Careful || Toy Soldiers

S E V E N

S E V E N

Emma's leg bounced up and down as she was seated on the plane. Her anxiety had reached new heights and her breathing was uneven.

'What if something bad happened? what if someone is dead?! What if-'

"Oh my god."

Emma's voice came out in a whisper, but Mr Parker heard her. "What is it Emma?"

Her face had gone two shades lighter. "Sir, if Billy doesn't get back soon they're going to shoot 5 people."

Mr Parkers face stood unreadable, but he turned his way to the pilot and told him to go faster. The amount of tension that filled the aircraft was almost unbearable but soon, the base came into sight.

Emma tried to calm down. To brace herself for the news she was about to hear. But as soon as they landed she jumped out of the plane and ran to the tents.

Suddenly, she heard arguing.

Bingo

"Billy!" Emma jogged to where the noise was coming from. "You gotta let me go back!" "We can't do that."

"Billy!" The arguing stopped. "Emma?" The sound of his voice saying her name made her whole body sigh of relief. He was breathing. Talking. Alive.

Ducking into a tent she saw him. Faded red sweater with jeans and his hair still a mop of curls. Granted it had only been a few days since they saw each other, and they've went months without, but under the circumstances it felt like a lifetime.

"Oh my god," a tear slipped out of her eyes and her hands went up to wrap around his neck. She hugged him for a few seconds then broke apart, grabbing him by his shoulders.

"Are you okay? Did Luis do anything to you? Are the guys okay? Is anyone dead? Are-"

"I'm fine, everyone's fine! But they won't be if they don't let me leave!" Emma rested her hands at her sides and walked up to the man. "You gotta let him leave." Again the words rolled off his tongue. "We can't."

This time Billy and Emma were arguing with the man. "You don't understand!" "He's gotta leave!"

Mr Parker entered the tent. He started to speak to the man in the tent and Emma pushed Billy to the side.

"Listen, I have an idea." Billy's eyebrows raised, impatiently. "You get everyone to the basement, we go in and when Luis pushes the button to blow up the school, he'll only blow up himself and his team. It has a lot of plot holes, but if we come up with the right strategy, and time it right it could work." Emma pushed a piece of hair that fell into her face behind ear. A smirk plastered across Billy's face.

"You and i," he started. "Are more alike than I thought."

The two of them shared whispers while Mr Parker continued to talk to the man. "Listen," Billy spoke. "I have to get back." Emma could picture the man raising his hands in desperation, disclaiming for the 100th time that Billy was not allowed to go, but she also pictured the army vehicles that were parked outside.

She cocked her head to the side. Billy got the message and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "This will work. I gave the man research me and the boys have done. We will figure this out." With a lingering kiss to the forehead, he ran out of the tent and tore the poles that kept it standing out of the ground. The man stood astonished for a moment before he started yelling and trying to get out of the tent. Emma stood still, a blush creeping onto her face and avoiding contact with Mr Parker

The sound of a vehicle started up and shouting flooded her ears. Then it hit her. It hit her harder then expected that her friend was going back to the line of fire. And if he didn't get back in time 5 people would die.

Her heart rate increased and her hands became clammy. The blush disappeared, now her cheeks were burning with anxiousness. Taking deep breathes she reminded herself that right now her friends and family were alive. She held onto that, grasping it for dear life, afraid that if she let go she wouldn't survive the fall.

'Trust Billy,' she told herself. 'He said we will figure this out, you just have to trust him.'

She let out a fake chuckle.

Oh god, she thought, please let Billy pull this off.