The door opened immediately and Paul stuck his head out. “Are you alright? I heard - “
“Not now. Listen. Go into the store and find me big, heavy duty zip ties. They should be in the camping area. If you can’t find that, bring me rope.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Also, bring me a small knife, something with a blade that’s about three inches.
The young man looked at his quizzically, then nodded before closing the door. Daniel stepped back towards the men, keeping the weapon focused on them. “Guys, I’m gonna have to tie you up. I know you won’t like that, but it’s the only way. I’ve got to load my vehicle, and I can’t watch you at the same time.”
Tank top spoke up. “C’mon, man. You tie us up and some of those things come around and we’re dead, or worse, we become one of them.”
“This isn’t a discussion. However, if you two do as I say without giving me any hassle, I’ll leave you a way to get out of the cuffs. Got it?”
Both men grunted in agreement, clearly unhappy.
He didn’t care.
Paul emerged from the store, a tube of thick, 18-inch zip ties, similar to the ones Daniel had used earlier on the creature that had attacked him, in one hand. In his other hand was a small knife. Daniel motioned with his head for the teenager to come closer. When he did, Danie pointed at the knife and whispered, “Put that in your pocket for now.”
As the teenager slid the knife into his pocket, Daniel looked back at the men on the ground.
“Alright. Tank top, slide yourself to your right without your chest leaving the ground.”
The man did so until Daniel told him to stop. When he was done moving, there was about five feet between the two men.
“Paul, come around behind me towards that guy’s feet.” As Paul moved, Daniel shifted left, closer to the man’s head. By positioning himself this way, he maintained a clear shot if the man tried anything with Paul. “Alright. Tie his feet first. You’ll have to use zip ties. Connect those first, then wrap it around his ankles.” Paul did so, his thin fingers moving quickly.
“Good job. Now you put your hands behind your back, palms facing out.” The man did so, though it was clear it caused him discomfort. Paul quickly tied the man’s hands.
“Great work, Paul. Are they tight?”
The young man checked each one again. “Yes, they’re tight.”
“Alright. Halfway done. Now step all the way back.” Paul slid back and Daniel shifted all the way around the two men so that he was on the black man’s right side.
As Paul stepped forward to zip tie the second man’s ankle’s the man kicked out suddenly, knocking him off balance. He fell backwards onto the ground near the first man, who raised both legs up and brought them down across the boy’s chest, pinning him to the ground. With Paul between the two men, Daniel couldn’t risk taking a shot, so he used the shotgun for the next best thing, coming down hard on the man’s skull with the butt of the gun. Being on the ground already, the man’s head took two impacts nearly simultaneously: one from the gun, one from his head bouncing off the ground. The man, dazed, tried to shake the cobwebs from his head.
Taking the shotgun in his left hand, Daniel pulled the pistol from behind his back and dropped down on the man’s back hard with one knee, knocking the wind out of him. Daniel put the gun to the man’s head.
“Wanna try anything else?”
The man shook his head, the fight having left him. His partner gave up as well, knowing that he couldn’t win without help from him. Paul extricated himself from under the man’s legs, getting up. He glared back at the man before turning towards Daniel and the man in the tank top.
“Put your legs together.” Daniel growled at the man, pressing the gun firmly against his head. The man complied.
Clearly irritated, Paul wrapped the zip ties around the man’s ankles with force, keeping a hand between the two legs until he was done tightening it in order to make sure circulation wouldn’t be cut off. He glanced up at Daniel after finishing, waiting for the next instruction to be given.
“Wrists together, palms out.”
The man complied, protesting as he did. “This is bullshit, man.”
“Shut the fuck up. You think I believe that you wouldn’t kill us if your little trick there had been successful?”
“Whatever, man.”
Once Paul finished, he stood up and backed away from the men. “What now?”
“Now give them each another set.”
The white guy turned his head, glaring at Daniel. “What the fuck, man? We’re already tied up. You give us another set of ties and we’ll never get out. Those things will come and kill us. You might as well just shoot us now, man!”
Daniel stared back at him, emotionless. He had no doubt these men would kill them both if they had the chance. “Shut up before I knock you in the head, too. I told you, if you didn’t give me any hassle, I’d make sure you could get free, didn’t I?”
The Eminem wannabe nodded reluctantly. “Yeah.”
“Did you give me a hassle?”
“Yeah….”
“I’d say you invalidated the deal, wouldn’t you?”
“I, uh, don’t know what invalidated means.”
The black man spoke up, “It means we broke the deal. This guy’s gonna leave us like this.” He rested his head on the ground, resigned to his fate.
Daniel stared at the man coldly. “And whose fault is that?”
The man turned his head away in response.
Daniel walked around them, standing in front of their heads while Paul finished putting the last set of ties around the white man’s wrists. He looked down at them, his eyes cold and unfeeling. “Right now, you don’t know what my plan is.” He put the pistol behind his back again, then took hold of the shotgun with both hands. “However, if you fail to do what I say again, you’ll greatly increase the likelihood that I do leave you here, tied up, with no way to escape.” With that, he looked back at Paul. “Keep an eye on them.”
“Will do.”
Daniel looked around and found the perfect temporary spot for the two of them between two dumpsters that were up against the building. It would reduce their visibility, making it nearly impossible for them to watch what Daniel and Paul were doing.
Walking back over, he stopped briefly where Paul stood. “Start packing the car. Put the guns on the back seat, then the gear and food in the back area. Once those are in the car, start putting stuff on the floor behind the front seats and in every open spot around the other stuff before you start stacking things up high, OK? I want to have as much visibility as possible.
Paul nodded, ready to get to work. He looked over at the car, which was covered in blood stains. The dead man’s body lay on the ground on the driver’s side of the car. “What about the blood?”
“Load up first, then we’ll clean that up.”
“OK.” Paul walked away quickly, anxious to get to work.
Daniel stepped in front of the two men again. “Alright, now, you two are going over there.” He pointed with the shotgun at the dumpsters, which were about 50 yards away.
The two men waited, assuming he would help them up.
“What are you waiting for?”
Tank top answered him. “Aren’t you going to help us?”
“Help you what?”
“Get up, man. We can’t get up, being tied like this.”
Daniel grinned. “Either of you ever play football in high school?”
Eminem wannabe shook his head.
Tank top groaned. “Fuck…”
“What?” The white guy asked, looking at his partner, confused.
“We gotta roll, man, shit.”
“Seriously?”
“Dead serious.” Daniel replied. “Now, based on your positioning, I’d say you need to lead the way.”
The two of them began rolling awkwardly in the direction of the dumpsters. Daniel followed, his gun trained on them throughout. It was a slow, arduous process, especia
lly after the white guy got tired about halfway there, but eventually they made it there. They stopped, sagging on the ground, their breathing heavy. The ground was dirty and sticky near the dumpsters, and it smelled of old food and God knows what else, but they were too tired to care.
“Almost done, guys. Now just work your way around so that your heads are up against the wall.”
Too tired to even argue at this point, the two men shifted and squirmed until their heads nearly touched the wall. They continued breathing heavily, laying there on the ground.
“I’m going to have the boy keep an eye on you while I finish loading. Don’t try anything.”
The men didn’t bother responding.
Daniel returned to the car and was pleasantly surprised by Paul’s progress. He’d brought all of the carts out first, staging them near the vehicle so that he could put the right things in the right spaces to maximize storage. He’d gotten the guns, camouflage gear, and emergency food kits loaded in the car, and was removing the boots from the boxes so that he could stash them individually into whatever available space was available. The hydration packs and water filtration systems were the only things left in the cart on the left, the knives, emergency blankets, compasses, balaclavas, and hand warmers the only things left in the cart on the right. Evaluating the remaining space in the car, Daniel made a decision.
Moving to the driver’s side of the vehicle, Daniel opened the door and set the shotgun across the dash, opting for his pistol so that he’d be able to keep his hands free. “Be right back.” He walked back over to the men, stooping down to make sure their zip ties were still tight, then headed back into the store. Inside, he went back to the camping area and found the top-of-line sleeping bags. He grabbed five of them, enough for all of them and an upgrade from the basic ones they had at home.
Returning outside, he saw Paul was finished with loading the vehicle and was looking at the blood spatters that covered the back and roof of the vehicle. Daniel noticed that the rear window was damaged in multiple places from the shotgun pellets. Nothing could be done about that, but it would be good to wipe away the blood. No need for any attention that could be avoided. He handed the sleeping bags to Paul and told him to load them before returning to the store a final time.
Guessing correctly, he found cleaning supplies in the storeroom area. He grabbed the bottle of cleaning solution and rags.
Suddenly, he heard a single, loud bang come from the utility closet, followed by repeated crashes against the door, which rattled with each impact. Clearly, the thing had woken up, but how was it able to move around with its arms and legs secured? Those zip ties were too strong to break through, especially since Daniel had doubled up around each part of the thing’s limbs. Grunts and screams of rage sounded loudly from the closet, and Daniel decided he wasn’t going to stick around to find out if that thing would figure out that the door opened inward, not outward.
Stepping outside, he pulled the door closed behind him, making sure it was secure before he returned to the car, where Paul had closed the doors and the back cargo hatch. Daniel quickly sprayed down the car, then wiped away the blood, tossing the used rags on the ground, away from the car.
“What are you going to do about them?” Paul asked, looking at him expectantly.
“Don’t worry, that’s what that little knife is for.” Daniel gestured for the knife, and Paul passed it to him.
“You’re gonna cut them loose?”
Sliding the knife in his pocket, Daniel scoffed. “No, definitely not. They’re going to cut themselves free. By that time we’ll be long gone.” Daniel went around to the side of the car where the dead man’s body was and grabbed the corpse by the leg. He began pulling the body away from the car, straining as he did so. Even with a huge chunk of his midsection missing, the guy still weighed a ton.
Finished with that, he sprayed another rag with cleaner and cleaned off his gloves before tossing that rag aside with the others.
Paul was waiting patiently. “Get in the car. I’ll be right back.”
The young man held up the gun. “Where should I put this?”
“In the door, where you can reach it. Make sure the safety’s on.”
“Okay.”
Daniel walked back over to the men, looking at his watch as he did so. It was nearly five thirty, making it highly unlikely that they’d make it back before dark. Stopping, he pulled out his cell phone, checking the signal. It was still working. The Mechanix gloves were too thick for him to use the phone, so he had to remove them. The latex gloves interfered with the fingerprint sensor, but the phone did recognize key entries, so he entered the password, unlocking it.
Ran into some trouble. We’re ok, but running behind. Be home in about an hour.
He clicked send, then stuck the phone in his left front pocket before withdrawing the knife from the right.
He walked the rest of the way to the men, finding them still in the position he’d left them. “Alright, guys, we’re done, so we’ll be leaving now. I’m really tempted to leave you like this, but I want to believe that you’re just trying to survive, like everyone else. Is that true?”
Tank top spoke first. “Yeah, man, just trying to survive.”
Wannabe white rapper followed. “Just trying to get by, man.”
Daniel nodded. “OK, here’s what I’m gonna do.” He took the little knife out and put it in front of their faces. “I’ll leave this here, open. You just gotta get to it and cut yourselves free.” With that, he set it on the ground by their feet, turned, and began walking back to the car. “Oh, and if I were you, I’d hurry up. It’ll start getting dark in about an hour.”
With that, he returned to the car and got in , taking the shotgun off of the dash and wedging it in the space between his seat and the center console. It would be a bit uncomfortable, but he’d make it work. He checked his surroundings, then looked over at Paul. “You ready?”
Paul nodded, looking relieved. “Let’s get out of here.”
Daniel checked the rear view mirror. The two men were wiggling around on the ground, each blocking the other from spinning all the way around. Shaking his head, he put the car in drive. “Good idea.”
With that, he pulled out of the parking lot slowly, turning onto the street they’d used on the way there, beginning the drive home.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
‘Shit!’ Serafina dashed down the hallway, towards the girls’ room, the cleaver gripped tightly in her hand.
Brenna came around the corner, eyes wide with fear. “There’s a man coming through the window!”
A loud voice came from the guest room. “Son of a bitch!”
Peering around the corner, she could see into the room, where the man who had been at the front door was currently working to extricate his left leg from the frame of the window. A jagged piece of glass had snagged his pants, tearing the material.
Determined to defend her home, Serafina stepped forward, the cleaver extended in front of her. “Get out of my house.”
The man looked away from where his pant leg was snagged and locked eyes with her. Anger showed on his face, and while it wasn’t the inhuman rage she’d seen in the eyes of the thing that had been her neighbor, it was a fury that frightened her nonetheless.
The man angrily tore his leg free, and lunged forward at her, catching her off guard. Instinctively, she pulled back away from him, stepping back. As her bare foot came down, a piece of glass wedged deep into the skin. She cried out, losing her balance momentarily.
In one movement, the man caught his balance and threw himself forward headlong into Serafina, his shoulder catching her in the midsection, driving her breath out of her. She fell backwards onto the hardwood floor, hard, losing her grip on the cleaver . It fell from her hand, clattering on the floor. Struggling to catch her breath, she looked at the man, looming above her. He grinned widely, confidence and satisfaction showing on his face.
Determined to fight, to protect the family, Serafina brough
t her knee up into the man’s groin, momentarily stunning him. Being pinned under him, her range of motion was limited and thus did little damage, but it was enough to faze him, allowing to slide out from under his large frame. She crawled away, looking for the knife.
A fist collided with the side of her head, knocking her sideways into the hallway, where she fell onto her stomach. Her head aching, her vision blurred, Serafina tried to turn over to bring her arms up in front of her in an effort to protect herself.
A meaty hand slapped her, stunning her yet again. She felt her consciousness fading quickly as she scurried backward toward the kitchen.
Still grinning, the man rose above her, looking down in amusement. He watched her as she tried to slide away from him, her movements growing weaker with every desperate lunge.
Reaching the kitchen Serafina saw movement from the corner of her eye and fell backward, collapsing against the hardwood surface, the fight seeming to have left her.
“You should have just let me in, bitch.” The man fell atop her, grasping her face in one hand as his other hand began working down her body.
From the man’s right, a heavy tabletop tree sculpture came crashing down on him, narrowly missing the top of his head. It slammed into his ear and neck, drawing blood instantly, knocking him off of Serafina. Ashley stepped forward, fury in her eyes. “Get out of our house!”
The man struggled up to one knee, shaking his head to clear his vision. He touched his head, then looked at his hand. Seeing blood, he screamed at her. “You fucking bitch!”
A stainless steel pan came down on his head from behind, driving the man forward onto both knees, dazed. Brenna moved carefully around the man, joining her sister. Together they faced him, fists clenched, ready to fight.
With primal scream, the man threw himself at them, knocking them both backwards. Ashley hit the table in the hallway, toppling it as she fell to the ground. Brenna was thrown backwards into the dining room, her head colliding with the edge of the table. She fell to the floor in a heap.
Surviving Rage | Book 1 Page 17