The Hanging Tree

t h r e e

IT HAD BEEN TWO HOURS OF straight-up hiking - which were full of complaints from none other than Nancy. She was getting on her kidnappers' [or potential murderers'] nerves, so despite their tight schedule, they agreed to stop for a break.

"Is there water?" Nancy spoke up hesitantly, and the others nodded their heads eagerly.

"Over in that stream." The woman gestured to their right. "All our supplies are at the destination for the night. Checkpoint one. You have two minutes to get water or someone gets hurt."

"Damn," Jess muttered under her breath. "Someone's salty."

"Saltier than the pacific ocean." Gunnar agreed.

Nancy ran over to the small stream and glanced at the water. "So the turbidity seems to be a bit on the higher end."

"Um, what's turbidity?" Gunnar asked.

"The water is dirty." Nancy said slowly, as if talking to a three year old.

"Yeah, whatever." Jess stated, crouching down next to Nancy and pulling something out of her boot. It took Nancy a few moment to realize it was a phone.

"How did you manage to get your phone up here? Our bags were taken from us in the very beginning!" Drew exclaimed from the other side of Gunnar, obviously intrigued.

"You guys are so going to get us all killed." Damian remarked from his place by a fallen-down tree.

Jess made a face, then apparently decided to ignore him. "My phone was in my boot from the beginning. I was putting my shoes on, and then my dad yelled at me to hurry up so I just slid it into my boot - and then forgot it until now."

"Great story. You should write a book about it." Damian commented, kicking at the leaves on the ground. "Oh wait, you'll probably die before you get the chance because you wasted all your time telling us about the damn phone rather than using it."

Jess rolled her eyes, but then turned on her phone and proceeded to dial a number. Nancy heard it ring a few times before someone picked up.

"Mom?" Jess asked. "I-"

She screamed and slumped forward, falling face first into the stream. Nancy spun around quickly, to see the man's arm still extended, having thrown a large rock at the rebellious teen.

Gunnar scrambled forward, dragging her out of the water. "Jess? Jess? Phillips, answer me. Please."

Nancy barely knew this girl, yet she was bawling her eyes out. Had she just witnessed a murder?

"She's not dead." The man's voice echoed through the empty woods. "Someone pick her up and carry her or we're leaving her here to die."

Gunnar immediately scooped her into his arms and stood. Nancy, however, stayed kneeling by the side of the stream, tears surging down her face. The true reality of the situation had finally sunk in - and Nancy had actually processed it. She was definitely going to die. These people - the ones who took her - were going to torture her to the greatest extent. And there was nothing she could ever do to stop them. By herself, at least.

"Come on, Swan." The man taunted with dangerous undertones. "Unless you want a rock to the head too."

Nancy swiped at her eyes and stumbled to her feet, running over to where the rest of the group was.

"I'll carry her when you need a break." She heard Drew whisper to Gunnar before they resumed hiking.

Nancy was in a daze-like stupor, her mind racing at a million miles per minute. How in the world was she going to get out of this situation?

Soon enough, she came to a conclusion. She had to figure out who was behind all this and expose them to the public - surely someone was in charge of their kidnappers, the main schemer. First, Nancy thought, she needed to find clues as to who might have possibly put this all together. Second, she needed to get all the others in on the plan - she couldn't do this alone. Thirdly, they had to make sure at least one of them escaped.

A plan, Nancy realized. She needed a plan.

But, it suddenly dawned on her, nobody had ever escaped before. Otherwise, the case would've been solved by now. There had to be a flaw in her plan. But what?

"I say we run on three," Drew whispered as they continued to trek through the tall, unruly underbrush.

"We can't leave Gunnar, he has to carry Jess!" Nancy whined, upset that he had interrupted her thoughts. "And I don't want to talk to Damian about it, he scares me."

"Why? Because he's got that whole 'bad boy' look going on? Typical." Drew taunted. "I say you should go talk to him."

"No way."

"Yes way."

"No."

"Yes."

"Will you two stop arguing like an old married couple?" Damian hissed and spun around, irritated by their debate. "I was enjoying the quiet and you two aren't exactly the best at whispering."

"Buzzkill." Drew murmured to Nancy, and she had to stifle a laugh - but her sense of contentment soon dissolved as their kidnappers motioned for them to come to a stop. Nancy immediately ceased walking and looked around in bewilderment.

"Why are we stopping?" Damian barked, as if he were annoyed by the sudden break.

"I hear someone," The man answered curtly, and stared Damian down - who managed to stand his ground. If Nancy was in his position, she would have started running a long time ago. "So either we act like we're on a family camping trip, or your friend Jess gets thrown down the mountain."

"You are a cruel, barbaric savage," Gunnar spat, his voice trembling from the harrowing threat and strain of the teenage girl's weight. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why not?"

"Because we don't deserve this!" Gunnar cried, his voice cracking in frustration. "You...you are fucking psychotic!"

"Mr. Clements, I assure you that you do not want to talk back to me."

"And why the hell not?" Gunnar shouted, enraged at the current situation; Nancy stared at him in utter shock.

"Shut up," Damian whispered harshly.

"Before they kill us all? Yeah, I know. You've said that several times already." Gunnar snapped.

"No, shut up, the people we heard are like five feet away."

A/N: I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS BC I KNOW I DO [AND I MAY OR MAY NOT BE TALKING ABOUT THE GIF TO THE SIDE OF GUNNAR]