Welcome to the Jungle

Chapter 6: Bangarang!

Kara was very hungry as she knew others must be as well, though no one had said a word. Thanks to Mike's calculator wrist watch, she knew it had been a day since Barry and Eve had returned without a scratch on them, only a little shaken. They told Kara and Mike about the ransom and that in a day something will happen. The anticipation had caused food not to have any priority. Mike had tried to convince them to come up with an escape plan, but Barry was hopeful that the Park's security team would come to their aid sooner or later and decided it was best if they didn't do anything risky. They barely talked anymore after that. Drifting between awakens and sleep, Just waiting.

The door finally opened again, showing their triplet masked jailers. They pointed their rifles at them, forcing them up to their feet and leave the room. They walked in a line down the short corridor that reached the lab. There they met Maxwell Lord's not to happy face, watching the work of another man – Brainy, Kara assumed – who was typing vigorously. He was shorter than Max, with wild white hair and a skin as pale as if it had never seen the sun. He looked more like a ghost. Ghost of a person struck by lightning to be more precise.

"The money has been wired fully. According to my calculations, there shouldn't be any unforeseen loopholes to withdraw it." Brainy stated very fast.

They all clearly heard the sound of a helicopter approaching. "They're here." Lord clapped his hand and motioned to one of his disciples who pushed Barry and Eve to move towards the exit. He then turned his head to the other two cohorts and ordered. "Get them ready."

From somewhere, they had found a shirt with the park's logo on it and forced Mike wearing it. Obviously, it wouldn't look appeasing for them if his wounds were on display. Under the threat of the barrels of the guns, Kara and Mike got tied to the same chairs Barry and Eve had been, facing a camera with their mouths shut by wide tapes.

They couldn't do anything but listen to the sounds and muffled conversation coming from the outside. It was hard to understand what was happening. Most likely the DNA samples had been traded with Barry and Eve's freedom. It didn't take long until Max returned, carrying a big silver suitcase. Brainy came to stand behind the camera and pushed a button that caused a red dot next to the lens to turn on, showing that they were on the air.

"I see we understand each other perfectly now. It wasn't that hard, was it?" Lord spoke brightly to the invisible audience. "And now we can move to the second part with these two unfortunate wanderers who came knocking on my door. I call it fate." He laughed like a psychopath. "Let's make another trade. I want a chopper landed on the west side of the Stegosaurus sanctuary in two hours and I will let this man go right here." He pointed at Mike who was giving him death glares. "And when I get to a safe place, you can come pick her up." He nodded towards Kara.

Kara's heart dropped in apprehension once again. They were going to separate them and she didn't want that at all. She turned her head and met Mike's equally worried eyes. They refused to look away from each other through the rest of the recording and held their gaze on one another.

***

Alex looked over the beautiful green scenery stretched in every direction with a heavy heart. She had an almost confirmation where Kara was thanks to Winn's skills in infiltrating Maxwell Lord's perfect firewall. He had managed to turn on the lab's computer webcams without Lord noticing.

They hadn't been able to see any of the hostages, however, their conversation had occasionally included their plans for four people. The other unknown two being a man and a woman, Alex just knew they had to be her sister and Mike Matthews. After a heated discussion with director Jones and proving her more than sufficient capability to deal with hostage situations as an FBI agent, Alex was chosen to be the person who would deliver the ransom.