David withdrew his knife from inside the man's chest and stabbed him with one final upper cut blow to his jaw, just like he'd done with Franko, stabbing the knife up from underneath his chin and directly into his head. David withdrew his knife and released the huge clump of the man's hair he'd been clutching. The fat man fell face first to the floor in a puddle consisting of his own blood and a pulpy mass of insides. The young Asian woman, who had previously seemed lifeless underneath the fat lump of a man, quickly retreated to the far corner of the bed, clutching a pillow to her stomach. She looked like a frightened lamb.
Suddenly, the neighbouring bedroom door sprang open and a skinny old white man yanking up his trousers rushed out to see what all the commotion was about. He waved a gun in the air as he hurried towards the smashed bedroom door. Before making his move, David slipped behind the open doorway and waited for the old man to enter and see the mutilated body of his friend.
David then stepped out of the doorway and slammed his fist, still clutching a hold of his knife handle, straight into the old man's jaw. An unnatural crack filled the air as the old man's fragile jaw snapped in two. He hissed and blew some teeth out onto the floor. Before he had even the slightest bit of time to think or turn and face his attacker, the old man was already feeling the excruciating pain of a combined second, third and fourth blow to his face.
The old man dropped to the floor. David was on top of him though in no time, pummelling and pounding his face with his bare fists, over and over. Not until his bones crunched and gave way and his bloodied skin slid from his caved-in face did David stop his brutal and severe beating.
The old man's face, like that of his fat friend's torso, was an unrecognizable mess of pulp, flesh and blood. The old man was twitching ever so slightly now. Some brain activity was still going on deep inside there somewhere. David took his knife and calmly sliced the old man's throat from one side to the other and the old man twitched no more.
Upon the bed, the Asian girl remained cautious but eerily calm as she watched David stand up and back casually away from the bed, then finally, from the small room. From the other bedroom, an older looking black woman peeked out fearfully from the half-opened doorway. She saw the large, athletic, blood-stained figure of David walking away from the first bedroom and towards the front door.
Back in the garage store, Louise watched from the side window with an even keener eye as David finally re-emerged from the cottage with his hands, forearms and chest, all covered in blood.
She watched him as he walked at a hurried pace, straight towards the field where all the male slaves were still working hard, watched over by the final two armed female guards.
“What the hell is he doing now?” Louise said under her breath. A chill slid down her spine when the tied-up female guard behind her began spewing even more hate speak.
“I'll tell you, this for nothing though, Paki.”
Louise rolled her eyes. It didn't matter what she said to educate this sick and twisted woman. Louise could have been an alien from Mars or an angel from the gates of heaven; the woman just couldn't see past her skin colour, full stop. Her hatred came directly from what she physically saw in front of her, and if what she saw was even the slightest bit different from what she saw in the mirror, then she clearly wanted no part of it.
“...Do what you want here,” the woman continued to rant. “Liberate this place if you can. If that's the label you wish to put on the evil acts you're participating in here today. But you and all your immigrant friends who don't belong here won't get very far, that's for damn sure.”
Louise continued watching David's movements as he reached the edge of the slave field. She was barely listening to the woman. Whatever she was ranting about barely registered in Louise’s head. It went in one ear and out the other as the woman continued rambling away in the background.
Louise continued watching David, who was now waving the two last female guards over to see him.
“...Every town, every farm, every village,” the racist woman continued, “in this country hates you. Hates all of you Paki, Muslim, Hindu, Romanian, Chinese, Polish, foreign scum. And we all want our country back ... back to how it was in the good old days.” She gave out a sick little chuckle. “Hell, it almost is back to the good old days now.”
Louise watched as the two armed women hesitantly approached David. He was saying something to them while pointing over at the cottage, then back at the garage, which made Louise's heart skip a beat.
The two female guards looked both confused and ruffled. They began talking amongst themselves. Then, in the blink of an eye, David pulled out his handgun and shot the two of them point blank in the face. Louise gasped. It was so unexpected and had happened so fast. The male slaves stopped working in the field. They stood now, slightly fearful and slightly curious as to who David was and why he'd just shot the guards – and what he might do next.
David said nothing more. Instead, he turned away from the slaves and began walking back towards Louise and the garage.
“...Oh yes, the good old days of our dearly missed and dearly beloved British Empire,” the woman continued.
“The good old days of the British Empire?” Louise said, almost with a snort as she turned around slowly to face the deluded woman. “You mean the guys who conquered, butchered, raped and bullied their way around the world, endorsed slavery, wiped out indigenous tribes, created the first concentration camps, ripped apart countries like India, Israel, Australia, Africa and New Zealand? Is this the beautiful empire you mean and wish to resort back too? A civilisation who thought they were far superior to everyone else in the world and all other races and cultures, even their own women?”
“Exactly. And the sooner all you dogs realise that, the better off we're all gonna be.”
Louise was about to say something else, to bring up more glorious achievements of the old British Empire, when she noticed David had already reached the side of the garage. He didn't even glance up or look inside. Instead, he walked straight to the door, pushed it open and stepped directly over towards the tied-up female guard.
“That was quick,” the woman said with a smug smile. “You find the knocking shop up to your acquired taste, then?”
The woman had barely finished the sentence when David pulled out his handgun and shot her in the forehead. Louise was stunned. She took a deep breath and held it. Without even looking at Louise, David headed directly for the shop counter and picked up the landline telephone still lying there.
Louise finally released her breath and stared at David as he dialled a number from the top of his head. There was a long bout of silence as the phone began to ring. It was so quiet, in fact, that even Louise, standing on the other side of the shop floor, could hear the ring tone from within the receiver. After what seemed like forever, someone finally answered. It was John, David's military police friend on the Isle of Man.
“Hello,” said a very tired and weary John.
“John,” David answered after a slight hesitation. “It's David.”
“David. You're okay? And you made it. Where are you?” John replied, his tone turning to one of deep relief and concern.
“Somewhere southwest of Dumfries, I think. A petrol garage and farm on the A75.”
“And how's Louise? Is she still with you?”
David glanced over at Louise for the first time since re-entering the garage store. “Yeah, she's still with me.”
“Great. That's really great. Well, I ran those plates and I have an address for you. I'm not sure how reliable that address is gonna be after all this time, but at least it's something, you know. Are you able to write it down?”
“Just tell me. I won't forget it.”
On the other side of the garage, something caught Louise's eye from outside the window. For the first time since David had come back inside the shop, Louise turned away from him. She glanced out of the window and watched as the male slaves in the field began closing in around each other. Some of them
even began pointing over at the garage. After a minute they all started moving in the direction of the shop.
“And one more thing, David,” John said with a hint of deep sorrow creeping into his tone. “The South ... it fell last night. The uprising national extremists ... well, they have control of the entire mainland now. The last of the old government and remaining loyal armed forces have all evacuated to Ireland. There are no safe havens left anywhere on the mainland for the ethnics and immigrants. We are well and truly back in the dark ages now, my friend.”
David said nothing. He glanced back at Louise, who at that very moment, as if feeling his stare, turned back around to face him.
“That's ... disappointing,” David finally said.
“Well, good luck out there, David. You have my number if I can help you in any way or if you're just looking for some updates or even a safe return passage back to the island. Then give me a shout. I can arrange that for you with a little time. But like I said, it's pretty much survival of the fittest over there now.”
“Thanks for all your help, John. It was nice knowing you,” David bluntly replied.
John knew in that fleeting moment though that he would never see nor hear from David again. David hung up the phone.
“Is everything okay?” Louise asked, waiting for David to set down the receiver before speaking.
“I can't stay here any longer, Louise. I need to keep moving. My work here is done.”
“And what about me?” Louise asked, trying her best to not plead or show too much of her bottled-up emotions. She knew the time would eventually come when both her and David would go their separate ways, but she didn't think it would be so soon.
“I don't know, Louise. What do you want me to say, huh? What do you want me to do? What do you want from me, Louise?”
Again, images swirled around inside Louise's mind of her lost family, her dead parents, her taken younger brothers, who could be anywhere right now, above or below ground.
“I want to find my brothers. Or at least find out what happened to them. I also want to stay with you,” she finally admitted.
David took a deep breath. He stood up straight and took a hold of his rucksack, which was lying beside the dead body of the female guard. He then began grabbing tins and packets of food from the half-empty shelves and filling the bag. He didn't take much, just what he assumed he might need for a few days of walking or driving, depending on whether he could find a working vehicle or not. He also knew that the people in the fields, who were now free of their oppressors, might need some supplies of their own, so he took only what he needed.
He found several lighters and took one of them too. When he was done filling his bag, he headed towards the front door. Louise had been watching him the whole time, but decided to wait until he was done with his task before asking him any more questions.
“So, what did John say?” Louise asked. She was trying her best to delay the inevitable, to say and talk about anything just to stop David from leaving. “Did he get you your precious information?”
David hesitated when he reached the doorway. He heaved a tired sigh and turned around to face Louise again.
“He did, yes.”
“And what about the South? Did he mention anything more about how safe it is to go there?”
“As of right now, Louise ... there is no South. There is no safe place anywhere around here anymore for you or your people. I'm sorry.”
Without additional words, David glanced away from Louise and left the store.
Chapter 20
David stood outside the garage and glanced northeast. His gaze hovered over the makeshift roadblock a few dozen yards away, then out at the deserted road that lay beyond it. To get where he wanted to be, he knew this was the direction he needed to go.
Parked on one of the farthest-away fuelling bays in front of him were two old and seemingly un-driveable cars, possibly used for spares and repairs, as one was missing two tyres and the other a front bonnet along with two side doors.
David approached both cars and started checking them over. He soon discovered they were both dry on gas, so neither one would be going anywhere anytime soon whether or not they were in working condition.
Next he tried squeezing one of the old rusty fuel pumps beside the first car just to see if any fuel would come out, more for curiosity's sake than anything else, but nothing did. Behind him, a group of a dozen or so slaves, who had all been working out in the fields, made their way onto the fuelling bay concourse from around the other side of the garage. Most of them looked jaded, starved and sickly. Almost like the walking dead.
From inside the shop, Louise watched the slaves gather out front, one by one. She opened the glass door and stepped outside to confront them. A weary Indian man with dirt and mud smeared all over his body from head to toe, wearing only a filthy, ripped pair of cargo shorts, broke away from the main pack to step a little closer to Louise. The man smiled warmly at her and she in return smiled warmly back at him.
“Hi. What's your name?” Louise spoke first.
“My name is Robert Mam. And you?” the Indian man cheerfully asked with a clear and crisp Scottish accent.
“I'm Louise. And that's David.”
David still had his back turned to the group of recently freed slaves as he continued searching the insides of both abandoned cars, back and front, for anything he could use on his journey.
"Can you tell me what's going on here, Louise? Who are you guys? And what's happening?” Robert enquired further.
“You're free now, Robert,” Louise softly replied. “All of you. You can all leave this place now.”
David sniggered at that and shook his head. Slowly, he turned his attention away from searching the cars so that he faced Robert and the other men. Robert glanced over at David and gave him a friendly smile. “Thank you so much for what you did here, sir,” said Robert.
David took a deep breath before letting out a weary sigh. He didn't respond right away, as he knew the only thing he had to say was the brutal, honest truth, and he wasn't sure if these guys were ready for that information just yet, especially in the morbid and zombified state of mind in which they all appeared to be in.
“But what do we do now? Where can we go? Where is it safe?” Robert asked with pleading eyes.
Louise remained silent. She eased her glance back towards David, hoping he might be in a good enough mood to provide some kind of positive answer for these people. However, in her gut, she knew that would never happen.
“There isn't anywhere safe out there for you guys anymore,” said David with a cold, hard and brutal tone. “No help, domestic or foreign, is coming to liberate you. No charity aid or middle-ground Red Cross peacekeepers are coming to tend to your wounds. The world as you know it has turned to shit, my friends. And if I were you, I'd take all the guns and supplies you can find from this place and head for the woods or the hills and valleys. Take shelter and defend yourselves there for as long as you can. You might also want to consider heading for the coast, swim, steal a boat, cut down trees and make a huge fucking raft if you have to, and get the fuck away from this land as quickly and as quietly as you can. If you can make it to one of the islands off the mainland and live there amongst yourselves, even better ... or perhaps even try to make it to Ireland and chance your luck there.”
Everyone, including Louise, remained silent … speechless, in fact. Some of the slaves glanced at each other for their own answers, yet no words were uttered.
“I'm sorry I don't have better news for you,” David continued. “But the hard reality is, there’s nothing here for you in these lands anymore, only pain, slavery and death. Yes, you're free now, but not in the way you were accustomed to in the past. If you stay in this place, though, you will more than likely be killed or enslaved again by the end of the day. The same fate awaits you even if you decide to leave and chance your luck out there in the wilderness, but at least you'll have a small fighting chance.”
&n
bsp; “You're not here to help us?” asked an older African-looking man. “You're not part of some revolution. Then why are you here? Why did you set us free?”
“There is no revolution here, my friend. What we did...” David took a swift glance at Louise, “was just by chance. A crazy, random accident. I'm sorry. We were just passing through, that's all, and acted on a whim. No more, no less.”
David turned his attention back to the cottage where all the ethnic women were being imprisoned. He raised his hand and pointed towards the derelict building he'd just liberated, if one could indeed call the act such a thing.
“You guys should go and tend to your women. They need to see your faces now more than anything in the world, I imagine.”
The slaves began anxiously glancing at one another, then whispering amongst themselves. Some of them began backing away and heading towards the cottage.
“I wish you all the luck in the world,” David finished. He then turned away from the group and began walking towards the main road.
“David,” Louise cried after him, but he kept on walking, not flinching or acknowledging her words in the slightest. Louise stepped away from the store and took a few quick paces in David's direction.
“David wait, please!'' she cried, louder this time, more desperate. She broke out into a run as she chased him down. “David. Wait. Please. Where are you going?”
Just as Louise reached him, he turned back around to face her. Louise stopped in her tracks as her pleading gaze met David's hard, serious stare.
“You have two choices, Louise,” David stated, calm and composed. “You can stay with these guys and take your chances with them now.” David hesitated. He couldn't believe what he was about to say next. He had a chance to go his own way now. To try to find the end to his own path and journey he'd undertaken, but in his own general peace and solidarity and with no further distractions by his side. Yet somewhere on this short and eventful adventure with Louise, he had somehow gradually grown more than a little fond of her. He knew it was suicide for her to continue with him on his perilous journey, but it was also crazy to leave her here to her own fate out in the wilderness.
The Wrath of David Page 13