The Hostages

A shot rang out and the man clutched his shoulder, giving them an evil look. “So that's how it's going to be?” he snarled, raising his gun again. Mark grabbed a rock off the ground and hurled it at him, hitting him square on the temple. “Any ideas?” he whispered to Taemin, already looking for another rock.

“Duck!” Taeyeon shouted, throwing something at the man. There was a loud noise and white smoke started billowing around him like a cloud. “Run!” she yelled, leading the way into the trees. Mark scooped up Jeno and took off running after her.

“Taeyeon, we're not going to get far!” Taemin panted, Amber slumped in his arms. “Too many of us are hurt!”

“We've got to try!” Taeyeon shouted over her shoulder.


******


Taeyong chewed his thumbnail steadily as he watched the stairwell door. It had been several hours since Suho and Minho had left, and they hadn't heard from them since. They had to have made it, he told himself. They had to.

The elevator opened and he got up quickly, ready with a perfectly good reason for being in the hallway when Suho and Minho stepped out. “Finally!” Taeyong sighed, running over to them, “We've been worried about you. Although,” he said, glancing at the elevator, “I wasn't expecting you to come through the front door.”

“It's a long story,” Minho assured him, clapping an ashen Suho on the back. Taeyong frowned. “What's wrong with him?” he asked. “He looks like he's been sick.”

“Gather the others,” Minho said, ignoring his question. “We've got a lot to tell you.”

After several minutes everyone was assembled in the conference room and Taeyong closed the door firmly. “Okay, now tell us,” he said, leaning against the door.

Minho looked at Suho expectantly, but he just stared at the floor, like it held the secrets of the universe and he just had to look hard enough to find them. Finally Minho cleared his throat. “I'll try to be brief,” he began. “What I'm about to tell you is completely true, but it must never leave this room.”

“That's not good,” Jisung mumbled.

“It seems that the CEO has suspected the identity of the kidnapper for some time now. Based on the information he provided and what we ourselves found, the kidnapper is a man named Shin Jongduk, a former Outside Director here at SM.”

“I knew it!” Jonghyun yelled triumphantly.

“Hold on, the CEO knew?” Hyohyeon repeated. “Why didn't he say anything?”

“He claims that he was trying to investigate things himself, but he's cooperating with the police now,” Minho replied.

Kai leapt to his feet. “That selfish, greedy, conniving-” Sehun yanked Kai back down and Kai shook him off roughly. “He risked their lives to save face!”

The other idols started murmuring angrily and Taeyong sighed. Minho's gonna have a riot on his hands, he thought concernedly.

“Sit down and be quiet,” Suho's voice rang out clearly. Everyone grudgingly obeyed, leaving Suho standing in the middle of the room. “I'm just as upset as you are,” he continued, “but the police are dealing with him. The CEO told them about an old company retreat in the mountains that Shin Jongduk was fond of. It's likely that's where he's holding them.”

“So what now?” Luna asked.

“They're sending a rescue team to the retreat, but there's no guarantee that they'll find them.” Suho swayed on his feet and Minho went to catch him, but Suho waved him away. “Now we wait.”

He left the room quickly and Taeyong followed him into the hallway. “Suho? What's wrong?” he asked. Suho leaned against the wall heavily. “I'll be alright,” he said, running his fingers through his hair. “Really.”

Taeyong folded his arms. “What kind of picture did you get?” he asked quietly. Suho didn't reply and Taeyong's fears were confirmed. “You can tell me, Suho, even if you can't tell the others,” he said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Suho started to cry and Taeyong felt a rush of awkwardness, so he just patted his shoulder gently. What should I say? he wondered. What can I say?

Minho came out of the conference room and his lips formed a tight line when he saw them. “Thanks Taeyong, I've got him,” he said, guiding Suho down to the bathroom. Taeyong stood in the hallway alone for a moment, then took a deep breath and went back into the conference room.


******


D.O’s vision flickered rapidly, as if everything was happening in tiny, disjointed pieces of time. He saw the snow-dusted ground, then a tree root, then the hem of Chanyeol's jacket. His back burned horribly, spasming with every step Chanyeol took.

“Where are they? I can't see them!” he heard Wendy shout. He lifted his head and caught a glimpse of Mark running beside them, Jeno small and frail in his arms. Jeno. Jeno was shot, he remembered.

“They can't be far behind!” Taemin panted, his voice echoing from somewhere out of D.O’s sight. “Don't stop!”

A smell drifted under D.O’s nose, a smell that reminded him of something that might be important, if he could remember what it meant. He focused on it, breathing it in deeply. It was faint on the cold breeze, but it made him think of summer days spent swimming and kayaking up and down the-

“River,” he gasped, the realization giving him a rush of adrenaline. He raised his head again. “We're near the river!”

The sound of water churning confirmed his proclamation and they ran faster, hope driving them onward. The ground became gravelly as they neared the bank and they came to a stop. “What now?” Taeyeon panted. “It's too deep to cross on foot.”

“I see a light!” Wendy said, pointing downstream. “Maybe it's a house with people who can help us.”

There was yelling in the distance and D.O felt Chanyeol's grip on him tighten. “We can make it,” he said determinedly, shifting D.O more securely onto his shoulder. “Come on!”

They ran beside the river toward the tiny light, sliding and stumbling on the loose stones beneath their feet. D.O felt something run down his arm and watched dark blood drip from his fingers onto the rocks.

“I can see it!” Mark called. “It's a dock!”


******


Xiumin sat by the window, trying to stay awake as he watched the sky. “Anything?” Irene asked, bringing him a bottled water. Xiumin shook his head and accepted the water silently.

“They'll find them, Xiu,” she said, touching his shoulder lightly before leaving again. Xiumin watched her rejoin the others in the middle of the room. Some were asleep, curled up on sleeping bags like kittens, while others paced the room slowly. Suho and Minho hadn't been seen after the meeting and Xiumin wondered if Suho had finally broken down.

A helicopter zoomed through the sky and Xiumin looked up at it immediately. He had no way of knowing if it was the helicopter bearing the rescue team, but it comforted him to think so. Help is coming, guys. Just hold on a little longer.


******


“Hello?” Wendy yelled, banging her fist on the door. “Is anyone there? We need help!”

There was no response and Taeyeon looked in the dark window. “It's not a house, it's a storage shed,” she said. “An empty one.”

Wendy tried the handle. “And a locked one,” she sighed.

“Let me,” Taemin volunteered, setting Amber down gently against the side of the shed. He kicked the door hard, but it didn't budge. He tried ramming it with his shoulder, but it still didn't move. “Chanyeol, help me,” he panted, rolling his now-sore shoulder. Chanyeol laid D.O next to Amber and joined Taemin by the door. “Ready?” Taemin asked. “One, two, three!”

They barreled into the door and it burst open, but their momentum carried them forward and they crashed into a pile of boating equipment on the floor. “At least it worked,” Chanyeol said, untangling ropes from around his long arms.

Taemin looked around the shed as the others filed in. If he finds us here, we die, he realized. We won't be able to get away again.

Amber was conscious now and refused help as she stumbled in. “What's the plan?” she asked, leaning against the wall.

“We have to rest,” Taemin replied, nodding at Jeno and D.O. “They're too hurt to go on tonight.”

“What if he finds us?” Wendy asked, helping Mark prop Jeno in a corner. Taemin shrugged. “I don't know,” he lied. “Let's just help the others for now.”

To his surprise D.O was awake too, though he seemed to be fighting hard to be so. “Taemin,” he whispered, his voice rattling slightly. Taemin came over to him and leaned in close to hear. “What is it? Are you in pain?”

“Jeno,” D.O wheezed, “and the others. How bad?”

Taemin glanced around. “Jeno took a bullet to the shoulder,” he whispered. “He bled a lot, but it seems to have slowed down a little. After it happened we were so busy running, I didn't-”

“It's okay,” D.O interrupted, putting a hand on his arm. “It's okay. The others?”

“Amber was beaten pretty badly, but she's awake and talking now. I'm worried about Taeyeon, though. I'm positive one of her ribs was cracked. She may even have internal injuries from it.” Taemin dipped his head. “I don't know if we'll all make it through the night,” he confessed.

D.O grabbed the window sill with one hand and Taemin frowned. “What are you doing? You need to stay still!” he insisted, but D.O pulled himself to his feet anyway. “Get some water,” he ordered, “then barricade the door. Keeping them out is our best chance now.” He swayed and Taemin caught him. He looked at D.O’s back and grimaced. “You're still bleeding,” he murmured in D.O’s ear. “Don't you feel it?”

D.O shook his head. “I'm too cold,” he answered sluggishly. Chanyeol pulled off his jacket and draped it around D.O’s bare shoulders. “We should clean your back again,” he said, nodding at the door. D.O shook his head again. “It'll only lower my temperature more,” he said. “Tend the others and I'll keep a lookout.”

Taemin left him to Chanyeol and went over to where Mark was trying to bind Jeno's shoulder. “He.. he keeps dozing off,” he said desperately. His hands were trembling and he kept dropping the cloth, so Taemin took it from him. “Talk to him, Mark,” he said gently, covering Mark's hands with his own. “I'll take care of his shoulder.” He knelt down and examined the wound carefully. There was so much blood he almost couldn't see it at first, but finally he saw the hole near the top of his shoulder. He checked the other side, but there was no bloodstain. No exit wound. The bullet must be lodged in the bone.

Mark held Jeno's head in his lap as Taemin began winding the cloth around the wound. “Jeno,” he whispered, shaking him gently. “Do you remember when we were getting ready for that big interview, and we were roughhousing in the hallway and Winwin accidentally knocked you into the trash can?”

Jeno didn't respond, groaning while his eyes rolled around sightlessly.

“And-and Jai was so mad because your shirt was ruined. She had to give you one of Haechan’s. Remember, Jeno?”

Taemin knotted the cloth tightly and wiped his forehead. “Keep talking to him,” he said, getting back up. Wendy was wiping dried blood off of Amber's face, despite her objections, and D.O was like a statue by the window. Taeyeon was busy piling anything she could find against the door, but Taemin could see she was cradling her side with one hand. He went over to her and put a hand on her arm. “Stop, you're hurt too,” he whispered. “Let me.”

Taeyeon straightened up reluctantly and Taemin quickly stacked the rest on top of the pile. “Sit with Amber,” he said, nodding where the other girls were. Taeyeon obeyed and Taemin went over to the far wall to gather more things.

“She looks rough,” Chanyeol whispered, bending down to help.

“We all do,” Taemin muttered.

“Do we have any weapons?”

Taemin hadn't thought of that. “I think Taeyeon's still got her gun, and maybe a few more smoke bombs,” he said, carrying his armload to the pile and depositing it.

“What about those?” Amber asked, pointing at some wooden oars hanging on the wall. Taemin reached up and grabbed one, weighing it in his hand. “It feels solid enough,” he said, handing it to Chanyeol.

“They'd have to get pretty close for us to use them,” Chanyeol said, hefting it in his hand. “But I'd feel better holding something.”

“There's only four,” Amber said, joining them by the wall. “Who gets one?”

“The three of us will each take one,” Taemin said, nodding at Mark, “and one of you girls.”

He grabbed the other oars off the wall and handed them out. The girls decided that although Wendy was the least injured, she didn't have the strength to swing the heavy oar, so Amber was chosen. “Now what?” she asked, gripping it in both hands.

“Try to sleep,” D.O said softly. “While you can.”

Notes