WANTED: For Being A Hero

Chapter 6: Where Am I?

He opened his eyes slowly. He was in a dark room, barely able to see shapes in the shadows. He tried to move, but a rope-like restraint around his wrists kept him still. His heart began to race, but instinct kicked into full-gear. He knew not to let panic take over. He was alive, and that's the most important thing at this moment in time.

He sat on the ground. The floor where he was felt like tile. It was cold to the touch, but as far as he could tell, he was still fully clothed. He took inventory of his body, doing a mental check from head to toe to self-diagnose any injury he may have. He rotated his head and neck, no pain. He moved his shoulders around. All good.

His arms, his paws, fingers, torso, legs, feet, toes. Everything seemed to be in good shape. As far as he is concerned, he had no injuries other than a dull throb in his right shoulder-blade. He took plenty of anatomy classes when in college to know that this doesn't seem like an injury. So he choses to ignore it for now.

His ear perks at the sound of a voice nearby. He's not alone. He slows his breathing and attempts to keep as quiet as he can. He can't make out any words, but this voice does not sound friendly. He waits and he listens. After a minute he can hear what sounds like a door opening, followed by a loud voice that startles him.

"AHHH! You're awake!" says the voice, causing Rami to jump.

The darkness of the room keeps him from seeing any figures. But the next thing he knows, he feels the unmistakable cold of metal press against his throat. It wasn't a knife. This was a gun. The goat stiffened. The last thing he wanted, was to make a sudden move, and startle his company.

"I was wondering if you would wake up eventually, first time we've used this sleeping solution on someone. Glad to see it works." The voice was low-pitched and slightly gravely. It felt very intimidating.

The feeling of the gun against his neck never left. The voice spoke again.

"You will not speak unless told to do so. You will not move unless told to do so. If you cooperate, you will not be harmed, if you fight back, we will not hesitate to kill you. You understand? Nod if you agree."

Rami nodded slowly and calmly.

The metal was removed from his neck, and Rami gave a slow sigh of relief. He tried to hear for movement, but everything was still so silent. The room he was in was so dark, that he couldn't even look down and see himself. It was as if his eyes were completely shut. The voice spoke again, this time though, it sounded further away, but still in the room.

"We're going to need to ask questions to you. So this is your time to speak to us. However if we feel you're saying too much, then we have a roll of duct tape with your name on it." The sound of the tape unrolling sent a shiver down his spine. "Actually .. let's start with that. What IS your name?"

He cleared his throat. "R-Rami. Rami DaGoata." he wanted to play along as much as he can to make sure he doesn't get hurt.

"Hmm ... alright, that adds up. You're not lying to us yet." footsteps, moving across to the other side of the room. "What do you do? What is your job?"

"I ... I'm a scientist." he's keeping answers as short as he can.

"Not good enough. What do you work with? What would you say .. is your expertise?"

"I'm a botanist. I study plants."

"Sounds fucking stupid, if you ask me. But I'll go with it." the voice gets closer again. "So. Let's cut to the chase, shall we? We want to know the results of this ... project ... you have going on. You can see us as ... amateur scientists ourselves."

Rami bit his lip. "We .. don't have results yet."

Without warning, he was smashed in the side of the head by something.

"Bullshit! Tell us what you know, and maybe we will think about letting you live!"

His head was ringing. He fell over onto his side, but was able to push back up straight. "Look, I'm telling the truth. Research like this can take months. We've only been working on it for a few-"

He was interrupted by the sound of the gun being discharged inside the room, causing him to flinch, and his ears to ring.

"I don't care how long it's been. I need answers. And you will provide me those answers, if your life means anything to you." he pressed the gun to Rami's skull.

He could feel the heat from the barrel. "I'll give you the list of things we're testing. I just need my phone."

Rami felt a hard impact to his stomach. It was hard to tell if it was a punch or a kick, but he did now that it was enough to knock all the wind out of him. He doubled over, onto the floor,  A faint taste of blood in his mouth.

"Your phone is gone. We destroyed it when you got here."

Rami heard the sound of a chair being placed.

"You know ... you were very easy to track down. We got your information from a source, found where you worked, and hid out until you showed up. You see, I'll let you know what we want. Money. And we ain't gonna go in and rob a place. Nahhhh that's boring. When we found out that you guys had access to the goddamn cure for CANCER?! OH! Boy, were we excited! All we need was a spy. Someone who will give us the intel we need, so we can be the ones to become famous."

Rami scowled. Of course this is why he's here. Nothing is a secret anymore. He thought about ways to keep himself alive. Should he lie to them? He didn't know what the cure is, but they won't take no for an answer. He'd rather die, then let these criminals get hold of the truth and get all the attention.

He needs to do whatever it takes to make it out of here alive.