Tourniquet

by Chuck Buda

  A click behind Zoe’s head snapped her attention back. She swallowed a lump, unsure if it was the sound of a police officer cocking back the hammer on his pistol.

  Then Zoe recognized the clicking sound. It was the door knob. Zoe tensed, afraid she would be discovered. She pressed her back further into the loading dock.

  A few cartons sailed above her head. Two of them made it into the dumpster about ten feet away. The third carton hit the edge of the dumpster with a thunk and dropped to the parking lot.

  “Fuck it.”

  Zoe listened as the employee gave up on his basketball skills and returned inside the supermarket. Zoe made her move. She peeked over the loading dock. The door slowly closed as the shadow of the stock boy faded, getting smaller as he put distance between himself and the bay. Zoe hopped up the cement wall and did her best impression of the boy from that movie Jungle Book, half walking on both hands and feet.

  At the last second, Zoe stuck her fingers inside the edge of the steel door. She had access now. Zoe stuck her face into the gap to check for the employee who had tossed out the trash.

  Nobody was in sight. And there was no sound of a near presence.

  Zoe giggled to herself and slipped inside the supermarket.

  Chapter 39

  Aiden gagged on blood.

  Samantha felt relieved he hadn’t died. Not yet. She kept her hands in place to stop the bleeding. Her left hand on Aiden’s neck and her right on his forearm.

  “Now that you’re among the living, can you help me out?”

  Aiden’s eyes blinked rapidly. Samantha could see the fog behind his irises.

  “Here. I’ll bandage your arm. You hold your neck. Right here.” Samantha manipulated Aiden’s hand to the spot she needed him to clamp. As she took her own hand away, Samantha noticed the bleeding had slowed to a trickle. She wondered if Aiden realized how lucky he was that Zoe had missed his main artery. He may not realize it now, but, if he lives long enough to see the end of this night, he’ll know how lucky he had been.

  She examined the wound on Aiden’s forearm. Zoe had managed to bite clear down to the bone. Some of his flesh was missing, exposing a torn crater where there used be skin and muscle. Samantha glanced around for something to clean the wound with before realizing she was in a school parking lot with no access to rubbing alcohol or any antiseptic.

  Samantha slipped her sneakers off. She peeled her sweaty socks off, tied them together at one end and then wrapped them around Aiden’s forearm like a tourniquet. She tugged the cloth as tight as she could get it. Aiden groaned each time she cinched the socks. Samantha would rather hurt his wounds to keep him alive than let him bleed out.

  Having tied off Aiden’s arm wound, Samantha rotated his limb several times to make sure the bandage was on securely. It stayed put and stemmed the flow of blood. The socks quickly turned crimson in color, but they did the job as intended.

  “Now, let me look at your neck.” Samantha pushed Aiden’s hand away to get a better look. He moaned, turning his head to the side. Samantha was happy to see the life return to his eyes. Aiden had regained full consciousness.

  “Zoe.” Aiden whispered. Samantha wasn’t sure if he had meant it as a question or the beginning of a statement. She assumed it was a question so she quickly answered.

  “That bitch is gone. She ran away again.”

  Samantha fingered the gash in Aiden’s neck. It was much more superficial than she had been led to believe. Probably because it had bled so much, it seemed only fitting to think Zoe had bitten straight through to Aiden’s throat. But it was more like a laceration along the surface.

  “You’ll live. Hold this again.”

  Aiden pressed on his own neck while Samantha ran back to the car. She popped the trunk and rummaged around for something she hoped she still had. After a few minutes, she found what she had been searching for. Samantha let out a cheerful whistle.

  Aiden started to sit up. Samantha pushed him back down. “Don’t get ahead of yourself yet.” She used her elbow to pin Aiden’s head to the side. He squirmed and complained she was hurting him but he had no idea how bad it was about to get.

  Samantha sprayed Aiden’s neck with tire sealant. The freezing cold spray burned Aiden’s neck. He jumped as the spray hit his skin. It did the job, closing off his gash. She let go of Aiden’s head and stepped back.

  Aiden shot up to his feet, choking and grabbing at his wound. His eyes stared incredulously at Samantha. She shrugged and held up the can of sealant to show Aiden what she had used.

  “Are you crazy?” He gasped, clutching his neck. His fingers traced the laceration gently as if to calm the freezing pain.

  Samantha shrugged again. “It worked though, right?”

  Aiden continued to feel around his wound. The sealant had covered the cut, stopping the bleeding and allowing Aiden to move around without having to use his hand to keep from bleeding out.

  “That fucking hurts.”

  “Can’t be any worse than when she bit you.” Samantha stepped closer to Aiden. She placed a hand upon his shoulder, using her motherly touch to calm him down. Aiden eased into her caress and stood up straight as he began to come to the conclusion that her fast thinking had saved him.

  “Where did she go?” Aiden looked about as if clues for Zoe’s departure would be etched in the pavement.

  Samantha pointed in the direction over Aiden’s shoulder. “I don’t know where she’s headed but she’s running out of time.”

  “So are we.”

  Aiden’s words hit home in Samantha’s belly. He was right. Each minute brought them closer to discovery. The cops would find her husband and Rebecca. They would question Tommy, who had seen it all, and he would tell them his mother, the person who had brought him into this world and cared for him, had violently slaughtered his father and the neighbor before running away. The police would hunt her down, arrest her and the public trial and humiliation would ensue. Samantha imagined the headlines now. SUBURBAN HOUSEWIFE DESTROYS FAMILY IN JEALOUS FIT OF RAGE.

  THE QUIET ONES ARE THE ONES TO WATCH OUT FOR.

  TORN APART IN TENAFLY: THE TRAGIC DOWNFALL OF AN UPPER MIDDLE-CLASS FAMILY.

  “Then we should stay on her trail. We have to find her and...”

  “Kill her.” Aiden finished Samantha’s sentence. He bent to lean on his knees and catch his breath. Samantha picked up the spray can and thought she should use it on Aiden’s arm too. Aiden followed her eyes and train of thought. “Oh, no. Once was enough. That hurt really bad.”

  Samantha moved toward him. “I’m sure it only hurts for a second or two. Come here.”

  Aiden shuffled backwards, hands held high to fend off Samantha. “No. I’m serious. Stay away.”

  “How does your neck feel NOW?”

  “It hurts.”

  “It’s going to hurt whether I spray it or not. Don’t you want to stop the bleeding?”

  Aiden showed Samantha his wounded arm. “It’s stopped. See?”

  Samantha chuckled. “Yeah, that’s why the socks are soaked. Come on. We’re wasting time. Let’s get this over with so we can get her already.”

  Samantha approached Aiden. He no longer backed away. Instead, he grimaced and held his forearm away from his body. “Fine. I’m not going to look though.”

  Samantha untied the sock bandage. The wound continued to bleed, although not as quickly as it had before she had wrapped it. “I’ll be gentle. I promise.”

  Aiden rolled his eyes. He bit down on his lower lip, forcing Samantha to laugh at his little boy act.

  She sprayed the forearm making sure to cover each inch of the wound with the solution. Aiden screamed at the top of his lungs. He writhed in her grip to fight off the pain.

  Samantha tossed the spray can to the ground and began re-wrapping the tourniquet over the torn flesh.

  “No more ouchie.”

  Chapter 40

  Zoe took her time, scouting each hallway and corner before making her way through the su
permarket. She knew time was running short and she could no longer afford to waste it in order to reach her objective.

  The supermarket would be a good place to carry out her endgame. It wasn’t ideal, but it was the best she could hope for now. Zoe’s original plan had been to lure the group through a maze of their usual haunts, using the familiarity to her advantage while allowing the others to find the bread crumbs.

  But Aiden had fucked all that up.

  Zoe had gone through the first door as she came into the building. The manager’s office. Awards and memorabilia adorned each shelf and certificate-filled picture frames hung from a stained wall. She had searched the desk drawers for pain relievers or anything she could commandeer to fix her scrapes and bruises. All she found was overstuffed file folders with employee records and sales data. Zoe couldn’t imagine leading a life as a manager in a supermarket. The boredom and tedium alone would force her to kill people. She felt glad her future held more promise as queen of the underworld.

  She scampered down the hall toward the restroom. A quick check of the scummy-tiled bathroom left her empty-handed once again. Even the soap dispenser was empty, a crusted over pink soap residue congealed at the tip of the nozzle.

  Zoe continued through the store, ducking and scouting each aisle cap. The meat section was frigid, raising gooseflesh, and her pert nipples, to attention. Zoe popped up quickly to spy the meat locker. One lone butcher, with a net on his head and a white lab coat, worked inside the cooler. Her brief glance took inventory of the butcher’s knife in his hands and another sharp tool lying on the table in front of him.

  Good to know.

  Zoe hustled through the store to check on the guy she had witnessed stocking shelves. She wanted to know who was in here with her. If she found too many overnight workers, she might have to back out and look for another location to make her stand. After a few more minutes of searching, Zoe found she only shared the store with the two guys. The rest of the building appeared to be empty of souls. Zoe wished it were only one employee, but she was glad it was only two. It could have been three or more, and that would have created a bigger challenge.

  She retraced her steps back to the medical aisle. She hurried to the pain relievers. Zoe tickled her fingers through the little boxes until she located her favorite brand. She ripped open the box and fumbled with the cap. Zoe used one of her jagged fingernails to strip the foil away. She turned the bottle on its side and slid a mouthful of pills onto her tongue. Zoe dry swallowed most of them, even though a few pills dissolved in her saliva, leaving an acidic aftertaste. She spat the remaining pills on the floor. Zoe worked her way back an aisle toward the medical supplies. Scrunching up her face at adult diapers and enemas, Zoe found what she had been looking for. Wrap bandages and orthopedic gizmos. She snatched a pair of cotton socks with rubber nubbins on the bottoms and slipped them over her sore feet. The soft cotton felt luxurious. Zoe stifled a laugh as she thought of how she must look. A completely battered and filthy young girl, naked as the day she was born, with a clean pair of white socks on her feet. Zoe brushed the silly notion aside and turned toward her next victim.

  Zoe tried to recall the aisle the stock boy had been in. He had been working with cans when she had spied him through the front window. She later saw him somewhere else when she had scouted the store. Something with boxes. Pasta? Baking goods? No. Cereals. She remembered now he had been stacking cereal boxes.

  Zoe reached the end cap of the cereals and cookies aisle. She stooped low and slowly looked around the edge of the shelf. He was there. The stock boy was switching one set of boxes from the top shelf to a lower one, and vice versa. She listened to him humming softly to himself. It sounded like some dipshitty, happy country song. Zoe didn’t care. If he kept humming, she would be able to get closer to him without her noise getting his attention.

  Unless she could draw him to her instead.

  Zoe smiled at the thought of playing with her food. A little cat and mouse always made her life more interesting.

  She slapped a box of cereal off the shelf. It slapped to the floor. Zoe ducked back around the corner. Her reflection in the storefront glass alarmed her. Not only was she visible to someone outside, but the stock boy could catch a glimpse of her if he saw her in the glass. She slid down the shelf, scratching her back.

  “Hello?”

  Zoe waited. She always got the urge to laugh whenever she hid from someone. She had been that way since she was a little girl. The excitement of the scare wanted to burst forth.

  “Jerry?”

  Zoe heard the stock boy coming toward the end of the row. His shoes betrayed his location, as well as his voice. She could hear him breathing through his nose. A slight whistle behind his breath. Zoe wanted to keep the game afoot a little longer. She scuttled to the next aisle and tucked herself close to the floor. In the glass, she watched the stock boy look down the aisle she had just escaped from. He scratched at his sideburns, calling out to Jerry once again. Zoe grabbed a small bottle of hot sauce from the shelf. She pretended to pull the pin on a make-believe grenade. Zoe lobbed the bottle over the shelves. An explosion of glass startled both her and the stock boy. He gasped and shouted, “Hey!”

  The stock boy’s shoes scuffed along the linoleum floor on his way around the corner to where Zoe hid in wait. She had already grown bored with the game. Zoe snatched a scratch-resistant pan hanging from an impulse item hook over the barbecue sauces.

  She wound up her arm and stood tall, gathering all her might.

  The stock boy came into view. His eyes widened with surprise. Zoe wondered if he was more alarmed at finding someone lying in wait or finding a naked girl right before his eyes.

  Probably the first time you ever got this close to the real thing, Zoe thought.

  The scratch-resistant frying pan whirred through the air before meeting its target.

  Chapter 41

  Aiden couldn’t believe how much pain he was in. In his family, Aiden was known as the sickly one. He suffered from annual sinus infections and flu. Aiden had gotten headaches since grammar school too. The headaches progressed from tension pain in his neck and shoulders to full blow migraines throughout high school. With all his physical ailments, Aiden had never known pain like this. His head throbbed and he struggled with moments of dizziness and nausea since Zoe concussed him. In addition, his neck and arm were killing him.

  Samantha drove in a hurried fashion. She took corners on two wheels and liberally applied the gas and brake pedals. Aiden could feel his brain smashing back and forth inside his skull. He wished Samantha would drive with more care but he understood the urgency behind her actions.

  Time was running out.

  Aiden had mulled over the fact all along. Life was rushing toward an endpoint. They had to find Zoe fast and wipe her out.

  As the car skidded to another stop sign, Aiden reached out a hand to Samantha’s shoulder.

  “Wait. Are you sure she went this way?” Aiden feared Samantha had gotten mixed up in her directions. Or maybe she forgot which way Zoe had gone after tending to his wounds. There was so much at stake, but even more possibilities to chase down. They couldn’t afford to go down the wrong road. Literally.

  “Yes. She ran through the trees back there.” Samantha shot a finger precariously over her shoulder. “That would put her on a trajectory of this direction.” Her voice had a tinge of annoyance laced around each word. Aiden knew he was frustrating her.

  “It doesn’t make any sense though. There’s nothing this way that we used to do. No hangouts. No history. That’s been her M.O. the whole night. Why would she change course now?”

  Samantha shook the steering wheel with clenched fists. “Maybe she gave up on her plan. We’ve foiled her so far and now she has to improvise.”

  Aiden considered Samantha’s reasoning. He didn’t agree with the idea of them foiling her plans. If anything, Aiden felt they had played right into her hands the whole time. But what if Zoe HAD given up on the original plan
? Maybe she felt the pressure of the clock ticking as well. And people made mistakes under pressure. It was fact. Athletes proved it during big moments. Politicians showed it under stressful situations. With time running out, Zoe might be losing her grip on reality. The chase forcing her to make decisions which weren’t in line with her deviant calculations.

  The sky lightened with a foamy, orange edge. Aiden exhaled as he stared at the coming dawn.

  Suddenly, his pocket vibrated.

  He pulled out his cell phone. He didn’t recognize the number but he knew who it was. His usual instinct was to dismiss the call since he received unsolicited sales calls several times a day. However, this day had been like no other in his life.

  Aiden pressed the button to accept the call.

  “Hello.”

  Zoe’s giggle.

  “Where are you?”

  More laughter. Aiden felt his stomach twist in knots. He wanted to reach through the phone and shake Zoe so hard her eyeballs would roll out of her head.

  “Enough, Zoe.”

  “You’ve had enough? That’s too bad because I thought you were strong now.”

  Aiden clenched his jaw. The intensity of his headache reached a crescendo.

  “If you bring me Spencer, I will let you walk away from all this fun. I’ll let you live, Aiden.”

  A shiver licked his spine. She wanted to get right to the battle royal. So Samantha had been correct. Zoe knew time was short. And she didn’t want to waste time with him anymore.

  “Get Spencer yourself. You know his number.”

  “Don’t you think I’ve tried, Aiden? Spencer won’t answer his phone. That’s why I need you. You get me what I want, and I get you what you want.”

  Aiden wanted to shout that he wanted Leah but he caught himself in time, saving Samantha more mental anguish. “I want to kill you. And I want to do it with my own hands.”

  Zoe laughed. “You can’t close that deal. You’ve tried already and failed miserably. Several times.” Aiden heard Zoe swallow. He hoped she was drinking a water and not someone else’s blood. “I’ll tell you where I am, on one condition.”