Page 14 of Scarred By Love

We continued to bang and yell over each other until we heard the creak of the wood. Then Sarah did as we discussed and moved into the corner while I grabbed the man's foot as he screamed back at me in a language I didn't understand. I managed to get him off-balance enough that he fell into the hole with us. Thanking God that our plan was working so far, I jumped forward and landed straight on the man. My hands went for the sides of his head and I used all my might to repeatedly bash it into the ground until he no longer struggled.

"Graham!" Sarah yelled just in time for me to roll away and see another individual jumping down into the pit with us. This guy wasn't nearly as big, but anger contorted his face when he noticed his fallen comrade.

It was never smart to fight angry and this guy proved why. He struck out blindly without caring about skill or watching his opponent. I landed several blows to his kidneys, ribs, and face before he even managed to get one punch to connect. Unfortunately, the haymaker he did manage to land was on my head. Sarah gasped as I was forced to step back and shake my head clear, nearly missing a second shot.

Sick of wasting my energy, I moved in when an opening arose and grabbed the guy around his neck with my forearm. One quick twist and the man's neck snapped like a twig.

I waited a few seconds to see if anyone else was coming before putting my hand out to Sarah. "Let's get the hell out of here."

She didn't hesitate to take it, but I was forced to drop it only seconds later when I had to pull myself out of the hole and into the dark of night. I crouched down just outside and listened for movement. It wasn't until I was sure that we were alone in this area did I finally turn my back to find Sarah scrambling out.

"You were supposed to wait for me to pull you out," I hissed.

"Someone needs to watch your back, and besides, I'm almost as tall as you. Pulling myself out was easy."

I shook my head. I had no idea why I actually expected her to fully listen to me. "Come on." I grabbed her hand again. "Let's go find a way off this damn thing."

We made it fifty feet before we came across another guard. This one was busy smoking and not paying attention to his surroundings, so I was able to sneak up behind him and get my arm around his neck before he even knew what was happening to him.

One move and his neck snapped. I dragged the dead body behind a stack of crates and came out to a shocked Sarah.

"What's wrong?"

"He was just so young," she whispered.

I looked back at the man I just killed, and sure enough, he was young. He was also not one of the men who repeatedly beat me. Guilt slipped in. I wasn't like some of my friends, I never got used to killing someone. I did it out of necessity and to protect those I cared about.

"I can't have them chasing us."

Sarah nodded. "You're right." She cleared her throat. "You're right. We should probably get going before others come looking."

I didn’t say anything. There was nothing I could that would make what I just did any better. So instead, I moved us through the cargo area and back the way we originally came when we were forced to board the boat.

Thankfully the zodiac that we arrived on was tethered in the same spot. Sarah climbed in while I unknotted the rope and then jumped in after her. I pushed away from the ship and let the ocean carry us away.

When I was confident no one had followed us, I started the engine and shot off into the dark with no plan as to where we were going and no idea where we were.

CHAPTER TEN

Sarah

I lost count of how many hours we had been drifting along in the ocean, but if the sun high in the sky was any indication, it had been about twelve hours.

Clearly our captors didn't understand the need to keep their supplies stocked because barely an hour after we escaped, we ran out of gas. Now we were just bobbing along, frying from the hot sun and dehydrated from the lack of water before we left.

"Where do you think we are?" I asked, my voice cracking. There was nothing visible in any direction. No sign of the ship we left, or any other life besides ours.

"Somewhere in the North Pacific Ocean." Graham's voice didn't sound any better than mine.

I sighed at his explanation. I had already known that based on where we were flying into.

"What are the chances we survive?"

It sucked to think we made it all this way only to die floating in a boat.

"I'm not sure." Graham sounded equally defeated and the little hope I was feeling started to slip away.

We fell into an uncomfortable silence. This time, waiting for the hours to go by wasn't like it had been when we were waiting to escape. That time together had brought joy. This time there was nothing but depression.

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