Mac takes Tyler from Ken’s protection as Jim arrives. Ken is overcome though. Jim and Mac help Ken, then Jim takes Tyler. Mac picks up Ken, who is bitten. They reach the office where Smitty arrives with Dutch and the others. Inside, Ken dies on the office floor.
The bad guys reach Juliet and the others. Sam cops a hit and argues he was trying to stop them leaving. Bill, or Skoota, as he asked to be called, is gone. The men take the ladies back to the holding tank.
Mac, Smitty, Jim, Dan, Kumiko, Shelli and the kids are locked inside the office building, the infected wandering the school grounds outside. Mac promises to help Jim clean up the school in the morning, and then they’ll head to Mole Creek…
1
January 9, 2014
9:11 pm
Latrobe, Tasmania
Darkness slipped over the junkyard, stealing the faint pinpricks of light from the walls of the rusty steel tank and turning the interior into claustrophobic blackness. Juliet sat with her back against one flaky wall, eyes closed, temple pulsing, her mind churning through vivid memories of the last hours. If she thought the previous day had been disastrous, it had nothing on this. They were held captive by a bunch of lunatic guerrillas, and their two best hopes for survival were a man who was probably getting beaten to death for aiding their escape attempt and another who had a badly hurt ankle as a result of crashing his motorbike. Sam wouldn’t survive his treason, and Bill—or Skoota, as he had asked them to call him—was out wandering the wastelands, alone, injured, and most likely zombie food by now. Jessica had suggested their chance of being rescued was slim at best. Juliet agreed.
The others had retreated to their corners of the tank. Meg lay on her side with her knees drawn to her chest, sobbing. Juliet felt a little sorry for her, despite the way she’d behaved. Some people just didn’t know any better. Lory cried softly most of the time. Jessica had taken Skoota’s place at the wall, looking out through the holes. Juliet sensed the anger boiling in her. The woman had a steely, irrepressible resolve. Despite this, there was little Jessica or any of them could do.
Following their earlier escape attempt, the men had tossed the women back into their prison and laughed as they walked away, dragging Sam by one limp arm. Then they had slammed the rusted, squeaky door behind them, and Juliet immediately recognized the hard thump of a fist on skin. Sam had grunted, but he didn’t cry out. Shouting followed, then several more sickening blows. She imagined steel-capped boots being driven into his ribs. The others in the vault shifted positions every time they heard another uncomfortable noise. In that moment, they all knew it hadn’t been some elaborate attempt by Sam to get them in trouble. He had genuinely wanted to escape.
Now, without food or water since earlier in the day, Juliet heard footsteps on the gravel outside the vault. She tried to alert the others to be ready, but her voice came out in a dry whisper. She stood, knees popping, but Jessica was onto it first, shifting her footing to face the doorway.
Metal squealed and scraped as the bolt retracted. The heavy door swung open and a yellow beam blinded them. Juliet stuck a hand up to cover her face.
“Out,” a deep, croaky voice spat. Nobody moved.
“Can you get that thing out of our eyes?” Juliet said. Her dry throat was painful.
The floor vibrated as the man stepped inside the vault. The light’s beam still obscured her vision. She tried to step back, but he was too quick. Pain flared in her skull as he yanked her hair and she fell forward, stifling a cry of pain.
“Asshole,” Jessica shouted.
Juliet stumbled out the door into the darkness. The man shoved her, though she managed to keep her footing. She rubbed her head and turned to face her attacker, but he had disappeared back into the vault, and now returned holding Jessica by the collar. He tossed her to the ground and swung the door shut, then slid the bolt across.
“No!” Lory cried from inside the tank, the sound reverberating as she struck her fists against the wall. “No!”
“Shut your mouth or I’ll take you, too,” the man growled. He passed Juliet and Jessica. “Move, or I will go back and get the young one and make her suffer twice as much as you two are gonna.”
Juliet’s stomach dropped. This was it. They were going to be raped and murdered, and there wasn’t a soul nearby capable of saving them. She glanced at Jessica and in the fringes of the flashlight’s beam, their gazes met. Juliet read the same stark realisation in her companion’s petrified expression.
Ahead, the man’s flat, ugly face and balding head surrounded by tufts of curly hair—coupled with an intrinsic meanness—told Juliet everything she needed to know about him. Never popular with the blokes, a failure with the ladies, and now set to make his mark in a world where blind loyalty was the number-one currency. She ground her jaw, knowing the unfairness of it all. As if reading her mind, he turned and licked his lips, and it reminded her of a crazy man she’d once seen in a prison movie.
Stumbling, Jessica grabbed her arm. “Juliet?”
She tried to sound brave. “I’m okay.”
They had reached a long brick building with a flat tin roof and a single door. Flaky paint and discoloured bricks made it look old. The man waved them in with his lips curled at the edges, revealing broken, black teeth.
Male voices, laughing and catcalling, sounded from inside. Juliet gagged and stuffed the back of her hand over her mouth. Her stomach turned, and she thought she might be sick. Perhaps that was best; perhaps that was the way to create a diversion and escape.
Juliet turned to the man. He was uglier than she first thought, his face pockmarked, wrinkled with the deep lines of booze and brutality. But it wasn’t his face or skin that scared her; it was the soulless light in his eyes that told her he had no regard for her life. He would use them both and discard their bodies like food scraps. Juliet froze. Fear concreted her feet to the gravel.
“I’ll give you one more chance to git inside this building ’fore I make you wish you’d turned into one of those infected things.”
She looked at Jessica, who was looking back at her with an expression that told Juliet she had given in to the badness of the world, accepted it. Jessica stepped forward into the doorway and disappeared into the light. Juliet hadn’t expected that. But it only took her a second to follow. She’d rather die than leave the other woman to such horror.
There were six men and they leapt off a skewed collection of old couches, beers in hand, shouting and whistling and stumbling. They were drunk—probably high, too—and in the mood for what she thought was coming. It was going to be a long night for them. The longest. If she and Jessica were lucky, one of the men would accidentally kill one of them and end the torture.
Oh, Jesus, she thought. Was this it? Was this the end for her? A faint anger rose up. She stopped, lost in the idea that these might be her last hours on earth. The man shoved her forward. She almost turned and scolded him, but caught herself at the final moment. He glared, eyes wide and blazing, encouraging her. She realized, though, that he wasn’t as bold in here as he’d been outside. That gave her a sliver of hope.
Ponytail was there. She looked for Red Bandana, but he wasn’t amongst them. At least that was something. He scared her the most. There were tables and chairs, a bunch of tools hanging on one wall, and boxes of stuff stacked in another corner.
“Thank you, Devo,” Ponytail said, grinning. “Appreciate you delivering them safely to us.” Devo nodded and scuttled away. “Ladies, ladies.” Ponytail ran a hand over the strip of dark, tied-back hair. “Come in and join the party.” Beer in hand, he waved another man towards the far side of the room. “Get the ladies some drinks, Devo.”
Devo scurried to a dirty white refrigerator standing at the edge of the room. Dints and black marks covered the door. He swung the front open, glass clinking, and reached in for a couple of bottles. Every conceivable gap was stacked with beer lying on its side. Devo kicked the door shut and hurried over to them, poking a brew in either of their direction.
Devo turned to Ponytail, who wore an expression of total disbelief. “What? No beer?” he glanced around at the other men, who were chuckling or laughing. “I know people who’d kill for a beer right now. Don’t you, boys?” More laughing. “Do you know how hard it was to get this stuff?”
Juliet didn’t move. She knew it was all a front for the suffering that lay ahead. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction having her pretend she would go along with them.
Ponytail continued. “Well, if you don’t want a drink to whet your appetite, we’d better get down to business.”
“Actually, I’ll have one,” Jessica said.
The other men cheered. Devo tossed her a bottle. She twisted the cap off, tossed it away, and took several mouthfuls. Juliet suspected she was either delaying the inevitable, or trying to dull her senses. Devo offered Juliet again, but she shook her head.
Jessica began to wander, taking mouthfuls of beer, as she looked the place over. She stopped at a sink with a metal bench at its edge. Ponytail approached and touched her shoulder. “You’re startin’ to enjoy this, aren’t ya?” Jessica smiled. “I’m sorry we all got off to a bad start today. It doesn’t have to be that way. You could end up spending some real nice time here if you play your cards right.”
Jessica tipped her head back and swallowed. Her throat bobbed as she gulped the beer down until there was nothing left. The men cheered again. Ponytail turned to them, an expression of genuine astonishment on his sharp, narrow features. Juliet stared at Jessica. What was she playing at?
In a swift move, Jessica twisted the bottle around and brought the bottom down on the edge of the metal bench. Glass shattered, leaving a jagged end where the base had been. She stabbed out at Ponytail, aiming for his throat, but he was fast, bending backwards to avoid the attack. Jessica swiped it left to right, jabbing at him again. Ponytail danced sideways, avoiding the weapon. Jessica went a third time, turning the bottle around until it was like an ice pick. She leapt forward, aiming at Ponytail’s chest. For the briefest of moment, Juliet thought she was going to hit her target. Then he stepped aside at the last moment, and she stumbled then fell onto her hands, the remainder of the broken bottle slipping free and shattering over the concrete floor.
Nobody moved. Jessica sat with her head down, hair covering her face. Ponytail stared at her, unable to believe she had tried to kill him. “Jesus Christ, you’re ballsy,” he said after a moment. His mouth hung down as he turned and looked at the other men.
They exploded with laughter, shouts of “she almost got you” and “you’re getting slow, old man” echoing through the room. Ponytail still wore his incredulous expression. Jessica started to rise. Ponytail’s jaw tightened. He stepped to her and grabbed a fistful of long blonde hair, then started towards his posse, Jessica staggering as she tried to keep up.
“Make a circle, boys,” he said, cackling.
“Oh, no,” Juliet whispered. She took a step forward, changing the angle of her vision to the rest of the warehouse. It revealed a man sitting in the corner with his back against a cupboard. At first, she didn’t recognize him. Black shadows edged his face. One eye was swollen shut. Blood oozed from his mouth and nose. It was Sam, of course. Juliet cringed, feeling sorry for him. But there was something worse about to take place.
The other men had made a circle around Jessica. Ponytail left her in the middle of the group and walked around the edge, nodding his head in mock knowing. “Now we’re gonna have a little fun,” he said. “A little punishment for trying to hurt me.”
Jessica sat on her knees, head bowed, hair draped forward covering her face. Juliet thought she detected the slightest sob. Ponytail stopped and bent low to her. “I suggest you do exactly as we say. Try anything stupid and we’ll make what you’re about to do seem like a goddamn holiday.” He stood and took his place in the circle.
Juliet’s gut folded in on itself. She couldn’t watch. She wished she could do something. She looked beyond the men to Sam, whose head hung down. There was nothing he could do. She thought about Jessica’s husband. It wasn’t right. None of this was—
“Wait,” Juliet called out. Several men turned to her. Two had taken the zippers of their jeans down. She floundered for a moment. An idea had flashed in her mind. “You don’t want to do that.” She hurried on. “For your own sake.”
Ponytail frowned and his face cracked into an annoyed grin. “And why is that?”
Juliet swallowed. “She’s got the herpes virus.”
Ponytail’s cheek twitched. He glanced at Jessica, who was now looking at Juliet with a cautious expression. “Bullshit.” He chuckled. “Of course you’re gonna make some shit like that up.”
“I’m a nurse.” She swallowed, her throat and mouth dry like crusted mud. “This woman was treated at Mersey Community the last few days under my care. When she first came in, she had two cold sores. We treated them, along with her other symptoms, but the virus is active for up to ten days post outbreak.”
Ponytail dropped his hands from his zipper. Another man did his zipper back up. She was bullshitting, of course. But these men didn’t know it, and Juliet thought she could bluff her way through. It was something. “Check her lips.” This was going to be the test. If any of them had half a brain, when they looked closely enough, they’d see her lips were merely cracked and dry, not blistering.
Several mean leaned forward to inspect. Jessica frowned, but kept her lips visible.
“They look shitty,” Ponytail said.
“I ain’t putting nothin’ in there,” a wiry man with a crew cut said. He stepped back from the circle.
“They’re just dry and cracked,” another snarled. He wore glasses and had dark, slicked-back hair. “She’s fine.”
“You gonna risk it?” Ponytail asked.
Juliet folded her hands together in front of her and looked at the men earnestly. “I can promise that if your genitalia make contact with her lips, you’ll end up with the herpes simplex virus. And you will never get rid of it.” She shrugged, as if that concluded the discussion. “Suit yourselves.”
The men eyed her with distrust. One of them said, “Well, shit, now you’ve gone and ruined the party.” Then he tossed his empty beer bottle against the wall, where it exploded with a loud pop. Glass shattered across the floor.
“No she ain’t,” Ponytail said. He waved Jessica out of the circle. “You.” He pointed at Juliet. “You’re just as cute in your own way. Get in here and take her place.”
This was the outcome Juliet had expected when the idea sparked. Now, her stomach did flip, but she felt an element of relief that Jessica was spared. Juliet shuffled towards the circle as Jessica rose to her feet. The men made a gap and Juliet entered. Tears spilled from the edges of Jessica’s eyes. They embraced, and in it, Juliet felt Jessica’s gratitude in the firmness of her embrace.
“Thank you,” Jessica whispered in her ear. “Thank you with all my heart.” Juliet tried to smile.
She moved to the middle of the circle. Things began to turn surreal. She dropped down on to her knees and looked up at Ponytail, who was smiling. “You’re gonna enjoy this.”
Juliet pressed her lips into a grim line. They were quivering. She thought that if she spoke, she might lose her shit and start crying. But she wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing that.
Ponytail drew the zipper of his jeans down. Juliet closed her eyes, and tried to imagine herself in another time and place. With her parents and sister as a child on one of the camping trips to Mount Field National Park, where it rained for three straight days and they were stuck in the tent eating marshmallows and potato chips and drinking Coke until they couldn’t stop burping. Yes, that was—
“What the fuck is going on here?” a voice boomed from the doorway.
All heads turned simultaneously. It was Red Bandana, still wearing his bl
ack sleeveless vest and jeans. The thick muscles of his arms gleamed under the flat white light of the fluorescents.
“Todd?” He looked from Ponytail, to another man. “Lenny?” Lenny dropped his gaze. “What the fuck is this?” Red Bandana stepped through the door into the building. Four men of similar stock followed, including Black Jeans, who had struck Bill down. “We’re out working our asses off for supplies, and you clowns are back here fucking around?” Ponytail finally looked down. “Is this how we survive?”
“We were just havin’ a little fun, Red,” the man with glasses said.
Red snapped his head around to Juliet. “This fun for you, lady?” At first, Juliet thought he was mocking her. But he held his questioning look and she shook her head. He turned to Jessica. “You?” Jessica did the same. “No fun on their side of the fence, Walt.”
Ponytail moved towards Red Bandana. “Listen, Johnny, there’s no rules that said we have to follow rules. You said that yourself—”
Red bandana squished up his face. “Not this, Todd.”
“We kidnapped these people, for fuck’s sake. Why shouldn’t we have a little fun with ’em?”
Shaking his head, Red Bandana strolled across the floor to Ponytail. “I thought you had real leadership qualities, Todd. If I’m honest, I looked at you as though you were my right-hand man.”
Ponytail’s nose twisted. “We said at the start we weren’t going to have a leader. You said—”
“Well, thank fuck we did, huh?” Red Bandana turned his back and walked towards Juliet. “Up. Take ’em back to the vault, Devo. Get ’em out of my sight.”
Juliet rose to her feet, still sceptical Red Bandana might change his attitude and make her return to the centre of the circle. But she stepped deftly through a gap and joined Jessica, heading for the door where Devo waited. It was the most bizarre thing Juliet had ever experienced. Having a psychopathic kidnapper stand up for them against another of the same ilk made her head hurt. She was relieved, but still desperately nervous about things to come.
Invasion of the Dead (Book 5): Resolve Page 2
