A Lucky Find

by Sage du Toit

  She wanted to go with them and find the kittens but she knew the guns were more important at this point. Tom would make sure the kittens were ok. Sam looked around for Lucky and saw her running into the house behind Tom, she was probably going to find her kittens.

  Chapter 17

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  The women were all released and given clothes. They were allowed to clean up and get dressed and then they were reunited with their children. Meagan made everyone food and they all ate in a hurry. Tom told them they didn’t have much time. There were eight more men out there and they didn’t know when they were going to be back. They talked a little with the women and got their names but they didn’t have time to listen to their stories yet. They gave each of them a gun and gave them quick instructions on use and safety. Most of them already knew how to use a gun and were happy to be armed against their captors.

  They made a plan and set up an ambush for the returning groups. Their best hope was that the groups would return at different times. Each group left in a truck so they should easily hear and see them before they got there.

  They were all hiding in the garage behind the closed doors. Sam behind one of the closed doors with three of the women and Tom behind the other door with four of the women. The eighth woman was Megan and she was in Alice’s room upstairs with the kids, the kittens and Lucky. The kittens had all been fine. The kids were having a good time playing with them and they were proving to be a good distraction in the current situation.

  They didn’t have to wait long and the first group pulled up and parked directly in front of the open garage door. Sam watched Tom closely, waiting for his signal. She heard two doors shut and saw four shadows approach the garage opening. Sam glanced behind her at the woman and they all had their guns up and ready to point at the men as instructed.

  Sam looked back at Tom and he gave her the signal just as the men reached the garage door opening. They all stepped out into the opening and Tom said, “Hands up!”

  The four men were very surprised and two of them dropped the bags they were carrying and raised their hands straight up into the air, the other two dropped their bags and went for the guns on their belts. Sam shot the one closest to her in the chest and Tom took the other one out with a clean shot to the forehead. Both men dropped to the ground and the other two men looked like they were trying to raise their hands even higher.

  The remaining two men were disarmed and taken into the house and secured with duct tape for the time being. They would have to decide what to do with them later. Alice was left inside with the two men to guard them. The two men that were shot were carried over and piled up with the other two dead men at the back of the far garage and covered up with a large blanket.

  Sam found a tarp and used it to cover up the two blood spots at the front of the garage and they set up for the second set of men, hoping it would go just as easy as the first.

  They had to wait awhile before they heard the second truck coming down the road. It was getting close to dark so Sam was relieved when it pulled up in the drive. The second truck parked in front of the furthest garage door, where they had piled the dead men inside. Megan told them they used that bay to park one of the trucks in so they were expecting them to park there.

  Their plan was the same as before but as the men were unloading from the truck, Sam heard one of them say, “Y’all start unloading, I gotta take a piss.” Sam knew this was going to be a problem, if they separated, the one off by himself could get away or even possibly shoot back at them before they could surprise him.

  Sam looked to Tom to see what he wanted to do. He quickly signed to her in sign language, telling her to have all of the women move back and wait. Sam whispered to the woman next to her, which was Sherry, the woman that had been Will’s captive. Sam was very curious what her story was, the woman was bone thin but she could see the strength and drive in her eyes.

  They all moved up against the garage doors where the dark shadows covered them and waited. Sam couldn’t even see Tom and his group. The sun was already going down and the garage space had no lanterns or lights of any kind.

  She heard footsteps approaching the garage and two men walked inside the open door carrying a large box between them. “It’s dark as a dungeon in here!” Turning back toward the truck he yelled, “Rick, bring a flashlight, if we ain’t careful we gonna break our necks in here!”

  Sam couldn’t help but think that was likely going to happen anyway if they gave them a fight. The two men stood in the door waiting for the third to bring a light. They both bent over to set the large heavy box down and Sam saw a shadow coming out from the opposite side behind one of the men. Sam took a quick glance out of the door and didn’t see anyone else coming yet.

  Just as the two men were standing back up, Sam took the hockey stick she had leaned against the door and wacked the man closest to her on the back of the head with all of her strength. She wasn’t trying to kill him, she just wanted to knock him out. The stick connecting with his head made a sharp cracking sound and he fell to the floor.

  Sam looked across at the other man and saw that Tom had him in a tight head lock with his hand over his mouth to keep him quiet. Sam knew from past experiences with Tom that the man would be unconscious for a while. Sam anxiously grabbed an ankle of the man she had knocked out and was trying to drag his body out of sight when a third man walked into the garage opening with a flashlight.

  “Wha’ was dat sound, you break yo neck already Jack? Hey! Wha’s goin on in here?”, the man that Sam assumed must be Rick, shined the flashlight straight at her. He immediately went for his gun with his other hand, but before he could get it pulled out a thin shadow appeared behind him and Sam heard a loud crack as his body dropped to the ground with the flashlight dropping and spinning around to shine directly on Sherry. She was standing over the man’s body with the hockey stick raised up in the air, ready to strike again.

  Before Sam could stop her, the woman swung the hockey stick down and began to repeatedly beat the man in the back of the head. Sam noted that the woman’s arms were just as thin as the stick but her rage fueled her the strength she needed to hit with force. The flashlight reviled Sherry’s face had a maddened look and Sam was hesitant to approach her, afraid that she might turn the stick and hit her with it in her blinding rage.

  Luckily Sam didn’t have to worry, the woman stopped when Sam picked up the flashlight and turned it off. The light coming in the garage door was enough to show the man’s head was a bloody mess, he wouldn’t be getting up.

  They still had a fourth man that was outside and they didn’t know where he was or if he had heard any of the commotion from inside the garage. They had been relatively quiet, but in the quiet of the oncoming night, sounds traveled easily.

  Tom stood at the edge of the garage door and looked toward the truck and the woods where the fourth man had walked off toward. He handed the shot gun to Sam and signed to her, telling her to keep the women hidden behind the doors and he exited the garage at a low crouch with his pistol drawn.

  The women all moved back to hide in the shadows behind the closed garage door. Sherry was visibly shaking and Bonnie, one of the other captive women that was behind the door with them, took her in her arms and held her tight. Sherry was quietly crying on the other woman’s shoulder as she stroked her hair. Sam knew these women had been through hell and she hoped they would recover. Sherry had just taken revenge on one of the men that had done some terrible things to them, hopefully it would help her recovery and not damage it.

  They waited and listened, hoping Tom would find the other man. Sam thought through the men they had taken and realized the last man was the one that had the sword strapped across his back. Sam knew that Tom had trained in several different fighting skills as an Army Ranger but she didn’t know if he knew how to fight against a sword. Of course, a gun had a much further range, so he did have that advantage. The sun was down and there still wa
sn’t a sound.

  Sam was starting to worry that the man might have gotten away when she heard a sudden grunt off in the distance and then the shuffling sound of men struggling. There wasn’t a gun fire that Sam was hoping to hear and the sounds were too far away for her to be certain of exactly what was happening or who was winning.

  The sounds suddenly stopped and Sam waited with her breath held. Was Tom alright? She thought about using the flashlight she had recovered but if the man was still alive, it would betray her location. She also couldn’t shout out to Tom for the same reason. Sam nervously waited and in the shadows of the darkening night she saw a figure stumble out of the woods and toward the garage. As the figure got closer, she recognized the shape, it was Tom and he was hurt!

  Sam raced over, no longer worried about the other man. If Tom was returning then that had to mean that the other man was dead. Sam turned on the flashlight and shined it on Tom. The light revealed that he was injured, he was holding his hand over the outside of his upper left thigh and she saw he was also bleeding from a cut across his upper left arm. She grabbed his other arm and helped him get inside.

  Her only concern now was Tom. She had learned a lot from him medically and she knew he needed treatment fast. Once inside the house she retrieved Tom’s bag from where he had stashed it and removed his medical kit. She cleaned his wounds and after consulting him he told her she would need to sew the leg wound but the shoulder wound could be closed with butterfly tape.

  Sam was a little nervous, Tom was awake and watching her closely. She knew the stitches were going to hurt but as she sewed the wounds edges together, Tom didn’t make a sound. She occasionally glanced at his face and she could see that he was clamping his jaw. Once she was done, she looked over the stitches, counting ten in total. Tom nodded at her and gave her a lopsided grin and she taped a bandage over it.

  The woman in the house had stood around and watched without saying anything. These two people had come in and saved them all from a group of vicious and disturbed men. They owed them their freedom and probably their lives. They were also uncertain of what to do next. The men had controlled them for so long, they didn’t know where to go from here.

  Once Sam was certain that Tom was going to be alright, she looked around at the woman. She could see the uncertainty in their faces and how lost and scared they all looked. She knew it was going to take time but she had an idea that putting them to work would help them all get over the shock of what happened to them.

  Sam counted heads and saw that Meagan had brought the children down as well. Someone had rekindled the fire in the large fireplace and Sherry was handing out blankets to everyone.

  Sam realized that Alice must still be in the back room with their captives. Sam told Tom she was going to go check on the kittens and Lucky and then they could all sit down and talk about what was going to happen next. She asked Meagan if she could make them all something warm to drink and maybe snack. Almost all of the women and children needed additional nutrition.

  The kittens and Lucky were still upstairs in Alice’s room. They were all cuddled together on top of Alice’s bed sleeping. Sam noted there was food and water set out for them and a clean litterbox. She was very happy they had been taken care off but most importantly, they were all together again. She took a few minutes to catch her breath and pet each of them. Mew stretched and rolled over on her back when Sam petted her and then upon seeing it was Sam she mewed and ran over to her. Stretching up and wanting to climb up and get in the front of Sam’s shirt, which was her comfort spot. Sam let her sit there a few minutes and soaked in the purrs. It had been a long stressful day and she needed the comfort as well.

  After spending a few long, and much needed minutes, she said goodbye to the kittens and headed back downstairs. She stopped to look in on Alice and the four men they had apprehended and was surprised to find the room empty. She quickly headed to the great room and saw the prisoners had all been moved in there and were secured to four wooden chairs from the dining room. It looked like the women might have gone overboard with the tape, they had taped each leg to a leg of the chair and the men’s hands were taped together and then tape was wrapped around their torso and arms, securing them to the tall backs of the chairs. They also had tape over their upper legs, securing them to the seat of the chair. However, none of them had tape over their mouths. That was because the women were actually giving them something to eat and drink. They were probably already being treated better than any of these women had been treated.

  Sam found Tom and he explained that he instructed the women how to properly secure the men until they could decide what to do with them. He asked how Lucky and the kittens were and Sam had to smile, she was so relieved they had found them. They still didn’t have all of their supplies, but the most important thing to her had been recovering the kittens.

  Tom was sitting on the couch, directly in front of the fireplace and all of the women were sitting around in the other chairs and on the floor as well. Most of the children were sitting in their mom’s laps, wrapped in warm blankets and being held close. None of the children had been seriously hurt and luckily none of them had been molested either.

  Meagan brought Sam a hot cup of chocolate she had saved for her and gave her a snack package of cookies. There was no shortage of food supplies in the house. The men had raided and brought back tons of food from all of the local shops and stores. Anything nonperishable had been brought back to the house.

  Sam glanced at her watch and saw that it was just after eight, it felt much later to her since so much had happened. Once everyone was settled in and the fire refreshed, Sam knew they couldn’t put it off any longer, it was time to talk and decide what to do with the men. She was also interested in hearing the stories of each of the woman.

  Chapter 18

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  They were all sitting quietly and looking toward Tom and Sam. Sam looked at Tom and he nodded to her to go ahead. She had expected him to speak, but then she realized these women were probably going to respond better to her than a man after all they had been through.

  Sam took a small sip of her hot chocolate and cleared her throat, then she started speaking, “Wooo! What a day! Just a few days ago I was down and out with the flu. I never would have guessed that the events that have taken place over the last few days would have happened or would have led us here.”

  Sam paused to look around at all of the women and some of the children that were intently listening to her. “We are so sorry for the bad things that have happened to you but let me assure you that in this new world, you are not alone. There are other good people out there, but there are also still a lot of bad people like these men that have been holding all of you captive. I’m just glad that we were able to free y’all and that none of you got hurt in that process.

  “I would like to hear your stories of how you ended up here and how you survived the nerve gas. There are so few survivors and everyone seems to have a unique story. But I think first we need to talk about these men and what we are going to do with them.” Sam looked fixedly at the four men and saw that two of them were sheepishly looking down and not at her and the other two were glaring at her with hatred.

  Alice spoke up, “I want to say Thank you to both you and Tom for coming along when you did. My family was taken captive by these men about a month ago and we were all separated. My niece, Violet, told us that our Mother took good care of them…”, Alice’s voice broke and Sam saw tears streaming from her eyes and when she looked around, she saw the other four sisters were crying as well. “The fact that she passed away just last night is hard for us to take in, but she had a heart condition and needed medication. Which is how we ended up being captured by these men, because we left the farm to go find meds for Mom.”

  Alice glanced at the men, and Sam saw she was looking at one man in particular. Sam recognized him as one of the ones that surrendered to them from the first group of men
that returned. He had cooperated with them with almost a look of relief on his face. Alice continued on, “I can’t really speak of these other men. Once we were brought here, we were all kept separate. I was given to Craig after we were captured, I was his reward because he led them all to this house and showed them where to go to get supplies because he is from this area. What I can tell you is that Craig only did what he had to in order to survive. He was pretty much stuck with this group of rapists and murderers because he stole from the people that had owned this house and they used their influence to send him to the high security prison instead of a low security prison where he should have been sent.

  “He never raped me or abused me, he never even touched me. He treated me with respect and apologized constantly for not being able to help my sisters. We talked about it all of the time, what we could do to leave here. He even offered to take me off somewhere else, but I wasn’t about to leave my sisters and their children. I think it would be safe to let him go, if he wants to stay with me, I would be willing to take responsibility for him if everyone is comfortable with that. I can’t say anything else about these other three men, I know nothing about them.”

  Sam waited a few moments to see if anyone wanted to speak up. Then she said, “Do any of you other women want to speak up for these other men?” The women looked around at each other and then Sherry cleared her throat.

  “The worst of these men are dead. I probably know these men better than anyone here. And I can tell you that none of them are good. Craig may have treated Alice right, but he never did anything to help anyone else. Craig has always been about himself. He just stood back and watched, and in my opinion that’s just as bad as doing the deed. I also know that Craig didn’t tell you the whole story Alice. As with almost all things, there is always two sides to a story.” Sherry was glaring at Craig and the other men with fire in her eyes that would have burned them alive if she could.