After The Turn: Redemption

by Daniels, Melvin

  “My, my, my” he started “Don’t you look incredible” he looked her up and down “I hope you have been well looked after”

  “Y-y-yes” she answered nervously.

  He nodded his head pleased, then invited her over.

  “Come on in” he said Chloe didn’t move, just stood where she was, “Come on” he ordered forcibly.

  She reluctantly shuffled forward to the edge of the tub,

  “Get undressed” Jared demanded.

  Chloe shook her head, she was not expecting this when she arrived, she was off guard, she felt so week and powerless, she turned her head, to see how far away the door was, another two guards, dressed the same as the guy with the ponytail stepped from the shadows, to block her way. Jared laughed.

  “You aren’t going anywhere” He ordered authoritatively. Chloe turned back around, to find Jared pointing a pistol at here “Now get fucking undressed”

  She unbuckled her shoes, and threw them to one side, she slowly slid her dress off,

  trying to keep herself covered up best as she could, as she did so. She was so scared, she felt so stupid, so naïve. He was the pig she thought he was, she hated him with every inch of her body, but she was so helpless, she could see the gun, she could see the man behind the gun, she could see the eyes behind the man behind the gun, and somehow, she knew he would do it, without thinking twice, he would shoot her. She felt so backed into a corner, she had no choice, she took off her underwear and joined him in the tub.

  The water was so hot, it was uncomfortable on her exposed skin, the smell of chlorine was strong it was hurting her nose, her eyes began itching as he switched the bubbles on.

  “Good decision” Jared said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him.

  Putting his arm around her waist, he kissed her on the lips, she did not kiss him back, for good measure he pressed the gun into her stomach, she kissed him back.

  “Healy was a fool for giving you up” Jared said Chloe looked at him as he began on one of his monologues. “I expect your wondering what happened to our dear friend Healy hmm?” he didn’t let Chloe answer “Well, I can’t accept any disrespect or mutiny from anyone, it spreads to the others, like a cancer. So I took the painful decision, to execute him” he paused for effect “And it felt good” he laughed “I saw you up on that stage, tears in your eyes, and I thought wow. How did a feeble fuck like Healy get you?” he smirked “I really need to look at the auctioning system, maybe categorize the women, to how valued the man is? Then top pieces of ass like you don’t go to waste”

  Chloe wanted to snap at him, she was fighting so hard to tell him that Aiden was twice the man he will ever be, he never saw her as anything other than equal. She was feeling sick inside, Aiden had died because of her.

  “When, we created this great institution, we could never imagine how big we would become, before we separated into different classes of people, we would all just fight over what we wanted, with money and items. And we kept it that way, and I’m afraid it failed you” he took a deep breath “You would be better served with someone like, Nico or Thomas he pointed to his guards at the door, or..”

  “You?” she said

  “Me?” he laughed “Ha-ha. No, my poor girl not me, you’re not that high standard, I already have a pair of Irish sisters, don’t put yourself in their bracket”

  Chloe was disgusted, this man was a pig, he could take what he wants from whoever he wanted. He was about to kiss her again, when the door flung open, and in rushed Becky. Urgently as if she were bearing important news, she trotted up to the hot tub, pushing the guards out the way.

  Jared stared at her contempt in his glare.

  “Brother” Becky said “I have important news”

  Jared scoffed

  “You can’t just barge in here; I am currently indisposed. Did Dominic not tell you I have a guest?”

  It had just occurred to Chloe that Jared talks about his inner circle, or the higher class as he had mentioned earlier, with their first names. Instead of belittling the people, by using only their family name.

  “He did, yes” Becky spat “But this can’t wait”

  Jared shrugged his shoulders, “Well get your clothes off and join us, we can talk about it in here”

  “Your disgusting” Becky exclaimed “I’m your sister!”

  “No, you are not!” Jared replied dismissively “What is it you need to tell me with your filthy skank mouth?”

  Becky sighed. “Galahad is back, something happened”

  Jared suddenly stood up, he was wearing blue swimming trunks, the water poured off them into the tub.

  “Again? What happened?” he ordered, concern spreading across him, he started to climb out of the pool.

  “I don’t know” Becky answered “Only McCormack made it back, he is frightened about something, you need to go see him”

  Jared grabbed a towel, threw it around himself, hurriedly.

  “Thomas, please take this woman back to her quarters, Nico come with me” he ordered,

  Jared stormed off, not giving Becky a second glance as he did so, towel still around him, Nico, a short muscly man in tow.

  Thomas looked away as Chloe got out of the water and got herself a towel. When she was safely covered up, he walked over to her,

  “Come with me” he barked

  Chloe looked frightened, she was naked, this man could over-power her with ease, and she was convinced it would be applauded within the inner circle, she shied away from him as he approached. Becky moved between them.

  “I’ll take her from here” Becky commanded, giving him a look of disgust “No way am I letting you anywhere near her”

  Thomas stepped back, allowing Becky to take Chloe away. She collected up her clothes and hurried towards the door, she spoke under breath.

  “We need to go quickly”

  “Go?” Chloe asked, “Go where?”

  “Away, anywhere, you go tonight”

  27

  Chloe and Becky packed frantically, throwing everything they could find of use into a rucksack, clothes, a torch, batteries, food. Chloe paused for a moment, then stuffed the black dress and shoes in, not practical but she loved the feel of them on her. They made her feel normal once more.

  She opened a wardrobe, it was full of Aiden’s clothes, the guilt coming over her once more. He had died for her, and he did not deserve too. But on the other hand, she thought, she had to escape, so he did not die for nothing, he died for her freedom, and inadvertently the freedom of Lara a few days beforehand.

  “No time to dwell” Becky said to Chloe, we need to get going I’m not sure how much time we have”

  They continued to pack. But the logistics were not adding up in her mind surely Jared would realise that she is missing.

  “What happens when they find I am gone?” she asked quizzically “And what happened to McCormack?”

  “What will happen is Thomas will get the blame” she began “My brother ordered him to take you back here, we are going to make It look as if he attacked you”

  Chloe did not understand how this would be possible. How could they manage this?

  with no time on their hands? And how were they going to get out anyway?

  “Dominic” she said “Dominic is going to drug Thomas; he will then bring his body here where he will stage it as If he assaulted you or had attempted to. You hit him and fled in terror”

  Becky checked to see if Chloe was understanding what she was being told.

  “Dominic” she began again “Is a good man, he is loyal to me and my mother”

  “Your mother?” Chloe asked

  “Yes, she is the leader of the Knights, back in Andover itself” she paused for a breath

  “This whole outpost was to get my brother out of the way, I am supposed to keep an eye on him. He has taking this leadership the wrong way, he things he is a king or something”

  Chloe was interested in this new dynamic she was learning about.

>   “Our elder brother, Mark, he was sent off, on a crusade they called it. Jared hated it he wanted to be the hero, to try and restore order to the world. So, mother compromised and gave him this place to run as he saw fit”

  There was a knock at the door. They both froze. Becky motioned for Chloe to move out of sight of the door, as she crept forward to answer. She pulled the door back slightly just to peer around, it was Dominic. He told her it was done, Thomas was downstairs, that was where the assault was to be staged.

  “Where’s the dress?” Dominic asked.

  Becky looked to Chloe, she reluctantly took it back out of the bag and handed it to him, “I’m sorry ma’am” he said and tore it right in front of her “I need to make it look convincing” he then exited the room.

  Addressing Chloe’s other question Becky told her what McCormack had told him, his team, were all hunted down, and their bodies were left hanging from trees, their limbs removed. Chloe thought to herself not even an asshole like McCormack deserved that.

  Chloe rooted through her drawer in the middle of the cabinet. She took out some pieces of paper, including that of the escape plan. As she lifted it out, she saw something glitter in the drawer. She picked it up, it was a necklace, Sarah’s necklace. She gave it to her the day they were separated, to remember her by. Oh my god she thought Sarah

  “What happened to Sarah?” Chloe asked Becky hopefully “Where is she?”

  Becky did not know who she was talking about

  “The other woman I came in with. I haven’t seen her since”

  “I don’t know, but they keep all the information on the women and who they are owned by and where they are situated in Jared’s office, I will find out for you, but now you need to go”

  But she could not go just yet, something else was worrying her, she pushed out of the room, and banged on McCormack’s door,

  “Aubree! Aubree!” she called but she did not get any answer.

  Chloe had not realised that McCormack had been gone and it had been for days longer than he was expected to, and she had not checked on Aubree.

  She ran back into Becky.

  “Aubree, next door. How long has she been alone in there?”

  “I’ve been checking in on her, she is ok” Becky assured her.

  “She’s coming with me, I promised her I would take her with me!” she panicked. Becky tried to calm her down.

  “She is pregnant, she is in no state to travel” Becky told her “You need to go now”

  “She is just a child herself; she is not safe here. None of us are” Chloe said assertively.

  Becky told her to be quiet, she needed to get going, she had enough supplies to last her for a while. But not with two people, and especially one in Aubree’s position. Becky shepherded her back out. Chloe made one last attempt at Aubree’s door, she banged on it hard.

  “Aubree, if you can hear me, I will come back for you I promise”

  With this Becky pulled her away, and took her downstairs, where Dominic was finishing off arranging the communal room for the fake assault. And out the back garden, it was cold, the sun had long since set and the chill of the night was upon them. They paced up the path around a few bushes and hedges, to where Aiden had begun digging a while ago now. There was a figure hunched down, shovel in his hand.

  “How’s it going Keith?” Becky asked, “Nearly there?”

  Keith Davison had a bit of a problem, he was quite a large man, and he struggled to get into the hole that he was digging, to try to get through to the other side of the fence, the outer perimeter of the camp, about eight foot high, with razor wire around the top.

  “Nearly” he said “Just coming through the over end, dirt keeps piling in on me”

  Becky pulled the man up and jumped in herself, and started tunnelling, but she was running out of room herself as the dirt kept falling on top of her, Chloe could see they needed to make the hole wider slightly and started burrowing like a rabbit with her fingers. Keith joined in.

  Suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, they all stopped, a twig snapped. They were going to be seen for sure. Chloe scurried towards a hedge, as the person approached them.

  “Everything ok Keith?”

  There was a joint, audible gasp of relief from the three of them, it was Dominic who had found them.

  “The perimeter patrol is on the way around; you need to hurry” he had noticed Chloe on the floor and helped her to his feet “Here you go ma’am”

  “We are through” Becky declared from the hole. Chloe darted to the fence, with her rucksack. She hugged both Dominic and Keith and thanked them so much for their help and jumped into the hole. She tried squeezing through, but her rucksack caught on the fence as she forced herself, if she kept going, she would get stuck. She shuffled backwards, and took it off,

  “Allow me ma’am” Dominic offered his assistance, and tossed the bag over the fence, she thanked him once more and headed off through the opening.

  “You need to go through the field, head towards a gate, that will take you out onto a narrow cinder track that goes away from here. Towards a little village called Little London” Becky gestured with her hands, “Be careful, there is a small checkpoint there, stay down and stay quiet, head through the woods and your be ok” she held Chloe by the shoulders. “Are you armed?”

  Chloe nodded and showed her a kitchen knife she had taken from the communal kitchen on the way through the house. Becky nodded in acknowledgment before fiddling in her pocket.

  “Take this” she said revealing a handgun “It’s loaded, do you know how it works?”

  Chloe trembled as she took it from her “Yes” she lied.

  “Ok, I am going back now, we will put something light over the hole this end you will need to move it, if you need to come back, if you run into trouble” Becky jumped back into the hole “Good luck” she said.

  Chloe was now alone outside the walls of the camp, she could hear the perimeter patrol coming, she needed to get to the treeline at the other end of the field, her night vision was coming into effect and she could see quite well, even though the moon was hidden behind the clouds.

  She crouched as she ran forwards, through the long grass, the dirt hard under her feet, she was thankfully it had not been too wet the days prior otherwise getting through this field would be tricky. Suddenly behind her she could see the glow of a torch, scanning the field, she instinctively dived down. The long grass shielding her from view. She stayed still did not dare to move, she could hear them clearly now, laughing and joking amongst themselves. At best guess she thought there were four of them.

  She lay waiting for them to pass when she heard.

  “Look over there”

  She was terrified, had they seen her? She was trying to control her breathing, she did not want to have a full-on panic attack, she had suffered with them throughout childhood, and she had never been as scared as she was right now.

  “Yeah I see it”

  The sound of a bullet being fired, echoed through the night sky. Birds flew from their nests. Chloe realised she was not being shot at, nearby one of the undead was meandering through the field, they had seen it and took it down. Undoubtably the noise would bring more of them, she began to crawl forwards, quickly. With her elbows and knees. She was nearly there. The patrol was arguing amongst themselves. Angry that someone had fired and could potentially put the encampment at risk. She heard another gun shot as expected another of the dead had stood up from the grass, attracted to the noise. She picked up her pace, through the long grass, trying to stay in the correct direction.

  She pushed through the grass, but then she felt something. It was a shoe. The thing it was attached to growled, woken from its daze. It sat up, its teeth chattering, the moon had broken from the clouds the light reflected in the lifeless eyes. It saw her, gnarling and snapping at her. It moved towards her, she tried to stop it coming. As she touched it, its skin peeled off from the bone. She struggled for her knife, whilst trying to hold t
his thing back, she fiddled in her jean pocket, it was stuck, she tugged and tugged on it, this thing was pushing and pushing against her. She was literally fighting for her life, whilst this beast was trying to eat her, she pulled and pulled. Drool dripped onto her hands as she held it back. Finally, the knife was free.

  She ploughed the blade into the dead things head, it desisted trying to eat her instantly, as if someone had flicked a switch. Behind her the patrol had backed off, so she got back into a crouch. She could feel the air, through her jeans. She put her hand on them and noticed a large cut on the material, from where she had struggled with the knife. She did not realise how sharp the blade was, and she was mightily relieved it had not been in her pocket the other way around, where she would have slashed her skin. Feeling rather fortunate for herself. She took one look behind her and raced towards the trees, and onto the cinder track, and hopefully to freedom.

  28

  Marcus eased the pick-up to a stop, and killed the music, Motorhead was his choice today, his truck, his music, Overkill, not the Ace of spades album that most people would have associated, he had all of them. He had been singing along happily and loudly to the track Capricorn when they came to the gridlock of abandoned vehicles. The road was blocked, which was the way things appeared to be done these days, so they knew they must be close to the place the mysterious stranger had mentioned. It was early morning; the sun was still coming up. There was a banging on the top of the cab. The three of them inside, instinctively looked up at the racket. Alex hopped over the side of the load bay and walked alongside the driver’s side window. SA80 over his shoulder.

  “Nice morning for a stroll” Alex chuckled “We should leave the truck and walk from here; we must be close by”

  “We didn’t see a signpost?” Hannah leaned forward so she could see Alex.

  “They’ve cut the signs down sweetheart” Alex laughed