by Chesla, Gary
“By spring we will have the fort and be down to a more manageable number. It should work.” Ed said.
“With no more people coming in, I think it’s time. We would be forced to break the deal with Bear whether we wanted to or not. The new gutter system just makes it that much easier to make the move now.” Bill said. “It will be nice having women around again.”
“What about the two we have out back?” Ed asked.
“They’ve seen too much. They would have made a nice addition, but we can’t risk it at this point.” Bill said.
“Maybe they don’t know what really happened to them. We can stage a fake rescue.” Ed smiled.
“Too risky. Just set them aside. We can still enjoy them.” Bill smiled.
“I like that idea too.” Ed smiled back at Bill.
“Want me to make those two guys disappear tonight?” Ed eyed Bill.
“Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow night? I want to have him work on a gutter system for the outer wall first. Then I think we can do it. We might as well be as prepared to deal with Bear as we can. I’d like to make sure we keep the outer walls standing.“ Bill added. “That new catapult system is another good idea he came up with. I want to make sure he finishes that up tomorrow too.”
“He thinks he is becoming important to the fort.” Ed laughed. “If he only knew how easy he is making it for us to get rid of him.”
Bill smiled.
Lilly had been in pain all night. She had wiggled her nose and face all night trying to move the blindfold enough so she could see something. Before she could figure a way to get herself out of the situation she found herself in, she needed to see where she was.
Her wrists hurt so bad and she was so scared, the thought of sleep never crossed her mind.
The cloth in her mouth was making her sick. She had never liked the feel of cloth in her mouth. Ever since the time her mother had washed out her mouth for saying bad words, she dreaded the feel of cloth in her mouth. Fortunately that raunchy rag had been in her mouth so long, it was now completely soaked and now felt like she had a mouthful of mud instead of a rag.
It had been a long silent night, except for the occasional crying from the other girl that was somewhere near her. She had to be tied up like Lilly, because the sounds kept coming from the same place each time next to her.
Lilly thought she had moved the blindfold around on her face, because she was now able to see light through the blindfold. She rubbed her head against her shoulder, trying to get it to move some more.
A few times she heard someone come in to where she was hanging. She heard the door creak. She figured someone was coming in to check on her. She just let herself hang limp against the ropes.
She could barely wait for them to leave, the pain was almost unbearable when she let herself just hang like that. She didn’t want them to realize she knew they were there. At least they didn’t bother her when she did that.
She kept pushing at the blindfold with her shoulder. She worked her jaw, trying to loosen the gag. If she was able to get it off her mouth, she had no intention of screaming. That would only get her into more trouble, and she was in enough trouble. She just wanted to spit out that gross rag that was in her mouth.
She continued to work on her blindfold. She thought she was able to see more light, but maybe it was just getting brighter around her. Maybe it was sunny out, but she kept trying.
She heard voices coming from somewhere outside. Then she heard pounding. She was sure she was still at the fort. She thought she recognized some of the voices. She thought it was the one boy that had come down to her cottage to deliver a message from Bill about her being relocated.
She continued to struggle with the gag. She felt it getting looser. “God, she hoped she could get that damn thing off.”
She also felt she was making progress with the blindfold. She thought she could make out shapes now. It looked like a lot of shapes. It scared her at first, because they looked like human shapes. She thought someone had snuck into where she was and were standing there watching her. She had hung limp for as long as she could stand it, but they never seemed to move.
She didn’t care anymore and struggled to stand on her toes to ease the pain. The shapes never moved.
She started to work on her blind fold again.
The day seemed to drag on forever. Someone had come in a few more times. She watched the shadows move around doing something over by the other shadows she had noticed earlier. The shapes that had scared her, until she was sure they weren’t moving.
Later in the long agonizing day, she heard water running. It seemed to be dripping all around her. Not in where she was, but outside somewhere. It sounded like it was dripping on all sides of her.
This reminded her that she hadn’t been to the bathroom in a long time. The sound of the running water was like another form of torture. Beside all the other pain she was in, the need to go to the bathroom became unbearable. This was one pain she could do something about, however gross it would be. She relaxed and tried to ignore the new sound of water dripping on the floor below her.
Finally the sound of dripping water stopped, both outside and inside.
All the extra wiggling around was finally paying off. Her gag was getting looser and her blindfold was starting to slide down her nose.
She started rubbing her face against her shoulder as hard as he could and still manage the pain in her wrists.
Finally the blindfold fell over her nose and dropped to her feet. She blinked her eyes to adjust to the light. Her eyes had been in the dark for what seemed like forever and the light stung her eyes.
As her eyes adjusted, she started to focus on the shape hanging next to her. It took a few minutes until she could see clearly. Soon the pathetic figure came into view.
It was the girl that was supposed to have been relocated a few days ago. They must have come for her in the night also. She was hanging by her arms, her bare feet, just like hers, barely touched the ground. She was still gagged and blindfolded. She was wearing her bed clothes and looked like she had soiled her clothes more than once.
Lilly felt so sorry for her, the girl looked so pitiful.
If Lilly could get herself loose, she would try to help this poor girl.
Lilly began to dance around on her toes. She must have turned herself in the girl’s direction with all her efforts to get her blindfold and gag off. She wanted to see what all the shapes she had seen through her blindfold were.
As she struggled to turn, her gag finally loosened enough for her to spit out the rag that was in her mouth. It stuck in the rag around her mouth, but moved it enough that she was able to take deep breath. The slimy thing was stuck on her chin, but her mouth was now free of it.
She was so occupied getting that rag out of her mouth, she hadn’t realized she had finally turned herself around and was now facing the shapes that had peaked her interest earlier.
When she realized she had turned where she wanted to be, she raised her eyes.
Lilly’s eyes got wide and she began to violently throw up. She hadn’t had much to eat before she had been taken, but every bite she had, shot out of her mouth. The gag on her chin caught much of the vomit, and now it ran down her neck and over her body.
When there was nothing left to come up, her body still violently heaved, trying to turn itself inside out.
Between sickening heaves, air rushed from her lungs.
The silent scream of terror.
The terror that griped her entire body.
She screamed and screamed until she thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head.
The silent scream that only she could hear deep down inside her mind.
The scream that finally drained every ounce of energy from her body.
Chapter 15
Megan smiled as she enjoyed her morning coffee, for the second morning in a row as she sat out in front of the cottage. Not only was the coffee great, the scenery was beautiful here in Ligonier. The fo
rt sat on the edge of Ligonier at the base of the mountains. The lust green rolling hills that surrounded Ligonier were beautiful.
The coffee enhanced her appreciation of the contrast of the bright blue of the sky and the green of the hills as they were all bathed in the golden rays of the morning sun.
The birds were active this morning and the chirping of the birds filled the area with a cheerful melody that occasionally became quiet when a hawk would circle over head in its hunt for a morning meal.
The beauty of the view was only enhanced by the feeling of peace and security of being at the fort. However she only had to turn and look over the back wall of the fort towards the town of Ligonier to return to reality. The dead town served as a reminder that the world was not a beautiful or safe place anymore. It was a dangerous unforgiving place.
But even the reality of the world made her appreciate the view in front of her and the peace she felt. She had learned months ago to appreciate the little pleasures where ever she could find them.
These little pleasures were few and far apart and tended to be temporary. She didn’t know how long this feeling of peace would last, how long the safety of living at the fort would last, they could only hope. But it sure was nice now. Despite the few reservations they had about the fort, this was the most relaxed they had felt in months.
Megan forced the doubts out of her mind and just tried to enjoy the beautiful morning.
Shaun walked out the door of the cottage and yawned as he looked down over the walls of the fort and out over the hillsides.
“Good Morning.” Megan cheerfully greeted Shaun.
“There you are. I woke up and wondered where you were off to.” Shaun said.
“I woke up, but you were sleeping so peacefully I didn’t want to wake you up.” Megan said as she got up from her chair and grabbed the extra cup she had brought outside with her.
She poured coffee from the pan that sat over the campfire into the cup and handed it to Shaun. She patted the chair next to her, inviting Shaun to come sit beside her. “Come on and enjoy the sunshine.”
Shaun sat and took a long sip of his coffee. He looked over the fort. Not much was happening, except for the three boys that helped him with the gutters yesterday. They were busy this morning hauling big stones into the fort and stacking them in a pile near the posts for the catapults.
Shaun wished he had half their energy.
“Do you have any more big projects planned for today?” Megan asked.
“No, I think I’m all out of big ideas.” Shaun smiled. “At least for today! Besides I think I should finish what we started yesterday. I was just watching the boys hauling in stones for the catapult. I’m sure George is going to want and try out the catapult.”
Megan smiled.
“I’m sure as soon as the boys are done hauling stones, Bill will have them out behind the fort dragging in gutters. He seems intent on putting the gutters around the outside wall like we did yesterday to the inner fort walls.” Shaun said taking another sip of his coffee.
“I saw them running water through the gutters this morning. I think the wall posts up above are drenched. What’s that all about?” Megan asked.
“I mentioned to Bill yesterday that I thought the main weak point of the fort was that it was made of wood, old dry wood that would easily burn. I told him how our house and Doug’s were burned down by the gangs. He said they have worried about that ever since they came to the fort.” Shaun said.
Shaun continued. “The high walls are great protection from the dead, but he has been worrying about gangs coming and setting the fort on fire. I gave him a way to wet down the walls so it would be harder to set them on fire and to help put out any fire that might get started. I told him the gutters wouldn’t work as well on the larger outer wall, but it could be used on one section at a time. It might be better than having a bunch of guys out there throwing buckets of water.”
“Isn’t it dangerous for the boys to go outside the fort to get stones and gutters?” Megan asked.
“The look outs keep an eye on them, it’s not too dangerous.” Shaun answered.
“Talking about the boys, I think they just noticed you’re up. Here they come.” Megan laughed as she watched the boys come running towards them. They were already dirty and sweaty from all the stones they had carried in to the fort this morning.
“Hey Shaun? Do you think the concrete is dry enough to try the catapults this morning?” The boys asked.
“They should be OK, the poles are in pretty deep and we packed a lot of big stones around the base, they should be ready to try out.” Shaun answered.
“When can we try them?” They asked eagerly.
“We have to put the tires on the ropes first. Why don’t you take the tires over to Tim and ask him to cut them in half. Then have him drill a hole in each end about six inches back from where he cut the tires. Bring the tires back and I’ll help you finish up.” Shaun said.
“Should he cut the tires long ways around the treads or sideways?” The boys asked.
“Have him cut the tires sideways. If you lay it down on the ground like it was a pie, then cut straight across.” Shaun explained.
The boys nodded their understanding.
He watched as the boys ran over to the catapults, grabbed the tires and ran up to the inner fort and disappeared inside the walls.
“I better finish my coffee and finish getting dressed. It looks like I will be going back to work.” Shaun laughed. “I think if I ever have the chance to start my business up again, I’m going to hire kids to help me instead of older guys. These kids never get tired. The older guys start complaining ten minutes after they get started.”
Shaun got up and went inside. He returned five minutes later wearing his sweatshirt, jeans and tennis shoes.
“Not much choice on what to wear.” He joked. “Except for my new shirt, this is it.”
“Maybe I can make you another shirt?” Megan said. “They don’t have much in the way of extra clothes here, just some material.”
“How are you at making pants?” Shaun smiled.
“I could make you a nice work dress.” Megan laughed.
“We could play dress up.” Shaun laughed.
“I suppose I could make a pair of pants? I’m not sure how they would look though?” Megan smiled. “You would have to leave your pants with me so I would have a pattern to work from.”
“I think I liked the dress idea better.” Shaun laughed.
Megan shrugged her shoulders as she laughed.
“Here they come.” Shaun said as he got off his chair. “This won’t take me long.”
Shaun started to walk out towards the closest catapult to meet the boys half way.
They came running up to him holding the tire halves. “Is this how you wanted them?”
“Perfect. Now we have two ‘U’ shaped rubber holders to put the stones on.” Shaun said as he took one of the tire halves and threaded the rope from the left pole in one hole, then tied a triple knot. He did the same with the rope from the right pole in the other said of the tower. Do you see how I did it?”
“It looks like a big sling shot.” One of the boys said.
“Basically that what it is. But instead of using rubber bands to shoot the stone, we will bend the tree branches back. When the branches spring back upright, the tension will propel these heavy stones out over the wall.” Shaun answered. “Now I want to see you to do the same thing on the other catapult.”
Shaun followed the boys to the other catapult and watched them tie the ropes to the tire. “Good job. Now take the other two tire halves up and tie them to the ropes on the last two catapults. Then we can see what George and Bill say about trying them out.”
The boys were excited and quickly took off towards the other catapults.
Shaun headed back towards his cottage. He was sure as soon as the boys were done, Bill would know and they would come looking for him.
He was almost back to his cabin whe
n the whistle started blowing at the front gate of the fort.
Shaun turned to look at the gate to see what was going on.
Two men were helping George close the gates and slide the beams in the slates on the wall to barricade the gate.
Next the men helped George carry the six posts and let them drop down into the reinforced holes Shaun had made, to add extra strength to the doors.
A group of men came running down towards the gate carrying bows and climbed up on the platform and began to look down over the hill at Route 30.
Megan came running up to Shaun. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, but from what we saw before, I would say we are about to get attacked by someone or something.” Shaun answered as he watched George and his men moving around up on the walls.
Shaun heard his name being called from somewhere near the upper fort. He turned to see Tim and Bill running down the hill.
“Meg. Go in the cabin, or at least stay by the cabin so I know where you’ll be. I’ll come back as soon as I can.” Shaun shouted over the growing noise coming from different parts of the fort.
“Be careful.” Megan called to Shaun, then ran back and stood by the cabin door to watch the events unfold throughout the fort in front of her.
Doug came running over to Shaun. He had just woke up after hearing all the commotion. He was still in his bare feet. “Shaun, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know yet. I see Bill and George running this way. I think we are going to find out.” Shaun said as he looked at Doug’s feet. “Why don’t you go put some shoes on then come and find me?”
Doug looked at his feet and said something under his breath, turned and ran back towards his cabin.
Shaun walked out towards the fort road to reach Bill and George, who were discussing something frantically.