Can't Save Me

Grant

The morons outside barely put up a fight. I knocked out one with the butt of my gun, the one we put Jones on just gave up and ran away, and Snyder had his target leading us into the warehouse with a gun at his back. I wasn't about to get cocky and think the entire rescue mission would be that easy, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't currently feeling eons more confident than I had been.

"How many more are in here?" I asked quietly as we stuck ourselves up against the wall. I could see lights flickering down a long corridor. It looked as if the back half of the building had been divided into smaller rooms, but I had no idea how many were inhabited nor who inhabited them.

"He asked you a question," Snyder growled, digging the muzzle of his firearm into the moron's neck.

"I don't know, man," the guy whined. "Two, I think."

"You think?" Snyder retorted. "Try again. How many more are in here?"

"I said I don't...!" the goon raised his voice, but Snyder was quick to wrap his forearm around his throat and choke the words right out of him.

"Keep it the fuck down," Snyder commanded through gritted teeth. "I'll fucking blow your head off before anyone gets to me, I promise you."

He loosened his grip just enough that the man could speak. "I said I don't know. There's at least two," he hoarsely whispered. "They don't pay me enough to know shit. I just stand guard."

"Where are they?" I asked, still not seeing anyone as we slunk around the side of the building. "Are there cameras?"

"A few," our hostage whispered. "Mostly in the girls' rooms though. Eva likes to make sure none of us sneak in there for..."

I spun on him, rage bubbling in my veins. "For WHAT exactly?"

"Nothing, man. Nothing." The dude was shaking. I had a feeling if I even looked at him wrong, he'd piss his pants. Eva really needed to invest in better henchmen, but I was grateful that so far, she hadn't.

As we continued to creep down the dark corridor, me in the front, Jones at the back, I heard a blood curdling scream. We all froze, eyes wide and my heart ratchetted up inside my chest. I couldn't deny the fact that I knew that scream. My brain immediately started spinning into a panic, my chest heaving with rapid breaths. "That was..."

"GO!" Snyder commanded. "Get her!"

I took off down the hallway, no longer caring if anyone heard me. All I could think about was the sheer terror in the scream I'd just heard, the scream that I knew came from the woman I loved. Most of the rooms were dark, the doors left open just enough to peek inside. I scanned them quickly as my boots pounded down the cement floor, hoping to catch a glimpse of Madeline. Hoping I wasn't about to be too late for whatever horror stood in front of her.

When I got to the end of the corridor, there was a sharp left and one final room, the only room that had the door completely closed, but I could see a beam of light from beneath the door. The only room that was shut off from the rest of the corridor. The only room that was different among all the others lining the hall.

This had to be it.

Without so much as a breath of thought, I threw my shoulder into the door. It went flying open, slamming sharply against the wall behind it. All I saw was a man towering over Madeline, her nightgown ripped open and his hand around her throat. Her legs kicked in a weak attempt to get away, but it was evident that whatever they had injected her with was making her escape more difficult. Her motions looked more like a kid pumping a swing than anything that would do damage, but my girl was trying. She was trying her hardest to fight.