Life of Terror: Life of Terror Book One, page 18
Another kick. “He’s here,” Brett called, and footsteps hammered towards the kitchen.
Graham stared up. Brett and Felicity stood before him, tall and menacing, chests puffed out, smirks lining their faces. And they grasped weapons in their hands. And they were threatening to kill him.
“Do you know what you’ve done,” Brett said. “I should gut you right now. But I don’t think that would help the lesson sink in.”
Felicity glared at Graham. “You’re a real idiot,” she said. “Maybe we shouldn’t kill him. Maybe we could go easy. Like the others.”
Others?
Brett grinned. “No,” he said, and dread spread across Graham’s body.
Felicity looked subdued as Brett began the torture. She glanced at Graham, and a glimpse of sympathy entered her eyes. She, then, looked away.
Graham leaned against the washing machine in the kitchen. Blows bashed his frail body. He prayed that, by the end of the beating, his life would remain intact.
* * *
An hour later, Graham was in the back of the truck again. Lisa kneeled before him, bandages in her hand. She was wrapping them around Graham’s fingers and head. Blood had dripped from the countless wounds on his body already. Graham’s breath was ragged as they bounced along the road, each bounce inciting a tremor of pain. The driving was extra rough, or maybe the pain receptors on Graham’s body were sensitive to every little shot of agony.
“What did they do to you?” Lisa whispered.
Graham tried to speak, but the words clogged in his throat. He couldn’t say what they did, because that would mean admitting it to himself. The bruises on his body spoke for themselves. Graham knew he was a coward, but saying it out loud only solidified a truth Graham didn’t want to believe.
“Nothing,” Graham said, instead.
The hand with the bandages stopped. “You’re so closed off, you know. Like, no one else can get in your life other than you.” She gave him a sad smile. “And now you know what happens when you try to leave.”
Graham’s mind flitted back to Tilly as he leaned his head against the wall. It did nothing to quell the pain, but at least Graham’s neck got some rest. Tilly was living there, and surviving, visiting her bookstore, the one thing that made her happy. And she was on her own.
Graham wished he was that self-sufficient and connected to what made him feel whole. But Graham, even on his own, wouldn’t manage one-tenth of what Tilly could do. And he wouldn’t dare try to return to Mary and Charlie. Not after the time that stretched between him and them, like a bridge he couldn’t cross.
“We’re going to get to the cabins in a bit,” Lisa said. “You’ll be able to rest there properly.”
Ralph stepped towards them and leaned a hand against the sides of the truck. “You look rough, mate. Get some disinfectant there, and it’ll go away, in about a week. Even a few days, if you’re a fighter.”
“I’m already on it,” Lisa said. She glared at Graham. “But this man doesn’t want to say anything. Like he has to keep everything bottled inside.”
Ralph chuckled. “It’s a guy thing,” he said.
“Yeah, hate guys,” said Lisa, shooting a glare at Graham.
Graham wanted to scream at her, to tell her to shut up and leave him in peace. But the will to speak didn’t get past his mind. He just closed his eyes and let the pain flow through him, wracking his body in spasms every few seconds.
“I think it’ll go away a bit sooner,” Lisa said. The truck stopped, before turning to the right and driving again. “We’re in another town now. That means we’re close to camp.”
Graham opened his eyes. He could do with some rest, and in a bed no less.
“I’m just surprised they haven’t tied him up,” Lisa said. “I thought they’d take a few more precautions.” She whispered the last part, as if afraid of the same thing happening to her if the leaders heard what she said. As if the cult—yes, cult—Graham was in had law-like punishments.
Ralph shook his head. “They want him to be scared. They want to show that they have nothing to fear. Graham’s not going to do anything, is he? Not in the state that he’s in.” Ralph glanced back at the two figures sitting in the front seats. “They’re some real control freaks.”
Lisa glanced around to ensure Harry and Claude, who were playing a game of chess together alongside Aaron who watched them, weren’t listening. “I just wish there was something we could do,” Lisa said. “Surviving in a group isn’t a bad idea, but this is like hell.”
Ralph held his breath, before exhaling. “I guess we just have to find a way through the mess we’re in.” He left them, and after Lisa bandaged Graham up, she, too, left to speak with Ralph.
Graham slumped alone in the corner. The clamp of death had taken his body for a hell-ride before letting it have a few more days of life. Graham inched his back up the sides of the truck and raised his throbbing head.
He had to leave the group. Had to save himself, instead of succumbing to the cult he was at the centre of. Brett and Felicity could do whatever they wanted. But Graham would get out, one way or another.
He raised a hand and clamped it over a wound on his knee. Blood stained the bandages, making him light-headed as red seeped from his skin.
Graham wasn’t dead, yet. Brett and Felicity had given him a lifeline, a few more days of life.
Graham would leave the gang. And soon. Before Brett and Felicity found an excuse to actually kill him.
25
Dexter
Destruction lined the A13 as Dexter drove through the motorway, Theo nursing his head in the passenger seat.
“What the hell happened?” Dexter whispered, staring at a particular wreck. An ambulance truck, which had been abandoned in the middle of the road. It was burned on one side, and the flames had eaten through the entire vehicle, leaving a charred mess.
“It’s messed up,” Theo said, palming his head, trying to ease the pain.
“How’s the head?” Dexter asked.
Theo gave him a grin, though his slight wince wasn’t missed by Dexter. “It’s not that deep.”
“Yeah, right. You’re touching it every few seconds. Want to change the bandage, and put some disinfectant on it?”
Theo gave him a confused look. “Since when did you become a guru on this stuff?”
Dexter stared ahead. He dodged different abandoned cars in order to get across the motorway. Some cars had been crashed into each other, others had rolled for ages, the brakes not working, until they either came to a standstill or smashed into a pile of vehicles scattered across the road.
Dead bodies littered the ground. Guilt twisted inside Dexter each time the tires ran over another one, the crunches sending shivers down his spine. He was only eighteen. He shouldn’t have been exposed to all the darkness and horrors of the world. He didn’t deserve it.
But the EMP cared nothing for feelings. And so didn’t Jack Spencer.
“My dad used to speak about this stuff,” Dexter said, in reply to Theo’s question. “When he was actually all right. And then I read books on the stuff.”
“And you still remember all of it?” Theo asked.
“Not all of it.” Dexter took a sharp turn to avoid a Fed Ex truck, which might have been stocked with supplies. But it didn’t matter. The back doors were electric, and couldn’t be opened. “Only some of it, the important stuff. Like basics.”
“That’s why you came to warn me?”
“Yeah. The world was going to hell. Obviously, I’m going to get my best mate. Especially when he’s a doughnut.”
“Hey,” Theo said with a laugh. He punched Dexter on the shoulder before leaning back in his seat. They drove through the rubbish littered motorway to their destination.
Twenty minutes later, Theo told Dexter to pull over on the side.
“I need to take a piss, man,” Theo said.
Dexter looked to the thick bushes surrounding them on either side. “In the woods?”
“Yeah, why not? Not like the police is going to come for me, are they?”
“Oh, come on, it’s still…”
But Theo heard nothing of what Dexter said, instead choosing to get out of the car and trek to the trees.
Dexter sat in the car, alone, thoughts raging through his mind. He shook them away and decided to get out, needing the fresh air. His legs were cramped, hamstrings tight as he moved through the empty roads. An eerie silence fell upon him as the wind breezed through. It was nearing evening, the sky slowly yellowing in the distance.
“Wait,” a voice said.
It wasn’t Theo.
Dexter was instantly on guard, muscles seizing up. “Who’s there?”
Theo was deep into the woods now, relieving himself. And he hadn’t come back for a while. Dexter crouched behind his car and waited for the noise to come again.
“It’s okay,” the voice croaked. Dexter craned his head to get a look at who the voice belonged to.
The raspy voice came from a figure on the ground. It was an old man, crawling on his knees. His injuries were clear. Stabs to the face, red burns across his bare arms, gashes all over him. As if knives were playing noughts and crosses on his pale skin.
“What the hell happened to you?” Dexter asked, walking over to the man and kneeling down.
“I…they took everyone,” the man said. He gazed up at Dexter, and a semblance of recognition sparked in the man’s eyes. “You look like my son, you know.”
Dexter’s stomach twisted at the thought, as he was reminded of his own dad. His own abusive, wretched dad, who he had actually mourned for.
“What happened to him?” Dexter asked, despite the voice inside telling him not to.
“He died as soon as it happened. Was in school, and they told me he was one of the first. Was hit by a plane crash a few miles from here.”
Dexter shuddered. Lily had been in school when the EMP went off. If he hadn’t gone to get her so quickly, what could’ve happened? And what about the other kids at the school? Dexter hoped they were safe.
“You look like my little Billy,” the old man said, crawling forward a little more. The man’s left hand, limp and wrinkly, came to sit on Dexter’s leg, before it fell down. The man’s face hit the tarmac, and he flopped down, dead.
Dexter stood back up, legs trembling, mind shook. The man’s body remained on the floor. Dexter tried to shake off the apprehension within himself.
“What happened?” Theo asked once he returned to the car.
Dexter sat with his hands clamped around the wheel. He’d already witnessed his own dad die, and seeing another death, this one whilst the man held him, scared him to the core.
“Let’s just go,” Dexter said, starting the car again with a sputter and driving off the hard shoulder. “We’re running low on petrol, if the dash is correct.”
“Yeah, seems like the chase got the best of this thing. Maybe it’s leaking somewhere. We’ll have to find some soon, maybe a station selling them in those cans.”
A few more minutes of driving passed before Theo gave his first instruction since they’d entered the motorway.
“Take the left turn into Essex.”
“Essex?” Dexter asked. How could Jack have operations reaching this far outside of London? He was in a London gang, right?
But then Dexter remembered what Jack had said when he was hiding with Lily in the wardrobe. The gang had agents all across the country. It was a massive operation. Dexter had a feeling they’d penetrate across the entire country, stealing, looting, kidnapping other children.
The image of that man’s dead body still plagued Dexter as he drove into the heart of Essex.
“You sure you remember where this place is?” Dexter asked.
Theo nodded and pointed towards the right side. “Take a turn here, and then we’ll have to ditch the car.”
Dexter turned to him, alarmed. He slowed the car as they veered into the road. “What you talking about?”
“We need to ditch the car. We can’t exactly roll up like this, can we? They’ll know it’s us.”
Dexter thought for a moment, hand rubbing his chin, at the thin hairs he’d need to trim at some point. “Yeah, you’re right. How far is it from here?”
“About a ten-minute run. So, fifteen minutes, if we’re careful.”
“And what if we need to get back to the car somehow?”
Theo didn’t look at him. “We’ll get to that if we have to.”
“All right, I’m trusting you with this.”
Dexter stopped the car on the side of the road, pretending to be one of the parked cars not working after the EMP. He got out and stretched his arms above his head, letting some semblance of relief enter his bones. Theo did the same, yawning.
“Want to keep the keys?” Dexter asked. “It is your car, after all.” He handed them to Theo, who pocketed them and turned towards the end of the road.
“This is the way,” Theo said, starting to walk.
“We’re just going to walk into there?”
“Yeah, sneaking in. Same thing, innit?”
Dexter walked with Theo for the next fifteen minutes, his heart hammering at the prospect of getting Lily back. That was his only mission, the only reason he was here. He would get her and leave, quickly, quietly, before Jack could even realise someone was missing.
What about the other kids? Dexter thought. No, Lily. Just Lily. She was his priority, despite the guilt at leaving them all there running through him.
“Here we are,” Theo said a few minutes later, as they approached what looked like an abandoned warehouse.
“What is this place?” Dexter asked. They skirted the edges of the road. A massive forest was next to them, the trees providing a canopy over them so they could hide from anyone spying from above.
“He brought me here once,” Theo said. “And I didn’t like what I saw, what Jack was doing.”
Dexter heard rumbles come from behind him. It was the cars from before. The two cars that he’d lost in the parking lot. He thought they’d keep looking for him, but apparently, they had given up sooner than he thought.
“They’re back,” Dexter said.
“Yeah,” said Theo, staring back. “That means they’re gonna tell Jack they couldn’t find us.”
“Jack’s gonna know we’re around here, then. Especially if they saw our car on the way here.”
Theo shuddered. “Yeah, we need to be extra careful, then.”
Dexter sighed and continued along the path they were treading through the edges of the forest. Voices sounded up ahead. They were hushed, and Dexter knew gang members were speaking.
“This place is massive,” Dexter whispered.
Theo, crouched beside him, gave a chuckle. “This is the empire my brother got. Pretty much on his own. And I hate him for it.”
Dexter walked to the end of the path. “We need to wait a little, right?” Dexter said, seeing all the figures at the entrance to the compound. There was a guard that checked everyone to make sure they weren’t bringing in any weapons, and patted their pockets. Any cars that came in were vetted with a similar process, except with a metal detector.
“What are they doing?” Theo said. “It’s been a long time since I was last here.”
“Why were you here in the first place?”
Theo glanced to the side. “Jack wanted me to join the gang, to be with him as he tortured people. As he sold off kids. And I couldn’t do that.”
Dexter glanced through the leaves to the compound. It was emptying slowly, which might gift them the chance to creep through. Dexter glanced up and saw no barbed wire or any kind of defences along the tall, wired fence. A few security cameras lined the corners, but they wouldn’t be working now.
“We can just climb over, right?” Dexter asked.
Theo glanced to where Dexter pointed, and a grin overtook his face. “You’re right. No way has he made it this easy.”
Dexter emerged from the trees, tiptoeing towards the corner of the warehouse. No one would come here to check on them, and they could get in through the fence with ease.
“Let’s go, then,” Theo said, latching a foot into one of the holes in the wired fence and climbing. It made a rattling nose, and Dexter paused for a second. Other than the swaying of leaves in the wind, and a few shouts from the front that sounded like orders, the coast was clear. He let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.
Dexter began climbing after Theo. He wasn’t the best of climbers, not like Theo who had practiced rock climbing and scaling up random trees, as he’d told Dexter once. Dexter’s fingers latched onto the top and he pulled with all his strength. Over the last few days, his muscles were depleted for energy, and he mustered the reserves he had left to pull himself over the edge.
“Finally,” he said, pausing every few seconds to catch his breath on the way down. His legs screamed and burned with pain, but he managed to reach the bottom with no further troubles. His arms shook as he lowered to the ground, and Theo clapped him on the back.
“Good stuff, man. Never knew you had it in you.”
The compound smelled of weed, and the stench clung to Dexter’s nostrils. He hated that smell, the smell that had overtaken his living room after his mum died, when his dad couldn’t take the real world anymore, choosing hallucinations over his children.
“Let’s go,” Dexter said, leading Theo to the edge of a building and crouching.
They had planned to get into the compound, but that was as far as Dexter had thought. They hadn’t said anything about what to do when they got in.
“Do you know where he keeps the kids?” Dexter asked.
“It’s somewhere in the middle of the place,” Theo said. “He keeps them in rooms, and when someone buys them, he takes them out and into cars at the front to be transported. Most of those cars aren’t working now, and I don’t know if orders are still coming through.”
“So, we wait, then, for Lily to come out? I don’t wanna wait anymore.”
