"So, what do you wanna do?" Mike asked me as Josh started to squirm and cry at me, begging me to keep Mike away from him.
I couldn't concentrate when he was doing that, "shut up, Josh," I ordered and he merely closed his mouth, muffling his cries; I cringed, feeling bad for yelling at him with his fragile mind but it had to be done.
"Okay, look, we tie him up, so he can't escape. We keep someone as a lookout, to watch him, while the others search for Jess, Matt, and Emily," I began with my plan, "once we have found everyone, we just get the fuck outta here," I paused a moment, sniffling and rubbing my tear infused mucus-covered nose across my sleeve, "okay? Does everyone agree with that?" I looked around, there was nodding.
I looked back at Mike, he was still thinking it over, "Mike, do you agree with that?" I repeated for him.
"You promise to help me find Jessica?" It seemed like it was just the thought of me helping find her rather than finding Jessica herself was more important to him in the slightest but I didn't question it at all.
I merely nodded my head, "done. Whatever it takes, I will find her," I said solemnly.
Mike nodded his head back at me, finally agreeing, "okay."
I turned to Sam, "Mike, Chris, and I will tie Josh up. You stay here with Ashley, don't let her out of your sight," I turned to Chris, who had stood up onto his feet by then, "come on, boys, let's deal with Josh," I then shifted on my feet to face Josh, my tears renewed, "Josh, honey, you have to come us now, okay? You have to come with me, Chris and Mike, okay?"
I used the sweetest tone of voice I could muster at the moment, "we're gonna put you in timeout, so you can think about what you have done while we look for the rest of our friends, and then we can get out of here, we can go back to Beachcastle City, okay? Does that sound good? Going home?" I asked him.
Josh stood, "Nessie," he seemed distraught, almost like a child.
I closed my eyes a moment, placed the pistol in the back of my jeans pocket, under my sweater, "I'm here, Josh, it's okay," I held my arms out to him, inviting him closer, "it's okay, you only have to go in timeout," I assured him as he came closer and embraced me like a child. I held him gently, rubbing his head with my fingers, "Chris, Mike, we are just gonna walk out there, very calmly, okay?" I told them and both let me know they heard me, "come on, Josh, let's go outside," I said smiling at him, taking his hand, "it's okay, let's go."
We started on our journey upstairs, so we could get outside of the lodge and to the shed nearby. That's where I was gonna have Mike and Chris tie Josh up with Chris standing watch while Mike and I went to search for Jess, Matt, and Emily. I had walkie-talkies in my backpack, I was gonna distribute them to Chris and Sam, so I could communicate with them. Then one to Mike, just in case we split up and I needed to get a hold of him or vice versa.
But the walk to the shed was gonna prove to be a bitch and it was gonna throw a wrench into my plans, as per usual....
The journey upstairs was silent.
Everyone walked in silence. I held Josh's hand, keeping him at my side, not allowing him to venture off and provoke anyone. Sam and Ashely were behind us, the former's arms wrapped around the latter who was still crying from the shit she had been through. I didn't blame her. Mike and Chris walked behind the two girls as I had instructed to keep Mike from feeling provoked by Josh's presence for the journey upstairs.
Once we were all on the main floor of the lodge, I transferred Josh to Chris, "just hold his arm gently but firmly and I'll be back to retrieve him when I'm done talking to Sam and Ash," I explained before leaving Chris and Josh at the front entrance, "Josh, stay with Chris, stay," I told my boyfriend as I moved away.
With my eyes, I told Mike to stay by my side for the moment, so there was nothing to provoke him. I turned to Sam, "okay, so the plan is that you and Ash stay here, just in case if Matt or Emily or even Jess makes it back here," I knelt down, taking my backpack off my shoulders, unzipping it and catching the machete before it fell to the floor.
I studied the weapon a moment before giving it to Mike, "do not use this on Josh, you are merely holding it for me," I had to tell him just in case, I got a 'yeah, yeah' out of Mike and continued rummaging through my bag before I found the briefcase with the walkie-talkies.
I pulled the case out and opened it, taking one, I set it to the first frequency before handing it to Sam, "do not lose this and do not leave Ashley's side. This goes for you too, do not leave Sam's side, Ash," I told them, "it is very important that you two stay together and that you do not lose this," I pulled another out and set it to the same frequency before handing it to Mike, then I pulled the remaining two out, temporarily setting them on the ground so I could close the case and put it back in my backpack before taking the machete back and placing it in my bag, zipping it back up like the previous two times.
I put the bag on my shoulders, grabbed the two remaining walkie-talkies, and set them to the same frequency as the previous two. "Mike and I will be back once we have found Jess, Matt, and Emily," I told the girls who nodded at me.
"Be careful," Sam said while Ashley nodded in agreement.
"We will," I replied to her before moving away from them with Mike trailing behind me. We reached Chris and I exchanged a walkie-talkie for Josh's hand, I had put mine on my jeans as Mike and I had walked over to them, "shall we?"