The Bus Ride

Chapter Three

After what seemed like forever the bus finally pulled into a large clearing in the woods. As I looked out the window I saw at least two dozen adults dressed all in black. I gulped. This did not look good. The bus was deathly silent. I think everyone was thinking the same thing as me.
"Celia, what do you think is going on?"
"I don't know Luke, but I have a pretty good guess." Just as I finished saying this the front door swung open and five men stepped in. They were both tall and well built, and I knew were stronger than ninety-nine percent of the kids on this bus. They stayed silent, and started to grab kids out of their seats and pushing them towards the front and out the door. I heard muffled cries and sounds of protest from varying kids. As they came closer to where Luke and I were sitting I kept a straight face. Don't get me wrong, I was absolutely terrified. But in my experience, as soon as you show any sign of weakness, people will immediately pounce on you, and I didn't want to be signaled out as the weak one. When the men got closer I was able to make out more details about them, such as the guns strapped to their hips and the armbands tied around their arms with a fox on it. This was bad news. They were clearly from the Sly Foxes, a gang which was huge in the town that I lived in. These people did not mess around, and were responsible for the majority of crime that happened in our town. If we were at their mercy, we were all in big trouble.

They finally reached our seat and since Luke was sitting on the outside they grabbed him first roughly, yanking him up by the arm and shoving him forward. He turned around and glared. I was next. I felt his rough hand wrap around my forearm and hauled me out of the seat. For one moment our eyes met and he gave me the creepiest grin in the world as he looked me up and down. Now, since I'm only fourteen, there wasn't much to see, but it still made me feel very uncomfortable. He pressed his gun into my back and forced me to walk down the bus aisle. None of them had said anything yet, which was almost worse than them talking. I walked down the steps of the bus careful not to trip and immediately joined Luke in the crowd of kids. It was deathly quiet outside besides a few sniffles here and there from some of the kids. Immediately after we had all gathered in a large crowd we were surrounded by the gun wielding people. I looked around for available escape plans but there was no possible plan of escape. We were trapped.

"Alright listen up you brats." I turned my head towards the speaker. It was the creepy dude who had checked me out earlier. As he started speaking more people dressed in black were coming around and tying our wrists together with rope.
"So, you've probably all guessed why you are here. If you haven't, you are an idiot and don't deserve to. Regardless of whether or not you understand there are a few basic rules you need to follow. One, be respectful. There will be no whining, no attitude, no resistance. You will do whatever we say, no matter what it is. Second, don't bother trying to escape. None of you know where you are right now and you are surrounded by adults wielding guns. We will not hesitate to shoot you. Now, any questions?" None of us say a word. He scans the crowd and his eyes land on me. Crap.
"You, the girl with the brown hair and green eyes. Come here." I am desperately looking around for another girl with the same features but there is only me. When I don't move immediately he signals to another person in black and they shove me forwards. Suddenly I am standing in front of the man who very clearly is in charge at the moment. He is just as creepy as he was on the bus.
"You are very pretty. Do you have a boyfriend?" I force myself to look up at him and don't answer him.
"Answer me!" He grabs my arm and violently shakes me.
"Leave her alone!" No Luke shut up please you fool. I silently will him to be quiet.
"Who said that? Get up here now!" I watch as Luke shoulders his way through the crowd.
"So, this is your boyfriend huh? I'm surprised."
"He's not my boyfriend. We are just really good friends." I mumble. I hate when people ask if we are a couple. It makes me want to punch them in the face. Thank God Luke is staying quiet through this whole exchange.
"Well, that is good news for me." The man says, openly leering at me. I hate myself for standing there and taking this. I hate myself for not standing up for myself. I will not look weak in front of all these people. I will not allow myself to be like this. So I force myself to look right into his eyes and stare.
"You know, you must be pretty desperate for a relationship if you are trying to hit on a fourteen year old." I see the shock in his eyes. Clearly he wasn't expecting me to reply. It is dead silent, almost like everyone is holding their breath, waiting to see what will happen. In an instant his face changes from shock to anger, and in one swift movement he back hands me across the face.

Pain explodes in my face and I fall to the ground. There is a collective gasp among the students assembled and I clutch my face in astonishment.
"You bas-" Luke starts to say and move forward before one of the gang members steps forward and restrain him.
"I have to thank you actually." The man says looking down at me while I give him my best glare back.
"You just taught everyone here what happens when you disrespect me." I'm about to reply when all of a sudden two of the people surrounding us start to run after a single student who is running into the surrounding woods. Everyone's attention is immediately redirected to the fleeing student and I take this opportunity to pick myself up (with difficulty as my hands are still tied) and blend into the crowd. I watch as the two chasers catch up to the escapee and tackled him to the ground. I wince. That looked like it hurt. We all watched in silence as they drag him back to the group and throw him at the feet of the leader.
"Well. This group certainly is troublesome. The other groups weren't nearly as irritating." Wait. Other groups? How many buses were hijacked like this? I wonder if Dallas and Nicole are here. I hope not.
"Well I will also have to thank you as well for the opportunity to teach another lesson to the group." He says addressing the boy on the ground in front of him.
"Now watch closely everyone. This is what happens when you try to run away."

Oh cliffhanger! What do you guys think is going to that poor escapee? It's getting good! Thanks guys for reading and remember to vote and comment.

Cat