Her Only Hero

Chapter 22

He leans over me and gets to work, untying the rope around my wrists.

The sound fades out as the car drives away, but before it's gone, a second car revs to life and the wheels spin on the dirt, flicking up rocks.

"Axel's in the car," Jonah explains in a whisper. "We hope both of them will follow. Wyatt is keeping watch outside."

The rope loosens. I'm able to relax a little more without it cutting into my skin. 

"Axel will lead them away so we can run," he continues. "And then he'll come back and get us."

The rope falls away from my wrists and I sigh with relief as my shoulders slump forward and I'm able to bring the one arm I'm not lying on around to my front.

Jonah snakes his hand under my arm and helps me sit up. He holds me under both my aching arms and pulls me to my feet. "Let's go."

With my arm over his shoulder and Jonah taking most of my weight to hold me up, we make our way to the front door.

When we make it outside, we see Wyatt climbing up the short staircase, towards the inside of the house. "They both left," he tells us as soon as he spots us.

"Good," Jonah replies, groaning under my weight. His struggles help to remind me of the beating he took and makes me aware of the pain he would be in.

I take as much of my weight off him as I can manage; trying and failing to take all of it from him.

"It's okay," he says, realising what I'm trying to achieve. "Lean on me."

"You sure?" I ask, guilt weighing down on me.

"Yeah," he replies. "Trust me. I'm fine."

I look sideways at him and see him smiling at me.

A smile stretches on my face, noticing his mocking tone. "Ha. Ha. Very funny."

Wyatt reaches us and doesn't hesitate to wrap his arm around me, taking me from Jonah's hold. Jonah let's go and takes the lead.

Wyatt helps me down the stairs and Jonah waits.

"Where are we going?" I ask as we hit the last step.

"Away from here," Jonah answers. "Axel told us to walk towards the forest area, so he can find us, but the other two won't."

Without confirmation, Jonah walks down the dirt road, heading towards the forest. I notice his slight limp and how he holds his stomach with his arm, and can't help but feel bad for leaning on him even though he told me to.

I limp, hopping off my injured ankle as fast as I can, and using Wyatt to hold myself up and keep moving forward.

Every step I take, I feel like I'm crushing Wyatt beneath my weight and I can't help the guilt that swirls inside me.

I continue to take weight off Wyatt, like I did with Jonah, but I don't get very far on my own before I have to crash back down onto Wyatt's shoulder. After several attempts and fails, he says, "Quit trying to be a man, and let me carry you." I give in.

Jonah chuckles and looks back at us. Something over our shoulders catches his attention and he stops. "Here he comes."

Wyatt and I look back to see the beaming headlights in the distance coming our way. I squint as the car comes over a hill and the bright lights shine on us. We stand still, watching it drive past the house and come up the hill towards us, waiting for it to reach us.

"He lost them fast," Jonah says, walking forward to stand next to Wyatt.

As the car speeds up, a second car appears over the hill behind it. The second car flashes its lights from bright to low, bright to low, bright, low. Realisation hits.

"No, he didn't," Wyatt says, echoing my thoughts. "That's not Axel."

In unison, we all turn and run the rest of the way up the hill. Jonah takes off ahead, continuing to limp. Wyatt runs ahead of me. And I take up the rear. Pain shooting through me with each step, I fall behind. Getting further and further away from Wyatt and Jonah.

With nowhere to hide, all I can do is run. And I can't even do that. My ankle throbs, sending a shock-like pain up my leg each time my foot hits the ground. It slows me down, making me the easy target.

Wyatt takes a quick look back at the approaching car and notices how far behind I am. He stops, waiting for me to catch up.

"No," I say, swinging my arm at him. "Keep going."

He ignores me. As I reach him, he steps forward and his arm wraps around me to drag me along the dirt road with him.

I try to shove him off to let him go on ahead. thinking that using me as bait until Axel catches up could be the only way for Jonah and Wyatt to get away. But Wyatt holds onto me, refusing to leave me behind.

Struggling to stay upright. Stumbling often. Unable to run fast. I slow Wyatt down, but the only reason I'm still on my feet is because of Wyatt's arm around me, holding me up. Still, I wish he would let me go, and take the advantage to get away.

Jonah looks back at us and follows Wyatt's actions. Stopping. Waiting. Staying back to help.

With him on my other side, we're able to move a little faster, but still not as fast as they both could run without me.

We hear the car coming, crunching over the dirt road. The headlights growing brighter until we reach the top of the hill and begin our descent, leaving us only with moonlight to guide us.

"This way," Wyatt says, leading us off the road and through the tall dead grass, stumbling over rocks the size of bowling balls.

Scanning the darkness for a sign of where we're heading, I spot nothing until we get closer. A drop in the earth, creating a short cliff edge.

I know we have to make it there before their car comes over the hill and sees us, so I push myself further, battling through the pain, allowing Wyatt and Jonah to run faster.

***