Red Waters

by Charles Rye

  "We probably won't get anything else out of him. Do me a favor and gag the motherfucker," Aurelia growled softly.

  "My pleasure," Soraf smirked stuffing a piece of cloth into the Unknown's mouth, double-checking his restraints were secure.

  "I suppose we should try to get some rest," Aurelia said with a yawn.

  "That sounds like a good idea," Caliphar agreed.

  "We'll be safe tonight, the Destroyers only seem active in the daytime," Soraf added returning to her seat.

  "I have some blankets and pillows stored in a compartment under the bus, we can go get it," Aurelia said looking at Caliphar.

  "Yeah, come on," He replied with a nod as they went to step off the bus.

  Once they were out of the bus Aurelia walked along the side of it, opening one of the panels, revealing a compartment beneath the bus.

  She propped the panel up before reaching inside to grab a pile of blankets and pillows, gathering them into her arms.

  "Here, this should be all right for the night," She said handing the blankets and pillows to Caliphar who did his best to hold it as she closed the panel.

  "Let's get back inside,"

  They walked back onto the bus; Caliphar set the blankets and pillows down onto the seat beside Soraf.

  "We have roughly eight or nine hours till sunrise so that should give us enough sleep," Aurelia announced as she grabbed a blanket and pillow for herself, moving to lie down across the seat behind Caliphar' seat.

  Caliphar picked a blanket and pillow from the pile beside Soraf and moved to his seat across from her.

  He stretched out across the seat as he laid his head against the pillow.

  Soraf followed suit and quickly fell asleep.

  "Night Caliphar," Aurelia murmured quietly before closing her eyes.

  "Night Aurelia," He replied, soon drifting off to sleep himself.

  The eerie chorus of Destroyer howls echoed throughout the church ruins.

  It sounded like they were singing a lullaby to Aurelia and the others on the bus.

  Aurelia found it oddly comforting as she finally managed to fall asleep, pulling the blanket up over her head.

  The bus was soon filled with the soft sounds of everyone snoring as they slept.

  Aurelia blinked her eyes open as the first rays of the morning sun reached the bus, slowly filling it with light.

  She swung her legs over the seat as she sat up shoving the blanket off, letting it fall to the floor when she stood up to stretch.

  Noticing Caliphar still asleep, she quietly crept past him to check on Soraf, quickly realizing Soraf was not in her spot.

  "Caliphar, wake up‚ Soraf's not on the bus," She said as she leaned over Caliphar gently shaking his shoulder.

  He shrugged her off, growling in his sleep.

  "Caliphar!" She said slightly louder than before, nudging him.

  He rolled over to look up at her with a rather annoyed look upon his face.

  "What do you want?"

  "Soraf isn't in her seat, we need to find her. No telling what happened to her last night," Aurelia replied.

  Caliphar suddenly sat up and glanced at the back of the bus to stare at the Unknown, who was still tied up and gagged.

  "Well that thing couldn't have done anything. She probably went to hunt," He said turning back to look at Aurelia.

  "Either way, I think we should look for her," Aurelia added quickly grabbing her AR-15, swinging it over her shoulder by the strap.

  Before giving Caliphar a chance to reply, she hit the button for the door and ran off the bus.

  "Soraf!" She called as she surveyed the church ruins.

  Caliphar soon appeared behind her armed with his Remington, looking around with her.

  He sniffed the air catching the faint smell of smoke nearby.

  "Smell that?"

  Aurelia sniffed at the air for a moment.

  "Yeah, it's coming from over there!" She exclaimed suddenly taking off at a sprint towards the center of the church ruins.

  Caliphar quickly took off at a full run to catch up to her.

  Aurelia stopped when she reached the middle of the ruins her jaw dropping at the sight before her.

  Soraf was sitting cross-legged in the dirt with a decent sized bonfire in front of her, holding her dagger into the flame.

  "About time you two woke up, join me for a bit of a breakfast?" Soraf greeted as she held up her dagger, a charred piece of meat stuck to the end of it.

  "Is that what I think it is?" Caliphar asked when he finally caught up to Aurelia, looking at Soraf's dagger.

  "Destroyer meat," Soraf grinned wickedly.

  "Found one of the bastards snoozing beyond the church wall,"

  "I suppose I can't refuse, I am starving," Caliphar said as his stomach gurgled.

  He took a seat in the dirt beside Soraf and accepted the piece of meat she offered him with her dagger, blowing on it before taking a large bite and swallowing it.

  "There's plenty to go around, help yourself," Soraf smiled at Aurelia.

  Aurelia joined them in the dirt around the bonfire, taking the cooked piece of flesh Soraf handed her.

  She took a small bite, chewing it slightly before swallowing.

  "So, what's the plan for today?" Soraf asked looking at the others.

  Aurelia and Caliphar shared a glance before both turning to look at Soraf.

  "I thought I would help you interrogate our captive, see about getting some more info out of him," Caliphar replied.

  "He came from somewhere like the others and I'd sure as hell like to know where that was,"

  "Same here, after yesterday's Destroyer attack and running into those fuckers last night I'm curious as well," Aurelia added before taking another bite of flesh, swallowing quickly.

  "Sounds like a plan to me, but I want to get our hostage off the bus first to have more room," Soraf smirked.

  "I'll help with that," Caliphar grinned.

  "I can keep watch, someone has to make sure you two don't get jumped by Destroyers while you interrogate that son of a bitch," Aurelia said.

  "Great, let's finish eating first. No fun interrogating on an empty stomach," Soraf laughed.

  Interrogation method

  Once breakfast was eaten and the bonfire put out, Soraf led the others back to the bus.

  "Time to make you talk, big guy." Soraf grinned wickedly as she and Caliphar stood before the prisoner at the back of the bus.

  Caliphar stood in front of the Unknown with his arms across his chest, glaring at the man.

  Soraf moved around behind him, cutting loose his restraints with her dagger before removing the gag from his mouth.

  "Come on," She growled.

  She twisted the man's arms behind his back, leading him off the bus.

  The others followed, armed with their guns.

  Soraf marched him toward a dead tree trunk in the middle of the ruins.

  Once there, she shoved him hard against it as Caliphar tied his arms behind it.

  "You've already told us what you are, but now we're going to make you tell us where you came from and what your purpose is," Caliphar said with a snarl, coming around to the front where the Unknown could see him.

  "You have gotten that much out of me only because that little bitch tortured me with her dagger," He said evenly, glaring at Soraf.

  "What the fuck did you just call her?" Caliphar growled.

  He grabbed the man by his throat, digging his claws into the soft flesh, droplets of blood staining his fur.

  Soraf came to stand beside Caliphar, unsheathing her dagger as she did.

  "I'll show you a bitch. Better yet, why don't I turn you into one?"

  She pressed the tip of her dagger against the man's temple as she glanced down at his crotch.

  The Unknown managed to keep his composure.

  "Do your worst, bitch," He taunted defiantly.

  "Unless the next thing out of your ugly mouth is where the fuck you came from, you sho
uld be extremely careful about choosing your words,"

  Aurelia warned from behind him, the barrel of her gun pressing into the base of his neck.

  A sudden chorus of Destroyer howls filled the silence that followed Aurelia's threat.

  "Fuck, they must've smelled this bastard's blood," Soraf growled.

  Everyone stood back to back, surveying the ruins.

  "We'll have to fight them off. As much as I'd love to watch a Destroyer rip out this asshole's throat, we have to keep him alive,"

  Aurelia growled, annoyed by the Destroyers' unwanted presence.

  "Unfortunately, I have to side with her. He's useless to us if he's dead," Caliphar agreed, cocking his gun.

  Several Destroyers jumped onto the crumbling wall that surrounded the church ruins, growling and snapping their jaws viciously.

  Their expressionless eyes were all trained on Caliphar and the others.

  "What the hell are those things; they can't be Destroyers, can they?" Aurelia asked as she stared back at the creatures atop the wall.

  These Destroyers had larger bodies, elongated jaws and talon-like claws that dug into the crumbling brick wall.

  Their eyes were pale white as if they were blind; but they were still able to stare directly at Aurelia as they scented the air.

  "They must be a different species or something," Caliphar guessed. The fur on the back of his neck was standing on end.

  "Who cares, we're killing the sons of bitches either way," Soraf growled, taking off towards the Destroyers.

  One of the Destroyers made a leap for Soraf, who jumped out of the way and jabbed her dagger straight into the Destroyer's throat.

  The creature collapsed with a dull thud, fresh blood pouring out around the dagger's handle and soaking into the sand.

  It whimpered in pain as Soraf none too gently retrieved her dagger from its bloodied throat.

  She straightened and turned around just in time to watch as two more Destroyers came charging towards Aurelia and Caliphar.

  They easily shot the creatures before they could get close.

  A third Destroyer darted toward Soraf, snapping its ugly maw at her.

  "Soraf! Watch out!" Aurelia shouted, before firing a bullet through its skull.

  Another Destroyer suddenly burst out of the sand beside Soraf, leaping high into the air with its body outstretched.

  Soraf whipped around in surprise, trying not to lose track of it.

  Before she could react, Caliphar appeared between her and the Destroyer with his Remington, acting as a living barrier.

  "Go to hell, you ugly son of a bitch!" Caliphar snarled, sending a bullet into its brain.

  "Where did that fucker come from?" Aurelia asked as she ran to join the others.

  "It's like it appeared from beneath the ground; but I don't see any signs of a tunnel anywhere," Caliphar replied looking all around them.

  "Where did the others go?" Soraf interrupted, glancing at the crumbling brick wall.

  Caliphar and Aurelia scanned the wall for any sign of the other Destroyers.

  "That's weird, they're gone. What pussies, didn't even stay to get their asses handed to them," Caliphar huffed rather indignantly.

  Aurelia led the others back to their prisoner who was still tied to the tree trunk and surprisingly alive.

  "At least none of them went near this guy," Caliphar said, gesturing towards the Unknown.

  "Something tells me they left him alone on purpose," Soraf pondered giving Aurelia a curious look.

  "The bitch is clever," The Unknown muttered aloud under his breath.

  "Call me that one more bloody time and you'll be the bitch," Soraf glowered, suddenly standing in front of the Unknown with her dagger held against his crotch.

  "What did you mean by that?" Caliphar demanded appearing beside Soraf.

  "Your little bitch is smart, that pack was here to save me,"

  "You controlled those Destroyers?" Soraf asked bewildered.

  "How did you know that's what we call them?"

  "We thought of the name on our own, we thought they were just some mutated species created by the apocalypse. How the hell did you control them?" She growled, pressing her claws into the man's throat.

  "Find out on your own since you're such a clever bitch," He remarked snidely.

  "I've had enough with this dick, just kill the bastard all ready," Soraf growled walking away from the man.

  "I'll do it, but I want to have some fun with him first," Caliphar said with a wicked grin.

  "Before I kill you I'm going to torture you slowly for calling Soraf a bitch,"

  "Aurelia, would you happen to have a shovel in that bus by chance?" Caliphar asked turning to face Aurelia.

  She looked at him with a raised eyebrow before blinking.

  "I might,"

  "Why do you need a shovel?" She wondered.

  "We're going to make our prisoner more comfortable," Caliphar grinned before running off towards the bus.

  Soraf and Aurelia glanced at each other, sharing a look of obvious curiosity.

  Caliphar soon returned from the bus with a shovel gripped tightly in his hands.

  "What are you going to do with that exactly?" Soraf asked watching Caliphar walk past her and Aurelia.

  "Dig a hole. What else would I do with a shovel?" He replied as he struck the ground beside the tree.

  "Oh I don't know, use it to behead this smug son of a bitch," Soraf smirked evilly.

  "That comes later, first I'm going to dig a hole," Caliphar grinned, beginning to dig.

  He shoveled a hole beside the tree, making a neat pile of dirt behind him.

  "Think its deep enough?" Caliphar pondered glancing up at the man tied to the tree.

  "For what, the bitch's grave?" He sneered, looking at Soraf.

  "Nope! Wrong answer I'm afraid,"

  Caliphar lifted up the shovel above his shoulder and swung it backwards before swinging it forward, hitting the man's head with a loud metallic thud that knocked him unconscious.

  "Aw, I thought there was going to be blood," Soraf pouted.

  "Sorry Soraf, there will be later," Caliphar assured her.

  "Help me get him down before he wakes up," He continued as he moved to stand in front of the man, who was slumped over.

  Soraf moved to untie his restraints as Caliphar lifted the man from the tree.

  He carried the man to the hole and lowered him into it up to his neck, Aurelia handed Caliphar the shovel, highly amused by what she just witnessed.

  Caliphar quickly filled the hole around the man, making sure it was packed down tightly before admiring his work.

  The Unknown muttered incoherently as he blinked his eyes open, looking around before realizing he had been buried up to his neck.

  "Good morning, sunshine. Are you comfortable?" Caliphar grinned as he squat down in front of the man, holding the handle of the shovel to balance himself.

  "You did this to me?"

  "Well you kind 'a brought it on yourself, see you weren't exactly polite to my friend over there," Caliphar responded gesturing toward Soraf.

  "Just fucking kill me all ready," He said in a deadpan voice, glaring at Caliphar.

  "That's the thing you see, I can't even though I'd love to. I'm going to teach you some fucking manners," Caliphar smirked patting the man's cheek roughly.

  "Maybe you did kill me and this is my own personal Hell,"

  "Oh this is so much better than Hell, believe me," Soraf remarked as she handed Caliphar his Remington.

  "No, this is Hell because you're still a bitch,"

  Caliphar shoved the barrel of his gun against the man's forehead.

  "Say that word in front of me one more time, I fucking dare you!" He barked holding his finger against the trigger.

  He suddenly shoved the barrel into the man's mouth to silence him, glowering at him.

  "Try to say it now, go ahead motherfucker," He growled as the man glared back at him.