Brothers I Never Knew ✔

Chapter Twenty Three - For Survival

Unedited

Water. There was water rushing into the room. Cameron pulled her feet up slightly, the water already a couple of inches off the ground and continuing to rise. Ashley was planning to drown them. She bit her lip, trying to shove down the panic that was rising in her. 

It was just some water. She could get out of this. It was most likely a low chance of her getting out of this, but it was not just her life she was working on saving. 

Arlo still sat a couple of feet away, body slumped forward, with labored breathing. Both bullets were more than likely still inside him, and she couldn't see where they had gone in. His skin had paled significantly, with his eyes shut and ebony hair hanging over his face. 

She wasn't sure how much time he had, but she needed to be quick.

She pulled at her arms again, testing the strength of the zip tie, wincing when the pain in her wrists flared up. She grit her teeth, pushing past the pain. Lifting her arms up as far as they could go behind her, she brought them back down, pulling her wrists apart. Her wrists remained tied. She repeated the process, her wrists being rubbed rawer each time. 

The sound of snapping and her wrists flying free made her sigh in relief. Ignoring the deep, angry, red marks encircling each of them, she moved straight to her ankles. Her hands dived into the water, sending water splashing onto her face as she pulled at the tightly tied ropes. 

"Come on," She hissed, the water rising past her calves, and towards her knees, soaking her trousers. 

She found a knot towards the back of her left ankle, her fingers going straight to untying it.

 She took a deep breath in through her nose, forcing herself to remain calm and concentrate on one thing at a time. Ignore the dead bodies of her fake parents being covered over by the water; ignore the fact Arlo was bleeding out beside her, still tied to the metal chair attached to the floor; ignore that the only exit was a metal door locked from the outside, making it impossible to escape.  

One undone. She moved to her other leg, finding the knot quickly, her cold fingers pulling and tugging.

Feeling the rope slacken, she gripped the cool metal with her hands and jerked her leg up and out of the restraint. 

She was free.

Wasting no time, she splashed through the water, her attention now on her injured brother. He was paler, his hair a stark contrast against his skin. She bit her lip when she heard his shallow breathing, but tried to stay pessimistic. At least he was still breathing.

She dropped to her knees, causing the water to ripple away from her as she reached down to his ankles. Her hands reached under the water, finding the chair leg and following it down to the rope. Untying the knot faster than she had on hers, she was able to move to his other leg and get them both untied as the water reached the middle of her thigh as she stood. 

Wading through the water to get behind Arlo, she placed on foot on one part of the zip tie, between his wrists, and pushed it against the chair. She grabbed the part closest to her. He groaned softly as she tugged at the piece of plastic. She froze, then rolled her shoulders.

"Sorry, Arlo." She whispered.

Steeling herself, she tightened her grip, wrenching the piece of plastic towards her and kicked forward with her foot. A large snap sounded through the room, her momentum sending her flying back into the water, causing a large splash as she went under.

She gasped as she broke the surface, her eyes wide in surprise. Her soaked hair was pushed backwards and out of her face as she scrambled to her feet. Her saturated clothes dragged her down, the water making her movement slower as she made her way back to Arlo's side.