Being Hounded: A Short Story

“Sir, we…I need to turn around.” He threw her a you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me look. Then glanced out the back window. “Seriously, sir, I’d like to turn around.”
“Yeah? Not gonna happen. In case you haven’t noticed, we are being hounded by bad guys.”
“No, no, we are not being hounded by bad guys. You are being hounded by bad guys. I need to turn around.” She hurled a scared fleeting look at him. Everyone she had seen within the last ten minutes, including him, were bad guys. “How much gas?” “About half a tank.” Sheesh, did he not hear me. “Good…that’s good. Up ahead, there will be a fork in the road, bear to the left.
“Sir, please, I’d really like to turn around. We’re getting deeper into the jungle.”
“It’s going to get a lot deeper

Even more, it produced a whole string of other thoughts. Would he toss her out of the car when they stopped? What would stop him from putting a bullet in her head? And if they were alone for any length of time, would he try to…? Oh. My. Word. Stop it. The combination of anxiety and fear ignited each nerve cell with blow-torch escalation.
“Look out!” Gorilla man bellowed.
Marcee lost in thought did not see the crater-sized gaping hole in the road. The red compact plunged forward like it had driven off a cliff. Then bucked its way out of the hole like a wild boar caught in a snare.
Since neither had their seatbelts on, they both hit their heads on the car roof. Simultaneously, they looked at each other. His brows furrowed. His mouth grimaced, and she quickly looked away. Stomach acid inched its way onto the back of her throat. Marcee swallowed hard.
“Look, we do not need a blown tire!” He said in a gruff voice,
“I know. I’m sorry.”
On instinct, she reached for her seatbelt. Then decided against it. If the opportunity arose to escape, better to dash and run than to fumble and

“It is imperative I turn around. Plus, your neck needs to be looked at.” With each word, she gripped the steering wheel tighter. Her knuckles turned stark white.
“Listen, you cannot turn around. The sooner you realize that, the better. I’m sorry you’re in this mess, but enlighten me, please, why would you be alone in the jungle snapping pictures.” He side-nodded toward the camera in the back seat. His bruised and swollen eye had no more than a coin slot to look through. She turned her focus back to the road. “Well, I thought…”
“No, no don’t answer that. Just listen to me and please, please focus on driving.” He said with clear irritation.
Marcee glanced back to the road.
“Basic fact: You cannot turn around. Basic reason: Because these are not nice people and they will hurt you.” His icy sapphire eyes slid over her body, then back up boring into hers, leaving Marcee with little doubt to his meaning. “Eyes on the road.”
Marcee refocused.
“Understand me clearly, here. These people will torture you for information about me, which you won’t know because you will have left me in the jungle and ‘turned