Chapter 183: Plans.
Dario's POV
“No?” She asked in a squeaky voice.
“Mhmm. No. If they can't stay in there with you or stay around you, then you won't go to that bunker. I won't let them just come on you without anyone around to guard you.”
“Anyone to guard me? Dario I can protect myself. I don't need anyone.”
“Not when you're going against over twenty men whose sole mission is to torture and rape you. They're not my men, Avery. They don't care if they're hurting you. That's their mission.”
“Just give me a knife and a gun, Dario. And I'll handle myself just fine.” She pleaded with tears in her eyes.
I paused. Not because I was considering what she was saying or anything, but because of how desperate she was to prove herself. To the point she was crying for this.
“Dario, I really think you should give her a chance. I've been training her and I know that she's got this.”
Of course it was Vince. No other person in this room had the right nor the audacity to talk to me in such manner.
“I'm not doubting that she can do it Vince. I know she can. But I just don't like the idea of it being just her in that bunker against a bunch of bloodthirsty mother fuckers.”
“Then maybe we can be in the environment.” He suggested.
“Okay then. That's fine by me.” I shrugged.
If we could be close enough at least, then I had no problem with it so…
“No.” Avery said in a time that suggested that we were supposed to know this already.
“No?” I asked, looking at her in confusion. Vince had the same look too, which satisfied me to know that I was not the only one that was beginning to get very lost.
“Do you think they wouldn't have surveyed the place with at least a few drones?”
She was right, and I admitted it.
“We have weaponized drones, though. This might be the time to put them to use.”
“That's right.” She squealed, a smile finally finding it's way unto her face.
The rest of the men just looked between each of us. Some with nonchalance and the rest with support for either one of us, although I noticed that most of them underestimated her. They better keep it to themselves though, if they didn't want to lose any parts of their body.
“So now what do we do?” I asked looking at Vince, but the question was directed to her, and she knew it.
“I've got it.” She snapped her fingers and ran back to the maps and screens, and on instinct, everyone ran along with her.
Some were actually interested in hearing the ideas she had and the others were sneering, ready to watch her humiliate herself, and to my dismay, the latter was more than the former. I guess we were going to see what this will turn out to be in the end.
“So I've decided to think like our enemies. Matteo had told them about me going to the bunker, and now we've arrested Matteo, so they'll suspect that we'll change our mind about taking me to the bunker to try to keep me safe. They'll probably send some drones at the said time to check if I'll be going into the bunker and to check if anyone will stay to protect me. They might stay the whole night, just to monitor the environment and then strike the next day, which is why I have an idea. We plant some cameras and mics inside the bunker, so that I can communicate with you guys at all times. I don't know if this is possible, but I know that there is an empty strip of land close to the bunker, so if we can possibly gather people or families, loads of them, to go there and pretend to be campers so that you guys can take a caravan and go stay there too.”
Oohs, aahs and other excited comments flowed through the men and I couldn't help the proud smile that leaked out of me.
“But then we have some men here,” she pointed to a road mark on the map, “to attack them when they're coming. Let them be few so that it won't be like we expected their coming. And even if they're stronger, they should allow them beat them up. But if it might be deadly, we can skip that part. Then when they arrive, you guys come down from the camp.”
“A lot can happen from the time from the camp to the bunker. I'm a little uncomfortable with leaving you alone.”
“Well, then you can hire a makeup artist to camouflage some of the men into the environment. I saw that in a movie but I don't know if it'll work.”
“It will.” One of the men that were sneering at her earlier said looking at her with pride and adoration now.
“Damn, you're such a genius. I dare say, I didn't expect it.” Another one said.
“I get that a lot.” She shrugged with a light chuckle as I moved to her and planted a kiss on her forehead.
She might have actually just finished this.
Author's POV
It was finally the day for Avery to go to the bunker. She was almost done getting dressed when she turned and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Something about her was off.
She knew that not everyone would be accepting of her plans and what she wanted to do, but she really wanted to do it. She had made this decision from the moment she woke up from that coma and stared at herself in the mirror. The only reason she had not done it yet was because she wanted to see if she was going to change her mind.
Well, she did in a way because now she still wanted to cut her hair, but unlike before, this was for a whole different reason. Before, it was all just because she felt disgusted and traumatized because of all the things that had been done to her with her hair, but now, she wanted to cut it as a sign to herself that she was evolving. She wasn't the girl that was in the room, locked away from everyone and scared of everyone. Now, she wanted to cut it as a sign to herself. She wanted to cut it as a mark of remembrance, to tell her that it was all her choice to stay down and to rise up and that if she hadn't taken that bold step, she might have still been that scared, traumatized little girl that starved and cried all day and was too scared to close her eyes. A mark to show her transformation from a scared, wounded deer, to a lion.