Under the carribean moon (the stars book 2)

13: Prison break

 *Nathan*

 "Let him go". Suddenly the old man comes charging over, pushing the guy away and spitting at him. "You are disgusting excuses for human beings".

 It's not like he can stop them, but I send him an appreciative thought for trying. Unfortunately he is just pushed to the floor. I close my eyes, praying for a miracle and that they won't hurt the old man for trying to help me. 

 Someone is pulling at my pants and I wonder if I will be able to close my mind for the pain.. Then I hear the sound of keys and a hard voice. "Let him go, he is being transferred.. now".

 "Can't you wait ? He needs to be taught a lesson". The leader says, sounding almost disappointed.

 "No, Your uncle is waiting for him, so I need him now..You know how much your uncle hates waiting". The voice says and I am thrown in a heap at his feet.

 I think I hear one of the other guys mumble something about letting the uncle wait being the reason they are there.

 "Get up". The guard nudges me hard with his foot and I scramble to my feet, watching as he shackles my ankles and wrists, with a chain between them. "Come on move".

 I slowly walk in front of him, feeling beyond relieved to have been saved from those bastards. "Thank you, Thank you so much".

 "Don't flatter yourself. I couldn't care less if those guys ripped your scrawny ass apart. But the general is waiting for you. Believe me, he will make you wish I had left you in that cell". He says with a cold laugh.

 I swallow nervously. Everyone is talking about this general like he is the devil himself. Maybe I should just give in, give him what he wants and spare myself a lot of pain.

 Outside I am thrown into the back of an old van, it has a wooden bench along one side and what looks suspiciously like dried blood on the floor. 

 "Get up on the bench". The man says. When I have complied he attaches my shackles to an iron ring on the floor.. just about the only thing here that looks sturdy.

 I am left alone and the door slammed shut. I hang my head in defeat. Thinking of Aurora as the van starts moving. I hope she will be able to move past this and be happy and that she knows I didn't do those things.. that's the worst thing, the thought that she might believe them.

 The bench is kinda narrow and the road not very good, and it takes a lot of energy to keep from slipping as we rumble and bumble along.

 At first there are sounds outside, not much, but the usual, other cars, and bobles of music, laughter and talk as we pass bars and restaurants.. Then the world grows quiet and I wonder where we are going.

 Suddenly there is a … shot ! And the van comes to a screeching stop, making me fall to the floor, crying out with pain. The shackles make  it impossible to break the fall and my face kind of takes my full weight. My right ankle gets twisted under me sending a burning pain up my leg.

 Gun shots are ringing through the air and it makes me duck my head, wondering what is going on outside.. and wondering if a stray bullet might be preferable.. but after all my survival instinct wins out. 

 After a couple of minutes there is only silence. 

 The door to the van is ripped open and a huge soldier is standing in the doorway. To be honest I completely panic. "Please don't hurt me".

 "Uh calm down Nathan… it's just me… Elias... I am not going to hurt you. We are here to rescue you". He smiles proudly. And now I can clearly see it is Elias. But Elias in camouflage gear holding an automatic rifle. "Can you get out ?"

 "No, I am chained to the floor". I lift up my hands with a rather frustrated expression, showing him the shackles and the ring on the floor.

 "No problem". He swings the rifle over his shoulder and pulls a large handgun from a thigh holster, pointing it at the ring, making me swallow nervously. I mean to my knowledge Elias doesn't have very big experience using a real gun. "I'll just shoot it like in movies".

 I pull away as far as I can, realising my ankle is most probably sprained or even broken. "Be careful okay ?" 

 "Sure, I got this Nathan". He takes aim. "Cover your eyes or something".

 "Hey wow, hold it Rambo". Chris shows up beside Elias, putting a hand on his arm. "Are you trying to kill him or yourself ?"

 Elias looks utterly disappointed, pointing to the ring on the floor. "But he is chained to the floor, and in movies they always just shoot the chain".

 "Might be, but this isn't a movie and even a very trained shooter would have difficulty taking that shot.. most likely it would ricochet and hit one of you". 

 Elias looks like he considers his chances for success. "But what else can we do ?"

 "Luckily the driver had the key". Chris holds up the keys.

 "Party pooper". Elias mumbles, as Chris comes in to unlock me.

 *Elias*

 So far everything has gone according to plan. Okay I didn't like that we had to shoot the drivers, but they fired first. And right now I almost feel high.. It must be the adrenaline running through me.

 "Are you okay ?" I look at Nathan as he slides down on the ground from the van. He looks to have taken some more punches since I last saw him, and he looks very pale.

 He shakes his head. "Not really, but damn happy to see the both of you. What is the plan from here".

 "We have a car right over here, and a speed boat at the harbour. The others are waiting with the yacht just outside Cuban boundaries, in international waters". Chris says. "We better get going".

 Just as we turn to walk to the car two jeeps filled with soldiers drive up. A hard looking man with grey hair screaming something in Cuban.

 "s**t the general, run to the car". Chris yells and we all jump into a run, just as the bullets start flying around us.

 Being shot at by 12 trained soldiers kind of takes the fun out of things. And I genuinely fear for my life.. for all of our lives.. But by some miracle we all get in the car in one piece. Chris gets behind the wheel and I jump in beside him, Nathan throwing himself into the backseat with a pained whimper.

 Chris speeds off towards the harbour, while the soldiers jump back into the jeeps, speeding after us. Chris' voice is angry. "You could almost think someone sold us out".

 "Who would do that ?" I ask. There really is no one who could know.

 "Nah, probably just a coincidence or the driver signaled them in some way". Chris says, but he doesn't really look convinced.

 We reach the harbour, Chris steps on the brakes, already having his door open. "Out, out, get to the motorboat and pray that they don't have any boats in the area".

 I jump out and start running, but I soon realise that Nathan isn't keeping up. Stopping to look back I see him limp along, looking very much in pain. ..Oh f**k !

 "What happened Nathan ? Did you get shot in the leg". I run back to him, putting my arm around him on the bad side, letting him lean on me.

 He leans heavily on me. "No, I think I sprained it when you stopped the van, running away from the bullets did not help. I can't put any weight on it".

 "Don't worry Nathan, I got you". I say, hoping we can get to the boat before the jeeps arrive.

 But of course we have no such luck and I hear the sound of screeching tires and commandos being yelled. "Go Nathan, I'll try and keep them off for as long as I can".

 "No Elias, I can't leave you". Nathan looks panicked.

 I shake my head, letting him go, grabbing the rifle from my shoulder as I turn. "If I don't shoot back we are both dead.. I'll be right behind you. Go !"

 Honestly I am so winging it, but I need Nathan time to get to the boat and Chris time to get it ready. So I pretend I am in a movie pressing the trigger, trying not to think about this being real bullets and real people. 

 I mean I do not want to kill or even hurt someone.. but it is kinda a shoot or be killed situation so I have to do it.

 I don't think they expected me to shoot back, and I see several of them fall to the ground before seeking cover. I keep shooting, as long as they are hiding, they are not shooting at me or the others.

 After what seems like hours, with only a few bullets coming at me, in reality it is probably only a couple of minutes, Chris calls out. "Elias, you need to run to the boat. I'll cover you"

 It's a good thing, because just then my rifle clicks, telling me that the last magazine is empty. So I do as he tells me, turn and run. I can see Chris shooting, but he is farther away and has to shoot around both me and Nathan, which makes the soldiers braver and they are shooting a lot more now.

 I stumble slightly, like someone pushes me, but luckily I stay on my feet. When I reach Nathan, I swipe him up without thinking and carry him the last bit of way into the boat. Now we just have to hope that we can outrun the bullets on water.