Chapter 20: Decisions, Part 2

"All right, all right!" the man began, anger flaring within his black eyes. "Probably about twenty."

Derek nodded his approval then began again, calmly, slowly. "Good. Now, what do you want with the school?"

The man said nothing, but his olive skin grew a bit pale.

Derek took a deep breath. "I'm only going to ask you one more time. Got it?"

The man nodded.

"What are you using the school for?"

"For a concentration camp," the man answered unwillingly.

Derek nodded, and then walked away, thinking.

"When are they going to bring in the prisoners?" Scott asked, still pointing the rifle at the insurgent.

Silence.

"I said," Scott growled, rapidly approaching the man, "when are they bringing in the prisoners?"

Trevor immediately pulled the man's head back again.

"Tomorrow."

Derek thought for a moment then asked, "Why are you doing this? Why did you attack?"

The man took a deep breath and bravely squared his shoulders, despite the knife at his throat. "Because you Americans commit crimes against Allah. You deserve to die!"

Shock registered in my eyes as I said, "You mean my mother, my little four-year-old brother, my best friend … all of them deserved to die?" A tear traced slowly down my cheek as I remembered the faces of those I loved, now probably dead.

Derek gave me a consoling look, and then turned to the man Trevor held.

Jada stood over the man who was out cold just in case, but watched the exchange, ready.

After a few minutes, Trevor said, "Okay, that's enough. We have the information we need. Now let's waste him!"

"No!" I found myself yelling. "We can't just kill him!"

Trevor rolled his eyes. "Here we go again!" he began. "Then what do you plan to do with them?"

"I don't know, take them prisoner?" I was grasping at straws and I knew it.

Trevor laughed. "And what? Wait for one of them to escape and kill us all? He just said that all Americans deserve to die! Come on, be real!"

"I don't know, but we're not animals!" More tears freely chased the others down my cheeks. "We can't just kill them in cold blood!"

"Why not?!" Trevor yelled. The knife he held was suddenly quivering. Terror came into the man's eyes, but he held still, listening. "He was going to kill us!"

"Now wait a minute …" Derek began.

"Trevor!" I yelled just as the man broke free.

And that's when Trevor slit his throat, running the sharp blade of the knife along the man's throat as bright red, crimson blood gushed forth from the wound, dousing the front of his camouflage shirt.

The man fell to the ground gasping, but no sound came out. He had a blank look in his eyes and reached up to his throat, then pulled it back, watching his own crimson blood drip from his hand. Then, he fell silently to the ground onto his back. I watched as his eyes went blank. Slowly, his body stopped twitching. I stood there, watching, with tears streaming down my cheeks, knowing there was nothing I could do but watch him die.

"Come on," Trevor said to Derek, grabbing the man's body. "We have to hide him. We can bury him tonight."

Derek nodded, and then grabbed the man's feet as Trevor grabbed his arms.

"Trevor!" I yelled. "What did you do?"

Trevor leveled an even glance, looking me straight in the eye. "What had to be done."

"Come on," Derek said to Trevor. "Let's get him inside for now."

"What are we going to do with the other two?" I asked, watching them drag the lifeless body into the cave.

"Let's gag them and tie them up. Hurry! We need to get them inside," Brolin answered before Derek could say anything.

Jada took the red bandana from the man she was standing over, still out cold, then shoved it into his mouth and tied it behind his head. Brolin and Scott did the same to the other man, still unconscious, as well.

"You, Casey," Jada said, "snap out of it and go inside and see if you can find us some rope."

I stood there, dumbfounded.

"Casey," Jada's voice was both sympathetic and impatient, "if you have to cut the shoulder straps off the backpacks, do it! Go!"

I nodded, regaining my composure. I knew we had to act quickly because the other men might come back looking for their missing comrades. Still carrying the knife, I moved as quickly as I could inside. The dead man was already in a dark corner of the cave. Someone had wrapped a t-shirt around his head and throat, evidentially to stop the blood from spilling in the cave.

I forced my gaze away and grabbed some of the backpacks, using the knife to cut off the shoulder straps. It slid through the fabric like butter. Once I had a few, I quickly carried them back outside. Derek and Trevor were on my heels. The man that Jada knocked out was regaining consciousness. Quickly, Scott hit him in the back of the head with the butt of the gun, too. He was out cold again.

So much for that.

Within minutes, we had their hands and feet bound. Then, we carried them inside: Derek and Trevor took one man and Scott and Brolin took the other. Within minutes, we had them safely inside. We took them to the supply cave, away from the others. Jada, Scott, and Trevor stood guard. Brolin went back into the back caves to check on Lisa.

Jada started undressing the prisoners. "Help me, guys."

"What are you doing?" I asked, horrified.

"What does it look like, Casey?" Jada said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "We need their uniforms, just in case. Besides, they can't run as far in their underwear."

Somehow, I didn't think that would stop these men, but Jada was right. We needed their uniforms, just in case. Struggling, Derek and I quickly undressed the limp insurgent. It's harder than you think, undressing dead weight. The uniform smelled of man's body odor, with dirt smudges over it. We could wash them in the stream and they would be fine.