Inside the van, the two teenagers were quickly pushed face down and had duct tape put over their mouths. The man inside the van put pillowcases over their heads and secured them with lengths of cord around their necks, while the ponytail man ziptied their wrists and ankles, attaching the ties together in a hogtie. The girls, of course, had nothing to compare it to, but the man was very careful not to overtighten the zipties and cut off circulation. Their keys, cell phones, and wallets were yanked out of their pockets, but otherwise their clothing and bodies were left alone.
Before being blindfolded, Kristin had gotten a quick impression of the inside of the van. It was bare metal inside, but blankets had been laid on the floor. The man who'd dragged them in and gagged them was very stocky, bald, and had a red beard. Like the other two men she'd seen, he wore jeans and a gray work shirt and looked like a plumber on his way to a job, not a professional kidnapper.
The van drove for several hours, stopping briefly a few times. The men were mostly quiet as they drove, exchanging only a few words, most of which were muffled by the pillowcase. Kristin, like a lot of quiet people, was used to observing her surroundings, but being blindfolded gave her a lot of uncomfortable time alone with her thoughts. Her first thought was that they were going to be raped, but it became clear very quickly that the men had something else on their mind.
Beside her, it was clear that Megan was not taking it as rationally. She had thrashed and made muffled screams for a little while, but when one of the two men sitting in the back with them slapped her, she lay still and sobbed quietly for the rest of the journey. Kristin wanted very badly to reach out and comfort her friend, but the hogtie made that impossible, and she wasn't sure exactly what comforting thing she could say. "Don't worry, they haven't raped and murdered us yet" didn't seem to be quite right, and she couldn't think of anything more positive to think about the situation.
She wasn't sure how long they were on the road, but after a long period of steady highway driving, the van pulled off and negotiated a series of streets. It finally rolled to a stop, the back doors were flung open, and Kristin felt a knife roughly cutting the zip ties on her ankles. Before she had a chance to stretch her legs out, she was grabbed under the arms and dragged out of the van. Her legs were shaky from their long time in bondage, but whoever was holding her steadied her until she got circulation back. She heard renewed screams and struggling as someone did the same for Megan, until the gray-haired man from the van spoke from somewhere.
"Okay, ladies. We're going to look you over. Stand still, be calm, and stay quiet, or you're going to regret it. Nod if you understand."
Kristin quickly nodded, and beside her she heard Megan's sobbing finally stop. The man behind her cut the zip ties from her wrists deftly, his knife point barely touching her skin. He quickly switched his grip to her wrists and held her still. Knowing there were at least four of them, and that they were armed and she was blindfolded, she didn't offer even a moment of resistance.
A pair of voices approached the two terrified teenagers, having a conversation in a language Kristin didn't understand but which put her in mind of ducks quacking. One of the four men from the van responded in the same language, and Kristin felt the grip on her wrists tighten.