Survivor
By littlesilverstar, silverstar222b@yahoo.com
A kidnapped woman fights for her freedom

Andrea hummed to herself as she walked along the quiet trail in the Cascade
Mountains of Oregon.  She was on her way back from visiting a friend in the
eastern part of the state.  It was a long drive back and she had stopped here
to go for a short hike to stretch her legs.  She continued humming as she
walked, enjoying the smell of the pine trees, the cool mountain breeze, and
the quiet of the wilderness.  Although her job as a dance teacher was not
particularly stressful by any means, she still enjoyed the occasional chance
to get out of the noisy city atmosphere.

Andrea reached a small clearing in the woods and paused.  The young 
woman ran her fingers through her long, dark brown hair and closed her
eyes for a few seconds, letting the breeze cool her face.  She decided it 
was time to turn back and was just doing so when she heard loud, angry
voices.  Curious, she went over to investigate.  When she found where the
voices were coming from, she hid behind a tree and peeked out.  Standing
beside a large pine tree were three men.  Two of them appeared to be in
their late teens and looked like brothers.  The third was a middle-aged,
overweight man with a beard.

"What's the deal with this?" one of the young men was saying. "It was $300
last time.  How the hell did it get to be $400 now?"

"Hey, I don't control the prices," said the bearded man. "Now do you want
the stuff or not?"

"All right, we'll take it," grumbled the other young man.  He took out a wad
of bills and handed them to the bearded man, who counted them and 
grinned.  The bearded man then handed over a small bag filled with a white
powder.

"Oh shit, a drug deal," thought Andrea.  She began backing quietly away,
groping in her pocket for her cell phone so she could call the authorities as
soon as she was far enough from the drug dealers.  Suddenly, there was a
rustling noise behind her.  She spun around quickly, but as she was doing
so, she was hit in the head with a heavy object.  She slumped to the ground,
unconscious.

The two teenagers walked off down the trail with their purchase, still
grumbling to each other about the price increase.  The bearded man 
watched them go with a grin.  As soon as the teenagers were out of earshot,
a shout came from the trees. "Hey, Burger, look what I caught!" The 
bearded man hurried over in the direction of the shout. "Whatcha got there,
Sam?" he called out.

Sam, who was a short, bald-headed man, snickered, pointing to Andrea's
unconscious body on the ground. "Sure was a smart idea for me to keep
watch so no snoopers got by," he said. "Quite a hottie, ain't she?"

"I'll say," said Burger as he walked up to her.  Both men admired her pretty
face, dark brown eyes, and ultra-fit body. "What'll we do with her?"

"Normally, I'd say bump off any snoopers right here," answered Sam. "But
this one should give us all some good fun.  We'll take her with us to the
hideout.  When we get tired of her, we can dispose of her." Burger nodded
his agreement.

Andrea woke up with a loud groan and a nasty lump on her head.  When 
she tried to touch the lump, she discovered that her hands were tied behind
her back.  She looked around and saw that she was in a small, sparsely
furnished bedroom.  The only window had bars over it, but she could see
that this place, wherever it was, was somewhere deep in the wilderness.  
She walked over and tried the door, turning around so her tied hands could
reach the knob.  It was locked (of course).  She then began looking around
the room for anything that might help her free her hands.

The door suddenly opened and a man carrying an AK-47 walked in.  
Andrea recognized him as the fat, bearded man from the woods.  When he
saw her, he grinned, then called out, "Sam! Our guest is awake!" A moment
later, the short, bald man known as Sam entered the room.  He stared hard
at Andrea, then said, "Well, girlie, you snooped around where you shouldn't
have, and now you're going to pay the price.  But don't worry, we'll make
sure to have some good fun with you before you die." At this, both men 
broke into loud laughter.

Andrea glared angrily at both of them.  She was frightened, but she knew
well enough not to panic. "First of all, I wasn't even snooping," she said.
"And second, if you do that to me, you'll go down for murder and be 
looking at the death penalty.  I advise you to take me back and let me go 
if you know what's good for you."

Sam snickered. "Yeah, right," he said. "Let you go so you can tell the cops
all about us and our operation and our hideout? I don't think so.  When
we're done with you, we'll just dump your body out here.  Your family and
friends might report you missing, but no one will ever find your corpse out
here in the middle of nowhere.  And if you know what's good for you,
you'll lose the hostile attitude, because it'll take us longer to get tired of 
a cooperative girl."

Andrea sighed.  She had been quite certain that it wouldn't work, but she
had to try everything.  She said nothing more and sat back down on the bed.
Burger pointed his weapon at her. "Maybe we can start having some fun
right now," he chuckled evilly.

"No.  We have to wait for the boss," said Sam.  Burger grumbled, but 
agreed to the point.  Just then, the sound of an airplane was heard. "Here
they are now," grinned Burger.  He hurried out of the room.  Sam followed
him. "You be a good girl now," he said to Andrea as he locked the door
behind him.

Left alone, Andrea looked around the room again, but found nothing that
could help her.  Suddenly, she heard voices coming. "Prepare to feast your
eyes on our surprise, boss," said a voice that she recognized as Sam's.  A
moment later, the door opened and five men walked in.  Two of them were
Sam and Burger.  The three newcomers oohed and whistled appreciatively
at the sight of Andrea.  She gave them her most venomous glare and was
about to give them the finger when she remembered that her hands were
still tied behind her back.

"Allow me to make introductions," said Sam with mock politeness.  He
pointed at the newcomers one by one. "Our boss, Mr. Brown," he said,
indicating a tall, dark-haired man. "Walt," continued Sam, pointing to a
scrawny, ugly man. "And Kyle," he finished, pointing to a young blond man
dressed in a flight suit.

Brown stepped forward. "Nice catch," he said to Sam and Burger.  He 
then turned to Andrea. "We have some work to do, but don't worry," he
said. "We'll be back soon to keep you company, baby.  I'm sure we'll 
come up with some fun games for you." The men all snickered.

"Why don't you all go fuck yourselves," snapped Andrea.  Brown laughed.
"Feisty one, aren't you?" he said. "Well, there's nothing I like better than
taming a spirited girl.  We're gonna have some real fun tonight." With that, 
the five men left the room, locking the door noisily behind them.

Alone again, Andrea began picking at the ropes that bound her hands.
Finding a slight weakness in them, she continued picking at it, slowly but
steadily loosening the bonds.  She glanced out the window and saw Sam,
Burger, and Brown heading off into the woods.  She continued struggling to
free herself.  Finally, after about twenty minutes, the ropes fell loose.  With
a sigh of relief, Andrea rubbed her aching wrists and turned her attention to
the next step of escaping.  The window was solidly covered with iron bars
and the spaces in between were much too narrow to wiggle through.  The
door would be easier.  It was locked, and breaking it down would be too
noisy, and her previous search of the room had turned up nothing that 
could help with the lock, but...

She remembered something she had seen in a movie once.  She reached 
into her hair and took out a hairpin.  Carefully and quietly, she inserted it
into the keyhole. After a few minutes of maneuvering, she heard a satisfying
click as the door came unlocked.  Grinning with success, she silently 
opened the door, making sure no one was lying in wait.  She stepped out 
of the bedroom and into a hall, passing several more doors on each side. 
A noise grew steadily louder.  The view out a window revealed it to be 
Kyle, the pilot, working on the engines of his plane, which was parked on
an airstrip a few hundred feet away.

At the front of the house, Andrea came to a large living room. The scrawny
thug named Walt was sitting in a chair with his back to her, reading a comic
book.  A pistol lay on the coffee table in front of him.  Brown, Sam, and
Burger were apparently still out in the woods.  A determined look came 
into Andrea's eyes as she stepped close to Walt.

"Hey, baby," she said in a sexy voice.  Walt stood up and spun around, 
staring at her in shock. He tried to go for the gun, but before he could reach
it, Andrea delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to his head, knocking him
to the floor.  Walt, holding his head in pain, yelled for help.

Andrea laughed. "You pathetic pussy," she said. "Your friends can't hear
you." As she spoke, she picked up the pistol and tossed it under a couch. 
A gunshot might be loud enough for the pilot working outside to hear.  She
stood there calmly, her muscular arms crossed in front of her, as Walt
slowly got to his feet. "You're going to get killed by a girl," she informed 
him coldly. "You're going to die like the pathetic coward you are."

With a loud animal roar, Walt charged her and swung a punch.  Andrea
blocked it easily and swung a punch of her own that hit her opponent right
on the jaw.  Walt staggered backwards, then moved forward again and
swung another punch at her, this time aimed at her stomach.  Seeing it 
coming, she simply tensed her abs.  Walt screamed in pain as his fist came
into contact with her rock-hard midriff.

"Hard abs are great protection," smirked Andrea. "Let's see how yours 
are." With that, she socked her opponent hard in the gut.  Walt let out
another scream and doubled over in pain. "Not so good, I see," she said.
"Let's work on them." She drove her knee into his midsection several times
in rapid succession.  When she was finished, Walt looked ready to throw 
up.  She then delivered a powerful uppercut to his jaw.  He stumbled 
backwards, bumped into the wall, and slid down it, ending up in a sitting
position.  Andrea performed a front handspring towards him.  Landing right
in front of him, she kicked him in the face, knocking him down completely.
She then wrapped her muscular thighs around his neck.  As she choked her
helpless opponent, she taunted him.

"Pretty strong, huh? Dancers have to have strong legs," she smirked.  The 
life slowly drained out of Walt's body.  She finally released him long after 
he was dead.

Andrea stood up, elated at having killed one of her would-be executioners.
Glancing around the room, she noticed her possessions laid out on a table.
She slipped her wallet into her pocket and her watch onto her wrist.  She
then grabbed her water canteen, plus a couple of sandwiches that someone had
thoughtfully left on the table.  Her cell phone, she discovered, was useless
this far out in the wilderness.  There wasn't much time - the others could be
back at any moment.  She retrieved the pistol from underneath the couch and
looked towards her next target - Kyle, the pilot.  Quietly opening the front
door, she moved towards the man, who was still working on the plane.  
Unfortunately, she had not gotten more than a few feet when he suddenly 
looked up, right at her.  With a string of curses, he grabbed a rifle and
opened fire.  Andrea raced for cover behind the cabin, firing back with the
pistol.  Although she was a good shot, at a distance like that someone with
a pistol stood little chance against someone with a rifle.  Keeping the 
cabin between herself and the pilot, she raced into the cover of the nearby
woods.  For a while, the sounds of pursuit came after her, slowly growing
fainter and fainter as she lost her opponent.

When the sounds of pursuit had ceased, Andrea paused for a brief rest.  She
knew that her situation was not good.  She had escaped the cabin, but she
was lost in the wilderness, many miles from civilization.  She had little
food and water and no compass.  The nights got cold in the mountains and she
was wearing only jeans and a white T-shirt.  And worst of all, Kyle would
soon warn his companions about her escape, and then she would have four men
after her - men who probably knew this area much better than she did and who
would likely be heavily armed.  She sighed and tried to gather up her courage.
"Keep fighting," she told herself. "You can survive this."

Having no idea where the nearest road or town was, she decided to head due
south because it led away from both the cabin and the direction that Brown,
Sam, and Burger had gone.  She judged the direction from the position of the
late afternoon sun.  Tossing back her long hair and gripping the pistol 
tightly, she headed off again through the trees, checking every few minutes
for sounds of pursuit.  She made false trails and doubled back from time to
time, making her path more confusing to any pursuers.  It was less than half
an hour later when she heard the faint sound of heavy footsteps coming after
her. "Shit," she thought.  Soon, the men's voices became audible.

"Trail's hard to follow..."

"Which way did she go..."

"We'll get her for killing Walt..."

"All right, let's split up," came a voice that Andrea recognized as Brown's.
"Burger, you go left.  Sam, go right.  Kyle, stay with me in the center."

More heavy footsteps, some growing fainter, one set growing distinctly louder.
Andrea quickly climbed a tree.  Concealing herself behind some branches, she
readied the pistol and waited.  A few moments later, Burger appeared, carrying
the AK-47 she had seen earlier.  She aimed the pistol at him, then hesitated.
A gunshot would probably be loud enough to bring the rest of the gang right
over. She looked at Burger closely. He was concentrating on the ground, trying
to follow her trail. She slid the pistol into her pocket.  Soon, he was walking
right underneath her branch...

Andrea launched herself through the air and landed a flying kick on Burger's
head. He fell to the ground and dropped his weapon. She kicked it away quickly.
Burger got up and let out a furious growl of anger when he saw who had attacked
him.  He charged her, intending to tackle her.  Andrea simply waited, then, at
the right moment, delivered a beautiful high kick to her opponent's face.  The
force of her kick knocked Burger backwards against a tree.  Racing forward and
cornering him against the tree, she sent several fast, vicious punches into his
face.  She then performed a powerful spin kick that slammed into the side of
his head.  Burger was knocked down and sent rolling several feet across the 
ground.


Excitement flowing through her, Andrea performed a pair of back handsprings 
towards Burger, landing right in front of him.  He groaned and tried to get up,
but she savagely drove her knee into his face, knocking him back down. "Stay
down, asshole," she said.  She stomped hard on his fat gut, then stomped on his
face.  By now, Burger was whimpering in pain and crying like a little girl.
Andrea wrapped her lethal dancer's thighs around his neck.  Burger's whimpering
grew more desperate as his air was cut off.

"You were so eager to get between my legs," she taunted him. "Well, you've 
gotten your wish." With that, she suddenly twisted her hips 180 degrees, 
snapping her opponent's neck. "Sorry I couldn't stay and chat, loser, but I'm
in a hurry," she said to the corpse.  She quickly went through his pockets and
belongings, gathering up a candy bar, an extra canteen of water, and two spare
ammo clips for the AK-47.  There was nothing else of use on him.  She then 
picked up the weapon and continued heading south.

Soon, it began growing dark.  Andrea knew that she would need to stop and rest
for the night soon.  She just had to hope that none of the gang would catch 
her while she was sleeping.  The thugs would need sleep too, she told herself.
Finding a decent-looking tree in which to spend the night, she climbed it,
making sure that she left no signs of her presence behind her.  She ate half 
of a sandwich and half of the candy bar, and drank a little water.  She then
lay back and tried to sleep.  Every animal noise and rustle of branches made
her nervous.  Finally, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

Andrea woke up the next morning to the sound of birds chirping in the trees.
Remembering where she was, she looked around and listened carefully for any
sight or sound of her pursuers.  There were none.  Sighing in relief, she 
rubbed her back, which was very sore from having leaned against the rough tree
trunk all night.  She ate the rest of the candy bar and drank some more water,

then hurried down the tree, eager to be on her way and put more distance
between her and the thugs that were after her.

She had not gone very far when she heard something large coming through the
forest on her right.  Holding her weapon at the ready, she hid behind a large
tree and waited to see what it was.  A few moments later, the short, bald man
named Sam came into view.  He was carrying a shotgun and concentrating on 
looking at the ground, just like Burger had been.  Not wanting to alert the
other thugs, Andrea decided to take him by surprise.  She began circling
around him so she could sneak up on him from behind.  Unfortunately, as she 
was crossing an open space, she stepped on a fallen branch with a loud crack.
Sam looked up and saw her immediately.  He raised his shotgun, but before he
could fire, Andrea fired a quick burst from her own weapon.  Sam slumped dead
to the ground, several bloody holes in his chest.

Loud shouts and curses came from the distance. "Shit," muttered Andrea.  She
took off rapidly in the opposite direction.

Brown and Kyle raced up to the scene.  Brown carried a submachine gun and Kyle
had his rifle from the plane.  Upon seeing Sam dead, both thugs let out loud
growls of anger.  First, they had found Walt thigh-strangled to death in the
cabin.  Then, they had discovered Burger's corpse last night, his neck broken.
Now Sam had been bumped off too. And they had all been killed by a girl.  The
very thought of it enraged Brown, especially when she was supposed to have 
been their helpless victim.  He gripped his weapon tightly, determined to 
finish off this young woman who had caused him and his gang so much grief.

Andrea raced on through the woods as fast as she could, hoping she could lose
her pursuers.  She was fast and athletic, and gradually the sounds behind her
grew fainter.  Suddenly, she stopped short.  Directly in front of her was the
edge of a sheer cliff.  It was at least 200 feet to the bottom and 50 feet to
the other side.  She changed direction, hoping to find a way that was not
blocked by the canyon, but the delay had cost her. "There she is!" came a
shout.  Andrea dove behind the cover of a boulder just in time.  A second 
later, gunfire landed all around her.  She peeked out from behind the boulder
and fired her own weapon back at the thugs.  Brown and Kyle were advancing
closer, moving from the cover of tree to tree.  

A click came from the AK-47 as it ran out of ammunition.  The thug named Kyle
chose that moment to appear on her right. Grinning, he raised his rifle. With
lightning speed, Andrea pulled Walt's pistol from her pocket and fired an off-
balance shot at Kyle, hitting him in the shoulder.  With a scream of pain, he
staggered backwards. The next second, he began running away through the forest.

Bullets from Brown's submachine gun struck the rocks near Andrea.  With a
ferocious battle cry, she leapt up and fired two rounds from the pistol into
Brown's chest.  The pistol clicked empty as Brown slumped to the ground.  He
was only a few yards away.

Andrea sighed in relief.  Suddenly, Brown sat up with an evil grin. 
"Bulletproof vest," he snickered.  He reached for his weapon, which had fallen
to the ground a few feet away.  Both of Andrea's weapons were empty and there
was not enough time to reload.  She did the only thing she could do.  She 
charged him, kicking the submachine gun away with her right foot and kicking
him in the head with her left. Brown yelled in pain, but then suddenly tripped
her to the ground.  They both quickly scrambled back to their feet.

Brown flicked open a switchblade knife. "Bring it on, bitch," he said, 
advancing on Andrea.  Her response was an amazingly fast crescent kick that
knocked the knife out of his hand.  As he stood there like a moron in shocked
surprise, she kicked him in the chest and delivered a fast one-two combination
of punches into his face, knocking him to the ground. "You talk tough, but you
fight like a pussy," she taunted him.  He roared in anger.

Brown climbed to his feet again and swung a punch at Andrea's face. She danced
safely out of the way, then punched him in the nose.  With a growl, he swung
two more punches at her.  She dodged the first one, but the second caught her
on the cheek, knocking her backwards.  With a smirk, Brown prepared another
attack, but as he was swinging, Andrea grabbed his arm and twisted it hard. He
screamed in pain and screamed even louder when she kneed him in the groin. He
doubled over, then dropped to the ground.

Brown, driven by his hatred of this skilled young woman, forced himself to get
up again.  He planned to teach her a lesson and finish her slowly.  However, he
never got the chance.  As he finished getting up, Andrea delivered a series of
vicious high kicks to his face, balancing on one leg while kicking with the
other.  By the time she was finished, Brown was swaying on his feet unsteadily,
with blood running down his face.

Andrea smiled at the damage she had done.  She then performed a powerful 
backflip kick on her opponent.  As her attack landed, there was a loud crack.
Brown flew through the air and landed heavily on the ground. She looked at him
and saw that her kick had broken his neck.  His vacant, dead eyes were looking
back at her.  His mouth was frozen in an angry sneer. "Wow," she thought to
herself. "I knew I was good, but I never thought I was that good." She then
decided that it wasn't all that unusual for a dancer to be able to do that.  
She remembered the story of Fanny Elssler, a 19th century ballet dancer.  On 
a sea voyage across the Atlantic, a stocky sailor had crept into her cabin 
intent on robbery and who knows what else.  Fanny had killed the sailor with a
single kick.

There was still work to be done.  Andrea had to get to Kyle before he could
summon any reinforcements.  She raced off in the direction he had gone.  His
trail was easy to follow, since he had been running hard and there were drops
of blood on the ground from time to time that had come from his wound.  After
several miles, she emerged from the woods in sight of the cabin.  She was just
in time to see the pilot enter the cabin in a big hurry. The plane was waiting
on the airstrip.  Andrea smiled to herself as she decided on a plan...

The young pilot named Kyle darted about the cabin, quickly packing essential
items and critical evidence. A crude bandage was tied around his gunshot wound.
He would load the plane with the essentials, then fly to safety and freedom.
He had other contacts who could give him a job.  Eventually, they could build
themselves a new hideout.  Maybe they could even track down that troublesome
woman, if she was still alive.  He wondered what had happened to her.  Either
Brown had killed her, or, if she had been lucky enough to get the best of him,
she was most likely fleeing into the wilderness.

His things all gathered, Kyle began loading them onto the plane.  Weakened by
his wound, it took him three trips.  Finally, everything was loaded.  With a 
sigh of relief, the pilot headed for his seat.  Suddenly, a female voice spoke
up from behind him.  Kyle came close to wetting his pants.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" said the voice.  He spun around and saw
a smiling Andrea standing there. "No need to rush," she continued. "I called 
the state police from the plane's radio.  They're sending a helicopter, but 
this place is so isolated that it'll take them a couple of hours to get here.
By the way, that wasn't very nice of you to run off like a coward back there in
the woods." The smile disappeared from her face and she stared at him coldly.

The pilot began begging and pleading. "Look, uh, we can make a deal.  I won't
try to touch you.  I'll cut you in on our drug profits.  Just don't kill me!
Please! I'm begging you!"

Andrea looked him straight in the eye. "If our positions were reversed," she
said, "and I was begging you to let me go and not rape and kill me, what would
you do?" Kyle opened his mouth to say something, but Andrea shushed him. "You
don't have to answer," she said. "You and I both know what the answer would 
be." The pilot hung his head in shame.

"Are you going to kill me?" he asked in a frightened voice.

"Well, I have good news," answered Andrea.  Kyle straightened up, relief 
washing over him. "I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance." She
began laughing.  Kyle's reaction was more along the lines of wetting his
pants, for real this time.  He was clearly not amused by her joke.

"Actually, Mr. Wet Pants," said Andrea, "the real news is that instead of
shooting you, I'm going to give you more of a chance than you would have 
given me.  Fight me.  You've spent your whole life committing crimes and
abusing people.  At least die like a real man." She raised her fists.

Kyle raised his own fists, hope flowing back into him.  He had about five
inches advantage in height over her, and and probably around fifty pounds
advantage in weight. That should more than make up for his wound, he thought.
So why wasn't he as confident as he should be? He looked at his opponent.  
She certainly looked confident.

She suddenly moved forward and landed a quick jab on his face.  He grunted
and stepped backward.  She then landed a much harder punch on him.  Kyle
felt his own blood flowing across his face.  He touched the blood and looked
at it.  She stood there, smiling.

He began swinging punches at her, but she dodged or blocked all of his 
attacks.  After about six or seven of Kyle's failed attacks, Andrea went on
the offensive.  She slammed her left fist into his eye and followed it with
a knee to his stomach.  She then delivered a set of lightning-fast kicks to
his head, landing a dozen powerful kicks within a few seconds.  Kyle fell
over, feeling like his head had just been run over by a truck.

"Come on, pussy.  Get up and give me a real fight," Andrea taunted him.  He
slowly got up, wondering if his head could possibly feel any worse. A second
later, he discovered that it could, when she grabbed him by the collar and
headbutted him.  She then performed a beautiful cartwheel kick on him, each
of her legs impacting his head with brutal force.  Kyle fell down again.

"We dancers are known for our strong legs," she said. "Let's see what these
babies can do." With that, she delivered a vicious kick to his midsection.
There was a loud crack as her kick broke one of his ribs.  She continued
kicking his ribs, breaking several more.

Andrea stood over her beaten opponent. "Finishing time, sweetie," she said.
She climbed onto him and grabbed him by the neck with both hands.  He could
feel the strength in her wrists.  A moment later, she snapped his neck with a
sharp twist, sending the pilot to join his four comrades in the next world.

As she looked at Kyle's corpse, a great sense of relief washed over her.  Her
long ordeal was over.  She had killed five very evil men, and she could go 
home knowing that she had done her small part in making the world a better
place.

Andrea climbed out of the plane and went into the cabin.  She helped herself
to a nice cold beer from the refrigerator.  She then went into the main room
to look for some reading material to occupy herself until the helicopter 
arrived.  She rolled her eyes at the late Walt's collection of comic books.
Finding Sam's choice of books to be much more appealing, she selected a 
mystery novel and curled up on the couch.

THE END

NOTE: Although my characters are fictional, Fanny Elssler was a real person
and she really did kill a man with one kick.  She's one of my favorite
heroines.