Story from a dream

A group of four large men walked along the corridor, two smaller figures in between them. Two men had a firm grip on the first figure, a blonde haired boy of the age of eighteen, and the other two had a girl, no more than seventeen and whom had her long red hair pulled back in a ponytail.
The boy constantly looked over his shoulder as he was forced to walk down the hall, his arms forced behind his back by the two men. He had on a dark green colored shirt, the sleeves were short, and his dark jeans were baggy. A tan belt was looped around them, and his tennis shoes dragged reluctantly along the ground.
The girl’s head was down, and she to had her arms forced behind her back by her captures. She wore a red drawstring bag across her back, over top of her dark blue jacket, under which she had on a red short sleeved shirt. Her jeans had a small hole in the knee, and her tennis shoes were covered in dirt.
They moved down the hall until the reached a door. The two men holding the boy yanked it open and shoved the boy inside before following him into the room. The girl likewise was shoved in, and the other two men shut the door, but remained outside it. The girl and boy were forced into a corner. The moment the girl was shoved towards him the boy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back towards the wall, all the while glaring at the two men.
“Why have you brought us here? We’ve done nothing wrong!” He said, still clutching the girl tightly.
“You know perfectly well why you’re here.” One of the men responded, “Your part of the rebellion.”
The boy said nothing, but gripped the girl tighter, and she looked over towards the men, having hid her head in the boys shoulder. She watched as the men fumbled with a small piece of metal. Her face showed no sign of fear, but she knew the boy could feel her heart pounding in her chest.
Then one of the men moved forward and yanked the girl from the boys arm, moving her towards the piece of metal. The girl struggled and tried to get free from his grip, while the boy yelled at the man.
“Leave her alone!” He said running for the man holding the girl, but the other one grabbed his arm, and threw him back into the corner, then tied one arm to the wall with a rope. The man forced the girl in front of the metal, and then strapped her hand to it using small straps of leather.
“Don’t worry,” He said, putting the last strap across the girl’s hand, as she tried to pull her hand free. “We are just going to ‘question’ her.” He laughed and then flipped a switch on the wall. The other man moved towards a small button, and the first man stepped towards the girl.
“Now, miss. Where is the rebellion’s base?”
The girl’s eyes grew wide as she looked at the man. “I…I don’t know.”
The man shook his head and then looked up at the man near the small button. The other man smiled and placed one of his large fingers on the button.
The girl screamed in pain, and instantly started trying to wrench her hand free of the metal plate. The boy yelled in rage and lunged forward but was stopped by his tied up arm. He glared at the man his teeth clenched, while the girl continued to scream and pull frantically at her arm. She slumped to her knees, tears rolling down her cheeks, her head hung, but her hand still strapped to the plate. The man merely chuckled.
“There, there,” He said patting the girls head, “a few seconds pain and then its done.”
Tears continued to fall down her cheeks and fall to the floor. The boy glared at the men, hating them with all his power.
“What did you do to her?!” He yelled.
The man closest to the girl looked at him. “Let’s just say she experienced, a ‘burning’ sensation.” He laughed as the boy yelled in rage again and tried to free himself, and then turned his attention back to the girl. “Now miss, I’ll ask you one more time. Where is the rebellion hiding?!”
The girl looked up at the man, tears still glistening in her eyes. She gulped and slowly shook her head.
“No…please…I..I don’t know!” Her voice shook. The man sighed and stepped back as the other man pushed the button yet again. The girl screamed and jumped to her feet, clawing at the straps on her hand. The boy yelled and lunged for the man at the button, and slammed his head into the wall. He had managed to free himself from the rope using his free arm. The man slumped to the floor, unconscious. The boy then rounded on the man by the girl.
The man swung his fist at the boy, but the boy ducked and slammed his own fist into the man’s stomach. He crumpled to the ground, groaning in pain. The boy turned to the girl who was still screaming, and ripped the straps off her hand. She fell to the ground clutching her right hand, a white burn spread across the palm. The boy hosted her to her feet, and held the back of her hand looking at the burn. He gently wiped the tears from her face and lifted her chin up so she was looking at him.
“You’re going to be okay. C’mon.”
He grasped the girl’s uninjured hand and led her towards the door. He was about to open the handle, when she jerked him back. He looked back at her, confused.
“The other men.” She whispered. “They are still out there!”
He looked towards the door and stepped back. He moved the girl behind him, and turned the doorknob. He pushed it open and with one swift movement kicked it as hard as he could. It struck one of the men, and he heard a grunt of pain and a thud. He pulled the girl out of the door as fast as possible and ran past the other man. The man gave a startled yell, but the boy and girl had already turned a corner.
The boy and girl ran down the hall, hand in hand, not knowing how they were going to get out. The boy took another turn, the girl right behind him, her red hair whipping behind her in its ponytail. He opened a door at random and pulled the girl inside. Once inside, and the door was shut, they realized it was a cramped room, with very little light.
The girl let go of the boy’s hand and took the bag off of her back. She went to hold it in her right hand, forgetting about the burn, and as soon as the string touched her burn she took a sharp intake of breath and dropped the bag. The boy picked it up and opened it for her. She reached inside with her good hand, and pulled out a flashlight. She handed it to him, took the bag and closed it, then slung it over it shoulders. He turned the flashlight on and shined it around the room. Seeing no way out, he shined it on the floor and found what looked like a sewer drain. He looked up at the girl.
“It’s the only way out.” He said, studying her face. She nodded and helped him lift the heavy metal covering off. The girl climbed down onto the metal ladder, and the boy shined the flashlight down for her. The beam of light reached all the way down to the murky water. He saw the girl wince and kneeled by the hole.
“Is it bad? We can find another way.”
“No, no. it’s fine.” She said, and continued to climb down the ladder. The boy waited until she was farther down before stuffing the flashlight in his pocket and climbing down the slippery ladder after her. He lost footing once or twice, but regained it and continued on. It wasn’t long down the ladder until he heard the girl call out.
“I see the bottom.”
Then he heard a splash and fearing the worst, looked down over his shoulder. Not seeing anything except the rippling of water.
“JESS!” he called out panicking.
“I’m alright.” She called back. “The ladder ends a few feet short, so you’ll have to jump.”
He sighed with relief and continued down the ladder. He slipped and grunted as his elbow scrapped the side of the tunnel. He took a sharp in take of breath, and pulled himself up until his feet were on the ladder. He heard the water move below him and Jess spoke again.
“Seth? Are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just scrapped my elbow.”
He heard more shuffling below him, and Jess was cursing under her breath. He looked over his shoulder again and was able to see her red hair. He moved his foot to the next step, but it simply dropped. He brought it back up and jumped the rest of way down. His feet splashed into ankle deep water and he pulled the flashlight out of his pocket, realizing as he did so, that he had never turned it off.
Light flooded the small tunnel and he saw Jess standing a few feet off, shielding her eyes with her hand, and her injured one was gripping her bag. He hurried over to her, his feet splashing through the water, and he took the bag from her. She smiled gratefully, and started rummaging through it, still using her injured hand. Finally, she pulled out another small flashlight, and turned it on.
Seth pulled on the drawstrings and closed the bag. He slung it over her back and stood their for a second, holding her arms. He had never wanted to get her into this, and she knew that. As if she was reading his mind she smiled and gently placed her hand on his face.
“It’s not your fault.” She said. “I choose to come, remember?”
“Jess, they would have killed you.”
“I’m glad you were there then. Seth listen, no listen.” She said, for he had opened his mouth to interrupt. “They would have killed you if you had come alone. How do you think I would have felt? Being forced to stay behind and wait, worrying, not hearing anything about how you were doing…whether you were dead or alive. It would have been torture for me.”
Seth remained quiet. He knew she was right; she wasn’t the type to stay behind and wait. She always had to be in the action, no matter how dangerous. He brushed away some hair that had fallen over her face and tucked them behind her ear.
“I know. That’s why I fell in love with you.” She smiled, and he continued on, “But I won’t let you go on anything that’s to dangerous.”
She looked at him in the eye, and she smiled again. She nodded, knowing that there was no way she could argue. He smiled and gently kissed her cheek. Then, grasping her good hand, he started leading her down the dark tunnel.
As the walked she bent down and let her burnt hand drag along through the cold water. It felt good on the burn and even though she knew that the water was probably disgusting, she did not care. The water would help stop the pain. She noticed that Seth was watching her and she stood up, looking at her hand.
“Are you sure its okay? He asked.
She nodded, “Nothing Maudie can’t fix.” She smiled up at him and the continued on.
The two flashlight beams searched over the slimy, grime-covered wall. Occasionally, Jess’s flashlight beam fell upon a rat, scurrying from the bright light. When this did happen she would shudder and move closer to Seth, who would simply smile and squeeze her hand lightly.
They turned a corner and found a part of the sewer that was so low to the water they had to crouch over, which only made their jeans wetter. (They were already soaked up to the knees) Seth went in first, Jess following behind him, holding his hand tighter as a small scurrying noise was heard. Seth looked back at her and smiled. Then turning in front of him, he saw a small wooden trap door, attached to the ceiling. He pushed on it and it moved upward.
“This is it.” He said, and threw the trap door open.
“Are you sure?” Jess asked in a whisper.
He stood up, his head sticking up over the floor of the building above them. He shined the flashlight around and saw a musty, maroon colored room, with dusty velvet covered furniture, and a seemingly unused fireplace. He placed the flashlight on the floor, so that it was no shining at a door that slightly hung of its hinges.
“Yep.” He said to Jess. “This is it.”
He placed his hands on the dirty floor and hoisted himself up into the room. He sat on the floor, his feet hanging over the edge of the trap door and helped Jess up. She stood up in the room and shined her flashlight around. Seth pulled his feet up and shut the trap door. The top was covered in the same musty smelling velvet carpet as the rest of the room, and when shut blended in perfectly with the rest, except for the large metal ring that allowed people to open it.
He stood up and shined the flashlight around again. Then he turned to Jess.
“You have the cell phones right?”
She nodded and opened her bag again, this time pulling out a navy blue cell phone. She handed it to him and he turned it on, then dialed in a number. He heard the person on the other line pick up.
“Lizard.” They said.
“Tree Frog and Cougar have returned.” He said and then hung up, not before hearing the person on the other end yell something excitedly. He shoved the phone in his pocket and turned back to Jess.
“I can’t believe you picked ‘Tree Frog’ for a nickname.” She said.
He laughed and all the lights in the room suddenly turned on. There were shouts of excitement and a dozen people poured into the room, of all ages, jumping on them and hugging them.