Lenders

by Johnson, John

  “Anyone in here, come on out,” Lee exploded in a loud tone that echoed throughout the cave. Ray quickly had the fire going again. It lit the cave. He put some nearby sticks on it and started blowing. “We got guns. Come on, we ain’t gonna hurt ya.”

  Jerry tapped Jon’s shoulder one time.

  The goons were obsessed with the soup. Lee motioned to Ray who was busy blowing, and waiting his turn for a taste. “Get the fuck—” He grunted while waving his arms to signal them, obviously pissed at the two for letting their guard down so easily. The soup had hypnotized the famished imbeciles. Lee pointed this way and that motioning to split up. They abandoned the soup and did as they were told. The fire flared lighting the cave amply.

  Jerry tapped Jon’s shoulder a second time.

  “Ray,” Lee spoke quickly, and pointed toward the dark area in the back. Ray aimed his shotgun into the nothingness then reached into his jeans for a lighter. He flicked it once, twice.

  Tap.

  Jerry dove out forcing Ray’s shotgun upward. It fired into the ceiling. He struck Ray so hard they flew back ten feet plowing into Dwayne who landed on his huge pack. Like a flipped turtle the round man’s limbs flailed. And Jerry gave Ray the hammer.

  Amy screamed. At the same time, on that third and final tap, Jon had leapt out swinging. He pounced onto Lee who fired his revolver at him. By a stroke of chance Jon dodged the bullet. But Jon’s tackle did little to knock down the larger man and after a brief struggle, Jon found himself in a choke hold. Lee wriggled his wrist until the machete dropped.

  “Everybody freeze! Don’t move or I’ll blow his fuckin’ head off,” Lee shouted. His voice was raspy, like a pirate, one that had been doing a lot of yelling, probably to keep his goons in line. He compressed Jon’s neck; both of their faces reddened, one in suffocation. His goatee beard, flattened onto Jon’s panicked face, was thick round and long, jet-black, with few scattered grays. Below a frayed black beanie the sides of his face and head were buzzed, scruffy short. His eyes were beady but dark and solid, and his neck was Viking thick. He wore a flack vest and carried a small pack. He was smaller than Jerry by far, but by no means a small man. It was clear he always got the best of the grub, his muscles were well fed.

  Jerry had his own hostage. While Ray slept with his mouth open like a crooked zombie, out cold from Jerry’s Goliath right, white-faced Dwayne, a butterball with slabs of malnourished flab drooping from his body like half-empty garbage bags craving trash, was frozen in his grip. Jerry had his left gorilla mitt clutching Dwayne’s throat, the other had pulled his pistol. Its barrel forced Dwayne’s head back onto his pack. Eyes trembling, he’d surely never felt the grip of such a large and powerful man.

  “Get the fuck off of him,” Lee demanded, “last chance.” Jerry stared abhorrently at Lee’s black eyes, letting some tense seconds pass, but realized he had no choice. He slowly loosened his grip on the loose-skinned fat man then stood up and backed away, his eyes holding the rage, fist clenched.

  “Now toss it,” Lee demanded. Jerry reluctantly gave up the gun.

  Dewayne coughed and reached for his throat with both hands taking in a deep breath. He had a round beard, at least six inches long in every direction, blue eyes and brown wavy hair. With his brown trucker cap knocked to the side he massaged his throat and looked at Jerry with resentment and trepidation. The gun barrel left an embossed red imprint on his white forehead.

  “Well get the fuck up,” Lee said impatiently. He started to roll, side to side a few times until he could un-turtle. He forced himself onto his knees and started taking off the massive gadget of a pack. He set it down carefully, giving it a once over.

  “It’s still good,” he mumbled, then staggered over to his skinny sidekick.

  Jon looked at the pack, still frozen in Lee’s grip, which loosened slightly as the threat abated. It had a belt-strapped car battery toward the bottom with wires snaking up and around it. There were assorted electronic boxes on the top, not unlike that of vehicle electronics and power inverters. He thought, could it be, some sort of homemade blocker, perhaps some sort of electromagnetic pulse device?

  Jerry took one more step back and demanded, “Now—let him go.”

  “Everyone else out, out now. I know there’s more in there.” He re-clamped his grip on Jon.

  Jodi came limping out of the darkness, assisted by Valerie. All eyes shifted to her. Even Dwayne paused his slapping of Ray. She had been shot in the lower left side and blood was flooding the grey clay floor; half of her faded and patchy blue jeans were dark red. She started to fall, pain evident in her eyes; Val couldn’t hold her. Jon squirmed frantically. His face exploded. Lee tightened his grip but Jon was losing it.

  Jon released a blast of a cry, “Jodi!” His face was red, flushed in panic.

  “Jon, I—” struggled Jodi. Her eyes were loose, fighting the urge to fall back. She fainted but Jerry intercepted. He caught her and slowly lowered her to the floor cradling her neck. Valerie, in tears, did her best to assist.

  “I told you fucks. Now I told ya to come out,” Lee said. “Dwayne move your fat ass and tie ‘em up—starting with him.” Lee kept his eye on Jodi while he talked, letting out a faint apathetic grin before slowly saying, “She’s still good for something.” He followed up with a vile chuckle.

  Jerry pressed Lee with revengeful eyes, every muscle in his giant frame tensed, ready to erupt. Jon’s jerking slowed, he languished seeing the women he loved fall to the floor.

  “Don’t even think about it big man. I don’t miss,” Lee replied to Jerry’s hostile eyes. He heard faint crying inside the tunnel. “More? Now, everyone else come out of there now or he gets it—and I mean now!”

  Amy stepped out. Her face glimmered in the fire, glossy with tears.

  “Well, well, what do we have here? It’s Christmas early boys,” Lee said with a sinister smile. He tossed Dwayne the light and had him check the tunnel.

  “Clear boss.”

  Amy was sniffling, crying quietly. Dwayne timidly approached Jerry not bothering with her. He shredded some nearby clothing and had Jerry kneel down on Jodi’s right. He tied his hands behind his back. For extra measure he tied his ankles, then hogtied everything together, then crammed dirty underwear into his mouth. Once he was well restrained and gagged he kicked him in the gut and taunted him. Like a rock, Jerry didn’t budge.

  After Jerry was no longer a threat he tied Jon’s hands behind his back and set him on his knees on Jodi’s left side. Dewayne didn’t bother with his ankles.

  Ray jostled. He started to regain consciousness and slowly sat up putting a hand to his face. His jaw was broken, or his face, or both. He tried to talk but could only make lethargic moans; he couldn’t pinpoint the pain, it was the entire left side of his face. He could feel his cheek bone out of place. It made a grinding sound in his skull and a sharp pain shot through to the back of his head. He tensed in agony—which only made it worse.

  “Man, he fucked you up good,” Lee said laughing. “Wrap up your head and come get some of this soup.” Dwayne chuckled then he and Lee couldn’t help it; both burst out laughing. Ray was buck-toothed skinny and tall, a buck twenty max, stretched out like rubber band at 6 foot 2. He had a mullet leaking from the back of his hunting beanie: camo with a florescent orange lining and ear flaps. His dark blue puffy undersized jacket was divided like parted seas by the straps of a hefty pack: supplies for Lee and Dwayne, a roll-out mat, and a tent. His small olive-green eyes were wide and sunken, moon craters, and the rest of his angular face and body was a walking stick. His life was simple, bolstered by a simple mentality: anything for a bone. He kept fucking with his face but it didn’t do much good; Jerry had rearranged it for him.

  One down at least, Jerry thought. He won’t be doing much else. He was still boiling, wrestling to free his hands. Jodi was lying on her back breathing slowly, wheezing, looking up at Jon. Her freckles were exaggerated, more contrasted by her pale moribund skin. She was losing her fight and he cou
ldn’t do a thing about it, except watch her and wait for the intruders to finish stuffing their faces. They sat warm at the fire. Amy and Valerie weren’t tied up; they sat beside Lee.

  Jon managed to spit out the sock. “Let me help her please.” Lee paid him no attention.

  “What’s your name sweet lips?”

  Valerie didn’t respond. She just sat on his left with a swollen face full of tears. He pulled out his knife and slid it slowly across her face. He pressed it in a little harder cutting her. Chunks of raw meat was stuck to his beard. Jerry fumed.

  “Valerie,” she said pulling back, breathing in quick and deep.

  “I think we’re gonna have dessert tonight boys,” Lee said. “Even you Ray. You can have the dead stick.” Dwayne and Lee laughed again and continued stuffing face. Ray managed a smile then winced in pain. They weren’t giving him any food just yet.

  “Which one can I have Lee?” Dwayne asked.

  “You can have the Mexican dumb ass, after me of course,” Lee laughed. “The little one is all mine.” He ogled at little Amy. She teared up not wanting to look at the mean scary man. She thought he looked like a pirate, even had a big scar on his face and a black tattoo on his neck; a piece of rat meat was stuck in his wide-gapped teeth; a sloppy eater too.

  Jerry raged, his face filled red with blood. Lee liked to taunt him. Jerry focused his rage on the clothes binding him.

  A small tear.

  Lee laughed, “Here Ray, thanks for stopping the ogre.” A pile of remains were on a rag near the fire, uncooked rat guts. He slung some his way. Like winning the lottery: a woman and a meal! Ray ogled at the dangling slop with crossed eyes and endeavored to tilt his head back into a position that didn’t send pain to his spine and skull.

  “Ow, uk,” Ray mumbled in delight as he slid the guts straight into his throat without having to chew. His face, as distorted as it was, shone like an ugly, yet happy night-light. He was a dog thrown a couple of bones, although one would probably be cold when he finally got to it. And that was enough for his feeble mind; enough reason to carry on.

  Amy’s tears had dried. “Yuk,” she blurted watching Ray try to eat. He acknowledged her with a dull chuckle and continued on.

  Jon reached down behind his back slowly. He had faith that Jerry could escape; they’d both heard the tiny rip. If he could just reach the blocker he could activate Mode 3—LAST RESORT. Jodi, still hanging in there, was looking up at him as if she knew what he was doing. She managed the tiniest of nods. It touched Jon’s heart; he knew he had to try, and fast. No, there was no trying; he had to make it happen.

  Jon kept one blocker on him at all times. Jodi kept the only remaining other; both were strapped to their legs. Jodi’s leg was too far, protruding outward toward Lee. He managed without looking to suspicious. With reaching fingers he felt its edge.

  Mode 3 would destroy the blocker with a power surge when used. It was not intended solely for machines, people too would be affected. Jon feared days like this more than anything, one reason why the cave worked better than any house or building could: distance from people and protection from the devastating first year storms. He’d changed a lot since. The life after oppressed and saddened him, perhaps more than the others. He was no longer the convivial optimist he once was. If I can just, reach, almost there…

  But ultimately it would be of little use if they could not get untied. Jerry looked to Jon. He understood what Jon intended to do and knew half of the plan would rely on him escaping. If he could just get free, before Jon activates it.

  Lee and the boys finished eating. Jerry knew he had to hurry. With renewed vigor Lee got up and grabbed Valerie. “Might have a little of this one before a nap. You two fucks can have what’s left.”

  Valerie started crying loudly, her face blistered with tears. “No, no. Please.”

  Jerry raged. His face was beet red, veins popped from his temples, and his arms became steel hydraulic cylinders on overload. He forced hard enough to tear tendon from bone but made little progress with the bondage that had his immense power at a disadvantage for leverage. A button popped on his shirt. There was another small rip.

  Jodi nodded to Jon. She knew what he was thinking. The edge it would give them would be small, but at least it was a chance.

  Valerie screamed as Lee dragged her toward the steps of the cave. He tore both of her shirts until she was bare. Ray and Dwayne were snickering like children. Even Ray, with rat guts cleaved to the side of his thinly-haired face, was ogling in anticipation; short hiccupping pains in between chuckles did nothing to damper his excitement.

  Jerry raged on. Another small rip. This time louder. Dwayne thought he heard something but was easily swayed back to the show. Jon had managed to get his fingers on the buttons, but had to wait for Jerry to escape, or it would be almost useless. But, he would use it regardless, if he had to—and knew what it was going to do to his leg.

  He groaned and rubbed her belly with both hands from behind. It was large and hard. Before his groping hands could go any lower Amy let loose screaming. Dwayne fumbled to shut her up but she was too slippery.

  “We’ll both appreciate this,” Lee said slowly. He grabbed her shirt and stuffed it into her mouth, then put a knife up to her cheek. He pressed himself squeezing her onto a large rock. The knife drew blood, just a drop, and it rolled down her cheek. “Move again and this becomes a poker.” She now had a gash on each cheek. With his large dirty left wrapped around her he palmed her belly, squeezing enough to cause knee bending pain. And he pressed harder, forcing her into the rock.

  Amy ran toward him yelling and grabbed his leg. He only glimpsed down at her and laughed then focused back onto his dessert. She kept on. “Come get this little bitch would ya?” he said resuming full attention onto beautiful Valerie. He was too aroused, and Val knew it, and Amy, so tiny and frail, could barely even move his leg. “Oh you Spanish whore, you’re in for a real treat now.” Lee chuckled, and he unbuttoned his pants. Before the fat man could unseat his bulk to get her—Amy bit down hard.

  “Ya fuck!” Lee barked. He was still holding the knife with his right. “You little fucking bitch!” He slashed down at the little girl with full force. He hit her hard in the right arm and sent her flying. A stream of blood sliced the cave in half. Dwayne arrived, grabbed her legs and dragged her away. The high pitch screaming hurt ears, but faded quickly.

  Jerry raged so hard his face turned purple, his body was sending every bit of oxygen to his empower muscles, his head was moving back and forth in rhythmic pounding jerks, his bloodshot eyes were deadly focused. Veins swelled into nodular bulges on his temples. Ruptures flooded areas beneath his skin. Spiderweb bruises exploded marring his face with dark-red blotches. Jon was white with fear, dripping cold sweat, just waiting to push the button. Suddenly—RIP!

  Jon didn’t wait to look. He would’ve pressed it either way.

  FLASH!

  Behind Jon a bright light illuminated the cave like a flash-bang. Punches to the brain, perceptions were distorted and all thought processing went dull. A reverberating ping echoed against the rock walls which magnified the pulsing waves. Muscles clenched and cramped. Impartially it penetrated each person in the cave. It was a tone of madness, which brought incoherence and seizure and pain. Everyone fell to the ground twitching.

  Jodi’s eyes went white, her mouth sprung wide open; she jerked tightly. Fat Dwayne blobbed to the ground and rolled backward toward the tunnel like an electrocuted seal. Ray had been getting up but fell flat on his face. Lee fell with his pants at his knees. Jerry’s sheer will and focused rage left him best positioned to deal with the shock—also he knew what to expect, they’d used Mode 3 before.

  The blocker exploded releasing its ultimatum then caught fire. It left a three-inch deep cauterized hole in Jon’s leg, as he knew it would. This pain roused Jon from his slumber sending him a blast of life. He knew there were only a few seconds until everyone recovered. Groggily he looked to Jerry trying to get control of
his motor functions. Jerry was way ahead of him. His rage had somehow shielded him from much of the repercussions.

  Lee was recuperating quickly, more so than the others, and saw Jerry coming like a freight train. Jerry grabbed him by the neck and squeezed. Lee, foaming at the mouth, regained some motor control and scrambled to defend himself in vain. He brought up the pistol but Jerry caught it and easily removed the weapon then crushed his hand breaking every bone in it. He folded Lee’s hand backward flat onto his forearm; bones ejected like porcupine splinters. Desperate, Lee threw an undercut punch with his remaining good arm but Jerry was steel, immovable. He might as well have punched a rock. He lifted the pirate high, squeezing harder, then tossed him onto the steps like a rag doll.

  The fire behind Jon had managed to burn away his cloth restraints. He was injured horribly, but free, and not a prisoner to the pain. He met Jodi’s eyes. Tear-eyed she managing to force out some words. “Forget about me! Go get ‘em Jon!” Jon rose ready to deploy vengeance. He himself was a freight train, and took a deep breath of power, inhaling his pain and using it to his advantage. He saw Amy on her face, not moving, and blood. Kill them!

  Jon grabbed the pipe he had stored next to his sleeping area and raised it above Ray. Vision and senses completely returned, mullet-boy looked up and back, turning his neck just as it came down, rolling onto his back avoiding the first hit. He raised his arms in defense, but too slow. Second swing, Jon smashed his arms with all he had; like twigs and they fell, broken to pieces. The bones crunched falling uselessly limp at his sides and Jon wailed with the pipe at his skinny face. He smashed the face until there was nothing but a pile of bloody grey shit and teeth.

  Jerry took hard solid and direct earth-pounding steps. His rage had not abated, not one bit. He knew what he was going to do, like no other time in his life he was finally going to unleash his full power. A power even he himself feared. Valerie jumped in front to stop him. She was shirtless but that was the least of her cares. Their eyes met, he fumed, but her face, her love—to him it had more power than anything in the world. A bond of love and determination overwhelmed them both—and she held up Lee’s revolver. Jerry touched her face, he’d calmed enough. He gave Valerie a nod and took step back.