Page 9 of Romania
“Iola?” Cal asked.
“Three,” she whispered. “Was it the same for you, Rommy?”
“One approached me, but there were more in the van. I couldn’t tell how many, though.” Blindly reaching out, I started to feel around me. Besides the company I had, there was nothing but steel. “We must be in some type of large container.”
“Or a coffin,” Cal said.
I shook my head. “It’s way too big for that.” I stood and found a wall. I wanted to guide myself around the area to see how much space we had, but before I did, I instructed, “Lift your fingers and tuck yourself in so I don’t step on you.”
“What are you doing?” Jenny asked. Her tone was deeper to Iola’s, so it was easy to differentiate.
“Checking what’s around us and to see if I can hear anything.” I pressed my ear to the wall I had my hands up against.
“I never even thought to do that. Do you hear anything?” Cal asked.
“Nothing yet.” I moved down and stopped to listen again. I did the same for all sides of the container. Either the steel had good insulation that kept all sounds out or nothing was happening outside close by.
I sat back down. “I can’t hear anything. You’re all from Melbourne, right?”
They agreed.
“I saw something on the news about people being kidnapped,” Iola said. “I just never thought—” She let out a choked sob, then wailed, “What are we going to do?”
Reaching out, I felt around for her hand and took it in mine as I scooted closer to hug her. “Don’t worry, okay? We’ll all get through this. We just have to pick the right moment to get us out of this situation.”
“When will that be?” Jenny asked.
“I’ll only know when the time comes. We’ll stay on guard, be good, and figure things out as we go. But most of all we need to do as they say until we can best them.”
“How do you sound… unfazed by this?” Cal questioned.
“I—” When our container moved, and a gasp escaped me while the other women screamed.
“What the fuck!” Cal yelled.
“Stay still. If I were to guess, we’re in a shipping container and we’re being placed on a boat. Prepare for the landing, people,” I warned. The metal walls groaned as we tilted, swaying gently from side to side. A hollow clang echoed through the space, followed by a jarring thud that rattled my bones and made me grit my teeth. Dust drifted from somewhere, tickling my nose. “Everyone okay?” I asked.
Jenny answered first, then Cal, and I gently squeezed Iola to me.
“I’m scared,” she admitted.
Rubbing up and down her arm, I said, “I know. But we’ll get through this.”
“How can you be so sure?” Cal demanded, but again, before I could answer, the doors swung open.
We blinked at the light, hands up to protect our eyes. I quickly took in the people with me. Cal was a stunning man with the same dark brown hair as mine. He was the tallest out of us, and I was the shortest. Jenny and Iola were nearly the same height and had blonde hair and blue eyes.
“Up and out. Now,” a masked man ordered while pointing his gun at us.
I helped Iola and Jenny up as Cal climbed to his feet. Together, we shuffled outside.
My breath caught.
Surrounding us were more shipping containers and the evening sky.
“In,” he ordered, pointing to a bigger container.
Should I ask questions?
