The following story is based on the characters of the TV Series "Walker, Texas Ranger". The characters belong to CBS Productions, Top Kick Productions, etc., but the story is mine. ALL DISCLAIMERS APPLY. (No copyright infringement is intended.)
"Survival"
by Lorrie
Gage and Sydney were in the courtroom and had just testified against Trevor Holt and his associates on charges of money laundering and drug trafficking. Holt himself had also been charged with assault and battery of his then pregnant girlfriend Linda.
Gage had been the one to find Linda, huddled in a corner of the room, bruised and bleeding. She had been beaten with a baseball bat. Gage snapped at the site of her beaten body and had to be physically pulled off of Holt by two police officers.
The Judge re-entered the courtroom. "Given the evidence presented and the conduct of the arresting officers, in this case, the Texas Rangers. I have no choice but to rule this as a mistrial. All charges against the defendant, Trevor Holt and the others named are hereby dropped." The Judge banged his gavel.
Gage was furious. "Alex, I thought you said there was no way Holt would get away with this."
"Gage, sometimes things like this happen. It didn't help matters that you jumped Holt when he was arrested. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, me too." Gage walked off, leaving Alex and Sydney in the hallway.
"Sydney, why is he taking this case so personal?"
"It has something to do with a girl he knew when he was growing up. Her father beat her up when he found out she was pregnant. She lost the baby and eventually committed suicide."
"How awful. Sydney, you know I did the best I could with what I had to work with."
"Oh, I know. The fact that Gage beat up Holt didn't help anything I'm sure."
Alex shook her head. "Do you mind giving me a lift back to the office? I rode in with Walker earlier this morning."
"Sure." Alex and Sydney met up with Gage in the parking garage. He was still visibly upset.
Sydney got behind the wheel. Gage opened the back door for Alex, then got in himself. "Gage, I'm really sorry the case didn't go the way we expected." Alex started.
"Yeah, I know. You did the everything you could." Gage replied sarcastically. He shook his head in anger. "They should have just let me finish what I started." Alex shrunk back into her seat and didn't try to explain any further for fear of making Gage angrier.
"Gage!" Sydney couldn't believe this was coming from her partner. He had never offered to speak to Alex or hardly anyone in this tone.
Gage turned towards Alex, somewhat calmer than moments before. "I'm sorry Alex. I know you did what you could with what we brought you to work with. I just can't stand the thought of this guy being back on the streets."
Suddenly, Sydney hit the brakes hard and the car came screeching to a halt as a van cut her off and stopped abruptly. Two armed men with black hoods over their heads got out of the van and pulled Sydney and Gage from the car, leaving Alex in the backseat, bewildered. Sydney and Gage were shoved inside the van, then it quickly sped away.
Alex pulled her phone from her purse and called Walker.
**********
"Alex, are you sure you're OK?" Walker asked after he, Trivette and the Dallas PD arrived on the scene.
"Yes, just a little shaken. They took Gage and Sydney at gunpoint and shoved them into the van."
"Alex, did you get the license plate number?" Trivette asked hopefully.
"There was no license plate."
"Any idea who it might have been?"
Alex shook her head. "They wore masks."
"Ranger Walker, we've dusted the car and pulled a few prints, but they're most likely belong to Mrs. Walker, Ranger Gage and Ranger Cooke." One of the officers reported.
"Thanks, let us know if you find anything out of the ordinary."
"So, we have no idea who took them or where they might be." Trivette stated in disbelief.
**********
Once the van stopped, Gage and Sydney were forced outside and found themselves in a small airplane hanger. They were then pushed, in silence, towards a small piper cub. Gage looked at Sydney and lifted his eyebrows, she slightly nodded. They each forced their elbows into the ribs of the captors that had a hold on them. Gage suddenly kicked the gun out of his captor's hands and almost had him subdued when Sydney's captor caught his attention; he had the barrel of his gun pointed at Sydney's temple and his finger on the trigger.
Sydney's captor motioned for Gage to drop to the ground, which he did immediately in fear that the man may actually shoot her. Once on the ground, Gage felt a sharp pain on the left side of his head as he sank into darkness. His captor had hit him with the butt of his gun.
Shackles and chains were placed on Sydney's wrists and ankles, then on Gage in the same fashion once they were on board the plane.
It was dark when they took off. The flight lasted for hours, and from her position, Sydney couldn't tell where they were or even what direction they were headed and Gage was in no condition to help; he lay slumped over in a heap where the two men had tossed him hours before, still unconscious.
The engine slowed and the plane began to descend. Sydney could hear water beating up against the underside of the plane. They were making a water landing, she thought.
The two men picked up Gage and took him out of the plane. They were gone for a few minutes, then came back for her.
Sydney was dumped onto the sandy shore, then the two men quickly made their way back to the plane and took off. She watched the plane as it left, hoping to see a marking or anything to identify the plane, but there was nothing. She slowly got up and was slightly startled by the clanking of the chains that still bound her wrists and ankles.
Making her way, slowly down the beach, struggling with the cumbersome and heavy chains, she yelled out for Gage. "Gage! Where are you?"
Gage slowly opened his eyes and instinctively tried to bring his right hand to his injured head, but found that he too was bound in shackles and chains. He heard Sydney calling for him. "Syd?" He said quietly, still somewhat disoriented.
"Gage, where are you?" Sydney yelled again.
"Over here." Gage called a little louder. Sydney made her way to him as fast as she could. She collapsed beside of him.
"Oh thank God, I thought they had killed you." Sydney lifted her wrist chains over Gage's head and kissed him. Gage cupped his hands to Sydney's face.
"Where are we? What happened?" Sydney proceeded to tell Gage what little she knew. Once she was finished, they both realized they were in trouble.
"Syd, nobody knows where we are or who took us."
"I know, I've thought about that too."
The sun was beginning to beat down upon them. "You know, I guess the first thing we need to do is see what our surroundings are."
Sydney nodded in agreement. "We'll need fresh water too."
"And shelter." Gage added as the two of them stood up. Gage swayed a little unsteadily as his head began to throb.
"Are you OK?"
"I guess I'll have to be." He stood still for a moment and the dizziness left him. " Yeah, I'm alright." They proceeded to explore the island they had been abandoned on.
Eventually, they found a fresh water source. "Now we need something to put the water in." Sydney observed.
"How about coconut shells?" Gage asked.
"That would work, but how are we going to open the coconuts?" Sydney asked.
Gage grabbed a large rock and smashed the first coconut, including the shell. "Well, maybe that's not the best answer for something to hold water, but at least we have food." He laughed a little as he gave Sydney a piece of the coconut.
"Let me try." Sydney said as she took a rock and made several small blows to the coconut shell, soon the coconut cracked open, leaving two small coconut bowls. "This will work to drink from."
"We need to get to work on a shelter and that's not going to be easy with the chains." Gage stated. "Why would they have left us in chains anyway?"
"Maybe they plan to come back." Sydney replied.
"Maybe."
Gage and Sydney gathered palm branches and fashioned a crude shelter. "It's not the Hilton, but it'll have to do." Gage said as he and Sydney both collapsed onto the bed of palm leaves under the shelter. Gage noticed that Sydney's wrists were bleeding, as were his own. "Let me see your wrists."
"I wish we could get these stupid shackles off." Sydney said as Gage gently poured water over her wrists.
"Is that any better?"
"A little." Sydney tore part of her shirt and dapped it in the water and gently cleaned the cut on Gage's head. "How is your head?"
"It still hurts."
"Can you see out of your left eye?" Sydney asked, noting the swelling and bruising around his eye.
"A little. I hope it doesn't swell shut."
"I wish I had some ice for it."
"I wish we had a lot of things." Gage stared out at the seemingly endless ocean in front of them. "We need to see if we can start a fire and maybe find something edible besides coconuts."
"Start a fire, with what?"
"I don't know. Maybe we can find some flint rock."
"Even if we found some, it's not that easy to start a fire with a rock."
"Well, do you have a better idea?"
"I might. Give me your watch."
"How am I supposed to get it out from under this shackle?"
"Here, let me see." Sydney grabbed Gage's wrist and worked his watch out from under the shackle, pinching his wrist in the process.
"Ouch."
"Oh, stop being such a baby." Sydney smiled as she freed Gage's watch and took the crystal out. "Now, we need some dry leaves and some wood."
They set out together to get the firewood and as they were searching they stumbled upon a body. Sydney turned in towards Gage's chest. "It's OK Syd."
Gage bent down and surveyed the body. Though animals and the elements had ravaged it, he was able to determine that it was a man. His wrists and ankles were bound in the same fashion as Gage and Sydney's. Gage turned him over and noticed the bullet hole in his back. He then searched the man's pockets and found a wallet with ID, David Martin, U.S. Marshall. He turned to Sydney, showing her the ID. "We've got bigger problems that we thought."
They left the body and quickly gathered firewood and returned to their shelter. Sydney was able to get a fire started by catching the sun's rays with the crystal from Gage's watch. Soon they had a nice campfire. "We can't let this go out." Gage stated.
"I know." Sydney looked worried.
"Do you think the same men that left us here are the same ones that shot the Marshall?" Sydney asked.
Gage nodded. "Probably."
Sydney searched her pockets and found that her badge and photo ID were both still there, as were Gage's. "Why would they leave our ID with us?"
"My guess would be to be able to prove to someone that they made the kill." Gage replied.
End of Chapter 1
"Survival"
by Lorrie
Gage and Sydney were in the courtroom and had just testified against Trevor Holt and his associates on charges of money laundering and drug trafficking. Holt himself had also been charged with assault and battery of his then pregnant girlfriend Linda.
Gage had been the one to find Linda, huddled in a corner of the room, bruised and bleeding. She had been beaten with a baseball bat. Gage snapped at the site of her beaten body and had to be physically pulled off of Holt by two police officers.
The Judge re-entered the courtroom. "Given the evidence presented and the conduct of the arresting officers, in this case, the Texas Rangers. I have no choice but to rule this as a mistrial. All charges against the defendant, Trevor Holt and the others named are hereby dropped." The Judge banged his gavel.
Gage was furious. "Alex, I thought you said there was no way Holt would get away with this."
"Gage, sometimes things like this happen. It didn't help matters that you jumped Holt when he was arrested. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, me too." Gage walked off, leaving Alex and Sydney in the hallway.
"Sydney, why is he taking this case so personal?"
"It has something to do with a girl he knew when he was growing up. Her father beat her up when he found out she was pregnant. She lost the baby and eventually committed suicide."
"How awful. Sydney, you know I did the best I could with what I had to work with."
"Oh, I know. The fact that Gage beat up Holt didn't help anything I'm sure."
Alex shook her head. "Do you mind giving me a lift back to the office? I rode in with Walker earlier this morning."
"Sure." Alex and Sydney met up with Gage in the parking garage. He was still visibly upset.
Sydney got behind the wheel. Gage opened the back door for Alex, then got in himself. "Gage, I'm really sorry the case didn't go the way we expected." Alex started.
"Yeah, I know. You did the everything you could." Gage replied sarcastically. He shook his head in anger. "They should have just let me finish what I started." Alex shrunk back into her seat and didn't try to explain any further for fear of making Gage angrier.
"Gage!" Sydney couldn't believe this was coming from her partner. He had never offered to speak to Alex or hardly anyone in this tone.
Gage turned towards Alex, somewhat calmer than moments before. "I'm sorry Alex. I know you did what you could with what we brought you to work with. I just can't stand the thought of this guy being back on the streets."
Suddenly, Sydney hit the brakes hard and the car came screeching to a halt as a van cut her off and stopped abruptly. Two armed men with black hoods over their heads got out of the van and pulled Sydney and Gage from the car, leaving Alex in the backseat, bewildered. Sydney and Gage were shoved inside the van, then it quickly sped away.
Alex pulled her phone from her purse and called Walker.
**********
"Alex, are you sure you're OK?" Walker asked after he, Trivette and the Dallas PD arrived on the scene.
"Yes, just a little shaken. They took Gage and Sydney at gunpoint and shoved them into the van."
"Alex, did you get the license plate number?" Trivette asked hopefully.
"There was no license plate."
"Any idea who it might have been?"
Alex shook her head. "They wore masks."
"Ranger Walker, we've dusted the car and pulled a few prints, but they're most likely belong to Mrs. Walker, Ranger Gage and Ranger Cooke." One of the officers reported.
"Thanks, let us know if you find anything out of the ordinary."
"So, we have no idea who took them or where they might be." Trivette stated in disbelief.
**********
Once the van stopped, Gage and Sydney were forced outside and found themselves in a small airplane hanger. They were then pushed, in silence, towards a small piper cub. Gage looked at Sydney and lifted his eyebrows, she slightly nodded. They each forced their elbows into the ribs of the captors that had a hold on them. Gage suddenly kicked the gun out of his captor's hands and almost had him subdued when Sydney's captor caught his attention; he had the barrel of his gun pointed at Sydney's temple and his finger on the trigger.
Sydney's captor motioned for Gage to drop to the ground, which he did immediately in fear that the man may actually shoot her. Once on the ground, Gage felt a sharp pain on the left side of his head as he sank into darkness. His captor had hit him with the butt of his gun.
Shackles and chains were placed on Sydney's wrists and ankles, then on Gage in the same fashion once they were on board the plane.
It was dark when they took off. The flight lasted for hours, and from her position, Sydney couldn't tell where they were or even what direction they were headed and Gage was in no condition to help; he lay slumped over in a heap where the two men had tossed him hours before, still unconscious.
The engine slowed and the plane began to descend. Sydney could hear water beating up against the underside of the plane. They were making a water landing, she thought.
The two men picked up Gage and took him out of the plane. They were gone for a few minutes, then came back for her.
Sydney was dumped onto the sandy shore, then the two men quickly made their way back to the plane and took off. She watched the plane as it left, hoping to see a marking or anything to identify the plane, but there was nothing. She slowly got up and was slightly startled by the clanking of the chains that still bound her wrists and ankles.
Making her way, slowly down the beach, struggling with the cumbersome and heavy chains, she yelled out for Gage. "Gage! Where are you?"
Gage slowly opened his eyes and instinctively tried to bring his right hand to his injured head, but found that he too was bound in shackles and chains. He heard Sydney calling for him. "Syd?" He said quietly, still somewhat disoriented.
"Gage, where are you?" Sydney yelled again.
"Over here." Gage called a little louder. Sydney made her way to him as fast as she could. She collapsed beside of him.
"Oh thank God, I thought they had killed you." Sydney lifted her wrist chains over Gage's head and kissed him. Gage cupped his hands to Sydney's face.
"Where are we? What happened?" Sydney proceeded to tell Gage what little she knew. Once she was finished, they both realized they were in trouble.
"Syd, nobody knows where we are or who took us."
"I know, I've thought about that too."
The sun was beginning to beat down upon them. "You know, I guess the first thing we need to do is see what our surroundings are."
Sydney nodded in agreement. "We'll need fresh water too."
"And shelter." Gage added as the two of them stood up. Gage swayed a little unsteadily as his head began to throb.
"Are you OK?"
"I guess I'll have to be." He stood still for a moment and the dizziness left him. " Yeah, I'm alright." They proceeded to explore the island they had been abandoned on.
Eventually, they found a fresh water source. "Now we need something to put the water in." Sydney observed.
"How about coconut shells?" Gage asked.
"That would work, but how are we going to open the coconuts?" Sydney asked.
Gage grabbed a large rock and smashed the first coconut, including the shell. "Well, maybe that's not the best answer for something to hold water, but at least we have food." He laughed a little as he gave Sydney a piece of the coconut.
"Let me try." Sydney said as she took a rock and made several small blows to the coconut shell, soon the coconut cracked open, leaving two small coconut bowls. "This will work to drink from."
"We need to get to work on a shelter and that's not going to be easy with the chains." Gage stated. "Why would they have left us in chains anyway?"
"Maybe they plan to come back." Sydney replied.
"Maybe."
Gage and Sydney gathered palm branches and fashioned a crude shelter. "It's not the Hilton, but it'll have to do." Gage said as he and Sydney both collapsed onto the bed of palm leaves under the shelter. Gage noticed that Sydney's wrists were bleeding, as were his own. "Let me see your wrists."
"I wish we could get these stupid shackles off." Sydney said as Gage gently poured water over her wrists.
"Is that any better?"
"A little." Sydney tore part of her shirt and dapped it in the water and gently cleaned the cut on Gage's head. "How is your head?"
"It still hurts."
"Can you see out of your left eye?" Sydney asked, noting the swelling and bruising around his eye.
"A little. I hope it doesn't swell shut."
"I wish I had some ice for it."
"I wish we had a lot of things." Gage stared out at the seemingly endless ocean in front of them. "We need to see if we can start a fire and maybe find something edible besides coconuts."
"Start a fire, with what?"
"I don't know. Maybe we can find some flint rock."
"Even if we found some, it's not that easy to start a fire with a rock."
"Well, do you have a better idea?"
"I might. Give me your watch."
"How am I supposed to get it out from under this shackle?"
"Here, let me see." Sydney grabbed Gage's wrist and worked his watch out from under the shackle, pinching his wrist in the process.
"Ouch."
"Oh, stop being such a baby." Sydney smiled as she freed Gage's watch and took the crystal out. "Now, we need some dry leaves and some wood."
They set out together to get the firewood and as they were searching they stumbled upon a body. Sydney turned in towards Gage's chest. "It's OK Syd."
Gage bent down and surveyed the body. Though animals and the elements had ravaged it, he was able to determine that it was a man. His wrists and ankles were bound in the same fashion as Gage and Sydney's. Gage turned him over and noticed the bullet hole in his back. He then searched the man's pockets and found a wallet with ID, David Martin, U.S. Marshall. He turned to Sydney, showing her the ID. "We've got bigger problems that we thought."
They left the body and quickly gathered firewood and returned to their shelter. Sydney was able to get a fire started by catching the sun's rays with the crystal from Gage's watch. Soon they had a nice campfire. "We can't let this go out." Gage stated.
"I know." Sydney looked worried.
"Do you think the same men that left us here are the same ones that shot the Marshall?" Sydney asked.
Gage nodded. "Probably."
Sydney searched her pockets and found that her badge and photo ID were both still there, as were Gage's. "Why would they leave our ID with us?"
"My guess would be to be able to prove to someone that they made the kill." Gage replied.
End of Chapter 1