Chapter Twenty Four
Sawyer
As soon as Sawyer had untied Benji, he got to work on the handcuffs.
He had no idea what the hell was actually going on up there but that fire was truly a blessing in disguise.
Sawyer hadn’t expected Milo to get fed up so quickly.
But that was probably his doing. Milo likely didn’t like what Sawyer was doing and wanted to put an end to it.
Benji (Andi to him) had become a liability to his company at that point and he needed a way to get Sawyer back into line.
Killing him was the quickest and easiest way of doing that.
He made quick work of releasing Benji fully from the chair and he moved as fast as his battered body would allow him towards the closet where he threw Benji’s boots.
They didn’t have much time for anything else, unfortunately.
He knew that was going to upset the other but if they wanted to escape, they had to take it when it was presented to them.
He rushed back over and dropped the boots in front of Benji. He got to work lacing them up.
Sawyer’s thumb rubbed into his good palm while he waited, coughing softly from the smoke that was slowly filling the basement. It wasn’t too bad yet, however. It would be soon though. “I need to get my money…” He said almost out of nowhere, chewing on his bottom lip. “We’re going to need it.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Benji’s words were a bit slurred from the swollen cheek and general onslaught his mouth had just endured.
He looked over towards him, “We don’t have a choice, Benji…”
“I know,” he muttered, “At least let me get it. I’m moving quicker than you are currently.”
Sawyer sighed. While that wasn’t an inaccurate assessment, it would be far harder to tell him how to get to his room and where to find the money then it would be for him to just go and get it. “I can do it.”
“Sawyer–”
“I can do it. It’ll be easier if I do it.”
Benji fell silent from there and just focused on lacing up his boots, which was taking far longer than both of them wanted. But that was just how steel toe boots worked.
Sawyer was about to start heading upstairs so he could get a headstart on what he needed when he saw someone approaching the door of the basement.
He immediately stopped in his tracks and backed up a few steps back towards Benji.
He couldn’t see their face, just their shoes as they began to come down the stairs.
“Sawyer?” They asked, “You down here, boyo?”
A sigh of relief immediately fell from him. “Cole, yeah. I’m here.”
The man walked down the majority of the stairs and hung himself against the wall as he looked the two men over. “Figured as much. You two coming?”
“We’re trying,” Sawyer looked back to Benji, who was now standing and approaching him. “This is Cole, Benji.”
His gaze narrowed at the use of his real name and he looked towards the older man. He gave him a nod. “Nice to meet you.”
“Be nicer if you weren’t locked in this shitty basement, huh?” Cole asked rhetorically and slipped a backpack off his back, tossing it over to Sawyer. “Packed you a bag. Put some clothes in there and your money.”
Sawyer’s eyes widened. “What?!”
“You weren’t hiding that money as good as you thought, boyo. In your underwear drawer? Really?” Cole chuckled and shook his head. “Now, c’mon. Did what I could with that fire but the rest is up to us.”
As gingerly as he could, he slipped the backpack on while he walked up the stairs behind Cole and Benji followed behind him. “You started it?!”
“Had to do something. Heard Milo talking about killing your friend when I passed by his office today. Figured I couldn’t let that happen,” he shrugged. “They should really check that faulty wiring in the med bay though…” He winked.
Sawyer had never been so happy about someone committing arson before.
Cole really was the best person to go to with his proposal.
He couldn’t help but smile when he thought about how lucky he was to have Cole around for most of his life.
Without him, things at the bunker would have been far more depressing, there was no doubt about that.
The three men breached the top floor of the bunker and the first thing that Sawyer noticed was overwhelming heat.
The entire back of the place was engulfed in flames.
He wouldn’t have been able to get to his room anyway.
Cole had at least thought ahead about that.
Sawyer covered his mouth and nose with his arm while they moved.
His body felt like it was vibrating with how many emotions were coursing through his body.
Excitement, fear, anxiety… They were all at war with one another and he was sure they would be until he was in the car and far, far away from that bunker.
There were several people still running out of the burning bunker and Cole took the opportunity to slot themselves in the middle of them so that maybe they wouldn’t be noticed as much.
Outside, people were just standing around, watching the place burn.
It was a really bizarre thing to witness.
No one was moving towards their cars to leave.
They just…stayed. The first thing Benji did was throw his hood up, which was smart, but Sawyer wasn’t sure how much it would help.
They were going to stick out like a sore thumb moving towards the parking lot but what else were they going to do?
“Stay here,” Cole spoke under his breath, “I’ll get my car and bring it around. Don’t go looking anyone in the eye. I’ll be back in a couple minutes.”
There wasn’t any time to argue. Cole was gone and the two were left standing there in the cold.
But at least they had the heat of the bunker fire to keep them warm for the time being.
Sawyer pulled the backpack off with a soft groan and clutched it to his chest. He didn’t want anyone to ask how he managed to pack anything.
Benji noticed what he was doing and he stood strategically so that the backpack would be hidden from anyone who would look their way while keeping his face hidden.
The emotions that Sawyer had been feeling suddenly all shifted to anxiety and fear. He was so fucking scared. He was still shaking and it was hard to stop it. Benji reached a hand out and softly placed it against his. “It’s going to be okay,” he said quietly, “We’re almost there.”
Sawyer had zero idea how Benji was keeping so calm. He had probably experienced similar things before, he supposed. He didn’t know how he could do it. The anxiety would put him in an early grave if he did what Benji did for a living. Perhaps that was why Milo always said he was pathetic…
“I can’t believe this is happening,” he sighed, shaking his head, “There’s so many people… There’s no way this is going to work.”
“We have to believe it will,” Benji stated simply, “This is our only shot. It’s now or never.”
Sawyer just nodded his head and closed his eyes while taking in a deep breath. Benji wasn’t wrong. He just needed to hold a while longer. They would be out of there in no time because Cole was going to be pulling out of the lot any moment now and then they’d hop in and go. No one would even notice.
He did take the opportunity to look around at all the people once again and he spotted Milo on the phone.
Likely with the fire department. There was going to be a lot of questioning going on, he was sure, and he wanted nothing to do with it.
He also spotted Clay, who was just watching the fire with an evil glint in his eye.
That guy would like fire. Tank was just standing near Milo, shaking his head until he watched it suddenly turn.
Sawyer watched where his gaze went and he saw the Chevy Trailblazer coming up the road, towards the bunker.
“Shit,” Sawyer muttered when he saw Tank tap Milo on the shoulder.
Benji must have been watching as well because he began to move towards the path of the car and he quickly followed beside him.
The car was zooming up towards them and the sound of a gun firing followed.
The back window of the Trailblazer spiderwebbed from the hit but it never stopped moving until it was about twenty feet away from them.
Immediately, they took off running towards the vehicle.
That gun shot was enough to rally a few others and guns started firing towards them and the car all at once.
Benji had made it to the car first and threw open the door to the passenger seat while Sawyer went for the back.
Two loud shouts were heard and considering he didn’t do it, he assumed it came from Benji and Cole but his concern had to wait.
They had to get out of there. Before their doors were even closed, Cole punched the gas and they were flying out of there like a bat out of hell.
Sawyer managed to close his door and ducked down to avoid any stray bullets. Benji followed suit.
Panting was heard from the passenger seat and an odd gurgle was heard from the driver’s seat. “Cole?!” Sawyer asked, shifting further so he could see what was happening.
“Oh, fuck,” Benji sighed. The two made eye contact and he just nodded his head while grabbing the steering wheel.
“What is happening?!”
Without an answer, Cole flopped himself out of the driver’s seat and into the back with Sawyer and that’s when he saw the blood.
There was so much of it. Benji had taken over driving.
They lost some speed in the transition but he quickly picked it back up and looked hell bent on getting them the fuck out of dodge.
It took Sawyer a moment to find where the blood was coming from but he eventually found the wound on his neck.
With shaking hands, covered it in a failed attempt at helping him.
There was nothing he could do. Cole was going to die.
He was already so cold and he had lost so much blood.
“I’m s-so sorry,” he stammered and shook his head as the tears rushed down his cheeks.
“I-I shouldn’t h-have brought you into this. Fuck, Cole.”
Cole couldn’t speak. He attempted and blood just rushed out of his mouth, which led him to choking on it. Sawyer lifted him up a bit, hoping that would help. The last thing he wanted was for him to die because he was suffocating on his own blood.
The man dying his arms had been the only person in that whole bunker that gave a shit about him.
And now look at him. They hadn’t even made it two minutes down the road…
Was he cursed or something? Why did everyone he cared about die?
First his parents, now Cole… If Benji had half a brain, he would just ditch Sawyer the moment he could because he was apparently nothing but bad luck.
With a slow, shaking hand, Cole reached out and patted Sawyer on the cheek like he had so many times when he was growing up.
Another sob escaped him and he clenched his eyes shut when he saw the light in his friend's eyes fade away to nothingness.
He held him close and cried into his shoulder until he could no longer.
With a soft hiccup, he gently placed Cole down onto the back seat and crawled himself into the passenger seat, bringing his backpack with him. Benji glanced towards him and frowned before he looked back at the road. “Do you even know where you’re going?” Sawyer asked softly.
“No,” he answered sincerely, “But I didn’t want to stop.”
He nodded his head a few times and wiped his nose with his wrist. He didn’t know what to say.
He was drained. Emotionally. Physically.
He just wanted to go to bed and the day had barely started.
With a light thunk, he placed his head against the window and closed his eyes.
He didn’t open them again until he felt Benji’s hand slide into his own, holding it tight.
His gaze drifted down towards their hands and while he couldn’t find it in him to smile, it did make him feel better.
Sawyer’s grip tightened in the man’s and he closed his eyes again, trusting Benji to get them to wherever he believed they needed to go.