Nia must have paced around her cell a hundred times, anxiously waiting to be rescued. Theo spent most of the time mute or half asleep. She kept waking him periodically, fearing it was best for him to be up whenever they came. She wasn't sure they would recognize her if he didn't say who she was, and she didn't want to get shot or left behind.

Her constant movement strained her legs, so she stopped to rest. Then there was a boom! Coming from above, she heard a single gunshot and several feet shuffling in one direction. Then all hell broke loose. A barrage of gunshots started to pour down on the ground above them. Looking up, Nia could see the cell's ceiling vibrating. Theo, who had somehow managed to doze off again, sprang up.

"I think that's them," Nia said

"It better be."

His signature grin was back.

"The guards might try to kill us before they get here. Come on, let's move to the wall at the edge of the cell," he said.

Both of them braced their backs against one of the walls that connected with the bars of the cell. Once they stayed there, any guard running toward the cell would not see them unless they looked inside and recognized their outlines against the dark, shadowy cell wall.

Both of them soon heard feet pounding down the corridor. Theo gestured to Nia to be quiet. She slowed her breathing and peeled her eyes for what she guessed was a coming guard.

After crossing into view, the guard stopped and pivoted toward the cell. She faced them but was initially oblivious to their presence; startled, she paused and poured her eyes over the cell's interior. She was struggling to make the two out. But once she did, she grabbed her assault rifle and stuck it between the bars. But before she could pull the trigger, Theo ran over and tried to wrest the rifle away from her.

The guard tried using the bars as a lever to overpower him. She couldn't risk holding the trigger quite yet, though, because she would have to take one hand off the barrel and risk Theo regaining the upper hand and using the gun to strike her.

Nia stood frozen against the wall. Theo turned toward her and brandished his clenched teeth. Then through them yelled, "Come help me!"

His sharp tone snapped Nia out of her paralysis. She hurried over. A moment of hesitation swept over her as her eyes landed on the rifle's barrel. Still, with some more coaxing from Theo, she reached out and helped him pull on the gun's barrel.

The look on the guard's face morphed from concern to dread. Sure enough, Theo and Nia managed to yank it from her. Then, as the guard turned to run away, Theo fired a few rounds into her back. Nia closed her eyes just before she could see the bullets hit, then opened them slowly to the sight of the body lying lifeless on the floor.

The still body hit Nia with a series of flashes. She recalled the bloodied bodies strewn across the deck of the boat she escaped from.

Theo noticed the dazed look in her eye, grabbed her arm, and started pulling her with him. They rolled up to the body, which Theo checked for anything useful. He found a handgun, put it in Nia's hands, and they kept going. He didn't have to say anything. Nia knew she was expected to use it if necessary.

The two could hear more boots trampling toward them from around the corner. Theo stepped in front of Nia and moved toward the bend of the corner. She saw him looking downward. Theo watched the shadows of their would-be attackers stretch through the opening across the floor.

They were about to bend the corners like lambs to the slaughter. The first guard's eyes widened right before Theo pulled the trigger. He fell instantly. The rest stopped spilling into the open and stayed behind the corner wall. They kept peeking around and firing instead. Nia ducked into one of the open cells for cover. Theo did as well. Nia instinctively held up her handgun. She thought of using it, but her trembling hands felt differently.

Silence fell as they heard the last remaining guard reload his weapon. Sensing the opportunity for a kill, Theo stepped out of his cell and moved toward the corner.

A hand swung out from the corner and released a large grenade. Nia ran straight to Theo and pulled him back into their cell for cover. They landed hard, just in time to avoid being hit by the blast.

The grenade went off in a thunderous boom and rattled the ground. The walls of the cell they had ducked into vibrated like a tambourine. As the noise died down, Nia looked up to see a plume of dirt mingled with smoke rising from the point of detonation.

Nia crept toward the cell's exit first, but Theo's hand descended on her shoulder from the rear and yanked her behind him in one quick motion.

"Are you trying to get shot?" he whispered sharply. "Stay behind me.

"Would it kill you to say thanks?" Nia said. "I just saved your life."

"Yes, you did. Next time be better at it. My damn shoulder is aching from that hard fall," he said, rubbing it.

Nia shook her head.

Theo pushed into the corridor, took out the last guard, and gestured for Nia to follow him.

He crept slowly up to the corner and turned into it. The hall was empty. Both moved quickly toward its end and turned into another hall.

They leaned against the wall as they moved up the corridor. They could hear heavy breathing coming from the other side of the wall. With a twirl of his index finger, Theo signaled to Nia that he was going to slip around to the other side. He motioned for her to follow closely.

At the end of the hall, he twisted around sharply to the other side and was greeted with a hail of bullets. Both crouched low to avoid being hit. Theo fired, and a series of bodies thudding to the ground echoed back. Nia fired too.

Several bodies were strewn about. One body's face, twisted in horror, was especially triggering for Nia, who didn't want to look at it for more than a moment, but couldn't look away.

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In the corpse's eyes, it felt like her fear was gazing back at her, which made her shudder.

"Check the bodies!" Theo yelled, snapping Nia out of the grip of fear.

Grudgingly, she listened, moved across the bodies quickly, and did her best not to look into their faces. Finally, on the last body, she found a paper bunched up in a jacket pocket, pulled it out, and examined what looked like a map.

"Theo, I found this. I don't know if it's important," she said, holding the paper up high.

Theo shot over to her and poured over it under the dim glow of the roof light.

Nia watched his face morph from a puzzled scowl into a large smile.

"It's a smuggling route for gangs. And look, this is the important part; they have smuggling routes into Xoya."

"The capital city, why is that important?"

"You'll find out in time. Right now, let's keep moving."

They coursed through the maze of corridors and met little resistance as they rounded out the rest of the underground complex.

Finally, they sailed up some steps into the courtyard they were in not long ago. What Nia heard before matched what she was saw—lifeless bodies were strewn all over the ground. There was still some fighting ongoing on the distant side of the courtyard.

Nia could hear neighborhood residents running into their homes and ducking behind whatever they could for safety outside the compound walls. There was a cacophony of sounds, bullets, yelps, cries, and screams. Nia felt her stomach churn.

Where is the woman who sent us to the cells? She wondered.

She started looking around for her, moving carefully behind whatever large obstacles or debris she could find to avoid bullets. But she didn't see her on the ground. Then, finally, off in the distance, she saw her huddled behind the last set of guards left standing. She was screaming at them. What exactly? Nia could not tell, but she did not look like she was about to surrender.

Yet, one of her guards dropped his gun and surrendered. The others followed. It seemed like the wisest course of action, considering they were surrounded by armed syndicate agents.

Once things quieted down, she headed over quickly. By then, the guards and the woman were being cuffed. But the men cuffing them started kicking, hitting, and harassing them.

Nia ran over and yelled, "Stop!"

They ignored her, so she pulled her gun on them. That got their attention.

"Who the hell are you asked one of them?"

"I'm with Theo."

"Liar."

"No, she is with me," Theo said as he emerged behind her and gestured for the men to calm down.

Nia dropped her gun and walked over to the woman.

"I'm really sorry about that. What's your name?" Nia asked her.

"You're his prisoner, aren't you?" she asked, looking at Theo.

Nia didn't answer.

"It's funny. I saw how you looked at him when my guards beat him. Your pupils were wide with a depth of concern that only caring eyes can have. That's Stockholm syndrome. Trust me. I've kidnapped many people, so I know what it looks like."

Nia scoffed.

"Or maybe I just don't like seeing people get beat up. I just saved you from that, didn't I?" Nia said. "I was only worried about him because if he died, I didn't know what would happen to me."

"Sure," The woman replied sarcastically.

Nia tried to drown the woman's voice out in her mind, but her words kept piercing through Nia's mental fog. Nia turned to look at Theo as well. He saw her and brandished a gaudy smile. That smile of his she'd once hated was growing on her.

Nia glanced back at the woman; by the horror on her face, she could tell the woman had taken stock of what had just happened. They locked eyes in silence for a moment.

"Won't you tell me your name?" Nia asked again.

But she remained mute. Her eyes did the talking.

"When the time comes, you or someone else will have to put him down. He's too wild."

Nia ignored her with her eyes but not her ears.

"My name is Nadira."

"Finally, I'm Nia, by the way."

The woman nodded.

A tap on the shoulder alerted Nia to Theo's presence. He was smiling over her shoulder.

"What are we going to do with you?" Theo asked the woman.

"You mean there'll be no trial or jury?" She quipped in a sarcastic tone.

"Relax, you're not going to die yet. We scored a map off one of your dead lieutenants that shows some of your smuggling routes. We have something major to smuggle in the near future. So we'll have to keep you alive for your help. If you comply, we'll release you back to your cartel."

"Of course. You put your higher principles aside for greed just like everyone," Nadira replied.

"No, what we'll be smuggling is consistent with fulfilling our principles. It's not about money."

Nia walked off sometime after their bickering heated up into a storm of expletives.

From afar, she looked as syndicate agents marched Nadira off into one of the three helicopters that had come in cuffs by syndicate age. She would have been more concerned, but her mind went elsewhere. Instead, she was thinking of how she had never felt more content with life than when she was with her family. She missed them so badly the feeling had congealed into a deep yearning in her gut.

But, though she hated to admit it, her family life was boring. She missed them, but she had never felt more alive than she had during the chaos of the period since meeting Theo. Some darker part of her that was thirsty for excitement was finally being satiated, but it was hungry for more.

Theo made his way over to Nia.

"I've decided not to fight you, even though I want you to come join us at the syndicate. I made a promise to someone to keep you safe, but not against your will. You said you wanted to go back home, so I'll help you do that," he said.

"Are we going to take one of those choppers?" Nia asked, pointing to the three on the ground.

"Not those. Look up," he said, pointing at the clear blue sky.

"At what?"

"Wait for it."

Out of the blankness of the atmospheric canvas, a glint of light flashed and began descending slowly. Nia heard the sound of propellers, but it was a quiet hum. Quiet enough to make her wonder if she was actually hearing anything beyond the ambient din of their surroundings. It took a few moments for her to realize it was another helicopter. She was going home.

Nia breathed a sigh of relief.