A Whole New World

The Man In The Woods

Joey felt the rumble of the engine and every bump in the road, as the truck cruised down the street. He heard the men laugh and crack jokes, some of which were at his expense.

His face and body was sore. His left eye was discolored and inflamed, turning a light shade of blue. His stomach, chest, arms, and groin hurt the most, having been beaten, kicked, and punched. It felt like someone was bouncing a basketball around inside his head nonstop. He attempted to move his hands, but they were tied behind his back. The rope that bound his hands was also tied to a hook that was crudely hammered into the side of the truck by the men. He figured this was not the first time they kidnapped someone.

As he woke, his left eye only opened halfway due to the swelling. The large, well built man and the man who held the rifle sat in the bed of the truck with Joey. They both laughed as they reminisced about that one time they robbed a group at gunpoint for their food. Tommy steered the truck along the road, with the fourth member of the group beside him. Tommy glanced at his rearview mirror and saw that Joey had woken up.

"Would you look at that, boys," he said with a grin. "Sleeping beauty's awake!" The men erupted into laughter at Tommy's attempt at a joke, almost as if they were required to.

"Please..." Joey groaned, finding the energy to speak. "Let me go. Please."

"Oh, you wanna be let go?" Tommy looked around at the other men, as if to get them in on the joke. "Then why didn't you just ask? Of course we'll let you go!" The other men only partially laughed, unsure when the punchline of the joke was. "That is," he continued, "if you tell us where our stuff is."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Joey asked, anger building within him. "I don't know where your shit is and I never will!" Joey yelled, his frustration getting the better of him.

"Oh, well I guess we don't know how to untie you," Tommy calmly said, shrugging his shoulders and smirking.

"You know I'm not the thief, don't you, Terrance?" Joey spoke up, staring at the back of Tommy's head.

The three men of the group looked at each other, confused. At the reference of his real name, Tommy grimaced. His playful mood was nowhere to be seen. He stared off into the distance, away from the road.

"You know what I hated the most, Joseph?" Tommy asked, knowingly using Joey's full first name. Joey burned with anger. Only three people ever called him by his full name, and one of them was already dead and buried. "I thought no one could possibly like me," he said, not speaking to anyone in particular. "That's why I put up with Zeke's shit. He always pushed me. Always. That piece of shit pushed me around like the punk I was. I was a weak little shit who couldn't fight for his life. And then there was you," Tommy looked up at the rearview mirror and glared at Joey. "You just stood there and let it happen. Like there was nothin' you could do about it. You laughed with him. You joked with him. All at my expense!"

Joey thought back on the good memories he had with Zeke and remembered how Tommy was usually the butt of every joke. Just about every time he laughed with Zeke, it was directed at Tommy. He never stopped to consider how Tommy felt about the jokes made about him. Any anger in Joey was promptly replaced with guilt.

"I didn't know," Joey said, remorse in his voice. "I'm sorry, Terrance."

"No. You're not sorry, but you're gonna be. Just you wait!"

"Boss, the road!" the man sitting next to Tommy shouted.

An undead man had wandered into the road and was in the path of the truck. Tommy recklessly swerved away from the man in the road. He tried to correct himself, but instead veered the truck off the road and into a tree.