by W. A. R.
“…ef…” he tried to answer, moaning and trembling against the pain that radiated from his flaming and swelling mouth, the burned and marred place where his ear used to be. Damien squeezed his left hand tightly, his fingers curling around the muscle of his tongue. Amber glanced at George, then, a small light of hope in her eyes and Buddy understood that she wanted nothing more than for Damien to communicate. She didn’t really wish to hurt him the way she had; at that moment, more than anything else, she wanted answers. Maybe Damien saw that as well. Very slowly, Buddy undid the leather straps holding his head in place. Once he did, the man’s head fell forward, limp and shaking.
“I think we may need a pen and some paper, if you don’t mind.” She said and George nodded at her.
“Not at all.” He told her before turning to leave. Amber turned back to the man that was strapped down, her eyes dark and forbidding.
“You know, with no tongue, you very well can’t tell us lies anymore. Isn’t that something?” she asked and Damien tried to narrow his eyes at her again before they shut against the pain. She studied him before kneeling, placing her elbows on her knees and her hands clasped together before her. “You think I’m weak for hurting you this way? For surprising you with a bat and now taking advantage of your…secure…position?” she asked and Buddy watched as Damien snapped his angry, red eyes open. He quickly began firing off mumbled and garbled words, every one of them incoherent, until the pain throbbed to an unbearable level. He then went silent. “I have only done what I needed to do to learn what I need to know, to protect my family.” She informed him calmly, and Buddy saw the dark bruise on the side of her head, the way her eyelids drooped with heaviness. “You are no longer part of that family. You are the enemy. I suggest you get used to this treatment because until you give me the information I need, you will continue losing body parts.”
The barn door swung open, bathing them all in sunlight as George reentered, carrying a pen and an old yellowed notebook. Amber cast them a furtive glance. “Thank you, George.”
“My pleasure.” He said simply, placing both paper and pen on the makeshift table and reaching around the other side of the table, pulling a chair from the darkness and placing it against the backs of Amber’s knees. Gracefully, she lowered herself into the seat, George stationing himself on one side of her, Buddy stepping forward to the other side of her. George then handed her the pen and the paper. She kept her eyes on Damien, feeling strong then, powerful and formidable. Buddy squared his shoulders, George doing the same as she leaned forward in her seat.
“You are going to draw me a map.”
Four hours, three and a half fingers, a black eye, many serious burns and cuts, and a busted nose later, they emerged from the barn, coated in blood, sweat, and vomit. It had taken longer than expected, and the screams that he had given them still rang out in their ears. His refusal to share any information was astounding and so, Amber began with his pinky. She had placed the pliers against the skin, feeling the bone of his first knuckle. When he refused to give them what they wanted, she had cut through it with force, the sound of bone sickening. His blood pooled into her hand, her lap, and the tip of his pinky finger fell to the floor but she never once flinched. George stepped forward then, pressing the flaming red end of metal to his finger, cauterizing the wound and burning him. The smell of burning flesh made them sick but they stood strong. This continued through almost two whole fingers before Damien vomited. Amber hadn’t cared, Buddy noted. No, instead, she continued, one knuckle joint at a time until he finally caved. He was pale, trembling, drooling and unable to swallow the saliva that gathered in his mouth. In the end, however, they emerged from the barn, notebook in hand, with answers that they had needed. They had left the broken man in the barn, allowing him to slip into unconsciousness in their absence, the shock of the pain forcing his body to respond in kind and remove the ache of the pain, at least for a while.
Now, they neared the house, watching as Rick and Katie emerged, offering the trio a curious greeting. “How did it go?” Rick asked and Amber tossed him a look before glancing at Katie.
“I am going to need your help this evening in trying to fix his ailments.” She informed the other woman and Katie visibly swallowed, Buddy saw that Katie would be more than happy to let him die.
Rick too, apparently. “Why? Amber, we shouldn’t be using our supplies on that fucking traitor.” Buddy stepped forward, expecting Amber to snap at her cousin, but instead, she sighed, her shoulders slumping forward. She brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose.
“I took out my anger and revenge on him, Rick.” She swallowed thickly. “That is something my father never would have done.”
“Amber he killed Uncle J and Kyle…. not to mention…”
Her eyes blazed. “I know what he did, Rick. I am well aware of it. I have the answers I need and he has had his just rewards. I may be unkind and vengeful, but I am not heartless. I refuse to be like him.” But you are. She turned back to Katie. “So, please, will you help me?” she asked and Katie nodded slowly.
George stepped forward then, glancing between the pair. “And no one else should step foot in the barn either. Amber and I will tend to him. And Katie, whatever you see, please do not repeat it.” He said and Katie visibly gulped, glancing at Amber’s clothes and skin. Oh yes, Buddy thought to himself, the image was gruesome, even if she judged it by the vomit and blood coating Amber’s body.
Amber glanced between them all before her eyes landed on Buddy’s. “I suppose it’s time to talk to everyone now?” she asked and he nodded, understanding what she was asking. If he were honest, he found it hard to speak, difficult, and he was unsure why. Still, whenever she and Rick turned to lead the way in, George, Katie, and himself all followed. This was going to be a long discussion.
It didn’t take but a few seconds for everyone to realize that they were back. In those few seconds, doors were opened, footsteps thundered throughout the big silent house and everyone crowded around, curious, scared, and desperate for some kind of answer. As some of their eyes fell on their tattered and bloodied apparel, skin, and faces, they grimaced in disgust, certain of what had happened with Damien. Amber and George didn’t seem to notice any of this. Silence grew as Amber stood, running a hand over her tender head and wincing, trying to determine where to begin in the conversation. Buddy sighed and stepped up to help her.
“Yesterday morning, we were stopped in the garage.” He began loudly, not missing the saddened looks from Bobby-Jean and Cassie. He cleared his throat to continue. “We were informed that Miles, Shelly, and Brian killed some of their people. It definitely didn’t seem like they were too messed up about losing them.”
Derek furrowed his brow in confusion. “What does that mean? That they have more people than they care to have?”
Buddy shrugged. “Obviously; they had a messenger that sent word back to Adrian, Damien said they had a community of all things, and we took out twenty, and that Ryder guy still didn’t seem too messed up about that knowledge. They have lost at least twenty-three people by our hands and they are alright with it.” He sighed, hoping that explanation warmed them up to the following bad news. “Damien admitted that there are at least two hundred people there.”
“Two hundred?!” Bobby-Jean exclaimed. Buddy winced. “How did that piece of shit find so many people to follow him?”
George shrugged. “He didn’t say. It could have been anything. Point is, they have that many people. We won that last battle because we outsmarted them. We can’t fight them and win. We don’t have the skill or the weaponry.” He sighed. “If anything we may have to just outsmart them again.”
Rick looked up at this, hopeful. “Do we know where they are?”
George lifted the notebook. “We have a map.”
Derek lifted a brow in surprise at this. “What else did he give you?”
“Names of the men and their ranks, where their guns, food, and water are all kept, their security measure
s, their sources of energy, and even some names of innocent people that need to get out of there.” Buddy told them all and for a moment things went quiet. None of them could really believe it. Damien wanted to help some innocent people that were trapped in there? It seemed impossible but it was what had happened after he was told that they were going to take the place down.
“He gave y’all all of that?” Derek asked, and Buddy knew by the sound of hesitancy in his voice that he wasn’t really sure whether or not he wanted to know the answer.
“After some…persuasion.” Buddy stated plainly, leaving no room for argument or question. “Either way we are going to need a plan and…” he hated saying this. “Someone on the inside.” Again, things were tense and silent. Amber glanced at him and he sighed, noting how anxious she seemed. She, George, and Buddy hadn’t known what to think whenever Damien had…written with a trembling hand, the same things to them.
‘The compound=fortress. High brick and steel walls, electricity, weapons. Constant surveillance. Need inside to take down.’ And then he had smirked at them as best as he could with quivering pale lips.
“You can’t be serious.” Katie finally voiced and everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief in unison at her being the first to speak.
“I’m afraid he is. It is the only chance we have.” George explained.
“We can’t get to them before they get to the compound?” Cassie asked lightly, and George looked at her sadly. Buddy grimaced. Would the young girl be going with them? He questioned this, questioned whether or not Amber would allow her to. Miles’s thanks for keeping his promise stabbed at him and left him unsure of what to do, what to say. He had failed, and Miles knew that and yet the man still thanked him. He swallowed. A new respect had grown for the man for this and for his blatant refusal to tell Amber any information regarding their whereabouts. Then again, his respect for her had grown as well with her tenacity and her determination to go against his wishes and find them.
“Only the people they are with know where they are. And the only time that they will be out will be when they meet up with all of the others on their way back at the Shallow Falls bridge.” Buddy explained, seeing Derek visibly tense at the mention of Calion landmarks. He swallowed thickly.
“So why can’t we take them out there?” Bobby-Jean asked the question that was on everyone’s minds.
“Because there will be at least forty men there with other prisoners that they will gladly kill to save their own lives.” George explained and Katie shifted on her feet. The woman was uneasy and Buddy wondered how she was going to handle everything. He remembered how he and Derek had found her, huddled and frightened and fragile. Hell, he thought, she was still battered and confused. If it hadn’t been for them she probably wouldn’t have made it.
“So…” her voice sounded so very weak and defeated. “What are we going to do?”
At this, Amber tensed and Buddy knew what she was going to say. Her eyes skimmed over every person before her before she continued speaking once again. “Yesterday, while Buddy, George, and I were in the garage, and as Buddy said…we were warned not to leave.” She explained, refusing to go into details for her own sake. “Before we could leave, a man came on the radio, said he was a friend, and told us that they were coming for the house next. That’s how we knew they were coming…why we didn’t try to go save them.” Amber flinched and Buddy knew she was hurting. “Why we couldn’t. We were told not to.” Things went so quiet a pin could be heard dropping. George looked between Buddy and Amber, saddened. Derek, Rick, and Cassie were in shock. Bobby-Jean and Katie however, looked frightened, and maybe a bit angry.
Katie’s jaw dropped. “You trusted them?” she asked incredulously and Amber shot a pointed look at her. Again, her look slashed at someone, causing Katie to flinch.
“I wasn’t going to risk it. This man knew what we were doing, everything we planned and he could have taken advantage of it. Instead, he warned us, and I didn’t question it. Regardless, the man wasn’t wrong.” She explained, challenging the timid woman to her right. She sighed, feeling the heaviness of her own heart. “They also said to meet at noon tomorrow if we made it out of the house ambush alive.” She inwardly grimaced at the sharp stab of pain in her chest that accompanied thoughts of Brittany’s torn body and Kyle’s last breath.
Rick stepped forward. “Are you considering this?” he asked and Amber shifted on her feet.
“If you are asking if I trust this man, the answer is no I don’t; I don’t trust any of them. Is it the same man that I spoke with earlier, the man that seemed so cooperative? I couldn’t be sure.” She stated vaguely, receiving dubious stares from everyone aside from George and Buddy, the latter two studying her with interest.
“Then what are you saying?” her cousin asked, and she could see that he wanted to act, that he was desperate to help her in whatever she decided.
“I suggest…” she paused, hesitating as if unsure of what to say but Buddy knew better. She knew there was going to be outrage at her suggestion. Finally, she swallowed thickly and lifted her chin. “…we prepare, go over whatever information we have, and rest tonight, and tomorrow, surprise them with an attack at the place where we are to be meeting.” She offered, leaving out the parts in which they take them in as hostages. She felt heavy lead fill her veins and a rock sink into the pit of her stomach.
“You can’t be serious. What if it is a trap?” Bobby-Jean asked of her in shock. Amber narrowed her eyes at her mother, not hatefully, only with conviction. Buddy, behind her, straightened his stance and crossed his arms.
“That’s why we beat them to it.” Amber replied, catching various nods of understanding from others around her. She stood firm in her decision, Miles’s voice still ringing in her ears. She understood that things were sudden, but there was no time to waste, and after speaking to Ryder and Miles…knowing that they were alive and what awaited them at the compound, she knew that they had to act, and they had to do so fast. “Look, I know this is asking a lot and I know everyone thought we had more time than this to act but we don’t. So, I need to know…who’s in?” she asked, determined to take action, regardless of what Miles had begged of her. Very quickly, Cassie, Buddy, George, Rick, and Derek all lifted their hands. Katie and Bobby-Jean stared at her as if she had lost her mind.
“We just got here!” Katie interrupted hotly and Amber knew that she was scared. She was scared and didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t questioning Amber’s judgment; she was merely surprised and acting on it. “We just got through running for our lives!”
Amber never wavered, firm in her resolve. “They were just taken yesterday. We don’t have time to play house.” She bit out, catching the surprise from Buddy and George at her words. Katie’s face flushed and she stepped forward, her hazel eyes boring into Amber.
“No one has slept. We are tired. We need a break.” She demanded and Amber squared her shoulders. She wasn’t backing down and she wasn’t going to give in.
“I am not stopping anyone from resting.” She then looked around at everyone around her. “If any of you need rest, then please do so. We can’t function without it.” She said calmly and yet none of them moved. Their eyes were on Katie in surprise at her outburst, in shock at her selfishness.
After seeing that no one had moved, she began fuming, thrusting her hands down to her side. “What if those monsters come back? How do we know no one is following us?” Bobby-Jean asked calmly and Amber sighed.
“No one is following us.” She said firmly, taking Damien’s words for what they were at face value. “As far as the monsters…I’m not sure. We didn’t ask him about them because we didn’t feel the need.”
“You didn’t feel the need to ask him about these creatures?” Katie asked incredulously. Amber finally turned on her feet to the woman, staring at her. Neither woman backed down and neither woman wavered. Buddy reached forward and placed a gentle hand on Amber’s shoulder, urging her back.
“No, bec
ause if all goes the way we want it to, things won’t make it that far.”
“And how do you know that?” Katie asked bitingly, and Amber closed her eyes tightly against the pain. He wanted to intervene but he knew that he shouldn’t. Instead, he kept his jaw clenched and his mouth shut.
“I don’t. I can only hope.” She said softly, causing Katie to widen her eyes in surprise. “I am thinking that if tomorrow goes as planned, we will get whatever information that we need from those that we…capture.” The reaction was immediate.
“Capture?”
“You can’t be serious!”
“I think it is a terrific idea.”
“Maybe then they will negotiate?”
“Quiet!” Amber exclaimed, finally having enough. Her ice blue eyes darted around the room, landing precariously among every person present. Her heated gaze fell over in a haze and her mind once again became blurry, Buddy could see it. She wobbled under his hand and he remembered her head slamming against the brick staircase, her lack of sleep within the past twenty-four hours, her grief. “Look, I am going out there tomorrow and those are my intentions for going. If you don’t want to go, then don’t. If you do, then we will get together and form a plan. So, for the end of this discussion, my question is this: Who is going tomorrow?”
Her eyes lifted, watching as Buddy lifted his hand, as did George, Rick, Jacob, Cassie, and Derek…and reluctantly Katie did as well.
“Mom?” she asked and Bobby-Jean turned her sad eyes to her daughter. Amber’s eyes were pleading yet firm and her mother knew what she was asking. She cleared her throat and Buddy tensed, awaiting the storm that he was sure was going to come in her words.
“Baby girl…was there ever a doubt that I was behind you in whatever you decide to do? I may not like it, I may argue, but I will support you.” She said and Buddy could see the tears in the old woman’s eyes, and glancing at Amber he could see the tears brimming in hers as well. “I will stay here with Elliot while you all go do whatever it is you plan to do.”