Chapter 5

A few hours had passed after the tall and muscular guy found out about the missing tweezers, and a couple of hours since Stella had decided to put them back. When he and the man changed shifts with the other two guys, Grace got up to stretch her legs. She casually moved her way closer to the group, where the tall and muscular guy snuck away just enough to inconspicuously toss a small piece of scrunched up paper in her direction. When Grace returned, Stella was eager to see what was inside.

Straight ahead, behind house. 25km.

It was written messily with black pen. Grace put it in her pocket.

Stella shuddered at the thought of having to walk for so long, it would take them almost a day in such terrain. But, it was better than the alternative.

It was close to midday when the leader and tall and muscular guy joined with the other two guys. Stella overheard them talking about the ransom money, and then the leader telling the tall and muscular guy to go to the gym. From the way he reacted, Stella figured he didn't know about that plan until then. Fortunately for them, he would fit right in at the gym and not draw any attention to himself.

Stella panicked for a brief moment; since he'd be leaving, they couldn't use him against the others. Their best chance of negotiating was about to leave the building. Clearly, even the well thought out plans didn't always go as planned.

—

Tension had risen in the cabin. The leader received a call from the tall and muscular guy telling him the money wasn't there yet. Their 24 hours were almost up. The man had started to pace while on the phone, speaking angrily under his breath.

Stella looked to Grace. "Is it time?"

They were going to escape. If what the tall and muscular guy had said about the leader having something else planned regardless of getting the ransom, they didn't want to wait around for it to happen.

"Soon," Grace replied quietly, eyeing the man. "We'll wait until he leaves the room. One on one will be easier."

"Okay," Stella nodded.

The man stabbed at the phone, ending the call, and Stella expected him to throw the mobile at the wall. Instead, he threw it on the couch, where it promptly bounced to the floor anyway. Stella tried to stifle her laugh at the mockery. He scooped it up and stormed off down the hall, a crash sounding as a door closed. Stella didn't want to make a move just yet, she thought they should at least wait a couple of minutes to see if they could still hear him inside, or if he'd gone outside. They needed to know his general whereabouts.

When those couple of minutes passed and he hadn't returned, Grace gave a single nod to Stella, and Stella knew what that meant. Her heart started pounding with anticipation and adrenaline. She and Grace slowly rose. The two guys were conveniently sitting with their backs facing the pair. They tiptoed with stealth across the room. Grace signalled with her hands that Stella take the one on the right.

Closing in, Stella grabbed the guy in a headlock, attempting to cut off his air supply so he'd simply pass out and they could avoid a fight, but with his flailing, she got an elbow in the ribs, pushing her back slightly—just that bit too much. He got free, springing from his chair and turning to face her. She ducked an oncoming fist, jumped out of reach from a lunge, and stepped to the side of a kick, but was too late for the punch to the face that made her swing to the side. The guy promptly jumped on her from behind, but Stella used the momentum to push him back against the wall. She elbowed him in the face, feeling a horrible crack, and in the back of her mind realising she probably broke his nose. She grabbed his shoulder, pulling it down and kneeing him in the stomach twice. Taken by surprise, the guy grabbed her around the waist and spun her around so she was pushed firmly into the wall. A sharp breath escaped from her lungs from the hard contact. He reciprocated by punching her hard in the stomach, and Stella automatically doubled over. Her knees almost buckled beneath her when he pounded his fist into her back, which was followed by a knee in the face.

Without fully realising what she was doing, Stella kicked out into the guy's shin, and took those few seconds of distraction to leap across to the bin and reach in for one of the larger shards of glass from earlier that day. By the time she turned around, glass gripped tightly in hand, he was right in front of her. She haphazardly swung the shard in the direction of his face, but he ducked just in time that it would be lucky if it cut the very tips of his hair. She aimed lower next, towards his chest, but he blocked her arm with his forearm and quickly struck the inside of her elbow hard enough that her hand opened and the glass fell to the floor.

A gunshot made her duck, and within the few milliseconds it took her to realise she wasn't hit, she took the opportunity to swing one final strong punch that reverberated throughout her hand, across the likewise stunned guy's head, effectively knocking him out.

She heard the scuffle of Grace and the other guy still fighting and turned around. Stella acted quickly when the guy raised his arm behind him to gain more force to a punch, quickly locking her inner elbow into his and stopping him, trying to pull back. He was stronger than she was, and managed to push her away. Stella lost her hold on his arm, and he hit her across the face with his forearm, knocking her to the ground. She laid there for a moment, dazed. She could still hear them fighting, both grunting with effort. She forced herself up onto her hands and knees, and jumped when the guy's unconscious body thumped down beside her. She stared at him for a moment before standing up, still somewhat dumbfounded that they had just taken down two of the three men. The only one left was the leader, and if he'd heard what had happened then he'd be there then, but he wasn't. He must've gone outside and not into one of the rooms in the hallway. He wouldn't be far away.

Stella was surprised when she saw Grace hunched over on the floor. She rushed over to her, carefully putting her hand on her back and leaning down. "What happened, are you okay?" Grace have a quick shake of the head and Stella looked her over, seeing she was clasping her side, her hands bloody. "Shit." She looked behind her into the hallway, anxious for the man's return, because he not only had a gun, he had the element of surprise. "Grace, we have to go. Now."

Stella helped Grace up, putting her arm around her and guiding her quickly down the hall towards the front door. When she opened the door and pushed through, she was struck with the much needed smell of fresh air. She'd gotten used to the staleness of the cabin. She stopped, looking around. The old car had disappeared, but the one they were brought in was still there. She assumed the tall and muscular guy left in the former, so if the police had the number plates from the car they were kidnapped in, they wouldn't know it was the same people. She definitely underestimated their captors.

The car was just several meters away, and as the two parted to get in, Stella thought it was too good to be true when the doors were unlocked. She removed the steering column panel and started her attempt to hot wire the car. After many failed attempts, she gave up. She didn't want to sit around and wait for their remaining kidnapper to come back when they could be gaining cover and distance in the bush. She looked across to Grace, who looked just as panicked as she herself felt. "We're gonna have to make a run for it. Think you can make it?"

Grace nodded. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

Stella didn't bother answering her rhetorical question. She took a deep breath, adrenaline pumping.

"Let's go." She reached for the handle and left the car, pointing to the nearest tree line and running with Grace.

The bush got thick almost instantly, and the trees above created a dark blanket over them. Stella kept running in the directions where it would give them the clearest path, but they still had to jump over fallen trees, and duck as low or protruding branches got in their way. She looked behind her at different intervals, making sure Grace was still there. They needed to get as much distance between them and the cabin as possible. She was relieved every time to see Grace hadn't fallen behind.

Suddenly, Stella felt a huge weight collide with her side and she was pushed to the ground. It knocked the wind out of her, and she was confused for a moment. She didn't have long to feel disorientated, when she felt something start to choke her. She realised it was a person who had tackled her, and that person was the leader. He'd found them. Stella wriggled from side to side, trying to free herself from his chokehold. She grabbed his arms, trying to pry them away, but he didn't budge. She kicked her knee up under him, managing to get him in the ribs, which gave her just enough slack that she was able to pull his hands away and roll to the side.

As she made a move to leap on top of him, she glanced around for Grace and saw her lying on the ground with her back to them. She wouldn't admit it later, but she was worried about her. But there was nothing she could do; she had to deal with the man. She straddled him, punching him in the face a couple of times, but he surprised her by rolling over, taking her with him so their roles were reversed and she was underneath him.

Within seconds of them flipping over, the man had pulled a gun from the back of his pants, aiming it at her head. Stella acted quickly, lunging towards the weapon to try and knock it out of his hands, but he pulled it up just in time, after which using the distance to gain power to hit her across the face with it. Stella tried to ignore the pain but still used it to her advantage, bringing her hands up to her face as distraction while she brought her feet up and around to kick him in the chest, pushing him off her completely and onto the ground. She scrambled to her feet, only to see the man, not deterred, charging at her, and she didn't have time to dodge him as she was once again tackled. In the back of her mind she was fed up with being wrestled on the ground.

Somehow, the gun ended up between the two, and Stella gripped it, desperately trying to turn it away from her and, ideally, towards the man. She struggled, using every bit of energy she had left, but soon enough a gunshot went off. It echoed through the crisp afternoon air, startling nearby birds in their trees. She lay there, stunned, her breath caught in her throat, and she was unable to move. Warmth grew rapidly around her stomach, as well as a burning sensation. She vaguely heard someone call her name but it didn't process; her ears were ringing. She tried to move, but she felt crushed, weighed down.

She was pulled back to reality when the weight was gone, and Grace was in her face. Grace frantically patted her stomach, where blood had now stained her shirt. She brushed off the shell casing and took the gun, and the burning gradually lessened. Stella looked around, saw the man, and realised it was him who'd been shot, not her.

"It's okay, you're okay. It wasn't you. You're not hit," Grace put her hand on Stella's shoulder.

Stella wasn't able to reply.

Grace moved her hand behind her shoulder and encouraged her to get up. "We should keep going."

Stella nodded, still in shock of what happened. She stood up. "Yeah." With Grace by her side, she started walking and didn't look back.

Billy1990ism - it's in the works! Early stages but it'll get there :)