Impact

by Chrissy Peebles

  Kirk touched my arm. “I’m sorry you had to witness that, but I have to keep people in check. For your sake, I promise we’ll give them a proper burial. Even though they don’t deserve it!”

  “You did what you had to do,” I said, playing along.

  He nodded, then looked over at his men. “Don’t just stand there. Bury these men outside the city!”

  “I’ll help,” I said.

  “Not this time, Dean. It’s time for your workout,” Kirk said.

  “Mine too,” a big, tough guy said. “I’ll walk you over.”

  About six more of the men joined us, laughing and joking as we walked, going on with their mindless, robotic, meathead lives as if a triple homicide was nothing.

  * * *

  As soon as we got to the gym, I found Asia. After a few sets, we were able to sneak away to the bench presses. I told Asia everything, and she couldn’t believe it.

  “Kirk just shot them in cold blood,” I said. “I tried to stop him, but I couldn’t,” I said, my voice wavering.

  Asia finished her rep and let out a long breath. “They’re crazy.”

  “If we get caught trying to escape, he’ll put bullets in our heads too,” I said. “We need to have weapons and fight like we’re breaking out of Hell.”

  “If you ask me, we are. I’m so sorry you had to witness that.”

  “I’ve seen zombies die left and right, but seeing human beings killed like that? It’s just...awful.” I sighed. “I think Kirk was playing mind games with me. He knew he was going to shoot them and that’s why he brought me along. He’s trying to scare me into submission.”

  “He’s a sick man.”

  “It’s Wednesday,” I said. “We leave tonight. We can’t spend another day in this insane asylum.”

  “I agree. Kirk has lost his mind.”

  “As if he ever had one in the first place.”

  After Asia took off when our workout was over, Kirk came over to give me a pep talk. I tried to pretend like I cared, but truly I didn’t want to hear anything he had to say.

  “What would you say is the worst thing that has happened to you?” he asked.

  “Lots.”

  “But what has affected you the most?” he probed. “And don’t sugarcoat your answers, son. I majored in psychology. I’ll know if you’re lying. Just be honest and straightforward with me.”

  I pondered. “Taking another life,” I whispered. “That’s one image I’ll never get out of my head.”

  “So that traumatizes you? Taking lives?” he asked, as if it meant nothing at all.

  “Does that make me weak in your eyes?” I asked.

  He refused to answer my question and simply said, “You’re honest, transparent. You speak your mind. I like that. You remind me so much of my oldest son. You even look identical to him. I’d love to welcome you into my city.”

  I looked off, unable to think of one respectable word to say to him. It sickened me that he had the audacity to compare me to his son, because I certainly did not want to be related to him in any way.

  “You’ve killed many zombies,” Kirk said. “Doesn’t that trouble you?”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  I thought for a moment. “Because they’re better off when I slay them.”

  “Isn’t it the same for humans in this cruel world?”

  “That’s different,” I said.

  His eyes grew cold. “This is war, and it is not murder to kill someone in the face of battle. This whole experience has a stranglehold on your mind, and you must allow yourself to be set free from guilt and regret. Death has become part of life, son.”

  I couldn’t bear to listen to the ramblings of a madman for much longer, so I just smiled and nodded in agreement, hoping he would shut up.

  “I suppose you should head back to your room,” he said, finally changing the subject. “It’s almost dinnertime.”

  “Yeah, I’m starving,” I lied. For some reason, I’d lost my appetite.

  * * *

  I couldn’t get word to Jackie or Lucas. I hadn’t seen them all day, but Asia assured me that they were aware of the plan. After we ate, I did my best to fake food poisoning, then later did my best gagging, something I’d learned to fake in grade school whenever I wanted to take the day off, which usually had something to do with a math test. I figured if my mom bought it, so would they, and I was right.

  “Man, you’re sick,” the blond next to me said.

  I held my stomach and moaned as if I’d swallowed a dozen razor blades. “I think there was something in the food,” I said. “Can you go get help?”

  He looked at me, wide-eyed, then wondered off.

  The nurse who came over to the table was dressed casually, in a t-shirt, jeans, and a long, gaudy sweater that would have been too out-of-fashion for even my grandmother. “What seems to be the problem?” she asked.

  “It’s my stomach,” I said. “I feel like I’m gonna be sick.”

  “Let me have a look,” she said, gesturing for me to lift my shirt. After pressing around on my midsection and looking at my eyes, she said, “Hmm. A few others are reporting similar symptoms. Let’s get you to sick bay,” she said.

  Right on cue, I doubled over in pain. “I-I think I’m too sick to walk.”

  “Stay right here,” she said, then turned to motion to two big guys. “Help this boy to the infirmary,” she ordered.

  I lay down on the cot in the infirmary, then shot Jackie, Lucas, and Asia a glance. Without saying a word to them, I closed my eyes and pretended to nod off.

  “I’m going to have a talk with that cook,” the nurse said to one of her assistants.

  “Fred’s been washing his hands better since the last time you talked to him.”

  “Obviously not. Look at all these sick people! Come on. We’ll check back on these kids later.”

  As soon as they walked out, I hopped out of bed.

  “We did it!” Asia said.

  Lucas gave me a high-five. “Worked like a charm.” He looked down at his watch. “We’ve gotta get to those main gates though. We’ve got till midnight, per the change in plans.”

  We stayed in the room and waited for what seemed like an eternity, making sure to fake severe symptoms whenever the nurse or her orderlies checked in on us.

  “I think you should rest here for the night,” she said around eleven p.m. “If you need anything or start feeling sicker, just ring that big cow bell on the wall, and someone will come check on you.”

  “Thanks,” I mumbled, then rolled over and pretended to go to sleep.

  Lucas, meanwhile, was pulling off the best fake snore I’d ever heard. A short while after the nurse and her staff left, he looked down at his watch. “It’s almost go time,” he said with grin.

  My stomach fluttered in excitement, and I hoped for a smooth escape. Knowing the others were coming for us made me smile. I couldn’t wait to see them, and I couldn’t wait to put some distance between us and Kirk’s crazy compound.

  “I don’t ever want to see this town again,” Asia said.

  I agreed. “Tell me about it. Talk about flying over the cuckoo’s nest.”

  Jackie hurried over to the window and peered out through the curtains. “There’s a lotta security out there, guys,” she said, nervously biting her lip.

  “Nothing we can’t handle,” I said.

  Lucas motioned us out, and we left the room and walked into the hall. Four men stood outside the door. Lucas motioned for each of us to take one, and I nodded my agreement. Lucas easily pulled off his famous chokehold, and I took my guy by surprise and smashed my fist against the back of his neck, knocking him down instantly. The girls made quick work of taking down their marks too.

  We made our way past a few more guards, knocking them out along the way. As we went, we pulled weapons from the fallen guards, so we were soon armed and even more dangerous. I was alert and cautious, every single one of my senses engaged. With guns drawn, we went out t
he back door and slipped into the night. As we proceeded down the road, our ultimate goal was to remain undetected. We were fighting back, getting out of there once and for all, and as risky as it was, that felt great.

  Asia knew a shortcut that would get us to the main gates more quickly, so we cautiously sneaked through the vegetation and a few smelly trash heaps.

  Boom!

  When the loud sound echoed through the night, my heart jumped. I knew it was Val and Nick and the others launching their attack, coming for us, so I wasn’t frightened by it. In fact, I was elated and strained my neck to see what was going on. As I peered through the darkness, I spotted several vehicles approaching fast, with their brights on.

  “It’s them!” Asia said. “I can see Nick!”

  Jackie smiled. “We’re finally going home.”

  “It’s about time!” Asia yelled.

  The guards in the towers began shooting at the vehicles in Nick’s rescue party. While Nick’s group fought hard, the sniper fire was intense. In a hail of gunfire, Lucas pulled us behind an Army truck. Meanwhile, Nick’s team went straight to work, firing AK-47s at the two adjacent guard towers. They had used the advantage of surprise, and it was certainly working in our favor.

  BANG!

  They demolished the front gates with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and I’d never been as happy as I was when those gates came crashing down.

  I looked around for Lucas, only to find that he’d disappeared. I assumed he had gone to track down my brother.

  Clouds of black smoke swirled, and bullets flew. A few more explosions took the guards by surprise, and chaos erupted in every direction.

  “Put your weapons down!” someone suddenly said from behind us.

  “Kill them!” another shouted. “They’re trying to escape! Kirk’ll want ‘em dead. He’ll give us a medal if we blow their heads off.”

  “Please,” Jackie begged as we were quickly disarmed.

  The guards pointed their guns, ready to snuff us out. I swallowed hard, trying to think of a plan. I refused to die like that, doing nothing about it. Then, just as I was about to pounce on the men, someone suddenly jumped out from behind the crates in a blur and brought up the muzzle of a MP5. She only had seconds to act, but she quickly fired two shots into one guard’s chest, then nailed the other one.

  “Val!” I said.

  She smiled. “We’re breaking you out, little brother.”

  I ducked beneath another burst of gunfire as bullets dinged the barbed wire fence beside me.

  Val lifted her gun, took a few steps forward, and fought back with a flurry of her own shots. “Get to Nick’s truck!” she yelled.

  I looked around and saw Lucas waving and yelling, flagging me down. The girls had already made it over to him, much to my relief.

  “Get your butt over here!” Asia screamed at the top of her lungs.

  Suddenly, stars spun in my vision, and pain exploded through my head. I turned and saw Ned, holding a crowbar. My vision of him faded out before I even had time to question his motives, and I drifted into unconsciousness.

  * * *

  When I awoke, I felt ropes around my wrists. I tried to move, but they were so tight that they painfully cut into my skin. When I glanced down, I noticed that my feet were lifted up off the ground. Rope bound my ankles too. I was hanging from the ceiling.

  “You’re awake,” Kirk said.

  My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe I’d been captured. My only comforting thought, other than the fact that I wasn’t dangling upside down above snapping zombie jaws the way Z had tied me up, was that the girls had made it past the gate and to Nick’s truck. Then it dawned on me that they might have been captured as well, along with Lucas and my brother and sister and all the others in the rescue party.

  Kirk glided an axe blade softly across my neck. “I wanted to be your father, not your executioner.” He let out a long breath. “This is not the way I wanted it to end. But don’t fear. My axe is very sharp and my aim is precise. I’ll plunge it deep and hard in one clean swipe.”

  I felt something pinch the back of my neck, then burning. I was sure it was the blade slicing my skin. My heart thundered. Fear washed over me like a tidal wave. I was confronted with death and I didn’t like it one tiny bit. I had so much to live for, so much to give. This wasn’t the way I wanted to die.

  “Please,” I said.

  “How do I quench my blood-thirsty appetite for revenge?”

  “Not like this,” I pleaded.

  “This is the end of the road for you!” Kirk said.

  Panic consumed me and the breath froze in my throat.

  Eyes wide and bulging, Kirk swung the axe in a large arc for dramatic effect. My heart jumped into my throat. Like a madman, he went to swing.

  My stomach lurched.

  He suddenly stopped and our eyes locked. Gasping, I was staring into the eyes of a killer.

  He stopped. What kind of game is he playing? I thought my heart might beat right out of my chest.

  “Did I scare you?” he asked.

  My breath came in quick, shallow heaves.

  “Maybe a little?” he asked.

  “Kirk, please let me explain.”

  “I’m debating cutting your head off, putting a bullet in your brain, or putting you in Blood Fest.”

  How do you reason with a crazy person? “Just give me a chance.”

  “That was some rescue operation,” he said. “Didn’t see that one coming. Death and destruction,” he went on, shaking his head, as if he was guilty of neither. “It’s all this world is coming to. At least my star fighter didn’t get out.”

  “Your star fighter? You mean Tony?”

  He laughed. “No. I’m afraid he can’t do much fighting anymore.”

  My heart leapt in my chest, defying gravity. “What do you mean?”

  He waved the axe around. “They’re dead. We killed every single one of them.”

  “Jackie too?” I asked, stunned, furious, and heartbroken all at once.

  With a gesture of Kirk’s hand, some men untied me and I dropped to the ground.

  “I’m sorry, but they’re all dead.”

  “Prove it,” I demanded. “Show me the bodies.” I knew all too well that he was eager to torment those who disrespected him, and I’d done the ultimate and tried to escape. I tried to tell myself it was one of his mind games.

  “Not possible,” he said. “We blew up their Jeep on the outskirts of town, and I have no inclination to go scoop up the bits of them with a shovel.”

  I inhaled sharply. I still didn’t believe him, but I had to find out for myself. If he had really murdered all my friends and my brother and sister, I would have no problem coming back to his happy little community and ripping his heart out. I’d have nothing else to live for anyway.

  “Come with me,” he said.

  I reluctantly followed him outside into the night. He shackled me like a prisoner, then ordered me to climb into a Jeep. We drove for a few minutes, to a burning, twisted, smoldering pile of metal and rubber just outside the perimeter of the complex. He then marched me over and made me look.

  “Here’s their escape vehicle,” Ned said.

  I shot him a cold glare.

  “I thought you might want to say goodbye to the people who tried and died,” Kirk said.

  “I didn’t know them,” I tried to fib.

  “You knew some of them,” he said, smirking. “Part of this rubble are the lips you used to kiss.”

  I stared at the flames, numb and confused. Is he lying? Is this really them? No! Jackie? Val? Nick? The others? My heart sank, and grief began to consume my heart.

  “Who were the others with Jackie, Asia, and Tony?” he asked.

  “I-I don’t know. They just kept calling for Lu...er, Tony.”

  “So they were Tony’s people?” he asked.

  “I guess so.”

  “Tony was not on lockdown like you. If he wanted to go, he could have just asked. Wh
y would they have risked their lives for you and those girls if they didn’t even know you?”

  “They had to break Tony out.”

  “Why? As I said, he was free to—”

  “Free?” I asked, incredulous. “He knew you’d never let him go. No one is really free once they step inside those walls.”

  His gaze narrowed. “Is that why you tried to leave with him? Because you want your freedom? Do you want to run away from me, Dean, even after all I’ve given you?”

  Every word he spoke turned my stomach, but I couldn’t let him know that. “I never wanted to leave,” I lied. “It was Jackie. She was going with or without me. I loved her so much. I couldn’t bear to be separated from her. Tony talked all kinds of crap, put things in her head, and she fell for it. I tried to talk her out of it, but nothing I said seemed to matter.” I even surprised myself, playing the part of the lovesick boyfriend so well, especially since my heart was breaking in two at the thought of her being gone. But deep in my heart, I knew she wasn’t dead. I bet Kirk blew up this Jeep just to mess with my head.

  “You were only trying to leave for...love?” he asked.

  “Yes. Jackie was my world. Tony brainwashed her. I know now that I was wrong. I should’ve talked to you, told you about Jackie’s plans.”

  “Yes, you should’ve.”

  “I was scared you’d punish Jackie.”

  His lips pressed into grim lines. “Your girlfriend is dead. Love will get you every time. I know it hurts now, but in time, you’ll see that it’s good she’s gone. She was just holding you back anyway.”

  “I know, but I loved her so much. I wouldn’t have tried to leave, but she talked me into it.”

  He looked at me curiously, as if he was trying to weigh the truth of my words. “I’m glad I took this opportunity to hear you out. I was very tempted to put a bullet in your head for betraying me.”

  “Betraying you? I’d never do that. You know I live for this community, that I’ll do anything for you,” I said.

  He studied me for another long moment, then said, “You still have to pay for your sins. There must be consequences for trying to leave. Those people destroyed my gates and created much chaos. I can’t take that lightly.”