Words Unspoken

The next morning, the guys were getting ready to go out into Brightwood. Sitting on my bed I watched as they packed their bags with everything they needed, such as extra clothes and the spray paint. Kyle slung his bag over his shoulder and made his way over to me. I stood up, my arms crossed over my chest as I raised my eyebrows at him.

"You better be extra careful, you hear me?" I said to him. He just rolled his eyes and smiled at me. I pulled him into a tight hug and he did the same. "I'll be alright." He said to me as he pulled away. I glanced over to where Ben, Krista and Noah were. Krista still had Ben in a tight hug. Noah lifted his head to look at me and he made his way over. Once Ben and Krista said their goodbyes, Ben and Kyle made their way to the door as Noah stood in front of me.

"Hey." He said softly, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder.

"Be careful okay?" I said to him. We stood there for a minute before I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Noah hugged me back, his arms around my waist as he held me close, his face buried in the crook of my neck.

"Sam, I-" Noah started speaking but stopped himself.

We finally let go of each other and I took a step back, giving him a small smile.

"I'll see you later." He said to me and I gave him a nod as he turned on his heels and followed after Ben and Kyle. Krista came up to me and placed an arm around my shoulder.

"It's gonna be fine..." she said to me and I let out a long sigh as I watched the door close behind them.

***

The time was now 11 pm, and the guys still haven't returned. Usually they were back an hour before curfew, but if they weren't back by now, something must have happened. I replayed what Noah said to me the night before, that if something happened...but I told him nothing bad was going to happen. Oh god, what if they got hurt, or worse what if they got caught. I could feel my heartbeat in my chest as I breathed heavily but I tried my best to calm myself as best as I could in this situation.

Jill was talking with the group as I watched Krista pace back and forth in front of our bunk. I made my way over to her, Jill still discussing a plan to find the boys, if they didn't come back tonight.

Krista glanced my way and stopped in her tracks before continuing to pace.

"Hey, they're gonna be fine." I said, trying my best to reassure her. She stopped pacing and plopped down on the bed.

"They're never, ever late like this." She said, placing her head in her hands. I sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder to comfort her. We sat there quietly, listening to the discussion going on with the group behind us.

About ten minutes passed and the door opened and closed. Krista stood up immediately and her eyes widened as she rushed over. I looked to see that it was Ben and Kyle. I got up and ran over, hugging my brother as Krista hugged Ben. The voices of the group quieted down, their footsteps making their way over. I pulled back from the hug and looked between Ben and Kyle.

"Where's Noah?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Ben and Kyle looked at each other and then over at me. They didn't say anything, just fear and worry consumed their faces.

"Move! Move!" I turned around to see Jill push through the group. She looked at all of us and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Where's Noah??" She asked the two of them and Ben spoke up finally.

"I'm...I'm so sorry.." he said but stopped himself.

"We thought the coast was clear.." Kyle said and looked at Ben and then back to Jill.

"We were in the middle of tagging the back of a store, that's when we saw the flashing lights..." Ben added.

"Noah told us to get the hell out. We tried to get him to come with us, but he refused. He told us to run, and to come straight here no matter what happened." Kyle said with a heavy sigh.

"The cops got him...we should have done something to help...I'm so sorry Jill." Ben said as he walked up to her, his hands on her shoulders. The room went into complete silence. I could see tears welling up in Jill's eyes and she suddenly burst out crying. Ben hugged her immediately, comforting her. I turned to look at Kyle and Krista.

"I should have gone too." I said out loud. "He had a feeling something bad was going to happen, I should have been there to help." I said, my voice was now trembling.

He was gone. Taken. If they caught him tagging then he's in more trouble than we thought. He wasn't just going to prison. They were going to give him the Death Penalty. My breaths started to increase and I stumbled backwards, but thankfully Kyle caught me. He lead me to my bunk and I sat down. I was in full panic mode.

"Sam, Sam, relax, breathe." Kyle said, sitting next to me as he rubbed my back. "You gotta breathe okay?" He said once more and I did just that. I breathed in and out until it slowed down. My heart beat normally again. I shook my head and turned to look at him.

"Why in the hell would he do that?" I asked and Kyle let out a small sigh. "I don't know." He said as he hugged me.

"He's gonna get himself killed." I said to him as I heard footsteps walk up to us.

"No he's not." Ben's voice spoke up. I looked up to see him and Krista standing in front of us. They looked at each other and then back at us.

"We're getting him the hell out of there. I'm not losing my best friend, not like this." He said. There was determination in his voice, like he had some sort of plan to go after him and break him out of prison. But what the hell could we do?

"The four of us are gonna set up a rescue mission tonight. We leave tomorrow morning." He said as he quickly walked away, not saying anything else. The three of us sat and stood there as we watched him maks his way to Jill's desk. I turned my attention over to Krista and she gave me a nod before following Ben. Kyle and I looked at eachother and I took a deep breath. The two of us stood up and strolled over to the desk. Ben pulled out a bunch of maps, new ones that I haven't seen. I raised my eyebrow slightly and looked at the three of them.

"We've been planning for this. If one of us was gonna get caught by the cops. They probably have him in custody right now, waiting for a trial, but we all know what the end result is gonna be. I'm not gonna lose my best friend. We should have had his back and we failed completely. He's not going to prison or getting killed because of my stupidity." Ben said as he looked up from the maps.

Kyle, Krista and I just nodded our heads letting him speak. He sat down where Jill usually sat and looked through the maps. The maps showed routes and roads that lead to the capital. And I'm guessing that's where they're taking Noah. All the past "criminals" were sent to the capital in their maximum prison facility. It was heavily guarded, both in and out. Getting to the capitol wasn't gonna be easy, especially cause of the new curfew. But if we stopped at a motel, hopefully those would be our safe spots along the way. If we did that, we had to find a car, which we still didn't have because we never actually used one.

My eyes flickered over to Krista and Kyle and then over to Ben. Although Kyle and I haven't been long, we wanted to do everything we can to help get Noah back. By the look on Kyle's face, I could tell that he was really disappointed. Ben and Krista on the other hand, who have known Noah for years, were extremely worried. As for me, he knew something bad was gonna happen, and I kept my feelings to myself. I should have told him how I felt, maybe if I did, he would have fought his way out of that situation and run off from the cops like he told Ben and Kyle. If I told him how I felt, he would've been here....right?

I blinked a few times as I felt a tear escape and quickly wiped it away. I felt a hand on my left shoulder and looked over to see Kyle giving me a reassuring smile. I forced a smile back before turning my attention back to Ben.

"Alright, let's get to work."