Written by Laura V.C
Prologue
Jack Bauer had been running for a good part of the night, but he didn’t know why he was running or what he was running from. He didn’t run. He didn’t run without a severe reason. He came to a stop, but his feet scraped the earth beneath him nearly sending him to the ground. He grabbed around a thick tree and put his mind to work. Where am I? He thought. He didn’t know why this thought hadn’t come to him sooner. He should’ve known where he was. He always knew where he was. He sighed and a white mist came up in front of him. It was cold, but he couldn’t feel it probably because he had been running. He heard a tree branch snap and he spun, grabbing for the gun that was usually in his holster on his belt. His fingers swiped air. He had no gun. He had no holster. He grabbed the cell phone from out of his pocket, and lifted it to his eyes. The dark half blinded him, but he could see the dim light of the screen. He thought of calling CTU. This could be an under cover operation, he thought, staring at the screen, and starting to feel the chill in the air.
He slid down the trunk of the tree, clutching his phone in one hand while his other gripped his forehead as though this might retrieve his memory. How did he get here? Who caused his memory loss? He started to punch the buttons on his cell phone to get in contact with CTU, then he stopped and deleted the numbers. He sighed heavily. What would he say to them that wouldn’t sound like he had finally lost his mind? “Hi, I have a situation. I don’t know where I am or how I got here.” The words sounded completely ludicrous and he restrained a laugh.
A high pitched sound broke into his thoughts and his breathing grew heavy. “Chloe,” he gasped, remembering the genius computer analyst he worked with at CTU. If anyone could help him to figure out his situation, she could. He punched in her private station number and waited for the familiar ring. At first there was only silence, then came a soft beeping that could only have indicated that he was out of range. He forced himself to his feet and moved away from the tree, trying the number again, and again he got the same beeping sound. He moved even further into the dark jungle, trying the number again and again and again, but still he received the same signal. He wasn’t close to a cell tower, nor was he high enough to create a signal. He had to find high ground. He made his way through the jungle, passing under jagged, thick branches, and trying to avoid puddles of mud along the way. The high pitched sound began again and Jack knew it was closer then before. He was heading toward it. He turned to start running in the east direction then stopped when the high pitched wailing resumed. Somehow he had come even closer to it.
He frantically checked the pockets of his jacket for any kind of weapon against the enemy that was coming for him. Why didn’t he have a weapon? He always had a weapon. He shuddered and turned slowly. There was a loud crash and trees were uprooted before Jack’s eyes. “What the hell--” Jack leapt out of the way, landing hard on the ground, and cracking his hip on a broken branch. He rolled onto his back, gasping from the pain now crawling into his stomach. His eyes lifted, but whatever had forced him out of the way had no form, and continued it’s murderous rampage through the jungle. Jack put his phone in front of his eyes and shakily began punching the numbers to Chloe’s station again. He pressed the phone to his ear. There was silence for a second time then the familiar ringing. His heart leapt and he forced himself to sit up even though it hurt to do so.
Chapter 1 coming soon
