Psycho Love / Troy Otto

Seven Years

Alicia and I sat on the edge of the trunk with the trunk door open, as Travis tries to fix the SUV. Madison stood next to him, watching him work. Travis sighs in frustration. "This isn't working. I'm sorry, Madison, but we will have to gather what we can and continue on foot."

And that is what we did.

The sun blazed upon us as we traveled through the unforgiving Mexican desert. The heat licked at my, no doubt, sunburned face and coiled around my limbs like a hot-blooded serpent. The perspiration rolled down my forehead to my cheeks and nose. I used the button up in my hand, that I took off earlier, to wipe it away. We looked for any sign of life, yet had not seen anything.

Suddenly, I see some vehicles headed our way and a grin finds itself on my face. "Hey, Guys! We have company!"

At first, I am relieved to see the military men. However, that view changed when they grabbed us all and tied our hands. Travis struggled in their grip the entire journey. I watch as Madison falls to the ground, making all three of us try to get to her. Alicia and I tried to fight the men off, but Madison told us to stop and cooperate. That's when the smell hit. The familiar smell of rotting flesh tore heavily through my nose, making me want to gag. I look around and see countless of dead bodies swarming the outside of what looked to be the Mexican/American border military base.

The large gates open to let us through. As we are dragged along, Madison began asking for whoever was in charge like a 'Karen' asking for the manager. "Let me speak to someone who is in charge!" The men split up taking Madison, Alicia, and I in one vehicle, and Travis in another. "Where are you taking him?!" Madison shouted in panic.

"It's okay!" Travis shouts back, trying to keep the woman calm.

"Travis! Where are you taking him!?"

"It's okay, Madison!"

We sat in silence as the men drove us through another gate to one of the many buildings on the base. They threw us into an office room and untied our hands, before leaving and shutting the door. I sat on the couch and began picking at my fingers nervously, not seeing the use to bang on the door like Madison was currently doing. "Girls, start looking around. We need to get out of here." Madison ordered as she began looking around the room.

I just sigh and shake my head. "I don't see the point. Even if we were to get out of here, we have no idea where they took Travis. Plus, there is an entire military outside with guns, ready to put us down. You do what you need to do, but I'm not going to waste my time." She gives me a glare, but I'm not one to back down when my mind is set. Our glares hold, but she finally gives up and begins searching again.

After a good thirty minutes of searching for a way out, Alicia calls out to her mom. "Anything?"

"No." Madison replies, closing one of the file drawers.

I look up and had an idea. "What about the ceiling?" Madison climbs on top of the desk and lifts up a square of the ceiling. "Is there any room?"

"There's nothing." She replies with a huff. She closes the panel and climbs down.

Alicia runs her hand through her hair in deep stress. "We shouldn't have come here."

"We had to." Her mother replies as she passes her daughter to look around again.

"No, we shouldn't be looking for him." The 'him' Alicia referred to was her brother, Nick. Nick had run off to follow his own path, because Madison believed she knew best. Yes, she protected us from the whack job we were staying with at the time, but she also didn't want to accept the way her son was getting through his grief. He left us as we were fleeing, saying we destroy everything. I tune back into the conversation as I hear Alicia's voice raise. "Shouldn't be chasing after him. It always blows back on us." At that statement, she was completely right.