The lassie safeguarded herself that she would not be heard by those hordes of lunatics. Even the way she took breaths was really huffed very prudently. Once she’s caught, she would be a goner. Under a pile of dried leaves where she hid, she itched literally. Bugs. It must be the bugs that made her itch that much.

Twigs formed a sound as one chap in a suit and tie paced on them. Iyaz whistled a melody out of his mouth then managed to let out a malevolent laughter. It seemed like he could sense the lady hiding from somewhere. He sniffed.

*In the interim at Zhackary’s*

Zhackary and Jeffrey sprinted through the deeper part of the woods and found a frequency that was the same as Keisha’s. In an instance, the radio beeped and somebody in a low speech came calling his name.

“Zhackary? Y-you there?… P-please do speak up…”

Zhackary hurriedly answered as soon as he heard the girl spoke, “Keisha? Where are you? Jeffrey and I are on the way to where you are… Wait, why are you whispering? Is something happening there?”

“I am currently wearing the earpiece you gave me before. I’m just hiding under a pile of leaves. And my ex is now hunting me down.” Keisha from the other side whispered, being as careful as possible.

“Your ex? What is he doing there?”, he questioned with an irritated face.

“I don’t know. But he’s into something.”

“Where do you think they came from?”, he said as both him and Jeffrey strolled through the woods, finding Keisha’s exact location.

“I saw them heading here from the east. You should use a compass for this shit.” Keisha then carefully exclaimed, “Oh for pete’s sake, why are these bugs keep biting on my skin?”

“We’ll be there in no time. I think we’re close”, Zhackary closed the conversation to conserve energy then walked ahead to where Keisha was.

*At Keisha’s destination*

The girl couldn’t take it anymore; coming out of her hiding place would not really save her either hiding in those piles of leaves forever. Out of nowhere, she bombarded out a sneeze wherein Iyaz and his company heard her.

“Oh look! The lady’s just hiding here! What an easy task right?”

Iyaz grinned in satisfaction after seeing Keisha’s act, “Ah! The same Keisha I’ve known for all these years. You really give up that easily.”

The lassie answered with her eyes rolling, “Yeah, and the same asshole who still does his bullshit.”

The men then strolled towards her and picked her up from sitting arrogantly on those highlands of leaves. They fastened her arms and hands to her back so that she couldn’t move. Though there’s a slight chance of running away, she was not thinking about getting herself free after all; she cannot run any further. And these folks might be handling blades within their pockets, she wouldn’t risk that.

Just as they were about to head to where they came from, Zhackary and Jeffery saw the state where the girl was being seized. They witnessed how Iyaz ruthlessly hit Keisha’s face hard that made her collapse to the ground.

“KEISH-“

Before he could finish his howling, Jeffery, however, halted him from getting caught as well. He pushed Zhackary to a nearby tree to hide. The lad’s face turned red in a mixture of worry and rage.

“You are getting the both of us killed, dude. We can’t fight them with just the two of us”, he said and slapped Zhackary on the face with his heart skipping beats because of how they were almost caught.

“He won’t get away from this, Jeff. Keisha’s too fragile and I’m sure he knows that. He shouldn’t do that to her”, worriedly, Zhackary clenched his fists as he witnessed Keisha being beaten to death.

Jeffery answered calmly to him, handing a dagger to his comrade, “Then… We follow him in a stealthy way. They’re the ones who built the first base here in the eastern part of the woods. I’m sure they are planning to enslave people to work for them.”

Inaudibly and cautiously, they headed on and tracked the path on where Iyaz and his crew were heading. The path led to an enormous gate that once entered, a whole utopia would be exposed. By means of a utopian dream, no one could ever bear in mind to build a town this magnificent. Whoever planned this beauty was obviously a genius.

To designate how flabbergasting their unseen urban area was, the ramparts were not just bare painted, but they were worked brick by brick with some serious design and patterns. The inside were food crop plantations arranged by their kind. Flower pots and their blossoms bloom organized in every corner. The houses – mansions rather were painted in different colours. Even there was an artificial stream where there are stripped women bathe in seductive bliss. Yeah, strippers.

A particular lady who kissed Iyaz erotically was also unclothed while she approached him. It kind of looked like that their home base was not meant to be lived on by little kids. To be blunt, the paradise was full of immoral and hellish natures of people. Well, the miserable reality as it was; folks now desire for an unrelenting pleasure that they’ll not even give a fuck on what’s around them.

Zhackary rolled his eyes out of disappointment, “So, is this what they are bragging about these past months? Naked people?”

Jeffery grinned and chuckled as he was proud to execute his plan with his friend easily, “Dude, I know what you’re pertaining to. And the fact that their defense mechanisms aren’t advanced yet. We can easily enter this wretched place.”

“Of course! Look how outrageous their nirvana is. They even forgot to upgrade their artillery and spent their precious riches for this bullshit”, Zhackary exclaimed, feeling the same thing as what Jeffery has.

All geared up, both of them climbed up to the walls of Utopia; all silent with their grappling hooks and camouflaged suits that helped them to see where Keisha was seized.

From one roof of a house they stood by, they saw how the girl was being dragged towards a huge warehouse. Keisha was now then soaking in her own blood for she was rolling with her ex’s punches all along. She was being dragged from her foot until they reached the main doors of the warehouse.

Carefully, Jeffery built an instant zipline for them to get to the warehouse roof without being seen. They wouldn’t be seen by Iyaz’s men because they’re right about the Utopians lacking defense mechanisms. And successfully they went through the broken glass windows of the warehouse. From the pillars upon the ceiling where those two were hiding – overheard the conversation made by the leader of Base 1 alongside with the girl they had dragged.

Iyaz held a wooden baton while he was taking his time laughing at the girl’s ruined face.

“So, Keisha. Let’s just make this the easy way. Just answer all of my questions and you’ll not be hurt.”

Keisha began to imitate his chuckling but scowling at him, “The same dickhead, eh? You already did hurt me!”

“I mean… to hurt you even more!”, he said then hit the washed up teener right on the face. It was as if he enjoyed putting harm on her.

Keisha spat crimson on to the ground and muttered, “Asshole.”

Iyaz hummed a tone as he walked around Keisha, swinging his baton from side to side. He breathed in to utter another word to confront Keisha.

“Can you pinpoint the location of your dearest little brother? Ya know, it’ll be a bit of fun. As they say, the more the merrier.”

Keisha scoffed the time she heard him speaking about her younger brother, “Don’t fucking involve Jaden here, Iyaz! If you want to kill me then just do it! But don’t you dare touch my brother.”

Iyaz took a quick swing then hit Keisha on the leg, “Wrong answer! NEXT! Whose faction are you with? Is it the Base 2 or 3 of the East? North? South? West?”

Keisha had nothing to answer at all but was forced to say something she didn’t know.

“We just got here idiot! We didn’t even know where to go and now you’re asking me?”

Iyaz then pointed the baton on her chin, grinning from ear to ear like a rotten madman, “I’ll give you incentives if you’ll tell me where your colleagues are.”

“I SAID. I. DON’T. FREAKING. KNOW.”

After hearing her refusal, he hit her again with full force right on her stomach. He was so furious that he took another chance to hit her on the same spot again.

“ANOTHER WRONG ANSWER!”

He sighed to calm himself down, took him a couple of minutes before he could continue his confrontation with Keisha.

“Last question, dear. Are you still in love with me?”

…

“Are you crazy? Like the heck! You are a human-eating faggot, Iyaz! How can you say that I am still in love with you? YOU EVEN KISSED THAT WOMAN BACK THERE CONFIDENTLY.” Keisha exclaimed out of her disgust at Iyaz's odd questioning. She took her chance to punch him in the face but it was quickly dodged that she fell right straight to the ground.

Iyaz also got his own opportunity to give another blow against the washed-up girl, he yelled, “WRONG ANSWER KEISHA! VERY WRONG ANSWER!”

He then started to pick up Keisha and kissed her. The helpless woman fought back yet she could not overpower the strength of the one who tried to ruin her life.

“Let me go, hmph! IYAZ!!”

He held her by the hair and said, “Okay then”, then threw her to the ground, producing another set of gashes on her skin.

Not yet satisfied, he even kicked the washed-up Keisha right at the stomach that made her spat blood. He ordered his comrades to heat up the brass marker.

“Do you want this the easy way? Or the hard way?”

The girl was not able to speak up because of the pain she is into. All she did was gawk at the lunatic wrathfully. By her stares, means she was almost to killing that heartless being.

Iyaz continued on with his frank intentions, “What I mean by easy is that… You just have to sign this contract that you belong to my leadership. You won’t be our slave. But instead, you are our queen. MY queen.”

Although Keisha was given a chance to end her suffering, she instead spat the blood from her mouth directly to Iyaz as she puffed for air, “I’d rather be dead by this instance, Iyaz, than to be your enlightenment and pleasure.”

Iyaz laughed hard and cynically then confidently told her, “WHAT A HERO YOU ARE KEISHA! Still a fucking hero after all these years of leaving me behind.” He then held her face with force, “You are the one who desires me.”

“I never regretted leaving your sadistic ass, Iyaz. Enough with your delusions”, Keisha replied, scoffing.

Keisha, instead of crying, laughed on her every dread and trauma – remembered her travail from her past coming back. Without hesitations, she pulled out her fist and gave her former guy a hard blow. Iyaz snapped out after seconds and he slapped her back that made her feel weaker.

She was satisfied after successfully punching him in the face; though she thought of giving him hell if she survived.

“You know what to do, boys. This girl ain’t gonna follow anyone’s orders. We’ll keep her here by force”, Iyaz’s tone seemed to be upset as he realized how he failed on convincing her to join their immoral havens.

His friends came with a heavy metal marker that was already heated up to mark Keisha’s body. They held her by force, locking her arms and raising her shirt. Iyaz pointed at Keisha’s back as he held the metal in his right hand.

“You won’t sign the contract. Then we’ll make you ours.”

The heated metal stuck to Keisha’s skin. Keisha screamed and shrieked in agony made by the scorched-out pewter. Afterwards, he removed it and the mark was now on her skin. “UTOPIA” was the scorch upon Keisha’s skin; meaning, she now belonged to the Base 1 and under Iyaz’s sovereign.

Iyaz now then let go of the metal marker he used to torture the poor woman’s skin. Keisha couldn’t manage to make a movement after all of that tormenting she had been through.

“Lock her up. Feed her around 6pm. She’ll be fine to help here soon.”

And indeed, they did lock her up inside the dull and dusty warehouse. All alone and bathing in her own blood, Keisha crawled to get her bag from across the place.

Meanwhile, this was the perfect time for Zhackary and Jeffery to do their move. It had been too late to save her; however, getting themselves caught by those uncountable men would be their doom. They let down their ropes and got down from the pillars of the hayloft.

All worried and unwell, Zhackary approached the girl who kept on crawling towards her piece of luggage. She stopped and just felt someone held her gently.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to save you”, Zhackary sobbed as he caressed her within his arms.

Keisha heaved continuously, resisting the pain from the bruises and wounds made by her lunatic ex, “Z-zhack?”

Zhackary told her apologizing, “We’ve been here the whole time. It’s just that… we can’t fight those men.”

Keisha just forced herself to smile at him to at least give him a hint of hope, “Shhh, it’s okay.”

She held his face with her bloodstained hands, her eyes tearing up out of the pain she was feeling the entire time. She coughed through her sentences, “I know. At l-least, I know that my brother is safe now. And… I know that you are here. I’m happy that you’re here.”

“Just hold on, ight? I will get you outta here”, he lifted Keisha up carefully then attached the harness to her to help her up. He looked up to where his companion stood by and said, “Jeff? Are we all set to climb her up?”

Jeffery answered, assured that they were in the safe zone to take Keisha back to their fort, “Yeah. We gonna pull her up with this pulley system until she reaches up the roof and then we’ll follow.”

Still worn out and anxious, Keisha asked about her brother’s condition. She cried as she pleaded to him.

“Zhack? You should just save my brother first. They’re gonna hurt him. P-please.”

Zhackary whispered on to her ear gently to calm her down, “He’s already safe now. It’s your time to get saved, okay?”

“Really? I’m glad to hear that… Thank you.”

Not a little while she loses her consciousness. It was maybe because of the throbbing that that lunatic gave her. Zhackary noticed it by the time she’s set to climb up the pillars of the warehouse. He shook her to wake her up but was unsuccessful.

“Keisha? Hey, wake up. No, Keisha. Stay with me… please.”

*White noise*