Darkness.

    They were moving. There was tape over her eyes and her mouth. Her hands were still bound together behind her back with the plastic band.

    Lucy tried to listen to sounds around her. She heard the sound of the road beneath her. They were on a paved road, smooth, maybe an expressway, although she did not have the sense that they were traveling at high speed. Every so often she heard the sound of something passing. It was a distinct rhythm. Light poles?

    Underneath it all was the sound of the heater fan. There was no music coming from the radio, no conversation. Then she heard humming. She didn't know the song.

    Lucy rolled to her right, then her left. The movements were small but she could feel the plastic on her wrists shift a little bit each time. If she had strength anywhere in her body it was in her arms and hands. You didn't lift as many mattresses as she had without getting stronger.

    Left.

    Right.

    She flexed her wrists, relaxed.

    Little by little she felt the plastic start to give.