Hole'd Up

Chapter 2: A Cinnamon Twist

My phone hitting the ground was the only sound to be heard for the next few minutes, before Zack decided to ask the stupidest question ever uttered to a robber:

"What do you want? Money?"

I gave Zack a dirty glare. "No idiot, they want a donut- yes of course they want the money!"

"Be quiet or I'll make you, you little brat." the man threatened, turning his gun so it was only pointed at me. "Open the register"

Zack and I shared a look. With hesitation, I motioned for Zack to open the register. The female robber walked over to us and stuffed the money into her pockets. Once she was done, she went back to the guy's side and whispered in his ear. They glanced in my direction then back at each other, before nodding and giving us their full attention.

This time, the woman spoke, "Are your eyes natural?"

Assuming she meant me, I scoffed, "Why would I take the time to put in colored contacts when all I'm doing today is going to work and getting robbed?" 

They glanced at each other again, and I could see amusement in the woman's eyes. "Is there anything valuable in the back?" She gestured to the door behind us. 

I started to say no, but Zack cut me off. "There's a tv and a vending machine, but neither are very expensive."

With this new information, the woman pulled a folded-up trashbag out of her pocket and shook it open, heading towards the door leading to the break room. I stiffened as she walked by us, swinging the door open with one big kick.

I looked back to Zack only to be greeted with the sight of him crying. I turned my head to face him, hissing, "Stop crying, don't show them that you're scared." 

"Too late for that, kid." the male robber replied. About a minute of silence passed before he spoke again. "You guys like working here?"

Zack and I sighed. "They don't pay us enough for this shit," Zack replied wearily.

"Yeah, that's why we're so willing to hand over our meager earnings," I replied snarkily

"I like your spunk kid, ever thought about joining a gang?"

It seemed like a really random question at the time, and I honestly don't know why it took me so long to put everything together, so I didn't really register the question. Instead, as a coping mechanism for my crippling fear, I replied with a sarcastic comment. "Of course, because the thought of going to jail at the benefit of some larger hierarchy is sooo appealing to me."

"Well, looks like you aren't going to have much a choice, huh?"

I started to say, "What do you mean?" but got cut off by Zack yelling, "Harley, watch out!" and before I knew it, there was a bag over my head. I'm still not sure exactly how she did it, but I assume the female robber didn't actually pick anything up from the back and instead waited until my guard was down to cover my head and shoulders with the bag she had brought. I guess I was more appealing than the TV back there that was made in 2006.

"Hey, what's going on? Stop! Let me go!" I thrashed around, trying to free myself, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, and then nothing.

.

.

.

When I came too, I was disoriented, but quickly came to realize that I was in a moving vehicle. I was honestly hoping it was a white van, just for the cliche. Trying to become familiar with my surroundings, I tried to lift my arms and quickly learned that they were tied behind me with something. It sort of felt like duct tape. This realization led me to discover that my mouth and feet were also bound with duct tape. Ok, well, shit. There goes plan A. I quickly scanned the back of this vehicle for something I could cut my restraints with, but it was pretty dark, so my efforts were mainly in vain. I didn't see Zack anywhere, which was arguably the most confusing part of all. Why did the robbers only want me? Just as I was about to give up, I heard some muffled conversation coming from the front seat.