Dennis tended to forget his dates and tests easily, but he actually had a good memory. He could help them remember where they are.
When Mark woke up, they weren't anywhere he recognised but there was still civilisation. He became adamant on waking up Dennis as he looked outside of the truck's back window. His hands were tied behind his back and it was dark, but he didn't want to waste a single second. Ironically, Dennis' memory should prove useful at that point. The problem was Dennis was a heavy sleeper. Coupled with the darkness, Mark's chances in waking him up before they get to the middle of nowhere were slim to none.
He stood up, though with difficulty, and took a deep breath before he jumped like a narwhal on Dennis. The truck's back was small. Chances were, he would fall on Dennis, and he did. Only Dennis was, as mentioned before, a deep sleeper.
Mark wriggled away and sighed. The moment Dennis could get useful, he wasn't available.
Mark woke up his sadistic side and pushed and kicked Dennis with his feet as mercilessly as he could. He continued that way for 5 minutes before he gave up. He looked outside again. If Dennis wasn't awake, might as well have him do all the work. If they were able to run away, they could find a gas station and call the police or something.
To his luck, the truck sped on a road bump and it jerked upwards. He fell down like a sac of potatoes in a dangerous posture. His foot made an almost audible cracking sound and he let out a yelp in pain. Luckily, Dennis also had his share of the bump and woke up when he fell on his side with panic. Albeit highly uncomfortable, Mark called out Dennis's name with a grin. Now he could have Dennis memorise the road back.
Chances of him forgetting the way were way lower than Mark, but Dennis almost never showed that ability.
'What happened?' Dennis asked with a hint of panic in his voice.
'Quick, look outside,' said Mark while trying to wriggle his way to a more comfortable and safe posture. It was hard. His right foot kept sending searing jolts of pain up his leg even when not using it and he wondered if it was more than just a twisted ankle.
'Where are we, Mark?'
'I don't know. Look, they kept the van's back window open for some reason. It's a bit small, but you can still through it right?.'
Dennis tried to reach a sitting position and Mark's irritation increased every second that passed.
'We got kidnapped?'
'I don't know Dennis. Can you quickly look outside and memorise the route?'
Dennis's brows shot upwards and Mark knew he had a hard time keeping his cool.
'They were knocked out cold, possibly killed,' said Dennis. 'Do you thi-'
'I don't know, Dennis. Last thing I knew I was facing you and you looked all panicky. Look, I know we might've just fell into more trouble than we can stomach, but the best thing we can do right now is keeping it cool and look watch the road till we find a way to get out of here.'
Dennis still didn't move an inch. The freaks were creeping on his face. 'How can you be so calm?'
'Do we have a choice?'
Dennis didn't reply. He waddled on his knees towards the back window and stayed there. 'I just pray everything turns out alright.'
'Me too...'
They stayed that way for a couple of hours. Mark tried to untie himself every now and then, but it was too tight. He couldn't do it. His foot never let him feel bored as it continuously sent excruciating pain up his leg the whole journey. He contemplated taking off his shoes to understand what was wrong, but then he remembered he might not get a chance to wear them again.
All in all, there was a panicky, but quiet, Dennis and an injured Mark, being deported to God knows where.
Dennis sighed and sat on his butt again. 'My legs hurt.'
It frustrated Mark, but he didn't say anything. He couldn't push Dennis far. Besides, even if what he saw won't take them all the way back, it can take them somewhere.
Shortly after, they stopped again. Neither expected much. They thought it was another random spot, and were surprised when the door to the back opened. Their eyes were adjusted to the dark, so even the small change in lighting they just experienced was a lot on them. Mark looked back. It wasn't a blinding light, but nonetheless annoying as there was actually a difference in lighting.
It got worse, as the man who opened the door flashed a flashlight on them.
'Looks like they woke up,' said a deep, dumb voice.
'For how long?' asked another.
'How am I supposed to know?'
Mark stole a glance from their captors. There were two men by the door. One of them held a flashlight.
The one with the flashlight took a couple of steps back as his partner hopped inside. Neither one of the boys moved, Dennis, out of fear, Mark, out of nerves.
He knew they couldn't get out if they didn't handle things calmly.
Mark coughed when he inhaled tobacco as the one who hopped inside lighted a cigar and went wild with it.
'Yep, they're awake all right,' he said with the cigar still in his mouth, 'and I'm not liking the looks of one of them,' he went on as he looked down at Mark.
He had a serpent tattoo on his neck and it snaked downwards, to his shoulders, and possibly even to his arm, but his jacket covered the rest of the serpent and it wasn't visible. His hair was obviously dyed a ridiculous dirty blond with left out streaks to reveal a natural brown colour. It was swept backwards and revealed piercings in his ears.
He held the collar of Mark's school shirt. 'You're not pissing your pants?'
'Should I say yes?'
He narrowed his eyes.
Mark held his breath as he was lifted upwards from his school shirt's collar. It showed signs of shredding.
Of course, it was a school shirt. Cheap stuff...
'I don't know. That depends on you,' he replied and threw Mark out of the van like a dirt bag. His face rubbed against the hard ground and got bruised as he landed abruptly on his side.
The one with the torchlight now shone on Mark who landed a few feet away from him. The one with the cigar dragged Dennis out of the van. He hopped down and Dennis's bump hit the floor hard.
'Ow!'
'Yeah, a lot of things will hurt from this point on,' he said with a bored voice.
'What will we do to them?' asked the one with the torchlight.
A third man joined the scene. No, he was always there, only he was quitly standing beside the truck. He only spoke once, asking how much they were awake, but that was it.
'We will have to wait,' he said. 'Bug caught another one. I want them done all together.'
'Dug it,' said the one with the cigar. He dragged Dennis all the way to Mark's side and kept him there. Then he held Mark's shirt from his back and lifted him. 'I want this one last.'
The man leaning by the van raised his brows.
'He's pissing me off.'
'Fine, keep him, but I want them all dead.'
He dug his hands into his pockets and walked to their direction. Between the three, he looked the most civil. No shredded pants or tattoos and he had neatly trimmed black hair, but he did have quite the physique, not someone to mess with.
Mark was seated in a proper posture. He didn't know why would they bother at first, but then Cigar took out a gun and readied it with a clacking sound. Dennis yelped and Mark wanted to nudge him, but he couldn't. His hands were tied backwards and Dennis wasn't close enough.
The man with the flashlight approached them. 'Boss said we should wait.'
'Yes, I'm waiting,' Cigar replied.
It was quiet and the only lighting was from the flashlight, the van's front lights and stars.
Mark's eyes widened as the realisation stroke. He looked upwards. The star lights were dazzling. They filled the night sky, letting very little space between each other. The sky wasn't even black anymore.
That couldn't be good.
They were very far away from civilisation.
While Dennis panicked his way to hypertension, Mark examined the surroundings. He did panic when he saw how worn out the asphalt road was and how old were the streetlights. A lot of them weren't even working and some were struggling to choke out some light, but he still tried to keep his rational thinking department functioning.
There wasn't much to do, though. He couldn't perform a quick, slick, magical move that could save them all. The men stayed there, watching them and waiting, and other than the truck, there was absolutely no cover.
'For how many hours were we in the van?' he thought.
In the distance, a small light glowed. The boss stood up and faced it. Dennis and Mark couldn't contain their curiosity, but they didn't know what to do. The light grew bigger and a couple of seconds later, it appeared to be a twin lighting, and a car tore the darkness in the road. It drove to their direction and Mark knew that was what they were waiting for.
Considering how he couldn't come up with a saving plan, maybe he had no choice but to wait too.
That might kill them too, though...
Soon enough, the car reached them and parked beside the van.
##
'I like it.'
Her head jerked upwards. 'What?'
'I like that book,' he repeated.
She furrowed her brows, closed the book and examined the cover. It was Emma, by Jane Austin. 'This...?' she asked as she showed him the book.
He nodded.
'You don't look like a person who likes classics?' she said.
'Really...? I don't read a lot though, so I guess I can understand that.'
She looked back at the book again. 'It's fine. As long as you read when you want to, it doesn't matter if you do it a lot or not.'
She didn't speak a lot before he opened up to her about the book. Before she was completely quiet and didn't speak at all, even when he asked her. Katherine was their mutual acquaintance, so he had to wait before they were introduced.
Time went on, though, and Katherine still didn't come back from the restroom. The girl went back to reading her book and he stared outside the window. He wondered if Katherine meant leaving him there with her in the coffee shop.
After ten more minutes, she closed her book and faced him. 'What's your name?'
He stopped looking at the window and faced her. 'What...?'
'What's your name?' she repeated.
He smiled. If Katherine wasn't planning on coming and thawing the ice, then they might as well do it themselves.
'I'm Mark, you?'
'Sally Armstead, pleased to meet you.'
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