SAFE

by Dawn Husted

  When this was all over, I vowed to run more often.

  I laid down and looked up, breathing in the sweet, fresh, morning air. Clouds began to roll in, layering the sky, resembling different shades of cotton candy. The urge of really needing to go to the bathroom rose to the forefront of my thoughts. I hated having Lucan and James wait while I did my business in the woods. It was slightly embarrassing and I was glad I’d finally woken before them. I wanted to pee in peace.

  “Come on,” I whispered to the dog.

  She and I sauntered quietly through the dirt and leaves until we were well covered by shrubs, blocking me completely from the campsite. After, the dog followed me back to the site. Neither of the guys was snoring anymore, but they were still dead to the world. I stretched my muscles and carefully rolled my ankle around, getting the blood flowing more. The fire died completely during the night, but the ashes were still warm. I hovered my palms over the heat, reheating my cold fingertips.

  After another thirty minutes, the guys were still asleep and I was bored, anxious to get moving.

  “Hey you two, wake up,” I said.

  A few seconds passed and neither of them moved.

  “Hey,” I said a little louder.

  Nothing, no movement, not even a wiggle.

  I walked over and shoved James with my foot. “Hey, wake up!” I shouted.

  He didn’t budge.

  I quickly bent over and saw three tiny darts sticking out the front of his shoulder. I yanked them out and held them in my hand. A small amount of green juice remained in one of the shafts.

  “James!” I yelled, shaking him back and forth, causing him to fall over flat on his back. His hand hit the ground next to my foot. I placed my ear up to his mouth, and felt his breath brush against my cheek. For a second I thought he was dead but, fortunately, I was wrong. He was alive.

  I turned around and ran over to Lucan. He also had three darts sticking out of his upper leg. I yanked them out too. The dog growled behind me and that’s when I realized I wasn’t alone.

  I turned around just in time to see an individual, hooded and masked, standing with a triple-barrel gun pointed at me. Before I could move, he fired—shooting a single dart straight into my stomach. I pulled it free from my shirt, more green juice oozed out onto my palm, and I instantly blacked out.

  When I woke up, my muscles were weak and my eyes blurry, woozy from whatever I had been shot with. At first, the only image I saw was a jumbled mess of colors seeping into one another. After a few more minutes, my vision became clearer. I was sitting in the middle of a room with wooden, slatted walls. I couldn’t see anyone in the room in the direction I faced, nor could I find James or Lucan.

  As I became more alert, I tried moving my arms, but couldn’t. I was tied up. I wiggled my body and tugged on my wrists—but it was useless. My legs were strapped to the bottom of a chair and my arms were in excruciating pain from my wrists being tied so tightly. Rope tied securely around my waist as well.

  I twisted and squirmed, feeling the tight, sticky force around my wrists. It was not budging. I began rocking the chair from side to side, in hopes I could fall over and break free.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a voice said from behind me. Her. It was a woman. Her voice had an accent I had never heard before. Where I lived, everyone spoke the same and there had never been any newcomers. “You might very well break your arms if you fall too hard.”

  I looked down at my arms, and decided that not breaking a bone might be a good idea. “Who are you?” I asked.

  “Who I am doesn’t matter. What does matter is you can’t escape, so I wouldn’t try.” She stayed behind me and all I could hear was her breathing amidst of a couple clicking sounds.

  “Why am I here?” I asked.

  “You’re here because I want you to be,” she replied.

  “What did you do with my friends?”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” she said (click click breath click). “Your friends are fine for now. And I’m sure they’re wondering where you are.”

  Hearing that Lucan and James were alive made me feel better, but not much. There was something she wasn’t telling me.

  “Can I speak to them, please?” I asked.

  “Nope.” Her footsteps came closer and I felt her breath on my ear. She whispered, “Now this might hurt a little, so stay still.”

  A needle jabbed into my lower arm. “Don’t move,” she warned again.

  “What are you doing?” I asked as she pulled the needle from my arm.

  “There we go.” Within my peripheral vision, she tapped the glass vial filled with my blood.

  I shook my head with confusion. “Why do you need my blood?”

  “I took some blood from your friends as well—before you came back to the site after your morning break. I’ll be right back.” A door behind me closed.

  I began whipping my head left and right, managing to jumble the chair around for a better idea of where I was. But what I saw didn’t help much. The place looked like nothing I’d seen back inside the perimeter, so I didn’t think I was in there. The vial of blood she took, caused me to remember my pack and the vials I had hidden. I scanned the room, but didn’t see my pack anywhere.

  The walls had old memorabilia nailed to them. A ratty version of an American flag hung on the far right and in front of me was a yellow, faded calendar with the year 2022 on top. It was one hundred and four years out of date. A man in a pressed camouflaged uniform sat on the top picture over the month of OCTOBER. The words ARMY STRONG were written on the bottom as it dangled from a nail through the tiny pinhole. Underneath the calendar was a cardboard box with a hand-drawn black square and pictures of people dangling in the center. To the side of the box was a stick with silver tape wrapped around it and the words TV REMOTE written boldly down the middle. Below the American flag was a large computer screen, black and turned off.

  I wasn’t sure what to make of everything. Were Lucan and James in another room tied up? What was she planning to do with us and how did they not hear her coming?

  My wrists were completely numb now. I was no longer in pain so I hopped the chair around some more until I spotted a pen sitting on the desk near the computer screen. Inch by inch, I moved the chair. Five minutes passed and I barely managed to move a foot.

  Two things that didn’t mix—giving up and myself.

  After thirty minutes, I was only a few inches away from grabbing the pen. I kept wiggling and moving, shoving my body to the side. Closer now, but the edge of the table was higher than I judged. I leaned forward as much as I could and bent my arms behind me, my fingers finally tapping the pen. I shoved my hands back more. My fingers failed to work accurately due to a lack of blood supply.

  After two more attempts, I reached the pen, hugging it tight inside my fist.

  My chest looked like a balloon deflating. I clicked the top of the pen, flipped it around with my fingers, and pointed the sharp end towards the tape around my wrists.

  I heard a noise overhead and looked up. A door from the roof swung open and a person lowered inside. As feet thudded against the floor, the stranger took off a black mask. It was a woman with long, jet-black hair. She unzipped a green vest. Underneath it, she wore a tight black tee tucked into dark pants, complimenting her olive skin. Her face was flawless from any lines or wrinkles—and vines. I wondered if she had paint on her skin like the Lowers.

  “Now, how did you get all the way over here? Give me that.” Her voice matched the one prior. She snatched the pen away from my defenseless hands and dragged my chair, with me in it, back to my earlier location—away from the desk.

  I began crying, “Please, just let me go. If you’re scared of me saying anything about you being here, I won’t. I swear!”

  “Oh honey, I’m not worried about that. I’m supposed to be here. It’s you and your friends who should be worried. Not me.” A smug smile spread across her face.

  “Then why am I here?” My emotions turned
from fear to anger.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The woman walked around and bent down directly in front of my face. “You’re here because I want to have a little fun with the three of you—my ‘objectives’. I’ve been here for two hundred and eight-five days.” Her words were precise; she stood back up and pulled her hair perfectly out of her face into a rubber band. Her long, black ponytail was heavy and thick, pointing towards the ground. “You three are the first ones to ever try escaping. Forgive me, but if I’m going to spend the next four years alone completing this stupid contract, then I want to have a little fun before I kill you.”

  The word kill made me feel like an unsuspected animal caught by a sadistic psychopath, taunting and poking me for their amusement. I wasn’t sure what she was capable of or who she was, but one thing was for sure, she’d been alone way too long. Her head twitched a little as she looked silently at me.

  She walked back around; I could no longer see her and heard the door open and close. The quickness of it made me question if she had really left. Before long, I felt her presence again and she tossed some carrots onto a small table in front of me. The orange vegetables were freshly covered with brown dirt, large green spruces sticking out the top.

  “I need you to keep your strength up.” She walked over, grabbed a carrot, and then shoved the end into my mouth. I refused to bite down—for all I knew, they were filled with something toxic. The large end hung from out of my mouth as I gave her a death glare, refusing to follow her order.

  “You will eat, one way or another, but this way is much nicer, so I suggest you do as I say. Though the other way is fine with me too,” she grinned.

  I took a bite. Immediately.

  “That’s better,” she said.

  It went on like this for hours; her making sly remarks with the answer of what she planned to do with me hidden nonchalantly in her words. Anytime she came near, I flinched in response, not knowing whether she would feed me, talk to me, or examine my skin and hair—occasionally taking blood samples.

  I wasn’t sure who she thought I was or what I possessed that made her so interested in me. In between her insane chit chat, I’d hear the door open and close and then some more clicking sounds, which I assumed came from the giant screen on the desk behind me. I really wanted to see what she was looking at and never once did she talk about Lucan or James after mentioning them the first time. So either they were dead or securely tied up somewhere, keeping her from fussing about them.

  I tried asking her questions, but never received a clear answer. She told me eventually I’d understand the reasoning for her keeping me here. One time she used the term bait and I speculated why. I was obviously going to be someone’s dinner or game or something. Who knew?

  Finally, after a couple more hours, she did answer two important questions that I asked repeatedly.

  “Why are you here? Where are you from?”

  She walked around, plopped down on the floor in front of me, and then proceeded to talk while spreading gun parts across the ground, connecting the pieces to one another.

  “My family was originally from Connecticut, or at least what was left of it. Anyway, that doesn’t matter anymore—they’re dead. It’s a harsh world out there. Kill or be killed,” she laughed. “That’s what my mother said the night before she died.”

  “And you’re here because?” I asked again.

  “I’m here because I’m good at what I do. I was a sniper back home. I worked for the Government, but a private contract became available through various resources by an independent company. Once I complete four more years here on this pathetic island, I’ll receive my last monetary installment, which will set me up for life. I’ll never have to work again if I don’t want to.”

  “What Government?” I asked.

  “That’s just what I call it. I mean, yes, it is the government but really it is just a bunch of men with guns and too much power. After the world basically ended, so did a lot of things. The current government at the time shattered into many different branches, which were ran by newly formed governments, most unsanctioned, discontinuing their diplomatic comradeship with one another. I was born into my line of work by my father. He was a sniper and so was his father before that. One night he left on a mission, didn’t return, leaving me to fend for my brothers and sisters. Then my mom got sick, siblings grew up, and the branch of government I had been working for stopped being punctual with their payments. One day, I decided I was done. That’s when I came across the opportunity to live here. My job is to make sure nobody leaves from this side of the island. It is a kill-on-sight contract and if I fail, then I forfeit all the money.” She stopped in the middle of piecing together the gun and raised her face towards me. “And-I-will-not-do-that,” she said precisely.

  Everything she had just answered wasn’t a huge surprise with how I imagined the rest of the world being, except for their actually being people with forms of government.

  “Shh,” she said. “Do you feel that?”

  I held still but I felt nothing and heard nothing. I couldn’t hear anything down here. We were underground. It was one thing I figured out since the door had opened from the roof.

  She stood up and walked over, putting her hands along the wall, fingers spread out, grasping the sides as if she were feeling for something.

  “Am I the only one still alive? I mean, if that’s what your contract calls for.”

  “Shhh,” she said again.

  Then she ran passed me and I instantly heard clicking sounds again.

  “Where are they?” she spoke aloud.

  “Who?” I asked back.

  “Your friends, you idiot.”

  So they are alive? But where?

  I hobbled the chair back and forth, knowing she was still in the room, but not caring anymore since she was planning to kill me anyway. Plus, I was bait for something, alive for a reason, which meant pushing the envelope wouldn’t hurt. I heard more clicking in between the legs of my chair chattering against the floor. I struggled to move.

  In a monotone voice, she began speaking again, “I’ve been working every angle, but they’re literally gone. I thought they’d come back into view, but—”

  I had a good rhythm going with the chair, rocking side to side, and finally turned 180 degrees. The woman’s back hunched over while she tapped (the clicking sound) on the screen in front of her. And she hadn’t noticed I was in a position to see what she was doing. I hobbled over to the right a few inches more and stretched my neck, enabling me to glance directly above her shoulder. A dozen small squares connected, creating one large display on the screen, and each small video was a picture of trees, fields and…the grave—the massive grave we passed yesterday. That’s when I realized she had watched us the entire time. But if she didn’t know where they were, James and Lucan, then her cameras apparently didn’t cover every square inch of this side of the island.

  She leaned over and grabbed her green vest, zipping it up quickly, not once looking in my direction. She then opened the door and pulled herself quickly through the top. The door slapped shut behind her, for minutes I sat unmoving—scared frozen. What would she do to me if I made another move? What if her use for me has run out? What if she has me somewhere I can’t escape even if I do manage to get out the door?

  I shook my head, forcing myself back to the reality of my current situation and spotted the same pen from earlier on the desk. I took a deep breath and used my body, jiggling the chair closer, covering the short distance to the pen much faster this time. Adrenaline pumped, something was happening outside, and I didn’t know what that something was. I needed to hurry.

  I leaned my body forward and used my weak fingers to grab the pen. I turned the tip around, jabbed at the tape blindly, and finally felt the victory of a pierced hole. I jabbed again and again, until I finally stabbed it enough times, tearing my hands free.

  I rubbed my sticky wrists and looked up at the door, which was still closed. I didn’t
know how much longer I had. I began trying to untie the massive knot from behind my chair—that job was harder than the tape. No matter which way I pulled and tugged, I could not untie it. I looked around for a knife. Surely, Miss Crazy has a knife somewhere. I looked underneath the desk the best I could and around the edges of the floor. If there was a knife, I couldn’t find it.

  “Damn it!” I yelled.

  I tried untying the knot again and used the pen to stab at the fibers. I knew the chance of the pen actually doing anything was minimal, but I had to try something. Then I heard the door above slowly creak open. I braced myself for whatever punishment was coming my way and closed my eyes.

  “Penny!” Lucan jumped down next to me, “Sorry we didn’t rescue you sooner. We waited to make sure there wasn’t anyone else coming.”

  I smiled big, knowing I would be okay. “Lucan! Oh my… I really thought y’all were dead until she said... You’re okay? What about James?” I held my breath, hoping he was okay too.

  “Of course he’s fine—he’s out there handling the girl.”

  “She was planning on killing me and both of you. I’m not sure why she kidnapped me or didn’t kill us back there. Wait—” How did they know I was here in the first place? “Y’all were asleep. She shot you with some type of tranquilizer and—”

  “Ya, lucky for us, those things didn’t last long. James woke up first and then I did. We followed her trail here; we were only a few minutes behind you. A good thing too. She has this underground cave thing hidden well. It would’ve been hard to find you if we waited much longer.”