She turned to the withered man, and moved his face to meet hers with the palm of her hand.
“If they wanted us dead, they would’ve killed us already.”
~
The torturous ritual went on until the early hours. Nobody slept, despite what Hyde had said. But regardless of how the others chose to view the situation, she wasn’t going to be the frightened rabbit in the headlights. She wasn’t going to let these bastards break her down. What did they even hope to achieve by conveying empty threats. When would the real torture begin? If she knew one thing, the scavengers lived up to their brutal reputation.
Judd joined the group, and Hyde became the main focus of their attention. All she could do was glare at him as he baited his men to hit her with the burning rags. If nothing else, she would stand tall in the face of her enemy.
Eventually Judd got bored, or tired, and told them to stand down. The scavengers walked away, taking the buckets with them. It was finally safe to try and get some rest, even if it meant sleeping in a foetal position. The pen quietened down as the panic subsided. Hyde glanced over at Marcus and forced a smile, hoping to offer him some sense that things would be okay. He responded with a half-smile that looked as if it took every ounce of willpower he possessed to produce.
CHAPTER 19
Early the next morning, Judd made an appearance in front of the pen. Marcus stared him down and rushed forward with purpose.
“Where have you taken my daughter? You son of a bitch!” Marcus forced his arm through the razor wire and grabbed hold of Judd’s jacket, snarling at the monster who kidnapped his only child. Judd grabbed his arm and raked it across the razor wire. He exhaled a guttural scream as the wire ripped through his flesh with ease. Hyde pushed and shoved her way through the crowd in an attempt to reach him. But she realized along the way that she had no means of altering the situation.
“You will let me have what I want, Marcus—or I’ll feed your daughter to my pet cavers.” Judd pointed to a distant cage whose contents were neither visible nor audible.
For all Hyde knew, Judd could’ve been bluffing. But even if he was, she knew there was no way Marcus would ever take that chance on his daughter’s life.
“Leave her alone, don’t hurt her. She has nothing to do with this.” Marcus tried to reason with Judd.
“You know what you have to do for that to happen, so I suggest you start giving me what I want,” Judd replied with a coldness attached to his voice.
Appealing to Judd’s sense of reason hadn’t worked, and nothing would change what was in store for Jas.
What the hell was this secret that Marcus held so dear? Hyde wondered, finally arriving beside Marcus. She needed figure out how to get Marcus’ arm back into the pen so she could tend to it.
“What do you want, Hyde?” Judd snarled.
“Can you let him go?” she pled, hoping to arouse some sense of decency within him where Marcus had failed. Her plea was probably a pointless one if she was honest with herself, but it was worth trying nevertheless. After a brief pause, she continued. “His arm needs attention. I think you’ve made your point.”
Judd continued to pull down on Marcus’s arm, all the while staring into Hyde’s eyes. She tried to appear indifferent to his flagrant disregard for Marcus’s wellbeing, though she wasn’t sure how well she managed. For a long moment, wherein her and Judd’s eyes had remained locked, his expression changed. He promptly let go of the bloody mess that used to be an arm and walked away. She couldn’t understand what had changed. It was almost as if he’d seen something in her eyes.
Marcus dropped to his knees and slumped over, weakened by the loss of blood. Hyde pulled off her jumper and ripped the sleeves away, then hurried to tie off his wounds. She was desperate to do a proper job of applying the makeshift tourniquet, knowing Marcus would die if she failed. In the end, she trusted her instincts to make the right choices. Her field first aid training simply wasn’t up to dealing with this.
By the time she had wrapped the wounds as best she could, it became apparent that Marcus needed proper medical attention, and he needed it now. He was barely conscious and still bleeding profusely.
“Hey! He needs a doctor,” Hyde shouted after Judd, but he just carried on walking out of sight. She needed to think quick or Marcus’ life was at an end. A thought struck her. “You do know that if this wound turns septic and he dies, you get fuck all, right?” she shouted loud enough for the whole compound to hear.
No sooner had she finished her sentence, Judd reappeared with two other men. He looked upset, as if she’d pulled him away from something more pressing than trying to save the life of the man he wanted to ply for information.
“You need to get him to a doctor, and I mean now, Judd!” she growled.
Hyde could feel the man’s eyes penetrating her own. Her fellow captives watched in silent trepidation as the scene played out in front of them. Everybody within the pen took a step back as Judd sent the two men in to retrieve Marcus. Hyde hoped the scavengers had their own doctor in the compound. Otherwise, they were dragging Marcus to his death.
“This is your lucky night, Marcus,” Judd said, his tone thick with mockery. “I wouldn’t have done it if I couldn’t get you patched up afterwards—Oh! This is going to be so much fun, isn’t it? I can do whatever I want with you, and my doctor will just bring you back up to scratch. So, I guess you are at my mercy until you give me what I want.”
Marcus was carried out of the pen while Hyde stood by and watched, feeling helpless.
“You’re an arsehole!” she said as he walked away. He ignored her outburst and carried on toward the large wooden lean to that constituted the doctor’s office, his two minions and Marcus in tow.
CHAPTER 20
Judd looked upon Marcus as he lay unconscious on the doctor’s bunk. The work on his mangled arm had been carried out to satisfaction. Left with the alternative of being fed to a pen full of starving cavers, the doctor had been obliged to work to the best of his ability. Having inspected the doctor’s work, Judd turned his vision to the cavers’ pen across from the medical lean-to.
Jas was tied to an old sack truck within grasping distance of the pen, but not close enough that they could do her any physical damage. But physical damage wasn’t on his agenda just yet. He was far happier to inflict as much psychological harm to her as possible. The bitch deserved every second of torture she had coming, after what she did to him. He grinned, watching as she struggled against her bonds in a futile attempt to lash out at the clawing hands of frantic cavers he had starved for this very reason.
Although he hated her, he couldn’t help admiring Jas’s tenacity and courage. She didn’t scream or let fright take her over as the cavers’ fingertips scraped across her body, desperately trying to get their pound of flesh. The hunger clearly drove them insane. The stage was finally set; if seeing his daughter within the grasp of cavers didn’t make Marcus talk, nothing would.
It wasn’t long before Marcus began to stir. He sat up and massaged his temples, looking as though he was struggling to get his bearings.
Judd didn’t even bother to give him time to orient himself before he started his interrogation.
“You know what I want from you, don’t you Marcus?”
“What?” Marcus uttered. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Not prepared to mess about, Judd beckoned one of his men to come over and whispered something in his ear. The man nodded and hurried off in the direction of Jas and the cavers’ pen.
“I suggest you look at this, and then I will ask the question again.” He pointed toward Jas, and Marcus’ eyes widened in terror. Judd could read his expression with ease; Marcus was desperate to lash out at him as he was forced to watch one of the scavengers push Jas closer to the grasping hands of the cavers, who were now able to grab at her clothing, and stab at her flesh with their jagged fingernails. Judd knew Marcus could hear her muffled cries and delighted in the fact that he could do nothing
for his daughter.
“If you don’t cooperate, she goes in, do you understand?” he said, with a mixture of calm and menace. “Tell me what I need to know, and I will release her to you.”
~
Marcus remained resolute as Judd plied him with questions. It was nearly more than he could bear to watch as the cavers pulled and clawed at his daughter’s clothing. Her muffled cries cut deep into his heart, just as the cavers cut into her flesh. He watched as one of the beasts ran a sharp talon across her cheek as she turned her head away, now looking directly at him. There was just enough daylight to see the look of defiance in her eyes. Marcus marvelled at his daughter’s courage, but couldn’t stand to see her life in the hands of this madman. Seeing her in so much pain was eating him from the inside out. All he had to do to save her was give Judd the information he wanted. The problem was that he was positive more harm would come to greater numbers if he did. A wave of indecision crept through his mind, and he’d never felt more conflicted than he did at that moment.
“Are you going to tell me what I want to hear, Marcus? All I need to know is where the formula is for our friends over there. They were your mistake,” Judd pushed. “Roll her closer to the pen.”
Marcus watched as Jas was moved a further two inches toward the pen, something that could prove to be fatal. The cavers bore their sharp teeth, desperate to feast on her flesh.
“Bring her back a bit,” Judd shouted, just before they started into her. He turned back to Marcus. “I want to know everything you know. Tell me what I need to know, and, I will let her go.”
Judd could see the look of confusion on Marcus’ face.
“Come on! I know what you did, and I know who you are. Please don’t insult my intelligence,” Judd said as he gestured for Jas to be rolled forward again.
“I don’t know what you mean... please, let her go. I can’t tell you anything.” Marcus sounded desperate as he tried to reason with Jas’ tormentor.
“Do you think I found you by accident? The raid on your cave was just a ruse to draw you out. I’ve been following you for months, even before the bombs. It’s only by chance that I found you in the first place. Coming out into the open like that? Stupid, very stupid.”
Marcus lowered his head into his hands, but still said nothing.
“I can’t remember, please believe me,” Marcus said quietly, but with sadness attached to his voice. I really can’t remember!
Marcus had been credited by Judd with the creation of the cavers, but he had washed his hands of his mistakes a long time ago, regretting ever having been involved in the program. It was the money that persuaded him in the first place, a case of pure greed. He had known from the beginning that the government was playing with fire when they presented their idea of creating ‘super humans.’ But it’s not easy to say no to the kind of money they had offered; the kind of money that can give one’s family a better life. He thought about his current situation, and how it could’ve been avoided. What he found truly baffling was that Judd even knew of his involvement in the government run program. And what was more, what was his actual agenda? What did he plan to do with information about creating cavers? It wasn’t like he could control them. They were nothing more than uncontrollable abominations.
CHAPTER 21
Hyde tried to watch what was happening around the encampment from the pen, but her view wasn’t great. She craned her neck and was able to see Marcus as a scavenger led him out of the lean-to and dragged him back to the pen. He looked weak, but the bandage on his arm had been applied with professional technique, telling her he had at least been treated by some semblance of a doctor. At least he was alive. But why were they throwing him back in the pen. From what little she had heard, it sounded like Judd had used Jas as a tool to get him to talk. Surely if he had cooperated, his daughter would have been returned and the three of them released. How can he leave Jas’s life hanging in the balance like this? He’s betraying her by not speaking up. As if on cue, she heard muffled cries coming from beyond her eye line. Is there no end to Judd’s depravity? What is so fucking important that he would resort to this?
The door to the pen swung open, and Marcus was thrown in. He landed on his knees, curled up into a ball and placed his forehead on the dirt. Hyde’s anger with him for leaving his daughter to the mercy of Judd’s cruelty dissipated as she gazed down on him. He looked so helpless, like a shell of his former self. Crouching down beside him, she drew him into a compassionate hug, silently sobbing on his shoulder as the burden of his pain washed over her.
“I couldn’t tell him anything,” Marcus wept into the dirt, placing his hands on his head, rocking backwards and forwards.
Moving the hair from his ear, she whispered, “Shhh. It’s OK. We’ll get her out of here. I have an escape plan, just follow my lead when the time comes.”
He looked at her in puzzlement, nodded, and then placed his head back in his hands.
She had started to learn the scavenger’s routine. The nightly fire games would be starting as soon as the moon appeared at its fullest, giving her time to find any weaknesses in the fencing or structure of the pen. Watching and listening, she waited for the scavengers to come with their buckets of oil and wads of rags, but tonight they didn’t show. This proved helpful. It meant that she could check the structural integrity of the pen without having to worry about getting caught. But for all her efforts, the pen’s structure was sound. She would have to do something drastic to get her captors’ attention instead.
That evening was spent devising ways in which to do just that. After a few hours of plotting and pondering, Hyde’s eyes became heavier but she resisted the urge to close them for a little while longer. She found herself wanting to comfort Marcus, but her head told her to stay put. She ached all over, and no amount of resistance was going to stop her eyes from closing.
~
Hyde felt someone nudging her arm as she tried to rest. She didn’t know who it was, or why they were doing it, but it pissed her off.
“Fuckin’ knock it off will you? I’m trying to sleep.” Hyde gritted her teeth and tried to rediscover the peaceful place in her mind she’d been yanked from. Again, there was a nudge. She shoved whoever it was away. She heard an angry grumble before the full weight of a man landed over her.
“Come on Hyde, time to give the bastards a show.”
Marcus was on top of her and pretending to beat on her. Why hadn’t she thought of that? A fight in the pen was almost sure to get them out.
Hyde and Marcus put on a good show for their captors, which inevitably gained them a large audience. Using the martial arts skills, she had picked up as a child, Hyde planted a solid kick into Marcus’s solar plexus. He feigned a painful reaction, dropping to his knees, clutching his stomach. Not realising it was just a ruse, the rest of the pen retreated towards the back of the pen, as far as they could go, gasping in horror as each blow connected. It wasn’t long before a few scavengers ran over to the pen, guns locked and loaded.
The next thing Hyde knew, she and Marcus were being dragged apart and pulled to their feet. Her arms were hammer locked behind her back within seconds, and the force of the hold caused the tendons to scream in objection. Both examined their surroundings, seeking ways to escape as they were half dragged, half walked over to the command area.
Hyde mentally prepared herself for what Judd might have in store for them as she glanced back at Marcus, who was being dragged behind her by two more scavengers. To her dismay, he was barely conscious. Apparently, the fuckers had felt the need to beat on him further after beginning their short journey. Her attention fell to Judd, who waited for them, rubbing his hands in anticipation. God, I can’t even stand the sight of him.
“Oh! What to do?” Judd said as he tapped a finger on his clean-shaven chin. “What more can I do to get you to understand how serious your situation is?” A smile that made Hyde shudder spread across his face.
Judd gestured with his hand. “Take them to the centre m
ass.”
~
What the hell is the centre mass? Hyde thought as both she and Marcus were dragged to the mysterious destination, their arms still locked behind their backs. Marcus failed to stifle his gasps and shrieks of pain as his escort’s hand gripped into his mutilated arm.
They soon came to a clearing that was home to a pair of stakes, standing side by side. Chains hung from the topmost point of each stake. Hyde couldn’t help but think about the stress positions she had been made to endure during her training, and how she’d outlasted even the strongest of her fellow recruits. Six hours of her own body weight pulling on the tendons in her shoulders had been a painful experience and, by the look of it, it was one she was going to have to endure again.
She had her back pressed against one of the stakes. Her body was lifted by one of her captors, while the other placed cuffs around her wrists. Once her captor had let her down, she immediately felt the stress of the position on her arms as she balanced on the tips of her toes.
Judd approached Hyde as Marcus was being fitted into his cuffs. He grabbed hold of her head and butted his forehead against hers.
“You’re a fuckin’ wanker!” she said, clenching her teeth against the pain. Judd continued to smile as he turned away. The pure glint of evil in his eye as he glanced back over his shoulder, told her that she had crossed the line. Marcus shot her a perplexed look as he shook his head in disbelief. She knew she had made her situation worse by showing defiance, but she couldn’t help it.
Judd approached her with a piece of dirty cloth dangling from his fist. He clearly intended to gag her, but she wasn’t going to make it easy for him. Now on top of her, he held out the piece of rag. She tightened her lips and shook her head.
Judd bludgeoned the side of her head with his fist, and the ring with an encrusted regiment insignia on his index finger cut into her skin. Opening her mouth to swear at him again gave Judd the opportunity to shove in the gag and tie it before she had the chance to reorient herself.
Only the Few Page 13
