by Amy Cross
“Stop doing that!” Elly tried to shout, only managing a murmur thanks to the ball that remained lodged in her mouth. “Will you just calm down? You're going to -”
Before she could finish, the entire trunk seemed to swing around them both in the darkness. The car was racing at full speed around a corner, with enough force that Elly was thrown against the back wall while the girl was shoved straight into her. A fraction of a second later the trunk swung the other way, and now it was Elly who was sent tumbling through the darkness until she slammed into the little girl. She tried to apologize, but the trunk shifted again and Elly's head banged into the low roof as the car bounced over a bump in the road. Thudding back down, Elly felt momentarily dazed, and for a few seconds she was no longer even sure which way was up and which was down.
Before she could even begin to recover her bearings, she heard a loud roaring sound rise up above the sound of the car's engine, almost as if another car was -
Suddenly something slammed hard into the outside of the trunk. The entire car seemed to swing around, banging Elly's head in the process, and she heard tires squealing as the car then swung the other way and the little girl screamed. It was as if Annie was struggling to keep the vehicle on the road, and a moment later there was another impact. Struggling to keep from getting knocked out, Elly felt the little girl's knees bump against her face, and then another impact sent the car swinging around once more. This time, the swing seemed more violent, as if the car was turning in a full circle, and this was followed by a frantic bumping sensation that sent Elly and the girl rattling around in the trunk.
The car's engine roared and revved, and Elly felt herself twisting around for a few seconds until there was a loud, heavy slamming sensation followed by a prolonged series of heavy bumps, almost as if the car had begun to tumble upside-down off the road. Unable to fight back, Elly could only close her eyes in the darkness and pray for a quick death without fire, and finally the vehicle seemed to come to a rest with the engine still revving loudly and the little girl still screaming.
Too terrified to move, Elly remained frozen in the darkness as the engine's noise became louder and louder. The girl was still crying out and scrabbling desperately around in the trunk, but Elly was too busy trying to make sense of the all the bangs and noises she'd experienced over the past couple of minutes. Deep down, she was worried that fire would break out, and that she and the child would be roasted to death.
Suddenly she heard the clicking of the trunk's lock.
A moment later the trunk opened, but this time Elly found that she was somehow upside-down. Before she could even react, she and the little girl tumbled out from the rear of the upturned car and Elly slammed hard into the rocky ground, followed after a fraction of a second by the little girl landing straight on top of her head.
The strap on the back of Elly's head snapped. The ball fell out of her mouth and rolled across the ground until it bumped against a black shoe.
Screaming something in a foreign language, the little girl was hauled up from the ground.
Elly turned and saw the girl's bruised, scratched legs, and then she looked up to see that a tall, large man was silhouetted against the sun while holding the girl's arm.
“I am seriously, seriously not impressed by this bullshit!” the man sneered.
The girl struggled for a moment longer, before suddenly the man slapped her hard on the side of the face, silencing her and causing her to fall still.
“What are you doing?” Elly gasped breathlessly, as she felt the pain of several cracked ribs in her left side. “Where's -”
Before she could finish, the man kicked her hard in the chest, just below her collarbone. Momentarily winded, she pulled back and struggled to get some air into her lungs, and then she heard the sound of footsteps scrabbling against the rocks just a short distance away. Trying to blink some dust out of her eyes, she looked out across a vast desert wilderness populated by a few scrawny-looking bushes. She was, she realized, in the middle of nowhere.
“Get up!” the man said firmly. “Now!”
Elly winced as she tried to move, and as the pain in her ribs rippled up to her shoulders.
“I said, get up!”
Suddenly a hand grabbed the back of her collar, and she was powerless to stop the man hauling her up off the ground. At the same time, the pain burst through her ribs like a razor-blade, and she cried out as she slumped back. Barely managing to support herself against the side of the car, she clutched her injured side and felt her knees beginning to buckle. The pain was throbbing, like no pain she'd ever felt before, and she could barely get her thoughts straight.
Nearby, the little girl was still screaming in some other language.
“What the fuck is going on here?” the man said, grabbing Elly's arm and holding her up just as she was about to slither back down to the ground. “What were you doing in the trunk of this thing?”
“I...”
Elly tried to speak, but she could taste blood in the back of her mouth.
Staring up at the man, she finally saw his face properly. Sunburned and scarred, he stared back down at her with wild, dark-ringed eyes. His clothes were old and tattered, although his jacket was covered in several patches and badges, some of which looked much newer than others. Squinting slightly as her vision threatened to blur, Elly was able to focus on one of the patches, and she saw what looked like the symbol of some old military unit. Then her eyes slid shut and she felt herself starting to lose consciousness, and it took all her strength to force her eyes back open and stay on her feet.
“I asked you a question,” the man said, leaning closer to Elly while still holding the struggling little girl with his left hand. “Who the fuck are you, and what were you doing in there with this little runt?”
“I...”
Before she could finish, Elly heard footsteps nearby. She turned just in time to see Annie limping into view, although any hopes of a swift rescue were dashed as Annie stumbled and dropped to her knees. Clearly injured from the car wreck, Annie winced and clutched her belly, as blood ran down from a wound in her shoulder.
“And there's the bitch behind it all,” the man muttered, reaching under his jacket and then pulling out a gun, which he proceeded to aim straight at Annie. “I saw you, you know,” he continued. “Did you seriously think I hadn't noticed you watching the hotel?” He chuckled. “I don't know whether to be impressed that you got this far, or whether to pity you for actually thinking you were being subtle. You're persistent, though, I'll give you that. I looked away for one second, and you nabbed the little runt.”
Annie mumbled something, but the words were garbled.
“So you're from one of the cults, I assume,” the man continued, still aiming the gun at Annie. “I thought I made it clear that there'd be consequences if any of you fuckers tried to double-cross me. Was my asking price really that high? A million isn't so much for this little kid, not if she's really what she seems to be. I've been totally fair and totally open, I even gave you guys time to fight amongst yourselves, but you still had to try to play dirty, huh? Is there no honor left in this business?”
Annie began to stand, but at the last moment her legs buckled and she slumped back down.
“Fucking hell,” the man said with a sigh, before turning and aiming the gun straight at Elly's face. “Right, now -”
“No!” Elly screamed, falling down and slamming hard against the rocky ground.
The man kept the gun aimed at the spot between her eyes.
“So the pair of you tried to screw me out of what's rightfully mine, did you?” he asked with a faint smile. “I don't care who tells me the truth, but one of you's sure going to spill the beans in the next ten seconds or I pull this trigger. And if you know anything at all about my reputation, you'll know that I'm not bluffing. I never bluff.”
Elly raised her hands in a futile attempt to protect herself.
Nearby, the little girl was still sobbing as she tried despe
rately to pull free from the man's grip.
“Ten!” the man said firmly.
“I don't know anything about this!” Elly whimpered, trembling with fear. “Please, don't hurt me!”
“Nine.”
“Tell him, Annie!” she yelled.
“Eight.”
“I was in the trunk! You saw it with your own two eyes, I was being held prisoner!”
“Seven.”
“Annie, help me!” Turning, Elly saw that Annie was still slumped on the ground with her hair covering her face.
“Six.”
“Annie, you have to tell this man the truth or he's going to kill us both!”
“Five.”
“Annie, what's wrong with you?”
“Four.”
“Please!” Elly looked back up at the man.
“Three.”
“Please, please, please...”
“Two.”
“I don't know anything!”
“One.”
“ANNIE!”
Chapter Seven
The man's finger twitched on the trigger, but already his eyes were opening wider as an expression of disbelief began to spread across his face. Finally, with the gun shaking in his hand, the man let out a faint gasp and toppled backward, slamming down onto his back with such force that the gun fired as it fell from his hand.
The bullet hit the back of the car, ricocheting off harmlessly and slamming into the ground.
“No!” Elly gasped, ducking to one side and landing face-down in the dirt.
Covering her face, Elly waited for the end. It took several seconds for her to slowly look up, and to see that the man was still flat on his back.
Annie, meanwhile, was slowly sitting up, and the little girl was staring with stunned horror at the scene.
“What... What happened?” Elly stammered, before suddenly spotting the gun. Lunging across the dirt, she grabbed the handle and pulled the weapon away, in case the man woke. “He was going to shoot me! He was actually going to kill me!” She paused, before peering a little more closely at the man and seeing that his eyes were still open. “Is he dead?”
Annie winced as she got to her feet, and then she began brushing herself down.
Suddenly the little girl turned and began to run away.
“Stop her!” Annie barked.
Elly froze.
“Damn it!” Annie muttered, before rushing off after the girl. Quickly reaching her, she grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back, although the girl struggled for a moment until Annie managed to get her hands placed firmly on her shoulders. “Will you stay still, kid? We're here to help you!”
“What happened to the guy with the gun?” Elly asked. “Why did he just... fall over?”
The girl tried again to pull away, but Annie grabbed her wrist and held her in place.
“We're not like that other guy, okay?” she continued. “Wait, do you even speak English? Do you understand a word I'm saying to you?”
The girl spat something back at her in a foreign language.
“European,” Annie muttered, lost in thought as she held the girl's wrist tighter. “German, maybe. Something like that.” She paused, before turning to the still-trembling Elly and then looking past her, toward the wrecked and upside-down car. “So,” she continued, “is there any chance that thing will still run?”
***
“Be careful,” Annie said several hours later, as they reached the parking lot of an old, derelict-looking gas station at the side of the road. “They have spies everywhere.”
“I need water,” Elly said, stumbling past her and heading toward the door. “They have to have water.”
“Watch for trip-wires,” Annie continued, reaching out and putting a hand on the little girl's shoulder, to keep her from following. “Traps could be anywhere. If you speak to anyone, don't -”
“Why couldn't you just have hot-wired that guy's car back there?” Elly shouted, finally snapping as she turned – exhausted – and glared at Annie. “Would that really have been impossible?”
“I tried for half an hour,” Annie replied. “You tried too. It wasn't going to happen.”
“We're out in the middle of nowhere,” Elly continued, “and this gas station doesn't even look like it's running. It looks like it's been abandoned. There's clearly not been anyone here for years!”
“That's just what they'd want us to think,” Annie said, “right before they ambushed us. You've got to think like them, you have to get inside their minds and figure out how they think.”
“You're insane,” Elly replied. “You know that, right? You're paranoid and you're out of your goddamn mind. And in case you hadn't noticed, you also seem to be complicit in the kidnapping of a child. You could end up in jail!”
With that, she turned and headed toward the gas station's door. When she tried the handle, she found that the door was locked, and she let out a sigh of frustration as she made her way around the side of the building in search of some other means of entry. She was furious and tired and scared, but sheer thirst had seized control of her thoughts and at that moment she only cared about finding water.
Annie and the girl, meanwhile, remained out on the forecourt, standing in the blazing, bleaching sun.
***
“Damn it!” Elly hissed as she used her shoe to knock out the remainder of the glass in the bathroom window. “This place is filthy!”
Once she was sure it was safe, she climbed up and eased her way into the gloomy, unlit room. Struggling to keep from falling, she managed nonetheless to hop down onto the tiled floor, at which point she found herself standing next to a couple of old, discolored urinals. A fusty smell hung in the air, and she couldn't help but wince as she saw black stains all around the sink. It was hard to tell how long the place had been abandoned, but she was pretty sure that – even back in its heyday – this hadn't been the cleanest bathroom in the world.
Reaching out, she tried to turn the faucet on, but no water emerged.
“Gross,” she muttered, limping to the door and then making her way out into the main part of the station. Spotting a light switch, she gave it a flick, but of course the lights above remained defiantly off.
Spotting Annie and the girl outside, she hesitated for a moment before realizing that she couldn't exactly leave them out there in the scorching sun, so she limped along the empty aisles and then fumbled for a moment before figuring out how to open the door.
“There's no power,” Elly explained, stepping aside to let them into the shaded interior. “No water, either.”
“What about traps?” Annie asked. “Have you -”
“No, I haven't seen any traps,” Elly said with a sigh, annoyed by Annie's constant paranoia. “What are we going to do out here? You trashed my cellphone, remember? We have no food, no water, and no way of calling for help.”
As Annie and the girl stepped inside, Elly looked out the window and saw the barren road. She half-expected to spot a vulture staring back; instead, she simply saw a dry and desolate scene, with no hint of life anywhere.
“I get the feeling people don't pass along here very often,” she added. “Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire.”
“There'll be something here we can use,” Annie said, wandering toward the counter. “There's always something. You just have to know where to look.”
“And where are we supposed to look now?” Elly spat back at her.
“I don't know.”
“Then how does any of this help?”
“I need time,” Annie explained. “I need to figure things out.”
“Whatever,” Elly muttered, turning away. “You're insane.”
The little girl stopped next to some empty shelves and then turned, looking toward the door as if she planned to bolt at any moment.
“It's okay,” Elly told her with a faint smile. “I'll look after you.”
She waited, but the girl simply stared back at her.
“Are
you scared?” Elly asked.
She waited.
No answer.
“It's okay to be scared,” Elly continued. “I'm scared too, but it'll be alright. We'll be out of here soon.”
Again she waited, but again the girl didn't answer. Elly opened her mouth to offer some more reassurance, but at the last moment she realized that everything she'd said so far had sounded terribly fake. The girl was young, definitely no more than ten years old, but she most likely wasn't stupid. She probably knew that the situation was dire.
Figuring that she had to keep the girl close, Elly shut the door and turned the lock, and then she went over to see what Annie was doing behind the counter. Leaning across, she saw Annie crouched down on the floor, searching through various drawers.
“Found anything?” Elly asked.
“There'll be something we can use.”
“You don't know that.”
“We'll be fine.” Annie paused, before getting to her feet. “From what that guy said back there, it's clear that the cults are all very keen on getting hold of the little girl.”
“What happened to the guy, anyway?” Elly asked. “It was like he just keeled over and died, right before he was about to shoot me.”
“I guess it's our lucky day.”
“Something must have killed him.”
“Of course.” Annie shrugged. “Any ideas?”
“Are you suggesting that he just conveniently had a stroke, or something like that?”
Annie shrugged again.
“You're being way too flippant about this,” Elly pointed out. “Even by your usual standards.”
“I'm not being flippant. I'm just stating the obvious. Maybe God stepped in to keep us alive.”
“You don't seriously believe that, Annie. Do you?”
“Isn't there something else you should be keeping an eye on right now?”
Elly was about to open her mouth to point out the absurdity of the situation, when suddenly she heard a frantic rattling sound over her shoulder. Turning, she saw that the little girl was desperately trying to unlock the door.
