Chapter ten

Martin knew that this was coming. After all, why would they take two FBI agents to their whore house where they force abducted woman to work for free? He wrapped his arm around Samantha. She mimicked his action. He leaned in and whispered, "We are going to get out of this."

Samantha shook her head as if she was trying to convince herself of Martin's statement.

Charlie pointed his pointer finger in between Martin and Samantha. "There is something going on with you two," he said. He shrugged his shoulders and gave a throaty laugh. "Looks like you two are going to die together."

Martin and Samantha gave each other worried glances. They squeezed each other's hands tighter before moving closer to each other. Samantha rested her head against Martin's shoulder while Martin rested his cheek atop of Samantha's head.

The couple looked to the wind shield. The van was headed down a dirt road straight in to the woods surrounded by nothing but miles and miles of trees. They ventured deeper and deeper in to the woods to the point where the trees reflected all of the sunlight.

The van rolled to a stop.

Charlie pointed to Samantha. "Ladies first," he sang.

Samantha didn't budge. Instead she twisted her torso so that she had better access to Martin. She wrapped her arms tight around Martin and scooted her body towards her.

Martin reiterated Samantha's gesture and clasped his hands around her waist. Tears ran down Martin's face as Charlie grabbed Samantha forcefully and pulled her away from Martin's reach.

Samantha began to scream at the top of her lungs. Tears sprang to her eyes; they weren't afraid to fall. She began to reach around and scratch at Charlie. When that didn't work, she reached for Martin.

Martin lunged after Samantha. He grabbed onto her wrist and pulled. Samantha wrapped her arms around Martin's shoulders as Charlie desperately tried to pry her.

"Just kill her now," the man in the passenger's seat said.

"I can't get blood in here. They will definitely know we did it," Charlie reasoned.

The third man that sat in the back of the van with Samantha, Martin, and Charlie watched bemusedly. Finally, he grew annoyed of the agents' behavior, so he grabbed his gun and held it to Martin's head stopping Samantha and Martin in their tracks. "Go with Charlie," he told Samantha, "or he's dead."

Samantha immediately stopped struggling and allowed Charlie to take her. She was doomed; she knew that, but maybe Martin could still escape. Samantha took one last glance at Martin through watery eyes. He too had tears beaming in his eyes. He sat on the floor with a gun to his head. He watched helplessly as the old man drug Samantha away. She smiled at him as if telling him that everything was alright. She mouthed, "Good bye," as she disappeared in to the woods.

Charlie was forced to drag Samantha through the woods. He led her in to the woods a decent distance from the van. He had her stand still and forced her to look at him. He stepped a few feet away from Samantha and pointed a gun at her. He smiled at Samantha and winked.

The last few tears escaped Samantha's eyes before she closed her eyes. She winced when she heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot ring through her ears.

It was silent, dead silent. Then Martin jumped when he heard the gunshot. The tears stopped pouring from his eyes when he heard it. He thought about Samantha lying on the ground with a bullet in her chest. He pictured her eyes wide open as the last breath escaped her lips. He immediately started crying again. He had lost her, and it was his turn.

The man with the gun to Martin's head smiled. "That was your girlfriend dying; you're next."

Martin felt guilty. Maybe he should have tried something. But it was two of them against four of them, and they all had guns. They would have lost. At least they would have died knowing they fought.

Charlie appeared in the open door with a smile on his face.

Deep down, Martin hoped that Samantha was alive, but when he saw Charlie's lit face, all hope died. He stopped crying as he willingly followed Charlie. At least he wouldn't live with the pain and the guilt.

Martin could see Samantha's lifeless body lying on the dirt. She was lying on her stomach with her arms sprawled out above her head. Her legs were straight. Blood came out of from underneath her body. Martin began crying again. He had envisioned this, but actually seeing it was unbearable. He ran over to her and leaned down beside her. He began circling his hand over her back. He stared down at her lifeless body. Tears ran down his cheeks and landed on Samantha.

Charlie ran over to Martin and grabbed him by the shoulder. He pushed him away from Samantha. "Grow up," he said shallowly. He pointed the gun to Martin. His finger was about the press the trigger when he fell. The gun flew from his hand.

Martin looked up. The tears immediately dried. Samantha was sitting on the ground. She had kicked the back of Charlie's knees causing the old man's legs to give away. He picked up the gun and ran to Samantha's side. He looked down at her arm. Blood was pouring from it. "Are you okay?" he asked. He knew that question was stupid.

Samantha was in agony. It wasn't a secret. He grabbed onto Martin's shirt. "Yeah," she breathed. "It just grazed me."

Although Samantha was hurt and bleeding, there wasn't an immediate threat. There wasn't a bullet roaming around in her body. Martin felt relief wash over him. Thank God that Charlie can't hit his target. He grabbed her and carefully lifted her up to her feet.

Charlie got up off of his feet and stared at Samantha with anger. "You're alive," he breathed. "Well we can fix that," he said charging after Samantha.

Samantha jumped. She wasn't up for a fight, but she would do what she had to. Then she heard the sound of a gunshot recherché off of the trees and in to her ears. She watched as Charlie fell to the ground clutching his chest. Blood covered his hands.

The cock of a gun filled their ears. Samantha and Martin turned around to see a gun pointed at their heads. Their mouths were wide open with fear. Their hands immediately shot up after each other's hand, squeezing.