| The back doors were opened, and we were led in, soon followed by Troy and Matt. The third man rode in the front. "So Taylor..." Troy began once we were on our way, "what does it feel like to finally be a part of the family again?" His only answer was a glare, as Matt suddenly lashed out and kicked him in the right leg. Taylor let out a cry of agony, as I grabbed his shoulder. "Don't touch him," Troy suddenly demanded. I quickly pulled my hand away. I wasn't sure whether he was serious or not, but I didn't want to take any chances. Troy grinned, as Taylor coughed. "Don't worry," he said, "things will be back to normal in no time." Matt wouldn't stop grinning. Taylor was in obvious pain the majority of the trip, which lasted maybe an hour. We soon found the van slowing, as it drove through a presumed gate in a tall barbed-wire topped fence. Taylor just stared at it, then gave Troy a curious glance. He just smiled back. Minutes later, the van pulled to a halt. Matt got up to open the back doors. "Home sweet home," Troy crooned, also getting up. Once the doors were opened, Matt took hold of me and pulled me out. Troy followed with Taylor. As soon as we stepped out, we saw the building we had come to. It was a single storey building, with the exception of a small part at the back. It was quite large, made of grey brick, and the walls themselves were like the ones we saw in the video. We were taken to the front door, and Troy produced some keys. Stepping inside, we were greeted with a long, dark hallway. "There's been few escape attempts so far," Troy began, turning on the lights, "only one barely successful." We knew he was talking about Zac. As we were led down the hallway, we passed maybe six or seven doors, and two more hallways. The silence scared us. As we came to the centre of the hallway, we realised we were being led to an indented door. It looked covered with bolts, of which only three were being used. Troy made a show of unbolting it, and opening it. Taylor immediately looked worried... it was the first room from the video. As you entered the grey brick room, directly ahead of you was a steel pipe which ran from the ground it was welded into to the roof, leaving about an inch gap between it and the wall. Firstly to our right was a makeshift cage about a metre squared. As we entered, Amy looked up in surprise from the inside. Beyond her, there were chains welded to the wall. These occupied Angie, who was looking very miserable. Opposite her, on the other side of the room, sat a chair much like an optician's practice, most likely stolen from one. This chair had added straps to the arms and footrests, and was empty. In front of that sat another chair. This one was just plain wooden, and looked familiar. It had metal cuffs over the arms and two legs, and was occupied by Isaac. He just gazed over at us in silence, partly showing how very tired and scared he was. The last thing in the room, directly to our left, was a rough cell built into the wall. The cell had no lighting or window, and included a bed with chains. On the bed, unchained, was Zac. "Zac?!" Taylor rushed over as soon as he saw him. No sooner had he touched the bars of the cell, that Matt took hold of him and threw him against the opposite wall. There, he fell to the ground. "Taylor...?" we could hardly hear Zac, as he tried to sit up. Taylor looked to the roof, tears forming in his eyes. It was then that Troy pushed me forward into the room, then took me over to the black chair. "Get him ready," he said to Matt. Taylor glanced at him and Matt as if to say 'what for?' before Matt took hold of him again and pulled him to his feet. Troy basically threw me in the chair, then, taking hold of my wrists and legs, began to strap them into place. Matt again produced the key to Taylor's hand cuffs, and began to unlock them. Then Ike and I saw Troy reveal a plastic-coated bike chain. The only ones who saw, we kept silent. Taylor was shoved down toward the pipe, and Matt knelt down to him. "Hands behind your back," he ordered. Taylor looked up at Troy. He pulled out his gun and pointed it to Taylor's leg. "Quickly please," he said. Taylor did as he was told, and Matt looped the hand cuffs around the pipe before restraining him. Taylor gulped. Then Matt suddenly grabbed his forehead and held his head against the pipe as Troy also knelt down. Taylor was shaking again. Then Troy showed him the chain. Taylor's eyes widened upon realisation of what he was about to do, before Troy began looping it around his neck and the pipe. It went around three or four times before Troy put the latch together and spun the dial. "Do you remember the combination?" he asked Matt. He nodded, removing his hand from Taylor's forehead. They both smiled at him, before standing up. On their way to the door, I noticed Matt wink at Isaac, making him clench his fists. Matt chuckled, and the door was soon closed behind them. We heard the bolts again being locked in, then their footsteps fading down the corridor. "Are you two all right?" Ike suddenly asked. "He's not," I replied after a short silence. Taylor wriggled a bit to get in a better position. Then his brother saw his leg. "What happened to your leg?" he asked, becoming worried. "Oh you know, a bullet kinda went through it," he replied sarcastically, as the first thing he'd said since on the train. "You were shot?" Ike raised his eyebrows. "Not quite," I interrupted, "the bullet only just hit the side of his leg... only enough to cause some damage." Taylor sighed, and leant his head against the pipe. "Zac knew that," he said suddnely. "Zac didn't really have a chance to say anything, before..." Ike trailed off. "We know," I told him, "they sent us a video." |
 |
| Chapter 14 - Getting Settled |
|