Page 29 of Rough Trip

She was just far enough away for the spit to fall at her feet, but she couldn’t help but feel the rage that shot up inside of her. The room went red in her eyes, and she wanted answers. She wanted respect and most of all she wanted the men to pay for what they had done to Sage and to her.

She knew she would have to let a side of herself out that no one had seen before. She had always been looked at as if she were just a little girl, but she would prove that she was a lot more powerful than anyone thought.

She reached into her back pocket to pull out the switchblade she had placed there. At the sight of the knife, she could sense the change in the atmosphere. Everyone knew she wasn’t there to mess around anymore. Even her men watched her carefully as she made her next move.

She then slowly walked over the spit and closed in on one of the two men, the one who had started laughing first. She wanted to hurt him the most.

Soon she had the blade crammed into the soft spot just below his jaw. Just one wrong move from her part could send the blade right through his cheek and maybe with a little more pressure right into his eye. It would bring Mia a lot of pleasure if she caused both of the men some pain, but not yet, she reminded herself.

“Test me you swine! Now tell me, where have you hidden Sage?” She kept her voice strong and harsh, letting spit escape her mouth so it could land on his face, making sure they knew she wanted answers and was no longer accepting their behavior. The man winced as the knife started to cut into the first few layers of his skin. She watched as fear flashed before his eyes. She had gotten the response she was definitely looking for.

“We’ve placed him in a well just passed Omen territory. The area is surrounded by Omens. There is no way you'd be able to get to him without being caught,” he replied as carefully as he could, possibly trying to keep the blade from cutting any further into his jaw. Mia could see blood slowly starting to trickle down his neck. A small cut would have to do for now. She removed the blade. As much as she would have loved to injure both men, she had the information she wanted, and she had to get out of there and head straight for Sage. She had no idea what kind of state he could be in, and she could not risk waiting any longer to rescue him.

"Let's fall out!" she yelled.

Mia and her men headed out of the bar, leaving the Omens men tied up where they were. They would deal with them later. Adam, who had stayed to fight alongside everyone else, announced that he knew where the well that they were referring to was and he could lead them all there. It didn’t take long for them all to hop onto a bike and head out. Mia also found a bike to use and so she hopped on. Sage didn't know she knew how to ride and neither did the other men. They watched in shock as she started the bike, roaring it to live and sped off behind Adam. The rest of the men soon all fell behind her. She would not miss out on finding Sage and bringing him home. And she could no longer wait for Grier's arrival.

The bike ride felt good to Mia. She managed to clear her mind a little. She had gotten a little foggy with the adrenaline rushing through her veins. She was filled with excitement and anxiety. She was excited to now know exactly where Sage was but she was definitely anxious about what state she would find him in. Had one of her ideas been right? She hoped not as they were on the extreme side of torture and she prayed Sage hadn’t gone through anything like that. She knew he would be further traumatized because even though he wouldn’t admit it, she knew he still relived the trauma from Afghanistan. She could sometimes hear him moaning and screaming from his room while he slept. She hadn’t dared say anything nor had she ever tried to wake him but it explained why he always had to have a shower in the morning. She had looked in on him once and he was covered in sweat. She knew that this trauma would just add to it. It was impossible for it not to and he’d be lying if he told anyone he was fine after all of it. Anyone who had been attacked and trapped somewhere under torture would be traumatized. She knew she was still traumatized by her attack, and that hadn’t lasted long when he had shown up.

Once they arrived, they couldn’t possibly keep their presence a secret due to the mass amount of bikes. The noise of their bikes made their presence known before they had even arrived. The Omens had time to plan a line of defense.

Mia knew anything could happen and they were prepared for anything, so when the first few unexpected shots went off, everyone immediately took cover so they could reach for their own guns. She, however, didn’t have a gun and had to stay covered under the bike she had used while her men all spread out.

She could make out only six guns as she watched the Omens firing off their guns in the distance. Their six were no match for her twelve, and they knew it when they started to slowly back away. It didn’t take long before her team had cleared the area and all the Omens had either been caught or were hiding. Her team spread out and slowly made sure that all the Omens were caught and accounted for. She didn’t have time to get answers from them as time was running out so she decided she would lead in the hunt for Sage.

The area was dark as nightfall had already started to settle for the night. She could not see her hand when she raised it in front of her face so she knew she'd have to look carefully when she got the all-clear.

As soon as the area was secure, she started to call out for Sage.

"Sage?" she called. Her flashlight scanning the ground as she continued to take the lead. She scanned the ground around her as she slowly led them into the field where Sage was hidden.

Her men were all searching the property for the well alongside her. As she continued to call out for him, she could make out the movements of everyone around her, she could make out the crunch of dried grass beneath her feet as she walked the field. She could smell mud as she sometimes found herself stepping into wet areas. It was clear that most of the grass had been either dried out or burnt. She could only hope that if there were a fire it hadn't involved Sage. The thought terrified her. All heads were down and flashlights scanning the area, moving and picking up anything that came across their paths, making sure Sage wasn't beneath them.

They continued to move forward in a row equally keeping up with each other making sure nothing was missed in the darkness. Panic started building in Mia's body, no one had come across the well yet, and they had no idea how far out it was or if they were even looking in the right direction.

"Sage! Please, where are you?" she called out again, her voice breaking at the end as concern and worry started to flood her body. She didn’t want to picture him dead somewhere. She definitely did not want to find him dead either. It would be the worst thing ever if that were to happen. She could feel a slow fall of tears running down her face.

She could only hope they weren’t too late since she hadn’t gotten any response from her calls.

"I'm here!"

Finally, on her third call for Sage, she could make out a faint sound. It sounded like Sage, it sounded like his voice.

“Sage!" she yelled, this time with urgency. He was alive! She could jump up and down with joy, but she knew she couldn’t until she had him in her arms. His voice was faint, so faint that she couldn’t make out the direction it had come from. He had fallen silent.

"Do not stop making a noise, okay? We’re coming for you. We need you to lead us to where you are so please continue to make any noise you can,” she begged him.

Tears had started forming in her eyes again, a sense of relief had already begun to flood through her body. Sage was alive, and soon she would be able to see him. She continued to follow the noise that Sage kept on making. It stopped sounding like him shouting and turned into groans. She could tell he was in a lot of pain before she even looked, and she was completely terrified of what she might see.

It wasn’t long before all twelve men and Mia were standing just next to the well which had been covered in timber. She could not begin to imagine what it must’ve been like for Sage to have been almost buried considering the well was built on ground level. It must’ve been so dark down there all alone she thought to herself. When the timber had been removed, Mia shone her flashlight down into the well and was horrified to see the state Sage was in. It was a lot worse than what she had pictured.

She could make out bruises around his hands and feet, which were bare and covered in chains. She wasn’t sure if the bruises were due to the chains themselves or because of his attempts to probably try to break free. She knew Sage well enough to know he wouldn’t have just accepted his fate. He would’ve tried to get out. He looked so pale and extremely skinny under his dirty clothes. She knew she needed to get him warm again because she could see his lips were turning blue. It was also clear that they had been starving him. He looked so small and helpless. She could not believe how cruel people could be. She knew that once they had gotten him safely out of the well she would definitely make the Omens pay and it wouldn’t just be a cut to one of them. She would hunt every one of them down and cause them all pain, her heart had never been filled with so much anger before.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. The tears that had been forming in her eyes started streaming down her cheeks.

“We’re going to get you out, okay?” she called down to him as she rubbed her tears off her face. She did not want anyone to see her so vulnerable.

“Please,” Sage groaned. His voice cracked, probably from dehydration, she thought. She was breaking inside at the sight of him.