Finding Eden

by Dinsdale, Megan

  The door closed behind me and all I could hear was Tex’s livid shouts, muffled by the wall between us.

  [Tex ]

  My wrists were tender. I knew without a doubt they were red and raw, but it didn’t stop me from pulling at the rope to try and loosen the knot. I was getting nowhere and it was driving me mad. I scanned the area around me only to find nothing that would be of help.

  Vile scenes and thoughts crept uninvited into my mind. They pulled and tugged, taunting me in every way they could. I envisioned these men torturing her, that one in particular enjoying it a little too much. I imagined her screams piercing through the walls, putting up permanent residence in my head so I’d never forget the sound of them. They’d haunt me until the day I died, just like my wife’s final plea for help would. They would probably violate her in the worst way possible. I cringed at the thought and it only made me pull harder at the ropes. I twisted my wrists, angling my hands each and every way. The pain was nothing compared to what these men would have to endure once I found them. Watching that man throw her against the wall drove me crazy. I was going to go berserk on them, if I could just escape.

  I would escape. I wasn’t going to let this déjà vu go on any longer. Unlike my wife and daughter, she would live. Because I hadn’t been able to rescue them, I felt less of a man; I was going to regain my honor, kick their asses, and protect Blondie. Her father may have destroyed my life, but she wasn’t her father. I realized now that she was nothing like him. She ran after me and put up a fight. Her dad, the spineless shit, would have handed me over and ran away.

  I wouldn’t blame her for his wrongdoings any more than I would leave her here to fend for herself.

  If I had to, I would break my own wrists to escape.

  Speaking of her son-of-a-bitch dad…

  [ Elle ]

  They took me to another room with concrete walls. It was hot, dry, and smelled of tobacco. The room was bright with fluorescent lighting and it burned my eyes. Three of the men from the cave were here. Each had a gun.

  They sat me down at a table made from plywood and two-by-fours. The creepy man stood across from me. He was shorter than Tex and had disgustingly full lips that weren’t meant for a man. When he smiled at me, I saw that his teeth were yellow. He had one snaggle tooth that sat awkwardly on his upper gums and a receding hairline that made him look a decade or two older than he probably was.

  There was one man on each side of me. One was pretty short, the other not. They each aimed a rifle at me. The short one had a nasty scar running down the entire left side of his face. I wanted to give him one on the other side to match. The taller one was plain and without a memorable face.

  “What’s your name, girl?” The creepy man asked with his chin in his hand, looking at me with piqued interest. He laughed at his own question and the men beside me joined in as if they had some inside joke that they wouldn’t let me in on.

  “What’s yours?” I growled under my breath.

  “Oh! Spunky! I like this one.” He nodded towards me and the men at each side grunted their approval.

  “Well, since I’m a gentleman, I’ll go first. My name is Leonard. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance and you are?”

  I gathered all the spit I could in my mouth and launched it at his face. I felt the barrels of the guns press into my scalp.

  That was probably the wrong choice; his friendly demeanor changed in an instant.

  “You little bitch! If that’s how you want to play, fine. No more Mr. Nice Guy.”

  “I thought you liked spunky,” I hissed, keeping his gaze.

  “If you’re not going to behave, we’ll have to take out our insurance policy so that you will.” He grinned at the men beside me.

  “What do you mean?” I narrowed my eyes, not liking the sound of this.

  “Your little boyfriend in there. That’s what I mean.” He whistled and another man walked in. “Get her friend and those clippers. He has ten fingers too many, if you catch my drift.”

  “No! Stop! I’ll behave. I promise.” My fingernails engraved tiny crescents into my thighs.

  “Atta girl…” He gestured for all of his cohorts to leave. “All these overbearing men are probably making you uncomfortable. My apologies.”

  They left and I took a deep breath, relieved. This couldn’t be happening. I felt like I was in a bad Hollywood movie, not real life. I so wished this was a Hollywood movie. I would yell at the TV, telling the girl to stop being so weak, to turn the table over, and run for it. I’d tell her to spit in his face again and call his bluff.

  I didn’t though. I sat there, my lips pressed firmly in a straight line, keeping my mouth shut. Any unnecessary outbursts could mean torture for Tex.

  “You’re what? Eighteen? Nineteen?”

  “Twenty-three,” I corrected; my voice was blank, vacant of all emotion.

  He made a steeple out of his fingers and nodded.

  “You understand that there are very few humans left on this planet.”

  “Obviously,” I sneered.

  He raised his eyebrows then knitted them back together. I told myself not to be sarcastic again.

  “In fact, you’re the first female we’ve come across in quite a few years.”

  “So?” I didn’t like where this was going. He was giving me goose bumps again.

  “You see, girl. We have our own—let’s call it—a colony. We want to start over, and to do that, we need to be able to grow in number.”

  My fingernails dug deeper into my thighs. I didn’t want to hear anymore. I wanted my knife back. I wanted to slit his throat, to watch the life drain out of his face, and wanting that was so unlike me. I could feel a salty tear peak from the corner of my eye. I willed it away.

  Once he realized I wasn’t going to add anything, he continued. “We can’t let this opportunity go to waste. You understand, yes?”

  I looked away.

  “Ah, you do.” I saw him smile in my peripheral. His snaggle tooth poked out from under his upper lip. “You understand that this is for the good of all mankind too, am I correct?”

  I swallowed so I wouldn’t be tempted to spit in his face again.

  “I am not going to be your egg donor. I refuse. I’d rather die.”

  “You don’t have a choice,” He shrugged, leaned forward, and grabbed my chin.

  He was too close and his breath was rancid as if he lived off of garlic and pickles. The smell made me want to gag. I steeled myself though and figuring this would be the only opportunity I would get, I leaned back as far as I could and then came back, smashing my head into his. Everything around me went spinning and I suddenly just wanted to lie down and go back to sleep. My equilibrium was going crazy, but it was now or never. I steadied myself the best I could.

  Leonard held his head and was cussing up a storm. He opened his mouth to alert his men, but I silenced him by swinging my boot, full speed, into his crotch. He toppled over and out of his chair. Leonard pulled his body into fetal position as he groaned in anguish. I yanked the rifle from his grip and did him the same favor he had done for me back at the cave. I slammed the butt of it into his head, knocking him out cold.

  I kept the rifle at my side, my finger hovering over the trigger. I slowly opened the door, and before I could check if the hallway was clear, I was ambushed by the same two men from earlier. The plain one sucker punched me, which caused me to loosen my grip on the gun, while the scarred one stole the opportunity, and retrieved my weapon, turning it back on me.

  As I fell into a dreamless slumber, I found myself counting the number of times I had been hit in the head over the last week.

  I woke up in a smaller, square room. My arms and legs were chained, leaving me completely incapacitated. I was currently suffering from the mother of all migraines and the bright lights seemed to increase the roaring pain.

  “Girl.”

  “Oh, God.” I groaned, refusing to look in the direction of the voice.

  “I’m goi
ng to ask you one more time,” Leonard spoke slowly. “Will you or will you not submit to this plan?”

  “Will not,” I spat out. “You evil, disgusting, vile piece of inhuman scum.”

  “So be it.” Leonard waved at one of his henchman, a man I hadn't had the honor and privilege of meeting yet; the new guy came in, dragging Tex behind him. He was overly secured with chains that were quickly connected to the wall.

  “Jenson?” Leonard spoke with authority to Tex’s captor.

  “Yes, sir?” Jenson said, a little too much awe in his voice.

  “Did you bring the clippers?”

  Jenson patted his back pocket.

  “Begin,” Leonard commanded.

  Tex began to move around in every which direction, trying to escape his bonds. He was sputtering out obscenities I’d never even heard before. Scarred Face and Plain Face, who I soon learned were Morris and Larry, shoved their guns into Tex’s face, which made him sit still pretty darn quickly. His face was red with hot anger.

  Jenson clenched Tex’s forearm between his, and he slowly brought the clipper above the knuckle on Tex's index finger. I was waiting for the bluff to end as the razor sharp sheers began to cut through the skin, causing blood to trail down his fingertip. His jaw was taught; his eyes were sewn shut. I could feel the pain emanating off of him, but he refused to acknowledge it with any sound.

  “Stop!” I yelled. “Please, just stop. I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t hurt him.” I fell limp in my chains, not wanting to give up or give in, but knowing I didn't really have much of a choice either.

  “That was easy,” Leonard shrugged. “Now, don’t look so glum, Jenson. I’m sure there will be other chances.”

  My look shot daggers in the torturer’s direction. He looked disgustingly unhappy. I would kill him after I killed Leonard.

  “Girl.” Leonard looked back at me. “You made the right choice. Besides, if this didn’t work, we had a backup plan anyway.” Everyone chuckled but Tex and myself. We seemed to be the only ones out of the loop.

  “You son of a bitch! Don’t you dare!” Tex rattled the chains. He had a knowing look in his eyes now. Why was I the only one oblivious to what was being spoken of?

  “Alright!” Leonard clapped. “Those not needed, please leave.” Only he, I, Tex, and Jenson remained.

  “Why do you need that man here?” I glared at Jenson.

  “Just in case you don’t cooperate.”

  “I said I would!” I growled.

  “Yes. Yes, you did. Which is why I’m going to reward you. We’re leaving your boyfriend here with you just so you know we’re not clipping his fingers in the next room. Unfortunately, since you weren’t cooperative at first, we’re going to hand you over to one of my men. I originally planned on repopulating using you and him,” he pointed to Tex. “But,” he shrugged, “that one is your fault.” He smiled. “Frank!”

  A stout man came in that looked around the age of Tex. He was plain, not ugly—thin, but not built like Tex was.

  “Stay the hell away from me!” I screamed.

  “Now, now…” Leonard protested. “At least I gave you my best looking man. I could have given you Larry—or me.” He winked, flashing that lone crooked tooth.

  I wanted to vomit.

  “Don’t make me give Jenson any orders. You wouldn’t want that now would you?”

  My head fell back against the linoleum tile and I just shook it side to side, finding myself on the verge of admitting defeat.

  “Don’t you lay one fucking finger on her!” Tex screamed. “Kid, listen to me! Just forget about me. Don’t let them do this to you.”

  I felt tears well up and spill down my temples. I closed my eyes. “I can’t do that,” I choked out. “Please, don’t watch.”

  “I swear to God! I will escape these fucking chains, skin you alive, and toss you out into the sun to burn if you take one more step in her direction.” Tex pulled at his chains.

  “Well, I don’t need to see or listen to this. Jenson, I trust you know what to do if need be. Frank—for the colony!”

  “Yes, sir.” The two men said in unison.

  As I heard Frank’s footsteps grow closer to me, I tried my best to drown out Tex’s yelling. I sucked up my tears, refusing to show weakness in front of this oncoming abomination of a man.

  I closed my eyes.

  “I’m sure glad Leonard found us a pretty one, eh, Jenson?”

  “Just shut up and get on with it. I’m hungry.” Jenson grumbled.

  I felt rough fingertips slide up my face and massage my cheekbone. My entire body went stiff; bile rose in my throat. Frank’s other hand grabbed my thigh, the only skin showing between my shorts and my boots. His fingertips dug into my naked flesh.

  I swallowed, trying to keep the puke down. I swallowed again for good measure. I took a deep breath, wishing I could glue my eyes shut, wishing I could turn off my brain. I was about to slam my head into the tile to knock myself out when Frank spoke again.

  “Elle, you’re so tense. I like my women at ease.”

  “How do you know my name?” I croaked. I never told Leonard and Tex wouldn’t have said anything.

  Frank’s eyes widened like he had made some horrible mistake. Jenson cursed. Tex went silent.

  CRACK!

  The sound of a gunshot came from outside the door, followed by a thud. I froze; so did the rest of the room. The door swung open and a ghost appeared in the doorway.

  “Get away from my Elle!” My dad screamed. But he wasn’t a ghost. He was honest-to-God flesh and bone, holding a pistol. He pulled back on the trigger and Frank fell to the ground beside me, gurgling and drowning in a pool of his own blood.

  Jenson quickly reached for his own gun, but he was too slow. He dropped to the floor and slumped sideways into Tex. There was a single red hole between his eyebrows, but behind him, the wall was plastered with blood and brain matter. I gagged and my stomach convulsed. My dad ran over to Tex, unchained him, and then did the same for me before wrapping me in his arms.

  “Dad!” I cried, throwing my arms around him. “How? Why? I don’t understand!” I was choking on my tears now, having forgotten the world around us. It was only me and my daddy. I wouldn’t let anyone invade this moment.

  But thanks to reality and Tex’s fist, my little dream shattered around me. My dad fell to the ground, a bright red welt on his jaw.

  “Tex!” I yelled, momentarily forgetting about his family, forgetting about the atrocity my dad had committed.

  “Of course you would be a part of this place! It all makes sense. You probably told them to use your daughter! You deserve to die a thousand times over after what you did to my family, and now your own daughter!” Tex was red in the face and his hands were clenched into white-knuckled fists. He was ready to knock him out once my dad stood back up.

  I didn’t know what to do. I felt lost. I needed answers.

  “Dad, is this true?” I knelt down beside him.

  “We don’t have time for this! Leonard had to have heard the gunshots.”

  “Dad! I need to know, please.”

  I already knew. He looked drenched in guilt. I knew that look; it was hard to miss. He just sat there, slumped, staring at the floor. “I had to get back to you. I had lost your mom and I was delirious with pain. I had only one direction in my mind and that was back to you. I was convinced I would do anything to return to you.” Regret poured across his features. He looked at Tex, then back at me. “You have to understand. I hate myself for it. Every day I wish I could go back in time; I wish I could fix it all.”

  I shook my head. Hearing it from Tex was one thing, but hearing it from my own father completely shook my world; it reshaped my life. The world was a hard place now and people would do anything to survive, though that didn’t justify his actions. He was my dad; I would always love him, but I knew I would never be able to look at him the same way after his confession.

  “Why didn’t you come back to the bunker?”
I croaked.

  “I ran into Leonard and his gang and by the time I figured out what their plan was, I was too deep in to leave; I didn’t want to bring them back to you. It seems it was all for naught though.”

  I sat silent.

  “Elle, sweetie? Please say something.”

  “There is nothing to say.” I gave him a kiss on the forehead and returned to Tex’s side. “Don’t kill him. Can’t you see he’s already suffering from the immense guilt he feels?” I looked at my dad with pity.

  Tex didn’t say anything. I could tell that it took every ounce of strength he had to not use my dad’s head as a soccer ball.

  “Just leave. Leave now. I’ll handle things here. Just go!” My dad gave me a quick hug, but he didn’t spare a glance at Tex. There were still so many questions that I wanted—needed—answered, like what happened to my mom, but he quickly shoved us out through the door and pointed down the hall. “Go that way. Make two rights and you’ll find the exit. There’s about four hours left until daybreak. You have to hurry. Please, just go!”

  “I love you, Dad.” I said as I gave him one last hug.

  “I love you too, Elle. My strong, beautiful girl.”

  He handed me his pistol. I gave him a weak smile and turned away, following behind Tex. His shoulders were tense, wanting to give in to his innate desire to destroy my father.

  It was all concrete—floor to ceiling—with fluorescent ceiling lights flickering every ten or so feet. It was clear and right before our first turn, we passed by a door that was slightly ajar. Tex peaked in; I followed suit and I saw a man I hadn’t yet met sitting at a desk. When I saw what he was doing and what he had, I couldn’t just let him be.

  He was looking at an unrolled, laminated piece of paper—the map. Our backpacks and Tex’s axe leaned against the wall beside him. If I was correct, that was my utility belt lying on the desk. My knife would be there. I missed my knife.

  I took a deep breath and willed all my strength up to the surface. I stepped passed Tex and kicked open the door. The man stood up, alert.

  “Blondie!” Tex hissed.

  “What the fuck!” He picked up his gun and aimed it at me. He knew he wasn’t supposed to shoot me; I was the female. I was the one who would be impregnated with mini-Franks and whoever else wanted a turn. I would not allow that. Ever. Suddenly, I had all the courage I needed and if I wasn’t going to let that happen, I had to do something about it. I raised my pistol and pulled the trigger. He fell against the wall. His eyes were wide; he never thought I had the guts. I was running off of pure adrenaline now. I watched as the man slid down the concrete, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. I ran to the desk and buckled my utility belt around my hips. My knife was there. I put on my pack, securing it.