The smell of unwashed bodies mingled with the scent of rotting feces in the trailer of the hot, stuffy truck was overpowering. Isabelle was on the verge of becoming sick, though she held it in. She had to if she wanted to survive the ride. She had seen too many frightened women and children be thrown from the moving vehicle for causing too many problems for the vicious men driving the truck. She clutched at the two tiny bodies that were snuggled up against hers tighter at the thought of either one of them being tossed.
The trailer of the truck suddenly quaked violently, sending women and children flying around the tiny cramped space, bringing Isabelle out of her tragic thoughts of her kid's futures. One of the younger girls of the group, no older than 17, cried out loudly in pain as she hit the side of the metal wall. Immediately the truck screeched to a halt, and the entire trailer became silent. No one dared to breathe as they waited for any signs of them.
Suddenly, a blinding light sprang from the opened door frame of the truck, followed by a loud bang that rang out as the rolling metal door hit the ceiling. Shrinking away from the harsh sun light, Isabelle hovered over her boys protectively, moving away from the horrible people that entered their vicinity. With her eyes squeezed shut, silently praying for them to leave, she could hear the angrily heavy footsteps of one of the men.
"We told you to shut your fucking mouths, didn't we?!" He growled between his teeth, clearly pissed about the noise that was made.
The young girl who had let out the cry whimpered in fear. "I.. I'm so sorry sir, I didn't mean to. I was just caught off guard, that's all!" The fear was thick in her trembling voice.
The man grinned slyly. "Too bad, we've had enough." He grunted.
A loud screech rang out from the other side of the metal box, forcing Isabelle's eyes wide open. The man, tall, about 35, thick shouldered and a rat's nest for hair, had grabbed a fist full of the young girl's hair, and was starting to drag her towards the open doorway. Isabelle felt sick to her stomach at the sight. Another soul would be lost, yet again. She couldn't stand to see another woman shoved out into the cruel world, a world even crueler than the one they lived in now. She had heard the stories of the Apocalypse that was upon them, mere gossip among the women that were recently picked up from looted campsites. She would not allow this man to end that girl's life like that. She was not going to cower in fear any longer. She was through being afraid.
"Stop," Isabelle whispered through her rough cracked lips, but the evil man couldn't hear her feeble plea over the young girl's shrieks. "Stop," She said a little louder, her voice beginning to find itself after years of being lost in the darkness. Heads began to turn towards her and the eyes she met stared at her in awe, but also in fright. They knew what happened to those who disobeyed. "Stop. Stop! Stop it, NOW." She yelled as loud as her vocal cords would allow, and stood up on wobbly, thin legs. By this point, the captor had turned to her, and the girl he had a hold of had quieted her shrill screams into silent tears. They were all looking at her now; all waiting.
"What did you say?" he said, his jaw clenched tightly. Though it sounded calm, disbelief and rage filled his voice. His eyes burned holes of pure hatred through her body.
"I said, stop," she murmured evenly, though her voice broke at the very end. "It's not her fault that you ran over that pot hole." Tiny gasps of astonished women filled the air, and the man instantly dropped the girl he was dragging, and began to stalk quickly over to where she was standing. She could see the actual fire that burned behind his eyes and it was steadily growing.
Bad idea, completely bad idea Isabelle. She mentally cursed herself, cowering away as he came closer, inches away from her body.
"I'm so sick of all of your shit, but especially yours," he breathed, leaning down to roughly grab hold of her thin wrist. "You've been causing trouble ever since day one. And you know what? I'm done dealing with it, you little bitch." He yanked her violently away from the space she called home for the past couple months, away from her friends, and away from her boys. She heard a loud pop as the man pulled her arm again, followed by a shooting pain which raced down the length of her arm. She let out a small yelp, only to make him more furious than before. He continued to jerk her towards the door of the truck, leaving everything she had behind. She finally realized that her kids, her whole entire world, would not be coming with her. She became frantic, calling out for them.
"No, NO!" She screeched. "My kids!" The man grunted against her struggles, and quickly wrapped his arm around her waist, roughly flinging her onto his shoulder. Her fists pounded his thick back to no avail. She didn't have the strength to fight off her attacker, she never did.
"Please! Please, just let me have my babies! Let me take them with me!" Isabelle pleaded, becoming more and more hysterical with every footstep closing the distance between them and the open door way.
"I don't think so. You've been a bad, bad girl." The man sneered. As the tears kept flowing down her cheeks like never ending rivers, she began to plead once again, but this time to the women in the truck sadly watching her scene.
"Watch my babies. Please! Keep them safe!" She cried out, hoping to God that they would help. Her boys were all she had left to live for. Slowly the others began to nod, including the young girl whose loud cries had started this whole mess, her eyes thanked her silently for saving her life. A tiny bit of relief washed over her, until the man stopped. He had finally reached the door.
"Out you go." The man carelessly tossed her body effortlessly into the empty street. She landed on her side with a grunt, the air suddenly being forced from her lungs at the impact. After a moment, her hands began to sting from the gravel that had ripped the skin open. Isabelle quickly looked up to see the truck door slam shut loudly for the last time. The man had hopped out after throwing her from the truck, and was making his way quickly to the cab. "Let's see if you can survive out in the real world, bitch." He called to her, laughing menacingly to himself. The truck roared to life once again as soon as his door had closed, and fled down the road, leaving Isabelle in the dust all alone. More tears began to flow yet again, though not because of the immense amount of pain she felt, but because of the fading image of the beat up gray truck carrying her children.
After a few minutes of lying on the hard gravel ground, mourning for her lost boys, she finally stood up and brushed the dust off of herself. She winced as sharp knife like pain shot through her arm that had been dislocated. "Yeah, that isn't good." She told herself. "Perfect." Other than her arm, and some scrapes and bruises, she was in pretty good shape considering what she had done. He could have killed her if he wanted to.
Finally she began to glance around, and take in her surroundings, which were strangely familiar. Her forehead creased as she gazed up at the towering sky scrapers. Where have I seen these before? She wondered, trying to pinpoint the memories. Those men never took us out anywhere. We were always locked up. She looked around the empty, yet littered city streets, looking for any clues as to where she was. A few yards away from her was a good sized billboard, although it was blackened and charred from a fire. She squinted, and gasped softly as she read it. "Welcome to Atlanta, Georgia!" the sign said cheerfully. She understood now. That was why everything looked so familiar. She was home. After 9 years of being held captive, Isabelle had finally come home.