Page 10 of Cruel (Brutal Academy)

I twisted my upper body around to glare at him. "Excuse me for not being a fucking miracle worker. We can climb the fence now. You're fucking welcome."

I flung the rock down onto the ground and stomped away off the road.

Hunter swore under his breath. "Hey, Park, look I—"

The rumble of a car engine in the deepening dark sounded impossibly loud.

"Get the hell back into the bushes," Hunter barked.

"What do you think I'm doing, dickhead?" I knew he was sorry for implying that I should be doing better somehow, but I wasn't ready to forgive him yet. He knew I would soon enough. We always bit at each other, but at the end of the day we were virtually inseparable. The Brantley twins against the world. Us, Lila and Slade.

"Whatever you're doing, do it quicker," Hunter snapped.

We dove back into the bushes as headlights swept towards us.

The car skidded to a stop in front of the gate. The doors swung open. A couple of figures stepped out, the lights on their watches turned on.

"They can't have gotten far," one of them said. Male, but with an unfamiliar voice.

"With any luck, a brown snake got them." Also male. Also unfamiliar. Neither was Dane or Zachary. Not surprisingly, neither were Caleb.

"Two against two," Hunter whispered in my ear. "I like those odds."

I rose just high enough to peer over the top of the bush. If there was anyone else in the car, they were hiding, ducked down like us. I decided that was highly unlikely and my brother was right. The odds were even, even with handcuffs on. Even with heavy chains dangling from our wrists. With empty stomachs.

We were still Hunter and Parker Brantley. No one fucked with us.

Hunter whispered the plan quickly. I nodded before ducking down low while he snuck away.

I watched the lights flash as they searched for us, and counted in the back of my mind. We were going to have to time this perfectly. If we didn't, we were highly likely to be screwed. There was at least a one hundred percent chance these guys had guns.

I counted to about two hundred before I slowly crept forward toward the car.

I got into position and crouched still, watching and waiting.

Somewhere in the darkness, a tawny frogmouth called out. Once, twice, three times.

On the third, I rose and rushed forward, keeping low. I sprinted towards the closest guy and looped the chain around his neck. This would be much easier if my wrists weren't bound, but I managed to get it around and yank it tight.

At the same time, Hunter came running out of the bush on the other side and looped his chain around the other guy's neck.

They both struggled, but we had size, surprise and desperation on our side. Not to mention no hesitation when it came to killing. Especially if it meant getting the fuck away from here.

I pulled the chain harder and harder, savouring the grunting and gurgling as my victim struggled to breathe. He let out a choked cough, before he finally sagged. When he fell to the ground, he took me with him, tangled in the chain and, tired from lack of food and being drugged, I lay there for a while until I was sure the stubborn prick had stopped breathing, stopped twitching.

Only then did I dare to breathe and lift the chain off over his head.

Hunter was on his knees behind the other guy, shaking him back and forth as though he could take his anger out on the man's corpse.

"I think he's dead, bro," I drawled.

"Just being sure." He lifted the chain and shoved the guy onto the ground. He fell into the dust with a thud. "Any guesses on the chance these assholes have keys?"

"If they don't, I'm going to resuscitate one of them so I can kill them again," I growled. I rolled my victim over, pulled a gun out of the front of his pants before rifling through his pockets.

They were empty.

"Nothing," I spat. Not even something useful like a packet of nuts. Yeah, it was getting more and more difficult to stop thinking about food.

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