Survival

Chapter 31

My mouth was dry. I refused to eat a thing. I couldn't bear to think of my friends. Joe was gone! Just like that. This must be a dream, but everytime I opened my eyes, pain surged through my body and I know it was true. Real. I prayed for Jamie to be safe. He got scared easily, I knew. But I hoped he found his way back. He was the one that showed us the cabin, so maybe he retraced his trace back. My mind drifted to Ibraheem. Where was he? I knew for sure they caught him, because Hanna said she only saw Joe and Jamie running. Also, he was the first one hit when they attacked us.

It was four days since we were kidnapped. We were still held in that 'place'. The last thing I had was water yesterday. The thirst had engulfed my throat, to the extent that I was seeing double. I had to take the water and quench my thirst. Hanna and I had been trying to find a way to run. We were locked in securely, with James outside. The door was only opened to throw in food. For two days, we hadn't seen 'that man' again. I didn't want to ever look at his devilish face again. Joe's blood had dried up, and the smell had gone but the memories still remained. I couldn't bear to look at the dried blood, so I positioned my back at it. Joe. My dear Joe. My friend. I couldn't believe he was gone. Just like that. Goofy Joe. He always tried to cheer us up, when we were down. Tears ran down my cheeks uncontrollably. He came to our school when we were in sixth grade. His parents had moved in to our town. He and his siblings were enrolled there. Being the eldest, his siblings relied on him a lot. We did too. When someone bullied us or tried to, he stepped in. No one wanted to fight with him. So they left us alone. He was very tall and big. Was.

That was what we did now. Hanna and I. Cry all day and night long. When we weren't, we were trying to escape. We discussed on the best way to run. James was the only one that entered, so it was much easier for us. We could overpower him, the both of us. He seemed to be about our age. The little devil. Anytime he entered, he left with a snarky comment. His smirk made me want to just choke him to death. I despised him. I hated him. I didn't know why, but his face reminded me of someone. Someone I knew. But I couldn't remember who. Hanna suggested that we overpower him and run. But what if his father was outside? During the last two days, we mastered the noises we heard. In the morning, there was more activity. The two of them were going about, in and out. In the afternoon, there was no noise. That was probably when 'the man' left. In the evenings, we heard his voice. In the night, it was usually quiet.

We could try to run in the night, when James brought food. Since it was dark, there was more possibility of us running away. But the problem was, 'the man' was home. And that was a serious threat to us.

Finally, we decided to escape in the afternoon. When James entered to give us our ration, one of us would distract him by trying to talk to him. Then the other would hit him as hard as possible. We run as fast as our legs could carry.

I was deep in thought of our plan, checking for any loopholes, when Hanna spoke. "Why?"

I turned to look at her. I was a bit dazed from staying indoors and lack of food. She spoke again."Why? Why is this happening? Why are they doing this?"

"Why do bad people do bad things? That's what you're asking? Because they love hurting others. They feel the sense of rush, the adrenaline pumping through their veins. That is the only way they get excited, happy - by hurting others. By seeing others tears fall because of them. Those duo you see, they are psychopaths. They feel nothing, Hanna. Absolutely nada. So all our begging won't do us no good. We have to fight this on our own. It's obvious they are planning something with us. Just like..." The tears rushed down my face uncontrollable. Its been days since I said that name. It's unbearable saying it again.

Hanna wiped her nose with her hand, "let's forget it, okay? We need to muster our energy into running."

"Okay," was all I could reply.

~~~~~

Days went by slowly. The same routine continued. Boredom and sadness filled us up. We decided to cool down the aggressiveness slowly. If we stopped being aggressive all of a sudden, they would know something was up. And we still needed to show our anger and resentment, so that they wouldn't think we had surrendered. We drank a lot of water but didn't eat.

The day finally arrived. Jamie had brought our food. As usual, he kept his thick piece of weapon - a long wood, on the ground, then kept the food and water. Just as he was about to leave, Hanna tried to engage in small talk with him.

"Hey. You never told us your name. Jamie right?"

He turned surprised, then smirked. "Huh. No bad words today I see? Yeah that's my name."

Hanna stood and moved closer to him slowly. "You've a nice name, you know. I bet no one has ever told you that."

Jamie smiled a bit, happy that Hanna had shown interest in him. "Let's see, big boy. Are you gonna help me with something?" She wrapped her arm around his neck. I crept up slowly, praying immensely he doesn't turn around. Ya Allah, help me. Make him not turn and catch me. Ya Allah. Help us. SubhanAllah. Taking the wood, I grabbed it with both hands and hit it hard on Jamie's head with all the strength I had left. He made a croaky sound before falling with a thud.

"Good job. Let's go. Quick." Hanna held my hand as we ran through the thick forest. We hadn't thought of which was to go, because we both didn't have a clue. We followed north and just ran. Running like there was no tomorrow. Beads of sweat running down our bodies. I became tired but still ran. A single second wasted could ruin everything. We stepped on shreds of thorns, and thick tree thorns pierced our bodies. But we refused to stop. This was about survival. And surviving meant running. After running for a while, we stopped. Panting hard and out of breath. Hanna held her stomach while I clung my arm hard. My wound was opening up again.

"Wha-wh-hmm. What do we do now?" Hanna asked.

I shook my head. I didn't have any idea either. We could shout in case we were near the camp, but if they were also near, we might be caught. Only option was to continue running. That we did.
The environment was totally different. There were fewer trees, and it was much colder. I felt a sudden shiver run through me. Part of me disliked that part of the forest immediately.

"This place is different. I don't think we are anywhere close to camp." I told Hanna.

"You're right. This is so much different." We walked farther into the forest, taking in our new surroundings. We were careful in stepping any object that might produce sound. The whole place was quiet, save sound of heavy breeze. "If anyone comes, we would definitely hear them. Don't you think?" Hanna whispered.

"I think so. This place is like super quiet. It gives me the creeps." As we walked further, we stopped abruptly. In front of us was a large circle, marked with a white colour. It had inscriptions all over the outer layer of the circle. In the middle, was something red. It looked similar to red paint but something told me it wasn't. As we got closer, a smell that had begun to fade assaulted our nose. Blood.

"Oh my God." Hanna whispered. I took her hand and
quickly turned back to leave, when I stopped. My legs were paralysed on the spot. I could feel Hanna whimpering behind me.

In front of us was the man.

                           ~~~~~

The book is coming to an end. *silently cries.* But not just yet. More revelations are up in the next chapter.