The Hostages

“Who is it? Who's there?” Jaemin asked.

“They're going to hear us if you don't shut up!” Doyoung hissed. Jaemin and Renjun hushed and Doyoung refocused his attention on the group of security guards around the corner. One was whispering intently to the others, but Doyoung was having a hard time making out what he was saying. He caught the words “found” and “still looking” and his heart leapt. Maybe they have a lead, he thought hopefully.

“Did they find them?” Jaemin asked excitedly.

“Shut up!” Renjun snapped.

The guards walked away and Doyoung sighed. “Did you get anything?” Renjun asked.

“They found something, but not the hostages,” he replied.

“What does that even mean?” Jaemin wondered.

“Maybe they found a clue to where they are,” Renjun mused. “Come on, let's tell the others.”


******


Chanyeol kept an eye on the others while he watched the riverbank, particularly D.O. His back was still riddled with open places and Chanyeol worried that infection might set in. Too many of us are hurt, he thought, looking around the room. We're not going to make it much longer.

A shadow darted along the treeline and he nudged Taemin with his foot. “Wake up!” he hissed. “Someone's coming!”

Taemin roused instantly, along with Mark and Amber. “What do you see?” he asked, staying low to the ground.

“Shadows along the bank. I can't tell how many.” He set his oar down and carefully lifted D.O by the arms, dragging him to the far side of the shed. The others helped him move the rest of the injured over and formed a line between them and the barricaded door. “If he wants them,” Chanyeol said, lifting his oar threateningly, “he'll have to kill us first.”


******


Onew stared out the window at the city below, though he wasn't really looking at it. His mind was consumed with thoughts of the hostages and he prayed they were still alive. I would know if they weren't, he told himself. In the glass he could see the reflections of the other groups as they paced or leaned against the wall, all praying the same prayer. It had been hours since the police left for the mountains and they hadn't had any news yet, so all of them had come together, as if being together would lessen the agony of waiting. I have to be strong for them, Onew thought determinedly. No matter what happens.

Someone strummed a light chord on a guitar and Onew turned around. It was strange to hear music in such a moment, but as it continued he felt a small measure of comfort and he looked around, trying to find the source. He eventually spotted Lay in the far corner, sitting cross-legged on the floor with his guitar. The tense conversations around him slowly died as he kept strumming, oblivious to the eyes on him. He hummed a tune as he played, some wordless melody Onew hadn't heard before, and he watched the other members lean on each other as they listened. A thin sense of peace descended on the room and Onew let out a quiet sigh. They're alive. I know it.


******


There was a shout close by and D.O’s eyes snapped open immediately. “How many?” he asked, slowly struggling to his feet. Chanyeol looked out the window. “I'm not sure,” he said after a moment. “Nine or ten, maybe.”

“If that's all, maybe we can take them,” Mark said hopefully, hefting his oar in his hand.

“They've got guns, remember?” Taeyeon reminded him. “And not all of us can fight.”

Gunfire broke out, shattering the window and ripping through the thin shed walls. “Get down!” D.O yelled, pulling Mark to the floor as the barrage continued.

“Come out and fight like men!” the man in black called. “Or I'll shoot you like fish in a barrel.”

“Go to hell!” Taemin yelled, gripping his oar tighter. The man in black laughed and they heard guns reloading all around them. “They've surrounded the shed,” Chanyeol murmured, a flicker of fear in his eyes. D.O looked around at the others and saw the same fear in their eyes. “Don't be afraid,” he rasped, getting back up into a crouch. “Fight. Fight for yourselves and for each other. Whatever happens, yeah?”

The others nodded, some of them with tears on their cheeks. Someone kicked at the door and they got up, the ones with oars reforming their line in front of the injured. D.O crawled painfully in front of the girls and waited as the kicking continued. Whatever happens, he told himself.

The door finally gave way and two guards burst through, only to stumble on the pile of fishing equipment. Chanyeol and Taemin charged forward, swinging their oars mightily. They knocked the guards down easily, but three more quickly took their place. One guard raised his gun at Taemin, but Mark drove his oar into his stomach and rammed him into the wall. His gun skittered across the floor and Amber scooped it up swiftly. “Here!” she barked, tossing it in D.O’s direction. He caught it and took aim immediately. “Chanyeol, duck!” he shouted hoarsely. Chanyeol obeyed and D.O shot one of the guards in the stomach. The hit gave him a rush of adrenaline and he lurched to his feet.

“You can't win!” he heard the man yell. “Don't you see? You can struggle all you want, but in the end it means nothing!”

D.O saw a bullet rip through Amber's arm and she stumbled back, blood seeping through her fingers as she clutched the wound. Taemin whacked the shooter in the head with his oar and pulled her back onto her feet. “Come on!” he screamed at the guards, his teeth bared like an animal’s. A guard leaned through the open window and aimed at Taemin's back, but D.O fired several bullets into him and he collapsed on the windowsill.

“Enough!” the man in black called. “They're mine.”

The guards drew back and D.O pulled the trigger again, but the chamber was empty and he tossed the gun away. Chanyeol limped over and stood in front of him protectively. “Chanyeol, your leg,” D.O murmured, watching blood ooze from a hole in his thigh.

“I'm fine,” Chanyeol said through gritted teeth. “Stay behind me.”

The man in black came in, his hood thrown back and his mask gone. He smiled at them, revealing yellow teeth, and he held a large gun in his hands. “You've led us on a merry chase,” he rasped, “and yet I think you knew it would end this way. I'll admit, you've shown surprising courage, but it doesn't matter.” He lifted his gun and they cowered against the wall. “Don’t worry, no one will miss you,” he said, putting his finger on the trigger. D.O closed his eyes and waited for death.

Bang!

Seconds passed, yet death didn’t come and he looked up shakily. He saw the man in black sink to his knees, blood pouring from a hole in his neck. No one moved, watching him bleed into the floor until his eyes finally drooped and he fell back, dead.

D.O looked at his friends and saw Taeyeon on her feet, still holding her gun in her outstretched hand. “T-Taeyeon?” he asked in disbelief. She lowered her arm, dropped the gun, and fainted. Taemin managed to catch her and ease her to the floor. “I didn’t think she had any bullets left,” he muttered numbly.

“She must’ve been saving them,” Mark replied. There was rustling outside and they immediately raised their weapons. “Where are the guards?” Taemin wondered. Amber looked out the window cautiously. “They’re running,” she said incredulously. “They’re running away.”

“Why would they run?” Chanyeol asked, frowning. “Do you think there’s more of them?”

D.O shook his head. “They must’ve been hired muscle. They have no reason to stay now.” His back burned and he leaned against the wall heavily. “We need to go,” he murmured.

“Go where?” Wendy asked, tying a cloth around Amber’s arm. “We don’t even know where we are.”

“We can follow the river downstream,” Taemin replied. “We’d find a house or village or something eventually.”

Wendy finished with Amber and moved on to Chanyeol. “Does it hurt?” she asked, ripping another piece of fabric off her dress.

“A little,” he admitted. “I don’t think the bullet came out.”

“We have to find a doctor soon,” Mark said, cradling Jeno in his lap. “Jeno’s breathing, but it’s pretty shallow now. He may not last much longer.”

“We’ll find someone,” D.O said bravely, though he didn’t really believe it. They could wander the riverbank for days or even weeks before encountering another human being, and Jeno wasn’t the only one hanging on by a thread. “We should rest here,” he said decidedly. “We won't find better shelter tonight.”

“What about them?” Wendy asked, nodding at the bodies scattered around them.

“We'll pull them out and leave them for the animals,” Mark said savagely. No one protested this idea, so Taemin and Mark dragged the bodies through the door and into a pile on the bank while Wendy filled a metal canteen with water. She used it to rinse some of the blood away before covering the spot with a tarp. “We should build a fire,” she said, wiping her hands on her dress. “I can boil water to clean your wounds.”

“I'll get wood,” Amber volunteered. While everyone worked D.O leaned on the door frame, thinking hard. It's already so cold. How will we stay warm long enough to find someone?

Amber made the wood pile a safe distance from the river and Chanyeol managed to find a box of matches in the shed. After a few minutes a small fire burned low, almost grudgingly. Wendy filled the canteen with water and balanced it over the fire with a stick. Once it was heated she poured it into a kayaking helmet and nestled it firmly in the grass. “Jeno first,” she said, waving them over. They all gathered around the fire as Mark laid Jeno on the ground. He was sweating and muttering to himself, and his eyelids kept fluttering rapidly. Wendy undid the wrapping and quickly cleaned the gaping hole before tying a new cloth around it.

D.O watched her go through each person, washing and binding methodically like a mother tending her children's scraped knees. Her shorn head reflected the light and still bore little patches of stubble where the razor had missed them. He wondered at her calm demeanor after so much suffering. She's gotten stronger, or she's utterly lost. Maybe even both.

“D.O, come here,” she said, motioning him over. “I should clean your back.”

“My back is fine,” he lied. “It's already closing up.”

Wendy frowned. “Even so, you should-” there was a snap and she stopped abruptly. “Did you hear that?” she whispered.

“Yes,” Taemin said grimly, reaching for his oar. They all drew closer together and faced the forest. “Who's there?” Mark shouted. “Show yourself!”

“Chanyeol!” a voice called. “D.O! Taeyeon! Where are you?”

They all looked at each other blankly. “They're looking for us,” Amber whispered.

“Mark! Jeno! Where are you!”

“They're looking for us!” Chanyeol exclaimed, surging to his feet. “Over here! We're over here!”

“Shut up!” Mark hissed. “We don't know who that is? What if the man in black had a partner and he's trying to find us?”

“Wendy! Taemin!” They saw flashlights sweeping through the trees as the voices got louder. “It's all right! We're the police! We've come to help you!”

All of them were so dumbfounded that no one spoke as the first officer broke through the trees and saw them huddled by the fire. “Over here!” he yelled, jogging over to them. “I found them! They're here!”

More officers swarmed out into the open and D.O felt as though he was seeing a mirage. This can't be real, he thought disjointedly. An officer ran up to him and said something, then put a real, human hand on his arm. D.O was overcome with emotion and he crumpled to the ground, darkness claiming him at last.

Notes