'When are they due to go on their next run?' I asked thoughtfully.
'In a week, but it's only to Holmfirth and there are only five of them going,' she replied calmly.
'I think I can work with that, but first I need those pills from Cammi,' I told her sternly.
'I can swing that, but how are you going to get weapons to the women given that aside from us all the others are paired up with women who aren't loyal?' She asked worryingly.
'I'll need your help with that, first I need to know who's loyal and who isn't. Then I need you to distract Dave and the men while I get the weapons to the women,' I said softly.
'May I ask how your going to get weapons in the first place, they are all locked in the armoury,' she said sounding annoyed.
'We don't need their weapons, making them is easy enough if you have the right tools,' I told her.
Making weapons wouldn't be too hard, I would only need sharp wood. I'd just use Ellen's belt buckle to sharpen them, I told her to hand me her belt so I could pull up some of the floorboards.
'I need you to listen at the door, I don't want anyone to hear,' I told her.
'Alright but be quick, it won't be long before someone comes to get us,' she replied softly. I got to work sharpening the wood and pulling it from the floor, being careful not to make too much noise. I had just finished when I heard loud, thumping footsteps approaching. I quickly hid most of the wood under the mattress and stood up, the door opened and there stood Liam one of the younger guys. He was tall and skinny, with shoulder length golden hair and the palest blue eyes I had ever seen.
'Dave wants you all in the barn,' he said gruffly.
'Alright, we're coming,' Ellen said plainly. I left the room and followed Ellen, we walked ahead of Liam as he was gathering the rest of the women on this side. We took a step outside, to find the sun was glaring down on us. I hadn't been outside much, it was a refreshing change of pace. That cramped, filthy, vile smelling room was starting to do my head in. I walked alongside Ellen who was silent, it wasn't until I came to the front of the barn that I saw a person in the bushes. I looked to see that there wasn't any men around, I quickly walked over to the bushes to find Frankie knelt down.
'Frankie!' I cried.
'Maggie, thank Goddess your safe,' she said with relief.
'Yes I'm fine, where's Jensen?' I asked fearfully.
'He's fine, listen we're coming for you tonight,' she told me. 'No don't, listen some of the guys are going on a run in a week. It'll even the odds if you wait, not only that I'm getting some makeshift weapons for the women. They need to be able to defend themselves,' I replied.
'Alright I'll tell the others to wait, are you sure you're alright?' She asked concernedly.
'As well as can be expected, but listen promise me you won't tell Jensen about what this place has been like for me,' I begged.
'Are you saying what I think you are?' She asked angrily.
I couldn't lie to her, but neither could I tell the truth right now. I didn't want Jensen to know and do something stupid.
Frankie sighed, 'I won't tell him, but after we get you out of here you have to tell him,' she said sternly.
'I promise I will, but now you need to go otherwise you'll get caught,' I told her. 'Okay, I'll see you soon. Be safe,' she said gently. 'I will do,' I smiled at her then went back to the barn.
I couldn't wait to tell Ellen that I was right, my family was coming for me. I just needed to get to Jade and tell her, I'd have to get Ellen to do that. My good mood was soured when I entered the barn, I had seen many awful things since my arrival but this was just horrible. One of the women Marcia was in labour, I could see her sweaty, tear stained face through the crowds.
'You are all here to witness the birth of not only my child but the first baby to be born in our home!' Dave said proudly.
Ellen had rushed to Marcia's side, I could also see Jade next to her. While Jade was not a doctor or even a nurse, she knew a lot about herbs and natural pain relief.
'Aaaah,' Marcia screamed.
'Dave, I don't think having a crowd of people here is going to help her,' Ellen said angrily.
'Nonsense, I want my child to be seen by all,' he replied loudly. I could feel my blood boil, I wanted nothing more than to smack that smirk right off of him. I clenched my fists as Marcia screamed, Ellen had tried to cover her private parts but Dave wouldn't allow it.
'She's having your child, is that not enough embarrassment for her?' Ellen shouted furiously.
All the women and all the men stood in silence, we had all shouted at Dave in the past, but this was different. Ellen wasn't just getting angry with him, she was standing up to him in front of everyone.
'Do you want to end up in the dungeon?' He shouted back.
'Oh go ahead I don't care, if you want me to deliver this baby safely then do as I say!' She screeched. Dave just stood there glaring at her, Ellen knew she was in for it later but she just didn't care. Not only did I admire her, I saw the hidden lioness that had been sleeping all this time. Ellen put the towel over Marcia's legs, and told Jade to dab her head with the wet cloth.
'Alright, Marcia the baby is coming- you need to push,' Ellen said calmly. 'No, I can't,' Marcia replied, panting. 'You can do it, I know you can,' Ellen told her gently. 'No, you don't understand. I can't, it hurts,' she cried.
Ellen looked under the towel, she put her hand inside Marcia and when she pulled it out her face was one of shock and horror. I could see the blood on her hand from where I was stood, I knew nothing about childbirth but even I knew the blood was a bad sign.
'It's alright, I'm going to help you,' Ellen's voice was still so calm.
'Please don't let my baby die,' Marcia wailed.
'What's going on?' Dave demanded.
'I need to perform a caesarian, which means I need sharp implements,' she told him sternly.
Dave looked at her sternly, no doubt he was wondering if this was some kind trick.
'We don't have time to waste, either you get me what I need or they'll both die!' Ellen shouted.
'Liam, Dennis, go and get the medical supplies from the armoury. Now!' He yelled at them. I crept to the front row of the crowd so I could see clearly what was going on, I saw the fear on Marcia's face, the strange calm on Ellen's face and the anger on Jade's. I tried to look at Jade but she was too focused on Marcia, I had to let her know that the others were coming for us. As each moment ticked by, Marcia screamed in agony. I clenched my fists as I saw Dave looking at her like dirt, I knew that if the baby died Dave would blame Marcia and she would be forced to bear him another child. Dennis and Liam rushed back with the medical supplies, how could Dave be so stupid? Marcia needed those things ages ago, as Ellen looked at what they had brought she shook her head.
'I need anaesthesia, where is it?' She demanded.
'We don't have any,' replied Dave. I could see the tears in Ellen's eyes as she looked at Marcia, they both knew that Marcia wasn't going to make it. I felt the tears behind my own eyes, but I would not let them out. This poor girl was going to die, and if her baby did survive it would be raised by these monsters without any hope of being human. I looked around to see the horror and sadness on all the women's face, those who were with child knew that this was going to be their fate.
'I'm sorry Marcia, but this is the only way to save your child,' Ellen said as she struggled to speak through the tears.
'It's alright, I'm ready to leave this world, just please don't let my baby live like I have,' she pleaded tearfully.
'I swear I will protect it,' Ellen promised. Ellen took the scalpel and sliced into Marcia's belly, the piercing scream that came from Marcia was deafening. It only lasted for a moment before she passed out, Ellen only had a few minutes to get the baby out safely. I watched as she tried tirelessly to save the little baby, I felt sick as I saw the blood spurt from Marcia's stomach. You would think that by now I would be used to the sight of blood, but this was something else. I didn't know enough a
bout childbirth to really understand what had happened, all I knew was that when she pulled the baby out it was too late. The child was purple, and no matter how hard Ellen tried she could not resuscitate either Marcia or the baby.
'I failed,' Ellen wept into the baby girls lifeless body.
'Yes you did,' Dave said in a bone chilling voice. Before they could say anything else, Marcia's veins turned black as she began to rise. Ellen took the scalpel and stabbed Marcia in the head, before the child could come back she put her hands round the baby's purple neck. I could hear the neck snap and felt a shiver go through me, the look on Ellen's face was beyond distraught. I could tell she was trying not to cry, out of everyone here, it was her job to be strong and she couldn't show any weakness. Once the baby was dead she quickly stabbed it in the head so that it couldn't come back. It was then that I knew, despite how strong, wise and brave Ellen was, deep down she was just as scared as the rest of us. Marcia and her daughter's death would weigh heavily on her heart for a long time to come.
'Bury them!' Dave shouted angrily. Liam and Dennis took the bodies out to the large field near the barn, all of us stood there not knowing what to do or say. Jade comforted Ellen as she cried for the loss of the mother and her child, I took this opportunity to go over and hug Ellen as well. I quietly whispered to Jade that the others were coming next week, she looked at me and just nodded.
'Right all of you back to your rooms,' Dave said loudly as he stormed out the room.
Jade and I took Ellen back to the room, not before getting her washed up though. I remembered that I still had one piece of wood under my top, I gave it to Jade once we entered mine and Ellen's room.
'Take this, you'll need it for the fight,' I told her.
'Have you got another one, the girl I'm sharing with could use one too,' she replied calmly. 'Are you sure you can trust her?' I asked cautiously.
'Yes, I'm positive.'
'Alright, one minute,' I said quietly.
I took a piece of the wood from under my mattress and gave it to her, I told her to be on guard and look out for anything suspicious.
'I'm glad you're okay,' she told me as she hugged me.
'Don't worry about me,' I replied smiling as the tears stained my face.
Ellen sat on her bed looking grief stricken, I wasn't sure what to say but I saw down next to her and put my arm round her.
'I failed her,' she said tearfully.
'You did everything you could, it wasn't your fault,' I told her.
'You weren't there, when she found out she was pregnant. She made me promise to look after her child,' she wept.
'Ellen listen to me, this is not your fault. It's Dave and his people, they were irresponsible and stupid. They should have got everything ready, and they didn't,' I replied sternly.
'She was my friend,' Ellen cried.
'We're going to get out here, tomorrow we will make them all pay,' I said angrily. Tomorrow it would be time to put the rest of our plan into action, I didn't care what I had to do I would get my friends out of here. My only fear was losing my friends and family in the process, I just hoped that my brother and the others would be alright.
Chapter 16
Frankie
The boy who held Jensen by the throat could not have been more than fifteen, yet I feared him as though he were an adult. I looked at the others who seemed to be equally afraid, I had to do something.
'Are you part of the group from up the road?' He asked angrily as he held the knife closer to Jensen's throat.
'No lad, we are looking for our friends that they took,' Tom said gently.
'My names Frankie, this Tom, Tamara and that's Jensen. We didn't know this was your home, we were just looking for a place to stay until we move on.'
'How do I know your telling me the truth, you could have been sent here to kill me?'
He backed away from carefully watching us for any sudden movements. We did not move any closer to him as we didn't want to infuriate him, I could not bear to lose anyone else.
'We came here looking for Jensen's sister she was kidnapped by them, we just want our people back we don't want to hurt you. Let us stay for tonight and we'll be gone tomorrow.'
'Show me your arms all of you,' he shouted angrily.
'Do you know what this mark means?' Asked Tamara.
He let out a little laugh before he answered. 'yeah the 'T' stands for trouble, it means that they won't take you because your more trouble than your worth.'
He slowly released Jensen from his grip while maintaining a cautious stance. 'I'm sorry, the group up the road kidnapped my sister and gave me a good beating. I've been watching them for weeks waiting for an opening. I thought they had sent people to take me out after they almost caught me the other day,' he genuinely looked apologetic, I could tell that he didn't really mean any harm.
'I should give you a good whack round the back of the head boy, but I understand your anger,' said Tom sounding both annoyed and sympathetic.
After a while he sat down with us, he still looked suspicious but I think he knew we were friendly.
'We're off to scope out the place tomorrow,' said Tamara, still watching him closely.
'I know where they are and how to get in but I never had any help so I couldn't get her out, if you're going then so am I.' We all looked at each other for a moment, on one hand he'd come in and threatened our friend. But given what had happened to him, I understood why he was afraid of strangers. I nodded at the others and they nodded back.
'Tell us what you know,' Tom said.
'Their living in the cul-de-sac not ten minutes from here, there's about twenty of the men and about the same number of women,' he told us. We talked for a while and he told everything else that he knew, now that there was five of us, it slightly increased our chances. We knew we'd have to be quiet and stealthy on this mission, but I had no doubt that we would succeed. We were thankful that the boy had not harmed Jensen, though Jensen was a bit shook up. We shared our food with him and learned that his name was Finn, his little sister Faye was taken by the group we were after. Despite our volatile greeting, I had a good feeling about him. We all fell back asleep with ease and by the time we woke the sun was high in the sky, Finn was already awake when I got up but the others were still asleep.
'How can they sleep for so long?' He asked jokingly.
'I think after the last few days they need all the sleep they can get,' I said looking at them with love. Finn gave me a puzzled look as if asking what I meant, I told him everything we'd been through. He looked at me with sympathetic eyes and I could tell he was genuinely sorry for our loss. It seemed strange to be telling this kid all about our lives and our mission, though something inside me said that he could be trusted. He told me how he had been hiding out here with his sister when they went on a run to find food and the men had come and taken her, he fought back as best as he could but he was no match. He apologised again for what he did last night I told him not to worry, no harm had been done and I couldn't blame him for thinking the way he did. We sat down to plan our next move, I told everyone that we should sneak up on them and watch the place for a bit. We decided against going to the base today, Finn knew they layout as he had watched the place for weeks. We spent six days going over our plan again and again, by the time we were ready to set off I feared that Tom would not last much longer. I didn't need Tom to tell me that he wanted to see Jade and Maggie again before he died, I was afraid that he wouldn't make it back to them.
'We can't take any longer than we have to, I don't have much time left,' Tom said gruffly, showing the others his arm. It looked blistered and weeping, though the veins had barely spread to his elbow. I found it strange that the infection spread at different rates on people, I had known some people be able to live weeks before the infection got to their brain. Some I had seen died within hours, mostly I think it depended on the type of wound you had. Finn jumped back in alarm, while Tamara and Jensen just sat and stared in disbelief.
&
nbsp; 'Why didn't you tell us you were infected, we have to finish him off before he comes back.' Finn lunged at Tom so quickly that we barely had time to stop him. Tamara and I grabbed Finn and pulled him back. He was kicking and trying to get free, Jensen held Tom protecting him from any blows Finn might try to deliver.
'Stop Finn he won't hurt us, he won't turn yet,' I yelled at him trying my best hold him back.
'Don't be stupid he could turn any minute, I have to end him.' It took time and effort to convince Finn that Tom would not turn right now, he had never seen a person change. I almost envied him, I could not help but think of all the people I'd seen turn. I told him that Tom wouldn't turn until the veins reached his brain, he understood thankfully.
'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fly of the handle,' he looked at Tom apologetically.
'Don't worry yourself lad I understand,' Tom said quietly. I loathed that at some point one of us was going to have to put Tom down, he took care of us when we were weak, he scolded us when we were being stupid and gave us the love that only a father could. We set off towards the base, we reached the cul-de-sac without any trouble. I told the others to hang back while I went to get a closer look, I could hear a commotion from inside the barn. I crept into the bushes just next to it, I could hear a woman screaming in pain. Despite my anger at hearing it I could do nothing, it was then that I saw Maggie and she saw me. I could only speak to her for a moment before going back to the others, I was pleased to hear the she was alright but frustrated to know that we would have to wait another week. By the time we could attack Tom was really struggling to keep up with us, I feared he would not make it but he was determined. We set off towards the base, I felt surprised that the men had not found us with us being so close to them. As we got close their base we hid behind some large bushes, we could see the houses nearby we could also see the out houses. There were two men on watch sat on top of the barn. They were sat talking quietly amongst themselves, holding long swords in their hands. They were very large men with not much hair left on their heads, both of them were covered in tattoo's. They were most likely part of a biker gang before all of this started. We saw another large man walk to the side of the barn, I recognized him as Dave.
Dead World Rising (Book 1): Staying Human Page 13