XXIV

                                    

                                          
I picked the lock on the front door, but she'd barred it with something. Our only options were the windows which were boarded over with wood and nails. We searched the rest of the cabin, finding luxuriously decorated bedrooms, a state of the art kitchen, and even a sauna, but no way out. 
"Guys, what do we do?" Griffin asked when we reconvened in the kitchen.
"I'll rip the goddamn boards off the windows if I have to," I said, marching into the living room to begin trying one of the windows. 
I pushed with all my might, but the boards were unforgiving. I even stood on the couch and gave it a few good kicks, but they weren't budging. 
"I think we'll just have to ambush her when she comes back," Niko sighed.
"That might be our only option," Callum agreed.
We sat around the fire, brainstorming ways to catch her off guard, and we figured it would be easy. She was only one person, working on desperation. We decided we'd just ambush her, all at once, as soon as she walked in. Push her outside so we had some sort of fighting chance if she decided to shoot. It was nightfall before we heard footsteps outside. We surrounded the front door, ready to fight for our lives, but the pounding of adrenaline in our veins masked the sound of multiple footsteps. 
It was six on six when the door opened. We were faced with the five girls that had assaulted me twice. All armed. They backed us into the living room where there was no escape.
"You won't quit, will you?" Alice asked, pointing the gun at me. "You said you were prepared to die, so why try escape."
"Alice, I will fiercely protect everything I love, and five of the people I love most are in this room. I have no regard for my life, but I'll do everything in my power to keep them safe."
"They found Ryder's truck. In a ditch just outside the county. The story is, you lot of drunks hit the ditch and ran for it, knowing you were out of the county and not only wanted for murder, but now drunk driving. No one is going to come looking for you in the right places. You've lost."
"We haven't lost. You underestimate me like everyone does."
"Yeah? And what's your big plan? You're here, unarmed, surrounded by guns. What are you going to do, Clover?" she sneered. 
I honestly wasn't sure until I was launching myself at her and taking her down. We knocked the coffee table sideways, where it toppled into the fire, immediately catching the dying embers and starting ablaze. The rug went soon after. We wrestled on the floor as the rest of my friends tried wrestling the guns from the other girls. Alice bashed my head into the floor and gained the upper hand, sitting on top of me and pressing the gun to my temple. 
"Don't fucking move."
My breaths came in quick gasps as she crushed my windpipe with her arm. The rest of my friends had stopped, afraid Alice would do something to me. She flipped her hair out of her eyes and glared at the room of people. 
"If one of you tries something stupid, so help me God, I will blow her brains out with you as witnesses."
"What are you going to do now, Alice?" I choked out. "This place is going up in flames and it won't hesitate to take you with it."
Her eyes moved over to the rug just a few feet away that was slowly burning to ashes. The couch furthest from us was being licked with the flames and would soon face the same fate as the rug. 
"We can sit here all night, or you can let us go."
"And then what? You go to the police and my life is over. No, I'm killing you now, like I should've done that first night."
She moved the gun from my temple and pointed it at my forehead. 
"Any last words, Clover?"
In lieu of words, I bucked my hips, causing her to lose her balance. The gun went off, deafening me and splintering the wooden floor right by my head. I didn't have time to think about how lucky I had been, so I rolled out from under her and got to my feet. I shouldered my way through the other girls, leaving room for my friends to rush past me and then we were out in the fresh air. 
A bullet wizzed past my ear, so close it moved my hair. The sound of another shot rang through the woods and all I could think of was Ryder who was only a few paces in front of me. Without thinking, I tackled him to the ground. The brightness that swallowed the dark and the cracking of trees told me the woods were on fire around us. The sound of footsteps were everywhere and I couldn't tell if they were friend or foe. 
I looked down to see Ryder's face pressed to the ground. I lifted myself up and could see dark blood on his back. 
"Oh my God, Ryder. You're bleeding!"
He rolled over and I lifted up his shirt, looking for the wound, but saw a chiseled, wound-free stomach staring back at me. 
"What..."
"Clover," there was a sadness in his eyes. "We need to get to the road. Can you walk?"
"Why wouldn't I be able to?"
He stood and helped me. Turns out, I'd hurt my ankle when I'd took him down. There was also the worst burning in my stomach, and I began to wonder if the fire had consumed me too. We moved a few paces before I collapsed behind a tree. 
"I can't walk, Ryder. Go, save yourself."
He took his shirt off and pressed it against my stomach, making the fire spread more. I gasped in pain. 
"Hold this here, Clover. Do you understand?"
I nodded and pressed against his shirt, wincing in pain. 
"You're so stupid, Clover. So, so stupid." He was crying. 
"Why, Ryder? I saved all of you."
"At the expense of yourself. I hope they're going for help."
"Romeo and Juliet. Such a tragic love story."
Ryder whipped his head around to stare at Alice.