Challenge #3

I sat in the small clearing, struggling against the thick ropes that held me and trying to figure out how we had gotten in this situation. “You’ll never get away with this!” I shouted, still struggling. I knew it was a lie. The chances were pretty good that he would get away with it. They would never find us, and they would never find him. It was as simple as that. I was wasting my time yelling.“Don’t get your hopes up. Soon as I get what I want outta your friend here, you’ll both be dead.” His face wore a greasy smile that suggested nothing but evil. There was no way you could find one ounce of good in this man if you tried. The last sentence only made me struggle more. “What do you want from us? I told you, we don’t have any money. We’re just kids!” He laughed. “I don’t want money.” He said. His gruff voice made every word sound more threatening. He scared me, but I kept talking.“Well, if you don’t want our money, why don’t you just let us go?” I said, knowing the answer before I asked the question.“Listen, kid! Just because I don’t want your d*** money don’t mean you ain’t good for something I want!” His sudden outburst made me back farther into the tree, ignoring the pain in my back from the rough bark.From then on, I kept quiet. That had been what I’d said to him before he took my best friend, Leah, back into the woods hours ago. I had given up on struggling to get free, so I just waited. As far as I could tell, it wouldn’t be much longer before I saw Leah again. When I first saw them coming toward me, I could distinctly make out the fact that she was walking beside him, but it didn’t look like she was walking normally; they were too far away for me to tell. I started struggling to get up again, but to no avail. When they got close enough for him to let her go, he grabbed her arm violently and swung her against a tree close to me. Without the ability to support herself, she hit the tree hard and collapsed.“Leah!” She lay on the ground in a crumpled heap, not responding. Immediately I turned to him. “What did you do to her?” I hissed. I felt the rope tighten against my bruised torso, reminding me once again that I was tied to a tree and could do nothing. “What did you do to her?!?!” I screamed.“Same thing that’s comin’ for you if you don’t keep your mouth shut!” I flinched at the sound of his voice. The woods were so quiet that it was hard not to be frightened at each of his outbursts. I turned instead to Leah for my answers.“Leah, what happed? Did he hurt you? I swear, if he did anything to y--” She cut me off.“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Just keep yourself safe. He’s gonna kill me. You still have a chance.” She said. I looked over and she was trying her best to prop herself up on her arms, but I could see that she was weak. “Leah, you have to tell me what he did to you.” I said through clenched teeth. “What did he do to you?” I asked again.She looked up at me and I could see that she had been crying. Besides that, I could see a dark handprint on the side of her face and peeking out below her hair, a bruise was forming on her neck. She hung her head back down and I realized that my mouth was hanging open. “Leah, what--”“It doesn’t matter. He’s going to kill me. There’s nothing either of us can do to stop it.”The click of a gun made us both turn our heads in the direction of the truck that had brought us here. Standing beside it was our captor. He was holding a rifle. I wanted to run, but I was frozen solid. “Come here.” He yelled. Leah got up and started to drag herself over to him. “Faster!” He yelled. She tried to bring herself up on two feet, but stumbled on her bad leg. “What are you doin’?” He screamed. “I said get up!!” Holding the gun down at his side, he walked toward her quickly.“Get away from her!” I yelled. “Can’t you see she’s hurt? You monster!” I shouted, running out of things to say. I would say anything now if it meant she would be safe.“Shut up!” He said, spit flying from his mouth with every word. Before I could put myself back in the situation, he had grabbed her by the shoulder, pinned her against a tree and had the gun pointed at her head. “Get away from her!” I growled, bile rising in my throat. I could’ve taken the gun and shot him if I had had the chance. But I didn’t. He had the gun, along with my best friend.“What if I don’t?” He said gruffly. “What if I decide to…SHOOT HER?” He said, making a quick motion as if to pull the trigger of the rifle. I jerked against the ropes that were holding me captive while my friend whimpered beside me. “Don’t you dare!” I glared at him with what I hoped was defiance, but inside, I only felt fear. “Don’t you put your hand on her!” Finally, I felt the rope give way slightly and I stopped struggling. If I had imagined that, there was nothing I could do. However, if the break was real, there might be a chance to save her. I went with the most hopeful option and continued to struggle. Then I felt it tear slightly again, this time no mistaking it. I pulled one more time and felt it snap. I pretended to still be restrained for just a second before I launched my entire body weight against him, slamming him to the ground.“Eric!!” Leah screamed behind me. Of course. Seconds ago, she had had a rifle pressed against her throat and she was worried about my safety. If I had to, I would die for her. She just didn’t understand that.I didn’t have to struggle very hard against his rough arms. He was older than me, but he was overweight and he wasn’t very strong. In a matter of seconds, I had him pinned to the ground by his legs and forearms. The rifle was just out of my reach, but Leah was collapsed on the ground near it. “Leah, grab the gun!” I shouted, desperation apparent in my voice. She moved slowly and she winced with every movement. I hated to cause her pain, but I knew this was our only chance at safety. “Leah, hurry!” I said. The man was struggling against me more every second and I didn’t know how much longer I could hold him down. She made it to the gun and with a weak arm, tossed it in my direction. I caught it in the palm of my hand, as so many years of baseball had taught me to do. I turned it so that the barrel faced his neck and pressed hard, cutting of the flow of air to his lungs. “You…wouldn’t.” He choked out. He had stopped struggling as soon as I got the gun to his throat.“Watch…me.” I answered just as slowly as he had. I pulled the safety releases and I heard the gun click. In my hands, it felt like it was pulsing beneath my fingers, waiting to be fired. I put my finger on the trigger and squeezed.The sound of the gunshot rang through the trees the same time that blast shot me back and away from the bleeding corpse. I looked to my side and saw Leah curled in a ball, covering her ears and shaking unevenly. As I crawled closer to her, I could hear her holding back sobs.I finally let myself breathe. “Leah, what did he do to hurt you?” I asked. I remembered her dragging herself toward the gun. “What’s wrong with your leg?” I asked. She looked up at me with a tearstained face and a bleeding gash across her lip. She opened her mouth to say something, but then shook her head and looked away. “He…he forced himself on me. He raped me. That’s what he was doing when he dragged me back in the woods. I tried to fight him and…” She whimpered before continuing. “my leg.... I heard it snap, but I don’t…I don’t know if…” She winced in pain and glanced down at her leg. “Will you let me look at it?” I asked. I didn’t know what to do or how to tell if the bone was broken, but I didn’t want her to be in any more pain than she had to. She had already been through so much.She nodded and her face twisted in agony as she slowly pulled her already straitened leg out in front of her. I tried to figure out where to start.“Where does it hurt the most?” I asked, biting my lip in the worry that I wouldn’t be able to help her. She groaned and pointed to the front part of the inside of her thigh. “Right there.” She leaned back to give me room to work. As soon as I touched her leg, she inhaled sharply. “Sorry, sorry.” I said, making my hand lighter until it was just a brush against her skin. It felt strange to be touching her this way. I had never touched a girl like this before. What was even weirder was that I liked it. But I couldn’t think about that right now. I had to help Leah.I pressed very slightly against her leg and I physically felt her entire body contract under my fingertips. I looked her dead in the eye. “We have to get you to a hospital.” My voice didn’t sound strong. I sounded scared. “Now.” I added, trying to sound confident. I wanted so much for her to be better and out of pain. “Eric, we need to go the police.” She looked at the body lying about three feet from us and then back to me. She had tears in her eyes. “We just killed a man.”