off the grid (closed)

[mirandavillere]

The other girls had said that she could make 5 figures in a night at these parties, if she was willing to go above and beyond. She had taken the job as a stripper when her brother had gotten arrested for murder, to help pay his lawyer. The trouble was that the money she made dancing just wasn't enough. Their mother was talking about taking a second mortgage on the house. If they couldn't get the lawyer his 25k before the trial started, it would be delayed, again, and in the mean time, David was sitting in jail, getting deeper into the life, just to survive.

So Dian went. It was just one night, she thought. The car came and they were an hour out of the city, deep in the dark, middle of nowhere. Then, out of the blackness, they turned onto a driveway, and a few minutes later they came to the house. It was like nothing she'd ever seen. There were suitcases full of coke and money, the men were dripping gold and diamonds, and everywhere she looked there were beautiful girls, naked or nearly so, hanging off them.

For a moment, she just stared, and then she took a deep breath and peeled off her dress. Someone handed her a hundred dollar bill. She walked in, feeling eyes gliding over her figure. Men handed her money as she walked through. She didn't even have to dance, and when she saw the red suit looking at her, she knew. He wasn't just going to look.

"Hennessey, and whatever you're having," he said, and held up a hundred dollar bill. When she reached for it, he held it back. "That's for the bartender. You get yours when you come back, hear?"

She nodded, and went to find the bar. She brought the man back his drink, and he slipped another hundred into her thong. His arm slipped around her waist, and he talked low, making small talk, slipping her another bill every few minutes.

"So are you here to really party?" he said.

She nodded.

"I got some business," he said, standing and leading her towards the stairs, "but then we can see if you the real thing or just for show."

In the room upstairs, she took off her underwear and he played with her, til his meet arrived. Then she stepped back by the window, while they talked, and that was when she saw the shadow. Something moving across the lawn. She looked again. There were several somethings. Someones. Their guns caught the starlight, and she murmured, "No."

Then the world exploded. She dropped to the floor a heartbeat before the window shattered and bullets flew in. The man in the red suit and the guy he was meeting pulled guns, but they were both hit, bleeding. She crawled out of their way as they came to the window, both of them shooting into the darkness. The red suit fell first, half his head blown off, and the other dropped a moment later. She heard shouting, and more shooting from all over the house.

Whatever was going down was big, way too big for her. She cowered until the sounds of fighting moved off to the other side of the house, and then she looked around the room. There were two briefcases on the table where the men had been talking. She crouched low as she could on her 5" heels and went across the room, grabbing them.

She tossed them out the window, and then tossed her heels after them. Then she crawled out, hanging, and then dropping, rolling out somehow without breaking anything. She grabbed her shoes and the briefcases and ran across the lawn. Once she tripped over a body and fell full length across the grass, knocking the wind out, but then she was in the woods, running completely blind through bushes, tripping over roots and rocks, until the rush of panic faded, and she began to feel the scrapes and bruises of a dozen falls. She had no idea where she was, but she couldn't hear the guns any longer.

She was lost in the woods, naked, with nothing but a briefcase full of cash and another full of coke.

 

[Proximus]

OOC: Jack Burton, age 38, 6’2”, 205 pounds.

Jack Burton awoke to the sound of gun fire off in the distance. These woods were usually very quiet, especially at this late hour. He knew the sound of automatic fire from his days in the Marine Corps and his multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, but, since his return, this was the first time he heard that distinctive sound. He was not necessarily a light sleeper, but his mind had been conditioned over the years that the report of a rifle required his immediate focus. So, he scrambled to grab his AR-15 and jump into his gear. He needed to investigate where the shots were coming from and verify if anyone was intruding upon his woods.

It had been 5 years since Jack had rotated back state-side and received his discharge papers. Both of his parents had passed away while he was over seas, and he had no interest in running the family farm. As the country sank deeper into the recession, he was unable to find decent employment. He also grew tired of corporate greed and deception. Eventually, he began spending more and more time roaming the woods-covered mountains that he called home. The more he lived off the land, the less he found the need for cities and the rude people who inhabited them. As time passed, he managed to build a well-concealed log cabin as far away from civilization as he could, and spent most of his time there.

Slowly, he sold off the family farm, his car, and anything else of value. Jack was smart, though. He kept the several hundred acres of land in the mountains where he lived. He also opened an escrow account to automatically pay the taxes for him. He cancelled his cell phone and credit cards, and just disappeared. He was happy living up here, completely off the grid. With no bills to pay, no job, and no real responsibilities, he led a mostly calm and relaxing life… until tonight!

As he quietly made his way out of the cabin in the darkness, he took a quick look back to ensure that he concealed the doorway. The cabin itself was built into the side of the mountain and was mostly covered with dirt and debris to make it look like a large protrusion of earth from the base of the hill. Quietly, he made his way along the valley towards the sound of the gun fire. He was startled to hear a loud crash several hundred meters ahead of him. “Something must have fallen into my pit trap,” he thought. Jack had laid various traps and snares all over these woods to keep intruders from finding his place, and now, one of them had caught something. He rushed to the edge of the pit, rifle at the ready. He flipped on the tactical light, which was attached to the forearm stock, and was shocked when the beam hit a beautiful, naked, young woman.

He knelt down at the edge of the pit to get a better look. Her eyes squinted at the brightness of the light and Jack rubbed his eyes to make sure that he was not hallucinating. He quickly scanned the woods to determine if anything was chasing or following her. Satisfied that all was clear, he looked back down at her. If he was dreaming, he certainly did not want to wake up now. She had a gorgeous figure and was lying there bare-assed naked. Next to her in the pit was a pair of strappy high heels and two black briefcases. “That’s REALLY odd,” he thought. What the hell was she doing this deep in the woods and without any clothes? Looking at the various scraps and buises on her and realizing that she presented no immediate threat, he whispered, “Are you alright?”

 

[mirandavillere]

There was no point in stumbling around in the dark, she realized. She was already battered and bruised and scraped up badly enough, and she knew it was pure luck that she hadn't broken anything. Thankfully, summer was lingering, and even in the middle of the night it was warm enough out that she wasn't worried about cold. It was a little chilly to be naked in, but she wouldn't freeze. It had been around midnight when she had gone upstairs with the man, and she guessed it had been an hour at least since then. In the morning, when she could at least see, she could try to figure something out.

She had just made up her mind to try to get some rest when the ground crumbled beneath her. She almost let out a scream, but before she could, she hit the bottom and got the breath knocked out of her. Her head hit the hard packed floor of the pit and for a moment, she blacked out.

When she opened her eyes, her head was throbbing. She sat up slowly, opening her eyes wide until she realized she couldn't see because it was too dark. She looked up and saw the edge of the pit as the faintest outline with the overcast sky just a hair less black. The mouth of the pit was too regular to be natural. Someone had dug it. She was just starting to think about who might be digging pits in the middle of the woods, and getting even more frightened than she had been, when she heard a voice.

"Are you alright?" Male, definitely, and almost rusty sounding, like he didn't use it much. Of course he didn't, she thought, he was a crazed pit-digging mountain man, who did he have to talk to? She could only imagine what he would do to a naked woman he found in his pit. The only hope that she had was to make him go away before morning came and he could see what he'd trapped.

"I have a gun!" she said, wishing her voice sounded less terrified and exhausted and fried than it did. She peered up and saw a silhouette that could have been his head. Or maybe a bush. "Stay away, or I'll shoot you."

 

[Proximus]

"I have a gun! Stay away or I'll shoot you."

Jack smiled to himself. He could clearly see that she was bluffing. Who did she think she was kidding? Where was she going to conceal a weapon? Did she think him to be both blind and stupid? He used the light to scan the entire pit, just to be safe. Nope. No guns down there except for the perfect pair riding high on her chest. Realizing that she must have been running for her life from the gun fight earlier, he decided to play along and try to calm her down.

“Look missy… I don’t know who you were running from, or why you are here, or why you are completely naked, but you are trespassing in my woods, and I can assure you that there will be no one else to come along and help you out of that pit.” Jack took a long pause between breaths to let her think about her situation. Then, he continued, “So, if you shoot me, in all likelihood, you will starve to death in that pit, because I certainly don’t see you climbing out in those heels. Get it?” Jack rolled his eyes, hoping that she wasn’t some dumb bimbo off the streets who couldn’t grasp her predicament.

Then, his tone got serious. “Now listen closely. I realize that you are frightened, naked, cold, and in a bit of pain from all those cuts and bruises. You probably have a million thoughts running around in that pretty little head of yours about all the nasty things you THINK I plan to do to you.” He emphasized that word to try to put her more at ease and continued. “But I give you my word as a Marine that no harm will come to you under my watch. I am going to lower a rope and help you up. If you try anything funny, I will leave you there to die. Understand?” Jack lowered a rope and waited to see what she would do.

 

[mirandavillere]

She realized that she should have at least put her hand in one of the bags, but it had been a reaction of complete panic. Now he probably knew she was unarmed, but he knew she was helpless. And he was right about one thing, she didn't really have a choice. She could stay out here forever in this hole if nobody came, and since she didn't know where she was, or what was nearby, she didn't have a lot of choices. At least this guy sounded rational.

Having a spotlight on her in the bottom of the pit wasn't much fun, so when she grabbed the rope, she looked up and said, "Can you point the light somewhere else?"

She looked at the bags for a moment. Then she took them both in one hand and started to climb up the rope. It wasn't much harder than climbing a pole, and when she reached the top, she was able to fling the bags over the top and then climb up after. She sat on the ground, then, catching her breath, legs drawn up and arms around her knees. She looked up at her rescuer, if that's what he was, but the light didn't let her see much.

"I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you," she said, feeling ridiculous. Here she was, naked and crawling out of a hole in the ground while some marine shined a flashlight on her, and she was acting like she had accidentally dialled a wrong number. "What are you going to do?"

 

[Proximus]

Jack watched her get to her feet and grab the rope. As she began to climb, he tried to remind himself that she was probably scared out of her wits. He tried to force himself to act like a gentleman and not stare. He tried. He also wondered what could possibly be in those briefcases that would be more important to her than clothing. Only time would answer that question. Right now, he had to get her out of the pit and safely back to his cabin. There may or may not be bad guys with guns trying tracking her down. In either case, this was not a defensible position.

As she reached the top of the pit and sat down, she looked as pathetic as she was beautiful. At her request, he flipped the flashlight off and leaned his rifle against a nearby tree. Careful to keep himself between her and the unattended rifle, he quickly threw off his small backpack and removed his camo jacket. Draping it around her shoulders, he looked down at her and said, “Here, this will have to do for now.” Even in the darkness, he could feel her wrapping herself in the jacket.

"What are you going to do?"

Until that moment, Jack hadn’t really given much thought to it. Then, he remembered her numerous cuts and scrapes and realized that he had to help her. “First thing we need to do is get you back to my cabin. I have a first aid kit there so we can clean up those wounds.” He paused, trying to choose his words carefully, so as not to further frighten the poor girl. “It’s about half a mile or so up the valley. Once we get there, we can get you some clothes to wear and a safe place to sleep.” His mind kept evaluating the situation to figure out the best tactical moves too. “I will need to come back here at first light to reset the trap and cover our tracks so none of those shooters come looking for you. Can you walk? If so, let’s get moving. My cabin is that way,” he said, pointing up the valley.

 

[mirandavillere]

She pushed her arms through the sleeves of the jacket that he wrapped around her. They kept going past her fingertips, and she looked up at him, realizing how big he was. She felt another surge of fear but it passed quickly. There wasn't much way she could be any more helpless than she was already, and he had done nothing to threaten her, really. She stood up, slowly, finding out all kinds of small hurts that she hadn't noticed. She glanced at her rescuer, if that is what he was, and gave him a little smile.

"I must look a mess," she said, more to herself than to him. "Thank you."

She patted the coat he had given her. It was long enough that it covered more than her dress had, when she had arrived at the house, and she buttoned it up in an attempt at modesty. She knew that she was going to have to explain herself eventually, but getting cleaned up and putting something on first would be good.

A half mile sounded like forever in the dark, but she picked up the cases and with him holding the light, she began to walk. As she walked, stumbling from exhaustion, she thought her situation through. She hadn't counted the money, but it might be enough to take care of the lawyers and leave herself a little something. The coke was another story. It could easily become a huge problem, and she was tempted to ditch it. On the other hand, it could be a huge asset, and was definitely not something she wanted to just throw away. Then there was the man. He was obviously some kind of backwoods, commando survivalist freak. He dug pits in the middle of nowhere, after all. The question was if he would help her or try to hurt her. She still wasn't sure she could trust him, but at hte moment she didn't see any choice.

"I'm Dian," she said after they'd been walking for a few minutes. "I'm sorry for ... you know .. disturbing your ... privacy."

 

[Proximus]

"I must look a mess, Thank you."

Jack smiled back at her in the darkness, “I’m sure that you’ve looked better, but you are welcome. Just try to keep your voice down; we don’t know if anyone is still following you.” He guided her through the wooded valley, avoiding the other traps in the area. He couldn’t help thinking that she was lucky to have fallen into the pit, instead of something more dangerous. As they walked, he kept scanning the woods behind them, looking for any signs of movement. His thoughts began to dwell on what he would do with her. If he allowed her to leave tomorrow, she would know his location. He knew whatever was in those cases had to be valuable. People who lose that kind of stuff tend to come looking for it, and, usually, don’t like to leave any witnesses alive. So, for both of their safeties, she would have to stay, but he couldn’t force her.

"I'm Dian, I'm sorry for ... you know ... disturbing your ... privacy."

His mind snapped back into the moment. “I’m Jack,” he whispered. “The gun fire disturbed my privacy, you are more of a happy accident, I guess,” he joked. It was kind of refreshing to have someone else to talk to, he thought. It didn’t hurt that she was female and rather attractive.

Eventually, they reach the large mound that concealed his cabin. Jack stepped in front of her and peeled back a curtain made of woven sticks and leaves which revealed a large wooden door. “Wait here,” he said, stepping inside. He quickly lit a few pillar candles to shed some light into the dark cave-like room under the side of the mountain. “OK, you can come in now.” The log walls and dirt floor of the cabin were not much to look at. In the far corner, rested an old wrought iron bed frame with a mattress in box springs. Shelves lined most of the other walls, obviously filled with boxes of supplies. In the near corner sat a rinse tub next to an old fashioned hand pump. Jack led her to the table in the center and pulled out a chair for her to sit down in.

After she was seated, he closed the door and lowered a heavy wooden cross bar to secure it. He then retrieved a t-shirt and a pair of boxers from his foot locker near the bed. On the way back to the table he grabbed the medical kit off one of the shelves. “Here, you can change into these while I draw some water to help clean you up,” he said, handing her the articles of clothing. Placing the medical kit on the table, he picked up a metal pan, and began filling it from the water pump. Returning to her, he soaked the rag and wrung it out. Holding a candle nearby so he can see better, he knelt down and began to wash her feet. “While I start cleaning some of these cuts and removing the splinters from your feet, why don’t you tell me how you got into my pit and what's in those briefcases that is so valuable.”

 

[mirandavillere]

She looked around the space nervously. It was something like a cave and something like a storage shed, and seemed startlingly primitive. The place was only lit with candles, and he was pumping water by hand. This was the kind of place where terrible things happened, but she was too exhausted to be properly terrified. She knew she should run, but it was still dark, and the man - Jack - had sounded as if there were worse things than pits out there. She didn't think she'd make it more than a few yards anyway, before she collapsed.

She took the clothes he offered and turned her back. She slid the boxers on before she took off the coat and pulled the t shirt over her head. She knew that her modesty was sort of silly. He'd already seen her naked, shone his flashlight on her like a spotlight, but it might make him see her in a better light. She sat while he got his first aid kit ready, relieved to see that he wasn't taking out any needles or scalpels. When he lowered the bar across the door, she bit her lip, looking up and sending a silent prayer. He was either a psycho who was going to kill her, or he was just a strange guy who lived in a cave. She had no choice about what happened, but she hadn't had a choice since she grabbed the cases, really. She just had to let things play out and hope for the best.

He began to wash her feet with cold, cold water. She flinched at first, but then let him proceed, shivering just a little. “While I start cleaning some of these cuts and removing the splinters from your feet, why don’t you tell me how you got into my pit and what's in those briefcases that is so valuable.”

She nodded. Ever since he had told her he was taking her back here, she had known he would ask, and known what he would ask. She still didn't know what to tell him. The truth seemed like a good idea, since she was too frazzled to bullshit him, but there was a lot to her story that she didn't really want to tell him.

"The gunfire you heard earlier?" she said. He had heard it, so she knew that she wasn't too far away from the house. "I was there. I don't know what the fighting was about. The man I was with was shot, and I ... I went out the window and ran. Until I found your pit."

 

[Proximus]

He listened carefully as she relayed her story. She was smart to keep the details to a minimum. So maybe she wasn’t as clueless as he first suspected. He decided that, in her current state of mind, it might not be a good time to press her for more details. Instead, he focused his efforts on cleaning her up without causing too much more pain.

“I think I know which house you came from. If so, then you ran over 2 miles through the woods, in the dark. No wonder you are in such bad shape.” Jack shook his head at the thought. “Brace yourself, this might hurt a bit,” he said before gently pulling a large thorn from the instep of her right foot. After her feet were done, he moved up to her knees. Wringing the rag out again, he dabbed it around the badly skinned areas on both knees. When he was finished, he grabbed an alcohol swap and unfolded it. Looking up at her briefly, he said, “I am really sorry for this,” before wiping the various cuts on her knees and feet. He knew it must have stung by the grimace in her face. “But at least they won’t get infected.”

At this point, he stood up and walked back over to the rinse tub, dumping the water. Jack was doing everything he could think of to put her mind at ease. Surely, after what she has already been through in the last few hours, she must be thinking the worst. He moved to the back of the room and retrieved an old military-style folding cot which was left over from when he first started staying up here. With an extra blanket and the second pillow from his bed, he set up the cot next to her chair so she wouldn’t need to walk far on her freshly cleaned feet. “You should be able to get some rest here until morning. We can figure out what to do from there.”

He took a candle and went over and sat down on the edge of his bed and looked at her from across the room. He still needed answers. Who was she and what was in those briefcases? What was the gunfight all about? Was she being hunted by whoever owned the contents of those briefcases? He would get his answers eventually, just not now. He unlaced and pulled off his boots. He peeled away his pants, leaving his boxers and a t-shirt, and crawled under his covers. “Sleep well, Dian,” he said blowing out his candle.