On the run

"I need to get away from this hut as soon as possible or I'll be caught faster than I can say hello"

It was like Brian said, they were probably brought to the Mojave desert, dust, small bushes and cacti as far as the eye could reach. The only other interesting building in the vicinity was what seemed to be something like a big barn or a hangar.

"So what Brian thought was true, the helicopter might still be here." Traces in the sand showed that something big was recently moved inside the building.

"With that, we could easily escape this fucking desert. The only problem is to find someone, in the middle of nowhere, who can pilot that damn thing. I also don't have much time before they'll kill him, I need to hurry!"

She crawled out from underneath the shed and quickly ran towards the hangar but when she tried to enter it the gate was closed shut. A thick chain was tied around the two gate handles and secured with a massive padlock.

"Always these goddamn locks, I'm fed up with these damn things! There is no way I can open this yet alone break it and the key is probably in the hands of one of those three gangsters in there. Okay nothing I can do about it let's hurry out of here or I'll get caught"

Without running she marched towards a small hill nearby, she urgently needed a wider view of what was around them because just mindlessly walking away would be her certain death. The scorching heat was devastating and cost her every bit of energy left in her body. When she finally arrived on the peak she was exhausted, her clothes were dirty and drenched in sweat while she frantically tried to catch some breath.

"This was way harder then it should've been" Her words were interrupted by constant panting.

She looked around her and a nearby tent and cross bike immediately caught her eye.

"Hello is someone in there? I need help please!" with quick steps she went towards the location.

In front of the tent was standing a telescope pointed towards the sky while stones formed a perfect circle on the floor, serving as a fireplace. Nearby were some already cut branches ready for fueling the fire. Amber quickly looked at the motorbike but the keys were obviously missing given the fact that nobody was around. A small coolbox near the tent caught her attention and without hesitation, she opened it hoping to find something to quench her thirst and luckily for her it was filled to the brim with bottles of water and beer. She immediately started gulping down on one of the water bottles until the last drop.

"Aaaah that was good, but where is the person that set up camp here? This bike could be my way out but I don't have the keys for it. Should I wait and ask for help and risk getting caught or should I take what I can and continue my escape? Think Amber think!"

The need to make a decision was immediately put off when she saw how one small silhouette ran out of the shed in the distance.

"Shit, they probably already noticed that I escaped" She looked around searching for a place to hide until she decided to shelter herself in the tent.

With swift movements, she opened the zipper on the entrance and closed it behind her.

"Please don't come in this direction, please don't come in this direction, please don't come in this direction." She continuously whispered this sentence while lying on the ground.

Several minutes passed while the pressure of being discovered nearly drove her crazy, she was even thinking about leaving her hiding spot when she suddenly heard steps and loud panting coming closer.

"What... what is a tent hah .... doing here?" The voice of one of the thugs was clearly hearable.

He started snooping around the camp and opened some crates that were lying around.

"Dammit, where did that bitch go! If I find her I swear she would wish I had killed her."

He came closer towards the tent and Amber immediately held her breath with one hand on her mouth. She already heard how the zipper was opened a bit when a second voice could be heard.

"What are you doing here?! This is my tent!"

"I wanted to look if the person who set up camp here was inside the tent."

"And what might you need from me and my belongings?"

"I wanted to warn you to pack your things and go somewhere else since this is private property."

"Bullshit, there is no such thing as private ground here, this is a fucking desert, who should own this piece of land?"

"Well, we own it, you see that little shed over there that's our property and it reaches until this hill here so you better scram now before I make you a head shorter."

"Okay, okay no reason to be so aggressive I'll pack my things and go."

"Yea and you better do that quickly. Ah and say did you by chance see a young woman about this height around here?"

"No, I actually didn't see a soul until you showed up."

"Let us know if you find her, we'll probably still be around here for some time."

She heard steps walking away from the camp.

"What a fucker, who does he think he is and then even expecting me to help you after being such a prick, of course, I will my ass. Now would the young women about this height please come out from my tent?"