat, filling me with immediate relief. Chi
coughs and opens his eyes. Surprise marks his face when he notices
me.

“Thia?” His voice is raw, and a
drop of blood rolls down his bottom lip as he speaks.

I press my finger against his
mouth. “Shhh, I’m here. Can you walk? We need to leave. We don’t
have much time.”

I put my arm under him as he tries
to stand up. He winces, falls backward, and sits back down. The
sounds of gunfire echo loudly from outside the van.

"Are you okay?" I ask. "Can you do
this?"

He rubs his eyes with the heels of
his hands, nods, and replies, "I'm dizzy."

The noises stop. Someone comes
running to the van—Chase. He jumps in and helps me support Chi. We
pull him up so Chi can finally stand. He’s unsteady and about to
fall again, but he manages to put one foot in front of the other,
slowly. Each step draws a grimace from him, and I wonder how many
wounds might be covering his body.

His pain breaks my heart and my
nostrils flare with sudden rage. Violent thoughts plague my mind as
I think about the people who did this to him. Vivid images of all
the horrible things I want to put them through just fill my head
while wrath beats right through my veins. I try to ignore the
thoughts, but they just keep coming, my blood pumping with furious
venom. Whoever did this to him, I want to find them and make them
pay.

We are now at the door. We’ll have
to jump. I’m not sure Chi can do this. Chase gets down first. He
puts his hands under Chi's armpits and lifts him up before bringing
him down. Chi's forehead furrows in pain and humiliation. His pride
is wounded.

A car races our way and the tires
squeal as the vehicle brakes. It comes to a stop next to us. Taylor
comes out, opens the back door, and yells for us to hurry the hell
up. We pull Chi all the way to the car. We help him get inside,
next to the door. I get in the other way and sit in the middle by
Chi's side. James takes the seat next to me, and Chase sits in
front. We hardly have time to settle in before Taylor steps on the
gas.

He turns around and heads in the
opposite direction. I’m not sure where Akio and Kayla went, but
they’re already gone. They were supposed to take a different route
to confuse anyone who may try to follow us. Taylor is driving like
a lunatic, and I have to hold on to my seat because I don't want to
fall over Chi. Each swerve makes him wince, and each sound escaping
his mouth tears at my heart a little bit more. At some point, he
asks Taylor to stop the car. He hardly has time to open the door
before he throws up on the side of the road. When he's done, he
sits down and leans back, with his head against the
seat.

"Damn headache," he
mumbles.

Taylor sends me a concerned look
through the rearview mirror. Chi’s hand reaches for mine. He
entangles our fingers together and holds on tight. We don’t speak
the whole time. Taylor slows down when we are out of the city. It
doesn’t look like we’ve been followed. We don't want to bring
attention to ourselves; the last thing we need is to get pulled
over now.

It takes over an hour to drive and
reach New Tappan Zee Bridge. Taylor parks the car by Akio's truck,
about a mile from the bridge. He turns to Chase. "You're sure they
don't control this bridge anymore?"

"I never said that," Chase
replies.

"Yes, you did," Taylor
exclaims.

"No. I said they don't check the
vehicles all the time."

Chi's hand tightens around
mine.

"What the hell, Chase!" Taylor
shouts. "You plain told me this bridge was secure!"

"I never said that! You need to
listen when I speak, man."

Taylor exhales his frustration and
shakes his head.

"I said I've never seen them check
the contents of the trucks," Chase explains. "They just look at the
drivers' IDs. I thought James was driving us over the bridge. You
can just ask him; that's his job. He's the one working for the
authorities, man. I'm not the one driving food to the poor areas.
James knows better than me if the bridge is safe to cross or
not."

"Yeah, we'll be fine," James says
while leaning forward, closer to Taylor's front seat. "I know those
guys personally. They never ask me anything. Jenna and I brought
all that stuff over to the building and the officers didn't even
notice."

Chase looks at Taylor pointedly
and raises his eyebrow. Taylor rolls his eyes.

"You really should look into anger
management, dude," Chase hisses. "I swear, it's like talking to a
rabid raccoon sometimes."

Taylor grasps the steering wheel
and glares at Chase. He inhales deeply, but he doesn't apologize.
"Okay, let's go," he tells us. He opens his door and sends one last
glance at Chase. "You and I need to talk—later."

Chase mumbles something
unintelligible that sounds like "pendejo," and Taylor's shoulders
stiffen in respond.

"Don't push your luck, Chase," he
snarls as he steps out of the vehicle without looking
back.

Chi shrugs when he sees my
quizzical expression. Whatever slang it was that Chase used, Chi
didn't understand it either.

The rest of us exit the car and I
help Chi out. My heart aches at the sight of him struggling. I put
my arm around him before closing the door behind us, and I force
him to lean against the vehicle.

Kayla takes a few steps toward us.
"What took you guys so long to get out of the car?"

"Don't ask," Taylor replies while
glowering at Chase.

Chase shoots him an ironic smile
and Taylor's nostrils twitch in response.

"Okay, so we hide in the truck and
just go over the bridge, right?" Kayla asks.

"Yes, James is driving," Taylor
replies. "Let's go."

Our car is hidden deep behind some
bushes. Taylor takes the license plate off to avoid recognition,
and James takes the ignition key from Akio. He sits in the cabin of
the truck while Chase opens the back door to let everyone in. He
helps me pull Chi inside and closes the door behind us. It's pitch
dark in the trailer.

"Does anyone have a flashlight or
something?" Akio asks.

"Yeah," Chase answers. "One
sec."

The truck moves and a faint light
comes on. It illuminates Chase's face first and then the rest of
us. I scoot closer to Chi and grab his hand. I'm stuck between him
and Akio. Chase is on the other side. Taylor and Kayla are next to
Chase. There are two canoes facing us, stacked on top of each
other, next to twelve paddles and one inflatable raft.

The truck stops. We've reached the
security area. Sounds and voices pour in through the walls of the
truck, but it's impossible to tell what's being said. My heart
races. Laughter irrupts from outside the vehicle—James sharing a
few jokes with the officers. I squeeze Chi's hand more tightly. He
closes his eyes as if he needs to throw up again. I caress his
cheek and the truck starts, as if on cue.