Survival

•Eleven•

^Gerett^

After packing up his gun and beginning to climb down, Arlo heard a noise at beneath him. He glanced down and shock registered in his eyes. There was a guard eighth beneath him. The guard hadn't seen him yet, but if he kept going, the guard would certainly be alerted. Arlo thought quickly for a minute, then came to a decision. Abandoning all thoughts of stealth, he dropped, falling a few meters, then he would grab onto the wall, stopping himself, and repeat the process again.

The guard suddenly jerked his head upward and upon seeing Arlo, he shouted. He aimed his gun up and shot, aiming right for Arlo. Arlo flinched as the bullet made contact with his right shoulder. He dropped the rest of the way to the ground, rolling to absorb the impact. He turned to face the guard and charged him. The guard pulled the trigger one more time, trying to finish Arlo off. He missed and Arlo tackled him to the ground.

They tussled back and forth, neither getting ahead of the other. After a minute or two, the fight was broke up when more guards charged towards them, having been alerted by the guard's yell. Arlo let one more punch go, then ran towards the car, slipping the pistol out from behind him in the process. As he ran, an idea came to him. He ducked behind the car, and opened the back door. Arlo pulled Carren out of the car and stepped out from behind the car, gun to the terrified girl's head. "Stop or I shoot her!" Arlo commanded loudly.

One of the guards shouted back, "Go ahead! Why should we care?"

Arlo raised an eyebrow. "Because she's your boss' niece. That's why." Pressing the gun against Carren's head. "Her name is Carren. I think you know her name. Certainly your boss would care if I killed her and all of you."

The guard's eyes widened and he spun around to face the other men, "Stop! Don't shoot!"

As he turned back around, the man was scowling, "What is it you want?"

"I want to see your boss personally." Arlo said as he walked to front of the car, opening the back door. He unclipped the gunsling from his back and shoved the gun in there, never taking his eyes off the guards and the pistol from Carren's head. Then, he used his boot to yank off the cloth tying Carron's feet together so she could walk.

The guard nodded, "Okay, okay. Just follow me."

The other guards stood aside as as the one who had been speaking with Arlo led him and Carren into the building.

Carren struggled against Arlo's grasp, only muffled sounds coming through the gag around her mouth. Arlo dragged her along as if she was as light as a feather. The guard opened a large door into a study with a large desk in the center, and stepped aside. "Go on in," He scowled.

"Thank you." Arlo replied sarcastically. He walked in and quickly looked around the room. A black-haired man with white hair sprinkling throughout his head, sat at the desk. Behind him, a large picture window looked out at the town.

As the doors closed, Arlo noticed two guards stationed beside the door. They stood still, but their dark eyes followed him.

"You've seen me. Now let my niece go." The man behind the desk said in a powerful voice.

Arlo snorted and took two steps closer. "And if I let her go, I'll be taken. So I don't think so." With that being said, he aimed the gun at Gerett and pulled the trigger. He then shot both of the guards.

Gerett looked down at his stomach in shock. He slumped down in his chair, but not before he could pull out a pistol from the desk and shot at Arlo. Arlo grunted as the bullet hit his wrist, making his grip on Carren go slack. He decided to leave her and run for it. He left Carren on the floor and ran for the window. He shot the window, shattering it to pieces. Arlo jumped out of the first floor of the building, and landed on the out side, rolling to absorb the impact. He ran along the side of the mansion, and turned the corner to his car. He quickly glanced around, and upon seeing no one, but hearing the yells of his pursuers, jumped into the car and drove away from the building, opposite of his pursuers.

As he drove, he noticed something in the passenger seat of the car. It was quite small and looked like a recorder or some device similar. Arlo grabbed the device. After he check to make sure that it wasn't recording, he pressed play. He glanced at the road again and estimated that he was about ten minutes away from his "work" building.

Some static came on before it became clearer and Arlo could distinguish voices...

"No! Please don't...I'm sorry...I promise, I won't do it again!" It was Carren's voice, and she sounded scared.

"You know what happens when you make a mistake." Gerett's voice came on.

Then, Arlo heard Carren crying and some quiet thumps.

Another voice cut into the recording, "Hey, Boss! Let us take a turn! She caused us trouble too! Let me take a swing!" Several other voices agreed.

"Fine. But don't kill her. Just a couple of hits. And not on her arms or face, cause then we can't hide it." Gerett answered.

"No! Please..." Carren's sobbing voice begged. Then the recorder clicked to show that the recording was done.

Arlo cursed himself and quickly spun the car around. He headed back the way he came at a higher speed than the speed he had originally had. He arrived at the building in less than five minutes. He parked and quickly got out of the car. Arlo ran around the car to the trunk and opened it. He pulled out his pistol ammo and strapped it criss-cross on his chest. He stuck a knife in his boot, point up, and loaded to pistols. He then walked into the building, through the broken window that he had broken out of not fifteen minutes ago. Gerett's body was still slumped down in the chair, but everyone else was gone. Including Carren. He walked towards the door and opened it. He he pulled his pistols up, ready to kill the first person he saw. He didn't see anyone, and headed through another doorway. As he stepped through, a scream came from the door to his left. Arlo turned toward the scream and opened the door as quietly as he could while being quick, still ready to shoot anyone who was unfortunate to be there. Still no one. 'Everyone must be busy torturing her,' he thought.

Once again, Carren screamed and Arlo could tell is was close now. It seemed that it was right through the next door. Abandoning all secrecy, Arlo burst through the room. He immediately registered Carren, who was tied to the wall, getting beaten by four guards. When the guards turned around to see what the racket was, Arlo shot them in the chest. He tucked both pistols into their holsters and pulled the knife from his boot. Arlo glanced behind him to make sure there was no one there. When he saw no one, he walked over to where Carren was tied.

She was covered in her own blood, and barely conscious. When she opened her swollen eyes and saw Arlo, she whimpered, "P-please don't hurt...me."

"I won't. Tell me if you see someone by the door." Arlo cut through the ropes and stuck the knife back in his boot. He pulled out a gun, then proceeded to pick her up, making sure he could shoot anyone that came into his path with ease.

"Why are you...h-helping me?"

"Because I know what you are going through, and I can relate." He continued to retrace his steps through the building, until he came to the window he had broken through earlier.

"But you just dumped me here after using me as leverage to kill my uncle!" Carren reminded him.

Arlo stayed silent until they reached the car. "I had no idea that you would be treated like," he hesitated, "that." He opened the car door and gently put her in. Once he shut the door and got in on the other side, he started the car and drove out of the parking lot. Carren's breathing slowed as she relaxed into the cushy seat. Her breath caught once, but then it became very slow. She closed her eyes after blinking several times.

"I'm sorry for leaving you..." Arlo winced as the pain in his left wrist and right shoulder started with renewed vigor. He hadn't felt it when he went to rescue Carren. We need to get somewhere to recuperate for the rest of the day, Arlo thought. He pulled off into and alley and turned another corner. He made sure that the car couldn't be seen from the main highway and got out. He walked over to the other side and helped Carren out. "We'll rest for here until tomorrow, then I need to get back to my," Arlo hesitated, "my work," he finished. Carren stumbled and fell into Arlo's arms, feeling too weak to stand. Arlo grunted as the pain renewed in his wrist and shoulder as he caught her. He picked her up, even though his wounds felt like they were on fire, and carried her into the closest building. Arlo set her down, pulled the knife out of his boot, then cleared the shack. There was no one there, so he stuck the knife back in his boot, and walked back to where Carren was laying.