Chapter 88: Confrontational

~ Andrew sagged for a moment after the blow and then appeared to rally himself by force of will. He stood up straight and fixed the fourth man with a hard glare. The fellow smirked and drew back his fist again.

"Stop!" screamed Takyle. "Just stop! I don't have the map. I lost it, ok?"

"Is that a fact?"

"Yes! It's gone. I must have lost it while we were climbing up here."

The man was silent for a moment while he studied her, slightly less lecherously this time.

"Well if that's the story you're going to stick to, that's fine. We'll find out if you're lying soon enough. Take them!" he barked to the three other men.

Jaden found himself being hustled towards the door and for a moment put up a fight. His escort quickly brought about a change of mind in Jaden by twisting his wrist up between his shoulder blades. He gasped and stumbled over the uneven floor as the man roughly shoved him forward.

"I'm going, I'm going," Jaden protested. He shot a quick look at Andrew and Takyle to try to catch a sign; anything at all that would indicate a plan of action. He caught Andrew's eye, and his friend gave a minute shake of his head before looking away.

"Where are you taking us?" Takyle demanded as she was pushed in the direction of the hallway.

"Shut up, bitch," the fourth man responded, harshly. If Jaden hadn't been already watching Andrew, he would have missed what immediately happened. With no warning Andrew whipped around, somehow getting one arm free and using it to throw a powerful punch into the face of the man holding him. In surprise the man staggered backwards, barely keeping a hold on Andrew's other arm. Andrew grabbed the back of the man's head with his free hand and drove it down onto his raised knee to finish the job. His erstwhile captor fell backwards onto the ground, blood spurting from his nose and Andrew whirled to go for the fourth man, only to skid to a sudden halt as soon as he'd come around.

Several yards away, the man holding Takyle had one arm around her neck and was using the other one to aim his handgun at her temple. Andrew stood frozen in his tracks, breathing hard, eyes locked on Takyle's face. For a moment it felt to Jaden as if time had stopped. He was expressly aware of his heart beat thumping in his ears. Slowly Andrew raised his hands to chest level, palms out. A long moment passed in dead silence.

The man that Andrew had overpowered regained his feet and rushed up behind him, shoving his rifle into the small of Andrew's back.

"Move a muscle and I'll blow your fucking guts all over this room," he hissed. ~