by Morris, SJ
A massive dark shape of a man blocked out one of the lights. I figured it was this Ben guy that started coming closer. I couldn’t tell what he had, but his arm was raised high above me when he got to my side. I tried to struggle, but I was tied so tightly that every move I made caused unbearable pain.
Then, the ice-cold water hit me right in the face. It kept coming, and I tried to rock my mouth to catch some air, but the water was all around my head. I felt as if I was drowning, and then it stopped suddenly.
I coughed up as much water as I could, but being on my back, it was difficult to get it all out. At that moment, I felt as if I was going to die. My children’s faces, laughing, and having fun together flashed in my brain, and then I was being lifted on my side. The entire bed I was tied to was raised, and someone hit me hard in the chest. I coughed up the rest of the water, and the bed or whatever I was tied to was put back down.
“So, darlin’, is your mouth washed out enough? I would hate for Ben to have to do that again. He likes to get carried away, and sometimes he doesn’t stop when he should.”
I coughed and rasped through my words, but I got them out, “You’re going to have to kill me... I will never... help you.” I spit as hard as I could in the direction the voice was coming from, and by his reaction, I’d hit my target.
“You fucking bitch! I offer you a way to save what family you have left, along with your friends and you spit in my face. You will learn to have some respect for my men and me, or you’ll pay dearly. Ryan, cut her pants and shirt off. I want to show our little pistol here what kind of pain she’s going to feel, should she not go along with our plan.”
It didn’t matter what pain I felt. I was fighting these despicable men no matter what they did to me. I tried to kick and scream, but all I got was the sock back in my mouth. My clothes were cut off, and thanks to my fighting, I got clipped with the knife that was used to remove them a couple of times.
“I think we should be formally introduced before we get to the fun stuff. Ben, can you get the lights, please?”
The lights were, one by one, turned to face the ground, and I could finally see the room, as well as the men that shared it with me. It looked like an old basement. The floor was cement and there was only one window high up on the wall. I saw the stairs that I assumed led up to the house, and there was one of those big slanted metal doors that led outside on the other wall.
I also saw four large men in dark fatigues with huge smiles on their faces. They were genuinely enjoying torturing me. There was no way I could let these men anywhere near my family. I closed my eyes and promised myself that either all of these men would die here, or I would die trying to make that happen.
“I’m Captain Liam Huntington, and I’ll lead your little ragtag group of survivors at the cabin when we get there. This here, is my second in command, Benjamin Jackson. Over there, is Ryan Owens, my weapons and explosives expert. He’s going to have some fun making you want to work with us. Last, but certainly not least, is Carson Whitmore, my technical specialist. He just loves all the little gadgetry in your watch. He was even happier to take it apart and destroy the GPS chip inside,” he laughed again, making my skin crawl. “Aw, I’m sorry, sweetie. Did I just crush your hopes of being rescued? Sorry, pumpkin, not going to happen.”
His words almost crushed me. I hadn’t really thought about it, but it would have been nice if they didn’t find the watch at all. But then I remembered, they took most of my clothes and everything else I had on me. Why wouldn’t they have taken my watch?
Yet, I still held out hope that we were close enough to the address Jake said he was at, so Chris could come looking for me. I just had to stay alive long enough for that to happen.
I motioned my head in a manner that portrayed I was ready to talk, and Liam removed the sock, “Okay. I’ll do what you ask. I’ll take you to the cabin like you said.”
Tears were streaming down the side of my face because, with the look in this man’s eyes, I realized I was not going to get out of this in one piece, no matter how much bullshit I fed him.
“Oh, don’t cry. It’ll all be okay, just like I said. If you do this for me, no one will get hurt. I must ask, though, why the quick turn around? Did you think we wouldn’t find your tracking device?”
“I just want to keep my family safe. That’s all.”
“Sure, you do. We’ll still have to show you a little preview of what’s to come if you decide that you’re going to try and cross us, though. You do know that, right? We’ll call it a lesson. Like I said, you have to be taught some respect.”
With those words, Ryan came back with his knife and started slowly dragging it up my leg, towards my face, and around my neck.
“Remember what I said, Ryan. You can’t cut up her face. If you do, the people at the cabin will suspect something. Make sure you keep your lessons where no one will see them. Oh, and put the sock back in her mouth. I don’t want her screams to attract any zombies that may be in the woods. The ones her friends didn’t already take care of for us that is!” He laughed as a huge smile crossed his face.
Liam turned and walked casually up the stairs. The other two followed him, leaving me alone with the terrifying Ryan and his knives, which I saw were laid out nicely on a black cloth that looked like it was made of velvet. What a creep.
Ryan walked around the bed a few times, tapping his huge bowie knife on the metal bed frame as he went. The second lap around the bed, he put all of the lights back up, so they were shining in my face, and I could no longer see him unless he passed in front of them.
“I don’t want you to know I’m coming. It’ll add to the suspense and thrill of it all,” Ryan said as if he was reading my mind.
“You’re a sick fuck, you know that?”
“Yeah, we are who we are. I don’t question that. I also know that I’m going to have a lot of fun with you. Don’t worry, though, I’ll listen to Liam and make sure that pretty face of yours is safe.”
Ryan sat on a metal chair with one of the lights behind him and began to hum as he sharpened his knife. He swiped his blade up and down to the beat of his humming as I mentally prepared myself for what was to come.
He moved the chair a little closer to me and then began to sharpen again. He did this until he was right next to me, where I could smell his rank breath. Ryan continued to hum, louder now, as he dragged the knife up from my hip and into my armpit. He went up and down and pushed a little harder with each pass. He was using the back of his knife to toy with me, and it was working.
Ryan didn’t put the sock back in my mouth like Liam had said, but he leaned in close to my face, keeping his eyes locked with mine. He looked like he knew I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of screaming if I could help it.
He smiled, backed away from me, and twirled the knife in his palm so that now the blade was facing my skin. He wiped the blade with a white cloth that was covered in dark stains. “This will give it an extra little kick,” Ryan said as he hummed some more.
Once he was done rubbing the knife thoroughly, he touched the edge of the blade to my hip. That was when I felt it pierce my skin. He dragged the knife up the same path he had before, but slower and the blade sliced through my soft skin like a hot knife through butter.
His humming was loud now. The pain felt like a scalpel searing my flesh, so I closed my eyes and mustered all of the strength I had left, refusing to make a noise.
I heard a quiet whoosh of air. Ryan’s humming, as well as the burning sensation, suddenly stopped.
I opened my eyes and saw nothing but the light in my eyes. Ryan was no longer in his chair, that much I was sure of, but since I couldn’t see him, I had no idea where he had gone.
That, in a way, was far worse than the scorch of the knife or his damn humming.
I closed my eyes again, just waiting for him to start cutting in another spot on my body like he promised he would. Instead, I felt a warm hand caress the side of my face as my hands and feet were cut
free.
Confused, I opened my eyes, and there was Chris, Tom, and Reed. Chris wrapped me in a blanket as Tom padded to the stairs, leading up into the house.
Reed was looking out of the metal basement door that was open, letting in the fresh night air. Chris sat me up slowly and looked me over. I looked at the floor, and there was Ryan. He was unmoving, his eyes still wide with fear, and his own knife sticking from the side of his neck.
I’d never been so happy to see someone die before, but I was only doing the happy dance in my head since I was still getting the feeling back in my arms and legs.
“We have to get the rest of them. They went upstairs a few minutes ago, and we can’t let them anywhere near the cabin,” I whispered as quietly as I could, without bursting into tears like I wanted to.
Tom slowly walked up the stairs and out of sight. I heard the door click open and then closed. A few moments later, Tom came back down the stairs with a calm look on his face.
“I don’t think they know we’re here yet, and there’s no one in the kitchen outside this door,” Tom said, motioning his head towards the stairs.
Chris whispered, “Let’s get Abby back to the truck with John, Harry, and Reed to keep an eye on her. Then, we go in and get rid of these assholes. We can’t risk having them show up at the cabin.”
Chris got me up and grabbed my leather gear and boots that had been tossed in the corner of the room. He helped me up the basement stairs where they had entered and led me to the black van that was parked under the cover of trees and darkness.
I must have been knocked out for a long time since it was now night. I didn’t see any other vehicles, which worried me, but John, Harry, and Reed were in the van. I’d already seen Tom and Chris, but where was Dan, Justin, and Mark?
“Where are the others? Where are the other trucks?” I asked Chris as he set me in the back of the van softly.
“They’re fine. They have the other two trucks down the road. We didn’t know how many to expect when we came to get you, so we wanted to be as stealthy as possible, and the van is quieter than the Jeep. Plus, it’s black, so it is easier to hide.”
“Oh, thank goodness they’re okay. I’m sorry I let this happen, Chris,” I said as I let my head fall with shame.
“Oh no, you don’t, Abby. This is not at all your fault. These monsters planned the whole thing. They ran into Jake as they themselves were heading to the cabin. They found out through Jake, that Tom and I were already there. They knew I’d never let them in. Somehow, they found out that I knew what they did on their extra missions. They came up with the plan to kidnap you, get rid of us and take over the cabin. You could never have known what would happen. I, for one, am just glad you’re okay, but now I have to go clean house and get rid of the other three dirtbags. I’ll be right back.”
With that, Chris pulled out of the van and closed the back door quietly. Harry was in the driver’s seat, John was in the passenger, and Reed was in the back with me.
He started to ask me where I was hurt the most as he pulled out a first aid kit, but I couldn’t think of the words to answer him. Everything started to get dark, and the world began to spin. I felt nauseous, but I couldn’t seem to move my hands to my stomach to comfort myself.
I couldn’t move my arms or put together words at all. Something was very wrong.
The last thing I remembered was hearing gunshots and the van starting up. After that, I was enveloped in black.
Chapter 18
I blinked, but there was nothing but black all around me. I could tell I was still in the back of the van because I felt the hard metal floor underneath me and the rocking motion of the vehicle moving.
I reached out to my right and felt the bench seat where I remember Reed being just seconds ago. Or was it longer? I realized that I must have blacked out again.
I tried to feel around, but I was dizzy, and the van was moving so quickly, the rocking motion was throwing me off balance even more. I tried to talk, but my mouth was dry and wow, was I thirsty. I felt like I could drink a gallon of water without stopping to breathe. I was still in my underwear and t-shirt from when I was tied up at the farmhouse. The blanket Chris covered me in was crumpled up at my feet.
Even with the minimal amount of clothes I had on, I was boiling and sweating profusely. Then, it hit me. I was sore all over, I was extremely thirsty, and I was running a fever.
Shit.
I jumped up immediately to let Reed and the others know that I might be infected but was met by a massive pair of arms, throwing me back to the floor of the van.
I put my hands out in front of me to brace myself, and they slipped, causing me to slide, face first, to the floor, into something wet and cold.
A light clicked on in front of me, and I saw it was a flashlight that happened to be attached to an enormous rifle aimed directly at my head.
I looked down at my hands and saw I was covered in bright red blood. I screamed and backed up into the doors of the van as far as I could go. The person holding the gun on me lowered it enough for me to see his face in the glow of the flashlight, and it wasn’t Reed, John or Harry.
It was one of the men from the basement. I think I remembered that asshole Liam saying that his name was Ben, and he was his number two guy.
Shit, again.
“What the fuck is going on back there? Is our guest awake again?” Liam’s voice boomed from the driver’s seat.
Shit a third time!
Liam was driving and his asshole buddy was pointing a gun at me. What the hell happened while I was out? Where was everyone else? How long was I out for? Shit. Shit. Shit.
Shit was quickly becoming my word of the day.
“She sure is, Boss, and she doesn’t look so good. Maybe we should stop. I don’t want to be stuck in the back with her if she’s throwing up all over the place.”
“Shut up and stay there. She’s fine. She’s got a concussion is all. She’s a strong lady, she’ll pull through! Right, sweetheart?”
Liam had such a disgusting southern drawl it made my skin crawl. I usually liked southern accents, especially when spoken by a man. They often held such an old-world, gentleman-like persona, which makes them sound great, but Liam just sounded like the worst villain I could’ve ever imagined.
The only response I could think of was to spit in his direction. Hell, if I was infected, I might be able to take these two douche bags with me. Might as well spread as much of my infected fluids as possible, right?
My spit didn’t land where I wanted it to, but I didn’t have much moisture in my mouth, and I still couldn’t see straight yet. I managed to get out some words, though, “Where are you taking me? If it’s the cabin, good luck because I’ll never vouch for you with my family, and they’ll let you kill me before ever letting you in.”
“No, darlin’. Change of plans but I can’t tell you where because it’s a surprise. Go ahead and get some rest. We’re going to be on the road for a while.”
All I could do was sit and wait. I wasn’t going to sleep if I could help it. I wanted to see if I could catch my bearings and maybe figure out where it was that we were headed. Oh, what I wouldn’t give for my cell phone at this moment. ‘Excuse me, psychopaths that are kidnapping me for a second time, do either of you have a cell phone I could use to call my kids to tell them that I love them one last time because I’m pretty sure that in a few hours, I’ll be dead and chewing on your insides?’
Somehow, I didn’t think that would be a conversation that would go over well with my captors. It would be nice to know I could call my family, but oh well, work with what you got, right?
I sat on the cold floor of the van, covered in someone’s blood, someone I was sure was dead by the amount that was here.
My guess was the crimson blood blanketing the floor of the van was Reed’s, and he probably died trying to protect me. I wanted to cry, but I’d done enough of that since this crap started. I needed to figure out something to do. I needed to regain con
trol over this hopeless situation. I was pretty sure I was infected, and it was only a matter of time before I died and came back as a walking corpse, so what did I have to lose?
Ben said he was worried about being in the back with me if I was going to be sick, so maybe that was a good way to distract him while I tried to get to his holstered handgun or his knife that were both on his left hip, facing me. I opened my eyes and looked up at Ben.
The sun started to rise, and there was enough light in the van to tell that Ben was beginning to nod off a little. I would love to wait and let him fall asleep, but I didn’t know where we were going or how long it would be before we were going to stop.
So, I decided it was pretty much now, or never.
Ben’s head started to fall ever so slowly, and he jumped to sit up again but was soon nodding off once more. Just as his eyes drifted closed, I jumped up and reached for his knife. With one quick move, I had the blade free from the clasp, and as I was pulling it back towards me, I sliced up and back. Ben was reaching his arms out to stop me, but the knife cut through his brachial artery. He tried to get to me through the pain but quickly realized where he was cut and stumbled back into his seat, clutching his arm.
Liam yelled from the front, “What the fuck’s going on now?”
“She got me, Liam. I need help, stop the van! The bitch cut me. She cut me good!” Ben screamed at Liam with a look of sheer terror on his face.
As he turned his head to yell at Liam again, I stabbed the knife into Ben’s exposed neck. I made sure the blade was as deep as it could go before I pulled it out. Ben fell towards me, gurgling up the blood that was now filling his throat.
Liam started yelling at Ben to secure me and that we couldn’t stop because there were zombies all over. I smiled to myself since I now knew Liam was trapped with me, or he could get out and take his chances with the infected. Either option he chose was perfectly fine with me.
He started to slow down, so I made up my mind to be sure he was out of the picture for good, while I still had a huge advantage.