I was woken up the next day by someone grabbing me and pulling me up by my hair. I opened my eyes to see everyone else being grabbed the same way. They'd already tied up Desmond pretty good and we already working on me. They duct taped my feet so that was out. Some guy was holding both my hands so I was pretty useless too. Shaun, Rebecca and William were being tied up with rope and gagged so they couldn't talk. They taped my mouth shut too.
"We finally got her back sir," One guy said into a cell phone. I counted quickly and found that there were only six of them. If we weren't already tied up like hogs, Desmond and I could probably take them if we managed to do it without beating each other. "And subject 17."
"We're going to get paid off well after this," The one beside me sneered. I wanted to smash his head into the concrete floor. "I'll take her somewhere else, it's not good for them to be all together."
"Good thinking Jose," The leader said, well, he was the leader of the team anyway. The one with the phone.
'Jose' dragged me outside and across the town. I didn't go as easily as he had wanted. I thrashed and screamed and tried to be as difficult as I could. He ended up hiding me in the church. One of the other guys that I saw in the sanctuary was behind us and started making a cage out of the decaying pews. It used the altar and all I could think was how he would probably burn in hell for that. They shoved me inside it before nailing the last side on. It was a simple creation. Vertical and horizontal boards nailed together to make the three walls. The last wall that I was sitting against was also wood but it was over the brick of the back wall of the whole church. There was no top to this cage so if I somehow managed to free myself, I could climb out without breaking it. After all, the boards were pretty thick so you couldn't really see in. I tried to get my hands out first but whatever they did was good, I had no luck. I sat there for hours if not days. They pushed food under every once in a while as a taunt since I couldn't eat. It was terrible. I spent my time by wondering if Shaun and Rebecca were okay and about what might've happened to them. My spirits lifted when I heard the guards start talking.
"How did you get out?!" One yelled. Someone got out? Did all of them? What happened to Shaun?! What if they killed him? Or tortured him? Or made him think I was dead? God, I couldn't handle any of those options. Plus, the last one was kind of true. I started throwing my weight around to make noise against the wood and tried to scream for help. I heard two bodies fall to the floor and wondered who's they were.
"Tess?" A familiar British accent asked, full of anxiety. I made some kind of weird muffled noise that I hoped he heard and thumped my shoulder against the door. "Rebecca! I think she's over here!"
"Start prying," She ordered as some of the boards came away. They didn't even get all the boards off before Shaun leaned down with a pocket knife and cut the tape holding my hands and feet together so it was easier to haul me out before cutting the rest of the tape off. I saw Desmond and William were already there too so they must've found him first. When Shaun pulled the tape off my mouth I pretty much burst into tears and threw my arms around him.
"Shhh, It's okay Tess," He said soothingly. "But we have to get moving, the truck is already packed and we need to go."
"Okay," I croaked and clung to Shaun as we walked out to the van. I laid down in the back and William drove with Desmond riding shotgun. Shaun was beside me and Rebecca was digging through boxes.
"Bloody hell woman," Shaun snapped. "How hard is it to find a damn protein bar?! She's dying!"
"I know Shaun!" Rebecca quipped back. "Here, oh my god! Who the hell packed this?"
"Probably me," Desmond admitted as Shaun snapped off pieces of the bar and handed them to me. It was smart because I would've devoured it in one bite if I had the chance. Once it was gone, it was an eerie scene and silence. Desmond had pulled his knees up to his chest like a shaken child, Rebecca was leaning against the cool metal of the van, arms straight down and swinging. Shaun, my brilliant Shaun, looked terrible. He was sitting on the floor too, leaning forward. His elbows were on his knees with his head in one hand and his glasses dangling from the other. I reached out weakly and put a hand on his extended arm, the one holding his glasses. He looked over at me and his eyes were almost ready to spill all their tears. I rubbed his arm and offered a small smile.
"Thank you for saving me," I whispered. He scooped me up in a hug and dragged me into his lap.
"I don't know what I would've done if we hadn't have found you," He whispered, his voice breaking.
"Oh but you did Shaun," I told him and ran my hands through his hair. "We're all here and we're all okay. In fact, I think you still have the worst injury."
"Good," He replied. "I can't have you getting hurt, I already feel awful that they starved you."
"I'm fine," I said. "I'm right here."
"I never want to let go of you," He whispered.
"I never want you to either," I whispered back and hugged him with all the strength I had left. Which wasn't much, but enough.