Escape and Evasion: The Hunted By Erick aka_erickyahoo.com Hunter becomes the hunted in this crazy tale about a young girl who is captured by a couple of backwoods rednecks. The first thing I saw was the rain. I was wet and cold. I lifted my head to look around. I had no idea how long I had been there, tied up like that. I looked up to see that my hands were tied, and strung up from a wooden beam that went from one end of the shack to the other. Then the pain hit me. ((Aaaagh)) I moaned. I could feel sharp pains coming from the back of my head, and my face. I continued to look around. It was dark, but I didn’t see anybody. My God, how did I get here? I couldn’t remember. All I knew is that I had to get out! I had to get free before who ever brought me here comes back. I pulled as hard as I could on the rope that was binding me to the ceiling. It was useless. I looked up at the rope; damn… it was thick nylon. “I’m never going to be able to break this.” I thought. I hung there for a minute. I could feel the cold breeze against my legs. I looked down to see that my pants were gone, and I was bare foot. I still had my shirt on, but it had been badly torn. “What the hell have they been doing to me?” I thought. I felt so violated, so dirty. But then suddenly I was overcome with fear. I heard voices coming from outside the shack. They were faint, but it sounded like they were getting closer. I began to jerk on the rope as hard as I could. I clenched my teeth together to keep from making any noise. The wet rope dug into my skin with every jerk, causing extreme pain. I heard the voices coming closer. They were almost here, and I was getting no where jerking on the rope. It was just too strong. I stopped trying to get free from the rope when I heard the voices just outside the door… “Yeah buddy, we gonna have some fun with this one.” “Can’t wait, can’t wait, can’t wait… ((Evil laughing)).” Oh my God… that voice, I remember. We were all at the campsite (Jenny, Michael, and me). I went out to find some firewood, and that’s when those weird thugs came out of nowhere and attacked me. There were two of them. The first one charged me, but I knocked him out with a single punch. Then the other one came at me. He dodged my punch, and hit me right in the face hard. He stepped back, and raised his fists into a guard position for covering his face. He must have had boxing experience or something. “This guy doesn’t know who he’s dealing with.” I thought. My father was a martial Arts expert, and he had trained me since I was a little girl. I studied his stance, and his movements. His stance was weak and unbalanced, and his movements were slow and flawed with openings. “This won’t take long.” I thought, as I confidently moved towards him. “Yeah, bring it on! You’re a feisty little heifer, aren’t yah.” “Listen pal. I don’t know who you are, or why you attacked me, but I think you just bit off more than you can chew.” I said, in a final attempt to reason with the scumbag. “Yeah, well we’ll see about that little girl.” “Okay, your funeral.” I said, and then quickly drew back my right hand to finish him off. But I suddenly heard a twig snap behind me, and before I could turn around…((SMACK)) I was struck in the back of the head, and everything went black. I remember everything now! And that voice… he was the redneck that punched me in the face. But I didn’t recognize the other voice. He must be the smaller guy that I knocked out, or at least I thought I knocked him out. He must have gotten back up, and smacked me in the back of the head with something heavy. “Dear God, what are these freaks going to do to me? I have to get out of here.” I thought. My heart started racing as I heard the sound of a chain rattling against the wooden door. They were unlocking the shack! They’re coming in. I looked up at the rope again, and jerked it one last time, but again… nothing. I couldn’t get away, so I hung my head low, and pretended to be unconscious. The door creaked open, and the two rednecks walked in. They shut the door behind them, and walked closer to me. “I’ll be damned, she’s still out.” The short one said. “Well hell, you did about take her head off with that tree limb. Oh well, I was kind of wanting her to be awake for this, but I guess we’ll have to settle for what we’ve got. Next time try not to put ‘em in a coma dimwit” “Hey, you didn’t get punched by her! She’s got a hell of a right.” The tall redneck walked up to me, and ran his finger across my face. It gave me a sick feeling, but I couldn’t move. It took all I had to hang there and let that filthy bastard touch me. “My, she is a pretty one, ain’t she?” “Pretty as a peach.” The little one replied, is a real creepy voice. “Why don’t you step outside for a minute Billy. Me and the lady here need some time alone.” “Alright, but don’t kill her. I want her alive for me too.” “Oh my God! They are planning on raping and killing me.” I thought, but I kept still. A feeling of complete terror swept over me. “I have to do something. I’m not going to die out here, not like this!” I thought, as the small creepy one walked out the door, and shut it behind him. As soon as I heard the door shut, the redneck got real close to me. His body was against mine. He started sniffing me. I felt a shiver in the pit of my stomach, but I concentrated, and kept from showing any sign that I was conscious. “Let’s see… where should I begin? Oh I know… I want to lick your pretty little feet for a while, and then I’ll move on up to the sweeter stuff.” I felt him crouch down, so I opened one eye. “This was my opportunity! It’s now or never.” I thought, as I pulled back my right foot, and swung at his face as hard as I could. ((POW)) It was a direct hit, but it didn’t knock him out! He shook his head and tried to get up, but as he did I pulled myself up with the rope, and got him in a powerful scissor-lock with my legs. He struggled violently, but I had such a good grip around his neck that he couldn’t make a sound. I squeezed as hard as I could, until I felt him go limp. He had passed out, so I let go, and he collapsed to the floor. I had rendered him unconscious, but I was still trapped because of the stupid rope. “Sooner or later the other guy’s gonna get tiered of waiting and just come on in.” I thought. I frantically looked around the room, but there was nothing sharp that was close enough for me to reach. I bowed my head in discouragement, and that’s when I noticed the redneck’s belt. He had a knife on it! It took some doing, but I finally worked his knife out of the sheath with my feet. I thought for a minute about how I was going to get it up to my hands. It was too heavy to chance throwing it up with my feet, so I had no choice but to try to bring my feet to my hands. Even though I have very strong abdominal muscles, this is not going to be easy, but it’s the only way. I clenched the knife firmly between my feet and slowly bent my knees, putting all of my weight on the rope. ((GRRR…)) It hurt like hell, as the rope dug into my flesh. The pain was terrible, but I had to block it! “If I wimp out now, I’m going to die.” I thought. So with one quick swing, I threw my legs up. It was so close! Just a few more inches and I would have the knife in my hands, so I strained as hard as I could, and I did it! I grabbed the knife from my feet, and then I let my legs drop back to the floor. I had no time to waste. I immediately started sawing away at the rope. As I cut away at the rope, I heard a whimper directly below me. I looked down to see that the redneck was starting to regain consciousness, so I kicked him in the back of the neck, and he once again went out. I exhaled a sigh of relief, and then continued to cut the rope. Then finally… ((SNAP)) went the rope, and I was free! I peeled the rope off of my wrists. It had cut into me pretty bad, but there was no time to worry about that. I rolled the thug over and began to search his pockets for identification. I wanted these freaks to go to prison! “This’ll do.” I said, as I pulled his hunting license out of his shirt pocket. I saw his photograph on it, but it was too dark to read the name. I quickly looked around for my clothes. I didn’t see them, but I did see a black garbage bag in the corner. I crept over to it, and sure enough… it had my clothes and shoes in it. I didn’t waste any time. I quickly got dressed, and threw on my shoes. Then I took the knife and walked up to the entrance. There was a small crack in the door, so I peaked out of it. The other redneck was standing a few feet away, with his hand down his pants. “What the hell is he doing, whacking off? What a sick asshole!” I thought. “This is it.” I quietly said. I stepped back a couple of feet, and then tapped on the door. The redneck jerked his hand off of Mr. Happy, and walked towards the door. He leaned his head right next to the door, and whispered: “Joe Buck, you done already?” When I heard his sickening voice right next to the door, I kicked it as hard as I could. ((KA-POW!)) The door smacked him right in the face, and he fell backwards. “Oh God, my nose!” The redneck yelled, as he squirmed on the ground, covering his face with his hands. I quickly darted out the door, and ran right over top of him. He let out a loud gasp, as my right foot struck him in the stomach. “((AAAAGH))… you little bitch! I’m gonna kill you!” He said, as he stumbled to his feet. I ran as fast as I could, only looking back to see if he was going to pursue, but he didn’t. He took a few steps, and then fell over again. I could hear him shouting obscenities at the top of his lungs. I was about a hundred yards away when I realized that I had absolutely no idea where I was. I stopped for a second, and looked around. It was raining, and there was nothing but trees as far as I could see. Then suddenly, I heard the loud, distinct sound of rifle fire. “Oh my God! That bastard’s shooting at me!” I thought, and then I started to run again. I ran as fast as I could through the trees, trying to zig and zag, that way it would be hard for him to get a bead on me. ((KA-POW… SMACK!)) I dove to the right as a bullet hit a nearby tree. “Oh hell, I don’t want to get shot!” I thought, as I continued to run at full speed through the muddy forest. I was just about exhausted when I heard a strange noise a few yards ahead of me. “What is that?” I thought. It sounded like… like water. I couldn’t see for all the trees, but I know that sound. It was definitely water… a lot of water. “I’m gonna get you whore!” The redneck shouted. He was about fifty yards behind me. He hadn’t fired a shot in a while, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I continued to run in a zigzag pattern through the trees. As I ran, the sound of the water got louder. I could begin to see an end to the trees. I had run to the end of my rope. When I got to the tree line, I was forced to stop. I had run to the edge of a cliff, directly overtop of a large river! “What the hell am I going to do now? It must be a fifty-foot drop, into a rushing river. I’m so screwed!” I thought. The redneck was quickly closing the distance, and I had nowhere to go. Nowhere except down that is. I looked over the cliff once again. I didn’t see any rocks or anything, but it was still a long way down! ((KA-POW… SMACK)) A bullet hit the ground, just a few feet from me! I quickly ran back to the nearest tree, and used it as a shield. “You’re mine now!” “I don’t think so!” I shouted back. The redneck was really close. There was no other way out, so I clenched my fists, and darted towards the edge of the cliff. With one powerful thrust of my legs, I was airborne. “Oh my God!” I yelled, as I soared towards the water at an incredible speed. “This is gonna hurt!” I thought, as I tried to straighten my body into a proper diving form. ((SPLASH!)) I hit the water, and went straight to the bottom. The impact and the waters cold temperature dazed me, but I quickly got a hold of myself, and swam to the surface. I exploded out of the water, gasping for air. The water was freezing, and I was in immense pain from the impact. I looked around and immediately realized that I was moving downstream, but before I could start swimming to the shore, I heard a voice coming from above me. “Wow, you’re one brave bitch, but you’re still gonna die!” It was the redneck! “My God, I’m a sitting duck.” I thought. I looked up again to see that he was taking aim at me with his rifle. I quickly inhaled some air, and dove under the water. I heard the rifle fire from under the water, but I couldn’t tell where the bullet had hit. I swam with the current as long as I could, but I soon ran out of air, and had to surface. When I came up, I could see that I was getting pretty far away from where I fell in. Then I heard the redneck yell… “You think you’re getting away? You’re not getting away! We’re gonna get you down stream! There’s no where to run, and there’s nowhere to hide!” His shouting got fainter and fainter as I floated down stream. I was freezing, exhausted, hungry, and if I didn’t get out of this water soon… I would probably be dead. I floated with the current for about 15 minutes. My feet and hands were totally numb. “I’ve got to get out of this water.” I thought. As I struggled to keep my head above water, I noticed a strange sound. It was a faint roaring sound, and it was getting louder as I went. When I figured out what it was, I was struck with fear. It was a waterfall! I was slowly floating to my death. Even though I could barley feel my body; I began to swim against the current, trying desperately to get to the bank. I looked back for a second. I could see the water curving around the edge of the falls. I continued to swim with all my might. I was just about to go over the falls when I came to a large rock that was sticking out of the water. I clung to it with both hands, and rested for a minute. After a few minutes, I got my wind back. I still had about fifty feet to go, and the current was really strong. I looked around for a second. Everything looked so familiar. Then it hit me. I had been here before! This was Grizzly Falls. I had hiked here last year with the girl scouts. I was less than five miles from where I originally set up camp. “Oh no!” I thought, as I remembered Jenny and Michael. They were still up here. They probably have no idea what has happened to me. “Oh hell. What if they went looking for me? They’re just little kids. They wouldn’t stand a chance against those bastards.” I thought. I had to get back to the campsite. I told them that if we ever got separated to go back to camp and wait for me. They’re smart kids. I’m sure they stayed put. After thinking about Jenny and Michael out here all alone, my strength was renewed. I crouched up against the rock and kicked off, back into the water. With a few strokes, I was free from the powerful current. I pulled myself onto the bank and collapsed. My muscles were so cold and numb. It took me a few minutes, but I finally got back on my feet. I didn’t waste any time either. I knew the rednecks were on my tail, so I had to get back to the camp before they did. It was only a couple of miles from the campsite to where we had parked. So as long as Jenny and Michael hadn’t wandered off, we should be able to get the hell out of here, and get to the police in no time. By the time I had reached the campsite, it had stopped raining. I could see our tents just a few yards away. I quickly ran, yelling… “Jenny… Michael!” But I heard nothing. When I got to the tents I frantically looked around, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. I shouted again… “JENNY! MICHAEL!” But there was again no response. “Where the hell are they? I told them not to go anywhere if we got separated.” As I continued to look around the campsite, I noticed something strange. Jenny’s boots were still inside her tent. I bent down to pick them up, but when I did I felt something wet inside them. I set the boot down, and looked at my fingers. It was blood! I bent down into her tent, and I could see that there was blood everywhere. I screamed at the top of my lings… ((JENNY! MICHAEL!)) “Oh no. Oh God, no. They couldn’t have. They wouldn’t have. They were just kids.” I thought. My mind began to race. I felt dizzy. It was like the whole world began to spin. I fell to my knees. As I was on the ground hyperventilating, I noticed that there was blood on the ground too. I stood up, and I could see that there was a trail of blood on the green grass. I followed it. I could feel my heart pounding as I walked over a small hill. When I got to the top, I looked down to see what I had feared most. Jenny and Michael were lying at the bottom of the ditch, naked and covered in blood. ((NOOOOOOO!)) I screamed. I slid down to the bottom of the muddy ditch, and rolled Michael over. He felt cold, and his body was badly bruised. I gently set him down, and went over to Jenny. She had a large wound in her abdomen, and her intestines where partially hanging out. I began to cry uncontrollably, and I couldn’t stop shaking. I don’t know exactly what happened next, but I think I went crazy. The images of those filthy bastards flashed through my mind. My fear departed, and all that was left was rage. I didn’t care if I lived or died. As I held Jenny and Michael’s lifeless bodies in my arms, all I cared about was making them pay! I stood up on my feet. I could feel the rage building inside of me. It felt like fire. I lifted up my head, and yelled... ((AAAAAAAGGGGHHHH! YOU’RE BOTH GOING TO DIE! YOU KILLED MY FRIENDS, AND NOW I’M GONNA KILL YOU!)) A flock of birds exploded out of the tree branches above, and I could hear my voice echoing back from the ridges that were all around me. I knew that they would be coming soon, so I hid myself high atop a large tree. I wanted to follow them back. I was not going to let them die quickly, and we were too close to civilization to do what I wanted to do. I waited patiently for them. When I saw the two dirty killers coming, it took everything I had to restrain myself. They panned out, and searched for about twenty minutes. But when they couldn’t find me, I heard them say… “She ain’t here man. That bitch is long gone.” “Yeah, I guess she found her friends ((evil laughing)).” “Well come on. Lets get the hell out of here before someone else decides to go camping.” I gnashed my teeth together. It was all I could do to keep from dropping out of the tree, and finishing them off. They both had guns, but I was mad as hell. I managed to control myself until they left. I waited a few minutes, and then started following them. I followed about fifty yards behind them. They were making so much noise talking, I could have been in a tank and they wouldn’t have heard me. I hiked about five or six miles behind them, until they came to a beat up shack. They had led me right back to where they had me tied up. The two backwoods beasts went inside, and I stayed a good distance away. I would wait for nightfall, and then I would make my move. “I’m going to send them to hell, where they belong.” I thought, as I lay there in the thicket, getting some rest. A few hours later (nightfall): I suddenly woke up. I must have dozed off for a few hours. It was dark, and I was freezing. Then I remembered why I was still here. I shook off the cold and then crawled out of the thicket, and up to the top of the hill. I could see light coming from the shack, and the pickup truck was still there. It was time. I smeared mud all over me, and under my eyes like war paint. I sat down for a minute and meditated. I was a trained martial artist, and this is how I had always prepared for a fight. But this was much different. I was unable to clear my mind. All that I could see when I closed my eyes was Jenny and Michael lying dead. I lowered my head, and clenched my hair in both hands. “Lord, forgive me for what I’m about to do and protect me, in Jesus name,” I quietly prayed. When I was done praying, the rage flooded my mind once again. I stood up, and made my way up the hill. I stalked from tree to tree, and then hid behind their pickup truck. I then peeked over the truck. I could see the murderers inside. It looked like they were playing cards. I looked down into the bed of the truck. There was an old tire, and a lot of rope. I reached in and pulled out some of the rope. “This will come in handy.” I thought, as I looked around. There was some freshly chopped firewood, and an ax lying a few feet away. I crept over and laid the rope down on a log, next to the firewood. Then I went back behind the truck, and quietly laid in wait for one of them. I waited about an hour, and then I saw the door open. I heard one of them say… “Make sure you get a big log. It’s getting cold in here.” And then other one walked out. It was the short one! He walked around the truck, as I hid on the other side, waiting for the perfect moment. As soon as he stopped to get a piece of firewood, I leaped out, and kicked him behind the knee! My kick caused him to fall backwards, and then I caught him in a sleeper hold. I had his mouth covered so that he couldn’t make any noise, but he was struggling very hard. I drug him around in a circle until he lost consciousness. He was out like a light, but he wasn’t dead. I wanted to save him for later, so I tied him up on the log that was next to the firewood. When I had him securely tied down, I started towards the shack. I walked up to the door and kicked it open. The redneck was at the other end of the shack, next to the fire. As soon as he saw me he jumped up. I was definitely the last person he expected to see. “What the holy hell?” “You killed my friends, and now I’ve come to kill you.” I saw his eyes shift to my right, so I turned my head, and sure enough… it was both of their rifles. They were right next to me, leaning against the wall. I looked back at him. “Don’t worry. I’m not gonna shoot you. I want to kill you with my bare hands.” I said, and then delivered a powerful side-thrust kick to the rifles, snapping them like twigs. “Why you little whore! When I’m done with you, your own momma won’t be able to identify the body.” “Bring it on then.” I calmly replied. That made him really mad. He charged me with a roundhouse punch, but I quickly ducked and came right back with an uppercut to his jaw. His head flew back, and I took advantage of his open chest with two snap punches. He stuttered backwards, and then I gave him a powerful sidekick to the gut, which sent him flying into the wall. “Get up. I’m not done with you yet!” I yelled, while he was writhing in pain on the floor. I walked closer to him, and he jumped off the floor, and tackled me. He had me down, choking me with both hands. What he didn’t know, is that I had been in this situation a hundred times before with my dad. My dad had trained me to get out of situations like this, and this guy was a weakling compared to him. I quickly slung my right leg around his neck, and grabbed his left arm. With one twist of my hip I had him in an arm lock. He was screaming in pain, as I put all the force I had on his elbow. I heard the bones in his arm crack, so I twisted even harder. He was fighting as hard as he could, but it was useless. There was no way for him to escape. After a few seconds I felt him go limp. I looked at his face; he had passed out. I let go of him, and stood up. He was definitely out, but I wasn’t done with him yet. I slapped him hard on his face. “Wake up you bastard! I didn’t say you could go to sleep!” “((Aaaagh)) Oh God! My arm, you broke my arm!” “Get on your feet now, or I’m gonna make this really hurt!” The redneck tried to get to his feet, but fell over again, moaning in pain. I was infuriated. I leaped on top of him, and began striking him in the face. I must have hit about twenty times. His blood was all over me, and he wasn’t moving anymore. I got off of him, and he slumped over, face down on the floor. I stepped over him, and sat down on his back. He was motionless, but I could feel him breathing. I put my left hand under his chin and my other hand behind his head. With one quick twist, his neck snapped. I let go, and his head dropped to the floor. He was no more. I sat there on top of his lifeless body for a minute, contemplating what I had done. Then I remembered Jenny and Michael, and I felt no remorse. Then suddenly screaming, coming from outside shattered the silence. “One down, one to go.” I thought, as I walked out the door. The other redneck was still tied (face up) to the log. He was screaming at the top of his lungs. As soon as he saw me, he stopped screaming. His eyes were filled with terror. “Oh God, oh God, oh Hell… I’m sorry, please… have mercy.” “It’s a little late for mercy.” I calmly said, as I picked up the ax. “What are you gonna do with that! Please, It wasn’t my idea. I swear!” “Why did you kill my little friends?” He didn’t say anything, so I raised the ax above my head, and he started screaming again. “Will you shut up? No one can hear you anyway.” “Fuck you, you bitch! I should have killed you when I had the chance. I’ll see you in hell!” “Tell ‘em Leslie sent you.” I said, and then swung the ax. ((CHOP)) His severed head fell to the other side of the log, and his body went limp. I let go of the ax, and looked at my hands. They were covered in blood. Everything was quiet again. As I started the long walk back to my car, the grief hit me. It was like a deep pain in the pit of my stomach. My friends were gone. I had avenged them, but they were still gone. I fell to my knees, and began to cry. Everything was different now, and it will never be the same again.