The Greatest Showman - Chapter 165

[164 claustrophobic]

Pouring the alcohol from the jug into his mouth, Paul forced himself to calm down again, opened the call log on his mobile phone, and found the first call from the first phone number, and he excitedly recorded the number. I got down, and made a note next to it, “Help”, but after hesitating for a moment, I added a question mark after “Help”, and then I couldn’t wait to call back.

It was the kidnapper who answered the phone.

He thought Paul was a soldier, thought Paul was an employee of a security company, and they shot everyone in the convoy, “Then you can never lie again!” Paul had to explain the situation, which led to a brief confusion, and then The other party put forward a ransom demand, five million. Before nine o’clock in the evening, after paying five million, they were willing to release Paul.

After hanging up the phone, Paul sullenly picked up the pen, crossed out the word “help?” heavily and forcefully, then slowly turned around and lay on the same spot, with a look of confusion in his eyes. The faint blue light cast stains and sweat on his face, and the overwhelmed loneliness seems to be becoming numb and stiff little by little.

Chanel felt the anger, the anger that was uncontrollable, Paul was buried alive under the soil and was in danger, but 911 refused to help him, FBI began to question him, and no one responded from the company; what is even more ridiculous is that the kidnapper did not respond at all. The wrong people were tied up and they tried to kill soldiers and security guards as a warning to America, but what they got was an ordinary man, an ordinary truck driver, a man who was killed by his own country, his own society, his own politics. / Ordinary people forgotten by the government.

Paul at the moment is like everyone in American society. They are paying for the greed and lies of the White House, but now the White House refuses to give them help and abandons them in the barren desert.

After regaining consciousness, Paul started a long journey of self-help again. He looked up the number on the phone and found Donna, his mutual friend with Linda. He tried to find Linda through her, but Donna didn’t realize the seriousness of the matter at all. Even accused Paul of being too rude and rude, and hung up the phone; Paul had to call again, begging in a low voice, and let Donna find the phone number of the State Department.

After dialing the phone, it was the same old repetition, repeated again, and all the situation was estranged again, and then the other party was transferred to the corresponding department, and Rebecca Browning answered the phone. But contrary to Paul’s expectations, the other party actually had a preliminary understanding of his situation. After further questioning, Paul learned that the company’s personnel director Alan Davenport had contacted the relevant departments, but they did not Any movement, just letting Paul die in place, which made Paul feel a deep betrayal.

After asking for details, Rebecca said that according to US national policy, they would not negotiate with terrorists, and Paul finally couldn’t take it anymore, “Don’t mention any US national policy, ma’am, please, you are sitting in an air conditioner. You are not the one who was buried in the middle of the desert waiting to die.”

“You understand your frustration…”

“Frustration?” Paul roared loudly, the monstrous anger pierced through The dim light through the mobile phone burst, and every word was very clear, “Ma’am, I’m going to die here! Did you know?” The venting of emotions still did not bring any response, and the other end of the phone was dead silent. The silence made the corners of Paul’s eyes moist. He was like a beast trapped in a desperate situation, looking for any shreds of vitality, and then rushed over recklessly, hurting everything around him and himself.

“Hello, are you still there?” Paul closed his eyes and hid the wetness in his eyes. His voice was calm again, but there was a deep sense of weakness and tiredness, as if despair was pulling the rope behind, preventing He tried to move forward with hope, and after receiving Rebecca’s response, Paul said in a hoarse voice, “Then say something and tell me how you’re going to save me?”

But because Paul didn’t know how to They had to re-identify the signal and locate the number of the mobile phone in the phone, which made it more difficult for them to rescue them. In a short time, they were helpless. So, following Rebecca’s instructions, Paul contacted the captain of the local Iraqi hostage rescue team. Dan Brenner.

Dan quickly instructed Paul some life-extending skills, and then learned some basic information, but before he could communicate further, the kidnapper called and urged Paul to pay the money quickly. He asked Paul to record a kidnapping video. There is a cloth bag next to his feet with a note inside, and the video is recorded according to the instructions of the note. Paul argued for a while, saying that he was just an ordinary truck driver, and the kidnappers finally compromised and reduced the five million ransom to one million.

After hanging up the phone, Paul tried to get the cloth bag, but he couldn’t do it in the limited space. He had to curl up and try to turn in one direction, but the coffin, which was just wider than his shoulders, was difficult to unfold. , In a desperate situation, Paul compressed himself to the extreme, and he could even hear the creaking sound of the wooden board. The narrowness that was compressed to the extreme seemed to be able to crush Paul at any time.

Chanel was suddenly startled. It turned out that Tessa, who was sitting beside her, pinched her left hand. Because she was too nervous, Tessa’s two hands were crossed and tightly clasped Chanel’s left hand. All trembling. But Chanel didn’t have time to pay attention to this, she turned her head again and looked at the big screen, looking at Paul’s body curled up like a spring, it seemed that with a little more strength, his neck and spine would be directly stabbed. Broken, the cruelty and bloodiness made Chanel bite his lower lip, and a bloody smell spread in his mouth.

Subconsciously, Chanel also clenched Tessa’s hands. The beating of her heart had already lost consciousness. The fear of claustrophobic space pierced through the big screen at this moment and smashed it down. No one could make an exception. Strong suffocation. It feels as if all the light in the sight has been swallowed up.

“Squeak, squeak… bang!” The spring snapped open, Paul successfully turned his body, and the sound of gasping breaths could be clearly heard in the entire auditorium, and some people were even so violent that Start to cough. But the coughing sound was quickly cut off, as if covering his mouth.

No one can relax, that tension, that anxiety, that despair hangs over everyone’s head. Now, the only belief that supports Chanel is that Paul is the male lead, or even the only one, and the director won’t let him die, will he? In Hollywood movies, in the end, the protagonist can always escape. Chanel crossed his fingers and prayed secretly.

Inside the bag were two glow sticks, a flashlight, a dagger, and a note.

Paul tried to find his wife Linda again, but there was still no one answering the phone at home and on the phone. Paul was no longer angry with the feeling of powerlessness. He immediately dialed Dan’s number again and reported the kidnapper’s cell phone number, hoping that they could catch the kidnapper, and then follow the clues and rescue him.

Dan Qian urged Paul not to shoot the kidnapping video and not turn it into an international incident. Paul vented his deep resentment, “I’ve been here for nine months, and I know that all you care about is you. The secret plans and behind-the-scenes politics, if I were a diplomat, if I were the head of a hostage rescue team like you, I would have been rescued. But I’m not, I’ll just lie here and die in silence ”

Faced with Paul’s questioning and complaints, Dan had to convince Paul to keep Paul safe, but Paul had already lost his confidence, and he asked Dan to name a name that was kidnapped before and then successfully rescued,” Mark said. – White.” That’s the name Dan gave. This calmed Paul down a little.

However, within ten seconds of calming down, the kidnapper’s phone call broke the silence again. They urged Paul to record the kidnapping video. Paul tried to argue, but the other party didn’t give up any chance, and even didn’t listen to his explanation. Hang up. This made Paul’s anxiety explode, and he almost suffocated. The urge to smash everything made him start to self-mutilate again. After swallowing the pills in the bottle mixed with alcohol, he finally got relief.

After taking the pill, Paul entered an unprecedented state of composure. He began to call the nursing home where his mother lived, but the memory of the mother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease was no longer clear. She also regarded Paul as a child and rambled about her. Playing cards with Paul’s father every night, the bland to a bit boring exchange, made Paul completely collapsed.

Even though he bit his lower lip tightly, the tears still fell down in big drops, as if the tears were choking on his throat, and it was hot and painful.

Gavin gritted his teeth, his emotions were raging, only in this way, the tears would not fall, that loneliness, that helplessness, that kind of loneliness, and that kind of despair, in Paul’s eyes, the family spun around. The phone calls are still recorded, the wife’s cell phone is still unanswered, and even the mother has gradually forgotten him, so he was abandoned in a barren place, waiting to die quietly. The mixed and turbulent emotions did not explode, but slowly settled down, so sad that Gavin almost collapsed.

But before the tears could slide down to his chin, the phone rang again, and his emotions stopped abruptly. Or kidnappers.

Paul refused to answer the call, adjusted the ringer to vibrate, waited for a long time, and calmed down a little, and then connected the phone, but the phone was hung up. The kidnapper sent a video, which made Paul’s thumb tremble and his pupils began to vibrate.

After hesitation, he pressed the confirm button.

In the video, a woman kneels on the ground with a cloth in her mouth, a machine gun is pointed at her head, her eyes are full of fear, and her life is hanging by a thread. 8

[End of this Chapter]