by Tim Miller
“What the…” Stacey began before the girl pistol whipped the side of Stacey’s head. She tumbled to the ground as the side of her head throbbed. Crawling back to her knees she looked up.
“What was that for?”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch,” Livia said.
“Stand up and walk. That was your one and only warning. Do not fuck with me. Now walk back to the car.”
Stacey stood and began walking, and as she got closer to Livia’s pickup truck, she saw the other man there dragging a lifeless Alan into the back of the pickup and tossing him into the bed.
“Alan! Oh my God! What did you do to him? Who is that guy?”
“That’s my boyfriend, Oz! You two just fucked up real good, too.”
They reached the car as Oz was adjusting Alan in the back of the truck.
“Looky what I got, hunny! We got two that time!”
“Good job, Livvy babe.”
“What are you going to do with us?” Stacey could see Alan in the back of the truck. He was still breathing, so that was a good sign. She couldn’t help the knot rising in her stomach as she looked closer at his face, covered in blood. Since he was in the back of their truck, it was safe to assume it wasn’t actually broken down.
“I’ll put her in the truck too,” Oz said as he punched Stacey in the nose. She flew backward, landing hard on the ground. The initial fall didn’t knock her out, but her head bouncing on the pavement put her out. She didn’t even know what hit her. Oz picked her up, threw her into the back of the truck, and threw the canvas tarp over them both. Once they were covered, he used the bungee cords to strap them down and closed the tailgate.
“You take her car, Livvy. I’ll take the truck and meet you at the town.”
“This is gonna be fun!” Livia said.
“I can’t wait to see Nash’s face! He won’t believe it. Our last catches had been older folks. Not a nice young couple like this.”
“Fuck Nash. These two are ours. He can come down here and do the work if he wants some a’ this. Let’s go.”
Chapter 7
Cole carried the boys into town draped over each shoulder. The drive back had been uneventful. As usual, no one had seen or heard him. Cole was very much alive, but took pride in being a ghost. In fact, he was. There wasn’t a shred of paper anywhere that could prove he even existed. He was invisible in every sense. That’s how he preferred it.
He’d placed tape over their mouths but removed the pillow cases. They tried to wiggle but managed very little movement. He walked under the camo netting and toward the large building toward the back of the town. It had once been a church. Now the windows were boarded up and it had a few tables set up as a meeting place.
As Cole stepped into the church, Nash was sitting up front along with his girlfriend Jade. No one was sure exactly how old Nash was. His hair was long and gray. He kept it pulled back in a ponytail. His beard was a few shades darker. Jade had long blonde hair but her skin was tan and leathery. They were the only remaining residents of the original Hell, Texas.
When the state’s death troopers descended upon the town and opened fire, they chose not to stay and fight like the others. In that town it would have been considered cowardice. But Nash saw it as survival. They were outmanned and outgunned. Even their newest leaders with the genetic enhancements and steel exoskeletons didn’t last long. The police opened fire with shotguns, though a few had military-style rifles. Nash grabbed Jade along with some supplies and headed further into the hills.
Over the next several months, authorities sifted through the remains of their town. It was tough but they managed to survive. They had a few close calls. Mostly due to heat exhaustion and lack of food or water, but Nash always found enough for them to scrape by. It was usually by nabbing motorists when they could. At one point, they’d found Bart and Denise, another pair of scavengers. Their original plan had been to roll or kill the pair and make off with their belongings, but there was something different about them. They had an edge to them. An edge like Nash and Jade carried with them.
Instead of robbing them, Nash began to talk with them as they went for a drive. The couple had been running all over the country robbing and killing for fun and survival. From there, Nash told them about Hell, Texas. Turned out they liked the idea of settling down with others like themselves.
“Shit, man, I think we saw that on the news. You was from there?”
“Yep. That was us.”
“Police are denying everything. There’s conspiracy websites and shit going nuts about it. Saying it was secret government experiments and the Feds went in to destroy all the evidence.”
“Shit, outsiders are fuckin’ stupid,” Nash said.
Nash went on to explain his idea for building the town. Over time things grew from there, and now Cole was standing there in front of the couple with the two bound up boys. He flopped them onto the table as they stared up at the group in terror.
“Goddammit Cole!” Nash said. “How many times have I told you not to treat the kids like they’re fuckin’ luggage?”
Cole just stood there looking at Nash. Jade sat at Nash’s side but looked away when Cole glanced down at her.
“You wanted two more, here they are,” Cole said.
Jade helped them sit up and removed the tape from their mouths. The oldest one began screaming uncontrollably. Immediately Nash cringed and yelled at Jade.
“Goddammit! Shut that kid up!”
The younger one screamed but not as loudly or as constantly as the older boy. He just kept yelling.
“Mommy! Mommy! I want my mommy!”
“I am not kidding, Jade! Shut him the fuck up!”
Cole stood watching with amusement as the boy screamed while Nash yelled at Jade, and Jade yelled back at Nash while trying to calm the boy.
“Shhh!” Jade said to the boy. “It’s ok, honey. We don’t want to hurt you. Please stop screaming. Please. Just quiet down now.”
“Goddammit! If you don’t shut that kid up! I’m going to shut him up for you!”
None of them noticed Cole walking slowly toward the back of the church and sifting through some junk stacked in the corner. He found a two by four and calmly walked back to the table where the commotion was taking place. The younger boy was watching with just as much amusement, if not confusion, as Cole had been. He was the only one who’d seen Cole walk back up and screamed when he lifted the two by four.
With a single swing, he connected with the back of the nine-year old’s head. The boy flopped face first off the table and landed on the floor unconscious.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Cole!” Nash said as he jumped to his feet. Cole ignored him as he reared back and brought down the two by four onto the boy’s head. His body twitched as the board connected. Cole swung it again and again until the boy’s head split open. Jade covered her mouth as the younger one screamed. Jade picked him up and ran out of the church with him. Nash came around the table and watched as Cole continued swinging. Brains, blood and chunks of skull were now oozing across the floor, along with strands of the boy’s hair and flesh.
Cole tossed the board down and looked up at Nash. Cole wasn’t even breathing heavy.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“This is Hell,” Cole said.
“Damn right it is. Hell, Texas! And I’m the fucking mayor!”
Cole walked by, and Nash grabbed his arm. Cole stopped dead in his tracks and glared at Nash, who immediately let go.
“You’re the mayor,” Cole said. “But I’m the Devil. Don’t ever touch me again.” And walked out of the church.
Chapter 8
Doug had set his sandwich down and refused to touch it since Garrett had told him about Hell, Texas. At first he hadn’t believed him. Now he did, but didn’t want to. In the back of his mind he kept waiting for Garrett to spill the punchline. Yet the Ranger just sat there, stone-faced, while finishing off his burger. Doug had no idea how the man could still eat after telling
that story.
The young detective hadn’t ever heard anything like it: cannibals, torture, crucifixions, impalements, and mad doctors doing freaky human experiments.
“You have got to be bullshitting me,” Doug said. “How come none of that was on the news or anywhere?”
“If you Google it, you’ll find it on some conspiracy sites. They say it was a secret government base doing human experiments, and we covered it up. They’d be half right. There were human experiments and we covered it up, but the government sure as Hell wasn’t behind it.”
“You said there were like cyborgs there?”
“They weren’t cyborgs. At least I don’t think that’s what they were. These were normal men with some kind of crazy steel, hydraulic exoskeletons built onto them. Made them strong as Hell, and you had to shoot them just right to put them down. One got right on top of me and grabbed my collar. I managed to shove my shotgun right under his chin and blew his head clean off.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah. Got his fuckin’ brains all over my clothes and hat. Didn’t even try to wash it, neither. Got home, got undressed right in my front yard and threw all that shit in the trash barrel and lit it on fire. My hat, clothes, boots; all of it.”
“You’re really not kidding.”
“No sir. Sure as Hell wish I was. This is the most I’ve talked about it since it happened. As we went through checking the place out, orders came down from up top to exterminate anyone in that town. In some of the buildings there were women and children hiding out, and we fuckin’ executed them.”
“Any hostages?”
“A few. That was the worst.” Garrett looked out the diner window as he spoke. “There was maybe five or six of them. I found a couple tied up in some kind of torture chamber in one of the small houses. They’d been beaten and tortured to shit. The girl was missing her left eye and the guy’s tongue had been cut out. I wanted to untie them but I had my orders. Shit, I try to tell myself I put them out of their misery. Put one in the back of each of their heads. They didn’t feel a thing.”
“What the fuck, man? You murdered them?”
“I used to think that. The girl was babbling some kind of nonsense. I try to tell myself they were dead long before we showed up. Just didn’t know it yet.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah. So anyway, that’s Hell, Texas. That’s the story. It’s all true. You can look it up later if you want, but we don’t have time for all that now.”
“So you think this town is back up and running?”
“People been disappearing at an odd rate around here. Especially children and motorists. What tipped my boss off was the girl whose bracelet was found along the road. Now in the past, they didn’t take kids. So not sure if that is even connected. The whole thing could be a wild goose chase. Fuck, I hope it is. I told my boss I think he’s nuts. No way could that town be going again, but he said we had to rule it out. So that’s what I’m gonna do.”
Doug sat perfectly still, almost afraid to move. In his years as a cop, this was the craziest shit he’d ever heard. Garrett finished his drink and stood. Doug got up as well, and they headed to the car without another word. They drove in silence for the next hour and a half until they were miles outside the city and at the approximate place where the motorist’s bracelet had been found.
Garrett climbed out of the car and dug a photo out of his pocket. It was a picture of the girl’s bracelet as it lay on the shoulder. He kneeled down, knowing it probably wasn’t exactly where it was, but the whole area felt all too familiar. He looked up into the hills. The sun was setting just to the west, causing the hills to look like giant shadows about to overtake the landscape.
“So is that place around here?” Doug asked.
“Just up ahead.”
After driving twenty more minutes, Garrett turned the car off the main road onto the same dirt road he’d followed up there so many years ago. The dirt trail wound around through the hills as rocks kicked up against the bottom of the car. Finally, they reached the top and wound around the ridge until they were at a large clearing. Garrett stopped the car and climbed out. Doug followed him as they walked along the dry open space.
“This is it,” Garrett said. “This is, or was Hell, Texas.”
“There’s nothing here.”
They walked along surveying the area. There were scattered remains of buildings, broken pieces of wood and burned out remains of old cars scattered about. Garrett remembered watching them light the place on fire after they were sure all the town’s occupants were dead.
“Holy shit. Talk about a fuckin’ ghost town,” Doug said as he walked among the debris. He knelt down and picked up a burned up piece of brass. It was a candlestick, or had been at one point. Doug thought about how someone in this town used this to light their home. Their home that likely had served humans for dinner or had people tied up for torture or sex slaves.
“So it can’t be them,” Doug said.
“Doesn’t look like it.” Garrett went to the car and grabbed the digital camera. He walked around and snapped several pictures before tossing it back into the car.
“Well I guess I feel a little better this place is still a heap of rubble,” Doug said. “But can we get out of here now? Maybe burn it one more time just for good measure?”
“Yeah. Let’s get out of here.” They climbed into the car and started the engine. As they drove away, neither of them noticed Cole up on the ridge looking through a set of binoculars and watching their every move.
Chapter 9
Lacey felt like she’d died and gone to Hell. Once in the town, the large, paint-faced man dragged them into the small town square, where an old man and woman came walking out. Along with them came several others. They were all dirty and sunburned. Some were just kids, some teenagers. They surrounded the couple as Lacey held Keith’s hand. Keith looked dazed after having taken the blows to the head. Lacey was able to pick up on some people’s names.
The masked guy was called Dillinger. Then there was Nash and Jade along with a group of kids.
“What do ya got here Dillinger?” Nash asked.
“These two was trespassin’. So I arrested ‘em.”
“You did good. What’s wrong with the guy?”
“He got mouthy, so I fucked him up.”
“I see that.”
“I like the girl,” a boy said from behind Nash. The kid looked like he was maybe fourteen. He had filthy red hair and fair skin almost orange from his freckles. He was wearing sweat pants, a long t-shirt with a belt around his waist, which held a large knife. The boy walked up and reached out, running a hand along Lacey’s face.
“I wanna see her titties,” he said.
Lacey stepped back as Keith grew suddenly more alert.
“What the fuck?” Keith said but Dillinger grabbed Lacey by the back of the neck and looked at Nash. Nash nodded and patted the boy on the shoulder.
“Rufus here is learning our ways. Show him.”
Lacey looked around, confused, as her stomach turned to knots. She knew what was about to happen, but didn’t want to admit it to herself. She had always told herself if she were ever sexually assaulted she would fight as if her life depended on it. Yet here she was surrounded by these people who were armed, strong, and wanted to hurt her. There was no good ending in this for her. The only thing she could hope for was to minimize the pain. Part of her hoped if she tried to run, Dillinger would just shoot and kill her. Then again, his hand had her by the back of the neck.
“Take out your titties, I said!” Nash yelled as Dillinger tightened his grip. She carefully unbuttoned her shirt as Rufus stood there grinning. She pulled her shirt open as Nash spoke again.
“Now lose the bra.”
Before she could react, Rufus pulled his knife from the sheath and reached up. Grabbing her bra and cutting it down the middle, he ripped it off her. Her breasts fell out, free, and her immediate reaction was to put her hands up over them, but Rufus slapped
her arms away.
He put his hands out and cupped her breasts, squeezing and twisting at them like they were a radio dial. Keith stood there looking on, but Jade had a gun pointed at him.
“Damn, these is nice!” he said. “I want her. Can I have her, Uncle Nash?”
“You bet. Dillinger, walk her to our cabin. Help him get started,” Nash said.
“Wait! What the fuck? Have her? You motherfuckers…” Keith said, but Jade aimed the gun at his nuts.
“You take a fuckin’ step and you’ll be scraping your nuts up off the ground.”
“What are you doing? Leave me alone!” Lacey screamed as Dillinger dragged her past several small shacks into a larger one toward the back of the town. Rufus opened the door and they brought her inside. She screamed as soon as she was in the shack. There was a filthy mattress with leather straps on each corner. Dillinger ripped her shirt off as Rufus undid her jeans and pulled them off. She kicked at him, knocking the boy backward, but Dillinger punched the back of her head.
The blow was hard enough to stun her, but not do any real damage. Just enough for her to know not to try that again. She held still as they finished removing her clothes and placed her onto the mattress, and fastening the straps around her waist.
“You got it from here?” Dillinger asked.
“Yes sir.”
“Good. Remember, do not untie her at all. No matter what she says or how much she begs. I’ll be right outside.”
“Got it.”
Dillinger stepped outside as Lacey looked up helplessly.
“Please?” she said. “You don’t have to do this. You’re not like these people. You’re a good boy.”
Rufus walked over to a basket in the corner and reached inside. He came out holding a baby rattlesnake.
“This is my baby snake. His name is Slinky. He likes to play. You wanna play with Slinky?”
Lacey didn’t just hate snakes, but was horrified by them. Even little garter snakes freaked her the Hell out.