The Kidnapped

Not Alone

You don't have the slightest idea where you are but you do know that you need to get out of there. Surrounding you are common trees and bushes. You sigh in impatience. You continue walking in despair until you finally notice the light at the end of the tunnel! Or a road. Either way, that's your only way out. All you have to do is walk along the road in one direction until a vehicle notices you. Simple, right?

Wrong.

You approach the gravel road and realize it's not empty. There's a box truck parked randomly, you hear banging from the inside. It's almost frightening but you somehow convince yourself that there must be livestock inside, that's the only explanation, right?

Wrong again!

You hesitantly walk towards it, the banging stops. You stand at the back of the truck and place your right ear against the truck. It's quiet...BANG! Startled, you fall back and your heart races before your thoughts. "Oh my Lord!" You exclaim, still trembling from the reaction.

The banging stops again. "Hey! Who are you?" A female's voice says from the inside of the truck. "Help us!" She says.

"Uuum..hello?"

"Get us out of here! Or call the police," a male's voice pleads from inside.

You reach for your phone, you check all of your pockets and find nothing. You must have dropped it somewhere in the woods. "How can I open this door?" You ask the two inside the truck. There's a little lock on it which stops you from swinging the doors open. "I can't open it!" You say. It all came together, first you're in the woods, then you encounter the truck and people are trapped inside...that means they were...kidnapped?

Too late! You feel someone's hand pressing hard on your shoulder. Then you feel another hand on your mouth. There's no time to resist but you fight back. From kicking and yelling to biting and ridiculously jumping to get the person behind you off balance. It's no use, you twist your head slightly to see the person only to realize that there are two people behind you. Two strong  men with a serious yet mocking expression on their faces. It's almost frightening but you keep your cool.

One of the men opens the truck doors, the other guy keeps a tight grip on you as you feel your own breath escaping your lungs. As soon as the doors are just slightly open, the two people that were inside react fast. They jump out, pushing the doors to make them open faster. One of them, a girl with brown hair, gives the guy who opened the truck a good punch in the face as she jumps out. The young man starts running for his life, the girl joins him. You try to get their attention but it's clear that 'every man for himself' is the motto they're all going by.

The door guy runs fast after the escapees. The guy holding you tells you to get in the truck. You get a good chance to bite his thumb so you take it. The guy reacts by flinching his hand away. "Haha, idiot," you think but don't dare say. Now that he's a little distracted. You full out fight for your life. You duck as you spin around, punching and kicking. 

You have no idea where the other two kidnapped are but you know that the guy holding you is finally losing his grip. You try to push him to the ground but he is strong. So, instead, you successfully pull yourself away. "I DID IT!" You think, "I ESCAPED, I DID IT!" Right?

No! Why are you always wrong?

Anyway, you stop in your tracks because you are taken aback by the door guy. He was holding a gun and pointing it at the escapees who were walking back in front of him with grumpy faces. You check behind you and the man is back up on his feet. With a smirk, he wipes his chin with his fist and holds the door open for you. The three of you surrender. You get in the truck, making sure to glare at the man as long as you can without blinking. Once you're all inside, the men  shut the door and the lock goes back in place. The truck starts moving. You all sigh.

"I'm Kevin," the male escapee finally says to break the awkward silence. He has dark hair and is wearing a dark hoodie.

"And I'm Alexis, they got me first, then found Kevin," the female escapee says. She has her brown hair in a pony tail but it's still messy after all the running and fighting.

You introduce them to yourself. "So, you guys don't have a phone right?"

"We do not. They took them from us..." Kevin says. "Do you have a piece of paper or anything that could be of use?" He asks.

"No, but what could a piece of paper possibly do for us? You wanna draw?" You ask.

He laughs at you and says, "no, silly. If we had one, we could've wrote a SOS message on it and slipped it out."

You consider this. "Well, do we have a pencil?" Silence. "Do you know each other?" You ask.

"No," Alexis tells you, "I was just going for a hike like I do everyday, they just kidnapped me without saying a thing. Kevin was there, he saw what happened and tried to rescue me but they got him, too. Then, they drove all the way to wherever this is."

"There's nothing we can use to open the door?" You ask as you look at the door regardless of the.

"No," Kevin said, "believe me, we've tried everything!"

You were going to ask them whether or not they had tried kicking the door open to break the lock but then you remembered all the banging. You can't just kick open a truck's door. It isn't destined to help the kidnapped escape.

"We need to get them to open it again," Alexis says, "'Cause when you showed up we had a good chance, just not a good plan. So, now we need to do something to make them come and open the door...then what?"

"Then we run into the woods," Kevin suggests, "last time we ran on the road where they can easily catch us. But in the woods, we can hide, climb a tree, we can loose them!"

"What if we get lost?" You say, you didn't want to discourage them but you didn't want them to get carried away.

"We have no other choice!" Alexis reminds. "We can't just stay here. You know how strong these men are. I saw you, you were struggling. We need to be smart about this!" She was getting defensive so you nod and hope she cools down.

"If we scream and yell, do you think they'll come?" Kevin asks.

You all consider his idea but dismiss it and stay silent. You look at your new friends to see if anything of what they are wearing can come of use. Nothing.

"I think Alexis is right," you finally say, "But there's just no way out of here, we need to stay put until they stop and reach wherever."

"But we don't know where they're taking us," Kevin argued, "Maybe they will take us somewhere where we can't run and hide. It might be an abandoned place for all I know!"

"Well...at some point they have to stop to give us food or let us use a washroom, right?" Alexis mentions.

She is right. "So, all we have to do is ask for the bathroom..." you take a deep breath, bang on the walls of the truck, and repeatedly yell for a basic human right.

Kevin and Alexis watch you, amused but ready to launch out any second now. The driving continues regardless of your cries. The others join in and you all yell together, your voices in sink. Then, you feel a sudden stop, you can hear one of the men get out of the truck and smack his door. Everyone is holding their breath and clenching their fists.

"You really can't hold it in?" The man says, annoyed.

Swing, the doors start opening. Alexis, Kevin, and you are in a row, you all jump at the same time. The man yells for his partner in crime. He's not the one with the gun, after all. Then, it occurs to you; what if you're not fast enough? What if they actually shoot you? Would your new friends leave you behind. They are already in front of you, running. You frown. So, this is what betrayal feels like.

"Buddy, hurry up," Kevin says.

He and Alexis each take one of your hands, you get a wave of energy that pushes you forward. The relief is out of this world. You don't dare look back. You just want to keep running with these two.