Nine

April 15, 2012 Carrie Ann Golden 3 comments

“This way folks.” The bearded man pointed towards the trees.

Anaya could barely make out a trail as she followed behind her parents. They moved quickly. The trail, dark and uneven, ended suddenly when they charged out into a clearing. Standing in the center was a small structure made out of cement. It had no windows and only a single door.

To Anaya, it was smaller than Dad’s storage shed back home.

Was this a joke?

She opened her mouth to say something when a high-pitched, whistling sound grew louder and louder until a deafening explosion rocked everything, and threw them to the ground.

One of the armed men scrambled back to his feet and rushed to the building, and flung the steel door wide opened.

“Inside!” He yelled out.

Without any hesitation, everyone ran in.

The structure was barely large enough to fit all of them inside as the bearded man entered last and slammed the door shut.

Being sandwiched between her parents, Anaya tried to look around. The place held no furniture. The only thing she saw was an exposed trapdoor in the center of the floor.

“Dan, go ahead and open the hatch.” The bearded man grimaced as he stood with his back pressed against the cold, gray wall.

Dan, the one with chocolate-brown eyes, reached down and yanked hard at the rope attached to the door. It swung up and over, and landed on the floor with a loud clap. The opening revealed stairs.

He then stepped down into the hole and disappeared.

“All is clear!” He yelled back.

“Follow him.” The bearded man ordered the rest.

The second armed man held his hand out towards Mom. “I’ll take your boy.”

Mom hesitated briefly before she handed Eli to him. The toddler whimpered at first, but stopped once the man climbed down into the hole. And they were gone.

“Ma’am?” The third armed man stood waiting at the opening.

Mom nodded in silence and made her way down the steps.

Another whistling sound pierced the air and then a jarring explosion. Mom screamed and a thud was heard somewhere at the bottom of the hole.

Dad fell to his knees and cried down into the opening. “Urma?!”

A long moment of silence.

“She’s fine!” Dan called back.

“Dad?” Anaya went and helped him to his feet. “He’s said Mom’s fine.”

He nodded. “Yes. Yes, thank God!”

“Go to her.” She urged him.

Without another word, Dad was gone.

“Your turn.” The armed man touched her elbow gently.

“Okay.” Anaya took a deep breath and stepped into the darkness.