Reanimates, page 12
part #1 of Reanimates Series
To the right of us was a field with a stand of trees blocking any view of what might lie beyond them. I could tell that we were close to the lake because I could smell it in the air. We were all prompted to get out of the Humvee and met up with Greg’s group at the side of the road.
“Jayden and Jaheem,” said Greg. “You two have point. Timmy and Jimmy, you have the rear. Bubba and me will keep these four in line. Everybody, move.”
The twins took off through the field and we all fell in line. Michelle was having trouble walking while trying to cover herself up at the same time. During the car ride here, someone had removed her shirt and bra, leaving her fully exposed. Her blackening eye and the dried blood on her upper lip was proof that she had not given the clothes up with ease. I knew that meant that she still had fight left as did Frank and myself. Karen had completely cowed to the aggressors that we now faced, and I was not sure that when the time came I would be able to count on her to fight back.
We entered the small stand of trees and the area around us grew darker and the air temperature dropped slightly. This was a stand of sugar maples and the area was crisscrossed with the vacuum lines that people now used to collect the sap. I could see the end of the trees and with that end came light and a strong breeze as was often the case when you got closer to the lake. The smell of the water was growing stronger as well. I could not understand why we were headed to the lake until we cleared the trees completely. Before us stood a camp that was hidden from view. It was a log cabin and had we not been in the situation in which we currently found ourselves I would have fawned over it. It was quite large for a log cabin, standing two stories. The walls were full of windows meant to capture the beautiful view that one no doubt had from within. The second story had a large wrap-around deck on it that had furniture and a grill. I was wondering how this group knew about it until Greg spoke up.
“Bubba, I never get tired of visiting your summer home,” he said.
On one hand I was happy to be here even though we were prisoners. We were hidden by anyone that might be looking around for a place to hide, unless they were in a boat. Seclusion meant safety from alternate threats and that safety meant I could focus on the threat at hand and coming up with an escape plan.
We arrived at the back door and Greg sent in the twins to secure the area. This gave me a slight insight into how Greg thought. We lead in a totally different fashion. He valued his life above those of his group members and always allowed them to assume all the risk while I was the one that wanted to face the risk and keep my group members safe. Yet here I stood, a prisoner and having lost three members of my group already. I knew that I would not allow another member of my group to die though.
Sleep was the great equalizer, everyone needed it. It was while the house slept that I would make my move. I only had one weapon besides my mind, the lighter I had taken from the store. Greg had assumed that we were completely unarmed and that would be his downfall.
The twins returned and signaled that it was safe to enter. We all went in and we found ourselves standing in a very modern kitchen with a ceiling that was at least ten feet high. All of the walls, floor and cabinetry were made of wood with a group of appliances made of stainless steel.
“Put those three in the cellar,” said Greg pointing to Frank, Michelle and me. “My new wife and I are going upstairs to get to know each other better.”
He did not wait to see that his orders were followed. Grabbing Karen by the hand he led her from the room through the only doorway that did not have a closed door. Jayden approached us an indicated a door to the left, his thirsty eyes moving over Michelle’s exposed skin.
Frank went first and I took up the rear position, hoping that this would keep them from hurting Michelle further. When Frank opened the door, we were greeted by a dark set of stairs and the musty smell of a dirt basement. With Frank leading the way we made our way down the stairs. Our only source of light came from the fours small windows that were set into the boarder of the foundation and the house. The door was shut and locked behind us before I was halfway down the stairs. The temperature in the basement was several degrees lower than the upstairs and my first concern was with Michelle becoming hypothermic though there was little I could do to help her at the moment.
We all explored the area for anything that might prove useful to us in either escaping or just surviving. The basement was fairly devoid of anything except support beams. There was a furnace and hot water heater along with a sump pump. Along what I thought was the northern most wall Frank found a small stack of green totes and called us over. The top tote held some clothes, and we were all more comfortable once Michelle found some that fit her well enough. Our hope in finding any kind of weapon stated to fade until I opened the last tote.
This tote contained wedding memorabilia. The one thing that caught my eye was the knife that had been used to cut the cake. It was neither serrated nor pointed, but I knew that it would be the catalyst to our escape. I had found the last piece to putting my plan into action.
I looked at Frank and Michelle. “Come the middle of the night, we are getting out of here. Those fuckers upstairs are going to pay for Julio and what they did to you Michelle with their lives.”
In a hushed voice I broke down my plan on getting us out of here. Frank nodded with approval several times and even stopped me a couple of times to add his thoughts. Michelle was stoic until I was done.
“When the time comes that skinny fucker is mine,” she said. I did not argue with her.
Our alone time was abruptly ended by the sound of the basement door opening. We all moved away from the totes and saw the twins coming down the stairs. They ordered Frank and I away from Michelle, employing a gun to ensure compliance. Once they approved of where we had moved, the first one approached Michelle.
“Look at you,” he said. “Ya went and got dressed. Now I gotta rip those clothes off a ya.”
I could see the revulsion wash over Michelle. Before he could lay a hand on her new clothes though, she undressed herself. This caused the twins to smile and high-five.
They spent the next couple of hours repeatedly raping Michelle. She cried at first and then went silent, only to end up crying again. Apparently satiated, the twins left us alone. I went to Michelle and held her while she sobbed, he whole body shaking.
“They are not going to live to regret this,” I promised.
Chapter 11
The house had grown quiet some time ago and though the three of us feigned sleep, we were all wide awake. Throughout the remainder of the day and into the night there had been a guard watching over us at the foot of the basement stairs. We were lucky in that they had not decided to post a guard until after we had rooted through the totes. Karen had not been sent to join us. I did not know what to make of that fact. She was either being held against her will or she had defected. Although we had not been seeing exactly eye to eye recently, I hoped that she was still with us.
Our current guard was Jimmy. He was tall and lanky but still posed a threat to us. Frank was an older man, and I had my broken ribs. Michelle was sore from being beaten and raped. I was hoping that Bubba would make an appearance as our guard before the sun rose.
We were all lying motionless on the floor and controlling our breathing to sound like we were asleep as well, a ploy that must have worked. Jimmy’s breathing grew slower and eventually turned into a snore. I figured now was the best time to make a move. I could eliminate Jimmy as a threat while he slept and then the three of us could make our move against the people on the first floor. This would also have the added bonus of us gaining a gun.
I slowly pulled the knife from my pants and withdrew the lighter from my pocket. The plan was to heat the blade to the point where it was cherry red and use the heat to slice through Jimmy’s throat. I flicked the lighter and a small yellow flame was born. I kept one eye on Jimmy in case he moved and the other on the blade. I knew it would be a long process, but we had all night. Slowly the blade grew black where the flame kissed the metal. I could feel the accumulated heat from the blade on my face.
Without warning I heard the basement stairs open. Extinguishing the lighter I placed the blade next to me on the floor. This was no good though. If this exchange of guards went like the others, then the new guy would come over and inspect us. I had no other option but to roll on top on the blade. I could feel the blade searing my flesh and did my best not to move. Instead, I concentrated on listening to whomever it was that was here to replace Jimmy.
The heavy sound of feet on the stairs gave away that the new guard was Bubba. He and Jimmy exchanged a few sentences about what we had been up to before I heard Jimmy ascending the stairs. As I anticipated Bubba came over with a flashlight and gave us all the once over. I heard him exclaim with remorse about the fact that Michelle was dressed. I listened as he waddled over to the chair and took a seat. The waiting game was on again. I hoped that he would not take as long to fall asleep as Jimmy.
The flashlight clicked off and I took the opportunity to slide the knife out from under my body. I hoped that if Bubba noticed me moving, he would chalk it up to the normal stirring of a sleeping person. The entire area where the knife’s blade had made contact with me throbbed with pain. Oddly enough I was getting used to various parts of my body aching, so I ignored it.
It did not take long for Bubba to fall asleep and I resumed my heating of the knife blade. My internal clock was screaming at me to hurry as I could tell that morning was rapidly approaching. I did not want to spend another day under the control of Greg and his goons.
As the first hints of dawn started to show through the small windows in the basement the blade of the knife started to glow. I could feel the weight of Frank and Michelle’s eyes on me. I knew that this was a now or never moment. I needed to take a life, perhaps several in order to ensure the survival of my group. It was time to nut up as they say.
I stealthily climbed to my feet and walked over to Bubba. There was enough space for me to position myself behind him and not trip over the stairs. I planted my feet as firmly as I could on the packed earth and placed my left hand over Bubba’s mouth. At the same time Frank and Michelle grabbed one of his arms and pulled down towards the floor. This effectively silenced him and prevented him from defending himself.
Bubba’s eyes popped open in surprise and he let loose a muffled scream. My hand absorbed most of the noise, but I was terrified that he might alert someone, so I hesitated no longer. The dull edge to the cake knife made contact with the skin on his neck and instantly caused a plume of smoke. I could hear the skin start to sizzle and gagged on the smell it created. Bubba’s scream went from alarmed to that of agony as the blade burnt and cut deeper into his flesh. His screams were silenced when the blade cut through his windpipe, his body going limp. I could feel the vomit trying to rise from my stomach and swallowed hard to keep it down. This was one of six people that needed to be eliminated.
While I took a moment to try and compose myself Frank looted the body. He took the rifle that had been laying in Bubba’s lap and found a pair of handguns at each hip. He also found a large knife in a boot sheath that he claimed. I took one of the handguns from Frank along with the spare magazine. I was no expert in firearms, but this looked to be a nine-millimeter to me. It was far from powerful, but it would stop someone from attacking me. Frank handed Michelle the other handgun which looked to be the twin of the one I had. He called us in for a huddle and spoke in hushed tones.
“You two have thirty rounds apiece, fifteen per magazine. If we need to shoot, aim for the core, it is large and easy to hit. One well-placed shot will stop pretty much any normal man. I have an AR15 with three thirty round clips. All three of these weapons are semi-automatic. That means each time you pull the trigger one bullet will fire. There is no need to cock the gun after each shot, so if you pull the trigger in rapid succession you will burn through your bullets quickly. I have set the safety to off on both of your guns, so do not point them at anyone you do not want dead. I’ll take point from here. I have the experience. I would suggest that once we clear the first floor that we open a door to the outside in case we have to make a hasty retreat.”
Michelle and I nodded in mutual understanding and agreement. Frank started to climb the stairs, his gun pressed against his shoulder and finger next to the trigger. I went next and pointed my gun at the floor, adopting a stiff-arm position I had seen in the movies. I did not know if this was proper gun protocol, but I did not care. Michelle brought up the rear. I turned to her and spoke softly.
“Once we are upstairs, I need you to watch our backs, make sure no one can sneak up on us.”
She nodded her understanding. When I focused my attention back in front of me, I saw that Frank had reached the top of the stairs. He had his ear to the door and was listening intently. He looked at me and held a finger to his lips in the universal sign of silence. I took this to mean that there was someone on the other side of the door.
Frank slung the rifle over his shoulder and withdrew the knife from its sheath. Holding the knife at the ready in his right hand he reached out with his left and slowly turned the doorknob. If I remembered correctly the door opened out, so I hoped that if there was someone on the other side, they were not standing directly in front of it. In a flurry of motion, Frank swung the door open. I saw one of the twins standing off to the left side of the opening. Shock took over his face, but it did not last long. Before he was able to sound an alarm, Frank thrust the blade up into the bottom of his jaw. The blade was long enough to reach his brain and the twin fell to the floor.
That left us four more members of Greg’s group and by the sounds of the house they were all asleep. We went from room to room on the first floor and did not encounter anyone else. Going by Frank’s guidance we went to the same door through which we had entered the house and opened it. Frank turned to head back into the house and seek out the second floor when Michelle grabbed his arm.
“Why don’t we just leave?” she asked. “We are literally at the cusp of our freedom and you want to go back?”
I answered for Frank. “We have to go find Karen. She is still a member of this group. But, I would feel terrible leaving any of these people alive to do to others what they have done to us…..and to you.”
That last part hit home with Michelle. I saw a fire rise behind her eyes, and she nodded. Before we started moving again, I took a good look outside. I wanted to know if there were any threats that would hinder our escape. I saw a dozen reanimates milling around, one of them had taken notice of our talking and was heading towards us. Yesterday this would have terrified me, but I had learned that there were far greater evils in this world than reanimated corpses with a taste for human flesh.
I nodded at Frank and he walked out of the kitchen and into the hall that led to the family room. The stairway to the second floor was midway down the hall and very dark at the moment. We were lucky enough to still have our night vision as dawn was just starting to break. The walls here as in the rest of the camp were made of clear coated wood. There were several pictures attached to the wall on both sides, though I did not bother to see who or what they featured. I was thankful that the camp was well built, the stairs did not creak once, which would have given away our approach.
There was a small hallway with three doors that made up the second floor. I surmised that the doors all lead to bedrooms. Three doors and three of us. It seemed logical to me that we split up and each took a door. I used my hands to explain my thoughts to Frank and maintain the silence, but he protested. I did not know exactly what he was trying to say with his hands, but it was glaringly obvious that he did not want us to split up.
This position did not matter however as the door closest to us opened, startling all of us. A single gunshot rang out which obviously woke up the rest of the house. Timmy stood in the doorway with a hole in his stomach that was leaking blood. He fell to his knees and then to his back, his hands clutching the mortal wound. Frank and I looked at each other and then at Michelle. She had a stream of tears running down her face.
“That is for raping me, you sick fuck,” she spat out.
Before we could react, the other twin came running from the same room and the two closed doors swung open. I did not wait to see what they would do. I turned and gave Michelle a shove towards the stairs. As we three ran and descended as quickly as possible the walls around us started to explode from bullets impacting them.
When we reached the landing, we turned to go through the kitchen and leave the camp but found our way blocked by the undead. The gunshot from Michelle must have called in the ones that were closest to us. I turned and headed towards the family room and hoped that the other two would follow me. There was no door leading outside from this room and nowhere else to run.
The family room had two couches and four recliners and little else. The walls had several deer heads on it and some pictures. There was nowhere to hide, I knew we needed to make a stand here.
I ducked down behind the giant leather couch that was furthest from the doorway, Frank and Michelle joining me. I peered up over the back and aimed my gun at the entrance. It took several tense minutes before the first head poked around the corner, it belonged to Jimmy. I did not hesitate and opened fire. I pulled the trigger three times, but headshots are not as easy in real life as they are in movies. I understood why Frank had instructed us to aim for the core.
The head disappeared back around the corner and a flurry of gunshots erupted from somewhere beyond our view. I knew without seeing that Greg and his people were dealing with the reanimates that had entered the house. I scanned the room with my eyes, seeking any sort of advantage while we waited. The only way out of the room besides the door was a giant bay window off to our left.
The gunfire did not relent. There must have been a lot of the undead entering the cabin. I knew that we needed to move. I turned and aimed at the window and pulled the trigger three more times. The glass exploded outwards and provided us with means of escape. I covered the door and signaled to Frank and Michelle that they should make their way out through the ruined window. To their credit they did not protest. Michelle went first, followed closely by Frank. When I saw that he had cleared the window I made my way over to it slowly, never taking my eyes off the doorway. I did not want to be shot in the back while trying to escape, that would ruin my entire day.
