by Davis, James
Spotting a broom with a bent handle, she grabbed it and held it up like a mighty sword, ready to slay the beast that was inside of her pantry. She caught a reflection of herself in the kitchen window and immediately burst into laughter. She looked ridiculous holding that bent broom over her head like it was some kind of badass weapon.
Once she finally got her laughter under control and assessed her situation she got back into her fighting stance. Fighting off another round of laughter, she quickly opened the pantry door all the way and shoved the broom handle in, twisting and slamming it around in an attempt to kill or maim whatever was living in there. When she finished she hurried back to her room to grab her flashlight, she got down on a knee and peered inside with the light. All she saw were a few cans of baked beans, some tomato soup and corned beef hash.
“Where the hell did it go?” she said in a low voice. She stuck the broom handle in and pulled the cans forward. One by one she took the cans out, keeping a close eye on the back of the pantry. When she was done, there wasn’t anything on the shelf at all and certainly not anything furry. She grabbed the few cans from the floor and stood, eye level with the top shelf of the pantry. She didn’t use that shelf because she was too short to reach up there. When she started to close the pantry door her flashlight beam went across the top shelf and she caught a glimpse of two shining eyes staring back at her.
“Oh, shit!” she screamed as the cans and flashlight went flying out of her now flailing arms as she fell to the floor. Raina backpedaled as fast as she could away from the pantry, letting out one long high pitch scream the entire time. The “beast” jumped down from the shelf and started walking towards Raina, who could not move as she stared at the animal. Tiger, her overweight cat walked up to her and nudged Raina with his head. She released a deep breath she didn’t realize she had been holding in and started laughing hysterically.
“Oh my God, Tiger I thought you were some kind of damn closet monster getting ready to kill me!” She said as she rubbed her hand over the cat’s head. She stood up and brushed herself off before collecting the cans she had just sent sailing across the room. After all that excitement, Raina was even hungrier than before. She ate the can of soup and washed it down with the jug of water on the table before heading for the door to start her day. She put her jacket on and walked down the dark hallway, using her flashlight to see where she was going.
As she approached the stairs, she could hear someone crying in one of the rooms up ahead. She pulled the snub nose out of her pocket and checked to see if it was loaded. Seeing brass, she closed the cylinder and slowly made her way down the hallway. At the last door before the stairs, she could clearly hear a woman crying inside. She eased up to the door and tried the handle. Slowly she twisted the doorknob. To her surprise, the door wasn’t locked.
Raina was torn, on the one hand she wanted to help this person, but on the other hand it was none of her business what was happening in that apartment. Deciding she would help the girl, she slowly opened the door and stepped inside, her footsteps light and deliberate. Creeping her way through the empty living room to the edge of the bedroom doorway, she chanced taking a quick peek inside the room.
She closed her eyes, trying to hold onto every detail of the room as she pictured it in her mind’s eye. She could see a small room with a queen size bed on the back wall facing the door with nightstands on either side, to the left of the bed was a window and to the right a small closet. She couldn’t remember if the closet door was open or closed and that was an important piece of information. If the door was open someone could be hiding behind it, just waiting for her to walk in before they jumped out and attacked her.
She was going to have to take one more look. Before she stuck her head around the corner she noticed that something was different now. The girl was no longer crying out loud, she sounded muffled now and it sounded like she was trying to talk or even like she was pleading with someone. Raina had to look one more time at that closet door before she would go inside the room.
She felt her back pocket to make sure her knife was still there just in case this girl was tied up. Feeling it was there she quickly took one last peek in the room. Before she could get her head back out of the doorway, something heavy hit her in the temple causing the edges of her reality to darken and close in around her. Just before she lost consciousness she could hear someone talking but she couldn’t make out who it was or what they were saying. She tried to shake the cobwebs from her mind before the last bit of her consciousness faded away but it was too late. She was out cold.
******
“Come on you little dumbass, keep up.” Joe barked.
“What’d we even come out here for?” The scrawny redhead asked between breaths, struggling to keep up carrying two backpacks.
“I am going to scope out some new real estate. You‘re here because no one cares if you die. We're just going to the top of this hill so keep up!”
“Bro, you can't talk to me however you want, there ain't no cops around now, I can fuck you up and no one is going to say shit about it.” Theo said jogging a few feet to catch up. Joe stopped at the top of the hill and turned around.
“Shut up, give me those binoculars,” he said grabbing the pair dangling around Theo's neck, almost taking his head along with them and putting them to his face.
Look, they're outside now. I saw these two guys before, but there was a whole family here, Joe said to himself.
“You see those two guys?” Joe said pointing toward two men digging in what appeared to be a small garden.
“Which two?” Joe extended his arm, planting a hard smack upside the head of his accomplice.
“Which two? The two guys with shovels. The only two people we've seen all day, that’s which two.”
“Could’ve just said that,” Theo said rubbing his head
“When I was here yesterday, I saw two men, two women, two kids, two dogs. They all went inside that tiny little shed and didn't come out.”
“I don't think they'll all fit inside that little shed Joe.” Joe turned to look at Theo with a scowl.
“No shit, Sherlock. Now these two pricks are out here digging a garden, they got big guns and body armor, and on top of that, why would they need two fancy locks on that little shed? Must be something real good in there.”
“Joe! There's another one!” Theo exclaimed.
“Keep your goddamn voice down!” Joe hissed, returning the binoculars to his eyes and spotting the newcomer almost immediately. A young man, one he didn’t remember seeing the previous day, emerged from the woods on the far side of the property. The corpse of a small doe hung limply over his shoulder, he held a black compound bow in his hand, and small black quiver was strapped to his back. As he approached the shed he let the deer fall to the ground and placed his thumb to the scanner, after a few seconds, he entered a few digits onto a keypad. The light on the keypad changed from red to green and he swung open the door.
Joe watched as the man quickly stepped inside, not bothering to close the door behind him. He entered another pin on a second keypad and then lifted a large metal hatch. The man then disappeared into the hatch, returning just moments later with a large bucket. The other men had abandoned their shovels and joined the newcomer at the carcass. Joe watched in silence for a moment as the men hung the deer up by its hind legs.
“I fucking knew it. He just went underground, came back up with a bucket. They must have a whole bunker down there; this is just what we need! We gotta tell Raina!” He exclaimed, excitedly jumping to his feet and letting the binoculars fall and hang loosely from his neck.
“Let’s go dipshit, get the bags.”
chapter 9
“Come on Sara, hurry the hell up before she comes to!” A strange man’s voice echoed in the deepest parts of Raina’s mind, as she slowly started to wake up.
“Shut your dumb ass up Mikey, I know what I’m doing.” A female voice responded. Raina felt the hands searching through her shirt and pan
ts as she lay there completely still trying to formulate a plan in her foggy mind.
“Here’s a key, I bet it goes to her apartment. Do you remember which door she came out of?” Sara asked, looking over her shoulder at Mikey.
“Yeah I got it, now kill that bitch and let’s hit her apartment and get the hell out of here before someone else shows up.” Mikey stated as he turned to walk towards Raina’s door. Raina saw that the woman’s attention was focused on the man as he spoke and she eased her hand down to her pocket where she had her knife.
Sara turned back to Raina to finish the job and saw a flash of movement followed by a burning sensation on her neck. Raina had removed her knife and quickly lashed out, slicing through the would be murderer’s throat. Sara felt the warm blood running down her chest and tried to gasp for air, as the blood began filling her lungs. Mikey spun around when he heard the gasps of his former lover and bolted toward her. Raina was trying to get to her feet, but her throbbing head wouldn’t allow it before Mikey made it to her.
“What the fuck did you do!” he roared, as he dropped to his knees at Sara’s side. He stared down into her rapidly fading eyes and tried to stop the flow of blood. Sara stared back, her mouth slowly moving up and down as her brain told her to breathe. Mikey watched in horror as her mouth stopped moving and the last spark of life faded from her eyes. Sara was dead.
Mikey let out an animalistic scream as he got to his feet and rushed Raina, who had just barely made it to her feet. He lowered his shoulder and tackled her like a linebacker, slamming her back down on the floor. Raina sank her blade into his stomach just before her head smacked the floor, knocking her unconscious once again. Mikey screamed in pain and began dropping hammerfists into Raina’s face. Her nose exploded, sending blood splattering all over her face as Mikey continued to land blow after blow. Her face looked like a train wreck by the time he was finished. He wrapped his fingers around the knife handle and jerked it out, sucking in a sharp breath as the pain filled his senses.
“You’re dead bitch!” Mikey said, raising the knife over his head then arching it back down towards her chest. Before the blade made contact, a red blur streaked down the hall and slammed into Mikey, knocking him off of Raina’s battered form. Theo had made it down the hall in a split second and knocked him off of her.
“That’s my woman, motherfucker!” Theo shouted just as Joe made it to them. Mikey lay there bleeding and watching the two newcomers tend to Raina. He started to try and move away from them but Joe jumped to his feet and started toward him.
“That's my baby sister, you’re a dead man!” Joe shouted as he cracked his knuckles and stomped toward Mikey.
“She killed my woman, so she’s not the victim here. So fuck you and your whore of a sister!” Mikey said as he got to his feet, ready to fight. Before either man could throw the first punch, Theo stepped around Joe and raised his pistol and fired a single shot. The bullet slammed into the bridge of Mikey’s nose, sending his brains and the back of his head all over the hallway. Theo didn’t say a word. He just turned and went back to Raina's side, leaving a wide-eyed Joe standing there stunned.
Theo picked Raina's limp form up and carried her back down to her apartment. He laid her down in her bed and went back to the kitchen to get a wet washcloth. When Raina finally regained consciousness, Theo was tenderly cleaning her wounds and tending to her every need. She still couldn’t see much or talk, so she just laid there and let him take care of her. Joe walked in with a sheepish look on his face,
“How’s she doing Snapper?”
“She’s pretty messed up Joe. That bastard really did a number on her. She's lucky we showed up when we did, or else she would likely be dead.”
“Yeah that's pretty much what I was thinking as well. I’m going to find her some meds and stuff to fix her up. Stay with her, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Joe said before turning and leaving the room. Theo heard the front door close as Joe left the apartment. He sighed and sat down on the floor next to Raina’s bed, where she seemed to be sleeping again. He would stay right by her side until she was better or until she made him leave. Theo sighed deeply,
“I won’t be going anywhere until you’re better. In fact, I’m going to take care of you until you are.” His mind made up, he continued cleaning the blood from her face and neck until her bruised, and battered skin was visible. She looked like a beaten MMA fighter. Both of her eyes were swollen shut, her nose was broken in multiple spots, her lips were split and her jaw was swollen from the few teeth Mikey had knocked out. She desperately needed a hospital, but that was not an option anymore. They would just have to make do and hope they came across a doctor or a nurse soon.
Several hours had passed before Joe finally made it back. He stumbled through the door holding a plastic grocery bag full of medical supplies. Theo jumped to his feet and ran over to get the bag but Joe shoved him to the floor and laughed.
“You little dumbass! You fall for it every time!” he said, slurring his words. Theo looked up at him with a disgusted look on his face.
“Are you seriously drunk right now? Raina has been laying here in pain all damn day and you’ve been out getting drunk!” Theo said as he got to his feet and stepped up to Joe.
“You’d be smart to get the hell out of my face Snapper!” Joe replied with a snarl, and then brought his hand up to push Theo’s face away from him. Theo had heard enough. Before Joe's hand touched his face, Theo quickly grabbed Joe by the wrist, ducking under it and twisting it up behind his back. Joe yelped as he felt the muscles and tendons stretch entirely too far for his comfort.
“Snapper if you don’t let go of…” He started, but Theo cranked down on his arm even harder,
“Shut the hell up Joe! I’m sick of your bullshit, and I’m sick of you treating your own damn sister and me like you’re better than us! You could have been back hours ago with this bag of supplies, you selfish bastard!” Theo was pissed. He could only take so much of Joe’s shit before he lost it and that line was extremely thin today. Theo kicked his right leg out into the bend of Joe’s right knee and sent him to the floor. The bag of supplies sailed through the air, scattering all over the floor, right as Joe’s hands flew up to try and break his fall. Theo picked up all the supplies and looked down at Joe,
“I’m going to get your sister’s wounds cleaned up and get some pain meds in her. If you’re going to continue to be a drunken asshole don’t even bother to come in here!” Theo spat, not giving Joe a chance to speak. He made it back to Raina’s room and heard Joe start snoring. He just shook his head and began working on Raina.
The next morning Theo was the first one up. He made his way to the kitchen where Joe still lay passed out on the floor. He grabbed the instant coffee and made himself a cup then started back toward Raina’s room. Before he got to the door, Joe’s tired voice spoke up.
“Hey Snapper, sorry about last night. That was uncalled for, but if you ever put your hands on me like that again, I’ll put a bullet in your head. Are we clear?” Theo ignored the idle threat and flipped Joe the bird as he walked through the bedroom door.
“Water…” Raina’s barely audible voice croaked when Theo stepped in. He rushed to her side and cracked open a bottle of water.
“Drink it slow. You’ll choke if you go too fast.” he said, bringing the bottle to her split lips. She took several sips of the water before laying her head back and letting out a soft whimper. Theo felt terrible for her. He could tell she was in a lot of pain and all that Joe had brought back was over the counter pain relievers. He knew those wouldn’t do very much at all to ease her pain. Joe stepped through the door and looked at his sister. Wincing he turned his head to look away. It was a gruesome sight to say the least.
“Hey sis, if you can hear me I just want you to know that I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help you before this all happened. I’ll never let it happen again Rainy. I love you sis. I’ll be back in a bit with some real pain meds for you. Just hold tight and let Theo know if y
ou need anything at all.”
“Yeah, I’ll be within arm’s reach in case you need anything.” Theo added as Joe left the room.
A couple of weeks had passed since Raina was almost killed and she was finally able to get up and do some things for herself now. Her face was still a bruised and swollen mess, but it was getting better every day. Joe and Theo were in the kitchen trying to put something together for breakfast when she came out of her room.
“Hey sis, how ya feeling this morning?” Joe asked as he grabbed three coffee mugs from the dish strainer.
“Better. I’m not ready to leave the house yet, but I will be in another day or two.” She replied in a raspy voice. The missing teeth and busted nose made it hard for her to sound like her normal self. Raina sat down next to Theo and forced a smile through her missing teeth and cracked lips. He wore his own rather large smile when he saw this. Joe was making gagging noises at them from his spot by the stove,
“Get a room you two!” he said between gags. Raina shot Joe a look like she was telling him to shut his mouth and he turned around and snickered.
“Alright, alright. You win.” he said, as he poured the powdered eggs into a skillet to cook on the little camping stove. After breakfast, Theo and Joe helped Raina to the bathroom so she could clean up. They started talking while they waited for her to finish up.
“So have you figured out when and how the three of us are going to take that bunker?” Theo asked.
"Obviously the three of us can't take it alone, dumbass," Joe said, slapping Theo upside the back of his head.
"Don’t be stupid." Theo spun on Joe and started to speak but was cut off immediately,
"I've let your little temper tantrums slide over the last two weeks, but you best not forget who the fuck you're talking to Snapper! Do you understand me? You're starting to get a little too big for your britches.” Joe said with a snarl. Theo stared back defiantly and was cut off again by a slap in the face,