Taken

Zoey (Chapter 32)

"Where's the base?" I asked.

"It's an old building on the northern outskirts of Kabul," Daniel answered. "It literally spelt out 'bad things happen here'. I don't know how local authorities didn't pick up on it."

"So how come not many people have heard of the Serpents? Have they really not done anything worth noting or...?" I asked. I found it funny that something that I had never heard of was causing so much trouble.

Carson shrugged. "They're a pretty quite group overall. Where Al Qaeda or ISIS are more of 'take action' groups, the Serpents are more talk. They spread the word that the Western world is bad and things like that. I look at them as recruiters for groups like ISIS; it's their words that make individuals want to join their mad rage of jihad. I think the reason they are suddenly acting is out is because they have a little rat whispering C.I.A. intelligence into their ear and also the fact that they want to be part of the action now."

I was about to comment when I suddenly became very dizzy. My stomach started to ache violently and I felt like I was going to pass out. In fact, that's exactly what I did.

... I woke up to find that we were pulled off to the side of the road with my door open. We were still in the city, so the noise was very loud which sucked since I was still pretty out of it.

Daniel was sitting in the seat next to me and Carson had his back turned to us watching the street.

"Are you ok?" Daniel asked when he realized I was awake.

That was a very good question. I had no idea why I had blacked out, but I didn't feel sick or anything any more. "Yeah, I think so," I responded.

"Has that happened to you before?"

"No."

By this time Carson had turned around after seeing that I was awake. Daniel looked at him. "I think you were right," he said to Carson not looking surprised. Carson said nothing.

"Right about what?" I asked, sitting up straight. I had slumped in my seat when I passed out and my back was starting to hurt.

"Dad thought that maybe you and the Troops had been drugged. It would explain why you just passed out and why there wasn't a struggle between the Troops and their kidnappers; affects of the drug."

"Did you guys go anywhere you could have been drugged?" Carson broke in.

"I shook my head. "No we just ordered room servi-oh, I see now." Carson nodded as if pleased I had made the connection.

"Well there's one question answered," he said. "Now let's-" he stopped himself as he looked over the hood of the car.

"What is it?" Daniel asked concerned. He and I looked out his window and saw what Carson saw.

Oh dear.

Ten men were making their way through the crowd toward us, large guns in hand. My stomach started to turn again.

Carson seemed to take in the whole situation very quickly. "Get out of the car," he ordered calmly. Daniel and I did, and the minute we were all standing side by side, we started running.

I was hopeful that we would loose them, but after awhile I realized that we weren't going much faster than them. I was running as fast as my legs could carry me and I was certain that Carson and Daniel were too; it wasn't making a difference. What really sealed the deal was when I saw more men with guns ahead ready to cut us off.

"Guys...!" I panted nervously. I wasn't sure what we were going to do.

"This way!" Carson called as he led us down a side street. The crowd started screaming in fear as the men started to fire off bullets in our direction. I gasped as I saw one of the bullets lodge itself in the chest of a man who was standing in front of me and to my right. I quickly turned away and kept running.

Suddenly, Daniel, who had been running between Carson and I, stopped running. He turned around to face our pursuers. "What are you doing?!" I yelled at him as I stopped running. But Carson grabbed my arm and forced me along. "Go!" he told me. He too had stopped running when Daniel did. I now realized what they were going to do.

"No! Come on we can still-!"

"Zoey, go!" he yelled as the men were now fighting with Daniel. I noticed that they were no longer firing their guns anymore; they were just trying to subdue him. But Daniel had a trick up his sleeve; he pulled out his concealed hand gun and opened fire on the ten men. Three fell instantly, while the others brought their guns back up. Daniel still fought them while firing his gun.

Three turned their attention on Carson and me. They came charging at us. Carson also took out his gun and started firing at them. He killed two of them before he turned back toward me and pushed me roughly into the crowd.

"No!" I screamed as I saw the men grab him and hit him. Carson fought back, he even managed to shoot one more man, but then their back up arrived and he couldn't hold them off any longer. I looked to where I had last seen Daniel and he was no longer there. I began to tremble.

The men now had Carson in their custody. I wanted to stop watching, but I couldn't. Before they led him away, he turned his head in my direction. Our eyes met for a brief second, and I had a clear, vivid flashback.

"Daddy?" three year old Zoey asked. Why was Daddy leaving her here? She didn't know who these people were. She hadn't seen Mommy in a long time either. She began to cry as she didn't understand what was happening.

"Shhh," Daddy said as he hugged her. She felt warm water fall onto her shoulders where his head was.

"Carson?" the strange man Daddy seemed to be leaving her with said. Daddy pulled away and nodded to the man. He was still at her level, and he kissed her gently on the forehead before picking her up and handing her to the man. She cried even harder as she watched him walk away and to his car. She continued to watch him and right before he pulled out of the driveway, their eyes met. His eyes were also wet. She reached out for him and he paused for just a minute, making her think that he was coming back to get her. But she watched as he took a deep breath and pulled out of the driveway and out of sight.

My mind snapped back to the present. Carson was now gone, but not all the men were. I realized that they were now looking for me. Tears silently falling down my face, I mixed in with the crowd.

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Ok, so that flashback was really emotional to write! Hopefully it brought tears to your eyes because, picturing it in my mind, it almost did for me! I'll get into more details about the flashback the next time we see Zoey which won't be the next chapter, but probably the one after that. And oh no, now Carson and Daniel are gone too! What the hell am I doing to poor Zoey?!...I honestly have no idea. Just kidding!

Sorry it took me such a long time to update, I re-wrote this chapter because I didn't like where the original one was taking the book. Hopefully I can update faster from now on now that I kind of know what I want now...I said kind of, right?

Comment, like, and share please!

~Emily~