Chapter 12 - Enter the Bad Guys
Alejandro stared at the multiple television screens showing his captives as he bit into a large greasy slice of pizza. He ignored the little stream of grease that trickled down his chin.
He nearly choked on the mouthful of cheese and grease when half the TV screens flicked off.
This cannot be good.
Alejandro put down his pizza, swallowed, and hit the computer panel a few times. "Damn it!"
"What the hell is going on?" a voice asked from the adjoining room.
"Uh . . . nothing!" Alejandro shouted as he typed furiously, trying to figure out what was wrong.
Despite this, one of his partners -- Nolan -- marched into the room. "What the fuck?! What happened to the cameras?!"
Alejandro located the problem, breathing a small sigh of relief. "It’s the fuel. It’s on empty."
Nolan sighed. "Someone’ll have to refill it. And it’s not going to be you, considering what happened last time you had an encounter with them."
"Hey! I made the show more interesting, didn’t I?"
"Yeah, you only nearly killed one of the stars!"
"Enough," a deep voice from the hallway said. "Nolan, go refill the tank."
Nolan sighed. "Yes, sir."
"Alejandro, make sure the cameras are all still hooked up to the system."
"Yes, Silvanus," Alejandro said, going back to computer. As his boss left, he shivered. He may be a genius, but that guy gives me the creeps. Once he was sure Silvanus was gone, he picked up his forgotten pizza.
~~~
Nolan made his way carefully through the dense forest, carrying a can of fuel with him. Those little brats sure are interesting to watch, he thought as he went along. Maybe we’ll even get a sex scene out of this! Man, people would pay millions to see that! A Backstreet Boy scoring!
He checked his watch. Silvanus always insisted that none of them be out on the "set" more than half an hour. It would take him ten minutes to get there. Refueling the tank should only take about five, then another ten minutes to get back. Five minutes extra in case of any problems.
I can’t believe Alejandro went out here trying to get some "spectacular" closeups. This isn’t a damn nature show, for crying out loud! What was he thinking? It was way too risky to walk out here with all of them split up.
What would I do if I ran into one of them? he wondered to himself. I wouldn’t be far enough away to nail one of ‘em with one of my darts. Hmm . . .
His thoughts stopped as he arrived at the generator. He looked around suspiciously, sensing that someone had been here recently.
Maybe Silvanus came out for a late night check or something, he thought. He wouldn’t want his money machine broken.
Nolan shrugged the thought off and gathered his blond hair into a small ponytail before opening the fuel cap and seeing to his task.
As he bent down to pick up the can of gas, it was kicked out of the way.
"What the hell!?"
A net landed over his head as eleven people came out of the trees.
Nolan looked around and panicked. He pulled out his knife and cut himself free.
"Don’t let him get away!" one of them shouted.
Nolan ran for his life.
Several of the "prisoners" were right on his heels. Unable to think of anything else to do, he pulled out his gun and fired a shot over his shoulder. When he looked back, one of them fell and the others stopped.
Nolan kept running.
~~~
"BRIAN!" Ellie screamed.
Blood was pouring out of his side.
"Holy shit," Nick whispered, dropping beside his band mate.
"We’ve gotta get him back to camp!" Karen cried.
"We can’t just let that other bastard go!" Maggie shouted. "That was our only shot!"
"I’m going after him," Howie said, running off.
"Someone should go with him," Karen said.
For a moment, no one moved.
"Oh for God’s sake," Tom muttered as he sprinted after the BSB.
"TOM!" Maggie screamed. "Get your ass back here!" She started to run after him, but Ellie stopped her.
"Nick, give me your shirt," Becky commanded.
Nick wordlessly peeled it off and handed it to her.
She and Sierra tore it to shreds and roughly bandaged Brian’s wound.
"Will he be all right?!" Kevin cried.
"I don’t know," Becky answered honestly. "He’s unconscious for now."
"Can we move him?" Nick asked.
"Not until the bleeding stops," Sierra answered.
Ellie and Maggie were hugging each other to stop themselves from freaking out.
"Okay, I need you guys to go back to the campsite and gather as much cloth as you can," Becky said to the others.
Karen, Kevin, Nick, and Sierra got up and did so.
"If anything happens to that moron, I’ll kill him," Maggie said softly.
"He’s gonna die, he’s gonna die, he’s gonna die . . ." Ellie whispered.
"No he’s not!" Becky shouted at her. "He’s not going to die!"
The others came back.
"I think I’m gonna be sick," Karen said, looking at all the blood.
"No you’re not," Sierra told her. "We all took First Aid together, so we’re all going to do our best."
Nick and Kevin looked on anxiously as Becky, Karen and Sierra tended to their friend.
"It’s not actually too bad," Becky reported. "The bullet just grazed him."
"Oh, of course it wouldn’t be too bad," Ellie cried, beginning to get hysterical. "It wouldn’t be too bad if we had a hospital and bandages and IVs to replace the blood he lost and sanitary things to wash it with so it doesn’t get infected and he doesn’t get gangrene and die, of course not, but we’re out here in the middle of fucking NOWHERE with NOTHING and so of course it’s TOO BAD!!"
"My cousin is NOT going to die, so STAY OUT OF IT!" Kevin yelled at her.
Ellie burst into tears.
"Nice going, Kev!" Nick told him.
"Oh, shut up, Nick," Kevin retorted.
Maggie hugged Ellie, trying to calm her down.
"How’s the bleeding?" Sierra asked Becky quietly.
"I don’t want to check for at least a few minutes," Becky answered. "I’ll just make it worse."
Sierra nodded.
~~~
Howie and Tom arrived at a small cabin panting. They sat down behind some trees to catch their breath.
"Maggie’s . . . gonna kill me," Tom stated between gulps.
"I’m glad . . . you came. I might need the help," Howie told him. "Uh, what are we gonna do now?"
"We should wait until nightfall and then see if we can get inside. Maybe we can find a phone or something. Which may not do us any good since we don’t know where we are. But there’s not much else we can do."
"Should one of us go back and get the others?" the BSB asked.
"I don’t know . . . it might be risky with that many people," Tom answered.
"And some of them need to stay with Brian anyway," Howie added.
Tom nodded.
"I guess that leaves it up to us," Howie stated.
"Great."
~~~