Where No Tourist Has Gone Before - Part 4

[Aiko]

Rhonda had a bad feeling about these soldiers. It seemed to her that her safest option was simply to wait until they were gone. That meant either gone under or driving on to wherever was their next destination. So she just watched as the men struggled against the bog's grip. Slowly, very slowly the Caucasian one made it onto solid ground. It took him a while to free his legs from the sucking mire, but eventually he stood up, covered in mud up to his chest. The one still trapped in the quicksand was still to his ribs in it. A few moments later the three were pulling to get this last one out. At first it looked like he was making good progress, but then he lost grip on the rope and the others fell back into the mud. To Rhonda it looked like a slapstick scene from an old comedy, but she had to refrain from laughing. The men got back up to their feet and threw the rope to the sinking one again. In just those few seconds he sank down to his armpits. All that struggling had loosed up the mud and made it even more dangerous. This time they went about it more carefully, and a few minutes later the swamp lost the fight the man's life.

They all walked back to the car. Rhonda listened to their conversations for a while, but heard nothing of any interest until a certain name was mentioned several times: Jenkins. So they knew exactly whose plane it was they were looking for. Now Rhonda had to assume that they were not shot down by accident at all. She was glad she had went into hiding. The men went on to talk about all kinds of things as they started to unload and set up their tents. Apparently they had decided to stay till the morning. The sun had set and it was quickly getting dark. They were too close now for Rhonda to try and get away unnoticed. This was not what she had planned. All she could do now was to stay and wait. She watched them as they made a camp fire and had dinner while she kept her own stomach from growling too loudly. It became dark and also awfully quiet when the fire went out. Only one man was still awake, the rest of them retreated into their tents to get some sleep. At that time the darkness was hiding her well enough, but the silence would reveal the slightest noise and so she dared move even less than before. The man watched and listened, and she kept waiting for the right moment to get away.

Rhonda's sleep was interrupted by a nudge against her ribs. She was not quite ready to get up just yet though. "Let me sleep, Jason" she murmured. Outdoor sensations such as the songs of birds, various smells and a light breeze were beginning to intrude into her consciousness. "And close the window," she added. There was another nudge. Then, after a few seconds pause, a much harder one followed. "Hey!" she turned around to protest and opened her eyes. It all came back to her in an instant when she looked up at the faces of the four soldiers standing around her. "Uhh... hi, guys!" was all she could think of at that moment. Two of the men grabbed her arms and dragged Rhonda to her feet, then held her fast. The third black man started asking her questions in Afrikaans, which she just barely understood. She told him her name and revealed that she had been on Jenkins' plane - though a moment later she was not so sure she should have. She was not so good at thinking quick this early in the morning. The next question she did not understand at all, and the soldier - apparently the commander of the group - quickly became upset. He repeated the question only once before he placed his knife at her throat. Only now did she fully realize how serious her situation was. Even so all she could say was that she did not understand. The Caucasian man, who had been standing by and watching the whole scene so far, helped out "He wants to know what happened to the plane". "Oh, that went down in the swamp. It went under completely." Rhonda explained and he translated for the others. She felt slightly relieved when the knife was taken from her throat.

After a short discussion the commander apparently decided to let his only English speaking soldier take over the interrogation. Rhonda was shoved in the direction of the white man. "Come! Let's talk a walk" he said to Rhonda "I'm Diego, by the way". The two of them walked along the edge of the swamp with the other three following close behind. "So, what happened to Jenkins?" was his first question. "Well, he died in the crash, the co-pilot too" Rhonda answered. She wanted to ask some questions too, but thought it would be wiser just to provide answers for now. Diego seemed polite and allowed Rhonda to feel a little more at ease. She answered more of his questions explaining how she had managed to get out of the sinking plane, and made her way through the swamp, then how she hid from them. Diego did not reveal much about himself in return, and she was not quiet sure whether he believed all she told him. He seemed especially sceptical, when she told him, that she was just a tourist who wanted to get out of Bansamibia. At least she got to know, that she was still in that country, and that Diego was working for the BFL. He stopped. A little puzzled Rhonda asked "So, is the good cop done asking questions? What will happen to me now?" - "Sorry, I think you're mistaken. We've run out of good cops long ago. And as for the questions, we are just getting to the really interesting part." Diego grabbed Rhonda by her shoulders as he said so, then pushed her away. Unprepared she stumbled and when the ground gave way under her left foot, she fell backwards into the mud.

She immediately wanted to stand up, and by doing so she sent her legs into the muck past their knees. Then Rhonda tried hard to free either leg, but only buried them deeper within moments. Only when the mire reached her crotch did she turn her attention back to Diego: "Weren't you going to ask me more questions?" - "Yes, but you seemed to be rather preoccupied." - "Just get on with it, or get me out of here!" she demanded. Rhonda looked around for something to hold on to, but she had managed to fall back far enough for solid ground to be out of her reach. "I just wanted to make sure that you understand, how important it is that you answer truthfully, Rhonda. Because if you decide not to cooperate, I might have to leave you to your fate. Understood?" Diego explained calmly, while Rhonda was beginning to panic. The quicksand was gripping her legs tightly and pulling down her cute ass. She squirmed but only succeeded in driving herself deeper again. "Just ask what you want to know! Dammit!" she shouted. Diego grinned and said "Very well then. I think you are ready now. Who are you really and where are our goods?" The goods, Rhonda assumed, were those crates on the plane. Maybe they thought they had been unloaded. She could just go on telling him what she knew, but would that get her out of the quicksand alive? The wet muck was climbing her belly and she highly doubted that she had any chance of freeing herself this time. "Well?" Diego added in response to her hesitation.

[Aiko]

If the option you would actually like to choose is missing in the poll, I would be interested to hear about it. Feel free to post suggestions here or PM them to me.

And no, I won't alter this poll now that it is already up, but your input might still have an impact on the further development of the story.

[Aiko]

And on to part 5...
http://www.quicksandfans.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2943