[Chapter 11: G.I. Joe]

 Warm sunlight kissing my eyelids wakes me out of a deep sleep. Yawning, I rub my eyes and roll over onto my stomach. Prying my eyes open seems impossible, but finally I get them to cooperate.

     My alarm clock is pink and bubbly, its purple numbers announcing the time: 9:42 in the morning.

     Replaying that crazy dream in my head, I chuckle to myself. What a nightmare that was. I've got to stop eating after seven at night.

     I swing my legs over the bed and onto the floor, then duck out of my bunk bed. As I shuffle through the hallway, I step on a McDonald's toy and yelp.

     Squeezing my foot with my hands, I fall into the wall, trying to fight off tears. I know that all I did was step on a toy, but that really hurt.

     Tate must be at work, because the coffee in the coffee pot is cold. I grab a skillet from under the cupboard, yawning. I still feel groggy and rub my eyes as I grab the carton of eggs from the fridge.
    
     As soon as I have two eggs cooking in the pan on the stove, I go around picking up all of Olivia's toys. Several Barbie's, McDonald toys, and Polly Pockets later, I dump all her toys into her toy box.

     "Olivia," I say quietly, walking toward her bed. "Wake up, honey."

     I reach up to gently shake her--

     "She's not here," a smooth voice says from my doorway.

     I swing around, "Jaeger? What are you doing here?"

     He unfolds his arms and stands up from having been leaning on my doorway, "Look, you need to go check on your eggs. When you're done, we need to leave."

    An uneasy feeling creeps into my stomach, "Where is Olivia?" Unconsciously, I glance to the upper bunk.

    "I'll explain later," he shrugs. "Your eggs are gonna burn."

    Did Jaeger take her? Would he do that? "Did you touch her?" My voice rises, and I take a menacing step towards him.

     Jaeger holds his hands up defensively, "No! You know I wouldn't do that!"

     "I don't know anything anymore," I reply. Maybe last night's dream wasn't a dream after all...

     "Do remember anything from last night?" he asks as he walks out of the room. I closely follow him.

     He's wearing a black v-neck, leather jacket, and baggy-ish jeans. Even his cologne smells badass.

     Remnants from the dream flood my thoughts. I look at my fingers. Sure enough, bandages cover them, and my neck is kind of sore. My collarbone stings as I lift my left arm. Pulling my shirt down, I gaze at the gash stretched across my skin.

     "Yeah, I was wondering; when did that happen?" He was stopped in front of me, staring at my wound.

     "A couple minutes after you killed yourself by jumping out of the back of the van," I stare at him.

     "About that--"

     "I don't want to know right now," I stare at my grey t-shirt and sweats. "Did you change my clothes last night?"

     His eyes light up, "I couldn't let you sleep in clothes covered with blood."

     "Maybe I wanted to," I lie and push past him. My eggs are burnt, and smell terrible. I scrape them into the garbage and discard the skillet into the sink.

     "Ready?" Jaeger's sitting at my table with his arms crossed.

     "Nope," I mumble on my way to my room.

     Olivia's gone. My baby was taken. She could have been killed! They could be torturing her right now!

     My heart rate accelerates, and panic sets in. Soon I'm grabbing my head and leaning against the wall, terrified that my little girl is in trouble. And I need to save her.

     Filing through my jeans, I choose a pair of worn out cargo pants. I shuck off my sweatpants and tug on my jeans, almost tripping over something metal and black. I end up accidentally kicking it under my bed.

     After buttoning my jeans, and figuring out that I need a belt, I get down on my hand and knees and peer under my bed. Breath caught in my throat, I pull out a hand gun.

     Uh? This wasn't here earlier. Where the hell did this come from?!

     You're going to need that.


     For what?!


     You want Olivia back, right?


     Of course I do. I don't have to kill anyone, do I?


     The voice doesn't reply, and I'm seriously scared shitless. The closest thing to a real gun that I've had experience with was a B-B gun...

     "Deal with it," I exhale and gently set the gun on my bed.

     I exchange my grey t-shirt for a white tank top, and a leather jacket over it. Whipping my belt off a hook in my closet, I loop it through my jeans and tighten my waist.

     I grab the gun and exit my room. Hoping I don't run into Jaeger, I lower my gun as I enter the kitchen. He's suddenly off the chair with his hands up.

     "Look, Rue, I didn't take Olivia, okay? I had nothing to do with her kidnapping," his eyes are wide and scared. His voice trembles.

     "I know," I admire the gun.

     He slowly moves toward me and reaches a hand out for the gun. I move to hand it to him,and he cringes back. I grab his hand, and set the gun in it.

     "Where did you get this..?" Jaeger eyes me, pressing the safety on the gun. Jesus. I didn't even have the safety on.

     "Found it. Let's go."

     "This is gonna be dangerous, Rue. I'm having second thoughts about letting you come..." He shrugs and puts a hand on my arm.

     "She's my little sister. I can handle myself," I stick my chin up.

     "Just like how you got cut?"

     "I know what to expect now." I start heading toward the door.

     Jaeger scoffs, "If you say so, cupcake. We have to go pick up Warren."

     I stop, "Why?"

     "I told you I have a lot to explain, babe," he winks and ushers me out the door.

     "Then start talking, Mr. Mystery."

     "It's not the right time yet."

     "I don't enjoy you leaving me hanging," I pout. The sky is pale again, and clouds rolling in suggest rain.

     He squints in the light, and looks at me, "I don't either."

     I quietly follow him to his car. Why don't we just call the police to get Olivia back?

     "This is all happening too fast," I sigh and open my door. The seat doesn't look as inviting as it had before, but I sit in it anyway.

     "I know, Rue. My advice?" He clicks his seatbelt and starts the engine. "Roll with the punches."

     He winks at me and peels out.




      "Wake up, kid."

      I inhale, and stretch, eyes peeling open slowly. The sun looks a few hours away from setting already. Funny, I thought we'd left sometime in the morning. I don't remember eating lunch. Or dinner.

     "Get up," Warren kicks my boot. "Time to head out."

     "Out where?" I yawn, stepping out of Jaeger's expensive car. There are no buildings. There are no roads. Or power lines. Nothing besides a cornfield that hasn't been harvested, fields of tall grass, and a forest with a small creek running through it.

     "They're in there," Jaeger makes a gesture to the forest. He'd changed into camouflaged army pants and a black tank top. There is a gun strapped to his thigh, and a knife in his left black boot. I feel I'm standing next to the leader of the G.I. Joe team.

     Warren's dressed the same, but his muscles bulge more. Maybe he'd put on a tighter tank top to look like a babe. He succeeded, but I am not about to admit it. I don't like potheads.

     Jaeger's loading what looks like an assault rifle, and this is when I go off.

     "Excuse me? Are we attacking Iraq or something?" I throw my hands in the air. "Po-lease! These kidnappers cannot be that dangerous!"

     "I told you we should have left her in the trunk," Warren glares at Jaeger.

     Jaeger shoots a disapproving look back at Warren, then turns to me, "They really are, Rue. We can't underestimate anybody right now. Especially when Tate's in there."

     My stomach drops and my voice is barely a whisper, "Tate's in there?"

     Warren scoffs, "You didn't wake up thinking he went to work today, did ya?"

     Of course I did. I didn't even think there was a possibility that he had been kidnapped too.

     I replay last night in my head again, recalling waiting for Tate to come home, and being bombarded by two enormous twins instead. Then I remembered what Micah had said about Tate. Tate was going to kill me.

     Should I tell Jaeger? Would he understand it? Warren would just mock me, calling me insane. I'm starting to wonder if I'm sane at all.

     My heart was beating faster with every thought invading my mind. Would Tate already be dead? Did Micah just decide that it'd be easier to kill me himself instead of trying to force Tate to do it? I know Tate would never do anything like that, didn't I?

     I quietly stepped over to Jaeger, well out of earshot concerning Warren. He's slinging his enormous gun around his back, tightening the straps. His eyes are focused, concentrated on that tiny task.

     "What should I be expecting when we get there?" I exhale, still trying to figure out if I'm even ready for any of this.

     What should I be expecting? Some kind of war? Over a five-year-old? Well, and Tate too.

     "First," Jaeger said, eyeing me. His eyebrow was almost healed already, and his supposed-to-be black eye was almost faded into perfect skin. "You won't know when we get there. They hide like a snake, ready to strike at any time. But, they hide right in front of your face.
     Second, this basically is a battle. They're ready to end my revolution before it even starts."

     My mind reels, "You're planning on starting a revolution? How can they stop it?"

     Jaeger's eyes are wild, scared, almost. "By taking you away from me."

     I scoff, but on the inside I'm terrified. "They already took me once. You came and got me. You can do it again, right?"

     "Rue," Jaeger's voice is small, quiet. His eyes soft, sad. "I can't come get you if you're dead."




     I lift my arms up obediently and grunt as Jaeger pulls the small but hard vest over my tank top. I silently watch his face as he pulls the straps tighter, velcroing them to the vest. He works quickly, but makes sure everything is safe and secure.

     He faintly smells crisp, fresh, of mint. Chin freshly shaven, hair shorter than I remember. The tattoo on his neck has another line, and I wonder when he possibly could have gotten that, considering I've been with him almost constantly for the past few days.

    His lips are cracked, dehydrated from the looks of it. They're a soft pink, inviting, almost. I blush just looking at them.


     "What?" Jaeger looks straight at me.

     I blush and shake my head. "Nothing."

     "Why are you blushing then, sunshine?" Thanks for calling me out.

     "I'm not," I lie. "I'm just... Really scared.."

     "I know," Jaeger kisses my forehead. His lips are soft, not cracked. "We'll get out of here. You want Olivia back, right?"

     I nod vigorously.

     "Then, Rue-baby," he looks up at the fading sun, squinting before putting a cigarette in his mouth. He quickly lights it and takes a drag. "You've got to give it all you got, and I'll have your back when you don't have anymore to give."

     I snatch the cigarette from his mouth and take a quick drag before exhaling the smoke into his face. "Jaeger-baby..."

     He cocks an eyebrow, waiting for a response.

     "Give me my gun."