NaNoWriMo Day 15

Word Count: 27,542

Candy



I only sleep for a few hours because I don’t want to leave Joseph alone for too long for fear of what he might screw up. I must admit, though, that he is adapting to this much better than I anticipated. It’s almost as he realized that all of his complaining was getting him nowhere and he decided to roll with whatever comes along as best he can from now on. I step out of the tent and stretch with a big yawn. Joseph seems lost in thought, gazing up at the stars which glow extra bright in the mountain air. I ask if he would like some coffee and he starts as if he didn’t notice me. He would like some coffee so I fish out the can I bought at the outpost and start heating some water over the fire. We sit together by the warm fire with our steaming cups and he asks if I think Molly is ok. I bite my lip, I don’t know whether to tell him what is most likely the case or to sugar coat things. I think he gets the picture based on my delay and sighs. He feels like he should go back and find her before he leaves. He gets points for the thoughtfulness but I tell him as nicely as I can that it would be foolish and more than likely futile. He stares at the ground and says he feels like it is his fault for letting something happen to her because he was laid up when it she disappeared. I try to comfort him but it is no use. We sip in silence for a while until the coffee is gone.

There hasn’t been any word from Thom yet, so I decide to teach Joseph some outdoorsy-type skills to take his mind off Molly. We actually have fun, he learns how to build a fire, construct a shelter, trap animals, spot edible plants, and lots of other useful things. Not bad for a day’s work. By the time dusk rolls around again, we are both plenty tuckered out. I fix us some dinner, Joseph actually makes the beans, and we are both ready for some sleep. We should be ok, no one ever comes around out here and I practically sleep with one eye open. If anyone headed this way I would here them before they got within five hundred yards. I ask Joseph if he’s ready to turn in and he sheepishly asks if it’s ok that he sleeps in the tent too. I laugh and tell him it was built for two people, it just may be a tad cozy. He blushes and we crawl into the tent and under the blankets. Joseph is out like a light, snoring of course. I do my best to block it out and before long, I am in slumber land as well.

My super senses aren’t required because a loud burst of gunfire wakes us both with a start in the early morning hours. I tell Joseph to stay put with a whisper and cautiously crawl out of the tent. I can hear voices over the ridge, they sound like soldiers. Shit, they probably sent out patrols all through the mountains to find us. I should have gotten us farther away. We seem to be still undiscovered, I’m not sure what they were shooting at. It does sound like they are getting closer though, they should be able to see the smoke from the smoldering fire at any minute. I scramble back to the tent and motion to Joseph that we need to bail immediately. He nods and follows me out. We grab what we can and slip over the far edge of the rock wall, then keep moving in the opposite direction of the soldiers. After a while, we stop to rest and I try to get my bearings. We lost a good deal of gear because of the hasty escape, despite all of the skills I taught Joseph it will be awfully rough to stay out here for too long without the basics. And now that they’ve most likely found our campsite, I’m sure patrols will intensify greatly throughout the area. Joseph asks if we can go to the outpost for some help but I shake my head. The understanding with the outpost is that they keep their mouth shut about who has been through there as long as no trouble comes their way. The second you come rolling in with heat on your tail they will turn you away and point the bad guys in your direction if asked.

Dammit, Joseph is counting on me and I am drawing a complete blank here. If it were just me I had to worry about, I could probably go underground and disappear for a good long while. Having him with me complicates things greatly. There are people I have known and worked with for years that would still turn me away simply because I was with a stranger. So lost in my thoughts I am that I don’t even realize I’ve been shot until a few seconds after I hit the ground. The crack of the rifle comes seemingly impossibly late and my shoulder is on fire. Joseph freaks out but I tell him to get down and that that I’m ok. The truth is I’m fighting back shock, I’ve never been shot before. Which, come to think of it, is kind of surprising with the circles I run in. I scramble to the tree that Joseph is crouched behind and try to control my breathing. Joseph looks at the wound in horror but it really isn’t that bad. The blood isn’t gushing out, which is a blessing. There are heavy footsteps and shouts coming toward us but we have nowhere to run. I hold the wound and curse, desperately trying to think of a way out. Just before they pounce on us I realize that the shouts are in Chinese, not Arabic, and who should suddenly be standing there with a gun in my face but old General Xu himself. He smiles that smile of his and says if he knew it was me he would have told his man to aim for the head. Same old cuddly Xu.



Joseph



Somehow, the evil bastard General Xu has tracked us down and I can’t do anything but stare at him stupidly. One of the soldiers is carrying a rabbit carcass, I guess that’s what they were shooting at earlier. Xu has his men tend to Candy’s wound, only fair I guess seeing as how they were the ones who shot her in the first place. He banters with her in Chinese, I think, sounding pompous and condescending. Candy gives it right back to him though, and it seems like they’ve had exchanges like this many times before. He steps away to speak to one of his men, but we are still at gunpoint from the rest. I ask Candy what he said and she tells me that they weren’t even looking for us, they were on the run too. It looks like these are the last of his army left alive after the coup. I ask if he said what he plans on doing with us and she shakes her head nervously. Xu comes back and motions me to get to my feet. I am half a foot taller then him but he still seems to tower over me. He asks if my company would pay a lot of money to keep me from harm. I am slow to answer, mostly because I had never really thought of it before. I think they would, wouldn’t they? I realize that if I didn’t sound confident that they would Xu would have no use for me and probably shoot me right here so I enthusiastically tell him that they would pay top dollar. He grins like he knows that I am lying, but nods his head and barks an order at one of his men. The soldier reaches into a knapsack and pulls out a satellite phone. My eyes light up, who would have thought that General Xu, of all people, was going to be my savior? He hands me the phone and tells me to call. I dial the number with a slightly quivering finger; it’s time to find out how valuable I really am.

Of course, the fact that it is the middle of the night in the States completely escapes me until I get the answering service and I mentally kick myself. The only personal cell number I know by heart is Jenkins’, and he was the last person I wanted to call in this world. I sigh through gritted teeth and dial his number. Amazingly, he answers it after only a couple of rings, but the connection is terrible. After a lot of confused shouting and near disconnects I manage to explain who it is and where I am calling from. I tell him that I am being held hostage for money. He seems tickled by this, but it may just be the interference. He asks where Molly is and I tell him I don’t know. He says the old man isn’t going to like this and I resist the urge to let him have it. He says he will make some calls and get back to me, but I don’t know the number. General Xu takes the phone and tells Jenkins that they have twenty-four hours to arrange payment of thirty million American dollars or they will kill me, then he gives him the number. Just like that, I have one day to live if the company that I have devoted fifteen years to decides that my life is not thirty million dollars. I have to say, I am not very optimistic.

Xu and his men round up Candy and myself and march us toward destinations unknown. Candy has become unusually withdrawn, but I don’t know if it’s because of her wound or because of her and Xu’s interaction before my head was placed on the bargaining block. I ask if she is ok and she nods and smiles at me weakly, not exactly convincing me. I ask what Xu said to her before and her lips get tight and she clams up. I can see that she is greatly upset about something so I let it go for now.

After hours of marching, we come to a clearing that is of no visible importance. Several of Xu’s men step forward and clear a brush-covered tarp from the ground and suddenly, there’s an entrance to an underground bunker right there before our eyes. Candy looks just as surprised as I am, so I guess this was a pretty well kept secret. General Xu notices this and laughs. He says he had this built in case the inevitable coup happened so that he and his most trusted men would have someplace to hide and regroup. With the twenty or so soldiers he has now, I’m not really sure what they are capable of regrouping for, but I decide not to point this out and cause trouble. They open the entrance hatch and usher us inside the dark, damp structure.

Candy and I are given our own little tiny cell, which basically amounts to little more than a closet that is just barely enough to lie down in. And here I thought we might see a kinder, gentler Xu. Aside from the ransoming off my life for lots of money thing, of course. Candy still seems shook up, she is sitting in the corner with her arms wrapped around her legs, eyes focused on nothing. I sit down next to her, hold her hand, and ask what that jerk could possible have said to upset her like this. A tear rolls down her cheek, and she takes a moment to compose herself before she replies. She says that Xu is going to sell her to the slave traders after they are done with me. I scoff and ask since when was she ever scared by a threat from Xu, but this one is different. The thought of being sold as a slave has really shaken her to the core. I try to comfort her, to assure her that we will find a way out of here before any of that, but she is impossible to convince. Finally, I just pull her head to my shoulder and we sit quietly, grimly awaiting our fates.

Fate doesn’t come just yet, but dinner does, in the form of some unidentifiable mush that a guard sets on the floor by the door. I suppress a gag but Candy actually goes at it with gusto. When she catches my horrified look she explains that we need all of our strength if we have any chance of getting out of here and we have to take all of the nourishment we can get. I smile, not because I’m happy that we have to eat this crap but because it would appear that Candy is back to her old self. It is quite a relief, I hadn’t the foggiest idea how we were going to escape but I’m sure the gears in Candy’s sneaky little head are already turning.

A little while later, the lights go out unexpectedly and we are left in pitch-blackness. Apparently, it’s bed time. It has gotten uncomfortably chilly in here and Candy snuggles in close for warmth. The smell of her hair and the feel of her body against mine make all of this seem not so bad. If this is going to be my last night on Earth, at least I am spending it in the arms of a pretty girl. In fact, seeing as it might be my last night on Earth, I wonder what else she would – and she moves my hand away from her chest with an iron grip so I guess I have to settle for cuddling. I guess beggars can’t be choosers. My thoughts are too chaotic to sleep, as one might expect when one might not have long to live. That son of a bitch Jenkins better get everyone in on this and help me out of here. I can see him now, hanging up the phone with a chuckle and going back to sleep, taking pleasure in the fact that I screwed up so bad that it cost me my life, not to mention the promotion. If I die because he didn’t tell anyone about the ransom demand, I am going to haunt his tacky penthouse condo for the rest of his days. It will be hard for him to slip seventeen-year-old girls hits of ecstasy and convince them to do anal with a shrieking poltergeist banging things around and generally spoiling the mood. I pray that the wheels are in motion because I am scared to die in this god-forsaken hellhole of a place.