Jen woke up to a dizzy have, her vision slow to orient to her surroundings. She was still bound but no longer bagged. As the room began to take shape she realized she was in some sort of makeshift tent.

She tried to climb to her feet but it was no use: she was bound by them and had a feeling even if she did the dizziness would take her down.

"Here, drink this..." a voice said. It sounded both distant and close. It was a female's voice or at least it sounded so. It had a husky quality about it.

Jen didn't want to drink but she was so thirsty she did anyway. She almost gagged at first. She had expected water, but instead was greeted by a sweet, orange taste that was both familiar yet felt like something from a lost age.

"Gatorade" the voice said. "Or orange beverage based powder from the MRE. Courtesy of the New Republic of the United States..."

"The what?" Jen gasped, some of the sweet liquid exiting her mouth.

"Nevermind" the voice said. "That's not important now. Really, it'll probably never be important".

"How do I know you didn't just poison me?" Jen asked. It was a pointless question. If the orange liquid had been poison she was already dead.

"Why would I do that? Why not just slit your throat when you were asleep?"

Jen nodded. It was a good point.

Suddenly she heard movement come inside the tent.

"She awake?" said a deep, gruff voice.

Jen's vision began to restore and she was greeted by a blonde built like a mac truck, an old black man with a long white beard and the man before they had called Woody.

The girl nodded.

"Who are you?" Jen asked. "What do you want with me?"

"Sorry for before" Woody said. "We didn't realize who you were when we first saw you..."

"Confusing times" the black man said with a sage like insight.

"I don't understand. How would you know who I am?"

"We've been looking for you. Well, more specifically your brother. He's very important. But you have a role to play in this too?"

Jen flinched and cringed at these words.

"Shit, sorry" Woody said holding a hand out to steady her. "I didn't mean to sound like Xir".

Jen calmed slightly but trusted less.

"I tried to talk to your brother once before" Woody said, a mournful tone in his voice. "He was being lead here by a couple of Xir's pawns... But I... failed..."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Jen didn't know anything about this but decided to go right to the heart of the matter.

"What do you want with my brot..."

She trailed off.

Danny!

"Please!" Jen shouted. "Danny's in danger! They took him!"

"Keep your voice down hun!" the girl said to her, finger over her lips.

Woody and the black man shot each other a glance.

"Danger?" the black man asked. "What sort of danger?"

It seemed like it might be a mistake, but Jen explained what had happened as best she could.

The girl looked at Woody and Soloman with concern.

"That means the ceremony has started"

"What ceremony?" Jen demanded. "What does it mean?"

"You mentioned a girl?" Woody said. "The one that helped you and then dressed Danny up like a woman. Who is she? What's her name?"

"Kinslee" Jen said, quick as a whip.

The girl in the tent's eyes widen.

"Kinslee..." she muttered. "Kinslee!? You're sure of this??"

"Yes" Jen said. "Why?"

Woody and the black man looked at the girl curiously.

"What is it you ain't tellin' us girl?" the black man said.

"I..." the girl began to speak but suddenly an Asian man burst into the tent.

"Guys.... we have company coming! Neckbone spotted them for us but they're coming fast. Xir's handmaidens and some of Sheriff Clay's deputies! Khalid is leading them away but we have to go right now!"

"Shit" Woody said. "Rocko in position?"

The Asian man nodded.

"Time to go nigga" the black man said to everyone and rose, pulling a staff from behind him.

Woody nodded and then looked at the girl.

"You okay?" he said putting a hand on her shoulder. She seemed to snap out of it and nodded.

The black man looked at the girl with a knowing concern and then looked at Jen.

"Name's Solomon. This is Becca. That's Woody. The chink is King. Khalid is a sand nigga and Rocko is a big black slave bred sum bitch. Now that we're all friends, it's time to go, girlie...."

With that Solomon left the tent and Becca cut Jen lose.

"I can't stop you if you run and I want, but we're your best hope for saving your brother..."

"The last girl said she'd safe us too..." Jen said, shooting her a cold look.

Becca looked down mournfully.

"Yeah" she said, sighing. "We'll have to deal with her too. Now come on..."

With that Jen was rushed out of the tent and back into the woods.