Until Time Stands Still (4 page)

            “We can rescue her without the cops.” Myke huffed. The van turned the corner and he jumped over a newspaper stand and propelled himself forward, narrowly missing colliding into a woman with a baby stroller.

            “If we go off mission, there has to be a damn good reason for it. Like you bringing the woman back with you. Otherwise, let it go. So I’ll ask again, do you want her?”

            Mykel cursed as he ran. “I fucking hate you right now.”

            “Noted. Make up your mind.”

            “Yes!” Mykel huffed. “I’m on…Cherry and 5th, turning left and heading west.” He could run for about two miles, three if he had too. He had no plan after that.

            “I’m in range.” Graham said. “If you can, find a way to track the vehicle so we can regroup and track them when they stop.”

            “How the fuck am I supposed to do that?” He breathed in between words. His calves were burning. The van was slowing down at a red.

            “Figure it out. I’ll be there in five.”

            Myke slowed down only slightly and pulled his knife out of his boot. Before he thought twice about it, he dug the blade into his skin and yanked hard, sliced open the palm of his hand. He closed his fist as best he could and hissed, the pain radiating up his arm. He smeared the blood across the back bumper of the van, and jumped up, balancing on the back of the van. Holding onto the handle with his good hand, he sat in a crouch and waited for the van to pull forward.

A car honked behind him and he scowled at the driver, putting his bleeding hand to his lips to shush them. The man honked again. Mykel ignored him, and the van sped up with a jerk. He nearly lost his balance and grabbed on with both hands, smearing blood everywhere. He looked back and saw the driver talking to someone on the cell phone.

            “Top. Someone saw me, and I think they may have called the cops.”

            “Where the hell are you?”

            “Back of the van.”

            “Well, get the hell off. We can’t risk that. That’s an order, soldier.”

            “They’re headed out of the city, still going west, on…Old Danver Road.” He jumped off at the next red light.

            “We’ll regroup. Are you sure you want this lady?”

            “I can’t just let her die, Top. I have to do something.”

            “Why? She doesn’t belong to you. You don’t even know her.” Capitan Winters, logical as always.

            “It’s the right thing to do.” Mykel growled.

            Isabelle struggled against the man who held her, but he only squeezed on her throat even harder. She gasped for air, tears burning in her eyes.

            “Be still, or you’ll live just long enough to regret it, before you die. Hard!” The man with sour whiskey breath growled in her ear. She stilled immediately. He tied her hands with something, jerking her arm back hard enough to pop out of joint. She screamed. Tears rolled down her face as pain radiated through her shoulder and back.

            “Shut up.” The man hissed. She was blindfolded, with a bandana. Another man tied her feet together.

            “Please, don’t do this. What do you want?” She cried.

            “I said shut up.” The man kicked her hard in the thigh, which only jarred her dislocated shoulder. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming.

            She kept still, and tried to control her breathing. The pain was searing through her arm, and she could feel the bruise forming on her leg. It felt kind of numb at the moment, but she knew she’d feel it tomorrow. If she lived that long. Don’t think like that! Be smart! Think! There were two guys in the back of the van with her, and one up front driving. Weren’t most kidnappings a solo act? What did it mean if there was more than one person? A team? She wasn’t sure. The van smelled bad, as if someone had been living in it for a long time. The man smelled worse, like he hadn’t showered in a week or more. Briefly, she wondered if he was homeless. But that didn’t make any sense.

            Where were they going? She remembered something about counting, if you’re ever kidnapped, but counting what? She couldn’t remember. Shit. What was she going to do? Had anyone seen what happened to her? Called the police? The police. Surely, when she didn’t come home, someone would call the police.

            “Why are you doing this?” She asked, as calmly as she could. One of the men backhanded her, hard. She fell back into the other man, screaming as her shoulder got wrenched some more. He shoved her to the floor.

            “Get the duct tape. Let’s tape that pretty mouth shut.” One of them said in a gruff voice.

            “No. Please. I have asthma.” She lied. “If you do that, I could have an attack, and I might die. I’m not good to you dead, right? I’ll be quiet, I promise. Just no duct tape. Please.”

            “One more word and you get the duct tape.” The man said, kicking her over, onto her stomach. She lay there, with her hands tied behind her back. The blindfold came a little loose when they roughed her up. She could see out of the very bottom of it. Very carefully, she let some bloody drool dribble from her mouth onto the dirty carpet of the van. Her lip was bleeding, from being hit, and her jaw ached. She tried to spit as quietly as she could. At least my DNA is all over this place. She tried not to puke at the smell of the van, the dirty carpet so close to her face. Her stomach rolled and pitched. She gagged. Don’t lose it. Don’t lose it. She breathed as thinly as she could, through her mouth. Trying to control her breathing. Her muscles were trembling and she knew it was from the adrenaline and fear. The pain in her shoulder made her want to scream every time they turned a corner, and she fought the urge to vomit as the pain spiked sharp each time. Her leg was starting to throb. 

            The two men stayed totally silent. There wasn’t even any music on the radio. They drove faster. Were they on the highway? Where were they taking her? She could tell they weren’t in the city anymore, when they turned onto a road and it got really bumpy, like it hadn’t been paved. Eventually, after what seemed like forever, the van stopped. On one hand, she was almost relieved. The position she was in was killing her arm. On the other hand, they had stopped. What were they going to do to her now? She didn’t want to find out.

*************

            Graham called them all back to their secondary extraction point, which was closer to the last known position of the van.

            “Johnny, take a look at that cut.”

            “How did you cut your hand, Mykey?” Jacob asked.

            “Well, the doctor can track us, when we are on missions right? Through the nanites?”

            “Yeah.” Graham said, “It comes in handy from time to time.”

            “I put my blood on the van, we can track it through the nanites.”

            “Smart.”

            “Ummm…what if someone tests the blood?” Jacob pointed out. “It’s not exactly normal.”

            “They believe in aliens in this time right? Someone will just be very confused.” Johnny said.

            “I was working on the fly.” Mykel shrugged, while the others chuckled.

            “So, let’s go gear up and get your woman. We’re going to need our weapons.” Graham said, motioning toward the spot where the portal would open. They stood in a circle, one by one, putting their darks on. “On my go. Three…two…one…GO!” In unison, they each pushed the button on the remote device on their wrists. There was a flash of light, and the pulling sensation. Mykel was starting to like the feeling, now that it didn’t come with the pain and the massive eye sensitivity issue. Their special dark glasses essentially kept them blind until they got through, which helped a lot.

            They all went back through the portal to their time. It was the middle of the night there. No one was expecting them to get back until morning. They came out of the Portal and took the glasses off. As usual, someone had placed their military fatigues in their cubbies. After the decontamination shower, they dressed and went to the gear room on the next level.

            “Hey Sam, can you let us in? Mykel here forgot something. We need to go back and fix a bit of a situation.”

            “Isn’t that against the rules?” Sam frowned.

            “Well, we can call the General and wake him up. He can come down here and you can ask him yourself.” Graham said. “I’m sure he will be real happy to explain…”

            “No!” He pushed the button to unlock the door. “That won’t be necessary.”

            “Thanks Sam.” Graham said.

            Twenty minutes later, they were back at their secondary extraction point in full gear, with a nanites tracking device. They had a faint signal deep in the country outside the city. They knew exactly where the woman was now, and help was on the way. Mykel just hoped she lived that long.

            “So Mykel, what’s so special about this woman?” Jacob asked. “Does she have beef flavoured boobs or something?”

            “Dude, you’re an ass.” Mykel said. “I watched her get snatched. I had to do something. No one else even saw anything. It’s the right thing to do.”

            “If I get shot all to hell and die before I get to sleep with a beautiful lady of my choosing, I’m so going to haunt your ass.” Johnny said.

            “Yeah, I’m sure you will, buddy.” Mykel said, laughing. The rest of them chuckled good naturedly as they hiked out to the country side. “Ok, boys, let’s double time it. We need to get in and out, and back to the base in less than six hours, so the General never has to know anything went sideways. Move it.”

*****************

When Isabelle woke up, she was handcuffed to a bed with no sheets on it. One of the men had jerked her shoulder back into place, and she had passed out from the shock and pain of it. It took her a few seconds to realize she was cold, and a few more seconds to realize she was naked, almost. Someone had stripped her down to her underwear. Frantically, she pulled at the restraints. The metal handcuffs clanked against the railing. They were tight, nearly cutting off circulation.

            “Shit.” She whispered. She blinked away the tears gathered and tried to breathe normally. “Don’t panic. Don’t panic.” There was nothing else in the room but a small wooden chair. The window had boards over it, and the room was dark, except for the slight light coming through the gaps in the board. It was getting darker. She listened. There was no sound coming from anywhere. Where the hell was she? Were they going to kill her? What if they didn’t kill her? What if they did something worse? Like torture her? Why would anyone do that?