[CONTENTID1]Phoenix[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Fifteen[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Baekhyun had known this wouldn’t end well. He should have listened to his intuition instead of giving in to his friends and Seri. They would have complained endlessly and maybe they would have been mad at him for a while, but at least they wouldn’t be stuck in this hole. A cage, that’s what it was.

His hands were tied behind his back, and he sat on a wooden chair in a room that smelled of dust and mold. He had memorized the way to this place so he would find his way back when they would—hopefully—escape. Sehun, Jongin, and Chanyeol shared his predicament, sitting left and right of him and glaring at the three men in front of them. This was not how Baekhyun had imagined their reunion with Jongin to end…

The self-proclaimed leader of the safe zone sat on the other side of a table and two guards stood at the door behind him, equipped with guns. Baekhyun’s eyes darted back and forth between them, calculating how long it would take them to ready their weapons and pull the trigger—was it reasonable to ambush them? They looked bored and weren’t paying much attention. Could Baekhyun steal a weapon before they shot him? He was loosening the restraints on his wrists and it was only a matter of time until he would be free. The same couldn’t be said for his friends—judging by their glares, they couldn’t do anything, leading Baekhyun to assume that their wrists were bound too tightly.

“Are you listening to me?” the leader screamed at Baekhyun, spitting on the floor.

Baekhyun curled his lips in anger as his eyes slowly moved back to the obnoxious guy. He had introduced himself as Gong Dakho earlier and in Baekhyun’s opinion, he was disgustingly power-hungry. From their conversation, he had gathered that Gong had established the safe zone months ago and made himself its leader—everyone was expected to listen to his orders and do everything he said. Otherwise, you were in trouble like Baekhyun, Sehun, Jongin, and Chanyeol right now.

“What did you say?” Baekhyun replied carelessly. Chanyeol rolled his eyes, tempted to kick his friend’s shin. His uncooperative behavior didn’t do them any favors.

“I asked if you’ll cause us any problems, and it appears like that’s exactly what you’re here for.”

“If you don’t want us here, you simply need to let us go. It’s that easy. We will leave this… place… right away,” Baekhyun answered, almost letting slip what he truly thought about this hole of a safe zone. He clenched his jaw and scowled at Gong and his lackeys.

“Do you expect me to believe that?” Gong arched his eyebrow and exchanged a look with his two subordinates. “If you think you can come in here and undermine my authority, you’re sorely mistaken. I know what you’re planning. As soon as I let you go, you’ll come back with more soldiers and take over my safe zone.”

The bastard was as greedy and demanding as he looked, and Baekhyun was too prideful to even pretend to be nice to him. He would throw up if he tried.

“Nobody’s undermining anything, and we don’t want to take over your safe zone either,” Chanyeol cut in. The soldier was visibly annoyed and irritated at the way this conversation was going.

“Untie us and we’ll leave immediately, you won’t ever see us again!” Sehun said. He leaned forward until his arms tied behind him left him no more room to move.

“Military scum like you is not trustworthy. As soon as I turn my back, you’ll—”

That’s when Baekhyun stopped listening to him again. Gong was delusional; no matter what they said, he would never believe them. His opinion of them couldn’t be changed, therefore it was useless to try. The only way to get out was by using force, but the odds were stacked against them. Despite this, Baekhyun was willing to try. He didn’t want to put their lives in the hands of a delusional madman who loved abusing his power.

Baekhyun successfully got rid of his restraints. The rope that wound around his wrists was loose and fell to the ground—the dull thud was noticed only by Chanyeol and Sehun since they were close to him and now aware of his scheme. Sehun masked his excitement well. Chanyeol on the other hand wished he could somehow make Baekhyun understand that his little plan was too dangerous and not worth the risk. He gnawed on his lower lip, pulling at his restraints and eyeing the weapons of the two guards warily.

Baekhyun got up so fast that his chair tipped back. He lept over the table at lightning speed. Both guards were stunned by his actions since this was the last thing they had expected to happen. They reacted a second too late, giving their opponent ample time to attack. Baekhyun concentrated on the left guard, grabbed the muzzle of his gun, and pushed it aside. He rammed his knee in his stomach and he keeled over—it was so easy that Baekhyun couldn’t help but laugh at him. The poor fool hadn’t been trained to defend himself. He must have been relying on his weapon, using it to intimidate people.

“Shoot him!” Gong shrieked hysterically while Baekhyun stole the gun from the guard. He slumped on the ground, clutching his aching stomach and wheezing for air. Baekhyun determined he was no longer a threat and in the split second that passed, he whipped around to face the other guard.

Despite his speed and determination, Baekhyun was too late. It seemed like time had slowed down as he aimed the gun at the guard—but his opponent already had his finger on the trigger. Baekhyun stared right into the barrel only a few meters away from him. Perhaps, if he was less experienced, he would have simply frozen in horror, but his legs moved on their own. He lunged to the right. The bang of the gun echoed through the small room.

“Baekhyun!” Chanyeol screamed and tore at his restraints. Sehun and Jongin’s eyes were glued to their captain’s body as he caught himself. Had the bullet met its target? They couldn’t tell at first—but Baekhyun’s strained scowl said more than a thousand words. Something wasn’t right.

“Kill him already!” Gong demanded while hiding behind the guard who seemed surprised that Baekhyun was still standing. He was about to follow the order, but this time, the captain was faster and fired his gun, hitting the man’s shoulder. The shot was precise, meant to incapacitate and not to kill. A pained groan left the guard’s mouth—he immediately let go of the gun, stumbling against the wall and sliding to the floor. His hand was pressed on his bleeding shoulder.

And Baekhyun took no chances. He reached for the weapon, suppressing a curse. The pain was overwhelming, but he couldn’t allow himself to rest yet. They still weren't safe. He put one of the guns into his holster and aimed the other at Gong.

The so-called leader of the safe zone was shaking. His face was as pale as the wall behind him and his eyes never left the gun. “Y-You can’t kill me,” he stuttered pathetically. “There’s no way, w-without me… the safe zone would crumble!”

Baekhyun had no patience to deal with his rambling—the pain drained him. Although the bullet had only grazed his ribs, he had no way of telling how grave the injury truly was, but he felt blood soaking through his shirt and jacket. It was sticky and warm, reminding him of countless other times he had gotten in trouble on his job.

“It depends on your actions,” Baekhyun snapped. “If you continue to stand in our way, you will regret it.” The gun remained pointed at Gong’s sweaty head as Baekhyun moved behind the table to his team members. His feet were heavy; he stumbled a few times and cursed under his breath.

“Don’t move!” he barked when Gong eyed the door, promptly making him sputter excuses.

Baekhyun clicked his tongue, fishing for the small knife he kept in one of the pockets of his cargo pants. Flicking it open, he cut Sehun’s restraints and the soldier was on his feet in seconds, taking the gun from Baekhyun and pointing it at Gong.

“I got this,” Sehun muttered. “How bad is your injury?”

“I’m fine.”

Chanyeol’s eyes bore into his friend who was obviously lying, and his anger got the best of him. “What the hell were you thinking, hah? Going up against two armed guards on your own, without a weapon? That’s ing suicidal!” As soon as his wrists were free, he got up and glared at Baekhyun. His anger stemmed from his worry—he refused to lose one of his closest friends to a bunch of morons. 

“It was the best opportunity we had. They might have killed us after this interrogation,” Baekhyun defended himself, but his voice was weak and strained. He was about to cut Jongin’s restraints, but Chanyeol took the knife from his hands.

“Let me do it! You better take it easy now.” Chanyeol proceeded to free Jongin, who stretched his sore limbs and thanked him.

“Calm down, Chanyeol. You’re giving him a lot of considering he saved our asses,” Jongin chimed in. He didn’t like arguments and often intermediated when his team members disagreed with each other. Chanyeol rolled his eyes but didn’t add anything else. Instead, he studied the bloody spot on Baekhyun’s jacket.

“We need to get rid of him before we leave,” Sehun nodded his chin at Gong. He would call for reinforcements and give them hell if they didn’t do anything to prevent it.

“Take him out,” Baekhyun ordered. Jongin supported him with his arm wrapp