Chapter 13

Once again, Jaime had been rendered completely helpless...and since she had no idea where Steve was, she had no way of letting him know. If he was close though and she shouted out a warning, she knew he'd try to come to her rescue - and she simply couldn't allow that. The park, as she was being dragged through it, gave her goosebumps...and a really creepy, hopeless feeling. Some rides had been removed (probably sold and reconstructed in another park), with only their concrete 'footings' remaining. But most of the rides had been left damaged - rusting and decaying - exactly where they stood. The smaller kiosks (as opposed to the size of the one they'd been held in) had either collapsed entirely or were missing half of their supports and tilted with the threat of imminent collapse.

Graffiti seemed to be covering the walls of all of the kiosks and the 'dark rides' and fun houses, evidence of the 'urban explorers' who had been there before them. Water lines were everywhere; the muddy water had 'only' risen to about four feet...but the damage it had caused was irrevocable - and heartbreaking. Jaime could just picture the hordes of happy customers who had crowded the once-busy and popular park, with every ride and shop that they passed. She wondered idly where they might be taking her now...and (thankfully, in her mind) they saw no sign of Steve.

''Not to worry,'' Nemesis taunted (seeming to read her mind), ''we'll find your lover. I guarantee it.''

Steve had heard the gunshots, of course...and he could only pray that (like him) Jaime had escaped unscathed. There was still no sign of Oscar or his teams. He knew that if she'd been hurt, he needed to find Jaime and help her stay hidden. If (God forbid) she'd been recaptured...well, he had to find her then too, even though he knew she wouldn't want him to. He made his way back to the kiosk with the grim, abandoned dolls inside...but the dentist's chair was empty. As he ran through the park, he kept trying to call out to her, in a whisper, but there was no trace of her anywhere...and no further sightings of Kingsley or his crew. Steve knew with a growing sense of awful certainty that this was a terribly ominous sign...

''They're somewhere between San Diego and Octotillo,'' Oscar called into his car radio. ''Hurry!'' The locator signal for help (which transmitted even if the device was turned off) was growing stronger. Wherever Steve was (and hopefully where Jaime was, too), they were definitely getting closer. He'd ordered his teams to follow when Steve had been summoned by Kingsley...but at a far enough distance that the psychotic man they sought would have no idea they were coming. Now that distance was working against them...and Oscar could only pray that they might reach his friends in time!

Steve's careful eye was scanning his surroundings - both in front of him and on the ground (hoping maybe Jaime had left some sort of signal) but he signal he finally found chilled him to the core...and broke his heart. Blood. Not a lot of it...but enough to be alarming. And it was fresh! It could've been Kingsley's...but Steve's instinct knew differently. Jaime had been hurt...and she wasn't answering him or following his whispered calls to her. She'd been recaptured - and she wasn't in the kiosk. What was Kingsley planning now?!

Jaime could feel herself growing weaker. The fashion in which they were dragging her meant she couldn't bend down enough to see the wound. She guessed though that the blood loss wasn't too bad - although it was steady - but the pain was incredible! Still, they kept on walking, forcing her along. Where were they taking her? They'd passed through several themed areas of the park - a sort of 'Main Street', then a section of 'dark rides' - where the figures that grinned from atop them seemed to be leering with horrific promise, rather than the fun they'd once advertised. One had toppled from its weakened structure to the ground - and now laid there, partially cracked and broken but its eyes still staring. To Jaime, that one didn't promise or represent horror; its grin was one of total destruction...and death.

They passed through another section, one where waves had been painted onto the concrete pavement and where the water rides still stood, remarkably still intact (save for the water lines on the lower structural beams). There was a (water-themed) Scrambler-type ride, with most of the cars detached now and rusting on the ground below the 'arms'. Finally, when they'd reached the end of the 'water' section and were nearing the back of the park, Kingsley stopped and his men threw Jaime to the ground, where she could look up at what was intended to be her final destination. It was a wooden roller coaster, aptly named The Cobra. (Although Kingsley was aware - from monitoring the OSI's datacom transmissions - of the nickname that had been bestowed upon his group, Jaime didn't know this...and the choice couldn't have been more ironic.)

He sneered down at her, then pointed to the very top of the decrepit lift hill. ''This is where you die! And since I'm sure your lover will try to come to your rescue, the same will happen to him!''

Jaime could - finally- hear Steve's voice whispering to her but she was just too weak (and nearly paralyzed with fear) to be able to answer...