Do What It Takes to Survive

I was surprised when, a few hours later, Gerard silently placed another square of chocolate in my hands. There was not an exchange of hateful words that followed. Neither of us said a thing.

I don’t know exactly when it was that I finally gave up on huddling in my protective corner and lied down. I had gotten to the point where all I could think about was the ache in my arms, my shoulders, my back. I realized that I had taken the ability to move my arms for granted.

I found that lying on my side was the least uncomfortable position. Still, the cold, hard metal pushed against my temple and my unbruised shoulder mercilessly.

After a while, I fell into a partial sleep. It was impossible to sleep deeply because of all the points of uncomfortable pressure in my body, but it was better than nothing.

I was awakened with a start by something brushing my face. I pulled back automatically, and my eyes shot open, although it made no difference in my inability to see. “What the-” I whispered.

“Oops,” Gerard said. “I didn’t realize you moved. I was trying to touch your hands… Your face is where they used to be.”

I sat up and groaned almost inaudibly. His explanation was valid, but I was still irritated. However, I wasn’t irritated enough to deny the piece of chocolate I knew he was going to give me.

“Whatever,” I mumbled, leaning my back against his. I touched his hands with mine, eager for the chocolate.

I heard the smirk in his voice as he whispered, “Here you go,” and gave me the square of chocolate. I didn’t respond, and he went back to his corner.

He woke me up many more times that night to give me chocolate. He was careful not to brush my face again. Instead, he would poke my arm or jab my ribs. Still, I didn’t complain.

It wasn’t until the sixth time he woke me up that I realized how much chocolate I was eating. He had given me eight squares. Didn’t the chocolate bars come with twelve? Wasn’t he eating any?

When I awoke again, it was not by Gerard. Bright sunlight beamed through the open door of the back of the truck, blinding me. I could only see dark shadows of two figures standing right outside.

I blinked several times, and then sat up. Looking over at Gerard, I saw that he was still sleeping, despite the blinding light. As my eyes started to adjust, I noticed that he was sprawled out on his stomach in the opposite direction I was laying. His head was uncomfortably close to my legs. I frowned.

I glanced back to the opening. The truck was parked very close to a brick building. There was probably four or five feet between the truck and the brick wall. The only other things I could see were a heavy-looking grey door and a few men.

Further examination showed that the men were Randy and Ron, and they were holding some objects that didn’t look too friendly. Randy held a roll of duct tape, and Ron had a couple of bandanas. They smiled and stepped into the truck.

I nudged Gerard awake with my foot, so that they had no need to wake him up in a more violent manner. He blinked a few times, looked at me, and then turned his gaze to Ron and Randy. His eyes narrowed, and he stood up.

They went to Gerard first, and I slunk into my corner. Randy tore off a piece of duct tape. He was about to put it on a sleepy-looking Gerard’s mouth, when Gerard swept one of his legs and kicked the back of Randy’s knees, causing him to fall backwards.

Randy cussed and Gerard smirked, but before he could do anything else, Ron pushed him roughly from behind. I watched in horror as Gerard tumbled forward. Without being able to use his hands to catch himself, he feel flat on his face.

He started cussing too, but he was silenced in seconds. Randy had recovered at taped his mouth shut. Gerard sat up, and I saw that his nose was bleeding. Even so, Randy threw a punch at his face, hitting him square on the cheek.

Before I could stop myself, I cried out. It was just an involuntary reaction to seeing someone be abused so cruelly. It wasn’t that I actually cared that it was Gerard getting hurt. I had wished many times that I could have done this kind of damage myself.

His eyes found mine. They were filled with panic and confusion. But, somehow, he looked satisfied, maybe even relieved. Before I could detect where that relief was coming from, Ron grabbed my hair and tied one of the bandanas around my eyes.

“Get awa-” I started, but the duct tape muffled my voice after that.

I was terrified. Way more afraid than before. Part of it was probably because I knew many criminals were near me, and I was absolutely helpless. I have to admit, though, that another reason I was more scared was because I couldn’t see Gerard. I didn’t know if they would separate us. I hoped not.

It didn’t really make sense not to want to be separated from him, but, for some reason, I felt safer if I was with him. Even if he was tied up, blindfolded, and just as helpless as I was, being alone seemed very bad.

I was pushed from behind, so I started to walk. After taking a few steps, I stepped onto nothing, and fell forward. I rolled to the side quick enough to land on the pavement on my side instead of falling face first out of the truck.

I quickly got up, and I heard a door squeaking at it was being opened. I was shoved forward. We walked for a long time. Either Randy or Ron pushed me in different directions to indicate that I needed to turn.

I knew I was still with Gerard because I heard his stumbling footsteps. The whole time, I heard a heave gurgling noise that came and went at even intervals. It took me a while to realize the disturbing noise was being made by Gerard. It took me even longer to figure out what was causing it. Finally, I realized it was just him breathing. The duct tape over his mouth forced him to breath through his nose, which was bleeding.

The sound made me sick, like I was going to throw up. Just when I thought I couldn’t take it any longer, the duct tape was ripped off my mouth and the blindfold was pulled off.