1
"The only way to really escape from it all, is to go to a place, where no-one is really eager to follow you. A lot of regions in the world probably apply to this. But there's one country that's not on the top of everyone's list: Albania". Macgyver sets up his camp in a forest in Northern Albania. The area is rough and desolate. Clouds hide the view of the dramatic chalk mountain peaks, which are covered by moss, grass and at their feet, by conifers. "One thing I like about silence is that no-one can talk me into anything.", Macgyver thinks, while he lights the fire and places a kettle filled with water above it. "This should do just fine.". He pats the trunk, which serves as the roof for his shelter. Its completely covered with branches and leaves to prevent the rain from seeping in. He reaches inside his shelter for his bag and takes out a book. "Always travel light so you'll have room for the jewels in life.". After he adjusted the kettle he positions himself in front of the fire, tucks his head deeper in his collar and is soon preoccupied reading.
Hissing sounds escape from the campfire when raindrops fall down. Macgyver wakes up from his reading and looks disturbed at the sky. "Why now?", he argues with the gray sky. "I better continue reading in my shelter.". As he gets up he hears a gunshot nearby. Alarmed by the shot he turns into the direction the sound appeared to have come from. "People!", he thinks, "Hunters? Didn't sound like an ordinary hunting riffle to me.". Slowly he moves a few steps into the woods and searches for evidence of people near his camp. "Nothing. I'll have to check this out. Although something inside me tells me to stay put and go to bed.". After putting his book into his bag he walks quickly through the forest, looking carefully around him. A few hundred meters outside his camp, he stumbles on a abandoned mine. The heavy, iron doors are wide open and the voice of a man is coming from the shaft. Macgyver moves closer in order to hear what the man is saying. Another gunshot is fired and the sound echoes its way out of the mine. For a moment Macgyver hesitates. He has another quick look around at the spot he's hiding and than slips to the mine doors. Old barrels and lumps of wood cover him while he moves close to the ground. At the door he carefully listens, but the man has stopped talking. And when he hears no other sounds, he sneaks into the shaft. "Strange.", he murmurs, "This mine looks to have been closed down a long time ago, but I see a room just here and light is coming out of it. Wonder how.". He quietly moves to the open door and peeks into the opening. It turns out to be a storage room. A man lies at the floor and he doesn't seem to move at all. "One man down.", he carefully walks into the room and kneels next to the body. "Too late.", he thinks, "What a waste.". Realizing there is somebody standing behind him, he calmly gets up and turns around.
"Hi.", says Macgyver reserved as he looks at a young woman in front of him. She's casually dressed and her brown eyes pierce right through him from behind her small glasses. She swings a gun straight in Macgyvers face, knocking him out.
"Hi?", she scoffs. "You sneak on me in a mine you're not supposed to be in and you say hi?". She ties a rope around his feet, pulls it through a metal ring in the floor, than up to his wrists. "You're staying here for now friend. I'll have to finish some business here.". After she has tied Macgyver, she turns to the dead body. "And you're going some place else.". She grabs his feet and drags him outside the storage room.
The light is painful to his eyes when Macgyver slowly recovers from the blow on his head. Objects in the room appear hazy and seem to move by themselves.
"Ah, my head", he thinks, "What just happened? And why am I tied down?".
"Who are you?". The woman sits on a box in front of him. She rubs through her dark, short hair.
"The name is Macgyver.", he sighs, "Is this how you get acquainted with everyone you meet?"
"Where are you from and what are you doing here?".
"Oh. No name? Could you at least tell me your name?".
"Don't bother. Just tell me what you do. Especially here in this mine. This isn't exactly a tourist must-see.".
"I heard gunshots. Usually that's a sign of something going on. I'm camping here just a few hundred meters downstream.".
"Yeah. I saw your camp. Not exactly something an amateur would setup. So why don't you tell me the real reason you're here?".
"It's kind of complicated. Lets just say I needed a rest. I'm not here for any specific reason. Just to be on my own, before I return to..., well, to work.".
"You're not very helpful, are you?". Macgyver looks at her and sighs.
"Look. Whatever you're thinking of, forget it. Untie me.".
"You think I'm crazy?", she laughs, "Well. Whatever your business is here, make sure they don't interfere with mine. I'm out of here. Take care.".
"What? Hey! Come back. You're leaving me here like this?". The woman turns back into the storage room and smiles sarcastically. "You look like a man who knows how to get out of this.", and she walks out. "Don't worry", she calls from the shaft, "His friends will come here at some point to see where he is. May be they'll help you out. But I wouldn't count on it.".
Macgyver lays back to the floor and starts checking out the rope that ties him. "Okay, it's done professionally. That asks for other measures.". He looks around the room and notices a cupboard against the wall. He tries to move towards it, but is hold back by the ring in the floor. "Great. She did a good job.". He scans the room for a solution, but the floor is clean. Getting up is hard and he still feels the pain as a result of the blow on his head. After he got up he tries to reach into the back pocket of his utility jacket. "Come on! Where is it?". He finally pulls out a piece of fishing line. Behind his back he's tying a noose in the rope and he hops as close to the cupboard as the rope around his wrist and legs allow him. "Twenty inches? It's worth a try.". He looks over his shoulder while he tries to place the noose around the knob of one of the drawers. "There's got to be something useful in it.", he thinks. The fishing line doesn't want to go over the knob the first few tries, but finally it's stuck around it. "Now pull.". The drawer is yanked out of the cupboard. Cutlery. But the knives look blunt.". Between the cutlery on the floor he sees an old spoon. He turns around and takes the spoon in one of his hands. He manages to bend the spoon a couple of inches and rolls back on his other side. With great effort he pulls his knife out of his trouser pocket onto his leg. "Now focus...". He gently shakes his leg to move the knife into his hand. "Done!". Within seconds he has cut the rope around his wrists. "Now my feet. Okay, that's not bad. I better get out of here, before more people start coming in.".
He has a quick look around outside to confirm there're no other people present. He walks into the forest, back to his camp . "Who is that lady and why would she kill a man in that mine? She's not Albanian I can tell. So what is her business here?". He suddenly stops walking. He sees the young woman is dragging a trunk alongside the stream, not far away from him. She kneels down to cut off the leaves of the trunk.
"There she is!", Macgyver thinks and he approaches here silently.
"Gotcha!", Macgyver cries and he pushes her down to the ground holding her arms at her back. The woman resists strongly, but has to give up.
"May be you want to tell me a little more now?", he says.
"Get off me! Let me go!", she shouts.
"You just killed somebody, knocked me with a gun and I should let you go?". He searches through one of her pockets and pulls out a handgun. "Well. Never let an armed, angry woman go is my motto.", and he throws the gun into the stream. "I'm not letting you go. Last time I ended up with a gun in my face. Remember?".
"Listen.... Macgyver? He deserved it.", she says without showing any remorse.
"Isn't it a bit dangerous to decide over someone's life?".
"You don't understand."
"Obviously not.".
"You don't need to know. Forget it. Move on. Let go.".
"I have a habit of attracting situations, may be it's better when I do know.". The woman sighs and than tries to fight her way out.
"Easy. Easy! Could you at least tell me your name?"
"It's Sarah.".
"Sarah...? Do you have a last name?".
"No I don't. It's just Sarah. Now get off me!".
"Promise me you don't knock me down, or try any tricks?". Sarah nods and turns her face towards the stream.
"Say it.".
"Okay. Okay. I won't try anything.". Macgyver lets go of her arms and steps back from her. He sees Sarah rolling on her back and getting up.
"So. Is this how you treat women in your country?".
"Hey. Don't start with me.", Macgyver says and he slowly waves his hands to calm her down. "Lets just...". A riffle shot ends up in the tree behind them, missing Sarah just.
"Get down!", Macgyver shouts, but he sees that Sarah already took cover in the bushes.
"Great Macgyver! You've thrown away my gun. Any ideas?".
"Do you know these people?".
"They're Asiz's friends and they're the only ones who aren't pleased he's gone.".
"Asiz? Is that the name of the man you killed?".
"Yes. And you don't want to meet his friends. Let's go.". Sarah gets up and wants to run down the path.
"Wait.". Macgyver stops her and pulls her back in the bush. "How many of them are there?".
"I don't know. I guess about five or six.".
"You guess?". Macgyver gazes at her in disbelief, "You shouldn't guess while jumping out towards armed men.".
"If you hadn't disposed of my gun, I could have taken them out. Now where stuck. Thank you very much.".
"You're welcome. And what do you mean by stuck? There must be a way out.".
"The only way to really escape from it all, is to go to a place, where no-one is really eager to follow you. A lot of regions in the world probably apply to this. But there's one country that's not on the top of everyone's list: Albania". Macgyver sets up his camp in a forest in Northern Albania. The area is rough and desolate. Clouds hide the view of the dramatic chalk mountain peaks, which are covered by moss, grass and at their feet, by conifers. "One thing I like about silence is that no-one can talk me into anything.", Macgyver thinks, while he lights the fire and places a kettle filled with water above it. "This should do just fine.". He pats the trunk, which serves as the roof for his shelter. Its completely covered with branches and leaves to prevent the rain from seeping in. He reaches inside his shelter for his bag and takes out a book. "Always travel light so you'll have room for the jewels in life.". After he adjusted the kettle he positions himself in front of the fire, tucks his head deeper in his collar and is soon preoccupied reading.
Hissing sounds escape from the campfire when raindrops fall down. Macgyver wakes up from his reading and looks disturbed at the sky. "Why now?", he argues with the gray sky. "I better continue reading in my shelter.". As he gets up he hears a gunshot nearby. Alarmed by the shot he turns into the direction the sound appeared to have come from. "People!", he thinks, "Hunters? Didn't sound like an ordinary hunting riffle to me.". Slowly he moves a few steps into the woods and searches for evidence of people near his camp. "Nothing. I'll have to check this out. Although something inside me tells me to stay put and go to bed.". After putting his book into his bag he walks quickly through the forest, looking carefully around him. A few hundred meters outside his camp, he stumbles on a abandoned mine. The heavy, iron doors are wide open and the voice of a man is coming from the shaft. Macgyver moves closer in order to hear what the man is saying. Another gunshot is fired and the sound echoes its way out of the mine. For a moment Macgyver hesitates. He has another quick look around at the spot he's hiding and than slips to the mine doors. Old barrels and lumps of wood cover him while he moves close to the ground. At the door he carefully listens, but the man has stopped talking. And when he hears no other sounds, he sneaks into the shaft. "Strange.", he murmurs, "This mine looks to have been closed down a long time ago, but I see a room just here and light is coming out of it. Wonder how.". He quietly moves to the open door and peeks into the opening. It turns out to be a storage room. A man lies at the floor and he doesn't seem to move at all. "One man down.", he carefully walks into the room and kneels next to the body. "Too late.", he thinks, "What a waste.". Realizing there is somebody standing behind him, he calmly gets up and turns around.
"Hi.", says Macgyver reserved as he looks at a young woman in front of him. She's casually dressed and her brown eyes pierce right through him from behind her small glasses. She swings a gun straight in Macgyvers face, knocking him out.
"Hi?", she scoffs. "You sneak on me in a mine you're not supposed to be in and you say hi?". She ties a rope around his feet, pulls it through a metal ring in the floor, than up to his wrists. "You're staying here for now friend. I'll have to finish some business here.". After she has tied Macgyver, she turns to the dead body. "And you're going some place else.". She grabs his feet and drags him outside the storage room.
The light is painful to his eyes when Macgyver slowly recovers from the blow on his head. Objects in the room appear hazy and seem to move by themselves.
"Ah, my head", he thinks, "What just happened? And why am I tied down?".
"Who are you?". The woman sits on a box in front of him. She rubs through her dark, short hair.
"The name is Macgyver.", he sighs, "Is this how you get acquainted with everyone you meet?"
"Where are you from and what are you doing here?".
"Oh. No name? Could you at least tell me your name?".
"Don't bother. Just tell me what you do. Especially here in this mine. This isn't exactly a tourist must-see.".
"I heard gunshots. Usually that's a sign of something going on. I'm camping here just a few hundred meters downstream.".
"Yeah. I saw your camp. Not exactly something an amateur would setup. So why don't you tell me the real reason you're here?".
"It's kind of complicated. Lets just say I needed a rest. I'm not here for any specific reason. Just to be on my own, before I return to..., well, to work.".
"You're not very helpful, are you?". Macgyver looks at her and sighs.
"Look. Whatever you're thinking of, forget it. Untie me.".
"You think I'm crazy?", she laughs, "Well. Whatever your business is here, make sure they don't interfere with mine. I'm out of here. Take care.".
"What? Hey! Come back. You're leaving me here like this?". The woman turns back into the storage room and smiles sarcastically. "You look like a man who knows how to get out of this.", and she walks out. "Don't worry", she calls from the shaft, "His friends will come here at some point to see where he is. May be they'll help you out. But I wouldn't count on it.".
Macgyver lays back to the floor and starts checking out the rope that ties him. "Okay, it's done professionally. That asks for other measures.". He looks around the room and notices a cupboard against the wall. He tries to move towards it, but is hold back by the ring in the floor. "Great. She did a good job.". He scans the room for a solution, but the floor is clean. Getting up is hard and he still feels the pain as a result of the blow on his head. After he got up he tries to reach into the back pocket of his utility jacket. "Come on! Where is it?". He finally pulls out a piece of fishing line. Behind his back he's tying a noose in the rope and he hops as close to the cupboard as the rope around his wrist and legs allow him. "Twenty inches? It's worth a try.". He looks over his shoulder while he tries to place the noose around the knob of one of the drawers. "There's got to be something useful in it.", he thinks. The fishing line doesn't want to go over the knob the first few tries, but finally it's stuck around it. "Now pull.". The drawer is yanked out of the cupboard. Cutlery. But the knives look blunt.". Between the cutlery on the floor he sees an old spoon. He turns around and takes the spoon in one of his hands. He manages to bend the spoon a couple of inches and rolls back on his other side. With great effort he pulls his knife out of his trouser pocket onto his leg. "Now focus...". He gently shakes his leg to move the knife into his hand. "Done!". Within seconds he has cut the rope around his wrists. "Now my feet. Okay, that's not bad. I better get out of here, before more people start coming in.".
He has a quick look around outside to confirm there're no other people present. He walks into the forest, back to his camp . "Who is that lady and why would she kill a man in that mine? She's not Albanian I can tell. So what is her business here?". He suddenly stops walking. He sees the young woman is dragging a trunk alongside the stream, not far away from him. She kneels down to cut off the leaves of the trunk.
"There she is!", Macgyver thinks and he approaches here silently.
"Gotcha!", Macgyver cries and he pushes her down to the ground holding her arms at her back. The woman resists strongly, but has to give up.
"May be you want to tell me a little more now?", he says.
"Get off me! Let me go!", she shouts.
"You just killed somebody, knocked me with a gun and I should let you go?". He searches through one of her pockets and pulls out a handgun. "Well. Never let an armed, angry woman go is my motto.", and he throws the gun into the stream. "I'm not letting you go. Last time I ended up with a gun in my face. Remember?".
"Listen.... Macgyver? He deserved it.", she says without showing any remorse.
"Isn't it a bit dangerous to decide over someone's life?".
"You don't understand."
"Obviously not.".
"You don't need to know. Forget it. Move on. Let go.".
"I have a habit of attracting situations, may be it's better when I do know.". The woman sighs and than tries to fight her way out.
"Easy. Easy! Could you at least tell me your name?"
"It's Sarah.".
"Sarah...? Do you have a last name?".
"No I don't. It's just Sarah. Now get off me!".
"Promise me you don't knock me down, or try any tricks?". Sarah nods and turns her face towards the stream.
"Say it.".
"Okay. Okay. I won't try anything.". Macgyver lets go of her arms and steps back from her. He sees Sarah rolling on her back and getting up.
"So. Is this how you treat women in your country?".
"Hey. Don't start with me.", Macgyver says and he slowly waves his hands to calm her down. "Lets just...". A riffle shot ends up in the tree behind them, missing Sarah just.
"Get down!", Macgyver shouts, but he sees that Sarah already took cover in the bushes.
"Great Macgyver! You've thrown away my gun. Any ideas?".
"Do you know these people?".
"They're Asiz's friends and they're the only ones who aren't pleased he's gone.".
"Asiz? Is that the name of the man you killed?".
"Yes. And you don't want to meet his friends. Let's go.". Sarah gets up and wants to run down the path.
"Wait.". Macgyver stops her and pulls her back in the bush. "How many of them are there?".
"I don't know. I guess about five or six.".
"You guess?". Macgyver gazes at her in disbelief, "You shouldn't guess while jumping out towards armed men.".
"If you hadn't disposed of my gun, I could have taken them out. Now where stuck. Thank you very much.".
"You're welcome. And what do you mean by stuck? There must be a way out.".