The End of the World Series | Book 3 | Survive The Destruction

by McDonald, Clyde

  “The car,” she whispered. “We need to try and take the car. We won’t make it far on foot, especially if we want to get back to your house in one piece. Plus, if he doesn’t have the car, he can’t follow us.”

  “Okay,” Peaches said, nodding fervently. Aby knew she was just happy to go along with whatever Aby thought, but it was good that she had confidence in her plan. It made Aby feel much better. She grabbed Peaches’ hand.

  “Let’s go.”

  They rushed as fast as they could to the car, even though their bodies were in agony. Aby’s heart was racing as they moved. The possibility of getting away seemed closer with every passing second. If only they could find the keys to the car, they’d be out of there. Sure, she had no idea how to get back to Peaches’ home. Sure, she wasn’t sure she’d ever recover from what they’d been through. But they had one chance, and they had to take it.

  Aby dived at the car and yanked the passenger door open. She searched desperately for the keys inside, but it only took her a moment to see that they weren’t there. Tex had to have them. Still, she couldn’t stop herself from fumbling around, hoping that her luck might change.

  But it didn’t.

  “You won’t find them in there!” Tex’s voice rang out. Aby’s blood turned cold as she felt a hand grab her ankle and drag her from the car. She hit the ground with a thud and found Tex grinning down at her. He tutted.

  “Trying to escape, hmm? That wasn’t part of my deal,” he hissed. “For that, you’re both going to have to pay. But don’t worry. I don’t want you dead...I’ve not finished my fun with you yet.”

  Tex pointed his gun at Peaches, who was stood looking terrified a few metres away. He shot her right in the foot without blinking an eye and then laughed as Peaches screamed, falling to the ground. Aby felt a range inside her so intense that she felt like she could kill him with her bare hands. And now was her only chance. She had to at least try, even if it got her killed.

  Scrambling to her feet she launched herself at Tex with a cry, tackling him to the ground. He was taken by surprise and as they wrestled, both of them trying to get dominance, he finally had the sense to look a little worried. Aby’s hand was in agony, but she still tried to grab the gun. Tex pulled the trigger and it went off with a loud bang, throwing Aby off him in fear. When she saw what the bullet had hit, she couldn’t stop herself from screaming.

  The bullet had hit Peaches square in the face, and now there was barely anything of it left. She’d clearly died the second it hit her. Now, she was just a mess or raw meat, lying deadly still on the ground. Aby wailed, unable to move to try and save herself. She couldn’t believe she’d lost Peaches after everything they’d battled together. She blinked, hoping she was imagining the horror scene in front of her, but she wasn’t. This was her reality now.

  Tex laughed again, grabbing Aby by her hair and pointing the gun at her skull. Aby wouldn’t care much if the bullet killed her right then, but she was too traumatized to even tug away from Tex. He put his lips close to her ear.

  “You ruined my fun,” he hissed. “You weren’t even my favorite to torture...Peaches was much better. I was even considering just killing you to put you out of your misery...wouldn’t that have been merciful? But you had to go and run away, and now I guess I’ll have to make your life even more miserable…”

  Aby couldn’t even fight back. She couldn’t protest. All she could do was feel impending terror as Tex pulled her back inside, back to face hell all over again.

  Twenty

  Megan

  Megan felt helpless as she watched Jake being beaten viciously with sticks. She screamed, hoping that someone might come and help her, but it was hopeless. She turned back to the house and banged hard on the door, sobbing.

  “Please...please, let us in! Help us!”

  But no response came. The man who had been holding Megan back had joined in the beating, obviously thinking she was no threat at all. After all, she was just a screaming woman, right? A woman so terrified of these men that she could do nothing, but wail and hope someone would save her. Megan was shaking as she watched the scene unfold. Jake cried out as one of the men hit him around the face and his jaw made a cracking noise. There was no way he could save himself this time.

  If Megan didn’t do something, he was going to die.

  Maybe he’d die anyway. Maybe she needed to run while she still had a chance. Jake had gotten them into this situation. She didn’t deserve to die because of his mistakes.

  But even as she willed her feet to move, she stayed put. She couldn’t do it. Once again, she was tied to Jake. Until the moment he drew his final breath, she’d be tethered to him. He was the only friend she had in the world and she couldn’t let him die.

  But Megan knew the odds were bad for her. She was facing four strong men without a weapon to her name. They were armed too and she didn’t fancy being on the receiving end of their sticks like Jake. She desperately tried to think of some way to draw their attention away from him.

  “Why aren’t you attacking me?” she cried out. “You really want to just keep hitting an unarmed man, huh? What are you, monsters?”

  But trying to appeal to their humanity was useless when they didn’t have any. They didn’t even care that it was an unfair fight, or a coward’s attack. They didn’t care about honor. They just wanted to see Jake die.

  Wildly, Megan tried to dive into the throes of the battle, but one of the men swung a branch at her, knocking her back so hard that she went flying. She landed hard on her back and the wind was knocked from her. She lay there for a moment, her head spinning from the impact. She wasn’t doing enough. She didn’t know how long he could possibly have left to live, but it wasn’t long. She needed to do something more drastic.

  She felt the way she did when she set the fire again. Like the world was putty in her hands if only she was willing to take risks. If she tossed aside her regard for whether she lived or died, then she was capable of almost anything. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She was going to be the hero again. She was going to show those men that they’d underestimated the wrong woman.

  She got to her feet and ran toward the front door of the house. With one swift kick, she opened it and found the owner of the house stood behind it, looking shocked. She used his moment of confusion to her advantage, throwing her whole body weight at his waist. The pair of them tumbled to the ground. Megan knew that the man was much stronger than her, but she didn’t care. She was determined that if she was savage enough, she’d win this fight.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, just give me the gun!” she cried out.

  “Like hell I will!”

  It was the answer she was expecting, but she was prepared for it. She was going to do whatever she had to in order to get that gun. She opened her mouth wide and then bit down hard on the man’s shoulder. He was so shocked by the gesture that he cried out and dropped the gun. Megan snatched it up immediately and backed away from the man. She pointed it at him, breathing hard.

  “You need to get the hell out of here before I shoot you,” Megan hissed. “I gave you a chance. Now you need to go.”

  “This is my house!” the man snarled. “Who do you think you are?”

  “All I wanted was to save my friend, but you had to be aggressive. So now it’s my turn. Leave or I’ll shoot you.”

  The man got to his feet unsteadily, breathing hard. He began to back out of the room and Megan felt relief inside her chest. She didn’t want to have to hurt a single person, not even someone like him. She was glad that he’d listened to her and backed off.

  But quick as a flash, she saw his hand reach out for a knife and he began to run at her. In her panic, she wasn’t prepared to shoot. She managed to dodge him as he tried to stab her viciously. She flashed back to her old apartment, remembering all of the times she had to dodge punches from her ex. He was always happy to see her suffer, to see her in pain. She still had bruises on her skin, among many others, that he’d i
nflicted on her. Megan backed away from the man and watched the madness growing in his eyes as he kept slashing at her with the knife.

  She realized in that split second that she’d never escape the violence that seemed to follow her around like a curse. There was always someone wanting to see her hurting. People always took advantage of her good nature and thought they could get away with it. But now, she wasn’t just a frightened young woman anymore. She wasn’t someone who could be messed with. She was strong, and she was willing to fight.

  “You shouldn’t have done that,” Megan said darkly as the man lunged at her with the knife again. She turned her gun to his leg and shot him.

  The recoil from the gun sent her stumbling back. She felt like she was in slow motion as she fell, watching blood splatter as the bullet pierced the man’s leg. She didn’t want to kill him, or even hurt him, but she’d been pushed to her limits. She couldn’t leave that house without the gun.

  As the man cried out in agony, she felt the urge to help him, but she had to save Jake. Besides, the man had been intent on killing her from the start. He brought his pain on himself.

  Or that was what she had to tell herself to keep her going. With the gun now in hand, she stepped over the man’s body and rushed back outside. She was going to finish this once and for all.

  “Hey!” she cried out. None of the men even bothered to respond to the sound of her voice. She gritted her teeth. She’d been hoping to give them a chance to run. But now that they’d ignored her desperate call, she had no reason to show them any mercy. They were cruel and cold. They deserved everything coming to them.

  She aimed the gun at the man closest to her and shot him in the back. The sound of the gun ripped through the dark and shocked the other men as their accomplice fell to his knees, gurgling blood. Megan held the gun steady, scanning the other men with it.

  “Who is next?” she hissed. Two of the men looked at one another with fear before running off. Jake was a pummeled mess on the ground and Megan wanted to rush to help him, but it wasn’t over yet. The last man standing, the leader of the group, didn’t seem quite so intimidated. He glared at her with malice in his eyes.

  “You messed with the wrong guys,” he growled. Megan held her ground.

  “You hurt my friend. You tortured him. Why? He did nothing to you,” Megan said, her hands trembling a little. “You say that we messed with you, but you messed with us. You didn’t show us any mercy or compassion. I’m not a bad person. I don’t want to do this. But I know good from bad...and you deserve everything that’s coming for you.”

  The man snarled, raising his stick in defense. Megan had hoped he might back off, but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen. He planned to fight her.

  And she planned to win.

  Twenty-One

  Aby

  Aby was tied to a chair in Tex’s torture room now, waiting for whatever horrific pain he planned to inflict on her. In the corner of the room, a woman was lying, covered in blood, appearing to be passed out. Tex whistled to himself as he prepped himself for another round of horrors. He glanced in Aby’s direction.

  “Why the long face?”

  Aby shook her head in disbelief. She couldn’t believe that any person could be so cruel. She thought she’d seen it all, but the things Tex had done really made her reconsider how much she knew about human nature. There must be other men like him out there...were they just waiting for society to collapse so that they could act on all of their cruel inhibitions?

  “Peaches liked you,” Aby spat bitterly. “She trusted you. She said you were a good man. I had my doubts, but I wanted to believe her. Why do you have to do this? Why can’t you feel the pain we’re suffering through and stop yourself from making it worse?”

  Tex sighed with a smile. “I guess it’s just in my nature, Aby. We’re all different. We all get our kicks somehow. Sex, drugs, rock and roll...it’s just less socially acceptable to say you like inflicting pain. But why? We’re predators. It’s in our nature. Just because humans have grown soft over the years, it doesn’t mean we don’t have these wonderful violent instincts…”

  The woman in the corner of the room began to whimper and Tex turned toward her, tutting.

  “It’s nothing personal,” Tex insisted as he bent down to touch the woman’s cheek. “I’m not doing this out of a place of hate...you didn’t do anything to deserve this. You were just too easy to prey on...and for that, I’m sorry.” Tex turned to Aby with a nonchalant shrug.”You know, I liked Peaches too. She seemed like a nice lady. But someone has to help me fulfill my fantasies. I’ve waited so, so long...why should everyone else get to find happiness, but me? Peaches had a long life.”

  “And what about me?” Aby asked through gritted teeth. “I’ve got my whole life ahead of me. I have a fiance to get back to.”

  Tex laughed. “Oh, Aby...you’re never going to find your fiance. Never in a million years. And if you don’t have him, what do you have left to live for? I mean, really? It’s a cruel world out there on your own. Face it...I’m doing you a favor by keeping you here. You’ll die with purpose...and it’ll give me great satisfaction.”

  “Then what about her?” Aby asked desperately, pointing at the woman in the corner of the room. “She has a life out there somewhere to get back to. Let her go...you can have me, but just let someone come out of this alive. Please.”

  Tex smiled at her. “But Aby...I can’t do that. If I let her go, then how am I supposed to put on a show for you?”

  Aby felt her skin turn cold. Tex sauntered toward her, a knife in his hand. He put it under Aby’s chin and pressed it lightly to her skin, forcing her to tilt her head up to look at him.

  “That’s right...I’m going to let you watch me at work for a while,” he hissed. “I told you you’d suffer for what you did, Aby, and I meant it. You see, you might not be very good at letting me torture you...but you’ll be good at watching it. If I can’t give you physical pain...then the emotional pain will do just fine. And if you dare to close your eyes...then I’ll gouge them out for you.”

  Aby was trembling. She’d never been so terrified. Even though he wasn’t going to torture her, she felt as though being made to watch it would be almost as bad. The thought that Tex could be so cold hearted was the scariest part of it all, and as the other woman began to scream in terror, Aby was forced to watch as Tex dragged her by her hair to the centre of the room. He fetched his drill once again and secured the woman’s hand on the ground. He glanced over his shoulder at Aby with a smile.

  “Now your hands will match,” he said pleasantly. And then he began to drill into the woman’s hand.

  The whole thing could only have lasted a few seconds, but it felt like hours to Aby. Watching someone going through the same thing she had, screaming and writhing in pain, was almost too much for her to handle. She could still feel the intense pain in her own hand and she wondered how anyone could ever recover from something like this. Did she even want to live anymore, after the things she’d suffered?

  “I hope you’re still watching the show, Aby,” Tex said sinisterly. “I wouldn’t want to take away your eyes and prevent you from seeing all this.”

  Aby screamed out in horror. She couldn’t stop now that she’d started. She felt as though she’d never feel anything, but fear and pain again, and the thought was driving her insane. Tex didn’t seem fazed, however. He just kept smiling.

  “No one will hear you out here, Aby,” he said smugly. “It’s just the three of us...poor Peaches can’t cry for help anymore. And it’s so quiet in these parts...who is going to save you now? Your precious fiance?”

  He laughed again and Aby’s screams only got louder. It was like she was trying to drown out the rest of the world. But no matter how loud she screamed, she could still hear Tex and his terrifying laughter.

  “You’ll always hear my voice in the back of your head, Aby,” Tex chuckled. “Right up until the moment I let you die, you’ll hear me when I’m not even talk
ing. But I’m going to keep you around for a long time. The fun doesn’t end until I say it does. You’ll sit in that chair for a long time...and I’ll keep finding new friends to play with. Listen to the sound of my voice...it’s going to haunt your dreams when I let you sleep. It’s going to ring in your ears for your every waking hour. Forever. You’ll be begging me to kill you soon, but I’m not going to let that happen. You’ve made me see the light. You’ve taken this thing to a new level...a new way of torture. I don’t even have to touch you to torture you, do I? All I have to do...is make you watch.”

  Aby could feel her breathing getting heavier. She needed to get out. She was going to go insane if she didn’t. But there was no escape this time. Her hands were tied too tight. She had no weapons. She could barely even move. She watched in horror as Tex took a knife from his pocket and wielded it with care, still holding his victim down with his free hand.

  “And now...I think we’ll peel back some layers of this lovely lady’s skin,” Tex said with a horrifying smile. He began to dig the knife into the woman’s skin and Aby watched on in horror, unable to scream anymore. The woman under the knife did, though. For hours and hours, she screamed. Aby saw Tex do things to her that she didn’t think any human was capable of doing to another person. He used every weapon in his arsenal. Tweezers to pluck skin from her body. Knives to whittle away at her fingers and toes. Hammers to smash up her teeth and then make her swallow them as he poured water on her face. Aby had never seen anything so horrific in her life. Her whole body was in shock, shaking uncontrollably even when Tex took breaks to taunt her or to disappear for a few minutes, returning with new weapons of torture.

  They’d been awake for hours, but Tex didn’t seem to be getting tired. The woman he was torturing passed out a few times, but she had survived a lot. Aby was forced to keep looking at her, a bloodied mess on the floor, begging for help. She kept turning to look at Aby, pleading with her eyes for her to save her. But Aby was helpless. She was going to be made to stay there for a long time. She knew the woman in front of her was just one in a long line of victims. She tried to disassociate. She tried to tell herself it was all a dramatic performance, or that she was just watching a film. But she could smell blood in the air. She could hear the screams of the woman even after she passed out or stopped for a while. She could taste the bile in her mouth from where she’d thrown up the contents of her stomach. This was real.