"Beep!" Kellie dropped the can of soup into the plastic bag. "Beep!" Another item followed it. Slowly but surely, the young woman worked her way through the pile of groceries. Her roommate, Shannon, stood idle next to the self-checkout station, flipping through a tabloid magazine, bored.

The two coeds were grocery shopping, stocking up their apartment, in preparation for the coming semester at the technical college they both attended. With the last item scanned and deposited in a plastic bag, Kellie pressed a button on the touchpad to ring up the total amount.

Brushing a few strands of bright red hair out of her face, the young woman checked the total and pulled a credit card out of her purse. "Hey, Shannon!" Kellie said. "All done." With a sigh, Shannon set the magazine back on the shelf as Kellie loaded the bags into the girls' shopping cart.

Outside, the sun had disappeared behind the horizon to the west, leaving a livid red sky above the parking lot. It was still too early for the street lights to come on, though, leaving the area in a dim twilight. Shannon got in the driver's seat of her car, a battered old sedan, turning it on and popping the trunk, so her friend could load the groceries.

As Kellie loaded the backs, a couple walked towards them, dodging around a truck as the driver pulled out and drove away. The young woman saw the pair; a man and a woman dressed in matching black jackets wearing shades, out of the corner of her eye, but paid them no mind as they approached.

Instead of walking past her, like Kellie had expected, however, the two came to a halt, lurking over the girl as she bent over the trunk, adjusting a case of diet soda so it would shift during the car ride and squash her tomatoes.

"Um…excuse me…" Kellie said nervously as she noticed the two. She straightened up, turning to face the woman, turning her back to the larger man. "Can I help you?" Without a word, the man suddenly grabbed Kellie's arms, twisting them behind her back. "Hey!" Kellie cried out in surprise.

Before the young woman could try to call for help, the older woman suddenly pulled a cloth from her jacket pocket and pressed it over Kellie's face, making sure to cover her mouth and nose. A sharp, chemical smell filled Kellie's nostrils. She swooned, going limp in her attacker's arms.

"Took you long enough…" Shannon muttered to herself as she heard someone tap on the window. "Let's get home alre-huh!" She sat up in surprise as she turned to see a woman pointing a gun at her through the glass. "What the hell!" She exclaimed. "What's going on!?!"

"Shut up!" The woman ordered. "Just keep your mouth shut and do what we tell you. If you want to live, that is!" Shannon gulped, nervously. Behind her, the male attacker opened one of the doors and got in, setting the unconscious Kellie on one of the seats. He unslung a backpack from his shoulder and set it at his feet.  

He produced a pistol as well, keeping Shannon covered, while his partner went around and got in the front passenger seat. She buckled her seatbelt. "Now, drive out of the parking lot, slowly, and turn left." The older woman ordered.  

Fear rising within her, Shannon glanced around the parking lot, hoping desperately that someone would notice what was going on and help her. To her dismay, the large lot was almost deserted; the few people she could see weren't paying any attention to the kidnapping going on not fifty yards away from them.   

Reluctantly, Shannon worked the gear shift and backed out of the parking spot. Following her captor's instructions, she turned left out of the lot and drove down the boulevard at a brisk speed. Cars drove by on either side of Shannon, their occupants paying no attention to the battered old car. Fear bubbled up in the young woman. She was being kidnapped! And in broad daylight too!

Following the older woman's commands, Shannon followed the road until it reached a highway and got onto it. They drove for a good half hour. After a few minutes, Kellie groggily came to. "You alright!" Shannon called to her friend. Kellie nodded, weakly.

"Shut up!" The woman said, sharply. Her partner hadn't said a word this whole time. "Just drive and keep your mouth shut, unless you want me to shut it for you!" The whole car was silent, as they left town behind, and headed out into the countryside. Gradually suburbs gave way to open prairie and the road grew less and less crowded until they were the only ones driving down it, as far as Shannon could see.

"Here! This should be far enough!" The woman said, prodding Shannon with her pistol. "Pull over on the side of the road. Sweating with fear, Shannon did as she was told, pulling over to the side of the road.

At her captor's instruction, she drove a dozen yards or so away from the road, then parked the car. The stretch of highway they'd stopped on was on a low rise of ground. As dark as it was, there would be no chance of anyone driving by seeing the car or its passengers.

"Get out!" Their kidnapper barked. Shannon unbuckled her seatbelt. She was shaking like a leaf with fear. Why had they come out here, to the middle of nowhere, only to stop? Were they going to shoot her and Kellie? Shannon bit her lip nervously. Well, they could shoot her out there or right here in the car, Shannon thought. There wasn't anything to stop them. The two coeds were completely helpless, at the mercy of their captors.

As she got out of the car, Shannon glanced around nervously. She wondered if she could make a break for it while the man and woman were getting out behind her. The girl quickly dismissed that notion. The ground ahead of them was flat, sparsely covered over with grass and low shrubs. She'd be nothing more than target practice for the two.

To Shannon's left, Kellie clambered out of the car. She smiled at Shannon, trying to appear calm, but Shannon could see the fear in her friend's eyes. She reached out and grabbed Kellie's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. Inside, she was trying desperately to fight down the panic rising within her own heart. She didn't want to die! Not here, not now!

"Cute… Now turn around ladies! Don't even think about trying to run." The mocking voice of the older woman rang out. The two slowly turned to face their captors who stood in front of the car, guns in hand.

"Please, you don't have to do this!" Kellie pleaded.

"Shut up. I'm not going to shoot you girls." The woman said, guessing the reason for the girl's fear. "Unless of course, you make me." She nodded to her partner. Silently, he opened his backpack and pulled out a plastic garbage bag. He tossed the bag, which landed at the girls' feet.

"Now," The woman said, "strip! Socks, shoes, pants! Put it all in the bag. And do it quickly! I've got very little patience and you don't want to find out what I do to girls who lose my patience!"

The last thing Shannon or Kellie wanted to do at night, in the middle of nowhere after being abducted by a strange man and woman was take off their clothes, but staring down the barrels of two pistols, they had no choice. Reluctantly, Shannon began unbuttoning her blouse. Beside her, Kellie pulled her tank top off, revealing a white cotton bra.

"Come on, ladies! Get those clothes off!" The woman said, as Shannon knelt to untie her shoes. "You can keep your panties on, if it makes you feel better…" She grinned as Kellie pulled down her skirt to reveal her panties, a white cotton pair that matched the bra now lying at her feet.

Within minutes, the two coeds stood before their kidnappers, trying their best to cover their bare breasts, clad only in their underwear, shivering uncomfortable in the cool night air.

The woman giggled, her eyes running up and down the embarrassed girls. Her partner maintained his stoic expression, not saying a word. He stepped forward and grabbed the bag that contained the two young women's clothes and tossed it in the back of the car.
Meanwhile, the other kidnapper dug into his backpack, producing a handful of plastic zip-ties.

"Alright, ladies!" She said, grinning. "Turn around and cross your hands behind your backs!"