Zen's War: Captivity

Evening had fallen and they were forced to spend the night at the convent. The question was, what would they do next? So far the Colonel was the only one coming up with any suggestions. He said that he could steal a car and get it running again. The problem was once they got it running where would they get gas? More importantly, where was their destination? All they had were questions, and no answers. The only ones with any working vehicles were the Mexican Revolutionary Front, and trying to steal one from them would be suicide.

They were all forced to sleep in one of the convent cells. Zen had never been a God-fearing man, or a devout churchgoer. It was surreal for him to sleep in a convent, let alone be in one. As a child he had had religion shoved down his throat, and it had left a nasty taste in his mouth. He struggled to push these thoughts from his mind, and to concentrate on finding Sahara. The Colonel being a soldier, so far had been the most creative. He saw the task of finding Sahara like a battle plan. He was now dedicated to finding her, no matter the cost.

“So, once we find the vehicle, then what?” Zen asked, his eyes reflecting the dwindling candlelight.

“The Abbess said there’s been a cult abducting girls and that they’re encampment is somewhere beyond the Dragoon mountains. All we need to do is to find it,” Derek now suggested.

“That’s really intelligent. We don’t even know if she’s there. The first thing we need to do is find a vehicle, then we can start thinking about where we’re going,” Colonel Krakowski answered.

“And where do you suggest we find one, let alone a working one?” Hector asked.

“The Mexican Revolutionary Front has a Presidio about a mile south of here. They have a few pickup trucks, some of which still run. Whether or not they have any gas is another question,” the Colonel continued, his mind full of ideas.

“We can’t just take one and expect them not to notice,” Aurora said, suddenly.

“We are not going to expect anything. We have to have a plan; otherwise we’ll be sitting ducks. The best course of action is to travel under the cover of night,” the Colonel said.

“I’m not traveling at night. My sister was the last person I knew that traveled at night. My father used to beat her. One night she got fed up with it, and she took off. She was only twelve at the time, but she was full of spunk. That was the last anyone ever saw of her. We never found out what happened to her. My father said that the Nocturnes got her; I think he just made it up to scare me,” Aurora continued.

“I had a run in with some of them about a year ago. You don’t ever want to deal with them, trust me. They’ll skin you alive then roast you on an open fire,” Colonel Krakowski declared.

“I don’t know whose worse, the Nocturnes or the Mexican Revolutionary Front; either way it’s going to be dangerous. If we go to the Presidio during the day the Mexican Revolutionary Front’s soldiers will see us. On the other hand, if we go at night we might possibly run into the Nocturnes. We need to figure out who we’re willing to go up against. ”

“I’d rather deal with the Nocturnes myself. At least they don’t have guns,” Derek suggested.

“That may be true, but they have spears and bows and arrows; which they are very adept at using,” Zen said, giving his anthropological opinion.

“I say we go just before dawn. That way there is less of a chance of running into the Nocturnes, and hopefully there won’t be many soldiers awake. I still have my shotgun and some ammo; not too much, but enough to put a few Revolutionarios in their graves,” the Colonel said, with a devious grin.

“I’d say we got about eight hours till sunrise. I think that everyone should get a few hours rest, before we leave. I’ll stay awake so I can wake you all up three or four hours before sunrise,” Zen told them.

“There is no chance that I’m going to sleep, not with this adventure ahead,” Colonel Krakowski said, with a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.