The End

by Herman Grobler

  “You see I was going to capture them like I did with you then set up a trade with you for all the supplies in your house, well then I would torture them while you watch! For everything you did to me!” Said the man furiously.

  “I helped you get rid of your wife; I even helped you bury her! Just for you to shoot me in the leg and blame everything on me,” The man said as his voice softens.

  “Bradley Benet, set me free now, if you don’t then I am telling you now, consider yourself a dead man soon,” Jason said with complete silence afterward.

  “Well now, let’s see, they are dead though I suppose I can torture you instead, slowly and I insure you it will be hell,” Bradley said laughing.

  “But first I need to go and fetch the goods my stupid son left alongside the road, don’t worry I will get back to you as soon as I return from my little trip,” Bradley said softly.

  “You always planned way too much, you might be a strategic genius, but you see it will back fire just like the plan you had to help me, hurry up then the faster you go the faster you can get back! Just so that your plan can fail again,” Jason said almost shouting.

  Bradley gets ticked off as Jason wasn’t even surprised to see him or even slightly intimidated by what happened and how things will end for him; Bradley shut the door with force locking it but forgets entirely to barricade it, Bradley stops by Roy just to check on him.

  “I almost shot you while you were down, don’t mess this up or I will destroy you, understood” Bradley said loudly.

  “Yes sir!” Roy said loudly.

  Bradley rushes outside where Luke is already waiting in the car for him, they drive of slowly, no need to rush, the trip will do his dad good, it will help him relax, beside the cold with the heavy rain in the night is perfect for that, he can take a nap until we arrive at the car where Roy left the goods, then I can nap while he takes the wheel to Jason’s house.

  It’s raining so loudly that it even woke up Jacky; there isn’t even a point in sitting up guarding this place as you can’t even see the street really or hear anything going on outside. Ashley figured that this will be a good time to get some more rest, the sound of rain have always made her feel tired and lazy.

  She makes her comfortable on the floor zipping up her jacket, pulling her knees under into her jacket as well, just to get the maximum heat and stay warm; it’s much colder now since it’s raining.

  “Dad, wake up,” Luke said, pulling on his father’s shirt.

  “Are we there already?” Bradley asked half asleep.

  “Yes we are at the barricades Jason made, already picked up the supplies and didn’t want to wake you,” Luke said.

  “You are such a good son,” Bradley said, wide awake now.

  “Well, we should go search the house and try and find the bodies, we can also check a few of these homes,” Bradley said curiously.

  “Yes we should, I will go check the house across the street,” Luke said.

  “Fine, just be silent, he might have messed that up to, so they might still be here waiting for Jason,” Bradley said explaining.

  Luke understands what he is trying to say, but he highly doubt Roy would joke about it, Luke watches his dad enter Jason’s house while he puts on a rain jacket, there is a few in front of the house, it’s no problem for Luke. He gets out of the car and rushes over to them, using force to jab a large hunting knife through the skull into the brain, knowing this is the easiest and fastest way to kill them, pretty much any vital organ like the heart, anything that can make the brain stop functioning is good enough to kill them, other injuries will kill them to, but they will still walk around attacking things though they will die from a wound like that eventually.

  Entering the house, Luke rushes through a few cupboards in some of the rooms but there is nothing to be found, Luke runs over to the house next door just to find it empty, Luke thinks to himself, that this Jason guy would have probably done a good job raiding the houses close by.

  “Luke let’s go!” Bradley said loudly almost screaming.

  “I’m coming!” Luke said shouting back.

  Luke gets in the car staring at his soaking wet dad, Luke doesn’t want to say it smells bad or roll down the window a little, as it’s raining, Bradley would know that he smells bad, turning the car around heading back knowing that there will be problems, when they get home as his dad said, there isn’t even a single drop of blood on the floor, passing the barricade Luke stops the car fast, Bradley almost hitting his head on the dash.

  “Are you going nuts?” Bradley asked.

  “Learn to drive damn it,” Bradley said.

  “No, just look at that building over there with the door open,” Luke said, avoiding his dad’s remarks.

  “It has furniture in the front, it’s been stacked, someone was hiding there,” Bradley said with excitement.

  They get out of the car and starts looking around, it's early morning it’s still raining with little breaks in between, searching the entire building they found a spot that seems to be where someone was hiding in one of the rooms, this room was barricade with furniture to, it’s a fact since the stairs were blocked off too, it could only have been them, it was smart to go and hide just outside of the barricade, Roy wouldn’t have expected that, Luke knows this, but ignores telling his dad this, knowing Roy will be in serious trouble if he knew.

  “Hey my name is Conway, Conway Hart,” Conway said.

  “I don’t know who you are but you seem to be a reasonable man,” Conway said.

  “You listened to my conversation; you know I killed my own wife, what makes you think I am reasonable?” Jason asked.

  “Well, you got silent and angry when he said he killed your daughters, that must count for something,” Conway answered, almost whispering.

  “I can get us out, if you help me,” Conway said.

  “How will you get us out? We are tied down and in cages,” Jason said whispering.

  “You are tied, not me , I already untied myself yesterday, I only need that piece of wire hanging in your cage, so that I can pick lock this lock, then yours and then hers, oh by the way her name is Sarah Stack,” Conway said smiling.

  “Who’s that in the cage, over there in the dark corner?” Jason asked.

  “That’s Adair Solomon, she is most likely dead, probably happened before you came in,” Conway whispered.

  “What happened to her?” Jason asked.

  “She was taken upstairs yesterday, she came back with torn clothing, so I think they raped her, injured her or beaten her,” Conway said softly.

  “If she is dead then maybe it’s for the best,” Conway said.

  “Why do you say that?” Jason asked.

  “Her younger sister that was also taken upstairs, multiple times, Adair went crazy about it, it was hard on her, it’s not something family wants to hear and think about when you’re absolutely helpless, not long ago she was taken upstairs and she never returned, she was so pretty, her name was Ashley,” Conway said.

  “Ok I get it,” Jason said.

  “Now toss it over to me and I will get started, hopefully we can be out of here before they return,” Conway said.

  “Look, I am sorry for what happened to your friend,” Jason said.

  “What makes you think they are friends?” Conway asked, with stuttering in his voice.

  “You had tears in your eyes, your almost crying, of course, you know them, or got really attached,” Jason said.

  “Ashley and I would have gotten married here in Florida before we knew it, we had to flee from people that wanted to eat us, some serious disease out there,” Conway said.

  “I am sure she would have been a lucky girl,” Jason said.

  “Maybe so, for all I know she could have been killed and this is why I want to ask you something,” Conway said, while whipping the tears from his cheek.

  “What would that be?” Jason asked.

  “You know Bradley, I can see you guys have a history from what I
heard, but I want to ask you that you leave Luke and Roy, I have to be the one to do this or I will never forgive myself,” Conway said angrily.

  “Look, kid, vengeance won’t make anything better it will most likely only make things worse, no one can think straight when it comes to anger and vengeance,” Jason said, seriously.

  “You want vengeance to, don’t you?” Conway asked.

  “Yes, I do but I won’t let it blind me,” Jason said calmly.

  “I just feel that I have to do this, she was pure and innocent, the type that won’t hurt anyone in any way,” Conway said as he opens the cage gate.

  Conway walks over to the wall and removes the hidden keys, unlocking the gate for Sarah, waking her up, holding his hand in front of her mouth, telling her it’s time to go, explaining to her that she should stay here until he knows it safe for her to come upstairs, wanting to leave, Jason asked him, stopping Conway in his tracks.

  “Are you going to leave me here? If you go up there and fail then this girl will die too, besides you don’t want someone’s death on your conscious, you already have that, you don’t need to open more doors to insanity, set me free and I will insure you, you will get to see Roy suffer,” Jason said.

  Conway just stands there thinking in silence with not even a peep out of his mouth, ok he said, I will let you free, he rush over to Jason’s cage explaining that he would have still freed him after he killed Roy.

  “Sure you would have freed me,” Jason said.

  “Honestly, I would have set you free, believe what you want,” Conway said as he open the gate for Jason to get out.

  Jason gets up stretching, staring at Conway, holding his hand out for a shake, I need you to stay here for a minute as Jason walks up the stairs knocking on the door loudly, catching the attention of Roy, he rushes to the front door wondering why there is knocking on the door, arriving he realize there is no one there, he turns around and notice the basement door isn’t barricaded at all, he hear the foot steps down there and knows something isn’t right.

  Roy approach the basement door using the key to unlock the door, in a split second the door opens with a punch straight to the nose, so hard Roy nearly falls backwards, crouching down holding his nose, before he could get up Jason grabs him dragging him to a chair before he sits him down, punching him two more times, Jason calls out to Conway and the girl to come up stairs.

  Conway surprised that Jason did this so fast, Conway is ordered to find something to keep him tied down, he rushes through cupboards and find industrial tape, it should be more than enough to keep him tied down.

  Jason tapes Roy’s arms down to the chair with his legs; he then looks Roy in the eyes.

  “Did you kill two girls?” Jason asked angrily.

  “Did you kill two girls?” Jason asked loudly.

  “Screw you, I won’t tell you anything!” Roy said, spitting at Jason.

  “Did you kill Ashley?” Conway asked, stuttering with tears in his eyes.

  “I had so much fun with that bitch,” Roy said, giggling annoyingly, followed with laughter.

  “I see, so you want to be stubborn?” Jason asked.

  “Let’s make a deal? What do you say, tough guy?” Jason asked with a smile.

  “What deal?” Roy asked.

  “You tell me what you did to my girls and then I will set you free, maybe you can then kill Conway if you wish or use Sarah over there for your personal enjoyment, I mean look at those perfect curves on that girl,” Jason said, whispering into Roy’s left ear.

  “I see, happy to know there is someone that’s on the same page!” Roy said loudly nearly shouting.

  “So do we have a deal or not,” Jason asked.

  “Hell yes!” Roy said out of excitement staring at Sarah with lustful eyes.

  “What’s the deal?” Conway asked.

  “Shut it kid, start talking Roy,” Jason said.

  “No, I didn’t kill your daughters, they should still be in that area hiding unless those things got to her first and for that little whore you call your girlfriend Conway, she ran off and did this to me, however, all is forgiven, I will find her, after I kill you,” Roy said laughing loudly.

  “Now set me free,” Roy said.

  “I will, just give me a moment,” Jason said with a smile.

  Jason rushes outside pulling Conway with him to help him with something; they lift up a big truck tire just outside, next to an old school bus and roll it all the way over to where Roy is taped down to the chair.

  “Whoa, what the hell are you doing, set me free now!” Roy said yelling.

  “Conway Grab that side,” Jason said, already lifting the one side of the tire.

  “Why, just do him fast,” Conway said.

  “Conway, don't waste my time and grab that side now please,” Jason said.

  “Okay,” Conway said stressed and worried.

  “Please don’t do this!” Roy said shouting, crying as the tire is being put over him.

  “Come on, what type of asshole are you!” Roy said screaming his words.

  “Please don’t do this, I learned my lesson,” Roy said crying rivers, with snot running from his nose.

  “I can’t watch this, I’m going to wait outside,” Sarah said, while Jason gets a small bottle full of gasoline.

  “Please just set me free, let me go,” Roy said crying as Jason pours the fuel only on the edges of the tire, making sure not to spill, wanting it to be just enough for the tire to burn slowly.

  “I am setting you free,” Jason said staring Roy dead in eyes, lighting a match setting the tire on fire.

  Jason leaves the building with Conway that already fetched two riffles with the two pistols Jason owns, with extra ammunition for both the riffle and the pistols, as they walk away Sarah can’t help but feel sorry for Roy, sure he might be a bad man but why let him suffer why not just end his misery fast.

  The one side of the tire stopped burning though the other side is, burning with intense flames, Roy screams and cries as his flesh burns on the one side, with the melting tire burning deep into his body and partially dripping on his leg. Roy noticed a bucket of water on the table, which was used to capture the rain that leaks through the roof; Roy tips himself backwards breaking the table’s corner with the water falling out killing most of the fire on the tire, seconds later, Roy faints due to all the pain.

  Conway suggests that its over for Roy, he stopped screaming, Jason agrees as he looks back with thick dark smoke leaving through the windows of the building, we should move faster and find our loved ones, if Ashley had to escape then it must be where Roy confronted your girls. If we find one, we find all Conway said positively, Jason agrees that all of them should be in the surrounding areas and suggest they take a different route to avoid Bradley and Luke for now.

  “The sun is starting to come up; they should be getting back now anytime,” Conway said worried.

  “You know, they will be furious when they get there, especially when they see what we did to Roy,” Conway said stressing.

  “Don’t worry about it, he got what he deserved, they all did,” Jason said with no face expression only walking and staring at the ground.

  “I know they did, especially Roy he won’t spare anyone,” Conway said.

  “Can we just stop talking about this please, you guys are no different from them, and you are just as ferocious as them,” Sarah said loudly and angrily.

  “Well go back if you believe we are like them or worse, then you would be safer with them,” Jason said loudly.

  “Go on, what are you waiting for?” Jason asked furiously.

  “That’s not what I meant; look I am just not used to this!” Sarah said shouting at Jason.

  “She is highly Christian, she don’t see things this evil and never even believed this could happen,” Conway said with a fake smile.

  “Leave my belief’s out of this, do not even think of mocking me,” Sarah said fast and angrily.

  “I wasn’t going to, I was
just explaining to Jason why you don’t like violence,” Conway said confused.

  “Stop your pointless arguments and keep moving, the faster we get there the faster we can part ways,” Jason said.

  “I agree to keep on going,” Sarah said, angered and annoyed.

  The three are a few blocks away but far from home, Jason wants to get slightly further and then take a truck the rest of the way, it will be much faster than walking, and it will also save some ammunition and overall be much safer. Most importantly he don’t want to make noise with Luke and his dad still in the area, only a few more blocks, then surely they should’ve passed them.

  Luke get tears in his eyes after stepping into the building, he just knew something was wrong from the black smoke stains on top of the windows outside, Luke stares at his brother, face cut open, now the other side burned almost to the bone, with a melted tire around him.

  Bradley has tears in his eyes too, he didn’t mean it when he said, he will kill him, it was always just to scare them and to encourage Roy to do better.

  “Help me,” Roy said, stuttering the words due to pain.

  “Luke, can we help him?” Bradley asked, with an angry yet sad face expression.

  “It will be near impossible to cut this tire off of him and even if I do manage, I will never be able to get all the melted pieces out, his face is burned nearly to the bone, he will be scarred for life if I manage to save him, not just that, but he might simply never be the same,” Luke said almost crying.

  “We have enough medical supplies now, antiseptics, antibiotics, painkillers, bandages and so much more, so I suggest you help him,” Bradley said softly.

  “I have never done this, but I will try and do my best,” Luke said, feeling relieved that his dad actually does care for them.

  “You do that, we will wait until we managed to fix him up, give him proper time to recover, then we can go hunting for that bastard that did this,” Bradley said with hatred.

  “Don’t worry about that, I will make sure that Jason pays for this,” Luke said.

  As Luke cuts of the tire piece by piece, he thinks more and more, devoting himself to make Jason pay for this, make him suffer, make his life hell if Roy survives or not, there will be no escape from this, not for Jason at least.