by A. American
Aric approached and nodded for her to go into the kitchen. He followed her in then motioned for her to go to the dry storage room. Kay led the way. He took a look around the kitchen and closed the door behind them.
“Is everything all right?” Kay asked with concern in her voice.
Aric turned to face her. “Oh yeah, everything is okay. I just wanted to talk to you in private.”
“About what?”
“Fred and the other girls. Have you heard anything about them?”
“Oh no, I’m the last person who would find out about them. You’d probably know something before I would,” Kay said.
“Well, you know how it is. Everyone around here seems to have a source of their own. I was just hoping you’d heard something.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Kay said, lowering her eyes to the floor. “I wish I knew something. I’m so worried about them.”
“Tell me about it. I know they did what they’re accused of, but I also know he deserved it,” Aric said, running a hand through his hair.
Kay looked up at him and grabbed his arm. Her eyes were pleading. “Then why don’t you say something? They’ll believe you! You’re one of them.”
“Pfff, they wouldn’t listen to me. If I said anything, it’d go badly for me, and I don’t want to end up where they are. It wouldn’t help at all.”
“They wouldn’t do that to you!” Kay protested.
Aric shook his head. “You’re right, they might just kill me.” Aric could tell from the look in her eyes that Kay didn’t believe that. “These people don’t play around, Kay, believe me.”
Kay nodded in understanding, thinking about some of the cruelty she had witnessed. “You’re probably right.”
Without thinking about it, Aric reached out and hugged the old woman. It surprised him nearly as much as it did her. After a pause, Kay wrapped her arms around him. Aside from the girls, Kay hadn’t hugged anyone since her husband had died. And in the Before, her husband was one of few people she ever showed affection to, for that matter. Aric was the same way. He’d never been a very affectionate person. Hugs and saying I love you were not very common in his house growing up. But in this moment, they needed each other’s comfort.
“Thanks, Kay,” Aric said as he turned to leave.
“Thank you,” Kay said. “I knew you weren’t like the others.”
Aric gave her a weak smile then left the kitchen. He was going to find a way to get to Fred, he decided. He knew what her future held and, in that moment, he decided he was going to do something about it.
• • •
Calvin listened as Shane was brought in. While he couldn’t see him, hearing him yelp confirmed it. It was the same cry he’d made many times as a kid when Calvin would prank him. Calvin would creep into the bathroom quietly and stand there for a moment, then he would dump a glass of ice water over the top of the shower curtain. While that was a fond memory of Shane as he grew up, when he heard that splash he knew they’d just soaked his son. He also knew that the cold in the building would certainly lead to hypothermia. He waited for the men to leave. Once he heard the door close he called out. “Shane? Is that you, son?” The effort required to call out was incredibly painful. Calvin slumped back against the wall holding his side.
Shane’s arms were already burning and his teeth chattered uncontrollably. “Y-yeah, I’m h-here.”
“You okay, son?”
“I’m c-cold. They t-took m-my clothes and threw water o-on me.”
“Bastards,” Calvin moaned. “Let your body shiver, don’t try and stop it. It’s generating heat.”
“N-not enough.”
“Jess, hey, Jess!” Fred called in a loud whisper.
Jess whispered back, “What?”
“Is it day or night?”
“How should I know? It’s always dark.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. I get dizzy if I stand up too long,” Fred said, leaning against the wall.
“That’s why I spend so much time on my ass,” Jess replied. It was a weak joke, but the first joke heard in a while. Fred’s laugh echoed through the building.
“I-it’s daylight out,” Shane said.
Fred looked in the direction his voice came from. “I’m so sorry they did that to you. I wish I could help.”
“M-me too.”
Mary was lying on the floor of her cell in a fetal position. She didn’t hear the whispers of those down the hall from her. Her head was filled with voices. Despite her best efforts she couldn’t stop them and they were driving her mad. Curled up like she was, she was able to get her hands over her ears. She clasped them tightly and rocked back and forth. In an effort to drive the voices out of her mind, she started to hum.
“Mary, is that you?” Jess called out.
There was no reply, and after a moment Fred called out, “I think it is. It sounds like she’s humming.”
A key sliding into a door caused everyone to stop talking. Fred moved along the wall away from her door. The sounds of boots scuffing and grinding the concrete filled the air. At least two people were there, the faint sounds of their voices echoing down the halls.
A key sliding into the lock of his cell caused Shane to look up. When the door opened he was immediately blinded with the light again. Closing his eyes, he tried to turn his head away. Once again, he was doused with cold water. He let out a howl as the water hit him.
“How you holding up there, sport?” one of the guards asked, moving into the cell. “We’ve got a little something here for you, to take your mind off the cold and all. That is, unless you want to go back and talk to Niigata?”
“F-f-fuck you.”
“Gonna play tough, huh? That’s all right, I like it better this way.”
Shane heard the man step toward him, but he couldn’t anticipate what would happen next. The man delivered a forceful slap to the bottom of his scrotum, causing his stomach to instantly knot. What little weight his legs had been supporting was now entirely on his shoulders as his knees buckled.
The guard laughed. “Looks like it’s cold in here.” He laughed again. “That thing ready?” he asked.
“Yeah, you ready? I don’t want to be in here when this shit starts up,” another guard said. Jess’s mind raced, trying to anticipate what torture they were going to inflict next—and on who.
“Just a sec,” the guard said, fiddling with something. “All right, you fuckers, we’re going to play you a little music!” he shouted.
Before the words stopped echoing off the concrete, music began to blare. The sound was so loud it took a minute for it to even register what it was that was assaulting their ears.
Fred immediately sat down to cover her ears. “Fucking polka music!” she screamed. Even if someone had been in the cell with her, they couldn’t have heard her.
Though it was torturous for all, the music was even more torturous for Shane. The speakers were facing his cell and the sound bore into his head. He was freezing and his shoulders and arms were now numb—for that at least he was thankful. The music, if you could call it that, was so loud that it overwhelmed all other senses. He couldn’t believe that just a day ago, he was out roaming free, and now he was hanging like a sack of meat, beaten, bruised, and defeated.
Chapter 7
We bounced down the road in the buggy, following the tracks to a paved road. Mike stopped and got out to inspect the tracks.
At the paved road we got out again. “Which way did they go?” Mel asked.
“Hard to say,” Ted said as he circled the sand at the edge of the pavement.
Mike pointed to the east. “What’s that way?”
“Nothing for a long ways. The river is over there, then several miles of open forest,” Danny said.
“Let’s start out this way,” Ted said, pointing to the west. “How are we going to find them
?” Mel asked, her voice cracking.
“They couldn’t have been too far if they were on foot. You take the left and we’ll take the right,” Danny said.
Mike nodded and we got back in the buggy. Perez was on the left side, scanning the edge of the road as we drove. Seeing the M4 in his lap made me realize that I’d left mine by the fire pit. Here I was, out looking for someone who’d taken Little Bit, and I didn’t even have my rifle. At least I had my pistol.
Mike was driving slowly and everyone, except for Mel, was looking at the side of the road.
“Morg! Are those your dogs?” Mike said, pointing in the distance. I looked up to see Meathead and Little Girl standing on the right side of the road. Meathead’s ears were up and he was looking right at us, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. Relief flooded me, just for a moment.
“Yeah, that’s them,” I said excitedly. If the dogs were here, that meant Little Bit couldn’t be too far away.
Mike sped up as the dogs darted off into the woods. As we got closer to where they disappeared, I realized we were almost at the entrance to Alexander Springs.
The dogs were nowhere to be seen, but I started to have a feeling that I knew who we were looking for. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks.
“Remember that guy who was living back in here?” I asked Ted.
“Yeah, weird little dude,” Ted replied, then rubbed his chin. “Didn’t he shoot at us when we were coming back from our meeting that day those guys gave us the map?”
“That’s the one,” I said. I remembered how dirty he was, with that disgusting tangled beard. And he had a dog—Drake was its name, if I remembered correctly. He probably lured Little Bit over with him, I thought angrily.
“I’m not going to look for the dogs—screw it. I remember where that guy was staying,” Mike said as he sped up through the parking lot, heading for the snack bar.
I jumped out of the buggy as Mike slowed to a stop, leaving Mel in her seat. Ted was right behind me, along with Jamie and Perez. Danny and Doc rode past us and up toward the small building. Rounding the building, I was both enraged and relieved. The hermit weirdo was sitting in front of a smoky fire under the canopy of old oaks with Ashley on his lap. He looked up as we ran toward him, a crooked smile on his face. I drew my pistol and started yelling.
“Let her go! Let her go you sick fuck!” The filter in my brain for my choice of words around the kids was not functional at the moment.
“She’s my friend,” he replied, grabbing her tighter. It was then that I actually looked at Little Bit. She was crying, obviously scared.
“She’s not your friend!” Mel screamed as she ran past me and everyone else, not even considering whether or not he was armed.
Ashley reached out, crying and screaming for Mel. The man stood and started to turn, to block Mel. Mike, Ted, Danny, and I were moving in an instant. Mike and Ted were screaming at him to put her down, to show his hands. When Mel got close, the man pushed her aside, yelling something about how she wanted to visit him, to play together. Danny made it to him just before I did and grabbed Ashley. Her eyes were wide in terror as she reached out for him. As Danny started to pull her away, the guy fought back. It was like a tug-of-war, with my daughter in the middle.
Coming in between the two at a run, I brought my right leg up hard and fast and kicked the bastard in the balls as hard as I could. He let out a loud groan as he started to fall. Danny scooped Ashley up and moved her out of the way, and Mel quickly intercepted her. Doc shielded Mel and Ashley and pushed them out toward the buggy, sheltering the two as he quickly guided them down the walkway to the parking lot. Mike and Ted moved in and pinned the creep to the ground, searching him for weapons. Seeing he was under control, I went to Mel and Ashley.
They were sitting in the buggy in the leaf-littered parking area, on the other side of the concession stand. I walked toward them, my mind racing a mile a minute. I was thankful we’d found her and yet was worried about what we didn’t yet know. Ashley had her face buried in her mom’s neck. I tried to lift her head to look at her, but she was clinging on with surprising strength. Her little form was racked with sobs, as was Mel. I patted Ashley on the back as Mel looked up, tears soaking her face.
I leaned in and kissed Ash’s head, then Mel, and looked back toward the concession stand. I could hear the guys shouting at that son of a bitch. Without hesitation, I headed back toward them.
When I returned, the guys had him sitting in the chair. Stings of spittle stretched from his beard to his shirt, and he’d vomited on himself. He was obviously in a lot of pain, clenching his eyes shut, leaning forward at the waist with his knees together. Mike stood behind him, one hand on his shoulder. They’d bound his hands with a set of cuffs. Ted was in front of him, pacing and asking questions.
Between gulps of air he spoke. “I told you, she came to visit me.”
Ted knelt down and looked at his face. The man’s eyes were closed, so Ted slapped him in the side of the head. “Look at me.” He half opened his eyes at the command, his mouth hanging open. “You took her from by the river, didn’t you?”
He shook his head, the strings of spit swinging as he did. “No, I didn’t take her! She wanted to come. We’re friends.”
I stepped toward him. “She’s eight years old, you sick fuck. She’s not your friend.”
Leaning forward he looked up, a disturbing smile on his face. “She is my friend.”
“This guy’s lost his fucking mind,” Ted announced as he stood up.
“What are you going to do with him?” Jamie asked.
The man laughed. “She’ll come back, you’ll see. Next time you won’t find us.”
Hearing those words, I lost it. I put the muzzle of my pistol an inch from his head, just above his ear, and fired. His body fell out of the chair as the .45 bullet tore the top of his head off.
“Oh my God!” Jamie screamed.
“Shit, Morgan!” Mike yelled as he stepped back. “Give me a frickin’ warning next time. Look at my pants!” Mike was looking down at the specks of blood, tissue, and small shards of bone that covered his left leg. “Oh, for fuck’s sake!” he shouted as he knelt down and grabbed a handful of leaves to wipe it off.
Jamie had her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. She was looking at the corpse, smoke still coming from the side of the head. Perez simply stood there, no expression on his face whatsoever.
“Well, so much for that,” Ted said as he knelt down and took the cuffs off.
“I can’t believe you did that,” Jamie said.
“Yeah, Jamie, Morgan’s a little . . . different,” Mike said.
I spit on the body and went back to the buggy. Danny was sitting beside Mel in the backseat, rubbing Ashley’s back while Mel rocked her from side to side. Doc was trying his best to examine Little Bit, but she was really clinging to Mel. Danny climbed out and stopped beside me.
“Has she said anything?” I asked.
He shook his head and nodded toward the snack bar. “That taken care of?”
Doc climbed out. “Morg, she looks all right, but I’ll really need to do a more thorough exam when we get back.”
“Thanks Doc,” I said, looking at her and Mel. “I hope you’re right.”
Danny patted me on the back and walked toward the other vehicle. The dogs came trotting up, tongues still lolling out of their mouths. I smiled at Meathead and thought to myself, Thanks, ole buddy. Mike started up the buggy as Danny pulled up beside us. It was a quiet ride back to the cabins, the few miles seeming like many more. No one said anything during the trip. Gone now were the sobs and tears. A tempered sense of relief filled me—tempered because there was still one question to answer.
Pulling up to the cabins, we were met by Thad, Ian, and Jeff, whose looks of relief reminded me how good of friends they are. Mel quickly got out and headed for the cabin with A
shley. I caught up to her and grabbed her arm.
“When you go in and clean her up, check her clothes . . .” I didn’t know exactly how to say what needed said. “. . . for, you know.” I left the terrible thought unsaid.
Mel stared at me blankly, spun on her heels, and went into the cabin. Bobbie was right behind her.
“I’ll go check her out,” Doc said quietly.
Taylor and Lee Ann were sitting by the fire. It was clear that both of them had been crying.
“Is she all right?” Taylor asked.
I nodded. “She’s going to be okay.”
Lee Ann looked up. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“I know, no one’s blaming you,” I said.
She started to cry and quickly stood up and ran off.
“Hey! Lee Ann, come back!” I called to her, then looked at her sister. “Go keep an eye on her.”
“She shouldn’t have left her alone.”
“True, but it’s not her fault—and you better not be saying it is.”
Taylor walked off after her sister, passing Thad on her way. He put his hands in his pockets and leaned back on his heels. “Lee Ann is pretty upset. She’s blaming herself.”
“She shouldn’t have left her little sister alone, but it’s not her fault,” I replied, still looking at Taylor.
“You’ll need to talk to her. Taylor gave her some trouble about it, which didn’t help.”
I shook my head. “I’ll talk to both of them.”
Thad nodded and went over to the fire pit and sat down. I followed him. Everyone was gathered there and I could feel them looking at me, though no one said anything. I’m sure the word had already spread and they all knew. On the table was a muffin pan full of soap. Thad had finished his project while we were gone. People started talking, but my attention was focused on the pan. I watched the soap as it began to harden before my eyes. It was a necessary distraction for my mind at the moment.
Taylor and Lee Ann had come back and were sitting in chairs by the fire. Danny was knelt down between them, talking in a low voice. I was thankful Danny was there. He was offering the comfort I couldn’t at the moment. He and Bobbie were so close to us, part of our family. I couldn’t imagine not having them.