[make_her_grow]

Good to know, thanks Qzar. Here's part 2!

“Origins” part 2

“Hands in the air”, the thief commanded. “This is an old fashioned stick-up. Do as we say and you’ll go home tonight. If not…” he took off the gun’s safety. “This is gonna get messy, real quick.”

The two life-long friends froze. As their situation sunk in they did as they were told. Thankfully, 10 years worth of martial arts taught Greg how to stay calm in a crisis such as this so he can analyze the situation.

Ok, he has a gun, he thought. He chanced a look back at the other two thugs. No guns, that’s a relief. So only the leader…

“Hey, He-man, eyes front.” The leader snickered. “Ok, pudgy, make with the cash. Now!”

“We have nothing.” Kirsten said, finally breaking her silence. “Just let us go.”

Ok, go time. I can’t take out all three at once. Not even the two guys behind me. The guy in front is the only one with the gun. Greg couldn’t believe what he was planning. Taking on an armed thief was insane, and most likely suicide. But on the other hand, if he didn’t act, both of them could end up dead.

“Money.” Their leader said, now very impatient. “Now!”

Well, when in Rome…“Kirsten, RUN!”

With that, he lunged himself full throttle at the guy with every bit of force he could muster. The result was a spear-like tackle and a very winded and surprised thief.

The gun went off. He hoped to god Kirsten wasn’t hit. As they both hit the ground he heard rapid footsteps as she took off.

“Get the bitch!” The masked man called. The two thugs complied and followed suite swiftly.

As the two fought on the ground, Greg felt impact on his face. He had just been slugged in his left eye. Trying his best to ignore the pain, he tried to keep his assailant pinned to the ground but physical strength was never his strong point. Soon enough he found himself being tossed into the air and landing with a thud onto his back.

As he stood, the thief sneered “After I’m done having fun with your friend, you’re next.”

As Greg tried to recover, the leader took off after his cohorts.
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Meanwhile, Kirsten had never been so terrified in her life. As she fled she realized that there was a shortcut to the Park’s main office lounge from where she was so she could call for help. Turning left and heading into a thicker part of the forest she forced herself to pick up speed. She knew this area well after coming here for so many years. But her pursuers weren’t too far behind. As she glanced back she didn’t noticed the “Do not enter” sign she passed. Then, as she refocused her eyes up front, she saw another sign in the short distance, a stereotypical skull and crossbones warning sign saying “Warning, toxic waste ahead.”

That’s never been there before. She observed. But she didn’t have time to contemplate further and hoped if she went on ahead the sign would scare off her attackers. Nope. They still followed suite. Finally, she came up to an old metallic bridge. It crossed over to what USED to be more swamp area, but it didn’t take too long to see it was anything but swamp. She had no idea what it was. Her nostrils flared as the stench of what ever it was filled her nose, the stench so strong if forced her to slow down. It was a fatal mistake.

Stopped halfway on a bridge with no rails, the muggers caught up. They quickly surrounded her, temporarily unaware of the stench. Once they realized it was there they both doubled over as she did, soon quickly recovered themselves.

“Thanks for the exercises, bitch.” One of them said. “Game over. Money. Now.”

She only vaguely heard what he was saying. As she was doubled over and recovering from the smell she was looking down at the mysterious goop. In it she saw a barrel floating with a corporate logo of two different trees fused together as one encased in a circle.

The thief placed a hand on her shoulder. “Didn’t you hear me? I said…”
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Greg had never run so fast in his life. He could see their leader in the main distance be had had a hard time keeping up. Cursing his weight for slowing him down, he put as much energy as he could into giving himself a burst of speed. Reluctantly complying, his body obeyed. He started to catch ground with him, but it wouldn’t be enough. As he started finally catching up to him Greg learned what her plan was. The short cut, nice! He hoped if she could cross the bridge over this part of the swampland first the thieves would give up. After all, once they got past the bridge and got out of the forest, the main office was only a few hundred yards away. Nothing doing.

To his horror, he spotted his friend on the bridge with the assailants and they were in a struggle. Outraged, he grabbed the nearest object he could find, a heavy branch, and joined the fray. As she shrieked, Greg swung with all of his might at one of the thief’s legs. He yelped and collapsed.

“Shit, I lost the gun,” Their leader shouted. “Dump the bitch in and let’s go!”

“No!” Kirsten shouted but too late. Before Greg could stop the thug trying to hold her he threw her into…what it ever was before. With a VERY different splashing sound she splashed about, with the muggers dodging the muck like it was a plague. For a while it seemed like she would stay afloat. Normally she was a very strong swimmer. But what ever this stuff was it seemed to be pulling her down.

“Hang on Kirsten!” Greg called to his friend. He had no idea why she was sinking. She loved swimming and swam all her life. Even in a panic she should be at least staying afloat on top of the water. But she was already chest deep and still sinking.

“Help me, please.” She pleaded. She finally calmed her self down enough to wear she was just staying still as she sunk. It slowed the sinking process but not enough.

“Hang on, I have an idea. Grab onto this branch.”

She grabbed the branch and he tugged. As he did so he chanced a glance at their muggers. He watched them as they snickered and walked off casually with their injured friend limping behind them. They were on their own.

As he looked back he saw in horror that Kirsten was now at neck deep and still sinking. I’m pulling, why am I not getting her out?

Greg it’s useless.” She said. “Just forget about me and go. I’ll only pull us both in.”

“No way.” He shook his head. “I’m in this with you until the end.”

She smiled fondly at him as she started crying. He could see her tears of gratitude as her head begun to go under. “Thank you. You were always the only family I” She didn’t have time to say more. Now the only visible part of her body were her hands, which were still holding onto the branch.