It is a dark and stormy night. A group of campers is huddled around a campfire telling stories as they roast marshmallows. One of them leans into the other and says, “Gerald won’t you tell us a story.”
Gerald paused then smiled as he starts to narrate, “It was a dark and stormy night. A group of young campers were huddled around a campfire telling ghost stories, but unlike us, they were surrounded by the ghastly things that go bump in the night. It seemed that they were drawn to the flicker of the crackling fire and the smell of their plump bodies. These creatures were not particularly evil. They followed the natural order of things and since they sought humans that were their prey; they were giddy with excitement. Then, when the shadowy creatures slivered its tail along the ground. Faster than a cobra it; ugh.”
Muffle screams come from the troop; as black figures pull them into the surrounding brush further away from the fire. Gerald struggles and turns as a cloth is stuffed into his mouth and another cloth soon too surrounds him.
The cloth he is trapped in might be a sheet or a bag, but Gerald could still feel the rocks and branches scratch at him through the fabric. Thoughts of panic and anxiety pass through his 14-year-old mind. Sweat falls down his back, face muscles twitch, and his heart races from the thoughts of his own story coming to reality. His breathing quickens as he is beat to the ground. The sound of a mechanical motor and the constant breaking of bushes did not continue to put his mind at ease.
Gerald’s body feels the ground come to a stop. The torment of the new welts that cover his body throb. He feels his body getting heavy as the ground was leaving him and the cloth now constricts his movements more. For a short while, Gerald feels his body swing like a pendulum going back and forth. He comes to an abrupt stop as his body hits a new hard floor with the swaying of what seems to be a small boat.
Moments later, Gerald hears the pulling of a cord and a motor getting wormed up. The roar of the motor sounds like the splashes of water soon follow. The bodies of Gerald and his assumed captors are now pushing against the wind as the vessel moves forward. After 20 minutes of the rocking from the waves did the vessel and motor stop. The sound of a heavy rope hit a wooden ground a short distance away. Gerald could just think that he was at the opposite end of the lake at the newly constructed pier.Although he is thrown on what he thinks to be the pier as a sack of potatoes; Gerald is full of relief as he could be for not being dropped in the lake.
As soon as he feels this relief, it shatters; and Gerald is now subject to the same manhandling as before. Just when his conciseness is failing him, from the torment of being drag around in a cloth bag, it comes to a stop. Bright light floods his vision as black human figures stand before him. Gerald tries to give some last minute insults, through the gag, just to pass out before he could leave his voice his complaints.
Sometime later a burning sensation is spreading on his face before Gerald’s body jolts and shakes as he wakes from the shock. In a dizzy state with what seemed like he is seeing the world spin, he could now see the bleary images of his captors standing before him.
One was a very big built muscular man in a military uniform standing in front of him with who seems to be Josh, one of Gerald’s camp counselor. Seeing, these two people in front of him, his eyes fill red with rage and a cold stream of sweat down his back from fright.The military man removes the gag and Gerald yells out, “Josh, what the hell do you think you’ve done to me? You think that you can get away from this? GREMMWEWR!”
The muscular solder shoves the gage back into Gerald’s mouth. He stands with cold eyes glaring at Gerald as if looking at fresh crap. Not a single word left his sealed lips. Josh pat Gerald on the back as he explains things. “Gerald, sorry for the rough treatment but it is a part of your camp course that was signed for and enforced by your legal guardians. So, the event is a course in self-defense, kidnap prevention, outdoor survival, and negotiations. This program is in partnership with the military’s support. This is why Mr. Turner is accompanying and handling most of this activity.”
Mr. Turner opens his mouth and a deep rich voice fills his word with power and disdain. He states, “You sack of filth have three hours to escape from your restraints and escape the facility and make it back to your campsite. If you are successful, you will continue in the regular camp activities. When you fail, I will run you into a paste at the military training camp. I will mold you into a proper human being and not the pile of crap that is before me now!”At the end of Turner’s prompt words, the two turn and leave out the back door. The door tumblers click shut and the lights soon go out too. Gerald is now in total darkness, bound, gagged, and left in a sack.
Still digesting the shock of the situation, Gerald wiggles out of the sack. He crawls like a caterpillar in the direction of a piece of rebar that was sticking out of the concrete floor that he saw before the lights went out. The ropes chafe as he wears them down. After rubbing his free wrists, Gerald fumbles through the dark. For almost 30 minutes he feels around for where the light switch to light the room would be.
The small room was around ten yards in each direction with a door on each wall. To his surprise, all the doors were unlocked and could be of use at any time. Among the doors, Gerald chose the doors which lead to an office with a small window still open. The window is a big as his head and would be difficult for him to fit through without being seen. As he contemplates the issues, he soon remembers the thought of military camp and starts by sticking his right arm than his right shoulder followed by his head.15 minutes after he finished wiggling his way out from the window, he stops; hold his breath as looks around, full nervous anxiety, at the silver landscape from the moonlight. A few lights from the opposing buildings and what looks to be a few patrols.
Before running off into the night Gerald looks to the stars in the sky and found the North Star. Thinking about what direction the lake should be, he tries to stay in the shadows away from the eyes of the night watch. Along the fence, there seems to be a gap between the barbed wire and no signs to indicate that he is being watched. He climbs the fence ripping his shirt and pants on the barbed wire between the openings.
He runs for the shoreline but froze before leaving the trees when Gerald saw a couple of military officers on rounds at the coast. The idea is to now stay in the shadows of the trees and brush out of site and stay along the coast shore until he goes back to camp.
Gerald looks at the smoldering embers of that once bright fire, wondering if the same thing happened to his fellow campers and friends. Looking through the tent he found six of the original campers out of 17 that made back that night. They continue to go about their normal camp activities for the rest of the week and making guesses at what the others might be doing.