Waters Course

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style='mso-tab-count:1'>         They drove for a long time until
suddenly the van died. Rachel tried to restart it again and again but failed
miserably.

“What’s going
on? Why isn’t the stupid van working?” Bear asked in despair.

“How am I
supposed to know? It just died.”

“Guys I think I
know what’s wrong. There’s a line of oil behind us.” Gabriel announced as he
looked through the small windows in the back.

“Crap.”

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Rachel grabbed the steering wheel with so
much vigor that her knuckles turned white.

“Are you
thinking what I’m thinking?” She asked Bear.

“We’re screwed?”

“No. class=GramE>Snake.”

“What about
Snake?”

“He betrayed
us.” She alleged heatedly.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Bear remained silent as he pondered Rachel’s
words.

lang=EN-US>“Oh my God. You’re probably right.”

“Guys I don’t
think we should stay here. I think I heard a car.” Gabriel said worried.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Rachel nodded and they all left the van. The
forest was still surrounding them so they ran towards it. Almost unnoticeable
was the moment when Gabriel got hold of Rachel’s hand but she noticed it when
she felt the cuff closing around her wrist. She froze on the spot but Bear
failed to see that so he kept running out of sight.

“What the hell?”
she asked facing Gabriel.

“I took them out
of the pipe when you weren’t looking. I thought they might come in handy. This
way we won’t lose each other.”

“You make one
hell of a point.” She stated and kissed him.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Then she pulled him and they ran to the
forest.

“Did you see
where Bear went?” she asked after some running.

“No. I don’t
think he stopped when we did.”

“Great. I just
hope he can keep his own.” She said and stopped for a bit to catch her breath.

“So do you think
Lion will make it?” he asked as he too tried to calm his heart.

“Not really. He
was shot when I picked the keys. I offered to help for a while but he made me
leave. He knew they were after me.”

“Let me guess,
he has a crush on you?”

“Is that a
crime?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No. Hell, even
I have a crush on you.”

lang=EN-US>“How sweet. Join the group. I’ll ask
if they have t-shirts.” She said playfully.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> However the playing ended abruptly as a bullet
carved itself on the tree next to Rachel.

“Shit. Run.”

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They started running again but this time they
were incited by the shower of bullets following them.

“Damn, these
guys catch up fast.” She commented as she dodged yet another thick root and a
couple of bullets.

“We’re screwed.”

“Not yet.” She said,
forcing him to run a little faster.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  After a rather thick tree they changed
direction and were shielded by another tree, which meant that their persecutors
kept going straight. Sighing in relief Rachel stopped again, which made Gabriel
stop as well. They leaned against a tree trunk and took deep breaths. This
time, however, there were no warning shots when they got caught by a man
dressed in black, wearing a mask and holding a machine gun, pointed straight at
them.

“Shit.” Gabriel
said, as he was the first to see him.

“You just stole
the words right out of my mouth.” Rachel said as she looked at the gun he was
holding.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The man raised the gun a little and motioned
for them to move away from the tree.

“Can we talk
this over?” she asked calmly.

lang=EN-US>“The gun on your back, on the floor now.”lang=EN-US> The man said in a deep voice.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Using her free hand Rachel took the Barrett
from her back and placed it on the floor slowly. As she did so Gabriel opened
the handcuff and released her.

lang=EN-US>“Hands up, walk slowly to your right.”lang=EN-US> The man continued.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Gabriel and Rachel did as they were told and
moved to the right always under the threat of the machine gun pointed at them.

“Now, you…” the
man said pointing at Gabriel, “…on your knees.”

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Gabriel kneeled immediately.

“Stay there
quiet and don’t move. Me and this bitch got a lot to
talk about before I hand her over to my new boss.” The man practically hissed
before removing his mask and putting all his attention on Rachel.

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