Legend of Mace (17 page)

"Crockett's still out there," Dolphin whispered. "We just need to hold on."

"He could be dead.” Bowie looked at him with skepticism.

"I saw him duck behind a debris pile. I think he escaped."

"So what makes you think he'll come back?"

Dolphin tried to keep his voice down despite his irritation over the question. "Because he's one of us!" he said a bit too loud.

The biker guard moved back towards them. "Shut your mouths," the biker said gruffly, "or I'll slit your punk throats."

"Better hope we don't get loose," Bowie stated, eyeballing him audaciously. "Or I'll show you how to slit one from ear to ear."

The biker chuckled sarcastically, ignoring the threat, and walked back to his post. They heard the hammer pound a railroad spike into Lisa's other wrist, followed instantly by her agonizing screams. She refused to cry, instead yelling out as sweat poured off her face, "I am going to tear out your spleen, you Plaguer fuck!" Another blow brought on a crippling, prolonged shriek.

"You're next," the biker uttered at Bowie, taunting him. "Be kind of hard to grip a knife with a spike pounded through your fucking wrist."

From ten feet behind the biker, Crockett slowly rose from a broken window sill. No one noticed his careful movements. Everyone remained locked on the biker

The boys suddenly jumped as an arrowhead burst through the bikers throat. The biker gurgled loudly as his hands grabbed for his neck, his eyes terror-filled and wide. He touched the arrowhead protruding four inches out of his neck and looked completely stunned.

Crockett quickly scampered through the broken window, bow still in hand. "We gotta move!" he said quietly as the guard dropped to his knees. "They're everywhere." He stopped behind the biker and ripped the arrow back out, causing a spray of blood to cover his shirt. The biker toppled over as blood gushed from the opening.

Moving quickly, Crockett cut the ropes that bound his friends hands.

“How did you know where we were?” Bowie asked as he pulled his hands free and rubbed his wrists where they chafed.

“I saw them bring you in. I had to wait until the coast was clear. We need to leave now.”

“Not without Lisa,” Dolphin said forcefully. Another hammer stroke brought on another horrid scream from the courtyard.

“Is that her?” Crockett’s jaw dropped.

Bowie nodded as he walked over to the biker, who lay on his side taking slow, shallow breaths. With each breath more blood spurted out of the wound. “You’re gonna die,” Bowie said as he leaned down to stare in the Plaguer’s face. “I’d slit your throat but you’ve already gotta big hole in it.” He stood up and addressed everyone as the biker choked on his own blood. “Let’s get Lisa and get the hell out of here.”

In the church courtyard, Joline watched with pleasure as Lisa’s face contorted. “Soon you will be lifted up,” Joline said, “and you will experience real pain. Just when you think it can't get any worse we'll set the cross on fire. You're going to burn at the stake, witch." Joline smiled coldly, picturing the moment to come.

Ready to explode, Lisa eyed the woman but remained quiet, her teeth tightly clenched. She didn’t dare squirm anymore. The pain increased with each tiny movement.

Realizing she was going to die soon, Lisa closed her eyes. The agony she suffered was nothing compared to the thoughts that now raced through her mind. If the camp fell, they would torture and kill Chelsea as well. Chelsea was the one good thing she'd done with her life. 

Suddenly filled with regret, Lisa wished she'd hadn't been so hard on her daughter. It was the infection. It changed her.

Thinking back on the years before the attacks, Lisa clung to the memory of Chelsea's birth. She'd marveled at her little bundle of joy as she'd held in her arms for the very first time. Chelsea had literally saved her life. Lonely and depressed, her daughter became the focal point of her world.

Now, strapped to a cross and being crucified in some dark and foreign land, she longed intensely for the simple life of her past.

Standing over Lisa, Joline smirked at the tears that leaked from Lisa's closed eyelids. "Do her feet next,” she commanded the biker yielding the hammer. “And get her ready to be hoisted up.” She leaned down and snarled at Lisa. “I’ll be back. We need to plan our next assault. All you witches must be destroyed.”

Cracking the door from the church rectory, Bowie watched as Joline left. He motioned to Crockett, who loaded an arrow in the bow and stared at the door, waiting. Bowie swung it fully open and the biker with the hammer lifted his head at the motion. He saw the tip of the arrow for the briefest moment before it punched through his chest. He tumbled backwards without uttering anything louder than a grunt.

The boys instantly surrounded Lisa, their faces registering horror at her predicament.

“I don’t know how to move you,” Crockett said as he stared at the spikes embedded deep in her wrists. Blood stained the wood around the wounds. Her arms and legs were thrashed tightly to the wooden beams.

“Leave me,” Lisa said weakly, in obvious torment. “Just get back and keep everybody else safe.”

“No way. Not yet.” Crockett answered, shaking his head. At only eleven-years old, he was shaping into a leader and hardened warrior. “We’re not leaving anybody behind. Hand me the hammer,” he said to Dolphin, who stood next to the fallen biker. Dolphin grabbed the hammer and handed it to him.

“It doesn’t matter if you scream,” Crockett said nervously to Lisa. “They’ll just think we’re hammering your feet.”

“I’m gonna totally kick your ass for this,” Lisa said as she glared at the hammer in his hand.

“You can thank me later,” Crockett responded as he turned the hammer around, dropped to a knee by the beam, and pushed the claw into her wrist to hook under the spike. Lisa screamed out in pain.

Crockett tried to hide the tremble in his voice. He felt nauseous. “Hold on. This is about to get a hell of a lot worse.”

Placing a foot against the beam, Crockett yanked at the spike. Lisa screamed as pain rippled through her body and the spike tore loose. Her wrist lifted off the beam momentarily as the nail pulled through the flesh.

“Holy shit.” Dolphin stared in shock at the hole the spike left. Blood filled the wound as her hand shook dramatically. The rest of her arm stayed firmly tied down.

Lisa yelled out as she tried to deal with the pain. “I’m never cooking for you again you little shit!”

“Once I get the other hand free,” Crockett said to the boys, ignoring her and trying to prepare himself to do it again, “we’ll cut her loose and wrap the wounds.” He positioned himself over her other arm. Right before he yanked on the second spike, he glanced at Lisa and smiled awkwardly. “You’d be doing me a favor. Your eggs are always runny as shit.”

Lisa erupted in mad laughter as he pulled the second spike free. She shuddered as the laughter turned to a tortuous scream.

“Cut her loose!”

The boys carefully tore at the ropes that bound Lisa to the wood beams. Lisa gasped repeatedly with every movement. They finally pulled her free of the horizontal crucifix and helped her to a standing position.

White as a ghost, all Lisa could say was, “I need a vacation.”

The boys gathered around her, helping her to remain upright. The ropes cut off her circulation and pain now flowed through every inch of her body. She could barely move without excruciating pain.

“How we gonna get out?” Dolphin asked, as they moved her slowly towards the front of the courtyard, following Joline’s path out.

“If they don’t recognize me, they’ll think me one of their own,” Lisa said through gritted teeth. “It needs to look like you’re my captives.”

“You can barely move,” Crockett said sympathetically as he moved in front to scout out the perimeter. The church doors were around the corner. He held his hand up to keep everyone back before creeping to the edge of the courtyard. He returned a few seconds later. “There’s two horses tied up right outside. Let’s get her on one and get the hell out of here.”

“I can’t hold onto anything,” Lisa stated in shock, staring at her shattered wrists. “There is no way I can ride.”

“We can’t fit five people on two horses anyway,” remarked Dolphin.

Bowie took a deep breath. “You all go,” he said to his friends, “and ride like hell. If anyone sees you, I’ll create a distraction.”

“You sure?” asked Crockett, surprised. Bowie just nodded.

“Mace was wrong about you,” Crockett said as he put his hand out to shake it.

Grabbing it firmly, Bowie answered. “No, he wasn’t. I just want stay here and kick some Plaguer ass.”

Crockett smiled sadly as he turned to Lisa. “Can you wrap your arms around me?”

“I think so. I don’t know. I’ll try.”

“Take my bow,” Crockett said as he handed it to Bowie. He slid the quiver off his back and handed it over as well. “I’ll get her back.”

Bowie took the pouch of arrows and nodded. “You better.”

Lisa closed her eyes for a moment as she thought about what the boys risked for her. “I owe you,” she said sincerely. “You are all honorable young men.”

“I just want to avoid your cooking,” Bowie said sarcastically. “Now get the hell out of here.”

Dolphin and Miles helped Lisa climb on the horse behind Crockett. She did her best to wrap her arms around him, crying out several times as her wrists were even slightly touched. They wanted to shoosh her but knew they couldn’t as they looked nervously around. Like lightning bolts, the pain shot repeatedly through her body. She felt like puking.

“Go,” she said weakly as her body trembled, trying to remain on the horse. Sweat poured off her. Dolphin and Miles jumped on the other mare, and they carefully trotted away from the church. For the moment, all remained still.

Mace jogged steadily down the Riverwalk, waiting for the moment when he’d run into the first Plaguer. He wanted to show up on foot and try to blend into their midst. Despite his new appearance, he still remained concerned that one might somehow recognize him. He needed to convince the Plaguers that the threat lay far off.

Hearing the steady gallop of horses moving towards him, Mace pulled his handgun, keeping it tucked close to his body. Wearing a bullet-proof vest with a long jacket over it, he was armed to the teeth. A second handgun, ammunition, two grenades, a machete, and several knives were stuffed in pockets, sewn inside the jacket, or strapped to his belt. An automatic rifle was slung over his shoulder.

Mace spotted Lisa first as the horses approached from a distance. Even though she was larger than the boys, her body was awkwardly hunched over Crockett’s. She looked on the verge of toppling off the mare as it trotted towards him.

Relieved they were still alive, Mace grew more concerned the closer they approached. Bowie wasn’t with them, and the tormented look on Lisa’s face told him she was crippled with pain.

The boys stopped the horses as soon as they spotted him, at first pulling their weapons until Mace waved and yelled out, “It’s me. It's Mace.”

“Mace?” Dolphin yelled, shocked by his appearance but elated to see him.

“What happened to Lisa and Bowie?” Mace said loudly as he walked towards them.

“She’s hurt bad,” Dolphin said, climbing off the horse. “The assholes drove spikes through her wrists. Bowie’s back at the church. He’s looking for blood.”

At the description of what they'd done to Lisa, blood rushed to Mace's head. His mind spun as he moved quickly towards her to inspect. Crockett, waiting from atop the horse, was afraid to move an inch, fearful she might topple over.

“Holy shit,” Mace said as he stepped up to the horse. Lisa looked beaten, weak, and white as a ghost. He grabbed the reins and stared at her face, which just gazed back blankly. Looking at her bandaged wrists, he saw that blood soaked through the cloth wrapped around them.

“That bitch tried to crucify me,” she said weakly. Her lips were dry and cracked. Her back, covered in splinters, oozed blood from the wounds. “You need to find her and cut her fucking head off.”

“Who did this?” Mace asked, his face furrowed and hard.

“They called her Joline,” Lisa whispered. “She’s a mean old bitch. I think she’s their leader.” Lisa moved an inch and gritted her teeth as pain shot throughout her hands and entire body. "They think I'm a witch. They think there is a crazy curse over all of them and they pray to a god named Gozer," she said, sharing what she knew. She suddenly shuddered as a wave of pain washed over her.

“Get her back and have Melissa take care of her,” Mace ordered Crockett. “What happened to Bowie?”

“He stayed behind. Last we saw him he was by the church about a couple miles down. I don’t know what he’s going to do.”

“I’ll find him,” Mace said directly.

“I’ll go with you,” Dolphin offered as he got ready to dismount his horse.

Mace shook his head. “Hopefully they’ll think I’m one of them. I need to do this alone.” Mace gestured towards the camp. “Get ready for Armageddon. Dig in tight, boys. We don’t know what’s coming.”

Crockett gave a quick nod before he moved his horse slowly forward. Lisa moaned with each step.

“You’re gonna die for this, Joline,” Mace muttered as he jogged towards the church. His whole being felt engulfed in flames. His fists clenched as he  jogged faster, the rage steadily increasing until he was running at a full sprint. Any thoughts towards redemption were out the door. He knew who he was and what he was capable of doing. It was time to quit pretending he could ever be anything else.

Jim watched the approaching dust cloud from the second group of Plaguers. “I think they’ll walk right into the mines. Watch, I bet they’ll turn around and leave.” Improvised ground explosives surrounded the entire compound.

Aiming a sniper’s scope to determine their numbers and location, Yvette took a deep breath. She couldn’t agree less. “It won’t take out enough, you dork.” she replied worriedly. “Sooner or later they’re gonna get in.”

Standing next to Jim on the platform, Yvette watched the coming horde from the wall. The other girls remained silent, standing a little farther out. Six feet below and in front of them, dirt spread out towards the razor wire. A six foot path wrapped around the camp that marked their obstacle course. Razor wire marked the perimeter around that before the ground dropped four feet into a trench.