No Questions Asked
A short story by Ernio Hernandez
In broad daylight a man was taken and thrown into the back of a cargo van.
He could barely put his words together, spouting “What the? What’s...what’s going on?” before being gagged and tied like a hog.
One of the masked men with a deep voice grabbed him by the throat and — within inches of his face — told him: “Shut up, no questions.”
A bat to the head followed.
The man woke in a dark room to find his arms still bound from behind. He rose slowly to his feet and made his way to the only door in the room. It was locked.
“What is happening?!” he shouted into the void. “What is this place? Can anyone hear me?”
A slit in the heavy steel door slid open and a gravelly voice on the other side spoke firmly.
“No questions.”
“What’s going on here? Who are you? What do you want from me?”
“NO,” the voice barked, “QUESTIONS!” The opening slammed shut. The sound that followed was of footsteps growing further away.
“WAIT!” The man screamed, pleading desperately for any answers. The steps stopped. “What is it you want?”
On continued the steps until they were out of earshot.
Outside the room a siren rang out somewhere in the distance. It seemed to come from within the building but it was two short toots and they were gone. They startled the man who had somehow fallen asleep.
Muffled sounds drew nearer and the man heard a clanging just outside the door. It was being unlocked. Light lashed into the dark room as two men flung a figure onto the floor.
Grunting as the door shut loudly, the figure broke free from the gag and spoke. “What the FUCK!”
It was a woman’s voice.
“Hello?! Hellooooo! Does someone want to tell me WHAT is going on?”
Just as the man was about to say something, the crack slid open. The same gruff voice snapped back.
“No questions.”
“Wh…” The woman stopped herself. Looking aside, she paused. “I don’t want to be locked up in here.”
“Okay,” said the man through the door.
Cocking her head up, she paused again.
“I want to go home.”
“Okay.”
“Let me go,” the woman stated.
The hole closed with a loud bang. Then light peaked through the doorway as the heavy hunk of metal slowly creaked open.
“Okay.”