All For You

Chapter XII ~ Life or death

Zack ran out of the building, not paying any attention to the officers staring at him confused. He sprinted to his car and sped off to his home. He didn’t keep to any of the speedlimets, ready to race the police if they decided to challenge him. His heart was beating fast in his chest. He parked in the large driveway and walked at a fast pace towards the large garage door of his home. A large mansion on a hill in a quiet, rich part of the city. The boys had brought the mansion together only two years ago. They had all saved up the money for it together. The perfect home for the seven of them. A large room for each of them, a gym, an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, movie theater, a game arcade and even an outdoor hot tub. The mansion was perfect for their job as well. It had a large basement. They had rebuilt it. They reinforced the walls, making it a bunker with only two ways in and out. A large steel door with a fingerprint scanner, eyeball recogniser and a 6 digit code to get in. The second way in was through the garage door to allow cars to get in for reaperce. The door was made of titanium-aluminium making it the heaviest thing in the whole mansion. Matthew made it as well as build a machine that could open in. He had to melt it in half and make it open as a two doored door because it was too much for any machine to lift. Inside the bunker they each had a workstation. Noah had his two large computers with 5 screens. Isaac had his mechanics workstation right next to the garage door. Matthew was not far from there with his own engineering station with tools. Next to Matthew was Skyler and Tayden, who shared a workstation with two computers for research and a large whiteboard in the back for details. Next to the 95’ernes was Ethan with his desk with piles of papers everywhere from past jobs. He had a large commode behind him with tons of files and government permants. Then there was Zack's station in the corner. A large work table in the center. The walls filled up with different kinds of weapons. Hand guns, rifles, knives, a spear, a couple of modern bows and lots of other deadly stuff hanging on the wall next to a sign saying ‘Do not touch’. On the floor, cases and boxes with ammo and explosives, enough to provide a smaller army with firepower. In the middle of the room a big planning table was placed for all of them to come together.

Zack walked to the garage doors and put his code into the system before it asked for voice recognition. “Hayes, Zackary,” he said. The doors opened, revealing Noah, Skyler, Tayden and Matthew all standing around the planning table in the middle. They all looked at him and a sign of a little relief went across their faces for a second. Matthew walked towards him. “Zack. Welcome home. I wish it was under better circumstances,” Matthew said and held his hand out to greet Zack. Zack sighed, feeling a bit awkward after everything that had happened before taking Matthew’s hand and shaking it. They both walked to the planning table as the garage doors closed behind them. The rest of the guys greeted Zack as well. Zack placed himself next to Tayden. “Well let’s begin. What did you find out so far?,” Zack asked in a serious tone. Skyler cleared his throat, ready to speak. “With the information you gathered in Germany, we figured out that Domitri properly was hitting at a motel called SunnyDays out on route 46. Isaac and Ethan went to confirm his whereabouts with the photo you left for us in the file. When they never returned and didn’t respond on any communication devices, we grew worried,” Skyler said, looking hopelessly at Zack. Noah continued. “I tracked the GPS in Isaac's SUV to a tiny dirt road attached to the main road of route 46, not far from SunnyDays Motel. Matthew and Skyler drove out to check it out and found Isaac’s car upside down on a stiv hill,” Noah said as he handed Zack his phone. Zack looked at the picture on the screen. It was Isaac’s car. It looked like it had gone through hell. “There are more pictures if you keep scrolling,” Tayden said beside Zack. Zack scrolled through the pictures looking at every little detail to see if he could notice anything there could help them find their missing friend. Zack noticed that by the looks of the smashed-in metal on the passenger's side, Ethan's side, only a really large vehicle could have caused that much damage. He zoomed in and noticed blood on both of their seats. He sighed and placed the phone down on the table. “What else? I am sure you guys didn’t call me as the first thing. So what have you found out?,” Zack said coldly, looking around at them all one by one. Noah took back his phone and cleared his throat awkwardly knowing Zack was right. They had not called him at first. But that was only because they weren't sure he would help. “I tracked all the movements in and out of SunnyDays… Came up with nothing. There are holes in the footage. I guess someone deleted it. I can't restore it. It's like it never existed,” Noah said annoyed, not being able to do anything. Zack leaned onto the table with his arms and got himself ready to tell the others about their next move. “Okay then. Since we can't find the boys, we find whoever took them,” Zack said in a stern voice as they all looked at him confused, when he said the word ’took’. “What do you mean ‘took’ them? Do you think they were kidnapped?,” Skyler asked, confused. Zack continued. “I can see from the pictures that there are more than two sets of footprints by the car. By the looks of the blood and the way it runs down the seats shows that they were pulled out from the car and to the ground. On Isaac's side it looks like he put up a fight by the disturbed dirt on the ground. On Ethan’s side it doesn't look like he did. I think he was unconscious. There is a lot of blood on the ground which shows he was badly injured. My guess is that Zero is behind this. Demitri must have figured out who was tracking him. He probably knows who we all are. You guys simply did the work for him and played right into his hands. If what I know about him is true, he won't kill Ethan and Isaac right away. No, he’ll keep them alive. He wants all of us out of his way before going after Mr. Wilson. That's both good and bad news. The good part is he will be too busy dealing with us so Mr. Wilson and Genevieve are safe for now,” Zack paused, mentioning Genevieve made him think of her. He remembered her cute smile earlier that evening as they were having fun on their date. He can't let anything happen to her. Hevremembered how their last minutes together went and how he scared her. He still regretted scaring her. He never wanted to do that again even though he knew he couldn’t make that promise. “The bad part?,” Tayden then asked. Zack sighed looking seriously around at the others. “We have a deadly nazi after us and just became his next target. This is nothing like what we have ever dealt with before. He is smart, so we need to be smarter. That's the only way we can win,” Zack said. The boys looked around at each other not knowing what to think. It was overwhelming. They all felt stupid. They had not been functioning well as a group after Zack had left and they all knew it. It was like missing a hand. But he is back now. They all nodded at each other and put their game faces on. It was show time. “Good to have you back Zack. We missed our second in command,” Matthew said and smiled. Zack nodded as a thanks, starting to feel at home again. “Lets kill a nazi then,” Zack said and they all nodded.

Genevieve hasn't heard anything from Zack for almost two weeks. He didn’t answer her calls and never responded to her texts. She was worried to say the least. But thankfully Tayden kept her updated with short texts every second day or so. He would text her messages like. ‘They are still missing but we are okay’ or ‘Stay safe’. She wasn’t allowed to go to school and had to study at home. Her dad wasn’t very happy with her after he had found out about the fact that Zack had visited her. She had just told him they had become friends but he really didn’t like Zack very much. Genevieve was thankful that he didn’t know the truth. Zack and her were well... sleeping together and he was living with her. Or he was supposed to have been. His stuff was still at her apartment just like he had left it. Well, at least almost how he left it. She had borrowed a few of his shirts. She liked to wear them because they smelled just like him. She missed him and wondered why he was ignoring her. He really had a bad habit of disappearing on her. She blamed it on his emotional attachment issues. Thinking about how he was when they were together she thought there could be no way he would just ghost her. She did feel very hurt. Maybe she was wrong.

She was sitting on her couch writing a case file for her class. It was late and almost 2 o’clock at night. Her phone suddenly rang. She looked at the caller ID hoping it was Zack but of course it wasn’t. But it was close enough. It was Tayden. She picked it up quickly and answered. “Hey. Are you guys okay? Did you find Ethan and Isaac?,” she asked worriedly. Tayden sighed and stayed quiet for a second before speaking. “Yes they are alive. Ethan is in pretty bad shape but he will be fine. But I need to tell you something else,” He said and paused. Genevieve grew even more worried. “What?,” she asked nervously. He hesitated to speak. “What is it, Tay?,” she asked desperately as she stood up from the cough, starting to pace around her living room. “It's Zack,” he said sadly. Her world stopped and so did her feet. Tears of horror formed in her eyes. The first one ran down her cheek as she hugged herself. “Tay. Where is he?,” She asked with a shaky voice, thinking the worst. “I don't know. Things went sideways and Zack got separated from the rest of us. Skyler was the last one to see him. Skyler saw him driving off in his car chasing someone. We can't track him. So I need you to do me a favour,” Tayden said worriedly. Genevieve calmed down a bit knowing he wasn't dead, or at least as far as they know. She started pacing en har living room again. “What do you need me to do?,” She asked as she wiped away a tear wanting to help. “If he contacts you in any way, please tell me,” He said, hoping she would agree. “Why would he contact me? He has been ignoring me for weeks,” she said, feeling hurt. “You have every right to be angry with him, even hate him. I know he is an i***t but please Genevieve. He might not admit to it but he cares for you. You are my best bet. Please call me if he contacts you,” Tayden begged her. “I don’t hate him but he is still an i***t. I want to help,” She said calmly. She heard a knock on her door and froze in place. She looked confused towards the door. “I’ll have to call you back, Tay,” she said and hung up.

She slowly walked to her front door and waited for a second. Who could it be at this hour? She knew she shouldn’t open it for her own safety, but what if it was Zack? No, he had a key. It couldn’t be him. The person knocked again, harder this time. She backed away nervously. “Genevieve it's me,” she heard a familiar male voice say. She quickly opened the door and saw him. Zack. He was leaning against the door frame, barely holding himself up. Her eyes widened as she saw his bruised lip and the blood… He was bleeding from the side of his torso just above his hip. He was holding his hand on top of it but the blood ran out through his fingers. “OMG Zack!,” she whimpered and couldn't stop the tears from falling, seeing him hurt and in pain like that. He lost his balance and fell towards her. She tried to catch him but his weight pulled her down with him. He landed on top of her. He groaned in pain and used all of the strength he had left to push himself off her. He rolled her off to his back laying on the cold floor of her apartment. He still held onto his wound but the blood slowly started dripping on the floor. She moved closer and sat up straight before putting his head in her lap. She didn’t know what to do and it wasn’t helping that the tears wouldn’t stop. She panicked and tried to wipe them away. They weren’t going away. He looked up at her weakly and reached his hand up to touch her face. He removed some of her hair so he could see her face better. He caressed her cheek with his fingers and smiled weakly seeing her again after what felt like so long. She calmed down by his touch and looked down into his eyes. She could see how he was struggling to keep them open. “Zack?,” she said gently, confused as to what he was doing. “I bet the sight of me right now doesn't exactly turn you on,” he said weakly jokingly, hoping for a smile from her. He just wanted to see her smile. But she didn’t. “How can you joke right now?,” she said sternly as she pulled herself together. “I just wanted to see you smile,” he said as he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer.

“Zack! Zack please. Wake up!,” she yelled, holding his face in her hands. His hand wasn’t covering his wound any more and the blood ran out fast in a thin steam. She noticed a growing pool of blood on the floor. She had to do something or he would bleed out. She placed his head on the floor as she stood up. She ran to her bathroom finding a towel and taking the belt from her bathrobe. On her way back to him she grabbed her phone and called Tayden. She put the phone on speaker and placed it on the floor next to Zack. She folded up the towel as Tayden finally picked. “What happ...,” Genevieve cut him off. “Tay he is bleeding out. Zack is bleeding out!,” she said, panicking. She pushed the towel to Zack’s wound. She pushed down on it to stop the blood from coming out as she looked down at his face. He was still unconscious. “What! Where is he bleeding from Genevieve? You need to stop the bleeding,” Tayden panicked on the phone. “What do you think I’m doing? I'm trying my best here.... It’s from his side just above his hip,” she snapped in frustration. The bleeding wasn’t slowing down. “Show me!,” Tayden said sternly and called on FaceTime. She took a deep breath calming herself down, knowing she can’t help Zack if she is in a state of panic. She picked up the phone and accepted the FaceTime call. She gently removed the towel and lifted up Zack's bloody shirt, getting his blood all over her hand. She looked at the small hole on the side of his lower stomach. She showed Tayden the horrible sight. “It’s a bullet hole. He got shot. I’m guessing the bullet is filled with blood thinner or tonic of some kind. The bleeding won’t stop if the bullet is still inside,” Tayden said in a calm voice knowing stressing her would kill Zack. “I... I don’t know,” she said scared. “Well you need to find out and if it is still there... you have to get it out or he’ll bleed out,” he said. “You mean with my fingers?,” She asked, even more scared. “Yes, but make sure they are as sterile as possible,” he answered.

She took a bottle of hand sanitiser from her commede and sanitised her hands aggressively. She took a deep breath and just did it. She stuck her index finger inside and searched around. She tried not to think too much. She felt something round and tried to fish it out. The hole wasn’t big enough for her to slide in another finger so she had to figure something else out or Zack would never wake up again. “The bullet won’t come out Tay,” she said, starting to panic again. “Breath Genevieve. You can do this. We’re on our way,” he answered, trying to calm her as much as possible. She pulled out her finger and looked around as she noticed her bag. She pulled it to her and looked around with her bloody hands inside of it. She fished out her to-go metal chopsticks and held one of them in her hand and sanitised it. She slid her finger back into the wound and located the bullet. She slowly slipped in the chopstick and fished the bullet out by catching it between her finger and the chopstick. She sighed in relief and placed the towel over the wounds again before binding her bathrobe belt around his waist to secure the towel against the wound. “It’s out and I secured a towel tightly on top of the wound. I’ll run down the stairs and get the officer’s help. They have medical training,” she said as she stood up. “Good. That’s my Genevieve keeping her head calm. We already contacted an ambulance. It will be there shortly. See you on the other side,” Tayden said and hung up. She ran down the stairs and out onto the street. She ran towards the cop car. The officers stepped out of the car confused as they saw Genevieve with blood all over her hand and shirt. “Miss Genevieve....,” one of the officer’s managed to say before he was cut off by Genevieve. “It’s Zack, he has been shot. He is in my apartment,” she said as the officers moved quickly. They grabbed the first aid kit before running upstairs with Genevieve right behind them. As they found Zack, they figured the only thing they could do was check his medical condition. Genevieve had already done what needed to be done before the ambulance arrives. Genevieve sat down on the floor in shock as she stared at Zack’s face. Tears couldn’t be helped any longer as they ran down her face as she stayed in a shocked state.

The boys pulled up to Genevieve’s apartment building. Tayden, Skyler and Isaac stepped out of the car. They looked at the ambulance as Zack was being rolled into it. Tayden looked around looking for Genevieve but she was nowhere to be seen. “We need to find Genevieve. There is nothing we can do for Zack now anyways,” he said walking to the building. He ran up the stairs followed by the other two. The three of them walked into her apartment, finding her sitting on the floor covered in blood, hugging herself as she hid her face in her knees. The officers stood next to her looking up at the three guys who had just walked in. The guys looked around and saw all of the blood on the floor. Skyler and Isaac looked at each other worried. There was a lot of blood. Tayden walked to Genevieve and sat down beside her. “I’m sorry you had to go through that sweetheart,” he said in a gentle voice as he looked at her. She didn’t move. “Why would he come here?,” Skyler asked Genevieve, kneeling down in front of her. She looked up and glared at him. “How the f**k would I know... Oh wait I do. Because he is staying here, because all of you idiots hurt him. He had nowhere else to go and I... I… I couldn’t help him,” she snapped and broke out in tears again. Tayden hugged her tightly. “Wait, he is staying here with you? Tay you knew about this?,” Skyler asked. Tayden nodded. “Wow that’s... That’s just something,” Skyler said not knowing what else to say. “They are like... together?,” Isaac asked, confused. Tayden looked up. “It’s complicated...,” he said hugging her even tighter, getting Zack's blood all over him too. “Shhh Genevieve. He’ll be okay. It’s not gonna be that easy to kill Zack,” he said, feeling her start to calm down. She looked up at him. “Why do I feel this way... it hurts,” she cried and looked into Tayden’s eyes with a heartbroken expression. Tayden looked up at the others not knowing what to say. They looked at each realising that this poor girl had fallen for Zack. She had just gone through hell to save the man she loved and she might still lose him. Isaac and Skyler were so confused. Zack had secretly, with Tayden’s help, seen Genevieve. Zack was staying with her and in his state of dying he had gone to her. This girl was something more to Zack then than a good f**k, they know that now.

Ethan, Matthew and Noah arrived at the hospital early in the morning after Zack had been shot. They walked in and were guided to a waiting area. As they walked in they looked around to find the others but were all cut off guard as they saw Genevieve sitting next to Tayden. She was sitting in one of Zack's large hoodies, cleaned off from all the blood, looking at the floor with the saddest expression any of them had ever seen. Skyler stood up and walked to them. “What is she doing here?,” Ethan asked, confused. He probably shouldn’t have been there. He was still in pretty bad shape after their kidnapping. He was wearing a sling on his arm after his shoulder had been dislocated multiple times. He had a few broken ribs and a concussion. But nothing was gonna stop him from seeing Zack and being there for him. “Zack went to her place after being shot. Apparently they are sort of a thing and Zack is staying with her. Before you get mad, you should know that he picked her as the last person he wanted to see if he didn’t make it. Why else would he go to her place in that state?,” Skyler said, and Ethan didn’t know how to react. Zack had promised to stay away from her and he had broken that promise. On the other hand Zack had never shown so much interest in a girl before. Maybe Zack was in love with her. He had never been in love before and Ethan would never deny him that if that was the case. “She took the bullet out and stopped the bleeding Ethan,” Skyler then added. Ethan looked at him surprised. This young fragile girl might have saved Zack’s life. “I say we just expect it. He already made his choice. We owe him that much after everything that has happened,” Noah then said before walking to sit down. “It’s pretty obvious that the poor girl is in love with him. She pulled out a bullet with her bare hands from his body,” Skyler then said, looking back at her. “Besides, Zack is talking to her. She knew about what happened between us and him. You know better than anyone that Zack doesn’t talk about his feelings with anyone,” Skyler then added, before walking back to his seat. “She could be good for him,” Matthew said before walking to sit next to Noah. Ethan just looked at her. The others didn’t have to convince him of Zack's interest in this girl. Ethan could sense it from the start that this girl was different in Zack's eyes. He had to admit to himself that he had known that since his conversion in the car with Zack. Ethan walked and sat next to her. She looked surprised at him. “Thanks for keeping an eye on Zack for me,” he said, smiling. She tilted her head confused. She knew how against Zack and her seeing each other Ethan had been in the past. “What?,” she asked, confused. “Thank you for putting up with him and letting him stay with you,” he said and bowed his head to her in respect. She smiled for the first time since Zack had been shot. Now they all just had to wait. Would he make it?