Electric Love {Minsung}

Chapter 39: Hitching a Ride to the Airport

Jisung was carried by a guard out to the backyard, where the guards had parked their truck—a large van emblazoned with the name of a moving company. The darts were still in him, and the guards had special hooks with which they secured them. He doesn't know what the darts are, but they seem to suck the life out of him, twisting his thoughts with pain.

Everything seemed to be happening around him in quick, staccato flashes, like he was surfing TV channels with a remote.

He saw Jeongin being dragged off by three men. Hyunjin was crying. Seungmin had a bloody nose and was calling a guard a dumb gorilla. Two guards were standing near the garage taking pictures of the Hummers. He heard their conversation, or at least some of it—one guard was asking the other where they'd gotten the cars.

His mind flashed, and he remembered that Jeongin had said both Hummers were in the garage—where were Changbin and Felix? Then he noticed three pizza boxes on the ground.

Connected to the back of the truck was a motorized platform that the guards used to lift them into the cargo bay. The inside of the truck looked like a laboratory and was filled with long rows of blinking diodes and pale green monitors. On one side of the truck were horizontal cots, stacked above one another like shelves. Chan and Jeongin were already strapped down on the bottom two cots.

On the opposite side of the truck was a white, rubber-coated bench with rubber shackles every three or four feet.

Changbin and Felix were both strapped to the bench, their arms fastened above their heads, with belts across their waists, thighs, and calves. Felix was crying, and he could see that Changbin was bleeding from his nose and forehead. He hadn't gone without a fight.

On both sides, near the center of the truck, were narrow, lockerlike cabinets. Behind those was a console with digital readouts and rows of switches and more flashing lights. A guard was seated at the console, watching as they were brought in. Waiting for them.

One of the guards pulled a cot out like a drawer, and he was laid on it, then strapped down at his ankles, waist, chest, and arms. Last, a wire was fastened around his neck, holding him and making it difficult to breathe.

"C is connected," a guard shouted to the man near the console.

Through his peripheral vision he saw the man push a lever and he immediately felt a tingling in his neck followed by stinging pain throughout his body. He felt nauseous, as if he might throw up, but fought the urge.

"C is active," the man in back said. The guard pushed his cot toward the wall, into its slot. The empty cot above him was only six inches from his nose.

"What's this?" a guard said, holding up the cell phone.

"I got it off him," the other said. "It's dead. Take it back to the lab."

They stowed the phone in one of the cabinets. His mind was still racing, trying to figure everything out. Breathing was a challenge. Escape was impossible. Almost everything in the back of the truck was coated in plastic or rubber, which he figured was so they couldn't short things out.

Wooyoung and Seungmin were secured next to Felix and Changbin on the long bench across from him, their hands strapped over their heads. Minho was brought in next and bound to the cot above him. He could hear his whimpers as they tied him down. The sound of his in pain hurt as much as the machine he was connected to.

"B is connected," the guard said.

Minho groaned.

"B is active," the man in back said.

"What about them?" one of the guards said, walking up with Hyunjin and Jungwon. "They're electric."

"They're harmless," the voice said. "Put them on the bench."