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The Rangers pulled up to an old apartment building right on the edge of the city. They rushed in with their lasers out, ready for any traps that could be lying in wait. Sky led the way, although he really was not sure where he was going. It was as if something was pulling him in the right direction. They went down into the basement and there they found a door. Sky opened it and saw it led down to even more stairs. The Rangers all made their way down the rusted steps and through a long corridor. The corridor led to a wider area that was pitch black. The Rangers got out lights and shined it around. In front of them there was an open door and when they got in, they saw they were in the right place. It was hard to see, but they were in a large room and in the center towards the back was a strange contraption suspending the Green Ranger.
Sky ran up to Bridge, not shining his light on the rest of the room.
Jack followed yelling behind him. "Find some lights!" He stopped before he could reach Bridge. "Is he?"
Sky said nothing as he approached Bridge, knowing that they may have been too late.
Z began to look around until she saw a breaker on the other end of the room. She ran up to it and flipped the main switch turning on the overhead lights. Before Z could look, she heard Syd gasp.
When the lights turned on, Bridge flinched just enough to show Sky he was not dead. "He's alive!"
Sky turned to look at the others, but saw the room before him. There was shattered glass and blood all over the floor surrounding the psycho that took Bridge. Z was there now, and could not stop staring at the man. Jack bent down to check his pulse, even though he knew the result.
"He's dead."
Syd looked around the area. "How?"
Sky looked at Bridge. "I think I might know how."
Everyone stared at Bridge for a moment trying to understand what had happened there, then Jack snapped them all back.
"We need to get him down."
Z spotted a crank on the side of the structure holding Bridge. She turned it slowly until Bridge was lowered down.
"Bridge?" Sky could see his friend was still conscious.
Bridge moaned a little, but would not open his eyes.
"We're gonna get you out of here, okay." Sky looked at the strange restraints holding him, and was about to try to pull them when Syd stopped him.
"Wait!"
Sky looked at her with panicked eyes. "What?"
Syd came closer. "Look at his wrists and neck, the blood is evenly spaced…I think the restraints are attached to him."
Sky looked closer and saw that Syd was right. The wires running to each restraint seemed to be attached in the same place as where the metal was poking in his skin. Sky realized the only way to take them off was to unscrew them from Bridge.
"On the table." Bridge's voice was hoarse and quiet, but caught Sky's attention.
Sky got up and looked at the table behind them. There was a small pile of tools, one of which looked like the socket wrench needed to get Bridge undone.
"Sky should you do that?" Z was worried undoing the restraints would hurt Bridge more.
"We have to get him out of this thing, so yeah, I am." Sky's hands shook a little as he put the wrench up to the first bolt. "I'm sorry buddy."
Sky began to unscrew the metal prongs sticking into Bridge's wrist. Pained whimpers sounded from the Green Ranger, and his face scrunched up. The others watched in horror as Sky undid the bolts. He hated hurting Bridge, but it was the only way to get him out of there. There seemed to be only two bolts screwed in on each wrist and ankle. When he finished unscrewing the first one, he had to snap the latch open to release the restraint. There were two long thin prongs that screwed, along with four smaller prongs that dug into the skin; all were connected by wire. His wrist were rubbed raw, and slightly burnt from the electricity. There was a lot of blood, so Z ran to find something to cover the wounds with.
The first restraint was hard for Sky to remove, mentally more than physically. He was not sure if he could do the others, but he knew he had to. Bridge took a deep breath as if he was preparing himself for the rest. Sky too took a deep breath and set to unscrewing the next restraint. After he had finished he had to move on to his ankles which had the same mechanism as the wrists. Sky could tell the ankle restraints hurt more, which made it even harder to do. Once Sky had all four restraints off, he looked at Bridge's neck.
"Let's get him back, and then we can give him something before we take that off." Sky did not want to cause his friend anymore pain.
Jack nodded as he jumped in to help haul Bridge up. No one liked to hear the pained sounds he made under his breath. They knew from the moment they saw him, Bridge would not be able to move on his own, so the Red and Blue Rangers grabbed an arm and carried their limp comrade to the exit. Z led the way out, while Syd stayed in back just in case there were any more surprises. Once they got back to the apartment building they were able to bring Bridge outside. When the sun touched his face, Bridge gave the most movement he had since they found him by attempting to pull away from the two holding him.
When Bridge saw the light he panicked. The sun mimicked the lights he had been under for what seemed like days. He hoped he had not fantasized the demise of his captor, and the rescue he was undergoing. Bridge was waiting for the electricity to course through him again. The voices of his friends were telling him everything would be alright, and he needed to stop struggling. There was no shock, so Bridge could only believe what was happening was real. He stopped resisting and let his friends get him to the S.W.A.T truck where the lights were not as bright. A blanket was wrapped around him and he began to fall in and out of consciousness.
"It's going to be alright, Bridge." Z held the blanket on her friend while Jack began driving.
Jack called in to the base. "Kat! We found Bridge, but we need a medical team waiting for when we get there…also we need a team sent to retrieve a body. I'm sending the location."
Sky looked at Jack before checking on Bridge. He hated seeing Bridge in such a vulnerable state. The Green Ranger was weak and covered in blood. Sky tried to stop thinking about what he had been through, but every mark was telling him part of the story. Once they got to base, they rushed Bridge inside to meet the medical team waiting. Dr. Felix spoke to the Rangers as the others took Bridge to the Med Bay.
"If one of you would like to come to fill me in…" He said as he began to move towards the infirmary.
"I'll go." Sky did not let the others get a chance to answer, but they all knew it should be Sky to go. He was the one Bridge contacted, and he was the one who took off the restraints with the socket wrench that now lay inside his pocket.
Sky followed the doctor to where the medical team had taken Bridge.
"We found him restrained to some contraption he was using to electrocute him on, I think at least. There were wires hooked up to cuffs on his wrists and ankles. I had to take them off to get him out, but it's digging in his skin, so I left the one on his neck, but we tried to cover the wounds with what we could find." Sky was flustered now, trying focus enough to give the doctor the information he needed.
Dr. Felix ordered someone to start and IV drip with fluids and a sedative. He began unwrap the cloth the Rangers had put on Bridge's wrists. He directed his team to begin cleaning and redressing the wounds.
"Here." Sky handed Dr. Felix the socket wrench. "You'll need this to get the two screws i-in his skin to get that collar off."
Dr. Felix nodded and set to take off the collar. "Is there anything else of importance I should know?"
Sky's mind went to the dead man on the floor of that place. The man he was certain Bridge was responsible for killing, but that was not the doctor's concern. "No, I don't think so."
"Thank you cadet, I think we can take it from here."
Sky nodded and left to let Dr. Felix get to fixing Bridge. Physically, Sky knew Dr. Felix would do a fine job with making Bridge better, but mentally Sky knew only time would tell. He had no idea what the mental state of his friend was after everything that had happened. He just hoped in time he would be alright. As he walked out of the infirmary he made his way to the Command Center where the team was filling in Commander Crueger on everything that had happened. Jack was almost finished relaying the story when Sky walked in. All the Rangers looked at him with hopes of news.
"Dr. Felix is working on Bridge, I'm not sure how he is yet."
Doggie could see the worried looks in his cadets' eyes. "Not to worry Rangers, Bridge is in good hands. He just needs time to heal. You have all done excellent work today and should rest for a while. As soon as Dr. Felix has updates, you'll be the first to know."
"Yes, Sir." Jack and the others saluted and made their way to the Rec-Room. No one wanted to be too far apart incase anything happened with their friend.
It was not until three hours later Dr. Felix came down to talk to the Rangers with Crueger and Kat by his side. When the Rangers saw him, they all jumped up worried about the fate of the Green Ranger. Everyone waited for the Doctor to speak.
"Cadet Carson is very strong, while he's been through a lot I believe he will recover from his injuries. He was extremely dehydrated, so we'll keep on a fluid IV for a couple of days. Some side effects from the electrocution are showing themselves; he's having small muscle spasms, but nothing to draw too much concern. When I checked for concussion however, I discovered his sensitivity to light. He was partially awake, and when I shined my pen light in his eye he began to struggle."
Sky remembered the shattered flood lights in the room.
"Is he awake?" Z hoped they could see him.
"We had to sedate him again, so not right now, but he will be soon."
"Thank you Doctor." Crueger bowed to him.
One by one, each Ranger took turns sitting with Bridge. All of them thought the same thing; seeing Bridge in such a state of vulnerability was hard. They hated looking at this quiet beaten Bridge. All they wanted was the carefree, funny Bridge that was always there for them. Each Ranger also worried about what Bridge would be like when he woke up. Would he still be him? Or had his time in captivity changed him forever? They hated to think the ladder, but that was a high possibility. All they could do was wait for the Green Ranger to wake up so they could see for themselves how Bridge would respond since his kidnapping.
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AN: Thanks for reading, only one more chapter left!
