*unedited*

“Sang,” Gabe calls out as he holds up a few items from the destroyed backpack at his feet, “here.”

I rush over with the duffel bag and help him shove it all inside. The zip doesn't want to cooperate fully as it gets caught a couple of times, but we're able to get it closed enough that things won't fall out.

Gabe slings the strap over his head and tightens it until the bag sits snugly against his back. I double-check everything to ensure it won’t impede his movements then turn to Luke.

“Do we head back down the path or cut through the trees?” Luke asks, indecision flashing in his brown eyes as he looks in the direction the whistle came from.

I can tell he wants to cut through the woods. A large part of me wants to as well, but without knowing what’s going on we could end up making things more complicated by stumbling into the danger unknowingly.

“Path,” I decided reluctantly. “We’re not that far from where we split up, and we don’t know what’s between us and them.”

Luke nods before leading the way out of the trees, and setting off down the path at a steady run that he knows I can follow.

It takes us seconds to reach the gravel road again. We pause and scan the surroundings for any signs of the danger happening to our family, but there’s nothing. Just the foreboding silence from earlier that set my nerves on high alert.

“Axel’s team first,” Luke says, coming to the same conclusion as me, “those whistles sounded too close to be from Mr. B’s team.”

He continues to lead the way, following the path Axel’s team created through the ankle-tall grass.

Our pace slows as we approach the first RV site we come up to and find one of those tiny pop-up trailers. It’s half falling apart with a flat tire, so we immediately go around it.

Just a few feet away, the clearing rises slightly, forcing our pace to slow as we reach the top of the hill.

“Woah hold up,” Luke comments as he holds his hand up to stop us from cresting the top. He takes a step back before crouching down and motions us to copy him before we move up to join him. “Over there.”

The hill dips down into another clearing, this one far larger than the one behind us, and looks to be the main section for people to park their RVs. There are currently three spaced out on the open land, but the black one on the far left grabs my attention.

My heart drops as I watch a pack of large dogs circle the RV, their bodies stiff with aggression, and their collective growls reach us a good hundred yards away.

Owen, Brandon, and Axel are standing on the roof of the RV, carefully looking down at the dogs. Talking and gesturing as they attempt to figure out what to do.

Alarm bells sound off inside my head when I take another look at the dogs and see how healthy they look.

“Not good,” I hissed as my eyes jumped toward the tree line surrounding us. “We need to pull those dogs away as quickly and as quietly as possible.”

“Why?” Gabe asks from my right. “What’s the problem with just scaring them off with a gunshot or something?”

“It’s not the dogs that’s the problem,” I explain, “but who takes care of them. Look closely. All of them are well-fed, and they’re not barking at the boys inside. Just being aggressive enough to keep them trapped.”

“Long enough for their owners to find them,” Luke concluded, which set Gabe off into whispered cursing.

“We haven’t encountered them before, but from what Mike has told us, they’ve had run-ins with a few people that have trained packs of dogs to trap groups like this. Mostly to steal from them, but there were a handful of instances that ended with a far worse outcome.”

“So quick and quiet,” Gabe repeats my earlier response. “What are you thinking, Trouble?”

I take a moment before answering.

Wanting to think through a few options since this isn’t something I could just make up as we go.

Glancing behind us, I bypass the pop-up RV, knowing that it would be pointless to use. But closer to the entrance, I can just make out the edge of a wood building.

“Did you guys see what that building was when we got here?” I ask as I point it out to them. Luke follows my gesture and nods his head.

“It’s a small office that’s mainly one room. Axel peeked inside and said there’s not much in there but that he wanted to check it out once we were leaving.”

“Did you happen to see if there was a second door or a large window that can be opened?”

A hard sigh is my only answer at first as Luke works out where my brain is going. “That idea might be your worst yet, but yeah, there are two entrances facing each other. The only problem is that the distance between them is pretty short.”

“As long as there’s a straight shot through, it should work out fine,” I comment as I look down at the scene again. This time Brandon has found us on top of the hill and is telling the others. Thankfully, they don’t try calling out to us, but Owen does attempt to sign something.

The distance makes it difficult to make out everything he’s signed, but I catch the gist of him asking what our plan was.

Working on it, I sign back, making sure to over-exaggerate my movements so he can read them. He nods, but I can feel how unhappy he is from here.

“I’m pretty fucking sure he’s going to murder us when he sees firsthand what you have cooking in that devious mind, Trouble.”

Luke and I chuckle because Gabe is partly right. Owen might not murder us, but we’re definitely not coming out of this unscathed.

“Better to ask for forgiveness than permission,” Luke remarks before slowly shifting away from the top of the hill. He taps my foot once he’s out of sight from below and I copy his lead, tapping Gabe’s foot once I’m out of sight.

“Alright,” I say to pull their attention to me, “Two of us will head over to the office. Once they have the doors open, they'll signal the third to lead the dogs over. Locking them inside.”

"I'll do the running," Luke says, giving me a look when I go to argue. "Between the three of us I'm the fastest."

I nod but before I head back down the hill, I grab the neck of Luke’s shirt and pull. Bringing his lips down to meet mine in a quick but forceful kiss.

I pulled back before I could get lost in his sweet scent. “Are you sure you're okay doing this?”

“No worries, Cupcake,” he tells me. “I got this. Just stay close to Gabe, and if anything happens, shoot first.”

I readily agreed since that seems to be our new family motto then turned to Gabe. He has me go ahead of him as we race back in the direction of the building. It’s a brisk pace, but with all the training to stay alive recently, neither of us are really winded when we hit the gravel path again.

We slow down to a jog as we approach the office, and I make sure to check every shadow surrounding the wood structure for danger. Even though I didn't see anything, I still rested my hand on my knife as we reached the door.

There’s a small, rectangular window about shoulder height with a layer of dust covering it, but I can still make out an empty room through the grime.

I don’t need to say anything to Gabe as he drops the duffel bag out of the way and pulls a black Glock 17 from its holder on his hip.

The gun fits his hands nicely as he turns his back towards me and scans the area. I force myself to focus back on the task and search my pockets for my Tiny Case of Awesomeness.

The once pink case is now a paler color with scuff marks around the edges. It’s been through a lot of wear-and-tear as it’s got me out of a few situations just like today. I quickly select the tools I needed, work them inside the lock, and have it clicking free within seconds.

I replace the tools inside my TCOA as I pull the door open. The movement creates a tiny dust cloud and I scrunch my nose up to hold in a sneeze. The darkness is a little too thick inside so I fish out my flashlight as I step into the office.

My light shines over a long desk to my right, a toppled-over rolling chair, and an empty shelf. I don’t find anything hiding behind anything so I hurry across the dusty room to get the second door unlocked and opened.

“All set,” I call out to Gabe as I shove my flashlight back in my pocket.

“Okay, stay at that door, and I’ll take this one,” he shouts back, “have your gun ready just in case.”

He waits for me to pull out one of my handguns before moving back into the clearing where Luke can see him. He waves one hand over this head as a signal, and within seconds, a piercing whistle rings out.

My heart pounds as I watch Gabe race back over to the building and duck down at the side where he will go unnoticed.

The tips of my fingers dig into the wood of the door as the seconds drag by slowly. My eyes are glued to the clearing outside the opposite door until I finally see Luke sprinting into view.

His cheeks are flushed from the fast pace, but he doesn’t slow as he draws closer and closer.

With one dog just inches behind him.

Luke flies through the first door, my next breath lodging inside my throat as I wait for him to clear my door.

“Clear,” I shout just as Luke safely crosses over to my side of the door and slam it shut.

Only for it to stop short when one of the dogs jams his thick head between space. He thrashes his head in an attempt to snap at my leg that I have pressed against the door.

Luke’s hands join mine on the door and he somehow shifts me further down the door away from the dog’s snapping teeth.

“Kick the bottom of the door,” I tell Luke and he quickly slams his foot against the bottom corner of the door. The dog yelps before jerking his head back inside the room, and we are able to get the door fully shut this time.

We jerk away when door immediately begins to rattle as the dogs scratch at the wood, trying to get out.

“Oy,” Gabe shouts as he comes around the side of the building, “that was to close for fucking comfort.”

“Yeah,” I agreed as I safely slid my gun back inside its holder, “let’s hurry the others alone so we can get out of here before the owners come looking for these dogs.”

Gabe takes the lead this time, heading back towards the clearing, grabbing the duffel bag as he passes it.

Once we reach the gravel path, we speed up our pace to a steady jog and get back to the pop-up RV moments later.

“Fuck.” Gabe abruptly comes to a stop just as he passes the RV. I just barely avoid slamming into him by jerking to the side and stumbling to a stop beside him.

And come face to face with another dog.

This one looks a lot smaller compared to the others trapped inside the office and a quick peek tells me it’s a girl.

She has a few open cuts around her neck and a bleeding bite wound on one of her front legs. Causing her to limp as she takes a step back from us when we suddenly come around the pop-up RV.

She zeros in on Gabe as he reaches for the handle of his gun, and she flattens her ears back as she makes a rumbling growl in warning.

But I don’t get the same aggressive energy as I did from the others.

“Wait,” I whisper to Gabe and move around to get between him and the dog.

“What the fuck, Trouble,” Gabe hisses at me. I feel him grab my elbow, most likely to pull me back behind him, but I shake him off.

“Just give me a second.” Both boys grumble but ultimately trust me not to get a hand bitten off.

At least I hope I don’t lose a hand.

“Easy girl,” I say in a low, calm voice as I move closer, “you’re okay. We won’t hurt you.”

Her growls vibrate her body but she doesn’t lunge or attempt to snap at me. She just begins curling in on herself to make herself look smaller and I find more wounds on her stomach.

I keep my movements slow and steady to make sure I don’t frighten her. When I’m about a foot away, I kneel and hold my hand out in front of me.

“Cupcake,” Luke calls out to me, “please stop getting closer to it. "

“Yeah, Trouble,” Gabe adds, “just leave it the fuck alone before it bites you.”

“She’s not going to bite me,” I say, making sure to keep my volume low. “I have a good feeling about her. Just go ahead of me and get the others moving.”

The boys mumble something behind me but I keep my focus on the dog in front of me. I speak random things to her in the same calm tone, trying to ease her fear of me, but her attention snaps over to the boys.

Luke has separated from Gabe and is slowly circling around me and the dog. He makes sure to keep a decent amount of space away from us before taking off over the hill.

Once he is out of view, the dog swings her attention back to me. Her growls have settled to soft whines as she flattens herself on the ground.

“Hey Meanie.” I look over my shoulder at him. “Can you hand me some of the dried fruit inside the duffel bag?”

He glares at me, wholly not happy with what I’m doing, but drops the bag at his feet and digs through it until he finds the bags of dried fruit. He’s careful to pull out only dog safe fruits and passes them over to me.

“I’m going to be highly fucking pissed if you get bitten, Trouble.”

I blow him a kiss before turning back to the dog, happy to see that she’s no longer whining. I tossed a few of the bigger pieces of fruit as close to her front paws as I could. She jerks her head back in fear and begins to growl again until she sniffs the air. Her nose follows the scent down to the food I dropped at her paws and quickly snatches the pieces up.

Her ears perk up a little, looking from my hand to my face and back again. I toss a few more pieces for her but this time making sure they land farther away from her and closer to me.
Wanting to see if she’s brave enough to move closer for something she wants.

Those fluffy ears flatten again as she looks from me to the pieces but that’s the only movement. After a few moments of nothing happening I fear I won’t be able to help her as our time here is running out.

“Come on girl,” I calmly encouraged her, throwing another piece into the pile. “You can trust me. You’ll have a way better life with us.”

Her eyes keep bouncing from me to the food but staying on the food longer and longer each time.

Until finally she inches towards the food and practically inhales the pieces. Taking my chance, I slowly hold out my hands with the rest of the fruit.

This time, she takes less time to decide to trust me as she cautiously inches closer to my hand. I hold my breath to keep as still as possible as she begins eating.

“See,” I whisper down to her, “all good.” Her ears slightly lift into the air and I smile seeing the tension beginning to ease from her stiff body.

The sound of approaching footsteps has her jerking around then backing her body up against my knees, cowering away from whoever is coming over the hill.

“It’s some of the others,” Gabe informed me before I could reach for my gun. “Time to go, Trouble.”

“Okay.” I gently place one hand on the dog’s side causing her to tense up even more but she doesn’t growl or bite. “Come on, girl.”

I stand just as Luke, Silas, Victor, Axel, and Owen crest the hill and jog down to us.

“Are you trying to steal a dog?” Axel asks me, a smile stretching across his tan face.

“It’s not stealing if she just happens to follow us to the car.”

“Fair enough,” Axel remarks before Owen tosses over the keys to the Jeep. “We need to get both vehicles back there to jump start one and hook up another.”

I nod then wait for them to move around me and the dog that’s curled up on top of my feet. Bending down, I carefully pat her side making sure she can see my hand the whole time before pulling my feet from under her.

“Come,” I tell her, hopefully giving her a command she knows as I head back through the clearing.

Every few feet I look back at her over my shoulder but she doesn’t move. My hope dims the farther away I get, but I can’t force her to come with me.

Even though my gut is telling me to bring her.

I catch up to the boys at the gravel path where just yards away is the building that’s now practically vibrating with lunging and growling dogs.

We pick up the pace towards our parked cars. Axel, Luke, Gabe, and Silas head over to the red truck that Nathan hijacked from the mall a few days ago while I follow Owen and Victor to the Jeep.

Just before I round the Jeep to the driver’s side, I look back one last time to see the dog limping after us.

“Victor can you…” I go to ask but see him already opening the back door for her. “Thank you.”

“No worries, Princess.” He waits for her to hop in before getting in the back with her. Owen motions for me to get in as his watchful eyes scan everything around us.

He doesn’t move until he hears my door shut and the moment he slides into the passenger seat, I feel his heavy gaze land on the side of my face.

I pretend I don't know his staring me down as I watch Axel maneuver the truck around us and enter the campground. I follow after him as he takes the gravel to the left.

I barely last three more seconds before cracking.

“Okay look, I know it wasn’t the brightest plan the way we locked the dogs inside the building but we were in a time crunch.” I ramble as we bump along the uneven path. “Mike mentioned running into people using dogs to trap people and I didn’t want to take the chance.”

Owen stays silent throughout my entire word vomit of an explanation and I grimace.

Gabe was right. He’s 100% plotting our death.

The truck turns off the path and I spot the black RV the boys were trapped in ahead of us. Axel passes it but I turn the Jeep around so the front lines up with the front of the RV.

Brandon jumps out of the driver’s seat of the RV and taps on the hood of the Jeep. I reach down and pull the release so Brandon can prop up the hood.

Just then, the engine cuts off and I feel two fingers under my chin, guiding me to look over to Owen.

Time to face the music.

I force my eyes up to meet his stern, gray gaze.

“You’re right. The plan you made was a risky one and could have very easily gone wrong,” he says, his words carrying more weight as it comes from my team leader and not my loving boyfriend.

“I know but with what Mike mentioned…” Owen shifts his hand up to lay across my cheek and covers my mouth with his thumb.

“Saying that, you made the best decision based on the information you had at the time. We all trust your judgment but that doesn’t mean we won’t worry about you being in danger.” He caresses his thumb lightly over my lips, leaving tingles in its wake. “You are a naturally born leader Sang. You should never second guess yourself.”

My tension whooshes out in a long breath, thinking I dodged a bullet.

But Owen’s hand wraps under my jaw and pulls me until I’m millimeters away from his face. His soft lips brushing against mine as he says, “but you and the other two are still giving me laps when we get home.”

Damn.