Gripp

2

She turned her recorder on and knelt. She asked them as many questions as she could think of and quickly snapped photos of a few of the boys and the surrounding area. She knew she didn’t have long and was trying to hurry.

A sudden yell caused all the boys to stiffen.

"Boys!"

"Hide." One of them pushed her back a few feet. "If they find you, they’ll hurt you."

That made her blood run cold.

The boy shoved her back under a shrub and kicked some dirt around the ground, hiding the footsteps.

He quickly turned just as a large man stepped into the space. He narrowed his eyes on the boy standing a distance away from her.

She swallowed, staring at the man. The children shook in fear, lowering their heads. The man glowered over them. "What are you doing over here?"

None of them spoke.

The man walked toward the boy near her and lowered himself. "What are you doing?"

The boy trembled. "We saw a bird."

The man scowled. "You're lying."

His hand flew out, smacking the boy, and she gasped. The man looked up, and she knew she was f****d.

She quickly crawled back, but it was too late. He started toward her hiding spot.

She had five seconds to get away. She quickly sprang up and dashed for the hole she'd crawled through to get in.

He caught her by her hair, yanking her back and slamming her hard onto the ground.

All the air left her lungs, but she forced herself to move. She'd trained in Krav Maga self-defense and knew she could get herself free.

But it wasn't just her and the man anymore. There were five men chasing her.

"Little snake slipped through the gate," the guy said, pulling a leg up to kick her.

She rolled and slid a few feet away. Another advanced on her. She grabbed his arm, rolling him until she slammed him hard onto the ground.

She didn't have to wait as another rushed her. She bent low, allowing his inertia to take him. He tumbled, and she threw her leg back, connecting it to his head.

He fell and didn't get up. She was proud, but the moment didn't last.

The last three charged, slamming her hard against the wall. Someone punched her stomach while another pulled her arm back, and she felt a sharp pain sear through her body.

Her head spun, and she could see the boys behind them, all of them looking afraid and crying.

"Who sent you here?" one of the men growled, getting close to her face.

April snarled, "Go f**k yourself."

He grabbed her chin, forcing her to stare at him. "Tell me, or this is going to get really ugly."

She glared back. "I'm an American. You don’t want to mess with me." That was a weak comeback, but she wanted them to know she had the best military backing her.

A sudden slam into her stomach sent her to the ground. She wanted to vomit, but they snatched her up, dragging her. She tried to wrestle, but they had a good grip on her. One of the men slid open a shed door while the others threw her onto a chair.

They tied her arms and legs, but her mind wasn't there. She was staring at the other man tied to a chair a few feet from her.

Blood ran down his face, and his left eye was swollen shut. His exposed skin was covered in cuts and bruises. He looked half dead, and she couldn't imagine what his body looked like under his clothes.

"Leave her with the spy. We’ll deal with her later."

The door slammed shut, and she swallowed, looking at the man.

"Are you okay?" she asked, trying to withstand her own pain.

"I'm alive," he replied. "Could be worse."

"What's your name?"

"Wes." He blinked at her. "You?"

"April."

She watched him nod, and she looked around the shed. She wasn't getting free, but she wasn't too worried. She could free herself over time, and if not, her editor would certainly send people after her.

"Someone will come," she said, believing it. Hoping maybe to calm Wes. If worse came to worst, her father would throw his weight around in the government. But in return, he would demand she follow his orders, and her life as an investigative reporter would end.

GRIPP

Gripp stood in his prison cell, staring outside at the open space where the inmates all gathered. He thought back to how he landed himself in this situation, still irritated months later.

A group of mercenaries had been hired to go to the uranium mine in Eblax and rescue some of the children locked up there and forced to work. It was a high-risk operation that demanded a specific set of skills.

He was one of the men that took the mission. And things went sideways. His group killed several of the leader's henchmen. Gripp was captured and charged with the murder. He was offered freedom if he gave up the names of others in the group. He refused.

He later discovered that he would have been exonerated if several politicians in the U.S. hadn’t had their fingers in that exact mine. They lost money because of him and wanted him to pay, and in turn, screwed him into prison.

Rubbing his head in frustration, he let the situation wash over him. He should have known something would go wrong. He couldn't trust anyone but himself. He stared out, seeing the inmate shifters he would normally sit and chat with, but he wasn't in the mood today. Lately, they had been talking about their loved ones, and he didn't want to.

He didn't have anyone outside the walls to talk about. No one sent him letters or packages. He didn't have phone chats with a wife or a girlfriend. It was just him. It was better that way anyway. He wouldn't trust anyone.

That and he didn't want to get too close to any of the other inmates. Sure, they were nice enough, but that didn't matter. There was no loyalty here, and anyone would throw him under the bus for an extra glass of water. He wasn't going to risk anything.

He kept his distance from the shady crowd and gave himself only so many hours with everyone else. He preferred to stay by himself, but not so much where it was noticeable.