The Hanging Tree

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EVEN THOUGH DREW DESPERATELY needed sleep, it just didn't seem to be happening. He lay staring at the grimy tent ceiling for two hours straight. The only thing that came out of it was the thought that he needed a plan - something which he already knew. His captors, frustratingly, always seemed to have the upper hand. So, he concluded while they began to journey up the mountain once more, he needed to figure out how to get one step ahead of them. Although, concentrating on that was going to be hard while lugging Nancy up the steady slope. Apparently his captors could opt out of carrying the damage they caused.

Gunnar was supporting Jess, who could barely walk. Her body was weak and her mind was even weaker. There was always the possibility of brain damage. They wouldn't know until they got out of this - if they got out of this. No, Drew lamely attempted to convince himself. Don't think like that. We're going to make it out of here. But he knew, in the back of his mind, there was no escaping this.

He wanted to argue; he wanted to scream. There had to be a way out. There had to. Drew always found a way. That was what he did to cope. He found ways to stop robberies, locate lost items, and outsmart thieves back at home. So why couldn't he figure this out? It seemed simple enough. Figure out their master plan. Unveil it to the public.

That was it, Drew realized. The key was to find the perfect escape route. The turning point. The question was, how? They were pretty high up in the mountains. It wasn't like they could sprint home in five minutes. Drew had to outfox the foxes. And it was almost guaranteed that they would win. They obviously had the upper-hand.

And even if he did manage to come up with a plan (assuming the others went along with it) their lives depended on him - Drew wasn't sure that he was ready to take on that responsibility. Though the more he thought about it, the whole situation was kind of lose-lose. Maybe he could get the others to contribute in developing the plan - so if it failed, he wouldn't be entirely to blame.

Struggling to catch up to Gunnar (and almost dropping Nancy in the process), he forced himself into a strained jog. "Hey," He whispered to Gunnar and Jess, who craned their necks to face him. "Tonight. We're making a plan to escape. Got it?"

They both nodded, but Jess was the one to speak up, "What if they catch us?"

"Nothing. We've got to try to get out of here. If we don't, our death is pretty much guaranteed. At least we'll know we tried."

"And failed."

"Okay, you got any better ideas?" Drew challenged, raising an eyebrow. He was getting impatient. Seriously, how long would it take to persuade two people to fight for their own lives? He would've thought that it would take roughly two seconds. For him, that was an easy decision.

"Nope," Gunnar intervened. "We'll do it. We just have to be quiet. Like, extremely quiet. I'm just going to say what everyone's thinking: if we get caught, there will surely be a punishment."

"Alright," Drew concluded. "I'll just go talk to Damian about it. And hopefully Nancy will wake up before then and she can get in on it too."

"Are you sure she's going to wake up?" Jess asked bluntly.

No. "Yeah, it'll be fine. I'm just gonna go catch up to Damian now." Drew rushed out and sought out the fifth captive. He was at the front of the group, sulking - like always. Drew wondered how long he was going to keep parading around that bad boy facade. It didn't exactly make him likable.

Drew glanced down, registering the fact that he was practically dragging Nancy across the ground now. Maybe he would ask Damian to carry her when he told him about his plan to - well, make a plan. He proceeded to drag her along the ten foot walk to Damian. His arms felt like they were about to fall off. He made a mental note to never go hiking while carrying someone.