Land

by Theresa Shaver

Quinn felt a surge of excitement. Go into the forest and build a club house? With no adults? How cool. He was about to jump down when he remembered his parents and his shoulders sagged. How could he go off on an adventure when his parents were dead? He looked down at his feet and stayed silent.

  “Dude, I’m seriously outnumbered here and if you don’t come, these girls are going to totally boss me around. Help a brother out?” the stocky boy pleaded.

  “Yeah right Josh! We’re the ones that will end up doing most of the work while you mess around. Seriously Quinn, our friend David is away and we need at least one boy who can pull his weight.” said the brown haired girl, with piercing grey eyes.

  “Just give it a chance Quinn.” his grandfather said quietly, so only he could hear.

  Quinn looked into his Grandpa’s eyes and saw such love and hope in them. He felt his heart lift. He turned and looked down at the kids waiting for his answer and slowly nodded his head. The boy named Josh gave a whoop and did a funky little dance on the spot and the girls all smiled up at him.

  Alex waved him down off the tractor. “Let’s go! We brought a lunch so we’ll feed him Mr. D. and we’ll have him back by supper. Come on guys. We’ve got a lot to do!” and she turned and headed towards the tree line.

  Quinn climbed down the tractor and ducked through the fence. The three girls had already made it almost to the trees but the boy, Josh, had stayed waiting for him.

  “Alright Dude! You really saved my bacon. They still have us outnumbered but at least now I’ve got some back up.” As the two boys followed the girls into the woods Josh leaned over and stage whispered “What do you know about cherry bombs?”

  That summer, Quinn’s new friends slowly pulled him back to life. They filled a part of the void that his parents had left in his heart. He slowly built a new family with his grandparents and friends and he did everything he could to help them and keep them safe.

  ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

  The motor home swerved to avoid a car wreck, throwing Quinn into Cooper and bringing him out of his memories. The kids were crammed into the small amount of floor space in the camper. The biker guarding them was named Snake. He had a tattoo of a snake that coiled around his neck. His greasy hair and dirty clothes reeked of body odor and stale cigarette smoke. He had been keeping up a running commentary on all the nasty things that he planned to do to the girls.

  Quinn looked over to Dara and Alex and was relieved to see that they both seemed to be unaffected by the man’s rant. Alex seemed to be far away in thought with a blank expression on her face. Dara had a look of concentration and was focused down at her feet. Josh had his back to her and she seemed to be nudging his bound hands with her boot. Josh kept trying to grasp her foot but with his hands tied he was having trouble getting a good grip. Quinn didn’t know what the two were trying to do but he didn’t want to bring attention to them so he looked away.

  They were sitting on the floor and there was no way to see out the window to where they were going but based on the movements of the camper they hadn’t left the highway they had originally been traveling on. At least they were going in the right direction, Quinn thought.

  A sharp intake of breath from Dara made him look back to her and Josh. Quinn saw her sock start to turn red with blood and was confused until he saw the knife clutched between Josh’s bound hands. Quinn realized that Dara must have had a knife in her boot and Josh had managed to free it. Josh held the knife until the next time the camper swerved and used the motion to arch forward and slide it down the back of his pants. He then slowly pulled his shirt out of his pants and let it hang down to cover the back of his pants. When he was done he slowly wiggled and shifted until he was sitting sideways and could meet Quinn’s eyes. Quinn gave him a brief nod of understanding just as a boot was shoved against Josh’s side.

  “What’s a matter, big boy? You gotta go potty?” Snake taunted him in baby talk. When he got no response from Josh, he chuckled and said “Don’t worry. You’ll be pissin’ your pants soon enough.” and he let out a laugh that sounded like a donkey braying.

  The driver didn’t turn around but yelled back “Shut the hell up Snake! Leave them kids be until we get back to base. We don’t need any problems or Skull will be using us for entertainment tonight.”

  “Ah shit, I’m just havin’ a little fun.” he mumbled like a chastised child.

  After that, there wasn’t any more talking and it seemed to Quinn that they had been driving for about an hour when the camper began to slow down. They all swayed to one side as the camper made a turn and they could feel the road change to a rougher surface. It was only five minutes when they made another turn and came to a stop. The driver came around his seat and pointed a hand gun at them.

  “All right kiddies, everybody off the bus.” and motioned them up. It was difficult to stand with their hands tied and finally Snake reached down and started to haul them to their feet. The driver opened the side door and bright sunshine filled the inside of the camper. He climbed down and motioned them to get out.

  It was a relief to be outside in the fresh air. The smell of nasty sweat from the two bikers was enough to make them gag. Quinn took a look around and saw that they were parked in a graveled area that had ten motorcycles and a large white panel van. The building was a long one story structure; an old store with a living area attached. There was an old style set of gas pumps on the far end that looked like they hadn’t been used in decades. A rough shove sent Quinn forward and he followed his friends toward the building. He looked at his friends and vowed that whatever happened he would do whatever it took to free them.

  As Alex walked through the door, it took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust from the sun’s brightness to the dim interior. She tried to avoid the trash that was strewn around on the floor, but the place was a mess with empty beer cans and glass liquor bottles and other junk. As the room came into focus she could make out a couple of old leather couches and a glass coffee table overflowing with filled ashtrays, beer cans and dirty glasses. There were two dirty women with stringy, greasy hair wearing skin tight jeans and low cut tight shirts sprawled on the couches. The women looked over with glassy eyes and not much interest when the kids were pushed into the room. Alex was shoved to the side when the leader, Skull, entered and barely kept her balance when one of the other bikers pushed her back the other way. Skull strode over to the two women and grabbed one of them and hauled her to her feet.

  “Get up you lazy cow! Can’t you see we have guests? Go get the ropes so we can hook them up!” he yelled as he turned the woman and booted her in the butt, propelling her towards a door in the back of the room. He flopped down into the spot the woman had just occupied and started to search through the piles of empty beer cans. When he didn’t find what he was looking for, his face turned even harsher and he let out another bellow.

  “DOG!!! Get in here!”

  Within seconds, a short, skinny weasel faced man rushed into the room. In his hand was a dog leash and attached to it on all fours was a small boy of about eight or nine. He was naked except for a pair of dirty underwear that had rocket ships on them. His skinny body was covered with bruises and scrapes and what looked like burns. When he lifted his head up, Alex could see he had a black eye and crusted blood under his nose. With all the damage done to the child, it was the utter emptiness behind his eyes that broke Alex’s heart.

  “Rat, let Dog of his leash. I want a beer… Make it two!” Snake commanded.

  “Sure boss, sure.” Rat said in a rush and reached down to unhook the leash from the collar around the child’s neck. “You heard him Dog! Go get some beer and make it quick.” He punctuated the order with a boot to the child’s bottom. The boy made no sound as he scrambled back out of the room.

  Skull turned towards the other woman still lounging on the other couch. “We’re having a party tonight Baby. We’ve got some entertainment and I want a good meal. Go on out to that camper we just brought in. I took a quick look and
they have it stocked up with all kinds of food. Get some stuff and you and Sheila can make us a feast.”

  The woman stretched lazily and came to her feet. She sauntered over and straddled Skull. “If I make you a good meal, do you promise to share the entertainment with me later?” she asked him seductively.

  Skull leaned back on the couch and looked the woman up and down with a smile. Suddenly he bucked his hips and the woman flew backwards, landing on the floor between the coffee table and couch. Her head banged against the table, sending empty beer cans and ashtrays flying. She scrambled to her feet rubbing her head.

  “Damn it, Skull! Why’d you do that for?” she whined.

  “Take a good look Baby.” he motioned to Dara and Alex. “Fresh meat, you watch yourself or one of them will be your permanent replacement.” He then bellowed out a huge laugh at the look on the woman’s face. “Get cookin’ Baby! And make it good. I’m tired of the crap you two have been feeding us.”

  With a look of hatred directed at Alex and Dara she stormed out to raid the camper.

  The other woman Sheila, came back into the room with her hands full of rope. Her voice was whiney when she handed the pile to one of the bikers. “We only have four sets of hooks put up so one of them won’t be hung up.”

  “Whatever! Popper, just tie one of those boys to a chair for now. He can replace whoever dies first. Sheila, go out and help Baby in the camper. Popper, you and Rat get them kids secured in the back room. DOG!!! Where’s my damn beer.” he roared suddenly. The child came running into the room with two beer cans clutched to his chest. He placed them on the table in front of Skull and quickly dodged a back hand headed his way. The boy retreated into the farthest corner of the room and curled himself up.

  Alex felt a man come up behind her and her bound wrists were pulled up higher that her arms would bend. She leaned forward to ease the pressure and felt the man push himself against her bottom. “Yeah baby, that’s the ticket” he breathed into her ear.” Alex shuddered in disgust but said nothing. There was no point in antagonizing these men. It would be better to comply and wait for her chance to do something.

  The pressure on her arms went away suddenly and Alex realized that the plastic zip tie had been cut. She quickly brought her hands in front of her and tried to rub the circulation back into them. Looking at her friends she saw that they had all been freed but they were having each wrist tied individually, with a loop left over. It didn’t make sense to Alex, until she remembered what the woman said about hooks. Her shoulders tensed at the thought of hanging by her arms from hooks. As they were shoved into the back room, Alex craned her neck around to get one more look at the child curled up in the corner. Instead of being afraid, she felt a huge rage settle over her and sent a silent promise to the child that she would free him and give him vengeance.

  Chapter 12

  The room Alex was shoved into was sparsely furnished. It had an old ragged futon against one wall and a folding table against another. There was another door leading to a different room on the third wall. The main feature of the room was two pairs of thick metal hooks anchored to the fourth wall just above head height. Under the hooks, the wall was scuffed and had grooves in it that looked like heel indentations. There were also many dark brown stains that looked like rust but Alex guessed that they were dried blood stains.

  The hooks had obviously been used before and Alex gave a shudder at the fate of the previous occupants. When Dara saw the hooks she started to struggle with the biker that had her arm in his grip. Alex was surprised and proud of her friends for staying calm so far. The biker named Popper back handed Dara across the face and she fell to the floor clutching her cheek. The other man, Rat, pulled a gun from the matching pair strapped to his thighs.

  “I’ve got them covered. Go ahead and get the girls on the wall.” he told Popper.

  Popper hooked a foot under a small step stool that was under the table and sent it sliding across the floor towards the wall with the hooks. He reached down and hauled Dara to her feet and dragged her over to the wall. Still stunned from the blow to her face, Dara didn’t struggle. He positioned the stool between the hooks and shoved Dara up on it and turned her around so her back was against the wall. He raised her one arm and slipped the looped part of the rope over the hook and repeated it with her other arm. Once he had her positioned, he stepped back and once again hooked his foot under the step stool and yanked it out from under Dara’s feet. She screeched in pain as her body dropped and her shoulder joints were stretched to hold her body weight. She could just barely reach the floor with her tippy toes. She snarled at the man as he patted her cheek.

  “There you go princess. Get nice and comfy and I’ll be back for you later.” he said with a laugh.

  He shoved the stool over between the next set of hooks and motioned Alex over. “Your turn Red.”

  Alex had been studying the ropes that Dara was hung up with and she knew how to save herself the shoulder pain. She climbed the stool and turned around before Popper had time to man handle her. When he hooked the first loop over the hook, she quickly twisted her wrist to get a grip on the rope and did the same with her other hand. She had practiced on the rings and bars for hours in gymnastics and knew she could hold her body weight with her arms positioned properly. Popper stepped back and eyed her up and down.

  “You won’t be so calm once the fun starts later.” he taunted and kicked the stool out from under her feet. Alex was ready for it and tensed her arms. She let out a sound of pain so he wouldn’t know she had control and he gave an evil chuckle.

  “That’s a small taste of what’s to come baby girl.”

  The boys had stayed silent while Alex and Dara were strung up but as they were herded out of the room Quinn looked back at them.

  “Stay strong. We’ll find a way out of this.”

  He received a hard shove out of the room for his words, and then the door closed leaving the girls alone.

  Alex slowly eased the tension in her arms, lowering herself to the floor and taking her weight onto her toes. She kept her wrists turned and her grip on the ropes so she could raise herself again if she needed to. Alex looked over at Dara and saw her friend had her head sagged forward.

  “Are you okay, Dara?” she asked in concern. Dara slowly lifted her head and Alex wasn’t surprised to see instead of defeat, rage blazed from her eyes.

  “I’m going to kill all of these mother fuckers.” Dara said through gritted teeth.

  The girls heard banging, crashing and curses from the next room and painful moans. One of the boys was taking a beating and Alex thought it sounded like Josh.

  “Ok bendy girl. Is there anything you can do to get us out of this? I saw what you did with the ropes. It has to be soon before they start in on us. My arms are already on fire.” Dara said.

  Before Alex could answer, loud heavy metal music came blaring from the other room. The girls looked at each other in confusion. How did these guys get a working stereo? Shaking her head, Alex tried to think of any way to get out of the ropes.

  “There’s nothing I can do like this.” she told Dara, having to raise her voice over the music. “Without some kind of leverage…” she trailed off as the short biker named Rat came into the room.

  He was as dirty and greasy as his friends. When he was bringing them into the room, Alex was surprised that she was taller than the man. He walked up between them and looked them over.

  “Popper’s busy havin’ fun with your boyfriends and Skull sent the other guys out to town to bring back some friends of ours to join the party tonight, so I thought I’d come in and keep you from getting lonely. Maybe get myself a little taste of what’s to come later.” he told them with a leer.

  Alex had been wracking her brain to think of some way to get out of the ropes and as she looked over at the disgusting man, it came to her in a flash. She just needed him to come over in front of her. She tensed her arms and raised herself up as if she was on the rings and taunted him.

/>   “So what exactly do you think you’re going to do with us, little man?” she asked him with as much contempt in her voice as she could muster.

  His face flushed with anger at the “little man” comment and he rushed at her. As soon as he was in front of her but still a few steps away, Alex tensed her whole body and split her legs bringing them up on either side of him and then clamped them tightly on either side of his head so her body was jack knifed. Her shoulder joints and wrists were screaming in pain at the strain. The back of her knees were resting on the short man’s shoulders and Alex kept her legs board straight and used the leverage and her strong stomach muscles to lift her upper body straight up. As soon as she came level with the hooks she lifted her arms, the loops of rope clearing the hooks. She then brought her arms across her chest and did a half twist sideways. Her arms shot out downwards so she would land on her hands but with her legs still clamped around the man’s neck, he came with her to the side and they ended up in a heap on the floor.

  The whole maneuver had only taken seconds. Alex found herself giggling and couldn’t help thinking, “What a crappy dismount.”

  She shoved the man off her and jumped to her feet.

  “Holy Crap, Dara! Did you see that? I can’t believe that worked. I mean, that never should have worked out side of a movie!” she exclaimed in disbelief.

  “Yeah yeah, you’re a freakin’ bendy super hero. Don’t you think you should get his guns before he wakes up?” Dara joked.

  The disbelief cleared from Alex’s face as she dropped back down to the man. She rolled him over and had one gun out of its holster and was reaching for the other when she looked at his face. He was staring at her with a shocked look on his face. Alex fell back in surprise and pointed the gun at him. It only took a second to realize that he wasn’t staring at her at all. There was no life behind the man’s stare. He was dead. His head was canted to one side and Alex knew his neck was broken. The gun sagged in her grip and she let out a soft “Oh.”