The Dead Flash Series | Book 1 | Alone

by Crist, J. D.

"Yes, we are alive. We are living men whose needs have been neglected since the world went to shit. Finding living people is rare enough, but finding a living woman, that's impossible. Especially one that is as good-looking as you."

  "So, what is the plan here?" Emily had to keep him talking while her mind raced to try to find a way out of this. "Are we talking about dinner and a movie type of deal?"

  "Nothing so complicated, love," the man laughed back at her. "It's straightforward. You belong to us to do whatever, whenever, we want."

  "Well, can I at least know the name of the man seeking to be my owner?" Emily felt as if the air was being sucked out of the world around. The men closed in, and she could not think of any way out of this situation.

  "It's simple to love. You call us all husband, and we will call you love if you’re good or bitch if you need to be put in line, understand?"

  "Well, that's a problem, you see. I am already married, so it would not be right to betray those vows. I'm sure such fine gentlemen as you understand my predicament." Emily felt no need to share that her marriage was over because her husband got another woman pregnant.

  "Those vows are gone. If he decides he wants you back, he can come to us, and we will tell him the purchase price. Now, if you are done talking your pretty words, it's time for us to go, love."

  Emily looked at Marley, who was still barking and slamming against the window. There was no way he was going to get through it and be able to help her. Emily knew that her chances of getting out of this area on foot were slim, but she had to try, not only for herself but for her baby. She clutched the toilet paper in her hand like it was a grenade.

  "Sorry, but I guess I'm a bitch."

  Emily threw the toilet paper at the man as hard as possible and took off running in the opposite direction. There were two other men directly behind her, of whom she just barely managed to dodge away from and continue on her run. She was swerving in and out of the trees and could hear voices and footsteps following her. Emily continued to run as hard as she could. Every time she thought she had lost them, another one would step out from behind a tree. She had dodge several but could feel her stamina starting to slow. Emily ducked behind a rock formation and tried to be silent while catching her breath. She watched from her hiding place as several of the men ran past her. After a few minutes, everything fell quiet, and Emily had not seen anyone for some time.

  Emily looked back in the direction she had come. It was a long shot, but maybe she could make it back to Marley and get the hell out of here. She looked around one more time and emerged from her hiding spot. She was prepared to take off at a run when she heard his voice from behind her. "There you are, love." Before she could react, Emily felt a pain on the back of her head and the world around her went dark.

  When Emily was finally able to see and think, she found that her hands were bound in front of her at the wrist. She was sitting in some type of vehicle, and the back of her head was throbbing. She opened her eyes and looked to her left. There sat the man who had closed the door on Marley and who had called her “love”. He was driving what appeared to be an old, red pickup truck. The sun was very high in the sky, and it had to be around midday by now. Emily began to look out the passenger window. She hoped to get some idea of where she was. They were on a dirt road but not one of the ones she had driven yet. It looked more like a small farm road that the farmers would have only used to get home.

  "I was beginning to think I may have hit you too hard, love." the man spoke without looking at her.

  "I'm not your love, you son of a bitch!" Emily was not up to playing the good girl anymore.

  "Now, we can have none of that. I think you have a lot of potential if only you would stop fighting so much. Hell, you are good-looking enough that I will make you my woman that no other man can touch. I can do that, you know? Now that doesn't sound so bad, does it, love?" The man spoke as if this was a common situation that Emily should accept, and she should be grateful.

  "No man will touch me. Not you, not anyone!" Emily began to struggle with the rope around her wrist. If she could just get her hands free, she could kick this guy's ass, take his truck back to find Marley, and get the hell out of this place.

  "You are starting to wear my patience thin, love. Just sit still and do as you are told." Emily had no intentions of listening to him as she felt one of the ropes begin to loosen. She continued to fight even harder with the ropes, determined that he would not win. Emily feared that he had noticed that she was getting free as he pulled the truck to the side of the road and put it in the park. While still moving her wrists and trying to get free, Emily pushed herself as far as she could into the passenger door.

  "You have a fighting spirit. I like that. I think you need a release just as much as I do." The man began to come across the seat towards Emily. He was grabbing at her legs and reaching for the button on her pants. "Don't worry, love. I'll be gentle." Emily began kicking at him but felt him getting closer and closer. "Unless you want me to get rough," the man sneered as he popped the button on her jeans and pulled down the zipper. He leaned slightly back and began to pull off her pants, giving Emily the opening she needed. She used all of her strength and caught him flat in the nose with her foot. The man shot back, holding his face. Emily could see the blood pouring from between his fingers, and he strung together cuss words.

  Emily tugged at her ropes once more and felt her hands finally come free. She reached down and fastened back up her pants. She then turned and attempted to open the truck door but was disconnected by what she found. The door handle and window handle were missing. He had done this before and wanted to ensure that his victim could not escape. Emily quickly turned to see if the back window opened when he grabbed her and slammed her back down into her seat.

  "What the fuck is wrong with you, bitch?" he hollered like a wounded animal.

  "I'm sorry, love, I thought you liked it rough?" Emily sneered back at him.

  "I will break you; you will be mine. You hear me, you crazy bitch?"

  "If you think I'm ever going to let you touch me, you are out of your fucking mind!" Emily was surprised at the amount of confidence she had and the lack of fear. "The only way you will get to touch me like that is if I am dead!"

  "Oh no, you'll be warm and alive." He was wiping the blood from his face with his shirt. "Not only that, but you will want it just as much as me."

  "You are insane." Not a strong statement, but the only thing Emily felt was worth saying at this point. He simply laughed, put the truck in drive, and continued up the road. Emily glanced back at the back window while they drove and saw a solid piece of glass, no exit there either. She would have to stop and wait for him to let her out before she could try to escape again. They drove for about ten more minutes when he finally said, "We're here." Emily looked out the windshield to see a line of farm equipment and cattle fencing in front of her. They were obviously on a farm and it had been here for quite some time. As they drove up, a section of the barricade opened and allowed them to enter. Once inside, he put the truck into park and stepped out. He motioned for Emily to follow, and she slid across the seat and out the door. She realized that just running from here was not going to be an option. Standing where she was, she could see a farmhouse, a barn, and several tents set up throughout the grounds. The barricade, from what she could see, went around everything. She could see men walking around it, keeping a lookout.

  She counted at least twenty men here and only three other women. The women looked like they were an inch from death. They had all been beaten and were so exhausted. Emily did not know how they were doing the chores they were doing. They were all skin and bones, while the men looked like none of them had missed a meal. Emily could not hide the horror or pain that she felt for these women and her captor noticed it right away.

  "Don't worry, love, that won't be your life. You will be mine." Emily felt his hand running through the back of her hair. "But first, I have to make it so that all you know and want is
me." Emily pulled away but not fast enough. Two of the men grabbed her and carried her kicking and screaming towards the farmhouse. They walked to the back and opened what appeared to be a cellar. The men then tossed her down the stairs, and she landed on the dirt floor on the bottom. In the light that shown down from the doorway, she saw a shadow creep over her where she laid. She didn't even have to look up to know it was him.

  "A little time down here, and when you see me again, I will be everything you want, everything you need." With that, she heard the doors close, and the darkness swallowed her and the room around her. Emily felt the laughter begin to trickle out of her. His plan to make her swoon for him was to leave her alone down here and starve her of human contact. The idiot does not know that she had been without people for four months. Emily reached down and rubbed her stomach. She hoped that the fall down here didn't hurt the baby. She had to keep her pregnancy a secret from them. Who knows what they would do if they found out.

  As she rubbed her stomach, the thoughts of the baby ran through her mind. She was looking for a safe place to give birth and raise the baby. While the men here were crazy, there was no question about that, but they would be able to keep the baby safe from the dead. Sure, it would mean that she would have to be that man's "love" and be the obedient woman. Maybe he was even dumb enough that she could convince him that the baby was his, even though she was five months along already. That raised a whole different set of things to consider. If the baby was a girl, would they make her one of the communal women and want her raised to be their obedient slave? If it was a boy, they would want it raised to be just like her captors. Emily felt a cold chill run down her spine at the thought of either scenario. This was not the place for her or her baby. She would just have to buy her time and get out of here as soon as possible.

  Emily looked around and was pleased to see that her eyes were adjusting. While there were no windows, a bit of light did manage to find its way through the cracks. It looked like this was used as a basement before the world went to hell. There were shelves with jars lining them, most of them were empty, and those with some liquid in them, Emily could not determine what it was. Nothing down here would serve as a bed, so the dirt floor would have to do. Emily continued looking through the shelves and found a lot of useless junk but managed to find one thing that gave her hope. An old screwdriver was in a bin of scraps towards the back of the room. She took it back to the central area of the cellar and hid it under the dirt with her hands. Emily then curled up on the dirt floor next to her buried weapon. She bent her arm under her head to use as a pillow. She knew that the sun was still up, but there was nothing else to do until those doors opened again. She might as well be as comfortable as possible while she waited. After a few hours, one of the doors opened, and before she could see who it was, the door was closed again.

  Emily stood up from her spot on the ground and walked up the stairs. On the top step was a tray of what appeared to be food. She picked up the tray and sat down on the step. There was a bottle of water and a sandwich. It was better than nothing, and at least now she knew they were not going to let her starve. She ate the sandwich and set the tray back down on the step. She took the bottle of water back down with her and laid back down on the dirt floor. He was not going to break her but maybe letting him think he could would give her the opportunity she needed to get the hell out of here. She would just need to be patient and wait for the perfect moment.

  Chapter 11

  Emily did not know how long she had been in the cellar at this point. She had tried to keep track of the meals as a measure of time, but she had lost count. No one had come down here since they had thrown her down. She kept a feel on her stomach, and it did not feel like she was showing any more than she was before, but she could not be sure. Her routine remained the same: she lay on the floor and waited for the food, ate on the stairs, and returned to the floor. Now and then, they would put a bucket on the stairs. Emily would use it to do her business, and at the following food delivery, they would take it away. It wasn't the most dignified existence, but they were not breaking her. She spent most of her time thinking of baby names, trying to figure out where she would look for a haven when she was free, and hoping that Marley had found his way out of the SUV and was alright.

  She was in the middle of one of her thinking spells when the cellar doors opened. She started to stand when she realized that this was not another food delivery. Both doors were open this time. She looked up towards the door, shielding the sunlight with her hand. She had been down here long enough that the direct light hurt her eyes.

  "Are you finally ready to behave, my love?" she knew the voice instantly; it was the man that wanted her to call him husband and serve only him. While her stomach churned just by the sound of his voice, she knew that she had to make the most of this opportunity. She pulled herself up to her knees and bent her head towards the doorway.

  "As you wish, husband." The words tasted like ash in her mouth, but she could deal with it if it got her closer to getting out of here. She kept her eyes on the ground but could hear the sound of him coming down the stairs. She was convincing enough to get him to come closer to her. She remained still as he drew closer and used all of her strength to not bolt towards the door.

  "Well, either your treatment is working, or you are just trying to play me like a fool." She could hear the speculation in his voice.

  "You are no fool, husband; I see that now." Emily kept her eyes toward the ground. He stopped in front of her and lifted her face to look at him. His nose was still bruised and swollen, so she could not have been down there more than two or three days. Maybe she was laying it on a little heavy. She had not been down here long enough to be completely brainwashed.

  "If I could ask one thing of you, is there any way someone could bring my dog to me? He is the only family I have left, and I hate to think of him stuck in that SUV." Emily hoped that bringing up Marley would show him that while she was willing to give in to him, she still wanted what she had before. Not brainwashed but closer to being what he wanted her to be.

  "That dog is loyal only to you, and I can only have things inside these walls that are loyal to me." Emily knew that this was going to be his response, but it still hurt her the same. She continued to look at his face as he was still holding his hand under her chin.

  "I promise, if I am loyal to you, he will be too." She had to convince him to either bring Marley to her or let her out to where she could get to Marley.

  "That's the thing, isn't it, love? How can I be sure you are loyal to me? Just three days ago, you broke my nose for just trying to give you what we both need." He kept staring at her face as if hoping the answer to his question would be there.

  "I am so sorry for that husband. I see now that you were just trying to take care of me." She swallowed hard, hoping that it was not visible. She knew what she needed to say, but the words did not come easy. "I am ready to allow you to..." before she could finish, he pulled her face up even more.

  "You do not allow me; I choose what I do and what you do. Once you understand that, you will be ready. You're almost there but not yet." He let go of her face and headed up the stairs. She wanted to call after him, to try to find the words to convince him, but she knew that saying anything else would show that she had been faking everything she had said. She watched as he closed the doors, and the darkness crept back in. Emily laid back down in the dirt. Just in case he had some way to watch her, she wanted to look as broken as possible.

  Emily laid in the dark and watched as the dim light faded from between the cracks and the room grew even darker. Usually, she would have received another meal before the sun was down, but nothing came. Perhaps he thought that if she were to eat less, she would break faster. This was fine with her. She wasn't even hungry and ate the food each time it came to show that she trusted him. Emily allowed herself to slip back into her thoughts. Before she could get too involved with her thoughts, she heard the doors open once more.


  "Get up here." It was him. Emily pushed herself up from the floor, grabbing the hidden screwdriver as she stood and tucking it into her pocket. She then walked very slowly up the stairs and stepped outside. The sky was dark and littered with bright stars. He led her into a circle of people. It had to be everyone who lived here. Once they were in the center, everyone closed around them. Emily did not see the women, just a bunch of men all cheering and laughing. Some of them were cheering on the man who held her by the arm. Based on the cheers, his name was Jeff, and he seemed to love the attention.

  "What do you desire of me, husband?" she asked in a timid voice that she wished that she was faking. She was afraid she might have to do something that would make her feel dirtier than laying on that dirt floor, but now she feared that he might want her to do that in front of all of these men.

  "Well, love, you looked so comfortable when I saw you before. You looked like you belonged on your knees, trying to please me." Emily knew where he was taking this, and she had to resist the urge to vomit where she stood. He turned towards her and let go of her arm, "On your knees." Emily looked around for a second but did as she was told and dropped to her knees. All of the men cheered and clapped for the victory that Jeff was celebrating. She placed her hands on her knees and waited for further instruction from the pervert holding her captive.