One Last Chance To Break The Bindings - 1st Writers Contest of the Project Milkbox

Four days had passed and the miles were far behind them. She didn't know how far they had traveled, stuck in the back of that small box truck, but she knew this was her last day.

She could hear the men talking at times and knew from scraps of their conversation that they would arrive in one more day. To what horrible destination, she couldn't begin to imagine. She only knew the men spoke of it with a frightened respect, and she had no desire to discover what could scare men like these.

Anything from gentle and the ropes were cutting her skin....

 
The men had kidnapped her and tied her wrists and ankles, but they hadn't assaulted her. One made a remark that she would bring more cash unfettered. She knew this was a temporary reprieve as the worst was yet to come, but she buried those thoughts. They would not help her or lend her strength in the hours ahead.

And she knew she would need the strength, for during the second day of captivity a plan had formed in her mind. The knowledge that "escape was a must" came quickly, but it took her a while to think of how she might pull it off. Her chances were slim, she knew, but better than what lay in store for her. Of that, she was convinced.

 
The problem she faced most immediately would be finding a way to cut through the ropes that bound her. Though the men hadn't hurt her badly, they hadn't been gentle either. They spared no breathing room between skin and rope when knotting up her bindings.

As her hopes faded away...

 
Each night so far the men had found a place to park the box truck. They were in the forest somewhere, as she could smell the pines at night and in the morning when they lifted the gate to offer air and water. This would be the last night and it would be time for her to act. She knew the opportunity might not present itself at all, but she was determined to find a way to try.

As she waited for the sound of the men approaching to open the liftgate of the truck, she imagined her course of action. Each night so far, one or both men had come to barely lift up the gate to slip food and water inside. This would be her only chance to make a run for it.

Using a nail she had pried up from the bed of the truck, she began tearing at the rope around her ankles. She might not get around to freeing her hands, but she knew she would need her feet to run. At first, the nail seemed to have no effect on the sturdy jute rope but she could see headway after an hour. The worry that the men might appear too soon crossed her mind as she worked, but she kept on at it.

 
At least a few hours later (as far as she could tell), the nail broke through the last strands of rope and her legs were free to move. Next, she started working on the rope around her wrists but found with lack of leverage it was a much harder task. She was exhausted at this point, and decide to save her strength to escape her captors.

The hours rolled by as she waited, and she wondered why the men weren't coming as she fought off sleep. In fact, that was her last thought before exhaustion consumed her and sent her off to dreamland.

A trail of blood into the forest was all they could find...

 
The next morning she woke to the bright light of day as the truck gate flew open completely. Frozen in place from sleep and utterly surprised, there was no way she could run for it. But within a couple moments, she realized it wasn't her captors standing before her at all.

Instead, it was the surprised look on the faces of two State Troopers that had been called out to the scene. They were in a forest campground was all she could tell with waves of relief washing in. As she laid there in a state of semi-consciousness waiting for the ambulance to arrive, she heard one Trooper talking to the other.

 
"I don't know who took this girl, Jim. But what worries me just as much is who took the men who took her? No small man leaves a trail into the forest like that! And the blood, Jim. Look at all the blood on the trail...."

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