Dangerous Love (ONC 2019 - LGBTQ)

7. Forest

☆ Dedicated to sofeeah_dee and her story "Sips of Danger" - she chose the same prompt as me for the ONC 2019 but featuring two women instead of two men! ☆

Cascade Forest – present time

As suddenly as it had started, the screaming stopped, cut off in mid-breath. The sudden silence was almost even more worrying. Patrick tried to prepare himself for the worst. Surely it had to be more than someone having a nightmare or even an unexpected visit from one of the forest's six legged spidants. Had there been an accident?

He saw a shadow on the wall of his tent in the last second before he scrambled out. Before he could get to his feet, his arms were grabbed and twisted up painfully behind his back, hauling him upright. His 'com was wrenched off his wrist.

"What the-?" Patrick managed two words before a hand slammed roughly over his mouth.

"Shut the fuck up!" hissed a male voice in his left ear. "There's a neural disruptor pressing into your spine. I suggest you keep perfectly still if you want to keep your legs."

Patrick could feel something prodding the middle of his back and froze, while a second assailant tied his arms tightly together, and knotted a cord around his ankles so that he could only shuffle a few centimetres at a time. Then the first man hoisted him over one shoulder, as if he were nothing, and carried him over to the other side of the camp. He dropped him unceremoniously on the ground.

Patrick lay where he'd fallen, breathing hard. Small sticks were pricking into his side, and he wondered whether it was safe to move yet. What the hell was happening?

He heard a groan to his left and the short, breathy sounds of someone trying not to hyperventilate. He peered into the darkness and could just make out several shapes huddled on the ground. The faint light coming from the hygiene unit behind made it hard to identify any individuals, but he was pretty sure they were the rest of his tour group, dragged from their tents. He tried to count them off. The two small shapes had to be Katy and Pieter, but there were four larger ones, which could be any of the adults. Only four. So that meant two of his group were missing, but which two?

"Where the fuck are they?" The muttered cursing reached his ears from the far side of the camp. "They can't have gone far!"

Cautiously, Patrick raised his head. All the tents and their contents had been scattered on the ground and two men stood in the centre of the mess, peering into the forest. Crashing sounds indicated that one, or possibly two, others were searching beyond the campsite. A light flashed between the trees.

"Is everyone all right, here?" asked Patrick in a soft voice, taking advantage of the assailants' distraction. "Anyone hurt?"

"We're fine," came Hetha's low reply. "They tied our wrists and took our 'coms but that's all. I find men often tend to underestimate older women," she added. "Lisa's free already and I'm almost... aah. That's got it. Do you know who these men are? What they want?"

But before Patrick could answer, Serra Jons interrupted. "They hit Carl!" she gasped, her breath catching. "Two men broke into our tent... Carl tried to protect me and they hit him!" Her voice got shriller with every word.

Well that explains the groaning, thought Patrick. And the screaming, for that matter. So that means it's the two boys who are missing, Georg and Rik.

Alarmed by Serra Jons' rising tones, one of the men turned in their direction.

"Shut up, you stupid woman, or I'll put a gag on you!" he hissed, angrily.

Katy began to cry and Pieter was making gulping sounds as if he wouldn't be far behind.

The other intruder added in calmer tones, "Stay quiet and don't make any trouble, and no-one will get hurt. We'll be gone as soon as we get what we came for."

"Serra Jons? Beth?" whispered Patrick. "I know tonight has been frightening, but you need to be brave for the children's sake. They said they're not going to hurt us, let's all just try and stay as calm as possible."

"But what do they want?" whispered Beth Jons, tearfully. "We're not carrying anything valuable. We're not rich."

Patrick shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm guessing it's something the two boys have. Otherwise they wouldn't be searching for them." He didn't know whether to hope the boys had got away, or whether to wish they'd turn up so that they could give the intruders whatever it was they wanted, and they could all relax.

"Quiet, I said!" ordered the angry assailant. "I'll stun the lot of you if anyone makes another sound."

~~~

Rik had been standing outside the hygiene unit, waiting for Georg to finish, when he heard the footsteps. His first thought was that someone else had left their tent and was heading for the hygiene unit. "Hurry up, Georg, we've got company," he whispered.

Georg opened the door and hurried out, just as Rik realised there were too many footsteps. Something wasn't right. Without making a conscious decision, he pulled Georg back away from the light, against the side of the unit. Now he could see at least four people moving stealthily through the campsite, all of them fully dressed. Strangers.

Two of them vanished into one of the tents. A second later, Serra Jons' screams rent the air, raising the hairs on the back of his neck. Rik hesitated, torn between his instinct to rush to her rescue and his responsibility to stay and protect his young brother. Metal glinted in the hand of one of the intruders. That settled it. There was no way he was skilled or strong enough to tackle armed men, especially wearing nothing but his sleeping shorts.

His brain raced, adrenaline pumping. There was nothing he or Georg could do at the moment to help the rest of the group, except... He remembered the lecture his father had given him when he received his adult wristcom on his eighteenth birthday. "The emergency signal is for life threatening situations only. Not for lifts home or bailing you out of trouble. Misuse is a criminal offence. Not to mention if you ever use it without just cause, you'll be back on a child's 'com until you're twenty-one. Clear?"

Rik hesitated. He didn't want to call the Emergency Response Unit for a simple robbery, but it was reassuring to know that he had the option there if he needed it. Maybe he'd hold off a little longer. Right now, the best thing he and Georg could do was to hide in the forest and wait for the men to leave. Luckily, the two of them were wearing their boots for the walk across to the unit.

"Run!" he told Georg. "Down the path we came up, as fast as you can. I'll be right behind you!"