Hello again. A short but action-packed chapter awaits! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine. Never has been...
It was no easy task, trying to work the locks off of the contraption that help Reid in place. Ingenious, Hotch thought. The whole thing is so simple, and yet can cause a lot of pain and grief…
Both he and Morgan worked at removing the locks. Once the team had managed to sneak into the encampment, Katie had produced a large crowbar. "You're gonna need this," she'd said before taking Emily by the arm and heading toward a large wooden building. "Be careful."
Careful was an understatement. Though the wood was old, it was as strong as ever, and the locks stubbornly refused to move. Trying to remove them while staying as quiet as possible proved to be a real trick.
"You're all right?" Hotch asked his young colleague, giving him the once-over.
"I'll live," Reid whispered. "How did you…"
"There was one person that knew how to get back here," Morgan began. "She led us here; she's with Prentiss right now getting the girls."
Sure enough, a few minutes later Reid saw the familiar face of Emily Prentiss, along with the four girls and another young woman that looked to be about his age. "Done?" she whispered.
"Just about…" The last lock fell off with a soft clang in the dirt. Everyone held their breath, waiting to see if they'd been heard.
No one moved. No one breathed. Nothing stirred.
"Clear," said the five adults. It took Reid a moment to get his bearings—his legs and arms were numb and uncooperative after being forced into one position for nearly twenty-two hours.
The young woman's eyes danced over the whole of the encampment, only pausing a moment on the large metal pole in the center. On seeing this, her face hardened, and a sad look flashed over her—but only for a moment.
"Come on," she said. "Kites will be up any minute."
Morgan pulled out the pair of shoes from his pack. "Put these on," he whispered to Reid. "You'll need 'em, trust me."
After doing so, the party of nine set out. Hotch had wondered what the shoes had been for, and he now understood—one of the methods of keeping prisoners the Kites used was to take their shoes, leaving their feet exposed to the dangers that lay in the woods. For being somewhat backward, they certainly are clever, he thought.
The young woman led the small caravan, picking her way through the traps and sharp objects up the edge of the ridge and into the elevated treeline. They couldn't move very fast, on account of Reid still needing to get his circulation working again and one of the girls—a fourteen year-old named Elisha—was still recovering from some sort of illness. The two walked together; it seemed the girl didn't feel quite safe unless Reid was nearby.
One of the other girls, a twelve year-old named Carrie, strode along with their guide, trying to help navigate the dangers that lay in the woods. The young woman was grateful for the help, as she admitted to the girl that it had been a long time since she'd done this.
"You got through here?" Carrie asked, somewhat surprised.
"Uh-huh."
"No," Carrie said. "Impossible."
"How so?" The young woman allowed the conversation to continue, though in whispers; they were about half-a mile from the ridge and well out of the Kites' earshot.
"Everyone knows the story," Carrie insisted. "Only one person ever made it out, and she's long gone by now…"
"Thank God for airplanes."
All of a sudden, the girl stopped dead in her tracks. Hotch, who had been watching all this from a few steps away, realized that the young girl looked like she'd just met her idol.
"You're…you're the Campbell girl?" she asked, incredulously.
"Yep. You can call me Katie. But we have to keep moving, okay?"
Carrie didn't have to be told twice. She'd taken all of three steps before she called softly "rope trap."
Sure enough, there was an unsprung rope trap laying before them. Reid watched as his colleagues make quick work of it and continued on.
How many of those things are out here? he thought to himself.
"More than you want to know," said Emily, catching Reid's look. "When they say 'you're not leaving,' they're not kidding."
"Don't I know it," Reid replied.
Suddenly there was a small hail of gunfire that rose up from the wooded valley. "Damn," Katie said. "We've gotta go…"
Moving quickly, the party tried to keep up with the young woman, but she was nearly running out of that spot. "Slow down!" Emily called out, noticing that Reid and Elisha were still moving slowly.
"We slow down, they catch us. They catch us, and things are only gonna be marginally better for you, ma'am. The rest of us…"
Emily caught the point. She leaned over towards Elisha and said, "We're gonna have to carry you. Is that okay?"
Elisha nodded wildly. "I don't wanna go back there," she said flatly.
"Morgan, give me a hand," Emily said.
Between the two agents, they managed to pick the girl up and begin moving south. After a few minutes, Morgan simply scooped Elisha up into his arms and said "Just go; we'll catch up."
The party made their way for another mile when suddenly Katie stopped dead in her tracks. A gunshot rang out, and then another.
"Well, well," said a smooth voice. "Look at what we have here."
