Last Chance

Word Count: 1097
Prompt: Picture of the Wilderness.
Original Contest: Cliff Hanger



Charles and his twin boys, got out of the car, laughing, as they walked in the house. A masked gunman was waiting for them. They stopped at the door frozen in place. Charles motioned for the kids to obey the command to get back in the car. The man sat in the back seat with the children, holding a gun on the one on the left. The gunman directed him to the top of the mountain before the man finally told Charles to stop. He ordered them to get out of the car, and walk to the nearby tree line. After having Charles tie his children to a tree he hit Charles in the back of the head causing him to lose consciousness.




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Johanne raised the trunk door and gasped deeply when she felt the gun pierce her back. She pushed out the most fearsome scream yet nothing was heard. The gun discreetly escorted her through the parking lot to a nearby car, where she was blindfolded. Quiet sobs drenched her blindfold as her hands were tied behind her back. She reminds herself to remain calm to survive for her children, and her husband Charles. She takes deep breaths and keeps your thoughts on her family. When the car stops she is pulled out of the car, and up a short flight of stairs. She hears a door open and hears a woman's whispers. Whispers full of concern and disappointment. "Not again! No! I wont let you ruin another family! Son, please! Let me help you find another way to release all your pent up anger. This isn't healthy"


"No mother! I like my revenge full of psychological torture. Hahaha! I like to watch these people squirm!"


"Son, please!"


"If it makes you feel any better, I dont plan to kill her. Although she still may die. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed all the way down a hallway and down a long flight of stairs. Johanne was left standing still blindfolded and tied up for a long while. She could hear tools clanking and buzzing. Then complete and utter silence. An hour passes and she begins to smell something sweet. The smell was spellbinding. Though, the more she inhaled the dizzier she became. She became unsteady on her feet and fell to the floor.



When she awoke, she was no longer tied or blindfolded, however, her vision was slowly clearing. She could see the silhouette of what appeared to be a person flailing their arms and banging on the thick glass. It was Charles. She was trapped inside a bullet proof and sound proof box in an abandoned warehouse. She could tell Charles was screaming but his words stopped at the walls; so did hers. When Charles realized talking was getting them nowhere he pointed frantically at the notebook positioned perfectly in the corner. Johanne opened the notebook to find only the first page used. She holds up the notebook so Charles could read it with her. It read.

Welcome to "Deaf Trap" a game that leads to freedom or permanent hearing impairment.
Rules:
1. There are no rules! Absolutely anything goes! What fun!

How To Play: Use anything you can find to get free before time runs out, except other people like police. (Oh look, a rule, I lied!) The doors and windows are laced with explosives. Try to walk out Charles and you will explode like confetti. The explosives and the countdown clock are linked to the same trigger as the trap. Break free the countdown stops and the explosives shut off. You will be free to go. Go together or not at all. You have two hours to get free or...you dont want to know. And the clock starts NOW!!!!

Charles' attention snapped to the sound of the countdown clock across the warehouse. Charles paced briskly punching the air. Johanne made deep breath motions beckoning him to join her. She turned the page on the notebook and wrote:


Look for tools around the warehouse that may help us!

Meanwhile she looked for hinges or any other weak spots in the glass. She was sealed up tight. The warehouse was wiped clean. There were no tools anywhere. There were no machines, desks, filing cabinets...nothing.

Charles hears a voice calling him from the countdown clock. "Thank you Charles, for helping me kidnap your children. Hahaha. You made things a lot smoother then your friends. They put up quite a fight. They lost of course."

"My friends? John and Rob? Your the reason no one knows where they are! Everyone thought they kidnapped they're wives and abandoned they're children! I knew that couldn't be true! I don't know who you are or what this is about but name your price, just let my family go!"

"Oh Charles, I don't want your money. I want you to suffer like Jeff did!" Charles gasped suddenly realizing this whole ordeal is his fault. Johanne banged on the glass to get his attention to no avail. "You people locked him in the paint chambers, cranked up the heat, and left him to die! You and your friends joked around calling it a prank gone wrong! The police actually believed it was suicide! Those morons! This is your last chance to do right by Jeff!"

"What? What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to write down what really happened that night and sign it."

"That's it?"

"Yes, plus jail obviously. Your friends chose not to admit their crime. That didn't turn out very well for them or their wives. The device Joanne is in is loaded with Nanobytes programmed to attack the ears. Their wives freaked out so bad the Nanobytes went a little too far."

"I will do it just let my family go!"

"Well, you still have to free them. I will just give you a little extra help. Hahahahahahaha!" Silence.


The pair looked at the clock. 25 minutes.Their long sorrowful faces slowly moved upon each other believing their lives were soon to end. The lights shut off, leaving a dark void. The couple stood silently in the paralyzing darkness for five minutes before the lights came back on. A notebook, pen, and a drill, but no power, laid on a cart. After writing his version of the incident, Charles would have to use his strength coupled with adrenaline to pierce the trap. He tried as hard as he could, often peeking at the clock. Time was cutting too close. 10 minutes. Not even a dent had been made. How would this all be explained to their children?