Finding Nemo: A Thriller

Chapter three

Marlin slammed the car door, hoping he wasn't too late. He looked around the Canyon, scanning for Nemo, then ran up to the guide, who was showing the students a fossil.

"Have you seen my son, Nemo?" He said, panicking when he didn't see the boy in the crowd of kids.

The guide looked up. "Uh, I don't know them by name, sir."

Marlin groaned. "You know, little guy, short for his age, orange hair?"

"Like you?"

"Yes! Orange hair like me."

"No, I mean little guy like you,"

Marlin threw up his hands. "Okay, obviously, you aren't any help."

He turned, then spotted his son... at the edge of the Canyon? He was just stepping over a chain that blocked a long bridge running across.

"Nemo!" He yelled, running up to him. "What do you think you're doing?"

His son glanced back, his face paling, then turning red with anger. He turned back and kept walking stubbornly towards a white van.

"Nemo!" He shouted again, stopping at the edge of the bridge. "Come back here, young man!"

He stood right beside the van now, his lucky arm hovering rebelliously towards the vehicle.

"You come back here right now!" He yelled.

Nemo still stood, his hand moving closer to the white steel.

"Right now," Marlin repeated.

Nemo's hand slapped the side of the van, then he started marching resolutely back towards him.

"Yes, come back now," Marlin called. "You are in big trouble, you hear me?"

Nemo crossed his arms, looking at the ground angrily. Marlin pulled out his cell phone, dialing a number. Great. All this nonsense had made him late for work. Nemo was definitely getting grounded for at least a week.

Suddenly the phone was knocked out of his hand. One of the kids screamed. He looked up to see two men climbing out of the van. One was right in front of him, the one who had slapped his phone away. The man punched him in the jaw, and Marlin stumbled back in surprise. The punch was so hard that he nearly blacked out. The man pushed him to the ground and started kicking at his ribs mercilessly. Marlin lifted his head to see one of the men wrap his giant arms around Nemo. The kid had just now realized what was happening, and he started screaming and clawing at the man's arms.

Marlin groaned and lifted himself up, but was kicked in the chest and he fell back down.

Nemo was still punching and slapping at his captor, several hundred yards away from Marlin. The man who had been kicking at him was running towards the van now, and Marlin weakly lifted himself up. He limped, bruised and bleeding, towards the bridge.

He and Nemo suddenly made eye contact, his son's eyes wide with horror. Someone slipped a hood over his head, blocking his face from sight.

Marlin screamed and started running, ignoring the bruises and gashes in his legs. His son's body disappeared as he was tossed into the back of the van. The car started up and shot off, leaving black clouds in its trail.