They carried us through the old sewer system and over the dry seabed floor, down the crag rock face, and out into the night. It was dawn before we reached flat, even ground and were allowed to walk on our own.
The bright early sun rose filtered by long shadows cast by the high sea walls. Narrow, tall structures of dirt and rock seemed to grow randomly across the flat ground. Shear drops of unseen depth, coupled with the razor-sharp crag walls, kept us from trying to run. Besides, with so little information about exactly where I was or where we were going. An escape in the full sun would end badly. It was brown and beige and ultimately the same dry looking terrain in every direction.
My captor walked very close behind me. It was a ridiculous precaution. There was no place for me to go. I followed the man in front of me, and he followed the person in front of him, it remained this way for some time.
Finally, I couldn't take the silence any longer. If my kidnappers killed me here in the dirt for asking questions at least, someone could find my body. My family would have closure.
“How is it you can stay exposed to the sun's rays this long? I asked openly of the group. There was a murmur of laughter from the young men.
“It's not as harmful in the shadows,” A pleasant male voice explained.
“You can take your coat off if you're getting hot. We have canteens, but we won't have fresh water for another hour.” A captor at the front of the group held a metal object over his head.
It was hot, and my stomach was starting to sour. I wanted to wake up to find this was all a horrible dream and take a nice hot-steam shower and eat a bowl of rehydrated fruit.
“Any moment now, I'm going to wake up. So, if you're going to turn into a dragon and fly away or take your shirt off and dance around for me, you better hurry up,” I chuckled.
“Ha, this is not one of your sweaty dreams, girl,” One of the captors laughed.
“But it can be if you want,” My tall, blue-eyed captor bent down and whispered near my ear. His voice was half man and half low growl. The tone stirred a primal fear deep inside the pit of my stomach making my muscles tense.
“My name is Karine, but everyone calls me Kar,” I responded, not knowing exactly what to say to the man I bartered with for my friend's lives. The rules of abduction rolled in my mind. Don't let them get you alone was already blown, make yourself a real person, and find a way to escape.
“You let these friends call you by this odd sounding name?” He asked.
I shrugged my shoulders, removed my jacket and my white shirt, and dropped them on the ground. Blue was walking behind me. She picked up my clothes and hurried to catch up with me.
“No, Karine put your shirt back on, hold your jacket, this isn't a dream you idiot. Straighten up.”
“Ah, Blue Bell, how I hated you. Your perfect smile and that long hair of yours, but when your face started to break out, we all hated you a tiny bit less.”
“Karine!” Blue hissed, pushing my hand into the armhole of my blouse.
“They are just going to eat us. “I threw my arms up at the sky and spun around, stirring up a thick dust cloud. “These are the Reds we were warned about,” I yelled. “They eat young women. That's why the bodies of the taken are never found.” There was a low rumbling of sobbing, and the caravan began to slow down.
“Damn it, woman, we are not going to eat you. Drink some water.” My captor and I stood still in a shadow while the others passed us by. He handed me a metal cylinder as if I knew what to do with it. “Drink,” he commanded.
“Drink what?” I asked, confused.
“Look, clean water.” He poured clear water from the container into his mouth. I grabbed the odd-looking cylinder and copied his movements.
“We don't use containers like this, they would need to be cleaned. We use refreshment stations with reclaimed containers. If this water is poisoned, leave me out here, so someone can find my body,” I requested, buttoning the last little button on my shirt.
“It's clean water, not poison. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't waste water to do it. I have a knife.” The young man produced a short, fixed blade knife from a sheath on his belt.
“So, you do kill helpless girls. I'm not even sixteen yet. You would technically be killing a helpless child.” I contorted my face to mimic a choking death.
“How do you say these awful things with such a pretty face?” he asked with genuine confusion crinkling the skin around his eyes.
“How do I say awful things?” I laughed and kicked at a pile of dirt at my feet. “Do I hurt your feelings?” I yelled.
Something let loose in my mind—I wanted to fight. I wanted to see how far I could push him. “You're an animal,” I yelled at the sky. “You haven't even told me your name. My arm has glass in it from the car window. Your people shot my fiancé.” I stopped walking and kicked at the dirt with my boots again.
I spun around and poked my captor in the bicep. “They won't stop looking for us, you know.” He leaned close and inspected the wound on my arm. “This stupid shit of yours is going to tear apart my family and my
