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Eventually the van came to a halt. Two people could be heard getting out of the front section of the van and shutting two separate doors. After that there was no noise detected by the four people in the back.
“Just in time for you guys. I was about to start explaining and talking about cricket”– Ryan continued is attempt to boost morale.
“So now what?” Shannon verbalized the thoughts of the four of them.
“I think we’re supposed to get out ourselves”– Ryan guessed, then went to try to open the back door to the van.
“Wait a minute, that could be a trap, it could trigger a bomb ”– Lee warned.
Ryan sat back down. “Tell me if you think I’m wrong guys, but I really think that if this lunatic just wanted to blow us up he could’ve done that any time he wanted to, back in the house. Really don’t think that he would’ve gone to all the trouble of gassing us unconscious then driving us to God knows where before actually blowing us up”– Ryan presented his case.
A moment or two of silence occurred before Shannon, Lori and Lee all agreed with Ryan and allowed him to try the door with their blessing.
“Bit of an anti climax, it’s locked ”– Ryan announced.
“Guess I could maybe be able to kick it open eventually”– Lee said.
“Or we could just shout for help and bang the sides of the van. There might be plenty of people out there for all we know”– Lori suggested, now completely recovered from her asthma attack.
“Well that would save my feet. So lets try that for a little while at least, just in case there are loads of people out there. If we get no response after a minute or so I’ll start kicking. For all we know we could be in the middle of nowhere. And nobody will pass by for days”– Lee replied.
Around a minute or so of shouting for help and banging on the sides of the van didn’t seem to be attracting any attention. So Lee began his attempts to kick their way out. His first kick didn’t seem to have any effect on the door. But his second one definitely did seem to create some movement. Before he could land a third blow, the door was opened from the outside. Bright sunshine lit up the inside of the van. And the four occupants needed a moment or two to get used to the brightness. It was a man out for a walk with his dog. He has heard the noise from the van and opened the door.
“Well hello there, just how long have you guys been in there?”
“We’re not sure”– Ryan told him. “Tell us is Reagan still president?”
“No”– the man replied incredulously.
“Oh well, at least too many things haven’t changed, looking at your clothes and your hair for two things.” Ryan felt harsh for verbally abusing a man who’d just got him out of a locked van. But the stress of the situation continued to bring out his dominant character traits, including witty banter.
The man looked all flustered and a little angry, pulled on the lead of his dog and walked off.
“Not much of a way to thank him”– Shannon said, though clearly not too upset with Ryan.
“I know. But the line just came to me. And I always find it so hard to resist.”
“Hey guys, look at this”– Lori said as she picked up a folder on the floor and opened it up.
The folder had a few pages of paper in it. The first page only had four words written on it: ‘Directions to staying alive.’
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