365 Days At War

by Nancy Isaak

  Slowly, Jude reached down and cut the duct tape around the young girl’s ankles. Immediately, the girl’s legs shot out—aiming for Jude’s head.

  Quickly, Jude jumped back.

  “You okay?” asked Cherry. She had moved back—nearer to us.

  “I’m fine,” said Jude. “Kid was just stretching her legs, is all.”

  Keeping a safe distance between herself and the girl, Jude moved around behind the chair. “I’m cutting the tape around your mouth now, so you’re going to feel a little pull.”

  Sliding the knife under the duct tape that snaked around the girl’s head, Jude pulled upward, severing the bonds. The tape still stuck to the girl’s hair, however, so Jude began to tug it off. As she did, the girl swung her head back and forth, trying to catch sight of what Jude was doing behind her.

  “Chill!” Jude ordered. “I’m just getting rid of this crap.” The girl didn’t stop moving her head, so Jude finally gave up. “Fine…you can pull it off yourself then, dude.”

  Jude moved to the side of the girl—reaching for the tape that held the girl’s hands to the arms of the chair. As she did, Cherry sat down beside me at the wall.

  “Don’t you guys move, you hear!” she hissed at us. “No matter what happens, you let Jude and me take care of it!”

  Rhys and Topher both looked to me for confirmation.

  I nodded my head. “You heard the lady.”

  Meanwhile, Jude had freed one of the girl’s hands and was working on the second. I was surprised that the young girl wasn’t trying to hit Jude. Instead, the kid just sat there, staring at Jude as if she was some strange beast.

  “Okay, you’re free,” Jude finally said. She stood up and closed the penknife, placing it on the desk near the front door. “So, you’ve got a choice. You can take the knife and run. Or you can spend some time with us—see if you like us.” Jude shrugged. “Whatever…it’s your choice.”

  Then, Jude walked over and joined us, sliding down the wall on the other side of Cherry. The moment Jude’s butt hit the floor, the young girl launched herself out of the chair. She stumbled forward—straight toward the door—stopping only as long as it took for her hand to snake out and grab the penknife.

  Then—she was gone.

  “Well, that went well,” grinned Cherry.

  A few moments later, we heard hoof beats galloping away.

  * * * *

  “We need to move quickly,” I urged. “In case she brings back reinforcements. Andrei, I want you and Topher to head outside and bring up the bikes. The rest of you guys, fan out through the armory. Grab any guns or ammo you can find.”

  “What about knives?” asked Rhys.

  “Forget the knives for now,” I told him. “We can find those almost anywhere. It’s guns we want. Bring everything into the main level—to that big, open room. We’ll load our backpacks and the trailer with whatever we can in the next ten minutes, then we’re out of here.”

  “Why the rush?” asked Cherry. “I don’t think that girl was a Crazy, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “I don’t think so, either,” I said. “But I’m still not willing to take the chance. Better to go with what we can carry. At least, we’ll be getting out of here alive…now, move it!”

  * * * *

  Ten minutes later, we had a pile of weapons assembled next to the bikes; there were twenty-seven handguns, three rifles, five submachine guns, and one machine gun.

  Sadly—there were no grenades.

  “Stupid armory,” complained Andrei, kicking at the rifles on the ground. “How can there not be any grenades? It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “There’s probably a gun safe somewhere,” Jude told him. “More than likely, they’ll have put the heavy stuff in there.”

  “Do we have time to look for it?” asked Rhys, as he shoved a handful of guns into the trailer.

  I shook my head. “We’ve been here too long already. As soon as Topher and Cherry come back down from upstairs, we’re out of here.”

  There was no response from Rhys.

  When I turned to look at him, I found that he had sat down, his back against a nearby wall. A moment later, Andrei joined him.

  “Well, what do you know,” Jude said, softly. Then, with two quick steps, she walked over to the wall. Like Rhys and Andrei, she sat down—in her case, grinning.

  “Please…will you help me?”

  I turned around very slowly.

  The young girl was standing in the open doorway. She still looked scared and she was half-turned away—as if prepared to run if I made the wrong move.

  * * * *

  “I was looking for a gun, so I could go back and kill them.”

  Cherry and Topher had joined the rest of us, sitting with our backs against the wall. Meanwhile, the young girl still stood at the doorway, her eyes nervously flitting from one to another of us—as if wondering which one was going to attack first.

  “But Ojai…that’s miles away,” said Topher. “Why didn’t you look in a gun store or something? Like in the part of Ventura that’s next to Ojai—that’s on the way.”

  The girl looked down at her bare feet, as if she was embarrassed. “I didn’t know where one was there…and I thought they’d come looking for me if I stopped too close to the house.”

  She was talking about the three guys who had kidnapped her and two other girls, keeping them locked up in an old house, somewhere up in the mountains around Ojai—a small community on the other side of Ventura.

  Her name was Laura and she was 15-years old.

  Two weeks after boys had appeared in her world—a fist had come down on the back of her head while she was scavenging through a grocery store in Newbury Park. Hours later, she had woken up—tied to a bed. There were two other girls in the room with her—a 15-year old and an 18-year old—prisoners, also.

  “Their names are Mia—she’s the oldest—and Farrah. I didn’t want to leave them behind, but I couldn’t get them free. They weren’t tied up like me. They had handcuffs on.” As she spoke, Laura rubbed at her wrists. There were angry red welts there, proof that she had been restrained over a long period of time.

  “How did you manage to get away?” asked Cherry.

  “There was like this nail sticking out of my bed, right where they tied my right hand. I used it to cut the rope. It took a long time, but when my hand got free…it was easy after that.”

  “Where were the guys?” I asked. “When you got away?”

  She looked down, tormented—trying not to cry. “Two of them were upstairs, sleeping in their bedrooms. It was night when I left.”

  I didn’t want to ask, but I needed to know. “And the third?”

  Laura swallowed, nervously. “He was sleeping in our room…with Farrah.”

  * * * *

  There have been times in my life when I have been completely ashamed to be male.

  This was one of them.

  Listening to Laura tell her story of pain and abuse was like a kick to my gut. I tried to remind myself what my mother always told me—that there are men and women in the world, and that there are beasts pretending to be humans.

  These three who had taken Laura, Mia, and Farrah prisoners—they were the beasts.

  * * * *

  We stayed that night in a large house a few miles away from the armory.

  It was hidden behind a large stone fence, so we felt comfortable lighting a fire in the fireplace. After a dinner of canned stew, Vienna sausages, and peach slices, we sat in the living room, warming ourselves in front of the fire—and debating whether to help Laura.

  * * * *

  “I don’t see how there can be any question of not helping her,” Cherry said, softly.

  Except for Andrei and Laura, we were all sitting before the fireplace, discussing what our next step would be. We were keeping our voices down, so Laura wouldn’t overhear. She was—hopefully—asleep in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

  Andrei, meanwhile, was sleepin
g in a downstairs guest bedroom. He had been coughing all through supper and looked so tired that I had insisted he go to bed early.

  “Laura will be going back to Ojai with or without us,” Cherry continued. “But I don’t think she’ll succeed on her own. She’s just a 15-year old kid going after three guys she says are built like football players and who are17 or 18-years old.”

  “Ojai’s about 20 miles away from here, I think,” advised Topher, munching on a peach slice. “And Laura says the house she escaped from is on the far side—up a mountain—so that will add on some miles.”

  “So, we’re probably talking a day to get there, one to get back,” I estimated. “And we’re already way over-schedule.”

  “Plus, no doubt we’re looking at a firefight when we arrive,” added Rhys. “One of us could get hurt, maybe even killed.”

  “What are you saying, dude?” asked Jude. “That we only help Locals? Since when is that our way?”

  I nodded. “Those girls are innocents. Jude’s right. It’s part of who we Locals are—helping slaves, helping innocents. It’s what makes us different from the Crazies.”

  “On the upside,” said Cherry, looking out the window, “it looks like it’s going to rain again.”

  “That’s a good thing?” groaned Rhys.

  “Not a lot of people like to come out in the rain in Southern California,” she said. “So, hopefully, that will mean that these three assholes won’t be waiting for us when we come. I’m guessing that they’ll stay inside where it will be warm and dry.”

  “There’s some truth to that,” I admitted.

  “So, we’re going to help Laura, then?” asked Jude.

  I shrugged. “Was there ever any doubt?”

  * * * *

  Even though we were headed to Ojai, we still stopped at the library along the way.

  Topher led us along a maze of side roads, eventually stopping at a large, cement building. It was situated behind a small mall, which—luckily for us—also had an untouched bike store. We found two more bike trailers there that we hitched up to the back of Topher and Rhys’ bikes.

  “It’ll be just to load them with books,” I told the two guys. “But it doesn’t make sense to tow them all the way to Ojai with us. So, once we get them loaded, we’ll unhook the trailers and stow them in a garage somewhere until we come back.”

  Cherry leaned over, speaking so that Laura wouldn’t overhear.

  “I’ve been talking to the girl,” she said, softly. “From what Laura tells me, you might want to bring one of those trailers. We’ve got Laura’s horse and it can carry the younger girl. But what those guys have been doing to the older one—I think she’s going to be in pretty bad shape. We’ll probably need the trailer to tow her back.”

  I had to stop what I was doing for a moment—the sudden anger inside of me was that fierce; my fists clenched and I felt my teeth grinding against each other.

  “You okay?” Cherry asked, worried.

  “It makes me so furious,” I said. “I just don’t understand why guys do those things. I mean—I, literally, can’t comprehend it.”

  Cherry put her arm around my shoulders. “Which is exactly why we girls all trust you, Jacob. And—understand this—we girls don’t trust easily anymore.”

  “And that’s so wrong,” I continued, frustrated. “Because you shouldn’t have to fear guys. You shouldn’t have to fear anyone!”

  “This from the kid who was put in a cage and tortured. Look, Jacob,” Cherry sighed, “it’s true that we girls have been dealing with this kind of thing for a long, long time. We’ve been taught from a young age that there are guys out there who only think of us as prey. Now that the world has changed—you guys are facing the same thing. It hurts, I know. And it’s definitely wrong. But—there are also amazing people everywhere and—luckily—our tribe is filled with them.”

  “I just wish we could do more, you know.”

  She nodded. “And we will. Like you said, wherever the innocents are, we Locals will find them. And then—we’ll bring them home and show them what life with the good people are like.”

  There was the softest touch on my arm—like a fluttering wing had glanced off of it. I turned my head to see Laura standing there—tears in her eyes. She was wearing the new clothes Cherry had found for her—including a warm pair of waterproof boots.

  “You should know,” Laura said, quietly, “that you’re the first boy I’ve touched in a long time who doesn’t terrify me.”

  * * * *

  A man is supposed to be strong, to be tough.

  Sometimes, though—I just wanted to sob.

  But that day, I didn’t; instead—I took revenge.

  * * * *

  We spent a good two hours at the library.

  While it hadn’t been left untouched, whoever had visited its stacks had been respectful. There was no garbage or belongings strewn anywhere; bathroom breaks had obviously been taken behind a large garbage bin at the far end of the parking lot. And there was a bulletin board next to the front desk—covered in notes that people had left for each other.

  “We’re at Janie’s. Love, Amanda.”

  “Leon—Marvin and Delana are with us. We’re going up the 101 to San Jose. Please come.”

  “Stay away from the Point Mugu Naval Station. There are guys who will shoot at you there.”

  “Watch out for the mountain lion on Oxnard Blvd. He’s hanging out near the PetSmart.”

  There were other notes—letting friends and family know where people had gone. I noticed that often the note-writers were careful not to give out their exact location. Taking a flyer from a nearby stack, I turned it over to write my own note on the back.

  “WARNING: There is a tribe along the 101 Freeway who call themselves the Crazies. They range from Calabasas to the big hill leading down into Camarillo. They are extremely violent and will kill you or take you as a slave.

  There is also a tribe along the Pacific Coast Highway called the Locals. They range from Point Mugu to just before Paradise Cove. They are well-organized and will defend themselves. If you wish to travel through their territory, they will allow it as long as your intentions are friendly.”

  As I added the note to the bulletin board, Jude came up beside me, reading over my shoulder.

  “You think that’s wise?” she asked.

  “People need to know that the Crazies are out there.”

  “I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about letting people know where we are.”

  I shrugged. “Sometimes you just have to take the chance. It looks like some good people have been coming into this library. If they know that there’s a friendly tribe out there, maybe it will give them hope. Maybe they’ll even come and join us.”

  Jude nodded. “Guess that makes sense. Plus, we’re gonna’ need more soldiers if Brandon and the Foxes decide to attack.”

  “Which they will,” I said, gloomily.

  “Probably,” she added. Then, she turned and looked back into the library, making sure that nobody was within hearing range. “Listen, Jacob. I need to talk to you about Cherry.”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “She’s hiding it pretty good…but I think she’s in a lot of pain.”

  “From the fall into the river?”

  Jude nodded. “I think that maybe she was hurt worse than we think.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  She pointed above her—to the mezzanine level of the library. It hung over the book stacks and was filled with couches and chairs—a place where people could study or read in peace. “I went up there, just looking—in case there was something I could scavenge. Then, I looked over the edge—at that railing right there—and I saw Cherry down below. She was, like almost collapsing against this shelf near the periodicals. Then, when Andrei came around the corner, she straightened up real quick and pretended to be looking through the magazines.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “She went with Top
her and Andrei. They took a load over to the house where we’re hiding the books. I think it’s just you and me in the library right now. Rhys and that Laura chick are back at the house, too—they’re cooking up some soup for lunch.”

  “Laura’s with Rhys?”

  Jude grinned. “That boy’s growing up quick.”

  I frowned. “I’ll have to talk to him about her. Laura’s been through a lot.”

  “Probably a good idea,” Jude nodded.

  “But Cherry,” I said. “Are you thinking that she should stay here…not go to Ojai with us?”

  Jude shrugged. “I’m not sure. But if she’s in bad shape…well, we’re basically going into battle.”

  I thought about it for a moment. “Let’s watch her during lunch. I’ll make a decision after.”

  “Okey-dokey.” Jude took a deep breath. “Soo—I got a favor to ask.”

  “Anything.”

  “Well, I want to pick up a couple of kids’ books for Lily and Hannah. I know we’re not supposed to carry personal things home. This trip is all about what the tribe needs right now…but it’s just two books and I can shove them down my jacket, if that’s what it takes.”

  “Sure—that’s fine.”

  “Yeah, but…”

  My brain finally kicked in—Jude had dyslexia. “You need help reading the titles.”

  Jude nodded, embarrassed. “Lily wants a book on princesses and Hannah wants a book about animals. I mean, I can find ones with pictures in them, but they’re older now—they need chapter books, things they can really read.”

  I pointed to the kid’s section. “Then, let’s go get them their books.”

  * * * *

  Our plan was to have lunch, then head to Ojai afterward. We wanted to reach the prison house, just before dusk.

  According to Laura, all three guys would usually be home from their scavenging by then, so there would be less of a chance of running into them along the way. If we timed it correctly, we would have a couple of hours to study the house and decide on a rescue plan before it got really dark.