Description
The first class soldier frowned as he walked round the corner into the alley where he asked Cloud to meet him. It was empty say for one person sitting with his back to Zack and his head down. It looked like he was sleeping.
Zack blinked thoughtfully and wondered if Cloud came in disguise. They needed to get out of Midgar as soon as they could, he’d just wake up Cloud and they’d head out. Easy as pie. He smiled as he strode over, gently putting a hand on his shoulder. “Cloud? Ready to go?”
“Are you?” The person responded, quickly grabbing Zack’s arm and pulling him forward. He turned around and pulled a sword out.
Being a first class soldier, Zack reacted on instinct. He immediately kicked his attacker in the face, landing a nice boot on his nose. The attacker pulled back in pain and stumbled, falling to the floor.
Zack turned around. He had to run. He had to find Cloud. He had to get out of Midgar. They’d been compromised.
The other first class soldier stepped out, blocking his exit down the alley way. Sword in hand, gun in the other.
Zack moved into a crouch, ready to fight him off. He miscalculated and forgot about the man he’d just downed.
The other assailant grabbed him from behind, hooking his two arms and pulling him back and slightly up off the ground. “Come on, Zack. You’re a first class soldier. You shouldn’t be this easy to beat.”
“You’re right.” Zack grinned. “I’m not.” He pushed off the ground, using the momentum of the push to fling himself back and over.
The other soldier started to fall, but Zack grabbed him and wrapped his muscled arm around his neck. He pulled him closer with the choke hold and pulled the gun from the soldier’s holster, holding it up to his captive’s head.
“You should let me go, before you lose a friend.” Zack looked at the free soldier, making a show of force by pulling his arm back around the other’s neck. His captive made a choked sound, emphasising Zack’s message.
“No. You should let us have you.” He took a few steps forward, looking a little bored. “You leave here without us, we hurt your little yellow haired Infantryman.”
Zack’s body stiffened and he felt his heart start to race. Cloud. Oh, God. They got him. He went quiet for a moment, thinking quickly. If he left now, they’d hurt Cloud, but since they already had Cloud, they just needed Zack. And these two goons weren’t just grunts. They were first class, like he was. If Zack allowed himself to be captured, he’d pretty much doom them both. But… if he didn’t go with them, they’d hurt Cloud anyway.
He took another moment before looking up at the other soldier. “You promise you won’t hurt him?”
There was a slight pause before the other man nodded. “Yeah. We won’t hurt him.”
At those words, Zack removed his hold on the other and pushed him away. He thought about just shooting them both right there, but then he wouldn’t know where Cloud was being kept. Poor kid… he wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for Zack.
“Hands up, turn around and get on your knees.” The man ordered, walking over to his comrade. “You okay, man?”
Zack followed the orders, hands up at head level and knelt down, waiting.
“I’m gonna kill him.” He spat, hurriedly getting his breath back.
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get him tied up.”
They walked up behind him and started binding his arms with rope. Despite being pushed a minute before, they took their time with the rope. Zack felt something in his gut that told him these two were professionals. They weren’t ones to give into their aggressive behaviour and make sloppy work. They crossed his wrists behind him and looped them around and then over. It didn’t take very long because a minute later they were wrapping rope around his torso and arms as well. Zack figured it was a precaution. They’d tie him up more to keep him from escaping or causing a mess when he found Cloud. Wrists were nothing if that’s all he had.
The soldier he’d put in a chokehold kicked him in the gut twice, growling out a profanity or two before they hoisted Zack up onto his feet.
Zack stumbled along, but not too far from where he’d been captured. He was forcefully pushed into the room, stumbling to catch his footing. It didn’t matter as the moment the other two soldiers entered the room, they pushed him to his knees again. He saw Cloud, his buddy, already tightly bound in a hogtie. His friend tried to say something from behind the gag, but Zack wasn’t able to pick up on it.
He grunted, one of the two soldiers checked his ropes and tightened them for extra measure. Zack could feel it hug his chest more sturdily to his chagrin. The other forced his feet together and wrapped those as well, looping them together and then in-between his legs. Zack tested his bonds and felt his stomach drop. These guys weren’t some wimps, they’d already taken all the classes on capturing and holding.
If only Zack could remember the escaping class.
His mind raced as he tried to recall what they would do next, how the knots would be tied. He pushed it to the back of his mind as he saw Cloud, struggling to get free, to help Zack although it was already too late.
“I’m sorry, Cloud.” Zack shook his head. “I shouldn’t have involved you in this. It’s all my fault.”
Cloud shook his head and tried to talk through the gag, but Zack was still unsure..
“I’ll get us out of this mess, Cloud. I swear.”
“Shut up,” the injured soldier growled. The soldiers pushed Zack roughly onto his stomach, Zack looking over his shoulder where Cloud lay. They were putting him in a similar position. Maybe if he could get a good look at how Cloud was tied, maybe pay attention to how the soldiers tied him, he could get free when they left. If they left.
They bound his thighs similarly to Cloud, around and then through, leaving ample rope to bind his legs next. The soldiers grabbed Zack’s legs and forced them toward his buttock, getting an uncomfortable grunt from Zack in the process, as they tied a knot between the two ropes and then worked on the final part.
All the while, Cloud grunted and moaned, struggling in his bindings. He was trying to tell Zack something, warn him somehow. Or… maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he was trying to tell Zack to fight. He couldn’t know.
“You won’t get away with this,” Zack said, trying to look over his shoulder, offering a pointed glare to the more dominant soldier. .
While one soldier secured more rope on his feet and started putting the finishing touches on Zack’s hogtie, the other soldier chuckled and pulled out something where Zack couldn’t see.
“If you won’t shut up when I order you to, I guess we’ll have to make you.”
“What’s that supposed to me-.“ Zack let out a muffled shout as the plug gag was forced into his open mouth. He bit on it, showing his teeth to his captors. A sign of defiance. They forced the plug gag in all the way and then latched it locked behind his head. Zack rolled around, tugging uselessly at the ropes binding him, making unintelligible threats on their lives.
“Where are they headed now?” The injured soldier asked his partner.
“Hojo. He said he has need of some experiments, especially this one.” He ruffled Zack’s hair, getting a buck and a snarl out of him. “Come on. Let’s bring the truck around. We’ve got them secure enough.”
The soldier nodded and they both left, looking at their captives one final time before laughing loudly and leaving.
Zack and Cloud looked at each other. Zack calmed himself down and started trying to feel where the knots where. He had to get free. It was all his fault. If they took them to Hojo, there’d be no hope for them.
Cloud seemed to understand what Zack was doing, quietly shifting his wrists around, seeing if there was a knot somewhere within reach. He closed his eyes, trying to feel more with his hands than look around blearily at their situation.
Zack tried to tap into some of his flexibility, testing the ropes by pulling his shoulders back and seeing how much give he could get. There wasn’t much. He rotated his wrists in the ropes, hearing the sound of the rope scratching together.
He paused, looking over at Cloud. Cloud had become frustrated and began struggling and bucking around. He squirmed in his bonds, letting out muffled whimpers and cries. Zack made commanding sounds, urging him to gather his focus and see Zack.
It took a few moments for it to work, but Cloud settled down and set his eyes on his friend.
They watched each other quietly in the dimness of the dark.
Zack tried to think of a plan, then how he’d convey it to Cloud. They could theoretically work together and loosen a knot. Even getting the knot holding them both in the strict hogtie would be extremely helpful.
He started to squirm along the floor, offering urging sounds to Cloud to follow his lead. Cloud seemed to get it.
The air was filled with their grunts, both of them breathing heavily through their noses, the hogtie forcing a lot of pressure down on their chests.
They met in the middle, Cloud and Zack almost side-by-side. Zack tried to give muffled instructions, wiggling his fingers. Cloud watched helplessly, muffling his confusion. Zack groaned in frustration and moved away a little. He started to roll his body back and forth until he was almost on his side and then he came back onto his chest.
Cloud nodded vigorously, grunting affirmatively.
Zack scooted back over and they both started rolling again, back and forth, back and forth, back and-
The door opened just as Zack and Cloud managed to get back-to-back.
“Hey, hey, hey!” The dominant soldier rushed forward and pushed them apart. He forced Zack a few feet away from Cloud before sighing heavily and looking from one to the other. “Damn… and I thought the gags would’ve worked well.”
The injured soldier grinned. “Guess we have to do more.”
“Check their ropes… make sure they haven’t made any headway while I go get the stuff.” He scowled, grumbling to himself as he walked out of the room. They could hear a car door open outside.
The other soldier went around, testing Cloud’s bonds, who apparently had made very little progress because he barely did anything, and tested Zack’s, ruffling his head after he tightened the ropes binding the man’s chest.
Zack growled menacingly.
“Come on, Zack… don’t you realise there’s no hope for you now? Hojo needs you and the kid for some experiments. A little sad… I like seeing you all helpless like this.” He pushed Zack’s head down harshly and stood up to his full height.
Cloud locked eyes with Zack and murmured a scared plea.
Zack looked him dead in the eye and showed confidence that they would be okay. There was nothing to worry about. But… he didn’t believe it. There was a lot to worry about. Hojo had a reputation even among his allies. This wasn’t going to go well.
The other soldier returned, a bottle and a rag in his hand. “Blond one first, then we’ll do Zack.” He handed the bottle over to his partner and watched as he took the lid off and turned the bottle down onto the rag. A few shakes and he handed the rag back. The dominant soldier walked over to the blond infantryman and knelt down. “Breathe in deep, okay? Make this easier.” He reached an arm around and forced the rag over Cloud’s nose.
Cloud whimpered, starting up his struggles again. He pulled and tried to free himself.
Zack watched as his friend squirmed in desperation, starting his own fight to free himself once more. It was instinctual to try and save his friend. He let out muffled pleas as Cloud’s eyes began to close shut, his struggles moving slower and slower, until they finally stopped.
The soldier slowly put Cloud’s head down on the floor and stood. He turned to Zack, taking the bottle from the other soldier and dipping it on the rag again for potency. “Don’t worry. You’re both just going to be sedated.”
Zack felt the fear and helplessness finally hit him as the other came looming over to him. He shook his head, bucking and shaking. Small noises, a mixture of pleas and threats, blocked by the gag firmly set in his mouth.
The soldier leaned down and reached an arm around, holding him still. He pressed the rag against his nose hard.
The sweet smelling drug pressed to his nose. Zack took in a whif by surprise. A few more because he struggled, his body taking a toll, needing more oxygen. He shook his head, squirming, growling, breathing in more.
And his vision started to blur. His head was getting heavy… eye-lids falling, body failing to listen to his commands.
He fell to a deep slumber smelling that sweet sweet smell.
Damn… chloroform…
---
The two soldiers grinned as they loaded up their cargo into the back. They bound them to the sides of the truck for extra measure, in case they woke up on the way back to headquarters, along with matching leather blindfolds to keep them unaware of their surroundings.
“Good work.” He said with a grin, clapping his partner on the shoulder. “Hojo should be happy.”
The other soldier smiled. “I’m just glad that went pretty smoothly.”
“Me too. Come on, let’s go.”
They climbed into the truck, started it, and headed on their way.
Mission Accomplished.