The Deepest Red (43 page)

I trail behind the guys for a few yards, my mind racing. I can’t believe they were considering not following after Carter and his captors.
He’s a fellow scout.
Birds sing as my mind turns to Connor once again. He would have never left me at the mercy of these people. My heart drops at the idea of never sparring with him again or bantering during our breaks from chores- never seeing my dad, Clover or Tessa. I blink away tears and change my course of thoughts. When I glance up, Lonnie is watching me from ahead. A sympathetic countenance forms on his face as he continues to walk backwards like he knows the recurring thoughts that plague me. For a brief moment I think I should apologize for how I spoke to him but the notion quickly vanishes. He shouldn’t have questioned leaving Carter to a dark fate. We came out here together. We should go back home together. As he turns back around, I observe Bryan and Daniel both talking quietly together, trying to pick up the trail. Jay keeps behind them, a knife in his hand.

I don’t see the infected at first but a sickly odor catches my attention. My steps lighten as a decayed body drags itself from out of the brush. The dead doesn’t notice my presence only follows after the light whispers of the men. Her body is frail and weighs next to nothing- muscles loosely cover the bones of her arms. She doesn’t make a sound, only drags a large clump of tangled hair on the ground. The strands tenderly touch the hard dirt as her fingers desperately reach out. I sneak up behind her. My eyes catch the movement when Lonnie turns back around again to check on me. In an instant, he perceives the dirty decomposed face yearning for his flesh and the swing of my beautiful crimson hammer through the air and into the woman’s skull. The sharp edge buries deep into the remains of her brain as she stills. I quickly place my foot on her back. The easy snapping of bone does not stop me from separating her head from her neck with my matching weapon. The axe’s blade comes away with a thick brown goo. I stare at the substance.

“Geez, Millie,” Lonnie says, removing the infected head still attached to my hammer. “You okay?”

He tosses it into the thick briars nearby.

“Sure,” I reply, motioning to the torso.

The goo seeps out from the woman’s neck.

“She started following you. Didn’t even see me.” I comment and look into Lonnie’s concerned face.

His wavy hair sticks to his forehead with sweat. The sense of humor and lightness I always associated with him is gone. He resembles his twin more in this moment than he ever has.

“You walk in front of me. No questions asked.”

My temper flares.

“Why do guys always feel I need to walk in front of them?”

Lonnie’s voice hardens, “I said no questions asked.”

“We’ve been tracking for hours and that’s the only infected I’ve seen.”

He opens his mouth to argue.

“No,” I stop him and point at his stern face. “That wasn’t a question.”

His eyes narrow on me.

“Do y’all smell smoke?” I hear Daniel’s voice in the distance.

They’re far ahead of us now, not realizing the commotion that had just taken place. Jay stands between us bow ready, head snapping back and forth between us. I run toward them wishing to smell anything besides the rancid stench of the infected lying on the ground. Lonnie sprints close behind me.

I come to a stop beside Jay and sniff. A slight odor of smoke drifts on the wind.

“Yeah, That’s smoke,” I say, answering Daniel’s question.

I peer into the sky for any signs of where it’s coming from.

“I can’t see anything with all these trees.” I remark, annoyed.

My eyes flick to the ground when a branch snaps. Expecting to find an infected, I draw my unclean weapons, readying myself to strike- only to find Bryan kicking away a dead branch.

“I’ll climb a tree. Wouldn’t be the first time today.” Bryan comments, grabbing a hold of a low hanging limb.

He skillfully climbs up the old oak until the thick limbs obscure my view of him.

“Wonder what’s on fire,” Daniel says.

“The smell is too strong to be a camp fire,” Lonnie replies, wiping the sweat from his brow.

I lift my sight to the large branches. Eventually, Bryan swings down and lands with a heavy thump.

“It isn’t far ahead.” He points in a direction through the heavy trees. “We need to go that way.”

Lightly rubbing his left wrist, he winces.

“Did you hurt yourself?” I ask already knowing the answer.

“I think I’m becoming an old man.” Bryan says and gives a light chuckle. He begins to stretch out the injured hand.

“All the more reason to come back with us to the prison.” I say.

He gives me a knowing glance.

“We’ll see, Millie.”

I smile slightly at his expression knowing he’s humoring me. Bryan had been nothing but kind and I was extremely grateful. 

“Let’s go,” Lonnie speaks up, interrupting us.

Jay follows behind him with his bow facing down. My eyes connect with Daniel’s as he passes by and remains silent. We continue to travel through the woods as the smoke thickens in the air.

“This smoke doesn’t smell right,” Jay comments, breaking our silence.

“It smells…” Lonnie pauses breathing in deep, “metallic or coppery,” he finishes.

“We’re close,” I say stopping, “should we split up in two groups?”

Daniel shakes his head and says, “The smoke is right beyond the hill. We should stay together.”

Lonnie nods.

As a group, we sneak up the steep hill. I cringe every time a branch snaps or leaves crackle. When we reach the top, I catch sight of cult members below and hide behind the trunk of a large oak tree. The others do the same. My breath quickens as I peer beyond the trees. In front of us is a small clearing surrounded by pines. A creek winds through the meadow giving the landscape an almost serene appeal if not for the horror unfolding within it’s borders. Bile rises within my throat.  

Below seven men stand. They are filthy, encrusted with mud and God knows what else. Only two are clean wearing thick cloaks and the familiar crow masks. The taller of the two has a cloak made of patched material and stands menacingly in front of Carter while the other I recognize from earlier has a deep blue cloak. He wears the thick cloth with an air of confidence.
The leader?

Both faces are hidden by the leather masks and heavy hoods draping their heads. I still, frozen in fear, as the leader steps away from the billowing smoke. What I see is something I will never be able to erase from my mind. A blackened human body, not yet fully consumed by fire, sits with arms strapped above the remains of his head. I realize now why the smoke smelled differently, the odor of burning flesh and hair. The man had been lit on fire and watched as he burned to death. The realization leaves me immobile.

One of the filthy men, steps up to the still smoking body and splashes a bucket full of water on the corpse.

“Be cleansed,” he says as the body sizzles- smoke swells causing me to retch beside the tree I hide behind.

“You have an unclean soul, my friend,” the taller cloaked man says to Carter. “You see now what we do to unclean souls.”

The men behind him snickers. Carter visibly shakes before his abductors, grunting words behind his gag.

“It's okay,” the mask mans says smoothly. “You told us all we needed to know. Relax.”

The man pulls out a small blade and places it snugly under Carter’s chin. He gives a disturbed mocking laugh under his mask. Drawing a thin line of blood, he backs away and turns his back on his victim.

Carter begins to struggle with his bindings. The man in the blue cloak turns at the sounds of the scuffle and pushes past his companion. With lightning fast speed he kicks out at Carter’s chest sending him flying backwards. The scout lands hard on the ground with a strangled cry, rolling back in forth in pain. He gasps frantically for air when I notice the dark spots of blood staining his shirt.
Someone had stabbed him.

I gaze over to Lonnie with a panic expression. He mirrors my fear with apprehension. Jay places a hand on his shoulder and motions for me to stay down. I nod understanding we must act as a team. We’d done several drills involving team work when Lonnie and Jay occasionally joined Connor’s class. Daniel, however, saw things differently. He shakes his head and draws two large knives from his sheaths- sweat dripping down his forehead.

Lonnie mouths the word, “No” but there is nothing he can do.

Reaching out, I’m about to grasp Daniel’s shirt when I’m distracted by a roar of laughter. A second fire flickers to life. Carter renews his struggling, desperately attempting to break free from the two men restraining him. Fresh smoke leisurely escapes from beneath a pile of dry wood. A stripped tree trunk of a small pine stands secured within the middle of the kindling. I watch in horror as the men drag Carter toward the growing fire.

“Don’t worry,” the cloaked man says, “Your soul will be cleansed from the infected’s bite.”

They hang him high on the tree, the flames barely touching his feet.
He was bitten?
Carter once again struggles and Daniel reacts.  There are a few times in my life when time has moved slowly. One being when I was younger, I fell off the prison’s bordering fences almost breaking my arm. Lonnie had dared me to climb over and pick some of the muscadines growing just a few yards away. It was before he and Jay had joined the scouts, before we could ever imagine something like the gruesome infecteds. I remember reaching the very top and swinging my leg over on the other side. I’d felt more free with the prison below me than I’d ever felt. The air smelled fresher, the color of the trees, greener and as I fell off the top, the world slowed down and the ground felt harder as I landed.

At this moment in time my surroundings slow once again as Daniel charges ahead into the group of cult members. His fierce expression, one of a man who has something to prove. My vision sharpens, my body grows lighter and I follow after him, waiting to experience again the same impact I’d had on that day so long ago.

With my grip tightened around my weapons, I race down into the meadow. I cram all my fear and dread down into the pit of my stomach and allow only my fury to rise. I channel the intense emotions just like Connor had taught me and strike out at the first man I come to. He is stocky and more filthy than I’d realized before. I fly toward him with the element of surprise. When I near him, I spin quickly gaining momentum and slice my axe with perfect precision through his neck. It isn’t enough to behead him but it’s enough to kill him instantly. His bright red blood splashes onto my clothes but I don’t slow down. Instead, I add his soul to the many who will haunt my days if I live past this event in my life. I turn to face another man, already in action. His hands encircle around my throat and squeezes. I strike out with my blade and barely miss the bulge of his belly. The grip constricts, sending pain throughout my nerve endings. I try again, slicing only air. Dark spots begin to speckle my vision as I listen to the distant sounds of fighting.

I choke out a gasp of surprise when an arrow flies and strikes the stranger in the center of his forehead. The diseased smelling man falls to the ground in shock, releasing my neck in the process. I cough, venturing to focus on the scene around me. The sound of metal upon metal fills my ears and I strike out again with my axe. The blade lands at the base of a man’s neck. When he screams, Daniel rams the point of his knife into his eye. The man drops to the ground, motionless.

“Run Millie get Carter!” He howls through the grunts and yelling of the men around us.

Daniel’s blood soaked clothes give him a savage appearance, wild and deadly. Looking past him, flames leap out catching Carter’s struggling legs on fire. The gag still in his mouth muffles his cry of pain.

“Carter!” I cry and rush forward.

Daniel follows dodging Lonnie who punches a man in his gut repeatedly before he falls to the ground. As I draw nearer to Carter, a flash of color catches my attention. The figure in the deep blue cloak steps in my pathway. We both come to a halt. He lifts a long blade in my direction, readying to strike but before he can, the other cloaked man lashes out at me first.

I block the attack with my hammer and counter with my butterfly axe. He reflects my hit but not my second swing. The point of my hammer buries itself in the hollow of his neck. He screams in agony as blood spurts onto my shirt. I jerk at my weapon, striving to release it from the man’s flesh. He billows in torment and passes out from the pain. His weight collapsing against my smaller frame causes my feet to stumble as Daniel sprints toward the blue cloak, knife in hand.

“No!” I scream, throwing my unconscious attacker to the ground.

The masked man pulls a small bottle out from under his blue cloak and shatters the liquid onto Carter’s chest. Flames flash and a sound of pure agony echoes throughout the meadow. Daniel reaches the stranger with a roar and lunges. His gore covered knife is met with a short-handle sickle and wrenched away. A matching weapon appears out of nowhere and slices through Daniel’s chest as he jumps unsteadily back. Taking advantage of an opportunity the stranger sweeps out, kicking Daniel’s legs out from underneath him. He falls back, his head hitting the unyielding surface of a half buried rock.

I throw my axe at the retreating blue cloak, leaving myself defenseless. The metal spins, end over end, in the air striking a tree trunk as the figure darts in avoidance. I curse and dash toward Daniel’s body grabbing one of his knives. I aim again but I’m not skilled enough to strike home. The blue cloak fades then disappears among the trees. Instead of following him, I search for the water pail I had seen earlier.

“Hold on!” I yell but when I reach it, I’m too late.

Flames devour Carter’s flesh, his gag now burned away can no longer muffle his screams. They’re loud and piercing- the vocalization of every paralyzing fear known but unspoken. An arrow pierces his brain silencing his suffering. Carter’s body sags on the ignited tree as the flames engulf his corpse. The only sound left is the popping of fresh branches burning. A horrible smell of copper and metallic fills the air and I lose what little food I’ve eaten in the last few hours. Heaving on my knees, I wait for death’s touch. Surely he wouldn’t pass me over after witnessing this kind of evil. Nothing makes sense anymore as I gape unbelievingly at Carter’s remains. I no longer hear the clashing of weapons or the birds’ songs- I don’t hear anything. I don’t feel anything.

A bloodied Jay comes to stand above me. His injured hand rest on my shoulder.

“I had to,” He says softly.

I sniff and try to hold onto my tears or my sanity.

“Bryan, get some water from the guy’s bucket,” Jay continues as I shake from my shock.

A barely bloody Bryan dips the bucket into the cool stream.

“No, let him burn,” I whisper. “We don’t have time bury him,” I pause “it’s not a luxury in the red zone anymore.”

I view his blackened body through the watery blur in my eyes.

“Let him burn,” I repeat.

Pressure encloses around my arm and I’m dragged to my feet.

“We’ll bury Carter and Daniel. Don’t let this place take away what is the right thing to do.”

I feel the pressure of a wet cloth on my face. Jay wipes a splatter of sticky blood off of my skin.

“We have to get home while we still can,” I say as he dips the dirty cloth into the water.

I think of my father and the childish way I left him as the blood dilutes inside the pale. Jay doesn’t say another word until my face is somewhat clean.

“You will get home, I promise and we’ll figure out a way to survive.”

He isn’t gentle when he pulls me into his arms. I embrace him and cry into the dampness of his shoulder. He doesn’t whisper anymore encouragements or his normal insults to me and I respect him more for it. When I freed myself from his silent strength, I kneel beside Daniel. He lies on the ground, blood slowly flowing from his head wound. Reaching down, I examine the damage. Daniel moans.

“Oh my God!” I franticly rip at his shirt exposing the slice where the sickle blade struck his chest. “He’s still alive!” I shout. Blood runs down his skin but the cut is shallow. “That’s not deep at all.”

I smile down at his now open eyes and laugh through my tears.

“Good to know,” Daniel mutters, squinting his eyes up at me.

“You are one lucky bastard,” Jay says from above us.

Daniel begins to sit up but I stop him, “No, don’t move. Let me bandage you up.”

I reach into my supply bag and pull out some of the bandages and gauze I’d taken from the plane.

“Bryan, let me have some of that water,” I say.

The bucket of cold water appears beside me and I hurry to wash away the blood from Daniel’s skin. He grunts in pain as I work.

“Carter’s dead,” I confirm, experiencing the need to say the words out loud.

I bandage his head and ask Jay to apply pressure to his chest. Daniel remains silent. Soon as I’m finished, he stands shakily and watches the remaining fire intake Carter’s body. Emotion stirs inside me like the winds of a bad storm. Sorrow, grief, anger and something so cold to name, stirs in the depths of my consciousness.     

“You will be cleansed,” a weak voice moans from the meadow’s floor.

My head snaps in the direction of the injured cloaked man. His leg shifts as he lets out a low moan. The crimson handle of my tipped hammer protrudes from his neck.
He’s bleeding out.
Without a moment of hesitation, I march over to where he lays dying.

The leather mask no longer looks as frightening as before. I study the large stitching on the beak stained by blood. The heavy hood billows against the ground revealing a head of pure white hair. I think of Tom and instantly grind my teeth.

“Maybe you should be cleansed,” I say, infuriated.

I don’t wait for an answer. I straddle his chest restraining his arms by his side but there is no need. He’s too weak to harm me. In a gush of adrenaline I rip at the mask, hearing the snap of bands holding it in place. The leather form comes away easy enough, disclosing the old man underneath.

His skin has the appearance of wrinkled parchment, worn but yet still well maintained. Bushy eyebrows illustrate a confused expression on his face. His eyes follow an escaped strand of my hair as if transfixed.

“You’re just a man,” I grit out. “What right do you have to kill another person?” I punch him hard in the face and feel the skin of my knuckles split. “Who do you think you are to steal another’s life?”

My hand finds the hard handle of my hammer. The old man stares, baffled. He stutters on his words as his eyes widen.

“Red,” he finally whispers.

I remove my beret and let my hair fall past my shoulders in a thick braid. His eyes grow even larger.

“Yeah, that’s right. You’re about to die at the hands of a girl,” I spit into his face and remove the hammer.

Blood gushes out from his neck soaking the ground. He won’t last long with so much blood lost. I lean down into his face.

“And just so you know, I won’t be taking your head. If there’s any chance you’d become infected, I want you to be what you hate or at least be whole when the infected fest on your flesh.”

He begins to murmur as his eyes roll back into his head. I lean in closer to hear.

“We came for you,” he whispers “and I found you.” He begins to quietly laugh, then chokes on his own blood.

I scurry across the ground away from his dying words. They repeat themselves in my head as he takes his last breath. I’m the reason Carter is dead? I refuse to believe. I’m not the one who attacked, captured and ignited the flames. Uncertain, I stare at the man’s body and crow mask.

“What did he say Millie?”

The words come again but I don’t respond. Instead, my confusion gives way to anger. The fury radiates off my skin, blinding me from rational thought. I embrace the madness that courses through me and hold on tightly to strength the fury lends. As I force my legs to straighten and remain steady, I realize that in my whole life I’ve never truly hated anyone or anything until now. The anger settles in my veins, fortifying my resolve to get home alive. I grab one of the cult members’ long knives and bury the jagged edge deep into the man’s chest.

Chapter Twenty-Four

My shoes slam onto the hard dirt as we run through the tough terrain. Having decided to stay away from the main roads, we race among the trees. Branches and briars tear at my skin and clothing. Jay pushes a flimsy limb out of his path. I have to duck in order not to be slapped in the face.

“Watch it,” I say, breathing heavily and straightening my supply bag.

Normally, he would chuckle and give me some kind of smart retort but not right now, not when we can’t be sure if someone is tracking us.

An infected appears within our trail. It’s a child, maybe a teenager. The clothes are ragged and soaked in dry blood. Jay slices his knife through its neck as he runs by not even bothering to stop. The young boy falls into the pine needles, blocking my path. I jump over the body noticing that blood doesn’t seep from his separated head.

“We need to rest Lonnie,” I call out trying to focus on my breathing, each step sends spikes of pain up my legs.

I don’t even understand how Daniel can keep up but he does, barely. Fear is the greatest motivator. My ribs hurt but not as much as my lungs.

I gasp out, “We’ve been running for too long.”

I  wipe the sweat from my face, blinking rapidly to clear my spotted vision. I stop abruptly from running to lean against a dead tree. I’ve trained for months, jogging everyday, but this was different. I didn’t train to be jumping over dead bodies and swerving through trees.

“We can’t stop now.”

Lonnie grabs my arm and jerks me away from the tree’s trunk, pieces of bark fall to the ground.

“Do you want me to pass out?” I ask, resting my hands on my knees and giving him the best evil stare I can rally.

He looks at me with concern mixed with an edge of panic. Daniel catches up. His hand quickly reaches straight to his head as if he is wanting to keep it attached and breaths in raggedly. He’s pale and stumbles, righting himself with the help of a nearby tree.

“She’s right,” Jay says, his breathing matching mine. “We’ve got to stop. We’re far enough away now we should arrive home before nightfall.”

“What makes you so sure about that?” Lonnie replies. “We can stay ahead of the weather if we keep going.”