We might never escape. And it’s all his fault. I told him to fill up the car bacause it would be a long drive; the desert is hot and we know nothing about it. But did he listen to me ? No, he didn’t. And why didn’t he ? I really don’t know. But let me tell you how we got here.

I’ve been planning this trip for months, I absolutely love road trips. I asked my brother, Josh, if he wanted to join me, and he said yes, but insisted on him driving.

When the day eventually came for us to go, I called him before he came to my house. “ Remember to fill up the car. “ Ok… “ “ And remember to pack all the stuff. “ Yep.. “ “ And double check that you filled up the car with PETROL…” “ Sis, relax. I’ve got it under control. I’ll see you in ten. “

He stopped at my house in twenty minutes since he called me, so I should have known this would be a disaster. He was already late. I loaded my suitcase into the boot and we were off. I gave him the directions, and he drove. “ Did you fill up the car ? There’s a petrolstation up ahead if you didn’t. “ “ Cam, come on. Don’t you trust me ?”

“ Not at all. “ I answered.

We drove and drove, until we eventually got to the road leaving the city, and entering the desert. I cranked up tha AC, the car was getting hotter every second; it was like a giant toaster. We drove for a while more when the car started making these horrible spluttering noises and eventually broke down.

“ What now ? “ I asked. “ I.. I don’t know. “ Josh said looking away. “ You didn’t fill up the car. Did you ? “ I said giving him an accusing look.

He sighed, “ Ok fine. No, I didn’t… “ “ WHHY ?!?” I yelled. “ I don’t know, I guess I wanted to prove to you that it wouldn’t make a difference.. “ he said guilty, looking down.

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration, groaning. “ Ok.. But we have to find a way to fix this. “ “ We could walk ? It’s not that far to the nearest petrol station. Maybe one mile at most.” “ Are you crazy. In this heat ? We’d never make it. I say we call for help.” “How do you suppose we do that. There’s no reception dummy. “ I sighed loudly. “ Ok, then lets find some.”

I got out of the car and stood on the roof, trying to get at least one bar. Nothing. Great, just great. I got back in, it was already past noon, and the sun would be down in a few hours. “ Ok Josh. We’ll figure this out after lunch. “ He nodded.

I got sandwiches out of our cooler bag and we ate in silence. I saw something coming out way in the distance. “ Josh ! Look ! “ He saw it too, his eyes widened with deperate hope. We got out of the car walking a few feet in that direction, waving and shouting.

When it got closer, we saw it was a group of men, who saw us and grinned. He said something to the other men in another language, presumably Arabic, and then looked at me. “ Hello Miss. Are you alright ? “ his accent was thick and difficult to understand. “ N. no. Our car broke down and we… “ He stopped me, “ Broke down ? Where are you from ? “ “ I’m from Calafornia “ He looked intrigued and nodded to one of his men who had a leather satchel with him. “ But please, do you think you could help us ? We need to get going. “ He took my by the shoulder and looked me in the eyes. “ I’m very sorry miss, but no. We do not carry such things with us. “

He turned around and stood next to me, his arm now around my shoulders. He looked at his men and gave a slight nod, and before I knew it he had his arm around my neck and a knife against my throat. “ What are you… “ He clamped his fingers over my mouth. “ No, no. Be quiet now. “ He looked at Josh. “ Now young man, you will stand with your face towards the vehicle and with your hands behind your back. If you resist my men, I might have to use my knife on her. “

Josh did as he was told, and two men came to him, tying his hands behind his back. One of the other men came to our direction with rope and tied my hand in front of me and keeping a length of it unieid and giving it to the man with the knife who used it as a leash to yank me along. We were then forced to walk away from our car, and into the unknown…

( This isn’t very good. I was just in the mood to write 😅 )