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Thirty-Six

Roman

M y body felt like it had been electrocuted repeatedly. I laid on the ground, feeling the rain pelt my face as I tried to find the strength to roll over and get up.

I knew better than to come outside unarmed but hadn’t expected to be ambushed when I went to turn on the generator. The storm was coming quickly, and Rob had warned me that we would likely lose power; unfortunately, I thought that we had more time than we did.

By the time I got outside to turn on the generator, the lights had already begun flickering in the house. I knew that it would only be a matter of minutes before we completely lost power and had asked Quinn to find the flashlights, candles, and matches that Rob had stored in the cabinet.

I looked around, checking for any signs of movement around me, though I knew they were already long gone.

I heard them seconds before the first man approached me but wasn’t quick enough before the second tasered and knocked me to the ground.

While I had imagined they wanted to shoot me, I knew they didn’t want to alert Quinn to their presence with gunfire.

They needed the element of surprise on their side.

My body felt shaky as I forced myself to a sitting position.

The rain was coming down even harder, making it impossible to see anything around me.

With what little strength I had left, I pushed myself up and hustled back to the cabin.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but I hoped I wasn’t too late.

I rounded the corner and found the front door open and tire tracks in front of the door.

I scanned the area, noticing another set that appeared bigger than the first. Knowing that they were already gone, I went inside and geared up to go find the two people who now meant more to me than anything in the world.

Once I was in dry clothes, I put on an armored vest and loaded it with extra mags, a flashlight, and a knife before holstering a 9mm to my thigh in addition to the AR15 slung across my back.

Out of all of the things that I was thankful for with Rob, it wasn’t the safe house that he had offered us but the gear that would allow me to do what I needed to do to get them back.

I had no idea where I would start looking for Quinn and Rosie, but I knew that I couldn’t afford to waste another second. Time was of the essence right now, and their lives depended on me finding them before it was too late.

I walked down the road, following the tire tracks until I reached a spot where I had cell service.

I knew that it would be a while before I could touch base with anyone, so I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text message to Trevor, letting him know that I would be taking an indefinite amount of time off from work.

A few minutes later, I heard my phone ding and checked it.

Trevor: Not a problem. Is everything okay?

Me: Quinn and Rosie are missing. I won’t stop until I find them.

I turned my phone to silent and tucked it back into my pocket as I kept walking, following the tire tracks until they split at the fork in the road and went in two different directions.