by Keith Trimm
“You can’t keep me here,” Amanda said.
“Looks like I am,” Mark replied.
“Not for long, they’ll find me.”
“No, they won’t” Mark said with a grin.
“What is this place? Is this where you take little girls to molest them?”
Mark punched Amanda the eye. “I don’t molest anyone. Say that again and you won’t like what I do.”
“Then what is this place?” Amanda shouted.
“It belongs to a friend of mine, get used to it, and call it home.”
Amanda shook her head and rubbed her eye. “You bastard, hitting a girl.”
Mark moved in close. “You hurt me, I hurt you, get it?”
“No man treats a woman like this,” Amanda said.
“All women treat men like this,” Mark said. “I’m leaving, you sit here for a while, a long while, and think about your future, if you get hungry, there’s a bowl of dog food over by the bars. Remember, you are a dog, you will be treated as such. From now on you are no longer my wife, nor a human and will be treated accordingly.” Mark left the cell and slammed the door. He locked the chain and walked down the pathway to the front door where Bob was waiting for him. Together they left the bunker and headed to the main house. Once inside they sat at the video surveillance center and had a talk.
“Looks like you got your way,” Mark said.
“What do you mean?” Bob asked knowing the answer.
“You wanted a partner, now you have one.”
“Yeah, I didn’t want it to happen this way, sorry about the bad news.”
Mark watched Amanda on the view screen in her cell. She was on the ground picking up the pieces of her cell phone. “What’s the stupid bitch doing? Does she think she can put it back together?”
“She’s desperate, it’s the only tie she has right now to her normal life.”
“Normal life, what’s that?” Mark asked.
“You have a point, to most people, normal doesn’t include sharing your partner with someone else, but to those who do, it’s like any other day.”
“How did I not see this coming?” Mark asked. “This is the kind of shit that happens to other people, not me!”
“It’s far more common than you think. Right now I have a full bunker filled with women who cheat. And we live in a fairly small community.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s just that I’m used to a way of life, and today that way of life is gone.”
“And you want to punish her?” Bob asked.
“Yes, severely, she isn’t getting away with this, I don’t deserve it.” Mark replied.
“Good, I agree, she should be punished, and forever taught a lesson.”
“What do you mean? What do you think I should do with her?”
“Let me have an hour with her, she will wish she was never born,” Bob said.
“What, are you going to rape her? She’s already getting too much extracurricular sex as it is, I don’t need you adding to her tally. Who knows how many other guys there were before Justin.”
“I see your point, then how do you intend to punish her?” Bob asked.
Mark paused and thought for a second. “This is still pretty fresh in my mind, I need to think about it.”
“In the meantime, I need someone to take over what my mother was doing, the feeding, the cleaning and such.”
“I can do that, it’s the least I can do for you letting me keep Amanda locked up here.”
“That also means laundry, buying soap and supplies. Anything you would do in a kennel.”
“Kennel, I like that, a good place to keep dogs.”
Bob smiled, “Yes, and you don’t have to spray up the dog shit off the floor, they toilet themselves.”
“Have you ever had a problem with any of them protesting or not complying with you?” Mark asked.
“I used to, then I found out the hose works well. The water is from a well and is usually around forty degrees. Twenty minutes of that and they can barely move. It’s a great motivator.”
“So how many girls do you have?” Mark asked.
“I have your wife, Cathy, Linda and one other.”
“Is she a problem?” Mark asked.
“No worse than the rest.”
“So I do have a question, what would you do if they got out of their cells?”
“I built in a system to gas the place if I need to, there is a hose sticking out of the ground that runs up by the house. All you have to do is put the hose on the exhaust of your car and it pumps the entire bunker full of carbon monoxide in about a half hour.”
“What about the ventilation system? Won’t that air out the gas first?”
“You know I never thought about that. I guess you could throw the breaker on the side of the house that would cut all power and stop the vents from working.”
“Which breaker is it?” Mark asked.
“It’s labeled, “Hog pen.”
“That is appropriate,” Mark laughed. “I need to get back home for a while, can I get a key or something so I can do my chores?”
“I’ll have a set made for you when you get back, and I’ll write out a list of all the chores that need done and how often.”
“I do have a question, have you ever lost a girl, I mean other than Linda escaping?”
“Yes, the first girl I ever captured, it was a rookie mistake, I was too easy on her and she got out.”
“Got out? How are you still here? Didn’t she turn you in?”
“No, she didn’t get far, back then I made them wear ankle chains and she cut herself up pretty bad trying to run. She made it as far as the wind block before she couldn’t go any further.”
“What did you do with her?”
“I cut her up and threw her in my neighbors hog pen.”
“You killed her?” Mark asked.
“I was scared shitless, it was my first time and I was sure she was going to get out again. I panicked didn’t think it out and I was too scared to bury her so I took her chopped up parts and tossed them in the pen. He has five hundred hogs, she didn’t last the night.”
“What have I got myself into?” Mark asked.
“Think of it as your righteous calling, it’s your job to set these bitches straight and make them fly right.”
“Why hold them? I mean, you’re creating a huge burden for yourself and they can’t be cheap to maintain?”
“I’m not a murderer, I don’t enjoy killing.” Bob replied. “It isn’t my place to take their lives, it’s my place to make their lives more in line with what I think is right. They can’t cheat if they’re locked up in a cell.”
“You’re playing dad?” Mark asked.
“I guess you could say that,” Bob laughed. “They are all permanently grounded.
Chapter 9
Hog Pen
Mark brought two chairs from the house and set them next to Cathy’s cell. He had finished his chores and wanted to talk to the woman he had been taking pictures of a week earlier. He unlocked her cell and set on chair inside facing out, stepped back out and relocked the door. Cathy watched him set up the chair and got up to see what was going on. Mark waved her over and sat in his chair till she got there.
She sat down and asked, “What’s going on?”
“I wanted to talk to you if you don’t mind,” Mark replied.
Cathy looked at him with discontent. “Why now?” she asked.
“I like a captive audience,” he said with a smile.
“Fuck you,” Cathy said. “If you really want to do something nice, why don’t you put in a television for us, or a radio?”
“Who said I wanted to do anything nice?” Mark replied. “Did you know my bitch wife is here now?” he asked.
“Yes, all we have to do is talk around here.”
“Fucking whore was on boyfriend number five.” Mark stated.
“How about the television?” Cathy asked again.
“If I did that, Bob would have my as
s. This is his place, I just help out.”
“You can’t keep us locked up like animals in a cage, I’ll go fucking nuts. Even hard core criminals get an hour in the yard once a day.”
“I don’t think Bob thinks of you as criminals, he thinks more of you as the devils children.”
“Then why are you talking to me? Isn’t that the same as having a television? If he wants me in isolation, you’re fucking that up right now,” Cathy said.
“Yeah I know, Bob doesn’t know I’m doing this. I doubt he’d approve.”
“You’re taking your life in your hands, he’s a fucking psycho.”
“No, I don’t think he would think of me chatting with you in the same realm of what you do, or did.”
“I get that, he pretty much thinks of all women as objects to be used as he sees fit,” Cathy said.
“I agree with that, he really has no place for most women, cheaters are a special category unto themselves.”
Cathy paused for a moment and fixed her shirt. She was still dressed in a white t shirt and plain white panties. “When can I get some new clothes? “Cathy asked.
“You have three pairs and I keep them washed, what do you need?” Mark asked.
“How about a pair of pants?” Cathy asked.
“Bob doesn’t approve of women wearing pants, he’s old fashioned.”
“Really?” Cathy asked. “In the old days women didn’t run around in their underwear. I think Bob has a pretty warped sense of reality.”
“I’ll ask him about pants, but I’m pretty sure he’ll say no.”
“So, no television, no new clothes, what can I get? How long are we going to eat dog food?” Cathy asked.
“Honestly, the dog food serves two purposes, first, it’s cheap and easy, and second, he thinks of you all as dogs, so I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”
“Then why are you talking to me? If you’re not here to help us, what the fuck do you want?”
Mark shrugged his shoulders and crossed his legs like he was in for a long conversation. All he was missing was a glass of tea and an end table to set it on.
“I just wanted to talk, that’s all.”
“You fucking asshole, you call me a whore, let this prick lock me up and you think you can come here and engage me in conversation for your pleasure?” Cathy asked.
“I could leave I suppose,” Mark replied.
Cathy got up from her chair and shoved it towards the cell door. She then turned around and walked back to the bed and lied down. She had no intention of letting Mark have his way, she had all the power and he could fuck off.
“Tell me about your husband?” Mark asked in a loud voice. Loud enough to be heard in all the cells.
No response.
“How about your kids?” he asked.
“Fuck off,” Cathy said.
“How many do you have?”
Silence, then, “If you gave a shit about my kids you’d let me go. What kind of sick fuck keeps a mother from their kids? They’re scared shitless that mommy will never come home.”
That comment struck Mark hard. He knew she was right, it wasn’t the kid’s fault their mother was a whore, and they didn’t deserve to go through the stress of not knowing where their mother was.”
“How old are they?” Mark asked.
“Six and three,” she replied.
Mark got a sick feeling in his gut, what a horrible thing he and Bob were doing to these innocent kids. He swallowed hard and uncrossed his legs. He became so uncomfortable with what he was now a part of that he questioned his partnership with Bob. Although his own wife was two cells away, and deserved all she got, he couldn’t reconcile keeping Cathy captive any longer.
Not having kids didn’t change or influence his feeling towards Cathy and her kids. Mark was a compassionate man and had to force himself to treat these women the way Bob wanted. Mark hated his wife, and wanted her to pay for the five affairs, but Cathy and the rest had no purpose in being locked in Bob’s sick fantasy. “Come back over here and talk to me,” Mark said, almost pleading.
Cathy could hear the sincerity in Marks tone and took notice. She realized she made a point and hit him where it counted. She got up and walked back over to the cell door and took her seat on the chair facing Mark. “So are you going to let me go?” she asked.
“Maybe,” Mark said. “Depends.”
“On what?” Cathy asked.
“On what I can do, it’s not as easy as it sounds. He has this place rigged. If you or I piss him off, he hooks the gas to his car up to a hose and a half hour later everyone down here is dead. That could include me if he’s pissed enough.”
“Drive to town, get the sheriff, it’s that easy,” Cathy said.
“There’s one huge problem, my wife is in here, if I get the sheriff, I’m going down.”
“You’re probably going down anyway, you should cut your losses before you get too deep.”
Mark considered what she had said and knew she was right. The only thing stopping her was his wife Amanda who was housed a few cells down from Cathy. “If I go down, so does she,” Mark said.
“What do you mean?”
“Kidnapping is a huge offense, kidnapping five girls is off the charts. There is no way I’m getting out of this without a life sentence.”
“But you were only helping, you didn’t build this thing,” Cathy said.
“But I’m an accomplice, and I brought my wife out here. I’m fucked if I go to the sheriff. I let you go, and they lock me up instead.”
“What about my kids?” Cathy asked.
Mark was lost in thought, he was being pulled in two different directions and didn’t know which way to go. Bottom line, he was in too deep to get out now. “Bob will be back at five, I can’t do anything today.”
“Why not?” Cathy asked. “Town is only five miles away.”
Mark knew she was right. A five minute drive and he could be at the law enforcement center. As long as Bob didn’t have a heads up on his plan, Bob wouldn’t have a reason to gas the girls. “Fine,” Bob said, “I’ll go.”
Cathy sat and watched Mike get off his chair and head to the door that lead to the house. Once he was through the door and out of site, she picked up her chair and carried it back to her bed and laid it down between the bed and the wall so it wouldn’t be seen.
To Cathy’s surprise, Mark came back from the house holding the keys to all the cells. He unlocked Cathy, Linda and the girl at the end skipping over his wife Amanda who was yelling at him. He gathered up the women and led them into the house leaving Amanda behind.
“What about your wife?” Cathy asked.
“She can fucking rot for all I care,” Mark replied. He led the women up the stairs and out the front of the house. It was the first daylight some of them seen in weeks. “I want you to go over to the windbreak and wait for me, I have something I need to do before we go.”
The women were eager to get going and did as Mark told them. Cathy looked back and started to say something and decided not to. Mark was getting in his car anyway. Once he had the car in motion, he pulled it up to the house and got out leaving the motor running. He fished out the hose that led to the bunker and attached it to his tailpipe. He then popped open the breaker box on the side of the house and flipped the breaker that said, “Hog pen”to the off position and took note of the time on his watch. He had thirty minutes to wait.
Chapter 10
Escape
It was midafternoon and Bob was leaving the construction job. Mark had loaded up the three women and was driving into town when his cell phone rang, it was Bob. “Hello?” Mark asked.
“Hey, I’m getting off early today, are there any supplies I need to pick up?”
Pretending he was still back at the house, Mark replied, “Yeah, I need more laundry and dishwasher soap.”
“Is that all?” Bob asked.
“Yeah, that’s about it?”
“Where are you?” Bob asked
Surprised by his question, Mark replied, “I’m in the house, why do you ask?”
“I got an alert on my phone that there was a carbon monoxide leak in the bunker. Is everything ok?”
“How did you get an alert?”
“I installed a system that tells me if there’s a fire or gas leak and it sends me updates. I got an alarm a few minutes ago. Can you go take a look and see what’s going on?” Bob asked.
Knowing full well why the alert went off, Mark had to scramble for a reply and act like he hadn’t a clue. “Sure, I’ll go down and call you back.”
“Yeah, hurry up, that’s a tight space and it won’t take long to kill everyone down there. I think as long as the vent is running it should be ok,”
“Ok, I’ll let you go, I’ll call back in a few.”
Mark hung up his phone and his heart thumped heard in his chest. He had no clue about the alarm system and now Bob knew something was going on. It was only a few miles to the sheriff’s office so Mark felt relieved that he would soon have the girls safe. Then he saw Bob’s car pull over the hill coming towards him. “What the fuck?” he said out loud.
“What is it?” Linda asked.
“Get down, it’s Bob.”
The women sunk down in their seats and Mark became very tense as Bob’s car came closer. He could tell that Bob was slowing down as if he wanted Mark to pull over and talk. It was a split second decision, but Mark was too close to town now to stop. Instead of slowing down, Mark pushed on the gas pedal and sped his car up to seventy five miles and hour. He sped past Bob and watched him stop and turn in the rear view mirror. He knew Bob was going to follow him and now it was a race to the sheriff’s office. Then Mark’s phone rang again. He chose not to answer this time.
“Who’s calling?” Cathy asked.
“It’s Bob.”
“Are you going to answer it?”
“I’m getting you to the sheriff, I don’t need to have a conversation with the guy who’s chasing us.”
Then Mark saw something strange up ahead on the road. It looked like a sheriff’s car turned to the side blocking the road. The closer he got, the more sure he was. Then he noticed an officer standing off to the left in a ditch standing there. Looking in the rear view mirror, all Mark could see was dust, but he knew Bob was coming up from behind.
