A Woman Like Me...

No Damsel in Distress

     I awoke with a throbbing pain shooting through my skull.  I touched the area just above my right eyebrow and was unable to hold back my cry as the pain exploded outward from the tender spot.  I blinked several times, trying to clear my vision.  I scanned the room around me, attempting to assess my situation; my body hurting too badly to move quickly.

     I determined that I must have been placed into a basement.  The floors and walls appeared to be made entirely of concrete.  The utilities were exposed amongst wooden beams above me and the windows were situated near the upper half of the room.  There was not much in the place; whomever had kidnapped me had known better than to give me too many tools.  I could do a lot with very little, even in my painful state.

     I laid very still for a few moments as I began to mentally coach myself; I needed to begin moving my body, whether I liked it or not.  The more mobile that I could manage to be by the time my attackers returned, the better my abilities to save myself.  I may have been in a tight spot, but I was no damsel in distress.

     I was going to find my way out of this.  Whoever this was that had attacked me would not get away with this; if I was going down then I was going to take everyone that I possibly could with me.  They would know who they were dealing with and they would die for their mistake.

     First things first, I needed to begin moving, slowly.  I had to be careful not to strain myself, but movement was important.   Second, try to figure out who was keeping me prisoner and why.  Third, find a weapon; at this point, absolutely anything would do.  I was too sore to rely on my abilities alone.  Fourth, determine the best possible option for escape.

     "Sounds simple enough."  I scoffed at myself.

     Well...as I said, step one...

     I flattened my palms down on the floor next to me and began to push myself upwards, placing my weight on my arms.  I was able to raise myself up onto my elbows.  That had not been too bad, but I was starting to feel a sharp pain pulsating through my back.  I took a deep breath and convinced myself that I needed to push through it.  If I was able to sit up, then I would allow myself a break as a reward.  At least, then I would be able to defend myself slightly better than I could laying down.

     I took a deep breath, releasing it with a huff as I used my stiff muscles to push myself upwards, sitting flat on my butt with my legs stretched out in front of me.  Now it was time to grant myself a break.  I had made it to my first goal; milestone passed.

     I congratulated myself for making it this far, I knew that it was important to keep a healthy psychological state in these situations.  Praise for every little victory was important.  Survival was often a ninety percent mental game, at the very least.  You had to keep your spirits high and believe in yourself or else you risked succumbing to your circumstances.

     I took a moment, as I rested my aching bones, to take another look around the room.  Was there anything that I had missed before?  Anything at all that may help me with a location or even the identity of my captors. I searched and scanned for several minutes.  Unfortunately, I saw nothing.  The room was mostly barren save the few scattered furniture items.  Nothing here would, likely, provide me with any information, however, if I was able to successfully break a piece of furniture then I could fashion a weapon.  There was some hope for me after all.

     I did not figure that I would have to survive for too long anyway.  I had been lucky enough to have had the time to turn on my tracker before I was taken.  Trace and the others should be looking for me now.  I reached down, instinctively, to touch my belt for the comfort that the tracking device, implanted within the buckle, would provide.