by Justin Clay
Then there are voices: angered, crying voices. We can’t make out what they’re saying; it’s too far. But enough is clear: Kage, Eli, and Mason have succeeded in their plan. And that is good news, despite what’s happened thus far.
The buildings here soar into air like concrete giants, their heads lost in inky blackness of the night. The lamp lights are flickering, until suddenly they go out. We stop for a moment.
“What happened?” I ask, exasperated.
Lena doesn’t say anything for a while. “It must be the main power generator; they’ve taken it out. It gives us a better chance. Hurry! We don’t have much time.”
We’re sprinting, and with ether every lunge, every foot pounding onto the cement, an excruciating jolt screams through my right side. Mikael coaxes me on, telling me we have to save my sister, his sister. I nod as we just clear a hill, and looking around in the sullen darkness, I realize we have found ourselves downtown.
There are at least twenty cars left in the middle of the road and along the sides in parking spaces, some of the doors still open by whoever left them all those years ago. The cars are beginning to be reclaimed by nature, noticeable amounts of moss and kudzu creeping up their metallic sides and in the crevices of the wheels. The fronts of the shops here are blown-out, whether by grenades or with bats, it’s unclear. There’s even a white — I think — van, completely charred by the violent fiery impact it had made with one of the stores by colliding into it long ago.
The more I look, the more horrifying things there are to see. Rotting people in the streets in various states of decay — there are even skeletons, skeletons crushed in gutters, and there’s — there’s a skull that I thought was a rock beside my feet. I stumble in my shock, and Mikael manages to catch me. These people were fire bombed. How awful.
“Hey you! — What do you think you’re doing!?”
I look about and see there’s a crudely dressed man coming for us in the shadows ahead, a hood concealing his face. A short scream escapes me. It all happens so fast just like Mason had said. The man is running, toting a rifle, when he’s shot in leg by Lena.
He careens against the pavement, cursing, blood gushing out. And Lena — she’s running, meeting him just feet ahead, holding her crossbow directly over him, aiming at his head.
“Where are you keeping them!?” she demands furiously. “WHERE!?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, bitch,” he hisses. He spits at her, and this really pisses Lena off. The man attempts to get himself up but Lena shoots his shoulder, and he cries, whimpering in pain.
“Wrong move,” Lena says. “You’re going to tell me where you are keeping the group that you bastards attacked today — if you value your life at all…you will tell me, or so help me, I will shoot you in the head this time. Got it?”
The bearded man scrunches up his face. “I’m no squealer! Go to hell!!”
Angered, Lena crushes his windpipe with a stomp of her foot, digging her heel further and further into the man. He’s wailing — or attempting to by the harsh sound of it — flinging his arms about to no avail. “You first,” she says with finality, and drives a final arrow through his forehead. The man’s arms instantly become lifeless, drooping to the ground as he dies. Lena spits, disgusted.
“Useless scum,” she goes on, removing the arrows she had shot into him, cleaning them, and returning them to their rightful place. “I guess we’re going to have to find them on our own.”
There’s a flash of lights ahead. I swallow nervously.
“Quick, hide behind one of these cars,” Lena says. “Someone’s coming.”
We realize it’s not just someone when we hear footsteps; it’s some people. At least four of them, and they are all men. It’s clear they have stopped near the dead Ravager Lena had shot.
“Holy shit,” one of them comments, his voice gravelly, “whoever killed Daron really did a number on him…Just wait until Cave hears about this…”
“Was probably the damn tourists that just came through here,” another said, his voice sounding much younger.
“Do you think it was one of them we didn’t capture? There could be more of them, I guess…”
“Yeah, whoever it was couldn’t have gone too far…They have to be around here somewhere.”
“Should we look around, you think?”
“Wait, someone is coming,” another one says abruptly. “It’s — Johnny…He looks really messed up…”
There’s heavy breathing now — most likely coming from the just arrived Johnny.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” the deep voiced man says, although not terribly concerned.
“Not me,” Johnny wheezes, “there is a problem…A major problem actually…Someone was able to get into the complex and blow up the tank.”
“What the fuck!?” someone blurts out, stunned. “You got to be kiddin’ me! I don’t believe this? How could they — ”
“I don’t know, Veric,” Johnny testifies. “All I know is, it somehow was rolled out and it blew up…A few of our guys died already because of it….Naro, and Ham.”
“You’re joking…Who — It had to have been the tourists; there’s no one else who could have — Did they escape?” “No,” Johnny says emphatically, “they’re all still locked up…Being guarded as we speak.”
“What does Cave say about this?”
“He wants everyone to meet up at the North Point,” Johnny answers. “Immediately…That’s where they’ll most likely turn up he thinks…The ones who did it.”
“What about Daron here — do you notice? He’s still bleeding…It’s fresh. He had to have been just killed.”
“I don’t know,” Johnny says. “All I know is that Cave wants us.”
“I think a couple of us should stay and scout the area, just in case,” Veric says.
“Fine by me,” someone else says. “I’ll stay here with Jase…The rest of you go.”
“Right,” Jase, the younger sounding voice replies, agreeing. There’s a shuffling of feet as the others sprint away.
Lena looks to me, her face deeply shadowed in the dark. I manage to notice her eyes narrowing. She makes a gesture for us to quietly begin to move around the car in the opposite direction, so that’s what we do.
“We know you’re around here,” Veric bellows out creepily, “there’s no use hiding.”
My side yelps in pain as I’m scooting along behind Lena as we manage to clear the small car we had been sitting against, to be covered by a longer, old truck.
“Yeah,” Jase says. “Come on out…We promise we won’t hurt you…much.” There’s a mutually snickering between them, like school girls infatuated with some hotshot boy. I could throw up…Either by how sickened I am of these creeps or from the agony of my broken ribs. It’s a tie. I suck in a lungful of air, and it burns so much, tears form in my eyes. I’m beginning to see white spots everywhere. This is not a good sign.
I look down at my hands grabbing my bow tightly I had just pulled out, and I debate on whether I should nock it or not. I’m shaking, and all I can think about is their footsteps coming closer and closer. They’re only feet away now. I look ahead and see that Mikael is also shaking, but more violently. Suddenly, there’s an eerie silence. Both of them have stopped moving. Why?
Have we been noticed?
Before I can even look to gain an answer, one of them speaks and my heart drops. “Well, lookie what I found here.”
A dark hooded figure is standing over Mikael, who is doubled over, trembling; the man’s rifle is aimed directly at his head.
I am terrified for Mikael’s life.
“Get up,” the man urges, prodding Mikael who whimpers as he stands. “All of you — and drop your weapons — or I’ll shoot now! — DO IT, DAMMIT!”
Startled, I swallow and let go of my bow as both Lena and I slowly stand along with Mikael. The short, stocky man makes a gesture with his hooded head for the other one to come around behind us. He is dressed
in a dirtied puffer jacket and ripped jeans with muddy boots. I could have easily taken him down, as could Lena, but I didn’t want to risk it. Not for Mikael’s sake. I don’t need any more blood on my hands.
“Well, well, well,” the other one simpers, gloating over their supposed victory. This man is much taller and wears similar clothing, also carrying a rifle. He has to be the Veric guy; his voice is much deeper. His chiseled face is bearded and from what I can see in the night, his eyes are deep-set and glinting with the undeniable thirst for blood. Death.
“Looks like we have quite the party here,” Veric goes on, pretending himself to be so clever. “So which one of you sluts killed our dear friend Daron here? Whoever it is…We’ll kill last…So speak up!” Nobody says a word. “What’s that? I can’t hear you.”
Jase circles around us, his eyes gleaming as well —reminding of how a shark encloses itself onto his prey. My heart is beating so fast, I can barely think straight. Lena is rigid-faced. What is she thinking? She has to be thinking of something. Somehow to save of us from this stupid situation. I swear if I end up being murdered by these numbnuts — I just can’t. That would be a mockery to every life sacrificed thus far to get me where I am standing today. I can’t let their lives be given in vain. Not just for me to die at the hands of idiots like this.
“Not a very talkative bunch, eh Veric?” Jase says, stepping even closer to Mikael, hovering the barrel of the gun over Mikael. Poor Mikael. He looks like he shitted himself. I don’t blame him.
“No, not very,” the other answers, cocking his head. “But…I think we’ll figure out ways to make them…I’m sure a couple of bullets in their legs would do the trick…Don’t you think?”
“I think so,” Jase says, smiling grimly. I take a good look at him. His clean-shaven face is round and squat just like his body, and dark heavy eyebrows hang over beady eyes. Disgusting. “But I’m not so sure we should kill this middle one here so soon…I’m mean look how…sexy she is…I mean — Damn, girl.”
Jase makes an obscene movement of his hands as if spanking someone for pleasure. My nostrils flare in loathing; it’s quite obvious how very heated Lena is at this point. She’s fuming.
“You are right, Jase,” Veric says, moving closer. He absently has his rifle no longer aimed at us, and I feel as if Lena is taking advantage of this; there’s just a ghost of a movement of her left hand behind her.
“Maybe we shouldn’t kill her off this soon…The other two, sure…We’ll feed them to do the dogs…But this one…”
His words trail off as he steps closer to me, looking at me with a glint in his eyes. My heart is beating so quickly, I feel it will rupture at any moment. I feel sweat dripping along my neck, and I’m not sure how much more I can take of this...
I nearly gag at the men’s combined stench: a raucous combination of piss and whiskey. It’s so much my eyes are watering. I hold my breath.
“This one, we’ll keep for fun. What do you think about that sweetcakes, hmm?”
In an instant, Lena has pulled from her backside a hidden pistol, and she fires first at Jase. BANG! Blowing his brains out. Quite literally. Cringing, I can feel his spattered blood trickle down my cheeks.
As his body splatters to the ground, Veric — startled — fumbles to ready his rifle, but he’s too late. Lena’s already shot him too — straight between his eyes. Veric’s mouth gapes open, spilling out blood before tumbling over.
“Absolutely disgusting,” Lena hisses, and I exhale, relieved.
Just as Lena has killed off these two — we hear more people coming for us. What is going on? Lena is pale-faced — there’s no way we could escape their fire.
But nothing happens. Instead, the two figures approaching us are finally recognizable. My eyes widen, impressed as Kage and Eli stand before us, a bit winded, but in one piece. Mason, however, is nowhere to be seen.
For the first time in a while, I watch Lena as she smiles, looking upon Eli. He’s okay. She seems more at ease, her shoulders less stiff. My gaze shifts to Kage, whose breathing has steadied somewhat.
“We don’t have much time to rescue the others,” he says to us. “The diversion will only buy us at most ten minutes, but it’s enough. It’ll have to be…For Mason.”’
“Where’s Mason?” I ask.
There’s a pause, and I know what that means. He’s dead.
“Mason…He didn’t make it,” says Kage, confirming my suspicions. “He saved my life, giving his…I will tell you more later.”
“Kage says he knows where these Ravagers are keeping them,” Eli elaborates.
He does? Bizarre. I ask him how.
“Because,” he answers gravely, “I escaped from them before…Now, quick follow me!”
13
ESCAPE
I’M LOOKING AT MY sister. At her beautiful, pure face — into her sky blue eyes. She’s crying. She’s alive and crying, and so am I. We’ve found each other; she’s in my arms, and I hug her so tightly, I can scarcely breathe. She squeezes me back just as much, and I wince. Immediately she retracts, asking if I’m okay.
“I’m fine, little bird,” I tell her, my eyes so filled with tears, I have to wipe them away. “Just bruised myself getting here…But you…Don’t ever leave me again! Okay?”
First, I’m not going to let her know how bad, how excruciating the pain is. Not when we just slung open the ponderously heavy door to a trailer and found them all there alive with a few new faces — others that had been there for a longer time, nothing but skin and bones. Every one except Sondra’s mother. I don’t want to know where she ended up.
Second, I know she didn’t know these awful events were going to unfold. But I can’t stomach something like this again. And June knows this. She’s nodding, and I embrace her again, biting my lip, tears escaping me.
Terek had been the one first to walk out, carrying Maia, followed by his wife. She ran to greet Mikael in a warm embrace. She had broken down, sobbing. Mikael was crying too as all they held each other, shaking.
I wanted to take notice of this but all I could think about was June. And when I heard her scream my name, I felt like nothing else existed. I saw her wavy golden hair and her tear-streaked face, and I ran limping. But I didn’t care. I ran anyway, and swung her up into my arms spinning as we reunited. One of the new faces, a pretty young woman, had fallen to the ground sobbing. Lena was the one who had helped her up. I had never seen this side of her before. So vulnerable and caring. I knew it had been in her all along though. The blonde haired woman said thank you so many times, I lost count.
We had found the trailer in a filthy, narrow alleyway through a warehouse that within its steel, blood-spattered walls were things I don’t want to ever remember. So many gruesome things. Cut open, ravaged corpses. Random dangling body parts. Dirtied tarps overspread tables piled high with people’s belongings from apparel, to weapons, to shoes and even photographs.
The smells — the smells were overwhelming. Sour and incredibly pungent. There was the savage barking of dogs, cooped up somewhere we could not see. There had been a few left behind Ravagers but they were easily dealt with — Eli and Lena killed all four of the five of them. The fifth begged for us not to kill him. He was only there being held by his will. He knew about medicine and how to administer it. Like Kage, he too was a doctor, but Kage apparently didn’t know the man. That’s the only reason they kept him alive. To keep the Ravagers healthy and perform terrible experiments. Things he had no other choice to do or else die and be fed to dogs. I couldn’t fault him. No one would want that death.
He knew exactly where they were keeping our friends. The outside trailer. Apparently, there was more than one. He explained on the way that this was where they kept the people they called tourists, the people they would take their possessions from and experiment on — use them however they saw fit. Even if that meant the worst of all outcomes, when their food supply levels became too low.
I sort of tuned him out when he was talking abo
ut this. I don’t like hearing about such barbarism. It makes me too sick to my stomach. I can’t bear such thoughts.
He said for us to call him Doc. Doc, the lab-coated eccentric who’s a spitting image of what you think a stereotypical doctor would like: a skinny, balding man wearing glasses a bit too large for his face. Glasses that are cracked. Covering weary, bagged eyes. Eyes that have seen too much callous bloodshed. Eyes I didn’t want to look into — so I didn’t as he led us to this outside trailer, through the warehouse complex. I only thought of June. Holding her one more time.
A hear gunfire erupting in the distance and I’m jarred back into reality.
“We have to go,” I hear Kage say adamantly, and it’s then I finally let go of June, standing upright.