The Warrior (10 page)

“Hope you enjoy your hell dad.” I say as I
pull the trigger and watch as the blood splatter around the
room.

***

I take one last look at the man that made my
life his own personal hell as I turn towards the door. I don’t know
if I'm going to make it out of here and at this point I'm not sure
I care.

“I'm sorry Bradon.” I say as I look around
the room before I start to run. I hear the blasts getting closer
and I know the house is the last to blow. I keep running down the
hallway and towards the door and just as I reach it I hear the
final blasts that will level this house. I feel fire on my back.
It’s so fucking hot and it hurts. I'm flying through the air and
the last thing I hear is someone yelling my name then everything
goes black.

***

I hear the whipping of the helicopter blades
as people are screaming. I can smell burned flesh all around me. I
try to open my eyes but they are blurry. I hate this dream and yet
I don’t feel like it’s a dream at all. It all seems so real. I can
hear people calling my name and I can faintly make out uniforms.
This is a dream. My guys are all here. I try to move but it hurts
to damn bad. I try to focus and control my breathing but I know I'm
in a dream.

“You are going to be ok man.” I hear a voice
faintly say to me. The sound of the helicopter is so loud now. I
can hear voices and things beeping. I try to move my head around
and something is pinning me down and my initial instinct is to
fight. I start swinging and I put all I have into it when I hear a
lot more screaming. I feel hands on me pushing me down and
something sharp go into my arm and then it all fades away
slowly.

***

I wake up and I'm looking around a solid
white room. I have no idea where the hell I am or if I'm even
alive. I sit up slowly but damn it is hard to breath. I look around
and see there are wires and tubes coming from my arms. I reach over
light headed and pull them out in one motion. It hurts like hell
but I don’t need this shit. I swing my legs over the side of the
bed and try to stand catching myself on the edge before I fall.

“Stop fucking trying to get up.” I hear a
voice next to me. I turn my spinning head to the side and make out
a face as I blink to get it into view. It’s one of my guys
Dave.

“Where the fuck are we Dave?” I say as my
head spins.

“You’re at a doctor’s office Cad. We made
some arrangements to keep you off the radar.” He says as he stands
and tries to get me back in the bed.

“Stop fucking touching me man. I need to get
the hell out of here.” I say as he shakes his head.

“Cadence man come on. You have a fucking
punctured lung and shit. You are pretty fucked up.” He says as I
try to stand. I grab the side of the bed and try to get my
bearings. Once I feel like I can walk I look for my clothes.

“Damn it Cad. You’re such a fucking hard ass.
Here.” He says as he throws some clothes at me and I smile.

“I knew you would give in.” I say as he
smiles.

“How long have I been in here?” I say as he
watches me get dressed probably making sure I don’t fall over.

“Almost a week.” He says.

“FUCK!” I snap as pull on some shoes. “Where
is Jeremy?” I say as I stand and pull the t-shirt over my head.

“At home man. Where are you going?” He says
as I stand and head towards the door.

“Take me to Jeremy’s.” I say as he nods and
follows me out. The ride to Jeremy’s seems to take forever and I'm
getting impatient.

“Can you fucking drive any faster?” I snap as
Dave shakes his head. We don’t speak anymore until we pull up in
front of Jeremy’s place and I jump out and head straight to the
door.

***

“Where are they?” I snap at Jeremy as he
rolls in front of the door.

“They are gone man. How the hell? They said
you were dead.” He says looking me over.

“Who took them?” I snap as I pull at my hair
half out of breath.

“What the fuck man? Bradon took them.” He
says as I slump against the wall and slide down it. Bradon? He
didn’t die. Oh my god my brother made it and he did what I asked
him to do. For the first time in my life I let a tear fall from my
eye as Jeremy rolls closer.

“You ok Cadence?” He says as he touches my
head. I don’t say anything at first I just cry.

“I thought he was dead Jeremy. I heard the
fucking explosion and I thought my brother was dead. I couldn’t
handle it anymore man.” I say as I wipe my face and look at
Jeremy.

“I feel you man. Your brother showed up a
little banged up and he waited. He stood fucking guard at door for
those 72 hours. He didn’t sleep. He didn’t move. He made sure he
stayed right down to the second Cad.” He says as I cry again. I
have never cried in my life and now I sit here crying over my
brother. He made me a promise and he kept it like the man I knew he
was.

“They are ok. They’re ok.” I say as Jeremy
rubs my neck.

“Yea man they are.” He says as I lay my head
on my knees and cry.

***

Jeremy doesn’t leave my side as I sit here
and don’t say a word. I don’t know how long we have been sitting
here but I know I'm not ready to move yet. I need to let this sink
in for a minute. My brother is alive and Nina is safe.

“You want a drink?” Jeremy says as I shake my
head.

“She left you something.” He says as he
reaches into his pocket and pulls out a little picture and hands it
to me. I take it and try to figure out what I'm looking at and then
I see the text on the picture with an arrow pointing to a little
dot that says baby. It’s Nina’s ultrasound picture. I drop my head
again and this time I smile. That is my baby right there. I made
that and I made sure it will be safe and happy with a family that
loves it.

“She said just in case. Bradon said you guys
had talked about getting out once before and once when you were
younger. He said he was taking them to the safest place near the
ocean where the rocks are purple.” Jeremy says as I look up at him
and smile.

“Are you kidding me?” I say smiling at him as
he looks at me confused.

“No that’s what he said. What the fuck are
purple rocks?” He says as I laugh.

“We used to think that a certain place in
Mexico had purple rocks when we were little. We always joked about
going there and hiding out there until we were old.” I say as I sit
there laughing to myself. I stand up and it’s still so hard to
breath.

“Where are you going?” Jeremy says as I huff
trying to make it out of the room.

“I'm going to be with my family.” I say as I
make my way to the living room.

“Is that beach wheel chair accessible?” He
says as I smile over at him.

“Why?” I ask as he watches me.

“Well I don’t think you need to travel alone
in that condition and I wouldn’t mind seeing my ladies.” He says as
I smile bigger.

“You’re damn right it is.” I say as I hug
him.

***

“I don’t know man this shit is kind of
fucking bumpy.” Jeremy snaps as I drive us over the rough terrain.
We packed and left right after me and Jeremy talked. He needs a
break and I'm more than happy to return the favor he made for
me.

“It’s fine man, Get over it.” I say as I step
on the gas. I can’t wait to get to Nina. I pull up and help Jeremy
out and into his chair when I look over and see beautiful blonde
hair flowing in the breeze. I look over at Jeremy as he nods his
head at me and I walk slowly towards where she is sitting. I don’t
make a sound as I approach her.

“This is the best place in the world right
now.” I say as I hear her gasp. She stands and spins around to face
me.

“You’re here?” She says like I'm just an
image in her mind. I pull the ultrasound picture out of my pocket
and hold it for her to see as her hand flies to her mouth.

“I'm here.” I say quietly as her eyes fill
with tears and she rushes towards me the rest of the way. The pain
that shoots through my body when she squeezes me is nothing
compared to the feeling in my chest right now.

“You’re here.” She cries into my shirt as I
wrap my arms around her and hold her close.

“I'm not going anywhere ever again.” I
whisper into her hair as I hear a little voice making noise behind
me. I let go of Nina and turn around to see Bradon carrying Josh as
Josie holds onto him.

“You made it back.” Bradon says as tears fall
from his eyes.

“I couldn’t leave you man you know that.” I
say and chuckle as a tear slips down my face. Bradon grabs me and
hugs me as I put my arms around him and Josh. Josie is crying her
eyes out behind me as I motion for her to come over too. I'm
standing here hugging everyone and it is getting really hard to
breath and they can hear me struggling.

“What’s wrong?” Nina asks as she grabs my
arm.

“Nothing. I'm fine.” I say as Jeremy makes
his way over.

“Oh this motherfucker has half a fucking
working lung when he ripped the tubes out of himself to get here.”
Jeremy yells as everyone smiles over at him.

“Shut the fuck up big mouth.” I say a little
breathlessly.

“You need a doctor.” Nina says freaking out a
little as I shake my head.

“No I don’t. I just need my family and you’re
all here now.” I say as we look at each other. We walk over near
the water and sit down so I can rest. We are all talking as I hold
Nina in my lap rubbing her stomach. I look over at my best friend
and my brother. Life has thrown me a lot of shit in my life but
here I am with the most important thing in it.

“I love you warrior.” Nina smiles and says as
she looks up at me.

“I love you too.” I say as I kiss her
head.

I always said life was about who you are with
and where you are. I look around one more time at these people
sitting with me and I know life put me here. Life brought me Nina
and she brought my heart back to life. Without my family I wouldn’t
have a life but before my story can have a happy ending I have to
make good on one more promise.

***

3 weeks later I'm feeling a lot better. The
rest has been good for me but I'm restless. I haven’t sat around
like this in years and I'm not sure what to do with myself. I work
out everyday and I have been jogging as much as my lung would allow
but I'm just not good with sitting here.

“Will you calm down you are making me fucking
crazy.” Bradon says as I fidget in my seat.

“Damn it man this shit is killing me. I
haven’t sat this still in years. I must have ADHD or some shit.” I
say as I squirm around and Bradon laughs.

“You got something that’s for sure.” He says
as I cut my eyes at him and he laughs more.

“This shit isn’t funny.” I say as I get a
little mad. Not at Bradon but in general.

“NINA!” Bradon yells. “Come get your man
before I kick his ass.” He says as he chuckles. Nina walks out into
the living room and looks at us both. I'm clearly not amused.

“What are you two whining about now?” She
says with her hand on her hip. I don’t speak. I just sit back at
watch all that is Nina.

“Your man is a crybaby and can’t sit still.
It’s driving me crazy.” Bradon says as he smiles over at me.

“I’ll show you a crybaby.” I say as I snap my
eyes over to him and he just laughs more.

“Come on. Let’s go for a walk.” Nina says as
she walks over and grabs my hand. I stand up and follow her out of
the house and out towards the water.

“What’s wrong Cad.?” She says as we walk
looking at the water.

“I'm just restless is all. I can’t be this
still Nina. I mean I have been hold up in that house for weeks and
I'm going stir crazy.” I say as she smiles up at me.

“What do you want to do?” She says as I look
down at that beautiful face.

“I want to finish what I started.” I say as
her smile fades. She knows I have been talking about trying to get
in with Joel’s guys and find out if I can get any information about
her sister. She wants to know but at the same she said she doesn’t
want me in any more trouble.

“Not now Cad. You barley made it this time.
We can try something else like maybe a private investigator.” She
says as we keep walking. I don’t respond for a few minutes because
honestly I don’t know what to say to her. I know how much her
sister means to her but at the same time I don’t even know if this
girl is alive. A lot of these girls get so messed up they don’t
make it.

“You really think some half ass investigator
can get in? You must have lost your mind.” I say as she stops and
turns to face me.

“Damn it Cad. I can’t handle anymore. Don’t
you understand? I lost her once and I almost lost you. I don’t
think I can deal with it again. I was so scared and stressed out
when we didn’t hear from you. I won’t do it again.” She snaps as
she watches me.

“I'm sorry Nina. We will figure something
out.” I say as I pull her to me. I already figured it out. I'm
going to see what I can do and if she is alive how I can get to
her. I let go of Nina and grab her hand as we head back to the
house so I can get some play time with Josh.

***

“She will fucking kill you first!” Bradon
snaps as we sit out back watching Josh play. I told him what I
wanted to do.

“Yea I'm pretty sure you’re right about that
but I made a promise Bra. I intend to keep it.” I say as I smile at
Josh. He has to be the perfect little boy ever. He is always so
happy and smiling.

“I mean going to Joel isn’t so bad but going
into his setup is. Why can’t we get some guys to go in?” He says as
he looks at me now. I turn to face him.

“Bra. I can get a thousand men to go in there
but when it comes time to actually get her out of there it’s on
me.” I say as he nods.

“Well then let’s get some guys set up to go
in and if she is alive and where we can get to her then we go in.”
He says as I smile at him. Listen to him and all this We shit. He
really thinks I would take him in again? Oh hell no. I almost lost
him hell I thought I did lose him and that will never be a fear of
mine again.