A Girl Out of Place

Chapter 7: She Speaks

The strike of the match brought a flickering light to the dark space. One of the North Korean soldiers used it to light two lanterns at the middle of the truck bed. With its light, I quickly set to work untying Ryn's restraints. No one stopped me as I did so. The ropes were intricate. I poked her with its barbs several more times in the process but succeeded in their removal.

Sliding the one from her neck I checked her pulse again. At the cold touch of my hand Ryn's lips parted.

"I'm still here." She said softly.

I pulled my hand back, "Did I wake you?" Ryn's head shook no before her eyes fluttered open.

"Sleep has proven to be unobtainable." She said. Her words were sad, but they brought a smile to my face. "What?"

"I'm sorry." I tried to shake the smile away, "It not only amazes me that you can speak, but you sound very grown up."

She rubbed at her raw wrists, "Trust me, inside my head, I was screaming like a child. Though nothing came out."

"You also speak the enemies language as well. You must be a spy." Dr. Tarin added from his dark space across the truck bed.

"It's the native language of this land, Captain." I snapped his rank. I turned back to Ryn, "You do seem fluent in it, but you sound British."

She nodded, "On my mothers side, Wigam or something. My friend is Korean, though he speaks a more ancient dialect... spoke."

"Your friend, he died?"

"I don't know," She closed her eyes again and we listened to the truck rumble across the rough terrain. Grief is a powerful force. I concluded it could easily be the cause of her previous state.

"What brought you back?" I asked, hoping the change of subject would keep her from retreating.

She opened her eyes as her hands made their way to her neck. They rubbed away the dried blood without reopening any lacerations. The light of the lantern flickered across the shine in her eyes while she searched her memory for her answer. "I think it was the children. They were ... smiling."

"In spite of fear," Tarin offered. We were both surprised he was quietly listening. Ryn nodded, and Tarin leaned forward placing his elbows on his knees. "With the way they say you fight, it's hard to believe you are afraid of anything."

A smirk pulled to the right of her lips but she didn't respond. Though, I got the feeling a witty comeback rested on the tip of her tongue.

"So you're from Wigan? How did you get here?" I asked.

"How?" She repeated the word with a long sigh, her eyes dancing upward to the canvas canopy.

Suddenly the truck bounced harshly throwing us all forward. Ryn's hands braced against the truck bed and I used her arm, as well as the bench, to keep myself from falling face first into the floor. Thats when the truck driver slammed on the brakes. I could hear the wheels lock and the back of the truck slid sideways, stopping only when it connected with something large against its rear axel.

Gun fire peppered across the top of the canvas truck cover. Ryn's arms wrapped around me and she threw us to the floor beside the Captain, who was unapologetically swearing nearby.

Orders and shouts from the soldiers echoed around us and the moment the gunfire stopped we were pulled from the truck. Keeping low I slid from the tailgate to the ground beside the very large tree stump wedged into the back axel. Blindly, I reached back to find Ryn's hand and I pulled her along, following as close as I dared to our armed enemy escort.

Brown enemy uniforms scattered in all directions. Some running towards the gunfire, others setting up vantage points around vehicles, while our small group was pulled into the woods.

The weight of Ryn's hand in mine held me back. It was so heavy I glanced over my shoulder to see why she was struggling to keep up and for the first time I got a good look at her. Ryn's face took on a new color in direct daylight. Her warm skin held undertones of yellow, lips severely chapped and her eyes outlined with dark circles. It was obvious now; they hadn't given her food or water, and just as damaging, she clearly hadn't been sleeping.

"You're anemic,"

She shook her head at me, "I can still get us out of this."

There was a loud shout and a pepper of gunfire again causing us to drop to the ground. Hard dirt and sharp rocks dug into my knees. This time Ryn pulled me to my feet and pushed me forward. We followed the trail of soldiers down a hill between some trees. Ryn's hand tightened in mine, I could feel she was preparing for something. I looked back at her for an indication as to what that might be.

'Thump'

Muffled by the gun shots and stomping soldiers I had almost missed the odd sound, but directly following it, I watched as the girls brown eyes rolled back into her head. Then her body went limp and Ryn started to fall to the ground.

I tried to pull her toward me, but my fingers slipped out of hers. I stumbled to stay on my feet, failing to reach her. To my surprise she didn't need me to catch her. The Korean soldier behind her, in one fluid motion slipped Ryn's hand around his shoulders, cradled her back while he used the other hand to sweep behind her legs, lifting her unconscious body effortlessly into his arms.

How had he been there just in time to ... "Put her down!" I yelled, but the soldier didn't bother to glance at me. In a few strides he was already too far away, I couldn't reach out and grab him. Though I frantically tried to catch him. Tarin's arms wrapped around my shoulders. He pulled me back into him so his lips were by my ears. "You don't speak his language."

"But he knocked her out!" I tried to pull away but he held me firm.

"Yes, I saw, but think first. Why does he bother to carry a prisoner when he could have just shot her?"

I opened my mouth to protest but couldn't. All words stopped the instant I realized that what the Captain said was completely logical. Ryn was a prisoner in an emergency escape. The only reason she would be worth carrying, was if she was more valuable than I'd thought.

More guards appeared and pushed Tarin and I forward. Luckily my feet found their strength again. Through the rough forest terrain we trekked, away from the gunfire, and away from our rescuers. 

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