Chapter 7

Gibbs, Tony, Chioke and Cal are deep in the forest of North Korea. Gibbs backtracked a bit to establish whether or not they're being followed. While Gibbs is backtracking, Tony, Chioke and Cal are resting near a hill after two hours of running from the rebel camp where the Korean army raided. Tony is sitting up against a rock. Chioke is sitting in Tony's loving arms. And Cal is standing nearby.

"How are we going to get out of here, Cal?" Tony wondered.

"I was hoping this would go smoothly…" Cal begins to say.

"Yeah… Well… That didn't happen."

"I know a place I can purchase a vehicle. We need to make it there."

"How far away is it?"

"With our current position we need to head southwest. If we keep moving, without stopping, we should make it there by morning."

"We're being followed." Gibbs stated as he enters into the vicinity. "I found a set of tracks. It's just one person. But we should keep moving."

Tony and Chioke stand. The four of them continue moving southwest. As they move, Gibbs makes his way to the side in order find the person following them.

After an hour, they stop near a hill. From the distance, the person following them is laying on top of a hill. He watches through his binoculars. He wonders where the foreigner with the grey hair is because he has no visual of him. The man looks in all directions.

Suddenly, a figure pops up in front of the man's binoculars. He looks up from behind the binoculars to see a gun pointed at him. The man smiles as he knows he got caught. Gibbs grabs the man.

Gibbs approaches the area where the others are resting. He shoves the man to the ground. The man begins speaking in the Korean language, begging for his life to be spared.

"What's he saying?" Gibbs wondered.

"He's saying they have his family. That he had no choice." Cal said.

"No choice about what?"

Cal approaches the man and forces him to stand. The man keeps begging to be spared. Cal reaches into the man's pocket. He pulls out a GPS device.

"Please don't tell me that…" Tony begins to say.

"He's been broadcasting our position this entire time." Cal stated. "The slave traders have a couple teams looking for us. They want the kid back."

Tony holds onto Chioke a little more tightly. Gibbs grabs the device and slams it on a rock. The device shatters.

"Now would be a good time to use the satellite phone to contact McGee so he can tell us where they are." Tony said.

"No, really?" Gibbs said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "Unfortunately, the satellite phone was destroyed in the van." He pauses for a couple seconds. "We're on our own and blind over here."

"An hour ago, you said you only found one set of tracks following us. Since we don't know what lies ahead, maybe we should go back and try a different route." Cal stated.

"I agree." Gibbs acknowledged and agreed with the plan. "We better move fast."

They, including the new travel companion, head back in the opposite direction. Gibbs stays ahead of them all in order to get a better view of what lies ahead. Halfway in the direction back toward the rebel camp, they move to the west.

Meanwhile, a bunch of armed men enter into the vicinity of where the last GPS transmission came from. Two of the men examine the busted GPS device. Another man, a tracker, establishes which direction they went. The Koreans head in the direction.

A couple hours pass.

Gibbs, Tony, Chioke, Cal and the extra Korean man are surrounded by armed men. All guns are pointing at them. The Koreans begin yelling. They're outnumbered. They have no choice but to surrender. A couple of the Koreans approach.

Chioke wraps his arms around Tony's waist. The Koreans grab Chioke. Tony tries to fight them off. There's a brief struggle as a couple Koreans grab hold of Tony. As Chioke is being pulled away, he reaches his hand out. Tony forces his hand free and grabs Chioke's hand. The Koreans try to pull them away from each other. Tony won't let go as he sees the worry and fear in Chioke's eyes.

Finally, one of the Korean bashes his weapon into Tony's stomach. The blow really hurt Tony, but his hand grip with Chioke is unfazed. The Korean bashes Tony in the face with the weapon. His hand finally releases. Chioke is dragged away.

"Chioke!" Tony exclaimed. He breaks free of the people holding him; knocking five Koreans to the ground. Tony runs to Chioke who reaches his hand out for him.

Three Koreans immediately shove their weapons in Tony's face. Tony watches as Chioke is dragged further and further away from him. Chioke struggles with the men. Tony feels helpless to do anything as all he can do is watch.

Chioke finally breaks free after biting one of the men. He runs in Tony's direction as fast as he can. Two of the Koreans guarding Tony grab Chioke. He reaches his hand to Tony. Without hesitation, Tony reaches his hand out. As their fingers touch, the stock of a weapon is slammed to Tony's head. Tony falls to the ground. He lies on the ground unconscious.

The chief Korean, the man who runs the trading camp, enters into the area. He begins yelling and screaming. He gives an order.

The armed men force Cal and the Korean who had the GPS device to kneel. The chief approaches. He grabs a sidearm from one of his men. He points the gun at Cal. The trigger is pulled. Cal drops to the ground. The chief points the gun at the other man. He begs for his life and the lives of his family. The trigger is pulled. The man drops to the ground. Both Cal and the Korean man lie dead on the ground in a pool of their own blood.

The chief shouts another order. Gibbs and Chioke are escorted away. Two other Koreans grab the unconscious Tony from off the ground. The three of them are brought to the vehicles. Gibbs and Tony are placed in a truck while Chioke is placed inside of a jeep.

The three of them are brought back to the trading camp.