Twenty-Two
The older woman’s lips pressed together. “You two know each other?”
“We fell into the same trap,” I said not bothering to go into any more detail. Neither Wendy nor Veronica needed to know that I’d been traveling with Kellan to Winnipeg.
“Jesus, Gwen,” Kellan said turning to look at me. His eyes glowed in the darkness like bike reflectors. “I thought you were dead.”
“Might be better she was,” Veronica said with a shrug. “Sorry, it’s the truth. It’s the truth for all of us.”
I looked into Kellan’s eyes ignoring Veronica. “What is this place?”
“I don’t know,” Kellan said. “I’ve been here since they took me. They were both here before me.”
I turned to Wendy. “Was there anyone here before you?”
She looked upward as if she had heard a noise. Wendy waited a long moment before opening her mouth.
“There was another woman here,” Wendy said in a raspy whisper. “They came for her one day and she never returned.”
“Did you ask what happened to her?” I asked.
“I did,” Wendy said.
Veronica suddenly turned back into a scared cat as she curled up into herself. “They gave Wendy a black eye.”
“And this,” Wendy said pointing to what looked like a scar on her wrist. “We’re not allowed to talk and we’re definitely not allowed to ask questions.”
“We shouldn’t be talking now,” Veronica said wrapping her arms around her thin body. “I don’t want to be punished.”
“Punished?” I asked.
Veronica and Wendy shared a long glance. “If you do something they don’t like, you get punished.”
“What kind of punishment?” I asked.
“See that?” Wendy said pointing to the ceiling. Her finger moved across the top stopping at the side wall. There was a metal bar attached to the ceiling and a curtain that hung down. It had been pushed to the side. “And over there.” She pointed at the opposite wall. “Every section of the basement can be closed off. We can’t see what happens when the curtain is closed.”
I swallowed hard. “Have either of you been punished?”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the answer. My heart raced from the fear that coursed through my veins. Maybe I was better off trapped in the pit.
Veronica’s eyes turned dark and he skin whitened. She turned her back to us.
Wendy nodded, her eyes glued to Veronica. She gave me a little shrug before her shoulders lowered. It was something that neither of them were willing to talk about and it was probably better than I didn’t know. If I let panic take over, it would cloud my thinking, and I didn’t want that. I needed to get out… away. Nick was still out there and maybe Bronx was too.
There was a noise at the door at the top of the stairs. It squeaked out a squeal that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
I looked up and watched as Donna stepped into view. Her thick dress barely moved as she descended the stairs carrying a cardboard box.
There was a gun in a holster on her hip. If she came close enough while she was carrying that box, I could grab her gun. I could get it.
Donna set the box down on the floor. She picked out a smaller box and set it down next to the bigger one.
“Hungry?” she asked Wendy in a soft voice.
Wendy simply nodded and Donna kicked the smaller box. It scraped the floor noisily as it made its way over to her, stopping just a foot away from her.
Wendy reached forward and pulled it back as if she was afraid Donna would take back the offering. Donna did the same to Veronica before looking in my direction.
“Hungry?” she asked.
“Yes, thanks,” I said and the woman stared at me.
Donna shook her head. “We don’t speak.”
“But you asked me a question,” I said and her cheeks reddened more with each word I spoke.
“I’ll let it go because you didn’t know the rules but we don’t speak, even if spoken to,” Donna said. “You answer with a nod or a shake of your head. So, are you hungry?”
I wanted to answer her. The tense muscles in my jaw tightened making it feel like I had steel rods in my neck. I nodded and the box slid in my direction.
Donna turned her attention to Kellan and before she could ask, he nodded. She slid the box over to him and stood.
“Anyone need to use the bathroom?” she asked.
I looked around trying to understand what exactly using the bathroom would entail. There wasn’t a room, nor was there a toilet. The only thing I saw was a pail next to the bottom of the stairs.
Donna looked at Wendy first and waited for her nod or shake. Neither Wendy nor Veronica needed to use the bathroom. I didn’t even want to think about it because if I did, I’d have to go and going in a bucket was about the last thing I wanted to do.
The woman turned to Kellan and to my surprise, he nodded. She picked up the bucket, taking several steps in his direction. Donna stopped about six feet away from him and set down the bucket.
“Go,” she said.
Kellan stood and turned his back as best as he could from where he was. Donna turned sideways barely giving him any privacy. When he finished using the bucket, she gestured for him to back away.
He held up his hands and took two steps back. Kellan laid down on the ground with his back to me, curling one leg up toward his body.
Donna hesitated for a moment before she took a careful step toward the bucket. Her hand shook as she reached out for the handle.
Her hand stopped about a foot away. “You’re supposed to go back. All the way back.”
Kellan didn’t say anything. He was following the rules.
Donna waited but he didn’t move. She drew in a shaky breath as she turned toward the closed door at the top of the stairs. She took another step toward the bucket.
As Donna reached down, Kellan’s foot became a blur as it swiftly slid across the floor toward Donna’s feet. It moved so quickly, it seemed as she didn’t know what was happening. The force behind his leg knocked her to the floor.
Donna’s eyes widened as Kellan twisted and spun toward her. She gasped as he reached out his hands toward her. He looped his arms around her chest and yanked her back.
Kellan reached for the gun but it was gone. The small gun was in Donna’s shaking hand. She half-twisted and aimed the gun.
My heart stopped beating. At least it felt that way.
The end of the gun wasn’t aimed at Kellan it was aimed at me. Her hand shook wildly but there was no doubt in my mind that she would pull the trigger if she had to. Maybe not because she wanted to but maybe it was because she had her own set of rules to follow.
“I’ll do it,” Donna said.
I remembered how she’d watched and obeyed Lyle as we walked away from the pit. It hadn’t seemed like a normal relationship.
“Let me go,” Donna said.
Kellan swung his arms over the woman almost instantly. She gasped sharply as she backed away and turned the gun on him.
Donna grabbed the bucket, breathing heavily as she poured it down the drain and set it back in the exact same spot it had been in. She grabbed the cardboard box and inhaled deeply before calmly proceeding up the stairs.
The door closed and my entire body shook as the noise echoed through the room.
“Fuck!” Kellan muttered as he hit his fist into his thigh. He turned to me, his glassy eyes glowing. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?” I asked.
“Everything,” Kellan said.
I shook my head. “What were you going to do even if you got the gun? There are at least two people up there. How were you going to get past them? Not to mention were locked up.”
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Kellan said.
“If we’re going to get out, we’re going to do it right,” I said.
“There’s no way out,” Wendy said.
I c
ocked my head to the side. “You know what’s up there?”
“I do. I saw it when they brought me here,” Wendy said.
“Well, what’s up there?” I asked. Kellan’s eyes opened with interest.
Wendy glanced up at the door before wringing her hands together. “It’s some kind of base or something. There are like four houses up there and we’re at the bottom of a shed.”
“What is this place,” I wondered out loud.
“Some kind of compound,” Kellan mumbled. “Do you know if the other buildings are occupied?”
Wendy shook her head. “No idea. I’ve only ever seen the three of them. The man and the two women.”
“Lyle, Donna, and Marie?” I asked.
Wendy shrugged. “How do you know their names?”
“I asked them. I told them mine and they gave me theirs,” I said with a shrug. “Lyle didn’t seem all that happy about it though.”
“He’s in charge,” Wendy said stating what had seemed obvious.
“Does he ever come down here?” I asked.
Wendy shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re planning but there is only one way out of this room.”
“I have an idea,” I said. “How much longer until they come down again?”
Wendy looked at Veronica who seemed to be covering her ears. It seemed as though she was done with the conversation.
“It’s hard to be sure,” Kellan said scratching the thick stubble on his chin. “I guess about six hours.”
“Once in the morning and then again at night maybe,” I said.
Kellan nodded. “Maybe. What are you planning to do?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. It was the only thing I could think of to try because after what Kellan had just attempted there was no way Donna would be coming close to any of us again.
I set my box of food aside. If I was going to force it to come back up, I would want to wait a few hours before eating.
I looked at Kellan and put my hands on my stomach. “Ugh,” I groaned. “I’m not feeling so good.”
Twenty-Three
It had been the first time in my life I had to stick my fingers down my throat and make myself throw up. When I heard noises at the top of the stairs, I laid down next to my vomit and waited as I sucked in short quick breaths.
I’d been forcing myself to do as many jumping jacks as I could to build up a sweat. There were a few times I thought I was about to pass out which I couldn’t quite decide if that would be a good thing or not. I wanted to appear sick… very sick.
My eyelids were half closed. I could see that it wasn’t Donna coming down the stairs, it was Marie. Maybe Donna’s incident with Kellan had scared her. Or maybe the two of them always took turns coming down.
Marie was carrying the same box Donna had brought down earlier. She asked Wendy if she was hungry first and then asked Veronica. When she got to me, I didn’t answer.
“Hey,” Marie said barely raising her voice. There was a long pause. “Gwen?” It seemed as though she’d been trying to remember my name. “Are you hungry?”
I didn’t nod. I didn’t shake.
She took a step closer. Donna hadn’t told them what happened. Marie hadn’t been warned because if she had been, she wouldn’t have even taken a step away from the safety of the bottom of the stairs.
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked as she covered her nose. She looked over at Wendy. “What’s wrong with her?”
Wendy shrugged.
“You may answer,” Marie said but Wendy’s eyes still showed her fear.
“Sick,” Wendy said keeping her answer short. Maybe she wanted to be able to dismiss it as a cough if she needed to.
“Hmm,” Marie said. She backed away to the stairs and proceeded to ask Kellan if he was hungry.
Had I failed? A tear leaked out of the corner of my eye and dropped down onto the concrete floor as Marie headed up the stairs.
“Gwen?” Kellan whispered.
I couldn’t answer. There wasn’t anything I could do to stop the tears from falling. I’d failed them. I’d failed Kellan and I’d failed myself.
My hands covered my face and my shoulders shook. I pulled my legs closer to my body and I let my failure pour out of my every pore.
Every muscle in my body loosened. It felt as though I didn’t have a single bone in my body.
The door at the top of the stairs creaked and I saw six feet standing at the top of the stairs. There were hushed whispers and I secretly wiped away my tears.
Lyle came down first with his gun in hand. Marie was behind him and Donna was nervously at her heels.
I should have done more jumping jacks but maybe the tears would give me the same sweaty, deathly look I’d hoped the beads of sweat had given me.
“Dear Lord,” Lyle said covering his mouth at the stench as he took another step toward me. He held up his hand for Donna and Marie to stay back as he continued his approach with his gun in hand. “Girl?”
I assumed I was ‘girl’ and that he was talking to me. I released a groan that came out of my sour stomach.
“We need to clean this up,” Lyle said. “This can’t stay like this. It’s putrid. It’s disgusting.”
“What about the girl?” Marie asked with no emotion in her voice.
Lyle kicked me with his dirty boot as if making sure I was still alive. I let my body rock back for a moment before gently rolling back into place.
“It’s all over her,” he said. He grumbled as he gestured for Donna and Marie to come over. He held his gun up alternating who he pointed it at. “Get her up.”
They both nodded and obeyed his order. They worked together to lift me and I didn’t do a single thing to make it easy for them. I played my part well. So well that Molly would have been impressed.
“Get her up and then come back down here and clean this up,” Lyle said as he followed us up the stairs.
I groaned and stumbled at the top of the stairs. I started to fall but the women managed to catch me.
It was a shed. I didn’t manage a good look but there were shovels, brooms, even an old rusted lawnmower.
Donna pushed open the door and it felt like the darkness was swallowing me whole. I couldn’t see much around us except for shadows that could have been buildings. One of them had candles in the windows. That was the building Donna and Marie were leading me to.
I looked back over my shoulder. Lyle was clicking a padlock into place. He tucked the key into the front pocket of his shirt, and I quickly turned away before he could see me looking his way.
I needed to get that key but all three of them were armed and I didn’t know how many more people were around. The other buildings were dark but that didn’t mean they weren’t occupied and of course there could be others inside the lit up house.
What had I gotten myself into? More importantly how the hell was I going to get myself out of it? I’d come up with the plan to get out of the basement and apparently it had worked but beyond that, I hadn’t devised a plan.
They led me into the house and straight up the stairs. I didn’t get a chance to look around. The only thing I saw was the pristine wooden stairs as the pure white paint on the walls around me.
Lyle hadn’t followed us up the stairs. He closed the door and flipped a lock.
I gasped so sharply it caused me to have a coughing fit which surely would help my story. Especially because I was coughing so hard it pained my raw throat that had been stained with my stomach acid.
They carried me into a bathroom that had been so cleaned it appeared as though it hadn’t ever been used. Marie grabbed a long towel from the cabinet and placed it on the floor.
“Undress,” she said pointing at the towel. I shook my head weakly. “Take off your clothing.”
I had understood her the first time, it was just that I hadn’t wanted an audience. “Privacy?” I asked. “Please.”
The women exchanged a quick glance. Marie shook her head. “I’m sorry but that’s no
t possible.”
“Turn around?” I asked.
And Marie rolled her eyes as if it had been a bizarre request. They both obliged and I took my clothes off forcing my body to shiver as I wrapped my arms around myself.
“Get in the tub,” Marie said.
I gripped the edge of the tub with my fingers pretending that I was struggling to get inside. Donna rolled my clothes into the towel that had been on the floor and held them away from her body.
“I’ll get her some fresh clothes,” Donna said. “Lyle will probably want me to burn these.”
“Go fast. Don’t dawdle,” Marie said picking up a jug of water. She handed me a pump bottle of hand soap. “Wash up.”
It wasn’t like there was much I could do naked in the tub and on the second floor of their home. I might have been in a worse position than I had been tied up below their shed. Why had there been that room below the shed in the first place? It wasn’t like that had been constructed after the red sky for the purpose of capturing people. Maybe they’d been capturing people long before the end of the world. If that were true, then they were experts and I was going to have a harder time than I thought getting away.
Marie splashed the water on me until all the soap from my hair dripped down the drain. She handed me a clean towel just as Donna came back into the room.
“Dry off,” Marie said as if she thought I had no idea how to bathe myself. She spread another clean towel on the floor. Marie didn’t want me contaminating their space.
I held the towel up in front of my body. “I don’t feel good.”
“Are you going to throw up again?” Marie asked.
“I don’t know,” I said knowing full well I wasn’t going to.
“I’ll get a pail,” Donna said opening the small closet door.
I sat down on the edge of the tub. “I really need to lie down.”
“Okay,” Marie said. “Let’s get her dressed and onto one of the beds. We’re going to have to scour this room and the cellar, why not add another room to the list?”
“Lyle said he can’t do anything with a sick girl,” Donna whispered as they led me out of the bathroom. The words hadn’t been intended for my ears but I’d heard them, nonetheless.
Yellow Heat - A Post-Apocalyptic Novel (The Red Sky Series Book 6) Page 11