by Tim Miller
He heard a scream as he looked up. Just ahead of him, illuminated by the Jeep’s headlights was Dede running away. Rufus was right behind her. In seconds he was on her, tackling her to the ground. She let out more screams as Rufus straddled her, punching her repeatedly. Doug tried to get to his feet but a boot connected to the side of his head, knocking him onto his face. As his consciousness faded, the last thing he heard was Dede’s screams filling the night.
Chapter 20
Dede woke up in a small, dark tent. She had been stripped naked, with her hands tied behind her back to a post. There was a lantern in the corner giving off enough light to cast the tent into a collage of creepy shadows. Looking around, she saw a woman sitting on a bucket just a few feet in front of her. The woman was chewing on something. She had on a long coat with a hood pulled up. That outfit made no sense as it was at least a hundred degrees in the tent.
“Where am I?” Dede asked.
“In Hell,” the woman answered.
“Hell? Oh my God. You’re one of those people aren’t you?”
“One of what people?”
“People Doug told me about.”
“You mean the cop?”
“Oh my God!” she gasped as tears ran down her face as the weight of her situation began sinking in. “Where is Doug?”
“He’s in Hell too.”
“Where? Where is he? Is he dead?”
“Nope, not yet. Won’t be dead anytime soon. No one dies quick in this town. It’s Hell. In Hell everyone suffers. Even us.”
“Please! Don’t hurt us. Please.”
“Why? We know what you was doing down there. You were trying to set a trap for us.”
“Not me. They talked me into doing it. I don’t know anything about you people. I got nothing against you.”
“But you were still trying to catch us. That’s unforgivable. They’re cops. It’s almost expected of them. But you, you’re just some chick. So they’ll die for sure. Both cops, your Doug and the Ranger. I mean seriously. You people think we’re that dumb? After what that Ranger did to this town all those years ago? You think we’d just expose ourselves like that?”
“Dumb? What? Garrett? What did he do to your town? I don’t understand.”
“I figured as much. He didn’t tell you shit, did he? Sounds just like any outsiders. They tell lies or half-truths just to get what they want. Doesn’t mean you’re not responsible for your own actions. Our blood would have been on your hands. Now it will be the other way around. Your blood is gonna spill, a lot of it. Probably all of it. It’s really gonna hurt too.”
Dede’s stomach twisted into knots. In the back of her mind she’d hoped Garrett would be coming to the rescue. Now it turns out they got him too. No one knew they were out here. No one knew about this stupid mission. She was fucked. They all were.
“So part of the cops suffering will be something all cops hate,” the woman said.
“What is that?”
“Watching you die. Slowly and painfully. Then they’ll know it is them who killed you. Not us. They brought you here into this fight. This wasn’t your fight. Shit, it’s not even their fight. They got no right to fuck with us. Nope. But now not only will they die, but you’ll die too and they’ll watch every last painful second of it.”
Dede tried to wipe her tears on her shoulder. She couldn’t even process what Dawn was saying. Even imagining her own death seemed surreal.
“So who are you?” Dede asked.
“Name’s Dawn. Dawn Dewey.”
“Dawn, I’m Dede. Maybe we can talk about this. Maybe I can help you out somehow.”
“How in the fuck could you help me?”
“I don’t know. Lots of ways.”
“I can think of one way,” Dawn said. She stood up and removed her coat, revealing her naked body beneath. Around her waist was the largest strap on dildo Dede had ever seen. Now Dede had done more than her share of play with strap ons. Some with other girls, some even with guys. This was at least eighteen inches in length. The shaft curved up and out like a cobra ready to strike. The outer layer of the shaft was course and covered in spikes. Dede had a feeling this particular sex toy wasn’t used for giving pleasure. Dawn walked closer to her as Dede tried to press herself as far against the post as she could.
“Better spread those legs, mama. I’m coming home.”
Dawn knelt down as Dede tried to kick with her bare feet. Dawn backhanded her across the face just enough to stun her. Dede’s kicks grew weaker as Dawn got her legs apart and slid forward, ramming the dildo inside Dede’s vagina. Dede’s eyes went wide as she screamed while Dawn pushed Dede’s legs up over her head while thrusting away.
The dildo worked in and out of Dede’s pussy, as blood and chunks of skin and tissue covered it. With each thrust, Dede felt the spikes ripping away the insides of her vagina. While she’d never given birth, she knew it was a painful experience. She wondered if it was something like this. She couldn’t imagine any pain worse than this. A baby being born was a painful but natural process.
This place, with this contraption slowly tearing out her insides one layer at a time was the most unnatural thing she’d ever seen. Dawn kept thrusting, smiling with each thrust.
“Oh yeah, yeah! You like that shit! You like that you dirty cunt! Ima cunt gut you bitch. You ever been cunt gutted? You getting’ it right now. Fuck yeah that feels good huh?” Dawn said as she pumped away.
“Fuck you!” Dede screamed. It took all her energy to muster that one scream. The pain shot through her pelvis, into her stomach. The dildo hit so hard and went so deep, it felt like it was hitting her stomach. Dawn pulled all the way out and ran her hand along the bloody shaft. Clumps of bloody flesh dripped off as she slid her hand down the end. She took a deep breath before thrusting it in again.
Dede continued to scream as Dawn pounded away. The bloody mess that was once her vagina made a squishy sound with each thrust. Blood squirted out each time the dildo went in. Dawn gave a few more thrusts before pulling out. She ran her hands along the bloody shaft again. Pulling a clump of skin off the tip she held it up to her mouth and tasted it. As she chewed it she smiled a bloody smile.
“No more,” Dede whimpered. “Please?”
“No more in your pussy that is,” Dawn said. She lifted Dede’s legs even higher and positioned the dildo just outside her asshole. Dede’s entire body was quivering as she glanced up to make eye contact with Dawn who was still smiling.
“Hold on tight, mama,” Dawn said. “I’m goin’ in dry!”
Chapter 21
Garrett woke up and looked around. The sun was coming up just over the hills as flies buzzed around his face. He tried to move but his hands were bound behind his back. He was standing in the middle of a town. At least it was some remnant that looked like a town. To his left, Doug was also tied to a post. They were both standing though Doug was slumped to the side. Both men had been knocked out. Garrett hadn’t seen the man who grabbed him.
He was angry at himself for letting someone get the drop on him like that. In all his years in the field, he’d always managed to stay one step ahead of anyone trying to do him harm. Maybe it was time to retire. That is, if he lived through whatever this was. Doug began to stir and looked around. He instantly began to panic.
“What the fuck? What’s going on? Where are we? Where’s Dede?” Doug said.
“Calm down. Losing your shit isn’t going to help any of us. I don’t know where she is. I heard a couple of women screaming earlier but not sure where it came from.”
“Fuck! What the fuck is this shit? Is this it? Is this the fucking town we were looking for? Fuck! And where is everyone?”
“It may be. Not sure what else it would be.”
“And why are you so fucking calm?”
Garrett was starting to worry Doug might have a full breakdown.
“No point in both of us losing our shit. Keep your head in this, Doug. I’m going to need you.”
“Well looky t
here! Our sleeping white knights have awakened!” a gray-haired man said as he approached. There was a woman around his same age with him.
“Oh, I shouldn’t be so rude. I am Nash. This is my wife Jade. Welcome to Hell, Texas! Why the long faces? You were looking for us right? You were close last time you were up here. Just over the ridge. Just a half mile off maybe. We weren’t dumb enough to set up in the exact same spot again.”
“Who are you?” Garrett asked.
“I’m Nash.”
“I heard that. But who are you? How do you know about Hell and why would you start a new one?”
“Jade and I were residents of Hell before you came along with your state trooper friends and burned the place to the ground. Fortunately, we didn’t stay and fight for a lost cause as it was so quickly apparent. We got out of there, regrouped and started over. Now here we are. Bigger and better than ever.”
Doors to the nearby shacks, trailers and tents began to open as the sun came out overhead. The actual shacks and trailers were all settled under strategically placed camouflage nets. This way passing aircraft couldn’t see them. Men, women, and children emerged, gathering around what Garrett figured to be their town square. Right where they were standing. As the crowd gathered around, Nash began addressing them. Behind the crowd was a tall, stocky man Garrett recognized from the hotel. He was the man in the pickup. There was a really tall man wearing a mask standing next to him.
Garrett was angry with himself for not being more aggressive in approaching the man. He’d known he was from the town, the guy had to be.
“Now,” Nash continued. “Since you two clowns are here by yourselves and we’ve had you both for hours, I assume no one else knows you’re here.” He walked up to Garrett and looked him up and down. “Wow, I’m disappointed. No death squad coming with you to execute all the women and children this time? You’re losing your touch.”
“You guys are fucking murderers,” Garrett said. “We went through the town after we killed all of those animals. We found weird ass human experiments, clothes and lampshades made from human skin, mass graves, bones all over the place. And you want to call us murderers?”
“Every last person we killed was a fucking trespasser! They come from the outside and come in to threaten our way of life!”
“Bullshit. Like the families who disappear from the side of the road? They were threats to you too? You sent people down to get them, just like you did us. How are any of them threatening to you?”
“Any outsider is a threat to us,” Nash said as he took a step back. “Bring her out!” he yelled as one tent flopped open as two men and a woman emerged. The men were dragging a naked blonde woman out by the arms. Dede. She was covered in blood and her hair was matted to one side. Dede looked around but her eyes were glazed over as if she were in a trance. The woman behind them walked along smoking a cigarette as if she were in charge of whatever was happening.
Another group of men walked out with a large post and another long board. They sat the board onto the post and used a set of cables to fix the board along the front of the post into the shape of the cross.
“Dede! No!” Doug yelled. Garrett looked over as Doug uselessly thrashed and struggled against his bindings. “Let her go you fuckers! I’m going to kill you! I’ll fucking skin you alive, you fucking freaks!”
Garrett looked away from Doug and down at the ground. He knew what was about to happen and didn’t want to see it. Nor did he want to watch Doug losing his mind which it appeared he already had.
“Dougie? Is that you? Dougie?” Dede said looking around. There was blood and hair crusted in her eyes and face. “Help me, Dougie! Please! They hurt me bad!”
“It hasn’t even started to hurt yet, bitch,” Nash said.
“Let her go! She didn’t do anything to you! Leave her be, mother fuckers!” Doug continued to scream.
“Hey! Don’t yell at me like some fucking lunatic.” Nash said. “You did this! You two cops, I mean this is your fucking job. We expect assholes like you to show up. You’re the first to get this close and we were ready this time. But her? She’s just some innocent girl you dragged into this. Why? So you can get your dick wet while you wait for us to mosey on down into your stupid little trap like the stupid hill rats you think we are?”
“No,” he continued. “We aren’t as dumb or naïve as we were back then, are we, Ranger? So both of you watch and see what your actions have caused. This lovely young woman has already been through plenty of suffering. And it’s only gonna get worse for her. You only have yourselves to blame.”
The men dragged her to the cross where Dede blinked her eyes while shaking her head. At some point she was able to see, because the instant she saw the cross, she began kicking and screaming. The men were too strong as they held her firm, dragging her to the ground and stretching her arm out along the cross.
The woman with the cigarettes walked up and a little girl walked up and handed her a toolbox.
“Here you go, Miss Dawn!” the girl said as she skipped away. Dawn sat down the box, opened it up and took out a large mallet and set of spikes. Dede was screaming and struggling as the men held her hands out. Dawn knelt down over Dede and pressed the spike into her left arm and struck it with the mallet. A geyser of blood erupted from Dede’s arm, and she screamed while Dawn continued pounding the spike until it was all the way into the board. Dede screamed and trembled with every inch the spike was driven into her arm. Once she finished, Dawn moved over to the other arm and began pounding in the second spike.
Dede continued to scream. Garrett continued looking at the ground. The sounds Dede was making didn’t even sound human. The large man Garrett had seen at the hotel walked over to Garrett, grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled his head up.
“Watch,” he said. Garrett didn’t bother fighting. He had no way to resist the man’s grip. He watched helplessly as Doug screamed and cried. Dede howled as Dawn finished driving in the second spike.
Dawn straddled Dede’s legs while crossing her feet over, pounding a third spike into her ankles. Garrett could hear the bone crunching as the spike pierced her legs. Dede had stopped screaming but was breathing rapidly as if she were hyperventilating.
“Please stop!” Dede cried. “Just kill me! Please! No more pain! Please!”
“Set it up!” Nash called out. The men lifted the crossbeam, raising Dede and the cross up off the ground. They slid the post forward while pushing it upright until it plopped into a hole just in front of them. Dede screamed as the cross jarred her whole body when it fell into place.
“Dede! I’m so sorry!” Doug said crying. “I’m so sorry honey. I never thought this would happen! Please forgive me! Please! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“What did you think would happen when you brought her to Hell, Dougie?” Nash said. “Only one thing happens here in Hell.” Nash turned and addressed the crowd. “So this is what we do now when the law of the outside comes to change our ways! They brought an innocent with them and we will bathe in the blood of the innocent! Bring up the children for communion!”
An older woman came walking up with almost twenty children ranging from toddlers to teenagers with her. They gathered around the cross as another man set up a stepladder beneath Dede. The man took a knife and cut a chunk of flesh from Dede’s thigh. She cried out as the man handed it to the woman who handed the bloody skin to one of the children. He cut out another chunk and handed it to her as she handed that one to a toddler.
They repeated the ritual until each child was holding a piece of Dede’s flesh. Dede’s leg was bloody and raw as the man climbed down the ladder, handed Nash a piece of flesh and then carried off the ladder. Nash held up the skin and looked at the crowd.
“This is the flesh of our enemies. We will feast on their flesh as a symbol of the superiority of our way of life! No one will ever come into Hell again and do us harm!” He placed the skin into his mouth as the children did the same. Most of the kids chewed it and swallowed it w
ith no problem. Some of the smaller ones gagged or threw up. Garrett wanted to throw up at the sight of everything.
Seeing the children involved sickened him the most. It was one thing to live like a band of wild savages. It was something else entirely to raise a whole generation of kids. Garrett thought back to the missing children from El Paso and surrounding areas. It occurred to him that these were those children. They weren’t taking kids to abuse or for human trafficking. They were taking children to assimilate them.
He wondered if the women here couldn’t have kids or if they just didn’t want to mess with childbirth. Could be both, possibly. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about the kids at the moment. Except one little girl. She kept looking over at Garrett. She was maybe twelve years old. She had been one of the kids who threw up. She waved at him quickly but looked back up at the woman who was speaking to them.
Garrett watched the bizarre ritual wondering if they’d taken up some kind of weird religion or if this was just about inflicting pain and terror. If that was the case, they were doing a good job of both. Doug was now sobbing uncontrollably. If Garrett was going to get out of this, he’d have to do it alone.
Chapter 22
Cole stood watching the woman hang from the cross. It had been a long time since they’d done a crucifixion. Last one they’d done had been a couple of years ago to one of their own. He was just a boy really. The kid’s name was Hex. The boy had just turned eighteen and they’d thought was assimilating fairly well.
Over the years, Cole had been the sole recruiter with some help from a few others. But it was he who spotted and brought in any children he thought would be easily raised by the town. Hex had done well over the years and had even taken part in several killings. Except not long after he turned eighteen, for whatever reason, he’d made a run for it.