Children of the Dead

1| I Don't Have Time to Talk

9:45

It's 9:45 and I'm late for school.

I park my silver Jeep, haphazardly in the first available spot I see. When I scramble out I nearly drop my phone but then and start sprinting to the big metal doors.

I pat myself down furiously as if I'm doing the Macarena. Once I'm pretty sure I have everything, I sigh and continue to walk at a faster pace. I check my phone to see fifteen messages from my best friend Bree, I know she's going to bombard me with questions when I see her.

As I get closer to the doors, I slam into something. My breath hitches and I stumble back not expecting what just happened. I look up at the man I bumped into who's wearing all black. He's got an entourage of four other men behind him.

An anxious feeling becomes nice and comfortable in my stomach as I blurt out an apology, and try to slide past them. One man grabs my arm, and his firm grasp sends chills down my spine.

"Umm, I'm so sorry I don't have time to talk," I ramble. "I'm late for school. I really need to go."

I feel my heart race faster as his grip doesn't loosen. I try to pull away, but I feel another hand tight on my hair twisted into a ponytail, and a third squeezing my left arm.

I jerk my body trying to get away from them, "What the hell?! Let go of me, you sick bastards!"

My mind is flooded with panic and I'm flustered by my thoughts. I try desperately to break free, yelling and kicking, hoping there was someone who would hear me. There's got to be someone out here.

Bloody screams fall out of my mouth when I see a gun move towards my temple. I jerk my head back as if I'm hoping I can get away from the gun somehow. I know it's the worst move to make when being held at gunpoint, but I was not going to let them kill me.

I feel the cold metal make contact with my head, and a sharp buzzing sound fills my left ear. Then all I see is black.

•••

I wake up, feeling heavy, yet light, a strange feeling. I look around the dark van I'm in, it is reeking of gas and rusty metal. The van hit a bump and I smack my head against the wall of the vehicle, causing me to groan, which alerted the drivers that I'm now awake.

The screech of the brakes echoed throughout the cab of the van. The door slid open and the misty air and bright sunlight intruded on my dark confinement.

The panic returns to me when I see the same men in black at the doors. I try to scoot away one of the men grabs my ankle and tries to pull me out of the van. Another man grabs my other ankle, and I frantically grasp at the van doorway, but two men grab my arms.

I tried to kick and scream, praying someone would hear me, but I knew it was hopeless. It seemed I was in the middle of the forest, and no one would be passing through for miles.

Still, I screamed. The two heavy doors opened with a low metallic groan of the rusty hinges and the men dropped me in a large metal room and disappeared behind a small door.

I stand up and run to the door which I came through, pounding my fist against it until it hurts, and yelling to let me out until my throat is raw.

Tears fell from my eyes, as hope fell from my heart. The deep rumble of pipes warming up startled me, and a harsh stream of water and chemicals pelted my skin. I wailed in agony, as the odors burned my nostrils.

I begin to walk backward but somehow trip and fall down to the ground. I shut my eyes tightly when the chemical start to make my eyes sting.

When I feel hands on me again the kicking and screaming continues. I kick one of the men in the face and hear him yell out in pain. He drops my leg, and for a second I felt that I had a chance to break free.

I use my free leg to break the other man's grasp on my right ankle. I try to stand, but the men are stronger than me. They push me down and my cheek smashes into the metal grated floor, pain flood through my face. My eyes widen as I realize what's happening

The same cold metal on my temple, the same buzzing in my ear, and the same darkness...