Fight back!

The one thing he won't expect... is that I might actually try to fight him off!

Jade steps toward the door, adrenaline surging into her, making the moment seem to slow - and giving her the crucial moment to think. If he's expecting anything, it's the knee in the balls; he'll block that. He's limping on his left leg, though... Jade glances down at the leg. His knee is swollen!

As she passes by him, Jade suddenly drops to the ground, turning slightly, and then kicks out as hard as she can with both legs. Her guess was correct - Enrico instinctively goes to cover his groin, leaving his left knee unprotected, and Jade hits it just off to the side of the kneecap.

"ARRGH!!" Enrico shouts, his leg crumbling from under him. "You fucking bitch, I'm gonna - YAAAH!!"

Jade's second kick lands on his already-blackened eye. This time, Enrico drops the end of the rope and clutches at his face, cursing and writhing in agony. Jade rolls to her feet, trying desperately to pull her hands out of the ropes, but they hold against her struggles. There's no time to try anything else - she takes off running, as fast as she can.

"You're DEAD, you hear me? You're DEAD!"

Enrico's shouting fades behind her; he's not following, not for the moment anyway. But Jade doesn't slow down, and as she runs she continues to pull at the rope binding her hands. It's not coming off - and worse, the trailing end suddenly snags on something, almost pulling her off her feet! Jade stops and takes a precious moment to gather the rope up, an awkward ordeal with her hands behind her, and then runs some more.

I can't just run until I'm exhausted, she thinks to herself. Enrico's not the only man on this island - and the last thing I want is to run into someone else while I'm tied up! There, that tree - that's cover, of a sort.

The sandy ground has eroded away on one side of the tree's massive roots, creating something almost like a cave - big enough for someone Jade's size to crouch down in, and while she remains exposed on one side, it's better than nothing. She ducks down into the spot and makes herself as small as she can, forcing herself to take long, slow, deep breaths to stop her heart from pounding so she can listen to the woods around her. Anyone might have seen me running like that, she thinks. The Sun isn't up yet, but the sky is getting brighter. It'll be daylight soon. How am I going to get these ropes off?

Jade tries to pull her arms under her bottom and around, so she'll at least have her hands in front, but the backpack gets in the way - the one positive thing about her tied hands is that at least she didn't lose the pack. She tries rubbing the ropes on a rock, which helps a bit, but it'll clearly take too long.

Maybe I can get to the first aid kit... get that piece of glass...

Jade lets the pack slide down her arms, and is surprised to find that it feels wet. Did the water bottle break open? No, this doesn't feel like water, it's slimy, like - it's the sunscreen! If I can get enough of it...

She squirms around as she tries to get a hand on the pack's zipper, managing at last to get a finger in front of it and push it back a fraction of an inch, and then a little further. Her fingertips dip into a gooey mess. She scrapes up as much as she can, then carefully withdraws so as not to lose any of it, and rubs it over the wrist of her opposite hand. Then, she pulls as hard as she can...

"Maybe over here?"

The voice is far away - it's not Enrico, but it's a male voice! Jade bites down on her lip, and somehow summons just a little more strength. Her hand slips a bit, and she twists it to spread the lubricating sunscreen around her wrist, pulls again - and pops free! The rope drops away, and she quickly gathers it up in a bundle, then risks a peek up above the roots.

A man she hasn't seen before is searching through the woods about thirty yards away. Quickly, Jade ducks back down. I'm going to need to run again, she thinks. But I know I can't outrun these guys, I've been down that road. And I can't very well count on a convenient cliff to jump from!

"I know I saw someone running this way, guys!"

She scans the area facing away from the man in the woods. The ground slopes gently upwards before her, with trees going all the way up the slope, and then after about fifty yards the hill crests and she can't see what's on the other side. I could make it up that slope before they caught up, especially if I start off quietly and they don't see me right away, she thinks. Who knows what's on the other side, though; it could be cover, or it could be nothing at all. She listens to the morning air, and barely hears the sound of waves breaking off to the left. Whatever's on the other side of that hill, it's not the beach; that's in the other direction.

What about this tree? She looks up into the branches. I could probably get up there without being seen, there's a low branch right there that I could use to pull myself up. Then I could just wait them out. I'd be able to see them, but they probably couldn't see me, at least not until full daylight. And, I'd be able to get a look over that hill. It's chancy, though... if they DID see me, there's nowhere to run. What should I do?

What would the Red Fox do?