Instant Darkness

by Mark J Russell

  “There are no guarantees regardless of what we do. We don’t have time to load up half our supplies even if I was willing to give them away. I’m betting what they really want is the man who killed Ron.” Abram glanced at each of them in turn, as if gauging their reaction.

  Nick caught sight of movement outside the door. It was Corey back with the cart.

  But then Gary spoke. “Wait, Abram, you can’t hand me over to them!”

  “Oh, I can, and I will. You brought this down on your own head. Putting my family at risk, my daughter. You’d better believe I’m handing you over.”

  “Come on, man,” Gary said, and Nick could see he was struggling against his bonds without being obvious about it. He wanted out.

  “Nick,” Abram said, “will you watch Gary while the women and I load the cart? I don’t want him getting any ideas about leaving without us.”

  “Sure.” He had no objections. As far as he was concerned, Gary could use a swift kick to the head.

  Corey came through the barn door before Abram could leave. “I want to come too. I want to help rescue Emma.”

  “Corey,” Nick said before Abram could agree, “I need you to stay here and protect Rae Ann. Shelly and Maggie are going to be preoccupied.”

  “Shelly says she’s going, and I am too.”

  “That’s not necessary, Corey,” Abram said, “although I appreciate it. I have a plan, and it won’t help me to have to worry about too many people. I need a small, tight group so we can get in and get out efficiently.”

  “Corey,” Nick said. “Why don’t you go help them load the cart? We’ll need to leave soon to make the deadline.”

  “But, Dad…”

  “Go on, Corey. This isn’t up for discussion. Just do as I say.”

  Corey huffed in defeat and left through the barn door.

  “Come on, Nick,” Gary said once Corey was out of the building, “you know I don’t deserve this. Let me go.”

  “Gary, I will never understand your disregard for life. And I will never forget watching that man die. You deserve whatever you get.”

  “He was weak. It’s natural selection.”

  “He was merciful and understanding. Empathy does not make you weak.” Nick turned and walked away from Gary into the middle of the room.

  “I don’t think you get what weakness is,” Gary said.

  Nick glared back at him. “And you don’t understand strength. Bullies don’t come from a place of strength, they come from fear.” He turned and walked the rest of the way across the barn, so he wouldn’t have to listen to Gary’s poison anymore.

  The floor beneath Emma’s head was cold and unyielding. It smelled of damp and mildew and her clothes, where they touched the floor, felt wet. She couldn’t see, a blindfold made sure of that, but she was pretty sure she was in a basement. She’d been here since they’d dragged her out of the forest; it must have been hours ago now. Her hands were numb from being tied too tightly behind her back, and her legs were bound from ankle to knee with duct tape. That was her own fault—she’d kicked out hard when they’d first snatched her and caught the man holding her feet in the mouth.

  The thought he might be missing a tooth now gave her grim pleasure.

  The flash of red that Corey had thought might’ve been a beer box had been the body of an emergency flashlight. From the conversation they’d had on the ride in the car back to town, she got the idea that they had been planning to wait until dark to breach the fence and exact revenge, but she’d made things ever so easy for them. Walking right into their hands. She felt stupid now.

  They had asked her who the men were who had robbed the general store, but she honestly didn’t know. When they asked who had killed Ron Hammel, she’d just shook her head. How would she know who had killed a man from town? She’d never even been to town. They’d tried pain only once, kicking her in the stomach when she said she didn’t know, but the pain had made her vomit, and they didn’t try that again. The woman made the man clean it up. She said it served him right for kicking a child.

  The muscles in Emma’s shoulders were starting to really burn now, and her wrists stung from where the rope had rubbed them raw. She couldn’t feel her fingers, and the spot where her weight rested on her hip just plain hurt. She was afraid to roll to her other side for fear she’d get stuck on her stomach. That would be far worse. She wished she could pull her wrists further down so she could slide them over her butt. If she could get that far, she was confident she could slip them over her legs and have her arms in front of her. If she had use of her arms, she could get rid of the foul gag, the blindfold, and the tape wrapped around her legs.

  There were footsteps overhead, on the floor above, and Emma strained to listen. Muffled voices were talking, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. She suddenly felt cold, and fear boiled up inside her. She tried to contain it, breathing through her nose in shaky gasps. But when the door opened, and she heard footsteps on the stairs, she couldn’t help but scream, although the sound was muffled by the gag in her mouth and she started to retch.

  “Loosen the gag,” a woman’s voice said from close by. “It’s cruel.”

  “Can you hear yourself?” This was a man’s voice. “Those people killed your husband, and you’re worried about how tight we gag our hostage?”

  “She’s a child, not a murderer. There’s no need to treat her cruelly.”

  Someone knelt beside her, and the woman spoke quietly. “Don’t be afraid, I’m just going to loosen this a little, so you don’t gag and vomit.”

  The woman’s hands were gentle on Emma’s head, and the pressure on her mouth lessened, though her lips were still cracked and dry.

  “There,” the woman said, “that’s better.”

  “Why are you nice to her? Whether she lives or dies should not matter to you after what her people have done.”

  “I’m surprised at you, John. You didn’t even like your brother. And you treat animals you are about to slaughter better than you’ve treated this child. You should be ashamed.”

  “This is war, Cindy, plain and simple. They came here, into your home, your space, and stole your provisions and killed your husband. Do you think the police are going to show up and take care of this? They have their hands full. There are groups of bandits now and they’re tearing up and down the interstate getting off wherever they want. Killing, raping, and stealing everything in sight.”

  “You’re unbelievable. There are no bandits driving up and down the interstate. Where would they get the gasoline?”

  “I don’t know. But the Andersons up the road saw them. There are bad people all around us now, and until law enforcement gets back online, we have to take care of it ourselves. And it annoys me to see you waste your time on her.”

  “Even in war, there are rules about how you treat prisoners,” Cindy said. “This is America, not Honduras.”

  “Honey, it doesn’t matter where we are, there is no law anymore—there are no rules. It’s survival of the fittest, and this child will have to prove that she’s fit if she’s going to live.” He kicked Emma in the foot, and she flinched.

  “Listen to you talk, like you’re some kind of big man. I’d like to see you survive for more than five minutes gagged and blindfolded with somebody kicking your guts in. This is my house and my store and my rules. We treat people with compassion, especially children.”

  “Weak.” John spit the word at her.

  “I’m smart, not weak. If we send this child back to her parents covered in bruises, what do you think they are going to do? They are going to come down here and kick the crap out of the guy who injured their child. And, if they are true to form, then they’ll kill him. Kill you, as you’re the one that thought that kicking her would be such a smart idea.

  “I’m going to sit you up and give you some water, okay?” the woman’s voice was in Emma’s ear again.

  Emma gave a nod, and she was propped up and leaned against the wall. The gag was pulled do
wn, and the mouth of a bottle was touched to Emma’s lips. She sucked the water into her mouth, and it tasted normal, so she swallowed. She grabbed the neck of the plastic bottle with her teeth and tipped her head back, drinking the entire bottle.

  She said, “Thank you,” before the gag was replaced gently in her mouth.

  “It shouldn’t be long now,” Cindy said. “You just hang in there, okay?”

  “Are you finally ready to go back upstairs?” John asked. “We need to be ready when they come.”

  There were footsteps on the stairs.

  “Shut up, John,” Cindy said. “We don’t want to talk about that down here.”

  “Why not?” John asked. “To save her feelings?”

  “You do realize we could be talking about her father or her brother? We don’t know who exactly killed Ron.” The door opened and closed, the key turned in the lock, and they were gone.

  Tears burned in Emma’s eyes. It wasn’t her father who killed the man, she knew that, but they didn’t. And what if it had been Corey’s dad who'd done it? What would happen to Corey and Rae Ann if Nick was killed? The tears were absorbed by the blindfold, but her nose was running, and she couldn’t wipe her face with her arms secured behind her back. She bent her legs and rubbed her nose on her jeans. It might have been gross, but it was better than gagging on her own snot.

  26

  When the garden cart was full, Nick met with Abram, Shelly, and Maggie to figure out who would go into town with Abram. Nick felt strongly that he should go, as he was part of the original raid and should take some of the blame, but everyone had their own opinion.

  “I need to be there when we get Emma back,” Shelly said, but Abram was already shaking his head.

  “We need one of us here,” Abram said to Shelly. “I invited Gary here, and I need to take responsibility for that.”

  “I can’t just sit here and wait.”

  Abram took her hand. “You need to stay here with Maggie and the kids. Keep this place safe.”

  Nick stepped forward. “I’ll go. I was stupid enough to go with Gary, to begin with. If you want, Abram, I’ll go alone. That reduces potential casualties down to one.”

  “Two, if you count Gary,” Maggie said. “I mean, no one is talking about this, but we are surrendering a member of our community.”

  “Only because he put Emma at risk,” Shelly said. “He brought this on himself.”

  “That may be, but it’s still a life.”

  “Maggie’s right,” Nick said. “If we don’t count him as a life then we are stooping to his level.”

  Shelly crossed her arms. “I think our community would be better off without him.” She looked around. “I told you all along I didn’t trust him.”

  “Then it’s agreed. Nick and I will go into town and take care of this,” Abram said.

  Maggie shook her head.

  “We can’t keep a guy who’s dangerous,” Abram said. “Especially around the kids.”

  Nick inched back. “Let me say goodbye to Corey and Rae Ann. It will only take a minute.”

  Abram nodded, and Nick hurried into the storage room, where Corey and Rae Ann were sitting on a crate playing a clapping game. Nick was somewhat surprised—Corey hated those games. He was a good brother.

  Nick sat down next to Rae Ann and wrapped his arm around her. “I’m leaving now, but I should be back in an hour or two. Corey, help Shelly and Maggie with Rae Ann, okay?” He wanted to say if he didn’t come back, but couldn’t bring himself to terrify his children.

  “I should come with you, Dad,” Corey said. “It’s my fault they got Emma.”

  “It’s not your fault, Corey.”

  “It is, Dad.” Corey’s voice was filled with despair.

  “We’re going to get her back.” Nick placed his hand on Corey’s shoulder. “But in order to do that, I need you to stay here.”

  Corey got up abruptly and walked out of the room.

  “Corey!” Nick called, but the boy didn’t come back.

  Rae Ann threw her arms around Nick's neck and held him close. “Come back soon, Daddy. Louise will miss you.”

  “I wouldn’t want to upset Louise.” Nick rubbed the teddy bear on the head. “But I have to go. I made a mistake, and I have to help fix it.”

  “Okay, Daddy.” Rae Ann pulled her head off his shoulder.

  He gazed into her eyes, wishing he didn’t have to leave her. But he did.

  “I love you, sweetheart.”

  “Love you too, Daddy.” She rested her head back on his shoulder and held him close.

  “I’ll be back soon,” he said, hugging her back. Then he pulled her off his neck and set her on the dirt floor, placing a kiss on her forehead. She took his hand, and they walked out to where the others were standing, near the cart. He handed Rae Ann off to Maggie, who gave him a grim nod.

  Nick turned and walked into the barn, where Gary was still sitting against the wall. He’d half expected him to have tried to escape, but he hadn’t. Nick cut a length of baling twine about six feet long and attached it at Gary’s wrists, still bound behind his back. He gripped Gary’s new leash tightly, then cut the bindings from his ankles.

  “I’ve got my pistol, so don’t try anything,” Nick said, voice firm. “I know they want you alive, but at the moment, I don’t care much either way.”

  27

  When he left his dad and Rae Ann in the supply room attached to the upper barn, Corey headed straight to the weapons shed near the shooting range. He pulled the pistol he used for target practice from the locker and pulled two magazines and a box of bullets from their drawers. Then he started opening drawers, cupboards, and cabinets looking for a holster that would fit him.

  He found one in the locker that held Emma’s gun, of course. She had pretty much the same size waist as Corey did and the holster, while not comfortable, fit well enough. He loaded the magazines and slipped one into the gun, holstering it on his right hip. The second magazine, he pushed into the belt as well.

  He felt better now, ready to help protect the farm. And if anyone decided to surprise them while Dad, Abram, and Gary were on the way to town, they’d be in for a surprise themselves. He closed the lockers and drawers, made sure everything was back to normal, and made off out into the late afternoon.

  His footsteps took him along the path, down toward the fence where Emma had gone over. It really hadn’t been all that long ago. Less than two hours, he figured. Standing there, he replayed their conversation over in his mind. The bright red object that they had assumed was a beer or soda case was gone. It had been a flashlight, or at least that’s what he thought he’d seen while chasing them through the forest. They’d meant to be here after dark.

  He climbed the fence and went to look at the place where the intruders had been hiding. The undergrowth and grass had been flattened. He could see footprints and the place the large flashlight had rested on the ground. More like the shape of a lantern, really. Something metallic caught his eye, and he scrubbed the dirt with his toe, which dislodged something. He reached down and tugged, revealing a pair of bolt cutters. They’d been planning to cut through the fence, not go over it.

  How were they to protect the farm from intruders with bolt cutters? Even if they installed razor wire all along the top of the fence, anyone could come along and cut their way through. What was Abram thinking? Of course, they’d have a night watch to check the perimeter, but there were acres and acres of land. They could come through anywhere.

  Corey’s face flushed, and he clenched his fists. No one here knew what they were doing. Abram and Dad couldn’t protect them. They would need dozens of people to keep all this land secure. He took the bolt cutters and tossed them over the fence, so they were inside the property line. No point in leaving them out here where anyone could find them and use them to get in.

  He had heard Emma yelling and crying as she was carried away out of the forest. She’d been terrified, probably still was scared. He struck out along the fence,
moving toward the road, his hand resting on the holstered pistol. He decided he wasn’t leaving this to Abram and his father. Emma’s life was too important to risk it. They didn’t know everything, that was damn certain. One set of bolt cutters could have breached their entire security system.

  He broke into a jog, watching his footing and keeping to the fence. When he reached the road, he lengthened his stride into a lope. It was a pace he knew he could keep up for long distances. He had been a cross country runner at school. He didn’t usually run in boots with a gun at his hip, but that was okay. Everyone had to adapt.

  After a few minutes, Corey moved to the softer dirt at the side of the road. Dad, Abram, and Gary couldn’t be that far in front of him, and he didn’t want them to hear him coming up on them. When he reached the paved road, he’d have to run in the grass on the verge for them not to hear him, and meanwhile, he’d keep his eyes open. He didn’t want to come around a bend and find them right in front of him.

  He thought he heard voices ahead and slowed to a walk, keeping his eyes open for a sighting of the men.

  As they came into Fenton, Abram scanned for signs of life. Not a soul could be found. Even though the rural town was small, there had usually been a few people out. Now, it was desolate.

  Perhaps the townsfolk were hiding indoors, ensuring that they and their loved ones were safe from the unsavory people who were beginning to commit heinous acts. He set his gaze on Gary to see a prime example of such a person. Surely, there were more people like Gary—soon, he figured, the area might be overrun with them.

  And then he thought of the tiny police station that was more than a mile outside of the town, between Fenton and a neighboring town. He remembered that he hadn’t been able to find the chief nor his two officers the last time he was in town, shortly after they’d arrived to the compound. He’d figured they were kept busy elsewhere, but now realized that in light of the current situation, they were likely focused on ensuring their own families’ safety. He couldn’t blame them, if that were the case.