The Hunt (TFP Book 2)

Chapter 16

Wheeljack slowly opened his eyes, his head hurt and he tried to make sense of his surroundings. The room was dark except for the fireplace next to him. Their was a shape he couldn't make out sitting across him in a chair. He saw the mountain man standing by the fireplace, staring into the flames. He tried to jump up and take the man down but he didn't move. He looked down and saw that someone had zip tied his arms and legs to the chair. The wrecker growled angrily and the other man turned around.

"Ah.... Sorry about all this Mr Ninja." He said gesturing to the room and his current situation.

"I'm not a ninja." Wheeljack growled. "Why am I here?" He said as his voice raised. The man looked back into the fire. The room was quiet for a while.

"Would you like some Coco?" The man asked.

"What? No." The wrecker said slightly taken aback. "I need to get out of here." He said as he rocked a little.

"All in due time." The man said still looking at the fire. Wheeljack looked around the room again. "Don't worry, your friend is fine." He muttered as he pointed to the chair across from the wrecker. The shape stirred a little.

"MECH hired me to take you boys out." The man muttered. Wheeljack clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes. "But I couldn't while the two of you were helpless. Don't know why." He grumbled. The room was quiet for a minute.

"They're coming to get you soon." He said and he walked out of the house. The wrecker looked around and tried to find something to help him escape.

"Smokescreen." He hissed quietly. The young man groaned a little. "Get up Kid." He said. The shape moved and the young man looked up sleepily.

"What'sgoingon?" He asked words slightly slurred. He moved to get up and fell flat on his face. One hand was cuffed to the arm of the chair. He looked up lazily and groaned.

"Kid, get up. I need you to free me so we can get outta here." The wrecker said.

The young mans movements were slow as he got back up into the chair and looked around. After a minute he was a little more coherent. He saw a knife on the mantel of the fire place and got back up. He moved as far as he could, but it was just out of reach. He tried to move the chair but it was to big and heavy. Smokescreen stretched a little more but couldn't grab it. The speedster grabbed an object from the mantel and used it to push the knife closer. He realized if it fell it could hit the wrecker. As he tried to pull it towards him, it tilted and fell off the shelf. They watched eyes wide as it fell. The knife landed next to the wreckers leg.

"Scrap." They both said. Smokescreen got down and tried reaching for the knife.

"Wait I have an idea." Wheeljack smirked.

He rocked his chair until it fell over. He landed dangerously close to the fire and the knife. He grunted as he tried to move to grab it. Smokescreen watched as the wrecker jerked around, he was worried he would end up burning himself. The older man grumbled in frustration as he moved on more time and grabbed the knife.

"Ah ha ha!!" He said triumphantly and started cutting the zip tie. Smokescreen watched the door to make sure no one was coming. A few minutes passed as he watched the door intently.

"Heh heh heh heh." Wheeljack muttered cockily as he freed his hand.

He flipped the knife and moved on to the next hand. Smokescreen looked at the cuff and tried to figure out how to get it off. He started to push the metal ring off and grunted as he did. The wrecker worked on his ankles as quickly as he could. Once he was freed he slumped to the floor. He jumped up and walked around the room. He gathered his stuff and searched the house. Smokescreen watched him disappear into the next room. He pushed harder and almost had the cuff off. The door opened, he looked up and froze. The mountain man glared at him, shot gun in hand. He walked towards the speedster.

"Oh..." The gunman grabbed the younger man by the shirt and yanked him to his feet. Smokescreen stared at him eyes wide, and the man lifted him off his feet.

"Where's your friend?" He growled menacingly. Smokescreen glared and kept his mouth shut. The man shoved him to the floor and aimed the gun at his chest.

"I'll ask you again....." He cocked the gun. "Where is he?" He growled. Smokescreen glared at him.

"Right here!" Wheeljack yelled as he swung a piece of wood at the mans head.

He hit him hard and the man went down. The wrecker searched the mans pockets and found a set of keys. He quickly unlocked the cuff around Smokescreens hand, and the two men ran out of the house. They heard shouting as two other men came running towards them. Smokescreen picked up some rocks and started throwing them at the men. Wheeljack saw the Jeep and ran to it. He realized he had the keys and quickly started the vehicle. He turned the car around and looked over to see the young man still throwing rocks.

"Come on Kid!" The wrecker called.

Smokescreen jumped and kicked one of the men as he approached. He ran to the car and jumped in. The vehicle sped down the path and turned sharply on to the road. They increased speed and drove towards the village below. Smokescreen looked behind them but didn't see anyone following.

"Now what?" He asked as he looked back at the wrecker. The older man narrowed his eyes.

"We get back to Jasper, no matter what." Wheeljack growled angrily. He knew something wasn't right about any of this, and he was not going to let anyone stop them now.