Aby shot Peaches a dark look. “That’s not all. I wasn’t finished.”
Peaches swallowed nervously. Aby wasn’t sure she dared to tell Peaches the rest. If she did, she might terrify her to death. But she’d started her story now and she had to finish it. Besides...how could Peaches assume the story ended well when Aby started out with other friends and was now on her own?
“We carried on. Our friend, Derron...he was killed by a gang on the road. We found his body beaten to a pulp. But we had to carry on. We were on the run because the police found out that we were responsible for killing the raiders. But we made it to a town called Dent…”
“Hey, I’ve heard of Dent...it’s not too far from here. It’s a weird little place...full of people living off the land, right?”
Aby swallowed. “Well...it was. Now it’s gone. Everyone who lived there...they’re dead, Peaches. Some city folk came and turned everything upside down. They brought guns and cars and tried to destroy the town. We managed to defend ourselves and I guess we thought for a moment that we’d won...but then a second attack came. We weren’t prepared in the slightest. The first group were just desperate scavengers trying to survive. But the second lot...they came from the local prison. They came to kill. They came just for the fun of it. We didn’t stand a chance…our friends died there.”
Peaches chewed her lip. “And your fiance?”
“We got out. We hit the road. But on our way we were almost shot down. My fiance got trapped in a burning car...we barely made it out alive. And then...from there, it gets hazy. I woke up alone in the middle of the woods. I don’t know what happened to Megan and Jake, or to myself. It’s like I lost my memories.”
Peaches gave Aby a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, honey. That’s terrible. It really is.”
“I went looking for them...and I ended up being chased by a group of men who wanted to hurt me. I didn’t do anything to them...I just wanted to see a friendly face. But they were ready to hurt me...ready to kill. You’re the only person I’ve met since this all began that hasn’t gotten me into trouble yet. Everyone out there is for themselves. It just seemed suspicious that some guy is out there trying to get us to share around our supplies for the hell of it. Don’t you see, Peaches? You think people are good, but they’re not. Every stranger I’ve come across has wanted to end me.”
Peaches folded her arms. “Look...it sounded like you’ve been to hell and back. I can’t deny that. But these things always die down. It’s like rioting...the first few days are crazy, and then only the really committed ones stick at it. I think that people out there are making the most of the chaos of things...but it won’t stay this way. Being a part of a community will keep us safe, especially until the craziness dies down.”
“I disagree. From my experience, Peaches, groups are an easier target. Being in a big group gets you noticed. It’s hard to maintain in terms of resources too. We’re better off by ourselves, trust me.”
Peaches stuck her nose in the air. “Well, you can do what you want, Aby, but Tex seems like a nice man. I like that he’s trying to bring everyone together. Haven’t you heard of the benefit of the doubt, honey? You said that every person you’ve met has been intent on killing you. Did Tex see like he was one of those people?”
Aby opened her mouth to argue back, but nothing came out. The truth was, Peaches was right. On the surface, Tex did seem like a decent guy. He was one of the few people she’d come across that hadn’t immediately resorted to violence. He had even left his weapon outside without them asking him to. Didn’t that speak volumes about the kind of person he was? Or at least the kind of person he wasn’t?
Aby sighed to herself. She was torn between feeling like she was being unreasonable by assuming the worst of Tex and feeling like she was being sensible for being wary. In hindsight, she probably should’ve treated Peaches with the same wariness, but Peaches had seemed completely incapable of being a threat, even when Aby was at her most vulnerable. Even so, Peaches had turned out differently to how Aby had expected. How was she supposed to trust Tex just from their brief meeting?
“I think I want to hear what Tex has to say for himself,” Peaches declared, continuing to tidy up. “You can stay here and mope if you want. I’ll go with him and tour the houses, meet the neighbors, see what deals we can make with them. I just think it makes so much sense, Aby. Our supplies won’t last forever, and there are still things we need. Wouldn’t it be good to have people on our side?”
Aby pursed her lips. “We can take care of ourselves.”
“By stealing from other people’s houses?” Peaches asked, raising her eyebrow in a condescending manner. “Sure. How far will that get us? If things are as bad as you say they are, then we need real weapons, real defenses...I don’t want to be unprepared, Aby.”
“But what if Tex is leading us away so that someone can steal our supplies from under our noses?”
“We hid our supplies! Besides, why bother with the ruse? We’re two unarmed women...he could’ve just taken anything he wanted. Face it, Aby, there are people out there with good intentions. You just don’t want to believe it.”
“Of course I want to believe it...I just don’t know if I do.”
Peaches sighed. “Look...just think it over. You’ve got until morning to make a decision. But there’s something you haven’t considered, Aby. I think you should think about it…”
“What? What have I overlooked?”
Peaches gave her a smug glance. “Tex has a car...he has connections. He’s your best chance of finding your fiance again. You can ask the neighbors for information...ask Tex to drive you around a little. Don’t you want that? A chance to see Jake again?”
Aby’s heart skipped a beat. Peaches was right for once. Aby had covered some ground on foot, but nowhere near what Tex could cover a day in his car. If he was willing to let her borrow the car, or drive her around, maybe she’d be able to find Jake.
And she wanted that more than anything in the world.
Peaches offered to take the first shift on watch that evening, allowing Aby to go to bed, but she couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of finding Jake again. It was an opportunity she couldn’t afford to pass up. She felt so lonely without him and Megan. Peaches was company, but it wasn’t the same. She wanted to hold him, even if only one more time…
She had to at least try.
Twelve
Jake
Every inch of Jake’s body hurt. He kept passing out from the pain only to wake up and relive the torture again. It felt like he was stuck on some sadistic loop. Each time he opened his eyes, the men would jeer at him and grab the lighter again, dragging the hot flame across his arm or his cheek and watching him scream out in agony. The only indication that he had that he wasn’t just running the same moment over and over was the change of lighting outside, taking him from day to night.
“Why are you doing this?” Jake asked each time they hurt him or laughed in his face. He couldn’t understand it. He wasn’t a bad person. He hadn’t done anything, but try to help one of them when he thought he was in danger. Now they were taking sick pleasure in torturing him, watching him squeal as they dragged the lighter across his skin.
“We’re doing it for the hell of it,” one of them sneered in his face. “There ain’t any rules anymore...so we can do what the hell we want. And what we want…” He flicked the lighter on once again with a sadistic smile. “Is to see you burn.”
Another few hours passed. Jake passed out once again and then opened his eyes to find that it was completely dark outside the kitchen window. Now all of his torturers were drunk as hell, falling about and laughing among each other. They weren’t paying much attention to him anymore and he was beginning to wonder if he might have a chance to escape. His hands were tightly bound, but every chance he got, he was doing his best to loosen them without being noticed. If only he had some help. If Aby had been there, they could’ve helped one another…
And where the hell was Megan? Jake hoped that she hadn’t just left him behind. He would never do that to her. But with each passing moment, the possibility seemed more and more likely. He’d been in the kitchen being tortured for hours now and she hadn’t so much as made an appearance. Maybe she was angry with him for the way he’d been treating her lately, but angry enough to leave him to die?
He reminded himself that Megan wasn’t like him. The world terrified her long before the EMP hit. She wasn’t built for daring rescues and risky ideas. If she had even managed to hatch a plan to save him, would she be able to pull it off? He doubted it. He didn’t want to think so negatively of her, but it was hard when he was the one strapped to a chair being tortured. If it was the other way around, he would’ve got her out by now, no matter the cost.
He closed his eyes to stop tears pouring from them. The fact was that he was bitter. He should’ve listened to Megan when she said she had a bad gut instinct about the house. It was his own fault he was in that position. If she’d left him behind then she had more sense than him. He was becoming erratic, unhinged, impulsive...it was going to get them both killed. If she was gone, then she at least had some sense.
She was better off without him.
Jake remembered the ghost of a feeling he’d had a few days before. It was one of the few hazy memories he had of the car crash. He recalled the hopelessness in his heart and his desire just to let go. To let his life slip through his fingers and give in to death. How easy it would be. If he just stopped trying to escape, just let the men do what they wanted to him...then it would all be over son. It was easier than fighting for his life. He was outnumbered and his hope was gone. Aby wasn't going to show up and save him or give him a reason to keep going. Megan had most likely abandoned him too, and with good reason. Maybe it was just time to give up.
Jake closed his eyes once again, waiting for someone to pick up on the fact that he was awake. Then the torture would begin again. He was sure he could smell the smoke coming off the tiny flame that had scorched his skin endlessly that day. He winced, ready for the impact of the heat on his sore skin…
But it didn’t come. His nose wrinkled and he could smell the smoke stronger now. It was way too strong to be from a tiny lighter. Then he heard the scream and opened his eyes to see what the hell was going on.
Jake’s mouth dropped open when he saw the flames in the corridor reaching up to the ceiling. The men in the gang were scrambling to their feet, heading straight for the door to escape the heat and the smoke. Jake coughed, suddenly hyper aware of how constricted his lungs felt. The fire was spreading quickly and he could smell gasoline in the air. He couldn’t even get his hands free to cover his mouth and stop him from breathing in the toxic smoke.
The gang had left him to die.
He had an impending sense of deja vu. Hadn’t he almost died in the car inferno only a few days ago? Maybe death had been chasing him up ever since he escaped. Maybe he was meant to die in flames. Only minutes earlier, he’d been desperate for death, ready to let it overcome him, but now, the phrase be careful what you wish for came to mind right away.
Jake let a sob escape his lips. At least if he died, he might be reunited with Aby again. If she was already dead, then maybe this wasn’t so bad. But as the smoke maybe his vision hazy and he began struggling to breathe, he desperately clawed for air. He didn’t want to die. He really didn’t want to die…
Jake felt a whoosh of cold air hit his face and he opened his eyes to see the side door to the kitchen wide open. Standing in the doorway, her face distraught, was Megan.
Megan...she set the fire, Jake realized. She did it to flush the others out...she did it to save me.
Jake could hardly believe that she was there. He thought she’d be long gone by then. But as she rushed to him and fumbled with the binds on his hands, Jake knew how wrong he’d been. He’d always failed to see that Megan was selflessly kind. She’d never leave him to die, no matter how scared she was. Setting the fire and then running through the flames to help him...it wasn’t in her nature, but she did it anyway.
She was a better person than he’d ever be.
He wanted to tell her how sorry he was. For the way he treated her, for his misconceptions about her, for doubting her as a person. But his lungs felt clogged with black smoke now. His throat burned. His head was woozy from the lack of oxygen. He felt ready to slip into unconsciousness, but he felt his hands fall free of their binds and then Megan’s bony hands hooked under his armpits and hauled him up.
“We have to go!” she screamed, coughing violently. Jake was unsteady on his feet as he made toward the door, but she did her best to hold him up. The pair of them hit fresh air at the same time, coughing and sucking in the cold night air. Megan’s eyes were wide as she looked back toward the house in horror.
“One of them is still in there!” she cried, pointing through the window. Jake looked over his shoulder and saw a blurry outline of the young man he’d found drugged up in the kitchen when he arrived. He was the only one of the men who hadn’t taken a turn with the lighter. Compared to them, he was a saint.
“I didn’t mean for anyone to die!” Megan sobbed. “I just wanted to get them out of the house...he’s going to burn to death…”
“No, he’s not,” Jake choked out. He found his feet before Megan could stop him and rushed back to the house, hearing her scream after him desperately. He didn’t know why he couldn’t just let the man go. He was a psycho. He spent the entire day watching him get tortured and did nothing. But Jake felt like he had some redeeming to do. He didn’t want to see any more death or torture. He didn’t want to live in a world where it was acceptable to leave a man to die in a burning building. In fact, Jake still wasn’t sure he wanted to live at all, so what was there to lose?
His feet pounded the ground hard as he made his way to the house. The kitchen was almost engulfed in the flames now, and the young man was cowering in the corner. There was such fear in his eyes that Jake knew he was making the right decision as he dived to save him. He was just a kid, really. He needed another chance at life.
Jake could feel the intense heat of the gasoline-fuelled flames licking at him, but he scooped the young man into his aching arms and ran back for the door. The crackling of the fire filled his ears like fireworks until the moment he escaped the house and collapsed onto the grass. Megan rushed to him again, still coughing and Jake fell against her, trying to concentrate on making his lungs work. Megan grabbed his wrist and they both crawled away from the wreckage of the house, dragging the young man with them. He seemed to be unconscious now, maybe even dead. Perhaps the smoke had killed him. Jake didn’t know and he didn’t have the energy to find out.
The three of them lay on the wet grass. He watched silently as the house was reduced to nothing. The flames cracked the windows and snaked up toward the sky. Jake knew they should get out of there. A fire like that could easily spread to the forest. They were basically in a giant tinderbox. But his body wasn’t ready to move. Megan seemed to be in a bad way, still gasping for clean air after the smoke had made it to her lungs. Jake remembered that she had mentioned she was asthmatic. Her plan had been even more risky than he’d even perceived. He still couldn’t believe she’d come back for him…
He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing. But as he was starting to feel a little more normal again, he felt a sharp kick to his ribs. His eyes flew open and he saw one of the gang members standing over him. His jolly demeanor from the drugs and alcohol was gone. He was angry now.
“Your dumb girlfriend teried to kill us...big mistake,” he hissed. He kicked Jake again and he groaned. Each time he thought he’d escaped his own personal nightmare, it seemed to get worse once again. He heard Megan cry out in pain as she too was subjected to a cruel attack. He pinched his eyes shut. She should’ve run when she had the chance...now she was caught up in his mess too. Guilt stabbed his heart as sharp as a knife, but the kick to the ribs that followed was even mo
re painful.
“Please,” Jake tried to say, but another set of feet joined the attack. He felt like his ribs were cracking with each kick. He was in too much pain to scream. It was the end for real now. It had to be. There would be no coming back from this if it carried on...and what reason did the men have to stop.
“Wait!” a voice croaked. Jake opened his eyes for a moment and saw the man he’d saved from the kitchen stumbling to his feet. His eyes were bloodshot, either from the smoke or the drugs, but otherwise, he looked very much alive. He glanced down at Jake.
“He saved my life,” he said. “Let them go. She was just trying to get him out of the house. Let them go...we’ve taken this far enough.”
“Are you kidding me?” the ringleader of the group snapped. “After all this, you just want to let them go?”
“Yes. We’re done here. Let’s move before the fire spreads,” the young man said. Jake prayed that the others would listen to them. The pain he was feeling was unbearable. He couldn’t stand anymore. The ringleader of the group sniffed and nodded.
“Fine. Let’s move out,” he said. He paused and spat on Jake before ushering the others to follow him. Jake groaned and closed his eyes once again. He couldn’t believe the horrors that were happening to him and Megan. Now, they were even worse off than when they arrived. They were hurting bad, their lungs burning and their heads fogged up. Plus, they still didn’t have any weapons, food or water.
Giving up seemed to be the only option.
Thirteen
Aby
Aby felt like she hadn’t slept a wink. She’d stayed up for most of her sleep shift thinking about whether she could trust Tex or not, and by the time Peaches asked to swap over, sleep was the last thing on her mind. As morning approached and so did the possibility of Tex’s return, Aby knew that she was going to have to go with Peaches in Tex’s car to meet the other neighbors.
The End of the World Series | Book 3 | Survive The Destruction Page 7