01-Transfer of The Food Reporter

'I would have never imagined that the guy who was going to give me the greatest scoop of my career would turn out to be a Rat..... well who am I kidding' This was the exert formed in the mind of Gaur before the gate of the rundown house, he was going to get some steamy intel but instead he was surprised with what he feared most breaking the door and moving toward him so as to apprehend him.

"We are reporters here…. Repor… oomph" .Before even having a chance to explain, he was struck on the nose with the stock, intense pain assaulted his brain causing him to lose his balance and fall.

As he tried to lift his face, he felt the taste of blood for the first time in his mouth, he crawled towards a wall but didn't dare to stand in front of his captors.

"Hmm.. no one else is here sir.. only these 3". The owner of the weapon stock that broke Gaur's nose, said to his staunch looking leader, that for some reason hasn't even entered the room until now and was just watching the squirming foreigner whose eyes were filled with tears and his traitorous guide who laid on the ground as a sign of giving up.

"Get this foreigner to the truck first, I will deal with the guide." Hearing his leader's command, the man took out a pistol and paced towards Gaur. Watching the man who broke his nose, Guar panicked inside, but suddenly he just waited for the man to escort him, his one hand was stopping the nosebleed with a handkerchief, and the other hand up showing complete subservience, even though his eyes still held some tears.

Having received the 3 months compulsory training before travelling here, Gaur knew that any resistance or even a little sound from him may earn him a few more gun stock on his face as these brutes only listened to orders, and the one who held some authority was not even interested in him at present.

'hmm…wa… what are these going to do with the Mr. Dhruv??' Dhruv was the man he found in the city close to twilight zone of the war, he was saying that he can get Gaur in and out of the terrorist controlled area without being spotted. Gaur's sources have confirmed that the man's claim was not without substance, he had already done lead multiple clients into to the warzone, and was one of the information broker who worked under military, so he was assured that the man couldn't have led him to this trap on purpose.

Gaur didn't spoke, he followed the man and got out of the house before moving toward a Humvee, but before he can even exit the house, he started hearing wailing sounds from his guide, it didn't sound human to him, instead it sounded like a dying cat.

Gaur's body shuddered and halted. The fear he suppressed inside overwhelmed him as his body got rooted on the spot.

"Move." The man hit Gaur again on the head this time with the butt of the pistol.

"Don't worry your friend won't die." After getting hit on the head and followed by these reassuring words have little synergy within nor did it calm Gaur's mind, but he still nodded and moved toward the Humvee as Gaur didn't want to get hit again.

After being escorted out at a gun point, Gaur was asked to take off all of his clothes.

Gaur mused himself with thinking that perhaps these men had changed their preference after being in this war for the last 2 years and not seeing any of the opposite gender they are lusting after the fat little him, but this little though did little to calm him down, as he also knew that this was just a precaution against any radio or tracker that may be hid under his linens.

So with shaky hands, he slowly undressed himself oblivious to the scorn displayed by the 3 other men standing outside of the Humvee, for them they had seen reporter like Gaur before, and none of them were as scared as the man in front of them. But they did not know that the scared reporter used to work in a lifestyle department of the food column, all that junk food reporting he had done may have caused his to gain a little weight, but it didn't impede his movements during his training days. And he transferred to foreign affairs department for on-field reporting forcefully, as there were no volunteers and the selection was done through lucky draw.

His luck was bad.

As all the clothes were on the ground he was left naked in this cold day, before he can produce any squeak, he was thrown on the ground and searched again, by one of the three who were scorning him, this time, they checked every nook and cranny of Gaur, and he shuddered feeling the hands wriggling on his body like snake.

He didn't know how long it went, but he was given old clothes to wear after that, his eyes were already listless. Before long he found himself in the Humvee with his hands and mouth gagged up, the man was holding his ID and pocket computer on which all his drafts and important data were stored, Gaur didn't need to question where the man got his stuff from, as he can see his clothes brining into ash just 10m away from him.

"It's been 5mins… ask leader to hurry up, we don't have much time left."

*Thock

Gaur's listless eye widened suddenly, he looked at his captive with questioning look and muffled sound came from his mouth as his blood pressure rose and he started hyper-ventilating, seeing Gaur react in this way there was no emotion or surprise on the man's face, he just spoke. " I guess the leader didn't like that poor little sods attitude."

Gaur was left speechless, even though he couldn't speak. He knew he was in a terrible situation, but he though "you are going to be beat up a little" terrible and not "you are going to die" terrible. Normally he would have been escorted out to a secure location where he would get a chance to talk with leaders or just mere captains and seeing that the man has secured his ID and comp from his clothes confirmed his thoughts and clam him, but he didn't imagine that his guide Mr. Dhruv would die.

He was panicking.

As for his captors, it was amusing to watch, seeing these people living in luxury and peace to shudder in fear and having full control over them give these men a sense of amusement as living through war is very taxing to them so they felt elated to see other's suffer.

It wasn't like these men were heartless, it was just the human nature to feel elated seeing other's wallow in despair.

"Don't worry, you won't die…. We are giving you a chance to interview our leaders, so be happy and put this behind." His captor or vice leader of the group assured him again, though people would have hard time believing him after what happened to Dhruv, but due to the current state of Gaur mind which was searching for a thread of hope, this actually did help him and his heartbeat that seemed to be inch away from going into heart-arrest.

'I won't die. I won't die. I won't die. I won't die...…' His rapid breathing started calming up and he didn't know when, but he surprisingly fell asleep in the Humvee even knowing the circumstances he was in.

"Gaurav Ranva … this guy used to be a food critique?" Gaur's contact card still held the same info as his previous post, he didn't have the time to order new on. So when the Vice-leader of the group checked his belonging he found this amusing. He just looked at the man with pity, and as everyone was already inside the Humvee drove away from the small village and disappeared into the crimson forest.