Fallen Pt 16

Workers threw themselves to the side as Hunter and Farren roared up the tunnel in something similar to an army Desert Patrol Vehicle. 
 
It was a three person, rear wheel drive, all terrain, souped up go kart.
There had been no keys in the ignition but Hunter had memorized the Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook section on hot wiring a car. The DPV was not that much different.
Farren clung to the seat as Hunter took a corner on two wheels.
"Where is the hand brake on this thing?" Hunter yelled. He accelerated for a straight away and glanced down to his right and left. "Oh, there it is!"
"HUNTER LOOK OUT!" Farren screamed.
Hunter started the turn, pulled on the handbrake, and spun the wheel in the opposite direction than the way he wanted to turn.
The back tires seized up and swung out in a long graceful arc.
Hunter smiled as he remembered the offensive driving and drifting lessons he had taken.
Releasing the hand brake he accelerated into the final straight stretch, He could see the end of the tunnel.
He was halfway there when something started to block the light. They were pulling a truck to block off the exit! Hunter shifted into the highest gear and stomped on the gas. It was a crazy game of chicken. Hunter steered to the left side of the tunnel. It was too big for the truck to completely block off but they followed his movements and drove the truck farther to the left. There didn't look like there would be enough room for them to pass. Hunter said a prayed and swung the wheel to the right. The kart zipped to the right and tore past the truck. The roll cage scraped across the rear of the truck creating sparks and a loud screeching. The right tires slammed into the wall and then hit a bump. The kart tipped up as the right side tires bounced from the massive impact. For a few fleeting seconds Hunter thought they were going to flip over but He had no sooner thought of seeing the Professional drivers drive on two wheels than he jerked the steering wheel to the left causing the inertia to slam the vehicle into the ground. The kart skewed sideways and then rolled. Hunter felt the harness bite into his shoulders and lap. When the dust started to settle he shook his head and saw that they were right side up. He looked at Farren and saw that he was unhurt. The kart was, miraculously, still running and Hunter gunned it, peeling out on the dirt and slewing back and forth until the tires caught. Then they were off leaving a hundred or so workers and a red faced maniac staring in amazement and fury. "Hunter!" Farren yelled. "Go left here! I saw a way out when we flew in!" Hunter drifted around the corner and then spotted their way out.
Something pinged off the frame above Hunters head and several gunshots were heard.
"They're shooting at us!" Farren yelled as the slouched as low as he could in his seat.
There was a truck with several men in the back chasing Hunter in his mad dash across the field.
"We are almost to that gate!" Hunter said with a jerk of his chin in the direction of a ten foot tall chain link and barbed wire gate.
He steered towards the gate and tried to get a little more speed.
The two vehicles raced toward the gate with the men in the truck firing at the two boys in the kart.
At the least second before impact Hunter jerked the handbrake again. The kart drifted in a 180 degree circuit. The driver of the truck tried to brake and swerve but he lost control and the truck started to tip. Men bailed out left and right as the truck rolled clumsily through the gate. The chain link sparked as it came in contact with the truck, but offered little resistance to the massive hunk of metal careening through it. Hunter Gunned the motor and peeled out in another 180 to drive through the now open gate. He maneuvered past the smoking remains of the truck and took off down the dirt road bullets plowing into the ground and ricocheting from the kart frame around them.
"I thought that gate was electrified." Hunter yelled. "Good thing we didn't hit it!"
"Did those men die?" Farren asked.
Hunter didn't answer.
He could hear another truck behind them. And could still hear gunfire although they were out of range.
The sun was setting so he flicked on the headlights.
Boom! Hunter and Farren jumped at the explosive sound.
A lucky shot had popped the rear tire. Hunter fought for control but the kart was going too fast. It slewed to the right and then the tires bit into the dirt road and Hunter and Farren were rolling for the second time in almost as many minutes.

Fallen Pt 15

Farren was lying on the small cot crying. That horrible man had left him not fifteen minutes ago after asking him questions for a while.
Everything since he had been kidnapped was just too terrible to think about and he tried to shut out the fear that threatened to make him crack.
"Dear God help me!" he cried. "Send someone to save me God!"
The door opened and two guards walked in followed by a person in ragged clothes. "Sit down against the wall!" Hunter barked.
"Hunter!!!" Farren screamed.
He jumped up and rushed his older brother who was carrying two guns.
As Farren shot past one of the guards he snaked out his hand and caught Farren by the hair.
"Farren!" Hunter yelled, "Wait!" But it was too late. The guard had Farren by the hair and had whipped out a knife. "Make another mo-!" he started but Hunter had reacted almost as fast as the guard.
He threw the gun in the guards face hard enough to knock the man on his rear. The other guard jumped at Hunter, fist's swinging. Farren, finding himself released from his painful capture as quickly as he had been caught, stumbled to the door and ran out.
Hunter, reacting purely on instinct, kicked out straight at his new attacker and felt his foot connect solidly with the mans thigh. The guard grunted in pain and swung his fist at Hunters head. Hunter ducked and kicked the man in the groin finishing him off with a solid uppercut.
The other guard had recovered from his face full of gun and he lunged at Hunter and put him in a double arm bar choke hold. Hunter struck back and down with his fist as hard as he could. His fist connected and the guard gasped and for a split second Hunter could feel the pressure ease off his throat. He jammed his other hand under the guards arm as far as he could then heaved himself and the guard forward while ducking low. Both combatants feet flew over their heads. Hunter landed hard on the guards chest. The man grunted as most of the air was forced from his lungs. Hunter rolled over and jumped to his feet. In three steps he was out the door. He grabbed the door and slammed it shut. He rammed the bolt home locking the former guards inside their own prison.
Farren was hugging him and bawling. Hunter started to cry too.
"Farren," Hunter said as soon as he could, "What happened? Did they get the whole family?"
Farren just shook his head.
Hunter took a few moments to pray thankfully for the safety of the rest of his family. Then he took a deep breath.
"Ok Farren," he said. I need you to look at me. I am going to get us out of here, but you need to trust me ok?"
Farren sniffed, and stopped crying. He took a few deep breaths and then nodded.
Hunter smiled. He looked around at the tunnel and the doors all leading to different cells. They were apparently empty. He stood there for a minute trying to plan what was going to happen next. Where would they go? What would they do?
Why had Diablo, or whatever his name was, kidnapped them? What did the coordinates in the book have to do with all of this?
Hunter remembered something and grinned.
"Hey Farren," he said. "want to ride in a go kart?"

Fallen Pt 14

Something stunk really bad. I tried to open my eyes but they refused to obey. I lay there on the hard ground gagging at the acrid smell of... burning rubber? What rubber was burning? What had happened? I tried to think back. There was a fight, gunshots, an explosion! I must have been knocked out by the explosion. Cold fear and panic flooded through my body. At least the parts I could feel! I could not feel my legs nor seem to move them. I tried not to panic and hyperventilate. Could I be paralyzed for life? Never able to run or walk again? Not able to save Farren. He needed me now. I became aware of a feeling in my shoulder. It quickly spread until it covered most of my body. Heat. pure heat; painful and burning. My eyes flew open suddenly. I was on fire. Literally. I rolled over and over finding that I had control over my entire body. I was not paralyzed but burning fuel covered my body. The rolling extinguished the flames but they would ignite at the slightest spark. I had to change out of these clothes. I crawled away from the burning wreckage of the plane. There was a shed a few yards away. I painfully and slowly inched my way over to it. I could hear people shouting and running toward the massive pyre. I opened the door and collapsed inside. It was the control/radio shack for the airstrip. There was a first aid kit with burn salve in it and an extra pair of dirty coveralls in the corner. I used up all the burn salve and then gingerly put on the new clothes. the burns were not very bad because my clothes had absorbed much of the heat. the exposed parts of my skin were burned much worse. I could still function but it was painful. I must not have been knocked out for more than a few seconds.I emerged from the shack with a fire extinguisher in hand and did my best to blend in with the crowd. no one noticed me because they were all to busy trying to put out the fire. I handed my extinguisher to someone and then joined a line of people running back to the base for more firefighting equipment, as the fire was spreading along the dry grass at an amazing pace. We stormed into the underground bunker and I followed the flow of humanity until I saw something familiar. It was a door with a window. Through the window I could see the sparing gym. The other side of the gym led to my old cell. Could that be where Diablo was keeping Farren? I was going to have to start looking for him somewhere so I might as well start somewhere I knew.
I opened the door to the gym and slipped inside.  A flood of images surged through me. The two Guards I had killed, and the fencing instructor. I nearly collapsed to the ground from the weight of the guilt I felt. Could I have escaped without killing anyone? If I hadn't escaped would Farren still have been kidnapped? I shoved all these thought to the side and prayed. "God, help me to be strong. Give me strength to find Farren and save us both from this evil. You are my Savior and the only One who can get us out of this alive." My peace of mind returned, and I continued on through the other door and out into the all too familiar corridor.  I walked past a hallway on the left and then one on the right. Take the second door to the left; pass another hall on the right and take the second door on the right after that. Then it would be the  seventh door on the left of a long hall of identical doors. That was my particular hell. Which would be Farrens? Would he be in one? I came to the last door. So far I had not encountered any guards. I peeked through the little window. Two guards. I stepped back and took a moment to pray. "LORD, Help me do do your will. Give me your wisdom. I do not want to hurt these men but at the same time I do want revenge. I pray for the guards, LORD. Help me to get my brother without having to hurt anyone."
I took a deep breath and opened the door.

Fallen Pt 13

I waited for about ten minutes after the plane landed and was about to move out when a new truck drove into the compound. instead of stopping at the loading dock, it went straight to the tunnel and drove inside.
I wondered for a second how the dealt with carbon monoxide in the tunnel.
There were several people in the bed of the pickup and one of them looked like a little kid about Farren's age or so.
Could Diablos be taking other people hostage? What if he had more prisoners in there? Would it help them more if I tried to escape or if I tried to rescue them? I needed to escape and then the Authorities could come and rescue the other prisoners if there even were other prisoners. How would I escape? There was that plane. I could steal it. What if I stowed away on it? I could hide in the baggage compartment and then sneak out later!
I snuck as carefully as I could in the direction of the landing strip. Staying to the tallest grass and shrubs I tried to make a large circle around the compound. It took me over an hour to make the distance that was less than a half a mile. There was no one around the plane when I got there. I opened the door to look inside. I crawled over the front seats into the back and pushed aside a coat that was laying on the back seat. I stopped. That coat looked familiar.  I held it up. I have always wondered what hey meant when they said 'My blood turned to ice in my veins. Now I knew. The coat was Farren Greene's. My little brother. Then it was him in the back of the truck! So much for me needing to escape and then get help. I needed to get my brother. I turned to climb out of the plane and was stopped by a round hole. To be correct it was a barrel; a very large barrel. To a very large gun. and an even larger man that was holding the gun.
"Get out!" He barked.
I slowly raised both hands in the air and stepped out of the craft. He backed up slowly as I advanced and I noticed that he was about to step on a rock. I tensed. He smiled with pleasure, no doubt because he had captured me and was going to get a raise or something. He took one more step back and the rock rolled out from under his foot and he stumbled backwards. I lunged and slapped the gun aside just as it went off. The bullet thwacked into the wing as I slammed my palm into the man's nose. The pungent smell of fuel filled the air as I wrestled with my assailant vying for control of the gun. It went off again and there was a massive explosion followed by waves of heat. The force sent us both skidding and tumbling along the ground. Something slammed in to my head and everything went black.

Fallen Pt 12

Farren was scared. He was more than scared though, he was terrified. Scared to death was nearly true. the night he had been kidnapped he had cried himself to sleep over the kidnapping of his older brother. The next thing he knew he felt a sharp jab in the leg. He tried to cry out but he couldn't barely breath. He woke up bound hand and foot, in an airplane. It was a small airplane with two seats in the front and two in the back. There were two men in black in the front. It was just starting to turn dawnish outside and Farren could see that they were far out over the ocean. After hours and hours of flying they mad a stop for fuel. When Farren looked out the windows he was shocked to see what looked like dry farmland. The air was dusty. They weren't at an airport but rather a private airfield. After they refueled the men got back into the plane and they took off again. Farren cried himself to sleep softly. He woke up and went back to sleep several times. soon after they took off they flew out over the Pacific ocean. He was just waking up again when he spotted land. It was a rocky cliff that greeted him instead a sandy beach. they flew in low over a compound. Farren noticed someone lying down at the top of the cliff. Neither of the men in the front did. He wondered if maybe he would soon see Hunter. Or were they going to kill him?
Then they landed and taxied to the the end of a small grass strip. the plane was covered in camouflage netting, and he was carried out. there were a few people scurrying around and they all looked Mexican or South American. A few minutes later he was thrown into the back of a truck which was driven into a large tunnel. He stared out the back as they were going down until they went around a corner. The truck stopped and he was dragged out and stood up. His clothes were brushed off and smoothed down and his hair was roughly combed. then a man carrying a can strode into the room.
"Hello there Farren!" He said. "My name is Mr Diablo. I am a... friend, of your brothers. He recently left us rather abruptly. We hope you will not be quite so eager to leave.!"

It had not been a good night for Sergeant Duncan.
It had been an even worse night for the Greene's.
The kidnappers had been efficient and quiet. Mr Greene had heard a slight sound a little different than the normal house at night creaks and sighs. He had grabbed his pistol and gone to investigate. When he got to the boys bedroom the window was open and one of the bed's was empty. He had rushed out the door but there was no sign of his son or his abductors. So he had called the police and then prayed. Like praying was going to help, thought the detective.
The window had been forced quietly and efficiently. There were no footprints or any other identifiers.
Again a professional job. "What have we got John?' Sgt Duncan asked hi deputy.
"Well sir, there were at least two people if not even three. One to distract the officer on watch and one or two to grab the kid. It looks like the best route they could have taken would have led to the park a little way off."
"Where?"
"On the opposite side of the back door neighbors yard. It's a little wildlife park with some woods and a walking trail. I was just about to go over there and take a look-see."
"Carry on then, and report whatever you see."
The sergeant stood for a moment deep in thought. Who would kidnap two people from the same family? Leverage? What did they want? Could the dad have a secret? Maybe something in his past would give them a clue. So far though it hadnt revealed anything. It could have been a revenge crime by the gangsters that the oldest had tangled with before. They had been too sloppy though. This wasnt their scope or MO. Maybe some of the friends of the family could give him some information. Tomorrow was Sunday, Maybe he would go to the church and see what the group was like. Talk to them. If they didn't know who he was then maybe they would be more open o his questions.
He would tell the Greene's to stay home under protective custody.
He grimaced. It would take a kidnapping to get him to go to church again. He was not looking forward to going tomorrow, but the best way to get an idea about somebody and what they are like is to look at their friends. That was all he was going to do.

Fallen Pt 11

The guard looked up at me, his eyes questioning. He was young and had his whole life before him. Or he he used to have it. He looked back down at the bright shaft of steel sticking out of his body.
"I- I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" I cried as the guard died in front of me.
Just then I saw another guard running toward us. He was coming to help his fellow. He reached out for the door knob. "No! Don't touch that!" I screamed but it was too late. Spark's flew everywhere when he turned the knob. I watched his body convulse and spasm as electricity flowed through his heart stopping it instantly. There was nothing I could do. Was there. I was soaking wet. I looked down at my hands and nearly threw up. they were dripping with...

My scream was choked out by a very large wave. I sat up so quickly that I smashed my head on a rock. As I lay on my back holding my hurt head in my hands I thought back to my dream. It was a dream wasn't it? I looked at my hands. They were covered in blood! I almost panicked when I remembered my forehead. I must have cut it when I sat up into the overhang. It really hurt. Crawling out to the water I washed it off as best I could. The salt water stung a lot but it was good because that meant it was cleaning out the wound.
It was night and I was freezing cold and drenched with spray. There was a tiny path that went up and around a corner of the cliff. I started up it very slowly since my legs were very stiff.
It wended its way up the cliff in a crazy zig-zag of switchbacks and steps. There were places where the path had fallen away in a cascade of rocks and debris in some past land slide. Those places were the hardest to get around and once or twice I nearly fell to the rock below.
After nearly an hour I crawled over the top wet, cold and hungry. There in front of me was a very large compound complete with brick buildings and a water tower. There were large floodlights all around the compound. There were people loading small packages into trucks and other driving he trucks into a large tunnel bored into the ground. What was in the bundles? Drugs? Diamonds? What was 'Mr Diablo' doing here? More importantly what did he need me for? Even more importantly than that even, how was I going to escape? A few seconds I heard a low rumble that sounded like a large explosion from a long distance away. What was that? Mining explosives? Could the packages be gold?
I sat there behind a small knoll thinking, planning, wondering and always praying.
After a few seconds I head another rumble. This one was not in the slightest the same as the first. It was the sound of a small airplane. A Cessna?  Piper? Maybe it was a kit plane. Whatever it was it was getting closer. I didn't see it until it was too late. Whoosh! Right over my head it zoomed. It was definitely a Cessna. It flew over the compound and disappeared behind the buildings. a few seconds later the engines stopped.
So there was a runway here?
A super crazy idea crept into my head. It could work. Or I could die.

Fallen Pt 10

Officer Jason Dunn  sipped his tea from a Pete's tea tumbler. "Officer Dunn reporting in. Nothing out of the ordinary happening here. Out." He turned the patrol car around and started another circuit around the block. This was the drudge work. watching a family whose son had been kidnapped. If only he could capture someone trying to get at them! Maybe he could be in on the interrogation and boy would he make the hood sing! They would find out where this kid was being kept and he would lead the charge in the raid that wold liberate the young man and the other hostages and he would be in the paper and the news and-  He stopped daydreaming and stopped the car sharply. What was that movement? Was that a hood? A cat ran out from under a bush three feet from where he was was looking. It startled him at first. Then he smiled at himself and chuckled. being scared of a cat that was just running from something? What an idiot! Why, it was perfectly normal for cats to... Run away from something? Instantly he flicked on his searchlight and aimed it at the bush. The outline of a man was projected against a fence behind the bush. Officer Dunn Jumped out of his car and standing behind the door he aimed a flashlight at the shadowy figure and called out, "Come out with your hands away from your body." Into his radio he said, "This is officer Dunn reporting a suspicious person or persons in the area."
All of a sudden the figure bolted out of the bush. Officer Dunn, without even thinking about it, took off after the person who was dressed in black. The man ran around a corner and jumped a fence with ease. Officer Dunn hesitated for a moment and then decided that prudence was greater than valor. Besides what if the fugitive turned back and took refuge in the Greene home?
"Officer Dunn reporting. Suspicious persons encountered near Greene home. Suspect fled when confronted. Dressed in black jumpsuit with a matching baklava. Officer did not give chase. Out."
Thirty minutes later a call came in on Dunn's radio.
"All patrol cars report immediately to the The following address ------- . Kidnapping reported. Case deemed 'Urgent'."
Dunn never finished his tea. He bolted out of his patrol car and dashed as fast as he could to the front door of the Greene house. Mr Greene opened it instantly.
"Its Farren!" He said. "He's been taken!"
Dunn had failed. Somehow, sometime, someone had taken another of the Greene children. On his watch. That made him mad! And scared. Whoever was doing this, they were really, really good. And evil.
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