In a Quiet Town
Chapter 3: To the River
Reno awoke to find himself immobilized. Ropes dug sharply into his wrists, holding them securely behind his back. His ankles were tightly tied as well. The room he was now in was dark, and a musty, damp odor hung in the air. He could hear the muffled sound of running water somewhere in the distance as he lay facedown on the earthen floor.
Reno lifted his head from the ground, trying to see in the almost non-existent light, where exactly he was. His head spun as he did so, the after-effects of whatever they’d given him to knock him out, and he pressed his forehead to the cool earth beneath him to calm the dizzying sensation.
‘Where the hell am I?’ he thought. A wolf howled somewhere nearby. ‘Definitely not in the basement anymore,’ he told himself, ‘Maybe not even in Duraman anymore.’ He was suddenly beginning to wish he hadn’t left Yuffie tied to a chair in his hotel room.
“He awake yet?” a male voice from outside the room called.
“I’ll check,” replied a second, and Reno heard the sound of a key turning in a lock. He snapped his eyes shut as a door opened, spilling the soft glow of moonlight across the floor.
“Naw, he’s still out cold,” the voice continued. Reno felt himself being rolled onto his back, the rope pulling painfully at his wrists, and it took some effort not to flinch at the uncomfortable position. He recognized the second voice… It was one of the men who’d attacked him in the basement.
“Good. The boss sent me to tell you to get rid of him,” the first man said, entering the room. He nudged Reno with a foot, “Who do you think he is, anyway?”
“Who knows? Probably just some thief,” the other replied, “Come on… Time for a little fun.”
The man hoisted Reno onto his shoulder to carry him. With his hands and feet tied, Reno knew he didn’t have much of a shot at escape. His only chance was to wait for some kind of opportunity to present itself. His captors carried him out of the room, and he dared to open his eyes. They were somewhere out in the woods that surrounded the town of Duraman, and the moonlight reflected brightly off of the surface of a wide river that meandered through the trees.
‘Why do I have a bad feeling about this?’ Reno thought.
———-
Yuffie crept through the darkened streets, searching for the house Reno had told her about. She’d been looking for some time now, but she was determined to find it.
‘If that cocky, self-absorbed, jackass thinks he’s going to keep me from a vault filled with materia, he’s got another thing coming to him,’ she thought. So engrossed was she in mentally berating the Turk that she almost didn’t notice when she came upon a house that sat ostentatiously among the other, smaller dwellings of Duraman.
“That’s gotta be it!” she whispered softly to herself, ducking into the hedges along the edge of the yard. She watched the guards closely, looking for any pattern to their patrols, hoping it would be easy to sneak in. But the security was tight… on alert, it seemed, watching every shadow. She wondered if Reno had anything to do with that.
Just then, a tall, muscular man emerged from the house. Yuffie watched him approach one of the guards, and decided to get in closer so she could listen. She moved slowly, venturing only close enough that she could hear what was being said.
“Anything interesting the report?” the man asked.
“No sir. It’s been quiet. Looks like our thief was on his own,” the guard replied, sounding bored.
“Well, keep an eye out. Garris doesn’t want to take any chances.”
“Yes sir… Hey, what’d they do with the guy who broke into the vault anyway?”
“Garris is taking care of him right now… From what I gather, our intruder is going for a late night swim in the river,” the man said with a laugh, “But tonight wasn’t all bad… I got a new toy to play with.” He held up a slender metal rod, twirling it casually in his hand.
“What is it?” asked the guard. The man from the house held the rod out and smirked when the guard took a surprised step backwards as the tip came to life with sparkling bolts of electricity.
“Not sure, but it packs one hell of a punch,” he answered. Yuffie’s eyes widened.
‘Reno, you idiot… Why’d ya have to go and get yourself caught?’ she thought, slowly backing away. The man said they’d taken Reno to the river. She hoped she wasn’t already too late…
———-
Reno watched as the limited view he had of his surroundings changed from a dirt path to wooden planks. Through the cracks between the boards he could just make out the shimmer of water, and the sounds of a flowing river were crisp and clear in the night. He slowly turned his head to get a better look, hoping they hadn’t figured out he was awake yet, and saw that they were on a bridge some fifteen feet above the river.
“Weight him down,” commanded the man who was carrying him. A moment later, Reno felt a hand wrap around his bound ankles.
‘Now or never,’ he thought, and without warning, he kicked his feet out, hoping the second man was directly behind him… And indeed he was. Reno’s feet collided hard with something solid, and the blow was met with a cry of surprise and pain. Before either of his captors could restrain him, Reno twisted to one side, throwing the man who held him off balance. Reno and the man both fell onto the wooden bridge as the first of the two captors recovered from Reno’s initial kick and moved to grab their prisoner. Reno rolled onto his back and let him get just close enough that he could deliver a second violent blow to the man’s chest with both feet, sending him flying off the bridge and into the water below.
The small victory was short-lived, however, as he was suddenly flipped over onto his belly, and the remaining assailant straddled his back, a rough hand twisting into his hair and slamming his head into the boards. Reno grunted with the impact, and struggled but could neither loosen the ropes that held him nor get away from the man who pinned him to the ground. He cursed loudly as the man hauled him to his knees by his hair.
“Nice try… Gotta give ya credit for that,” said the man, releasing his grip on Reno’s hair to backhand him across the face. Reno landed on his side, his cheek throbbing from the blow.
“Toss him over Garris! I wanna watch the little bastard sink!” the other, who had by then had made his way back up to the bridge, called out. He stood, dripping wet, at the end of the bridge, glaring daggers at the red-headed Turk.
“So bring the weight over here!” Garris replied gruffly. The other man dragged a large sack filled with something heavy over to where Reno lay on the bridge. Reno watched as one end of a rope was tied around the sack, and felt the other secured to his own ankles.
“What, you’re just gonna dump me in the river? Not very creative,” Reno spat.
“Not creative, but amusing,” Garris said, grinning. He yanked Reno back up by his hair and shoved him over the edge of the bridge so that he dangled from the rope, held up only by the weight at the other end, “Wish I could say it was nice knowing you.”
“Right…” Reno sneered. Garris laughed and shoved the weight off of the bridge. Reno plummeted into the chilly river water, drawing in one last breath before his body was wrenched downwards by the sinking weight.
Water engulfed him, dark and murky. He looked up and caught site of the wavering image of the moon, the only source of light in his would-be grave. Reno twisted and turned, pulling at the ropes, to no avail. The weight soon hit bottom, and he floated helplessly, tethered to the riverbed. His lungs ached for a breath of air, lack of oxygen already beginning to make him feel light-headed as he thrashed under the water. No matter how he turned, he couldn’t get loose. The weight was far too heavy to try and drag to a shallower area of the river, the ropes too tight to slip free. He could feel his strength fading as a sense of desperation and dread set in, and he fought to quell the rising panic. Before his eyes lay nothing but darkness. Above, the moon was a tormenting reminder of the safety he couldn’t reach. His lungs felt as though they would burst, the airless space withholding that one necessity of life. The darkness of the water seemed to close in on him, and the only sound he could hear was the pounding of his own heart. His now-feeble struggles gradually became less frantic, and finally ceased altogether as consciousness slipped away.
———-
Yuffie had followed the familiar sounds of a fight as she moved silently along the riverbed, looking for any sign of the Turk. A vicious laugh echoed in the night, and then a splash as something hit the water farther downstream. Her stomach turned at the thought of the possibilities those sounds implied. She quickened her pace, nearly sprinting right past the wooden bridge, stopping only when the brief flicker of movement of someone disappearing into the trees on the other side caught her eye, the soft sound of voices fading into the darkness.
Yuffie ran to the center of the bridge, looking down at the water below and fearing the worst as she saw a thin stream of bubbles rising to the surface…
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