Fantasy

31 - Jayce and Randy

When Randy comes back he's carrying a McDonalds bag and two hot beverage cups. "Where were you?" I ask. He looks at me quizzically and holds up the bag.

"Where do you think?"

"Let me rephrase the question; how did you get to McDonalds?"

"I know a guy who works there and I just appeared near him, bought some food, and came back here." I shake my head. "Do you want a breakfast sandwich?

"Sure," I answer.

"Catch." He tosses me a paper-wrapped sandwich and I grab it out of the air. "Coffee?"

"Yeah, thanks," I tell him, accepting the paper cup. We sit at the edge of the cave and unwrap our sandwiches. I've never been a big fan of McDonalds, but I'm really hungry.

"So, how's Levina?" I ask Randy.

"Hang on..." he says with a full mouth, closes his eyes for a little bit, and then opens them again, "She's fine. I think she's still with the same person; they're splitting a cereal bar and a bottle of water." I nod. That sounds right; Levina did stick a snack in her pocket before we left the apartment. When I'm finished eating I crumble my trash into a ball and toss it into the fire. Randy does the same, and then I ask him where we should go.

"Levina is still southeast, right?"

He frowns. "Two more people just joined her. Yeah, well, actually she's directly south of us now, but she's heading east, well, northeast."

"Perfect, so we head southeast, right?" I say.

"Okay," Randy agrees, and we start off.

Randy

Jayce is...well...weird. I think he hates me or something. Oh well, that's his problem. Looking at my phone screen, I see that it is around 12:30. Suddenly Jayce bars his arm in front of me. "Hold up," he says, stopping.

"What? You probably heard a squirrel."

"No, look," he says, dropping his hand and nodding his head to the left. I look to my left, not expecting to see anything, but a few yards away there are two people struggling. There's a man, probably an RA agent, who's got a lady in a headlock and is pressing a rifle to her head; her breaths are high-pitched heaves.

Looking a little closer I see that the lady is...Jenna. Jenna and the agent tussle against each other, and they eventually turn to face us. "Get down," Jayce hisses, pulling me to my knees. I pocket my phone.

"Do you think he saw us?" I ask. Jayce turns invisible and peeks his head up, then turns visible again.

"No, but we have to do something. He'll kill her."

"Hmm, Jenna's death, what part of that is bad news?"

"Randy!"

"Alright, alright, I'm just kidding. If you're such a hero, what's your plan?"

"I don't know; you've got brain cells... at least I think you do."

"Hey..."

"Okay, look, I'm sorry. Seriously, we do need a plan." Why do I have to think of everything? I thought this guy was supposed to be smart.

"Fine, um you can turn invisible, right? Why don't you sneak up on him while I...I'll distract him." I blurt. Jayce glances at me.

"That could work," he says. He sounds a bit surprised.

"Question, why do you think he hasn't shot her yet?"

"I don't know— he probably really doesn't want to. That's good, means he can possibly be reasoned with."

"Help!" Jenna suddenly shrieks.

"Let's go," Jayce says, disappearing.

"Wait, what are you going to do when you get there?" I ask, but I don't think he heard me. What the heck, I'm just gonna wing it. I stand up and walk forward a few steps.

"Hey," I call. The man looks up.

"Who are you?" he demands.

"Ah, I'm...the owner of these woods. What are you doing on my property?"

"You look a little young to own all this land," the man sneers.

"Well, it's my dad's, but I know you're not supposed to be out here."

"Yeah, well, I suggest you run back to your daddy," he threatens, flashing his gun, "Or not." He rests the barrel on Jenna's shoulder with the muzzle pointing at me. Jenna's eyes widen. I swallow.

"Now, if you shoot that people will hear it and they'll come lookin' for the guy who shot it." Man I messed up on that one; where is Jayce? I'm starting to think he ditched me.

"Nah," the guy says, "People in these woods hunt and shoot for practice all the time." He cocks the gun.

"How convenient," a familiar voice says. It's Jayce. I can make out that he now has a gun pressed to the man's head. I let out my saved-up breath; so he didn't bail on me. "I suggest you drop the gun, or things could get messy." He speaks in his creepy placid voice. I'm definitely glad I'm on his side, 'cause it's pretty terrifying just to watch him threaten someone else.

After a moment's hesitation, the man spreads his hands and sets the gun on the ground. Jenna, to my disappointment, runs towards me. Out of nowhere, Jayce pulls his fist back and nails the guy in the temple. He crumples to the ground, out cold. Jayce picks up his gun and comes over to Jenna and me. He hands me the rifle.

"Can you shoot?" he asks.

"Uh, yeah..." Okay, so technically I don't know how to shoot, but I used play with BB guns when I was little. How different can they be? A rifle just has a bit more kick I suppose. I don't think Jayce quite buys my bluff, but Jenna looks from me to him and then wraps her arms around his torso.

"Oh thank you, thank you, you saved me!" she squeals. His eyes widen in surprise.

"Uh, it wasn't just me. I mean, Randy and I were a team," he stutters, trying to pull away from her.

"Oh," she says, lifting her head to peer at me, but still hugging Jayce, "thanks." Jayce finally resorts to prying her arms off of him. Even then he only succeeds in removing one.

Jayce

"Where's Levina?" I ask Randy.

"Still south of us and still heading east," he answers.

"Great, let's keep moving. I don't know for how long that guy will be out," I remind Randy in an effort to get Jenna off of me.

It doesn't work; we just walk on with Jenna's arm draped around my lower back. This is ridiculous. I just keep my hands in my pockets and hope she lets go of me. Unfortunately, I don't think she'll do that anytime soon as she is resting her head on my shoulder. Obviously the word "subtle" is one Jenna never learned. I do find it rather surprising that she's gravitating towards me, though. A few days ago she thought I was annoying and that I should be fired. The only reason I haven't told her off yet is that she did just suffer a traumatic experience, but my patience ends when she attempts to slip her hand into my back pocket.

"Ookay..." I grab her wrist and pull her arm off of me.

Before Jenna can protest, a voice behind us says, "Aww, come on Jayce, you and Jenna would make such a cute couple," and I feel the barrel of a gun press against my back. To my right, another agent appears from behind a tree and holds Jenna at gunpoint. A third agent is threatening Randy. I spread my hands in surrender. How could I have been so stupid to let them sneak up on us? How did I not see them?

"Drop your weapons," someone else says. Phil, an agent I used to know fairly well, steps out from behind a tree holding a very large plastic case.

dT