Act of Terror

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Karen Hunt sat up with a start when the metal door clanged open. The three prisoners huddled close together for warmth as well as moral support. Specialist Tuan “Kevin” Nguyen had just been reminiscing about his parents making him study twice as hard as the white kids in his class.

As always, one of the adult guards peered into the room first before letting in the children. But this time, he followed them in, accompanied by three other men in knee-length shalwar kameez shirts and baggy pants. The men all looked to be in their thirties and forties with close-cropped black hair and dark beards. Two of them had strikingly green eyes.

Three of the men stood back against the wall, hands hanging loosely by their sides. The leader, one of the green-eyed ones, stepped forward.

Kenny stood beside him.

“You,” Kenny said, pointing at Nguyen. “Get up.”

“Why me?” Nguyen asked in a whisper like tearing paper. He didn’t move.

“Why not you?” Kenny smirked.

Nguyen turned to look at Hunt, breathing faster through his nose. “I…”

“Take me,” Nelson said, trying to push himself to a sitting position. He winced from the pain of his broken collarbone.

The kid folded his arms across his Pepsi T-shirt and gave an emphatic shake of his head.

“Nope,” he said. “It’s not your turn. Gotta be hi-”

Karen lunged, missing Kenny’s neck by mere inches. She had no plan but couldn’t let them drag poor Nguyen away without a fight.

One of the guards caught across the back of her neck with a heavy leather sap, driving her to the ground. A shower of lights blasted through her brain. Through the hazy shadows, she could hear the sounds of Kenny laughing and Kevin Nguyen screaming in terror as they dragged him away.