The Taking

by Becky Johnson

  “I don’t know. I don’t. This is awful, but right now we have to keep moving.” Matt turned in the driver’s seat to look behind them. “We have bigger problems.” Sarah heard the urgency in his voice. Her head came up and swiveled to the rear.

  Two Takers stood down the road behind them.

  “Hold on.”

  Facing forward, hands clenching the steering wheel, Matt hit the gas and the truck shot forward.

  10:59 p.m.

  Henry could feel the truck rocking side to side as they peeled away from the Takers, as they roared away from the place where Ruth was Taken.

  Ruth.

  Henry didn’t know what to think or feel. He’d been a little uncomfortable with Ruth. He hadn’t ever really been around an old person before. He didn’t know how to talk to her or what to expect, but now she was gone, and he didn’t know how to feel about that. He felt horrified and sad, and vaguely guilty. Because while he was sad Ruth was gone, he was also happy that Sarah was at his side, holding him tight. He didn’t know what he was supposed to feel. All he knew was that he wanted this night to be over.

  The squeal of brakes and a jerk forward prompted Henry to raise his head, only to see a line of Takers in front of them.

  11:01 p.m.

  Matt jerked the wheel to the left and hit the gas to shoot away from the Takers.

  They barreled down Third Street toward North Avenue. Another line of Takers appeared. Matt made a hard right, gas pedal to the floor, racing fast through town. The truck fishtailed, and he fought for control as they barreled down the street.

  “Do you get the same feeling I do?”

  Matt gave a little snort. “That they’re herding us? Yeah, I get that feeling.”

  They came upon another intersection. A row of black-robed Takers forced them to turn east toward the hills at the edge of town.

  “Maybe we’re lucky, and they are sending us away from Heritage.” Despite the hopeful words, Sarah tone was anything by optimistic.

  “Shit.” Matt hit the brakes. “We’re blocked.” A line of Takers closed off the road. Matt swiveled in his seat before throwing the truck in reverse and shooting backward while yanking the wheel to the left. The truck shot forward before stopping with the squeal of brakes.

  “That way!” Henry shouted and pointed at a break in the wall of Takers. Matt shoved the truck into first, and they shot forward for the small gap between black-robed figures. The truck closed in on the gap fifteen feet away, ten feet away. This was their last chance. Matt’s foot pressed down harder on the gas pedal. “Come on, come on!”

  Five feet away. They were going to make it. The truck slammed into an invisible barrier throwing them forward. There was nowhere else the truck could go.

  Matt shook his head trying to shake off the feeling of disorientation from stopping so suddenly. He looked up to see a line of Takers in front of the dented hood of his truck. He heard Sarah asking Henry if he was okay, but he was too busy realizing they were trapped to pay attention to the conversation in the truck. They were surrounded.

  “Come on, get out.” Matt's voice got their attention, and Matt and Sarah exited the cab at the same time, feet hitting the ground almost in unison. Matt grabbed the backpacks off the floor. His and Sarah’s. He threw them both over one shoulder and then grabbed the lighter on the seat and looked over to see Sarah pull Henry toward her and practically lift him from the truck. Poor kid. They were all exhausted, but if this night was a lot for him, it had to be utterly overwhelming to Henry. Matt met Sarah’s eyes over the truck and then circled the vehicle to toss Sarah her backpack.

  He shot a glance at the Takers on three sides of them. The only way to go was up the hill. With Henry held tight in between them, they started up the hill at a run.

  Checkmate

  11:07 p.m.

  Paul didn’t take his eyes from the Mayor so the instant the Mayor responded to something he saw in front of him Paul knew. He could tell by tensing of the Mayor’s body and an air of anticipation that filled the clearing where they stood. Whatever the Mayor’s endgame was, this was the final act. They were at checkmate, and Paul had no idea what moves he had available besides sitting in a chair and waiting to die.

  “Just a few more minutes now, Paul.” The Mayor gave him a critical look. “I think you should be on your feet for this next part.”

  The Mayor pulled a gun from his waistband and placed it against Paul’s forehead. “No sudden moves now, you hear.” A switchblade from his back pocket made quick work of the rope holding Paul to the chair.

  “On your feet, now.”

  Paul pushed up. His knees were a little tight and weak from being in one position for so long. He had more freedom now, but a pistol pointed at his head continued to limit his options.

  “Over here now,” The Mayor used the gun to wave Paul over to stand in front of him. “I want you to see this.”

  Paul moved slowly. His body sore, and his foot asleep. He shuffle walked his way over to where the Mayor indicated. Here he could see down the hill. Here he could see the three making their way up to where Paul and the Mayor stood.

  11:07 p.m.

  Henry couldn’t think. His mind was on a loop. Ruth, the Takers, Sarah, and Matt. It kept going on and on. He was exhausted. He was more than exhausted. Sarah’s hand on his arm was the only thing keeping him moving.

  They moved at a walk-run up the hill until Matt slid to a stop. Sarah and Henry stumbled to a halt next to him.

  “What’s happening?” Sarah’s question was breathless, but as soon as she asked it, she saw for herself. They were running from the Takers, but they were also running toward two figures.

  The quiet murmurs of Sarah and Matt finally caught up with Henry, and he started to pay attention to the world around him. He gazed up at the two figures at the top of the hill. There was something sort of familiar about the one figure. Next to him, he heard Sarah ask, “Is that the Mayor?”

  Matt responded. “Yes, but who is with him?”

  Henry recognized the green track jacket on the second figure. He saw it every day hanging on the hooks in the hallway. “Uncle Paul.”

  Henry started to jolt forward when Sarah grabbed him around the middle and held him back.

  “That’s my Uncle Paul.”

  “Okay, okay, but wait a sec. We can’t just run up there.”

  “We can’t just wait here either.” Matt pointed down the hill at the Takers cutting off their escape and moving up toward them. The only way to go was up.

  11:09 p.m.

  Sarah held tight to Henry as they started up the hill. She didn’t see a way out of this. More than anything else she wanted to keep Henry safe, but she wasn’t sure how to do that when they were surrounded by evil.

  When they got to the top of the hill, they were faced with the Mayor holding a gun to a restrained Paul’s head.

  “Hello all,” The Mayor cheerfully called when they reached the top. “I’m so glad you could join us.”

  “Uncle Paul.” Henry choked out.

  “Oh, how unfair of me. I should let you say your goodbyes.” He reached over and ripped the duct tape off Paul’s mouth. “I can give you a few minutes, but it will have to brief. I’m afraid I need to get this moving. They won’t wait forever, and I need to be fresh when I talk to the town tomorrow.”

  11:15 p.m.

  Matt’s mind was racing. Everything they had learned this night was spinning through his head. The Taker’s obeying someone. The Mayor, the apparent culprit, and this showdown that seemed to be the culmination of the whole night. The motivation may be circling the edges of his mind, but the need to do something to stop this was first and foremost. What could he do? How could he stop this?

  Right now, the Mayor’s almost gleeful focus was on Paul and Henry. Matt had seconds to figure something out. Seconds to come up with a way out of here.

  He shifted his weight at the thought and felt his backpack move. His bag. The gun.

  11:15 p.m.
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br />   Paul looked at Henry in front of him. His slight shoulders weighed down by the bag on his back. His big eyes practically swallowed his face. Paul felt like a failure in more ways than one, but never more than now. Never more than when faced with this most personal failure. His inability to care for the only family he had left.

  “Henry.”

  “Uncle Paul.” Tears put a glaze on Henry’s eyes and thickened his voice.

  “I’m so sorry, Henry, I’m so sorry.”

  “No, no.”

  “I failed you. I wasn’t a good enough uncle to you. I didn’t care for you the way I should have. It’s not that I don’t love you. I do, I love you so much. You are the only thing I have left. You’re such a good kid. I just. I don’t know how to be a parent. You needed so much more than me and when I couldn’t give what you needed I withdrew. I’m so sorry.”

  “This is sweet. We all should be more honest with each other about how we feel.” The Mayor’s voice was downright gleeful.

  “Listen to me now, okay? Listen to me. I want you to close your eyes.” Henry shook his head no. “It’s okay, Henry. Shut your eyes.” After a long pause, Henry shut his eyes. “Now cover your ears. You don’t need to hear this.”

  Henry shook his head but lifted trembling fingers to cover his ears.

  Paul looked at the Mayor. “Enough, let’s just get this over with. You want a sacrifice. You’ve got one. Me. Let them go.”

  The Mayor scanned them all with a quick glance.

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that. There can’t be anyone else to go to Heritage and tell people what they saw here tonight. There can’t be anyone that doesn’t believe in how I keep Heritage safe.”

  “You’re a monster.” Sarah’s voice wavered before strengthening. “You would kill to keep people believing you? Why? How?”

  “Little girl, this is my legacy. My family’s legacy. We keep Heritage what it is.”

  “You keep Heritage under your control.”

  “Do you see this?” The Mayor asked while pulling the collar of his shirt down and to the side. A small symbol was tattooed on his collarbone. “I was given this by my father when I was twelve. He showed me the Takers and taught me how to communicate with them.” The Mayor shook his head. “You have no idea what I have sacrificed for this town.” Something dark shifted through the Mayor’s eyes as he spoke to Sarah.

  While the Mayor talked, Matt moved the backpack to his side. All he had to do was pull it around and open the zipper, and the gun would be in his hand. The Mayor was too busy screaming at Sarah to pay any attention to Matt. He moved the bag a little further.

  11:17 p.m.

  Henry kept his hands over his ears, but his eyes were open a slit and scanning the ground beneath his feet. He couldn’t say goodbye to another family member. He just couldn’t.

  His eyes swept left to right before tripping over a rock by his left shoe about the size of a tennis ball.

  They narrowed in on that rock. All he had to do was get that rock, and it would give him something. Some weapon.

  “Enough!” The Mayor’s voice cracked through the silence. “I don’t have time for this anymore. I need to end this.”

  The Mayor crooked two fingers in the air and the Takers started to move up the hill.

  Matt had to move now. He swung his backpack around and jerked it open, but before he could pull the gun out the Mayor swung around to point his weapon at Matt.

  “Uh, Uh, Uh, no, I don’t think so, young man. Put that back down on the ground and get your hands up.”

  Matt started to lower the bag with the gun still in it when Henry bent down and let loose with a small rock, a hard pitch that sent the rock sphere straight into the Mayor’s temple.

  The rock knocked him off balance, but not down. It was enough though. Enough for Matt to draw the gun and point it at the Mayor.

  11:18 p.m.

  “Stop.” Matt hated that he could hear the waver in his voice. He had never pointed a gun at a human being before.

  The Mayor shook his head. He was on his feet, but he was also a little disoriented. Sarah tapped Matt’s arm.

  “Matt, look. The Takers, they stopped.”

  Matt looked at Sarah and then at the Takers behind him on the hill. “Matt, it’s him. He’s controlling the Takers.”

  “So, if we stop him, then we stop them.”

  “I think so, yes.”

  Matt turned back to the Mayor. “So, we just need to make him stop them, okay then.”

  “Hey, Mr. Mayor.”

  The Mayor still seemed a little stunned, but he was clearing. Matt could tell by the way he looked around and tightened his grip on the gun.

  “Mr. Mayor make them leave.”

  The Mayor’s eyes settled on Matt. “What are you going to do kid? Are you going to shoot me?”

  “Just get rid of them, and I won’t have to.”

  “Oh no. If you want to stop me, you are going to have to shoot me. And kid, I just don’t think you have it in you.”

  “Matt,” Sarah’s fingers tightened on his arm. “They’re moving again.”

  “Stop them!”

  “They’re going to take you all. You can’t stop them. You can’t stop me. You stupid fool.”

  “Matt.”

  “Stop them, now!”

  “Young man, you are in so deep you don’t even know it. Take …”

  The gunshot split the night.

  The Mayor fell, and with him, the Takers disappeared.

  The New World

  One Week Later

  Sarah, Matt, Henry, and Paul stood in a circle on the outskirts of town. Below them, Heritage continued as though the Taking had never occurred. In the hours following the Taking, they had tried to tell the town the truth. To show them that Heritage was built on a lie. A lie that the bad things can be controlled. A lie that righteousness comes from blind obedience. But all their words meant nothing. All their truth meant nothing to people who were determined to believe one thing and one thing only. People that were committed to believing a lie in order to think that they were right.

  It reminded Sarah of one of her favorite books, The Hiding Place. Citizens in Germany believed the lies of the Nazis. They let fear control them to the point that they ignored the reality around them, so much so that the ash of burning bodies fell on their towns and they just kept living their lives. Maybe Heritage was the same. These people so needed to believe the lies they lived with that they were ignoring the reality.

  Even Sarah’s father had cut her off. The minute she started to explain he interrupted. When she insisted, he told her to leave. The fact that she no longer believed in Heritage meant he wanted nothing to do with her.

  Some people seemed to believe, but then the Mayor’s lackeys came forward with tales of how the Mayor had sacrificed himself. They told the people that Heritage was safe because the Mayor had allowed himself to be Taken. And since his body was missing, it was their word against the four. Even now as they stood outside of Heritage, the town leaders were discussing their next steps. Sarah couldn’t believe it had come to this, but she was leaving, and she never planned to come back.

  “Are you headed back to Pittsburg?” The question was directed to Henry, but Paul answered.

  “We are. I’ve got an interview at a construction firm next week. We’ll get Henry back in his school, and I got an apartment all lined up.

  Sarah put her hand on Henry’s shoulder. “Hey, Kid. You’re pretty awesome; you know that, right?”

  Henry grinned and shrugged a little, embarrassed at the attention but loving it all the same.

  “Keep me updated on how you are, okay?” Henry nodded his head and then bolted forward to throw his arms around Sarah. He squeezed tight for a second and then backed away with his head down so no one could see the tears in his eyes.

  They said their final goodbyes, and Paul and Henry climbed into Paul’s station wagon and left Heritage. Sarah and Matt walked back and made plans to meet up the next
morning by seven. Since Sarah had no home, she spent the night at Ruth’s house. It was the only place for her.

  Matt picked her up in his pickup truck at seven sharp. She had a backpack and duffle while he had an old army bag.

  It took them almost an hour to get to the nearest town. On the way, they spoke of inconsequential things. Matt joining the army. Sarah going to college. She hadn’t been accepted anywhere yet, but she had applications to every college she could find that was at least eight hours away from Heritage.

  They sat together at the bus stop. Matt was taking his truck east for basic training while Sarah was taking the bus west. She figured Oregon was as good a place as any to start over. She didn’t have a definite plan, but that was okay. She was going to make it. She was strong enough to make it, even though she didn’t have a plan. Matt promised to visit her once basic training was over. When the bus arrived, they hugged for long moments while the other passengers boarded.

  “Matt, do you think … I mean, will they ever figure it out? Heritage?

  “I hope so; we did. That means they can.”

  Sarah nodded before pulling away and touching her fingers briefly to Matt’s face.

  “I’ll see you soon.”

  One last clench and they separated. Sarah found a window seat halfway back and settled in with her backpack on her lap.

  She wore a pink hat.

  ABOUT THIS BOOK

  The Taking is a story I’ve been working to get out of my head and onto paper for a long time. I had a draft done a few years ago, but I ended up rewriting this story after the events of the 2016 election. I saw how inflammatory information and fear were being used to control people. I’m not attempting to take a political stand in this book, but I am trying to show the damage that can occur when power, religion, and fear become tools used to control. We’ve seen this happen throughout history. I think the answer is to find peace in truth. In your truth. Don’t allow anyone to tell you who you are.