The small motorboat headed southwest towards a secluded point on the shore. The short trip ended when the boat gently docked at a wooden pier. The Israelis were ordered to stand up, with the help of the gunmen, and were guided onto the shore. They were transferred to a waiting van and were instructed to sit on the floor and keep quiet. The van drove to a mosque on the outskirts of Batmaloo and the Israelis were taken out of the vehicle and led to the basement of a building that was right next to the mosque. The basement smelled like carpet mold, an odor so strong that it permeated through the sack that covered their head. When the sack was removed they could actually see the blue and green mold on the walls of the basement. The gunman took out his knife and cut the restraining cable ties and told them that if they didn't keep silent he would use the knife to cut out their tongues. Zorik rubbed his sore wrists and said that they were thirsty and hungry. The gunman growled and made a threatening move towards Zorik but his mate barked something in Urdu and then said in English that they would get some food and drink shortly. He added that the basement had no windows and a steel door and that an armed guard would be posted outside the door. He warned them that although they were still in India the area was completely Muslim and even if they got out of the building they would probably be lynched by the mobs outside. Zorik spoke up and said that their families would pay a handsome ransom for their release but the gunman repeated that they were not after money and both gunmen left the basement slamming the steel door behind them and locking it. Zorik went over to Inbal and held her tight while she sobbed quietly and asked him what was happening to them. Zorik said that they should avoid provoking their captors, especially the knife wielding depraved creature and wait until an opportunity to escape presented itself. He suggested they call this gunman Creepy and that the other gunman, who was obviously in charge, should be called Albert as his curly hair reminded him of a friend with that name. Inbal smiled for the first time since they were kidnapped and agreed that she also thought that he resembled their friend.
Twenty minutes later Creepy entered the basement with a tray on which a bottle of water and a dish with some chickpeas and rice. They had to use their hands to eat as no utensils were present. Albert entered the basement a moment later with two blankets and a bucket that he said would be their toilet until the next move. He suggested that they try and get some sleep as they would be facing a long journey.
Inbal and Zorik spent a restless night in the basement. Zorik admired the self-control of Inbal and her coolheaded acceptance of their plight. Both had gone over every square inch of the basement looking for weak spots through which they could possibly escape or for anything that could serve as a weapon in case an opportunity to overpower their captors would present itself. However, despite the filthy floor and walls there was nothing useful to be found. They managed to get a little sleep cuddled together on the two thin blankets they were given.
At the crack of dawn Creepy came pounding down the stairs and banged on the steel door to wake them up. Another armed guard carried a small kettle and a couple of cups, which he filled and handed them while Creepy just watched with his gun in his hands. He told them to use the bucket in the corner as they had a long journey and observed with a leer as Inbal relieved herself in the corner, while ignoring Zorik's spiteful glare. They were given a cup of some murky fluid that was supposed to be tea and they gulped it down trying to ignore its foul taste but as they were still thirsty they even asked for more. Zorik told Inbal that it was safer than water as it was at least boiled, hopefully killing most of the bacteria or at least most of the pathogenic ones. Creepy told Zorik to turn his back and quickly slipped a nylon cable tie and bound his wrists and placed the stinking dark hood over his head and then did the same to Inbal. Once again he took advantage of the fact that Albert wasn't there and Zorik was blindfolded and allowed his dirty hands to fondle her. She tried to kick him with a strong backward swing but he anticipated that and easily evaded her foot. He then opened the steel door and marched them up the stairs into the waiting van.
They were ordered to lie on the floor and a thin carpet was thrown over their bodies. The ancient engine came to life and they could feel that they were now travelling on a paved road with many potholes as they could feel every single one of the bumps. The van travelled from Batmaloo to Hussan Abad and then headed west through Kunzer towards Gulmarg, thus avoiding the busier highway to Pattan. Before reaching Gulmarg the van veered from the main road and took a dirt trail until it reached a clump of trees in Masjid Park. The door opened and the young couple was allowed out of the van. While Albert secured their feet with a new cable tie Creepy drew out his knife sliced the cable ties on their wrists. Albert removed the blindfolds and told them that they would take a short break. He offered them some more tea and a piece of the local bread and told them they could relieve themselves. They hobbled with their tied feet to a spot behind a tree and did so. Zorik told Inbal that he thought they were heading west towards the Pakistani border and that they should try to escape before crossing the border because in India they could hope for assistance from the authorities but there would be no such hope in Pakistan. However, Albert ordered them to shut up and Creepy came over to make sure they stopped talking.
Their captors unceremoniously threw them on the van's floor without bothering to free their feet and bind their wrists again and covered them with the rug. As the van started moving it headed back to the paved highway but after a few moments they felt that the road had changed from a relatively straight highway to winding sharp curves. They passed through the small village of Babareshi and headed almost straight north to Baramulla. The last part of the road was steep, narrow and with hairpin bends that they could feel lying prone on the van's floor. They turned west once more and Inbal could sense that the road quality had once again improved and they were picking up speed as they travelled through the valley in which a river ran. Had they been able to see the view they would have enjoyed it, but lying on the van's floor, not knowing what lay ahead was a different experience. They reached the relatively large village of Uri that's claim to fame was that it contained a Government Degree College that was actually a large modern building with pink walls and a green tiled roof. The dam on the river created a lake upriver while a hydroelectric plant generated electricity as the water fell with a roar and flowed downstream towards Pakistan. The van continued west and by nightfall reached Salambad where they took another break, waiting until things grew quiet and resting a little before attempting to cross into Pakistan.
After midnight a small convoy of three cars that consisted of the van in which the two young Israelis were held, a decrepit old Toyota pick-up truck and a small Tata, an inexpensive car made in India, left the sleepy village of Salambad. The van brought up in the rear and the Tata led the way. They all headed on the main road towards the border. Before setting off, all the men took a couple of moments to pray to Allah asking for the success of their mission that was to transport the two captives into Pakistan. As they approached the border they switched off their headlights. The drivers took an extra precaution and removed the light bulbs from the sockets in the back of the cars in order not to have them light up when the breaks pedal was depressed. This was an easy task as most of those bulbs did not function anyway. They were expected on the Pakistani side of the border so all they had to do was to evade a scrutiny by the soldiers on the Indian side. This was made even easier as a couple of bottles of cheap whiskey were "forgotten" at the Indian border post by a collaborator who crossed over an hour earlier. By the time the silent and dark convoy reached the border the guards on the Indian side were in an extremely good mood, and when they were offered another whiskey bottle by the driver of the Tata they turned a blind eye.