Not Dead Yet (21 page)

“Hello,” Jack said, annoyed.  “We need to keep our attention on what the hell we’re doing.”

“Sorry,” Theia said.  “Hey, pull over.  See that mailbox sticking out of the weeds?  I see an SC then an N an L and an H.  There are blank spaces, and partial letters that I can’t make out.  What was the name of the farmer who used to live here?”

“Schnellen-something,” Jack said.

“Schnellenheim,” Lu confirmed. 

“We need to make a decision.  Do we want to drive down this road?” Jack asked.

A rutted dirt road went off across a fallow field.  There was just enough old gravel on the road at this point to obscure any possible tire tracks.  Wild foliage had grown up and leaned over both sides of the road.  They could only see about one hundred yards ahead, then the road went down the side of a hill and toward a wooded area back in the unplanted fields.  There were no neighbors.  They hadn’t seen side roads for over a mile.

“We could just drive in until we can see what’s on the other side of the hill,”Lu suggested.

“If we don’t like what we see, or if it looks like someone has been here recently, we can back out and get the hell out of here,” Theia offered.

“Does everyone agree?” Jack asked.  They confirmed their agreement, without enthusiasm.  “Let’s get this over with.”

He quietly pulled the car onto the side road, wincing as he heard overgrowth scratch the sides of his car. No one spoke. After about fifty yards, they could see a short distance over the hill.

There was an old stone farmhouse ahead with a partially caved-in roof and an old barn with a stone foundation.  Several smaller wooden structures were scattered about, some completely collapsed and others merely caved in.  Tall weeds, young trees and wildflowers sprang out of the buildings and rubble heaps. 

Jack crept the car forward then stopped, looking at the road ahead.  There was no more gravel.  He shifted into reverse, backing up the car quickly. 

“What do you see?” Theia asked.

“Look at the dirt road.  Tire tracks—recent.  We need to get the hell out of here,” Jack responded.

A rusted pick-up truck screamed up behind them, blocking their way to the main road.  Jack slammed on the brakes to avoid a collision.  A man wearing jeans and a faded t-shirt jumped out of the truck, carrying a rifle.  Another truck crested the hill in front of them and rammed the front of their car.  Colleen screamed.  “That’s Donald!  And oh my God, there’s Nathan.”  She gestured toward the man with the rifle.  Donald held a handgun.

Both men approached the car, pointing their guns at Jack and the women.  “Get the fuck out of the car,” Nathan ordered.

“Where’s my sister?” Colleen demanded.

“Why?” Donald sneered.  “You wanna get some of what she’s been getting?”

“No, I want to get her out of here,” Colleen said.

Donald pulled her hair back viciously, holding her off balance, and put the gun against her face.  “Get this straight, bitch.  No one leaves here until I say so.  You’re on my turf now.”  He tossed her to the side and went over to Theia.

“You just don’t know when to quit, do you?  I tell you not to call the cops, and what do you do?  You call the cops.  I even take the time and trouble to visit you and let you know the error of your ways, and you still disobey me.  Why don’t you ever listen?”  Donald asked. 

Theia glared silently across the field, refusing to meet his eyes.

“And you,” Donald whirled around to face Lu.  “You had the easiest job of all.  Just pass my messages to her. How hard can that be?  And you screwed that up!”  He backhanded Lu so hard she staggered.  Jack roared and lunged for Donald, who spun around and pointed his gun at Jack’s abdomen.

“You know, things might have gone easier if you’d kept your ass out of things.  You just had to be a hero.  Or pretend to be one, trying to get yourself laid.  Did it work, asshole?” Donald asked.  “Did someone finally get a piece of the Ice Princess?”

Jack stared impassively, refusing to show emotion.

“Empty your pockets, hero,” Donald said, gesturing with his gun.  “Can’t have you carrying a knife or a phone or something.”

Jack moved as if to empty his pockets, then fluidly pivoted to the side out of the line of fire.  He grasped  the handgun, shoving it away and down, then rolled back to face Donald, landing a solid punch on his jaw with one hand while jerking the gun down with the other.  While Donald reeled from the punch, Jack clasped the gun with both hands, leaning in on Donald to throw him off balance.  Jack rotated the gun, twisting it from Donald’s hand. He landed an elbow across Donald’s face, punched him in the stomach and drove a heel down his shin. Jack then stepped back out of reach, pointing the gun with both hands.

“What, are you Chuck Norris or something?”  Donald whimpered, doubled over and lifting on one foot in pain.  “What the hell was that?”

“Training,” Jack said.  “Now lie down on the ground.”

“Not so fast,” Nathan warned.

Jack looked quickly in Nathan’s direction, trying to also keep an eye on Donald.  Nathan held his rifle at the back of Lu’s head.

“Drop it,” Nathan directed.

Jack dropped the handgun.

“Step away from it.”

Jack took two steps back.  Donald hustled up and snatched his gun.  Angry that he had been embarrassed by Jack, Donald sneered,  “Where’s your fancy training now?”

He belted Jack in the head with the handgun.  Jack staggered, blood streaming down the side of his head. Knowing that if he took any action, Nathan would blow Lu’s head off, Jack stood still.  Donald cracked him again, and Jack crumpled to the ground.

“Get in the back of the truck,” Donald snarled at Theia, Lu and Colleen.  “Good to see you, Colleen.  I think I’ll fuck you first.”  He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the truck.  Lu and Theia followed hurriedly.  They all climbed into the back of the truck, amid rotting trash, dirt and various rusted tools.  Theia held back a scream as a large spider ran across her leg. 

“Hey, give me a hand with this piece of shit,” Donald demanded.

“You knocked his ass out, you carry him,” Nathan replied.  “Better yet, let’s just kill him here,” he pointed his rifle at Jack’s head.  Theia heard someone screaming and realized the sound was coming out of her. 

“What, and spoil all the fun?  Come on, let’s toss him in the truck,” Donald said.

Nathan grabbed Jack’s arms and Donald took his ankles.  They dragged him over to the back of the truck and tossed him in.  He landed hard and didn’t move or groan.  Nathan and Donald climbed into the cab.

Blood streamed from Jack’s head.  Theia reached over to stop the bleeding, until Donald turned around and yelled through the busted-out back window, “The first one who moves gets shot!”  Seeing Theia jump back, he grinned, showing gray teeth.  “Come on bro, let’s go have us some fun with our new toys!” Donald said to Nathan.  “This is gonna be better than Christmas.”

Nathan put the twenty-year-old pickup truck into reverse, but the truck was stuck on Jack’s car.  He shifted back into drive, then slammed into reverse again and put his full weight on the accelerator. With a sickening crunching sound, the two vehicles separated.  The brothers laughed and pointed at the front of Jack’s car.

They careened down the dirt road to the clearing.  Nathan pulled the pickup alongside the door of the barn, and Donald jumped out to open the barn door.  Nathan drove forward fast in an arc, then suddenly reversed and drove backward as fast as he could toward the barn.  Just as the truck was about to enter the barn, Nathan slammed on the brakes.  Everyone tumbled out of the back of the truck and landed on the wooden floor of the barn.

While Nathan kept his rifle trained on them, Donald shackled Colleen to one of the center posts of the barn.  There were four sets of shackles.

“Why do you have shackles in your barn?” Theia could not resist asking.

“Gets mighty lonely out here,” Donald replied, putting his index finger under her chin to push her face up toward his.  “We was hoping for some visitors.”

“Yeah,” Nathan scratched himself.  “Y’all think you’re so damn smart, but you fell right into our trap like a bunch of morons.  Bunch of fucking morons.  Hell, if we had one of you helping us this couldn’t have been any easier.”

“Shut up, asshole,” Donald warned.

“You better not tell me to shut up,” Nathan said, his eyes squinting.  “I been locked up a long time with people telling me what to do all day long.  Eat this.  Stand there.  Line up.  Lights out.  The next fucker who tells me what to do is getting his head blowed off.”

“Lighten up, bro,” Donald said, shaking his head.

“Just you remember,” Nathan said evenly.  “No damn body tells Nathan what to do no more.”

“Aye, aye,” Donald gave a mock salute.  “You gonna stand there all day giving speeches or you gonna help me with these pieces of shit?”

They shackled Lu, then Nathan grabbed her between the legs.  She kicked at him furiously. 

“Easy, brother,” Donald urged.  “We got plenty of time.”

“I haven’t had any in a long time.  I want some now.”

“I know, I know,” Donald soothed.  “But we gotta follow the plan.”

“Fuck.”

“In time.  All right, lawyer bitch,” Donald turned to Theia.  “Your turn.”  Donald and Nathan made a show of their guns to get her cooperation.

Resigned, Theia walked over to the post and was shackled with the two other women.  “Where is Rose?” she pleaded as the metal clinked shut.  The brothers looked at each other and, ignoring Theia’s question, returned to their truck.

Donald and Nathan dragged Jack from the back of the pickup and shackled him with the others.  The brothers stood there, admiring the sight. 

“So how ya like our new toys?” Donald asked.

“I like them.  When do we get to play with them?”

“We got plenty of time.  But first, we empty their pockets so they can’t call for help, and then we celebrate.  Everything’s working out according to plan.” 

“I am ready to celebrate,” Nathan said.  “I need a beer.  Hell, I need a goddamn case of beer.”

“Sure.  Hell, they ain’t going nowheres.  Let’s go get us some beer from the house and celebrate while we decide what games we want to play first. I got dibs on Colleen.  You can have her when I’m done, but I get her first.  I been wanting to fuck her for years.  I tried to talk my old lady into a threesome, but she said she couldn’t do that with her own sister.  Fuckin’ prude. Don’t know what the big deal was. Ain’t nothing but sex.”

“Yeah, bitches act like sex is some big deal. Sex is just like eating or taking a shit – same difference.” Nathan and Donald frisked their captives then strolled to the house. 

Colleen, Lu, Theia and Jack were attached by metal bindings to one of the center posts of the barn.  They were sitting or sprawled on the floor, within crawling distance of each other, with the exception of Jack, who was lying face down on the filthy wooden floor.  His face was turned away from them, toward the outer walls of the barn. 

Lu ordered Colleen, who was closest to Jack, “See if he’s breathing!”

Colleen felt for a pulse, but wasn’t sure.  She then put her fingers in front of Jack’s mouth and nose, sat very still, then nodded her head.  “Yes, he’s breathing,” she said, almost overwhelmed with relief.

In her peripheral vision, Colleen noticed something was wrong with Theia. As if in slow motion, Colleen followed Theia’s gaze across the room to the floor of an old livestock pen. Straw and dried manure had been decomposing on the wooden floor of the pen for a decade.  An ancient cracked leather harness hung crookedly from a wooden peg.  Dust-covered and obsolete farm implements were scattered on a high plank shelf and connected by cobwebs. Unused wooden planks from a long-forgotten building project leaned against one low wall of the livestock pen.

“This is the same floor from the video,” Theia whispered, her face pale.  “And that,” she closed her eyes, then slowly opened them, “is what is left of Rose. Oh God.”

Colleen looked over at Rose’s mangled body.  She lay in a heap, as though tossed there, facing away from them.  Flies were buzzing over dark brown dried blood.

Colleen scrambled on hands and knees toward her sister’s body as fast as she could.  She was brought to an abrupt halt at the end of her tethers, still at least ten feet from her sister’s corpse.  Colleen stretched out her hands, as if they could magically span the distance. 

“Rose!” Colleen cried out in anguish. She drew herself up and stared, as if against her will, at Rose’s body.  Rose’s thin frame wore a second skin of bruises, large and small, overlaid with hundreds of dark slashes.  In some places, the skin had been completely whipped off.  On the back of her leg, starting at the knee and heading up to the hip, the word “BITCH” was jaggedly carved.  Her other leg looked broken and, like the rest of her, was covered in vicious whip cuts.  A cracked leather horsewhip from a bygone era lay next the Rose. Her wrists were still tied with scraps of rope.

Colleen shuddered and jerked her head away.  She curled up into fetal position, wrapped her arms around her legs and rocked back and forth.  A low keening wail tore from her.  She was lost in her grief and unaware of anything else.

Lu looked on in silent horror.  When she could bear no more, she crawled as far away as she could to throw up in some straw, and waited until she felt she could trust her limbs to hold her again. Shuffling and crawling, Lu made her way toward Theia, who was sitting with her back against the large support post. Lu and Theia propped against each other, weeping.