Fresh Meat

Chapter 14

"I'm going to kill them for this." Harry said with hatred dripping from his words. He looked at his best friend who was passed out and chained up next to him. His face was red and puffy and there was blood dripping down from his nose and a cut on his forehead. Harry kept his focus on Dougie to make sure he was still breathing, although even if he wasn't there wasn't much Harry could do since he was all chained up as well.

"You alright Tom?" He asked, he knew it was a stupid question. None of them were obviously alright but he more said it to try and comfort his shaken up and fearful friend.

"Is Dougie alive?" Tom asked in a small voice, ignoring Harry's question.

"Yeah, he's still breathing." Harry responded.

"That's good. We really need to get out of here." Tom said, his voice leaking with urgency.

"I know." Harry stated. "Hold on a second." He said while intently staring in Tom's area.

"What?" Tom questioned

"Those pliers next to you, think you can reach them?"

Tom looked down to see the pliers, with his fingernail still clamped in them, laying only inches away from the cage he was in. He couldn't fit his whole hand through the wires of the caging, but he could stick a couple fingers out. They just barely touched the pliers. Tom focused all his attention on slightly moving the pliers closer to him. With his long fingers just merely brushing the pliers he managed, after a few tries, to scoot them close enough to grab.

"Yes!" He exclaimed once he held the prized possession in his hands.

"Now use them to cut some of the wires so you can get out." Harry instructed.

Tom, being the smart cookie that he was, clamped the pilers down on the latch that kept the door closed. It took some effort but after a few minutes the wire eventually broke, opening the door of the cage. He took no time in scrambling out of the cage as quickly as possible. His legs felt like jell-o from being cramped in that tiny cage. He rushed over to his friends, eager to free them as well.

"We're getting out of here." Tom said as he fumbled with the chains that held Harry's wrists. He tried breaking these with the pilers, but they were much thicker and heavier metal than the cage was. He wasn't even making a dent with the pilers. The only way to get out of these was with a key.

"Tom just go." Harry finally said after Tom's failed attempts to break the chain.

"But what about you guys?" Tom asked with concern filling his eyes.

"We'll be fine, just go and find help." Harry demanded. "Hurry before they come down here again."

Tom quietly ran up the steps. Disappointment filled him as he tried to open the door handle. It was locked. That's right, Albert told them it locked from the inside. Tom sighed in frustration. He frantically looked around the room for any means of escape. That's when his eyes caught sight of something. The window. It might have been small, but he had to fit through, he just had to.

Harry noticed Tom notice it. "Good thinking." He said.

Tom walked over to it. He had to reach his arms up to touch it. He tried opening it and to his surprise it lifted right up. They must have never figured someone would have tried to escape through the window. Tom lifted himself up, good thing for him Harry had drug him along enough to the gym so he had the upper body strength to be able to pull himself up.

It was a very tight squeeze. Once the upper half of his body was out, he really had to push and pull to fit the rest of him out, but he managed to do it. Once he was completely out, he stood up brushing dirt and snow off of himself. He really did, he was out. He briefly popped his head back in the window. "I'll be back for you guys, I promise." He yelled right before he turned and started running through the forest. All he knew was for the time being he had to put as much space between himself and the house as possible.

He ran and ran and ran and ran until he eventually felt like his legs might fall off. Luckily for Tom he had been wearing a jacket and boots, or else he would have been a victim of frostbite with all the snow. His breath was heavy and his heart was thudding about a million miles a second, but he keep on running until he caught sight of a road. He stopped and caught his breath once he stood in the middle of the snowy road.

He still hadn't seen or heard anyone, which for the time was a good thing meaning he hadn't been followed by Albert or Joe. Once they figure out he had escaped they would come looking for him for sure, so he knew he needed to keep a move on.

He kept on going, keeping a slow jog. He couldn't find the strength to keep running like he had been. His energy was draining with every cold icy breath he took, so this would have to do. After about ten or fifteen minutes of this he saw a house on the side of the road. It was a average looking two story white house. It was a little run down with some of the paint chipping and the bushes looked a bit overgrown, but it was still a house, not a cabin in the middle of the woods, but a house right next to the road.

Tom smiled at the sight of this. He was going to keep the promise he made to get his friends out. He briskly jogged up to the house. He loudly knocked on the white wooden door. Time seemed to go by as slow as ever as he waited for someone to answer.

He knocked again this time even a bit louder. "Hello? Is anyone here?" He yelled as he knocked.

He heard footsteps approach the door and then the door nob turned and opened. He was greeted by a large man with a big brown beard and long straggly hair. He looked familiar. Then it clicked he was the guy Harry talked to in the diner. The one who told them to take this way to the airport.

Tom had a feeling of dread at the thought of that but before he could process any other thoughts, the man grabbed his head and hit him against the door frame, knocking him out instantly.