A new beginning

Chapter 3

The next morning I woke up to Maisie throwing a pillow at me.

" Oy!" I said.

Maisie just laughed.

I soon got up and got ready. I left the quarters and bumped into Ollie. "

We're helping out 2 section, there going to the local hospital on a medical mission." He said.

"Okay" I replied.

We soon all piled into the back of the van and set off. It was chaotic when we arrived. There were so many people in need of medical help. I tried to help a kid who was throwing up, but ended up with sick all down me. I ended up getting changed into scrubs and instead, I started helping setting up beds and tents when the sound of bullets rung through the tent. Shit, I thought. It was just me and Georgie, along with a handful of patients.

Footsteps closed in on our tent. 5 men entered all holding rifles pointed at us.

"Take the medics!" He ordered.

And 2 men came and grabbed both me and Georgie. A blindfold was placed over my eyes and I was thrown into a van, with my hands bound. Great, I thought. I could hear the heavy breathing of someone next to me, and I assume it was Georgie.

The vehicle stopped and the men got out of the truck and pulled me out to my feet. They dragged me to a cell and threw me down. I was still blindfolded. I then felt the weight of something on top of me as, who I assumed was Georgie, was thrown on top of me. I could hear the creak of the door close as the footsteps faded away.

Georgie fumbled off of me and I began removing my blindfold. The cell was small. I sat in the corner and just thought about the situation. Georgie's voice broke the silence.

"What do we do?" She asked.

"We need to hide our dog tags" I replied.

I pulled mine off, handing it to Georgie, whilst I began to dig a hole. I looked up as Georgie traced the imprint of my name with her finger. She looked up at me in shock.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Katharine Evie Valentine" she read.

"Yeah?" I replied confused.

"I- your.... That's your name?" She asked.

I nodded, confused.

"Hand me the tags," I said.

She removed the tags from around her head and handed me both mine and hers. I buried them in separate holes.

"Done" I said.

The afternoon began to draw to a close, as the sun began to set. I soon fell asleep.

As the next day began, I awoke to Georgie squeezing my hand.

"You alright?" She asked me.

"Yeah, you?" I replied.

She nodded.

The day was pretty static and we just sat mainly in silence. My mouth was so dry and I was starving, but there wasn't much I could do about that.

Georgie broke the silence.

"Do you ever think about your family?" She asked.

I looked up, meeting her eyes.

"Sorry, sorry I shouldn't have asked that" she said.

"No, it's alright" I replied, "when I was little I used to think about them a lot, you know? I wondered who they were and why'd they give me up and what were they doing now, and things like that."

I paused for a second, "and then I- I grew to hate them, like who would just abandon there child like that?"

"Maybe they had a good reason" Georgie countered.

"What's s good reason for abandoning a child?" I asked.

"Maybe they couldn't look after them properly, or it was best for everyone" she said.

"I don't know," I started, "maybe it was me, I wasn't good enough for them."

"You were just a baby Katie," she said, "what could you have possibly have done wrong?"

Just then one of the Taliban soldiers appeared outside of the cell.

"No talking!" He said.

He moved over to the door and opened it.

"You come with me!" He said, pointing his gun at Georgie.

She slowly got up, panic spread across her face and was pulled out of the cell by the man. I watched as they took her into a building opposite. No one was about. This was my chance I thought to myself. Using a hair clip, I managed to unlock the door and I quietly entered the building adjacent. Inside was a sort of office. I grabbed a tv controller and took a quick look around. I heard voices and quickly left. I made it back to the cell and sat in the corner. About 10 minutes passed before they brought back Georgie. She looked okay, and was pushed back into the cell.

"Where'd they take you?" I asked her.

"To shoot a video" she said, "there using us as ransom to release there soldiers."

I got the controller out of my pocket and attached the drawstring of my scrubs around it.

"Let me know if someone's coming" I said.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Just keep an eye out" I said.

I squatted down and jumped, as high as I could, grabbing on to the metal bars above us. I pulled myself up, and swung the device around. After a couple of minutes I pulled myself back down.

I began digging a hole and hid the device. I then sat in the corner and let my eyes begin to close.