A Lucky Find

by Sage du Toit

  A frustrated man’s voice was slightly raised in anger, “I’m not gonna tell you again! Use that bucket of water and clean yo’rself! I don’ care if it’s cold, you stink! You are not gonna get anythin’ to eat until you are clean! Do you hear me?” The door slammed shut and they heard someone stomping down the hall and past the door they were hiding behind.

  Tom had pulled the door all the way closed when the other door shut, but he still had his hand on the handle. As soon as the steps passed by, Tom eased the door back open a crack. Sam looked through the crack with Tom and could see a tall skinny man with short black hair walking away from them. The man had a gun on each hip and a rifle strapped across his back. He appeared to be packing a lot of firepower. The man disappeared around the corner of the other hallway.

  They heard the man pound on a door down the hallway, “Rob! Get up man! We got stuff ta do! Get yo’ woman out here to make breakfast fo’ ereyone!” Sam had a feeling they were going to be stuck in the closet for a while. Tom was still looking out the small opening, and with the light from the crack Sam looked around the closet again. She pushed the single jacket to the far wall of the closet and eased her bag off and then put it back on from the front. It wasn’t the best way to wear her bug out bag, but she wanted to have better control of Lucky. She also wanted to make sure she stayed quiet, because she was quietly growling, just loud enough that Sam could hear it.

  With the jacket pushed out of the way, there was a little more room. She backed up and noticed something in the dark corner of the other side of the closet, next to Tom. It looked like some kind of tall stick, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Tom was intently watching the hallway and they could still hear the man’s voice, but it was muffled and they couldn’t hear what he was saying. Sam slid down the side wall and sat down on the floor of the closet. She discovered she could see through the crack better, they both watched out, peering through the crack Tom had left in the barely open door. Sam hoped no one noticed the door wasn’t shut.

  A short time later they heard the rattle of a chain and the same man came back toward them down the hall, he was pulling the skinny naked woman they had seen through the window. She was still handcuffed to the chain and he was dragging her with it. The frail woman could barely walk and Sam could see that she was visibly shivering but Sam wasn’t sure it was just from the cold, she looked petrified with fear.

  The man roughly pulled her into the great room and shoved her down in front of the fireplace. “Make a fire, and don’t get any ideas, I’m watching you closely.”, he growled at her. The chain was a long heavy chain and he sat down on a couch facing the fireplace, holding the end of the chain, while he watched the woman build a fire from the remaining coals that were in the fireplace. The closet was directly across the room from the fireplace so they still had a clear view.

  Tom pulled back from the door and pulled Sam up from the floor. There was just enough light from the crack for her to see his hands. He said they were going to make a break for it down the hall toward the room the man had come from originally. Once they were out of the closet and in the hall, they should be out of his sight. While he was distracted by the woman at the fireplace, they should be safe to get by.

  Sam reached around Tom and grabbed the stick in the corner. It was a long hockey stick. They had their hand guns and the shotgun from the truck, but she thought the stick might come in handy to knock someone out quietly, if they got the chance. They were just about to open the door when they heard another door open from down the hall.

  They looked back out and saw a second man coming down the hall, this one was short and bald, with a long thick scar going down the left side of his face from his ear to his chin. Sam couldn’t think but what an ugly man he was and she wasn’t even looking at the scar, he had a mean ugly look to his face. Following behind him was a timid looking woman wearing a thin dress. She also had a long chain that was wrapped around her waist that he was leading her by, almost like a well-trained dog. When they got to the arched opening right before the great room he reached back and cuffed the woman across the head. The woman didn’t even try to duck, she just flinched and took the hit.

  “Get in there and make breakfast for everyone. Make sure you make enough…” he grabbed her by the front of the dress and pulled her close to his face as he finished snarling his instructions into her ear.

  Just then they heard a thundering of footsteps coming down stairs from somewhere in the house. More men were streaming into the great room from the far side. They were joking around and pushing each other around. The bald man pushed the woman into what Sam assumed was the kitchen and followed behind her. They heard the chain rattling and then he joined the rest of the men that had piled into the great room. Sam counted eight more men. That was ten men in total.

  They had almost made a mistake going out into the hall. Looked like they were going to be stuck in the closet, playing peeping tom. All the men were armed to the teeth and one of them even had a sword strapped across his back.

  Tom pulled back from the door and quietly shut it. The men were making enough noise that Sam wasn’t worried about any noise they made, as long as they were careful. She just hoped they wouldn’t be stuck in the closet all day. They must have entered the house just before this group of roughnecks started their morning. That’s why there wasn’t any sound or movement. They were all still asleep. Sam thought about it and wondered why they didn’t have a lookout or guards. She thought with an operation like this they would have something like that. Unless they thought there was no one out there to fight against them. They must think so…but if so, why were they all armed to the teeth.

  They waited a few minutes to make sure no one noticed the door. There was light coming through gaps at the top and bottom of the door, so it was just enough to see once her eyes adjusted. Tom saw the hockey stick in her hands and took it from her and carefully wedged it down through the door handle and across the frame of the door. No one was getting that door open from the other side without ripping the handle off.

  They sat down on the floor of the closet, one on each side, and Sam let Lucky out of the bag. She laid down in Sam’s lap, but didn’t purr. She seemed to sense that something wasn’t right, but hiding in a closet wasn’t their normal thing, so maybe it wasn’t so odd for Lucky to realize.

  They sat and listened, trying to pick words out of the mixture of voices. Sam listened to them taunt the woman that had built the fire. Occasionally she would hear a slapping sound and then hear the woman whimper. She so wanted to go out and rescue the woman. But there were so many well-armed men out there, she knew she didn’t have a chance. They would have to wait and plan. They also hadn’t found out where the kittens or the rest of their stuff was.

  Suddenly a voice sounded out over the rest, Sam recognized it as the first man they saw, “Ok men, we ‘ave some work ta do today, and I don’ wanna see any a ya lazy asses slackin’ off. I want four a ya ta take the stuff we found yesterday and trade it wit’ that group over in Centreville, I ‘ear they started a large indoor garden, sees if ya can trade it for some fresh food, but don’t go overboard on ya bullin’ this time! We want mo’ fresh stuffs when the garden is full!”

  One of the guys popped off and said, “Will, you cravin’ a salad?”

  The rest of the group laughed, including the tall skinny man that Sam now assumed was named Will, “I wouldn’ mind a salad, at least it’s not chili or soup! So, you can take yo’ ass over ta Centreville and get me one! Unless you wan’ ta start plantin’ a garden!”

  The rest of the group laughed and Sam almost forgot these were the bad guys as she started thinking about how good a salad would be.

  “Me and Bob are gonna stay here and manage some stuff around ta house. Ta odder half of ya knuckleheads are gonna hit some of ta stores we still ain’t looted and look ta see if ya can find any other survivors. This here woman we found yesterday gave us a good score.”

  Sam heard the woman cry out and she cringed a
t the sound.

  A nasally sounding voice spoke up, “Will, who’s gonna get the woman? Some of us don’t have a woman anymore.” Sam could hear the eagerness in his voice and wondered what happened to humanity.

  “You knows I promised ‘er yesterday tha’ no one would ‘urt her or her boy when she said she knew where we could get some good stuff. Now…we found that good stash…so I think it only right that we wait awhile…as long as she behaves. If not, then I think a good gang bang will set her right, then I might give her to you Rick, she won’t be worth much, but at least you will ‘ave a woman ta rape all ya want. Ta last one ya had didn’t last long! But that’s also wha’ ya were in ta pen for? Right?”

  The more the man talked the more the group got riled up and the sicker Sam got. She realized she was holding Lucky close to her chest and the cat was quietly purring, trying to comfort her. Sam was remembering the group of men in Fort Jackson that had survived in the prison and how they had raped Elizabeth. She had a feeling this was a similar group of men. There must be a prison facility around here that survived.

  She worked out that it only made sense…they were enclosed with no air-conditioning vents to bring the nerve gas inside. They were locked in and most facilities had gas masks and a large food supply. The fact they weren’t wreaking havoc and were trading with another group showed that the leader was smart. They were off in an area with no one else and were unlikely to be found all the way back here. They had their women locked up and obedient to them.

  Sam remembered the dead bodies and wondered how many of those women had “belonged” to one of these men. Then she wondered how many women were locked up in the house, and where was the woman’s son?

  Sam could smell food and the men quieted down as they ate. It suddenly occurred to Sam why the woman in the bedroom had looked oddly familiar, she was most likely the woman they seen in front of the store yesterday that was with the boy. So, she did tell the men about them…but it was under the threat of harm, and she was just trying to find a way to save herself and her son, but it only stalled the inevitable. Unless of course they were able to rescue her before then. First, they needed to get out of the closet.

  Sam sipped a little water and gave some to Lucky. The men were starting to leave and she was hoping they could get out soon. Sam froze as she heard footsteps stop right in front of the closet, she was afraid they were about to try to open the door. Tom must have thought so to, because he had the shotgun up and ready.

  Then they heard two men talking, “Will, we have a problem. I took those brats their food and that old woman was dead in the bed. She must have died durin’ the night. She kept complainin’ that she didn’t have her meds, but we didn’t think it would make her die.”

  Sam was listening closely and her heart started thumping at the mention of kids. Lucky was turned toward the door with her mouth open, smelling something.

  Will answered the other man, “Well shit! She was too old for anythin’ else but lookin after ‘dos brats. Now wha’ are we goin’ ta do wit’ em?” After a long pause he continued on, “Let me talk wit’ Rob an I’ll let ya know. What about dem kittens we got yesterday? Yo woman taken good care of em? I think they’ll fetch a good trade when dey grown. Did she say if they could make babies?”

  The men started walking away from the closet so she couldn’t hear the other man’s answer. The kittens were here! Sam’s heart was pounding and she wanted to rush out of the closet and go look for them. It was fortunate the two men stopped in front of the closet to talk but remembering the layout of the room she had seen, it was probably the most private, unless someone was hiding in the closet of course.

  They waited until everything was quiet and then Tom listened with his ear against the door. He carefully removed the hokey stick and handed it to Sam. Sam put Lucky back in her bag and decided carrying her on the front would be awkward but worth the effort to keep control of her. Tom saw what she was doing and they took a few minutes to transfer some of her stuff to his bag so her load wouldn’t be so bulky.

  Tom cracked the door open just a small bit and light flooded in the closet. He took a few minutes to observe the room and then opened the door a little further. Sam’s heart was pounding, they could only hope that no one would walk in on them as they were leaving the closet. The other question was which way to go? Should they search the rooms downstairs or upstairs? Sam wanted to find the kittens, but she also wanted to help the women and the children. She just wasn’t sure how to go about doing both things at once with only the two of them.

  Tom headed down the hallway to the right, they were looking for the stairs they had heard all of the men come down. From the conversation they overheard, they were thinking the kittens were probably upstairs. There was an arched entrance leading into a huge kitchen that Sam thought would be chef worthy. The kitchen was surprisingly clean and food items were stacked neatly on the counters and organized.

  They both froze when they saw there was a woman sitting at the center island on a stool. She was wearing a thin dress and her long stringy, blond hair was hanging down and draping over her face. Sam recognized her as the woman the bald man had slapped around. She was slowly eating a bowl of soup. From this angle Sam thought she looked healthy enough, but they couldn’t see her face. At least her arms and legs weren’t bone thin. Sam wondered why the woman didn’t leave. She wasn’t being guarded but her chain was attached to a pole on the center island.

  Tom eased up behind the woman and placed one hand over her mouth and the other around her arms. She didn’t even struggle, she only flinched a little. Sam eased around until the woman could see her and Sam shushed her as Tom removed his hand.

  “We aren’t going to hurt you. We want to help you and find our stolen items and our kittens.” Sam whispered to the woman, hoping she would cooperate with them. Now that Sam could see her face, she understood why she flinched when Tom put his hand over her mouth. The woman’s jaw was swollen and looked like it was probably dislocated. She was probably having a hard time eating.

  The woman grimaced at Sam and shook her head no as she pointed toward the back of the house and then to the upper floor. Sam didn’t know what she was indicating and said, “I don’t understand.”

  Sam signed to Tom, she had a feeling the woman couldn’t talk, her jaw was so badly dislocated. Tom frowned and then spoke quietly to the woman. “I have medical training and can put your jaw back in place so you can talk and eat…but it’s going to hurt when I do it, but I promise you it will feel a lot better afterward…if you agree to help us, I will fix it, right now, do you want me to fix it?”

  The woman nodded emphatically at Tom. Tom looked around the kitchen and said, “Is it safe here right now? Or is there somewhere else we should go so that no one will walk in on us while we are helping you?”

  The woman frowned and tugged on the chain she was attached to and shrugged her shoulders. Tom looked at the chain that was looped around a leg of the island. He smiled slightly and shook his head and then picked up the end of the island and kicked the chain out of the way and quietly lowered it back down. The woman didn’t have the strength to lift the table, but her captor didn’t expect someone to come along that could easily lift the leg and free her.

  The woman’s eyes widened in surprise and she picked up the chain and lead them back into the hall and further down to an opening on the right that had two doors directly across from each other. She opened the door on the right and took them into a bedroom. The bedroom was one of the rooms on the front of the house that had closed curtains. There was a large bed in the center of the room that was neatly made, there was a door on the side of the room that opened to a bathroom and another one that was partially open, revealing a closet.

  The woman locked the door behind them and then stood there, uncertain of what to do. Tom took his pack off and took some latex gloves out and a box of gauze and a bottle of pills. He took two pills and asked her if she thought she could swallow them, he explained they were
just ibuprofen, but would help with the swelling and pain. The woman took the pills and swallowed them without even getting a sip of water.

  Tom had her sit on the bed and he padded his thumbs with lots of gauze, he told them woman, “It’s going to hurt, but please try not to bite down.” He pushed his thumbs to the back of her mouth and felt around the outside of her jaw with his fingers. Sam saw he was slowly applying downward pressure and then she heard a pop. He removed his fingers from the woman’s mouth and slowly moved her jaw up and down.

  He told her she still wouldn’t be able to chew hard foods for a few weeks and she shouldn’t talk loudly or try to open her mouth wide. He advised her that they should probably wrap a bandage around her head to help hold her jaw into place, but he understood if she didn’t want that right now.

  “Thank you so much”, the woman quietly said, “my jaw has been that way for a week. I won’t tell you how it happened…but Rob can be very rough during sex…and before…and after.” She looked pleadingly at Tom, “I want to help y’all, but I don’t know how I can. You don’t understand, they will kill us all if we step out of line. My four sisters are locked upstairs and they have our kids and our Mom, but I don’t know where! They bring the kids to the house one at a time to show us that they are still alive. And every time I cook, I make enough for them too and they take them the food. But we don’t know where they are keeping them! I know they aren’t here in the house, there are three other women besides my sisters here, one of them they just brought in yesterday. I do know your kittens are here! I got to pet and hold them yesterday!”

  The woman looked at Sam with tears in her eyes and she realized this situation was much worse than she thought. The woman dried her tears and continued on, “The kittens are upstairs with my sister Alice, she used to be a vet assistant and I think she is trying to convince Craig to let her keep them. He’s not as bad as most of the others and they listen to him sometimes since he was the one that showed them this place.” Now that she could talk, Sam wondered if there would be any shutting her up, it was like all of it was just spilling out of her. Sam also realized the old woman the men were talking about earlier was probably this woman’s mother…they would have to let her know that her mom had passed away.