The young woman screamed out in distress trying to drop down to the woman, but the man holding her wouldn’t allow it. “No, no, no! How could you do this! You are fucking assholes, she did nothing to you! She was innocent…”
“Might have done that out of the camp to not attract infected with the scent of fresh blood,” Everett replied with a bit of irritation, “but yes, I think we can manage two more.” He turned to the younger woman. “No one that has lived as long as she would still be able to claim innocence. But it all fairness that was likely the kindest way she could have hoped to die. Better a throat cut than to be torn apart by the infected or starving to death in the cold.”
“You are monsters,” the man said, staring down at the dying old woman, his emotions detached.
“What was that,” one of the guards that had brought the group in growled, “no jokes this time, funny man? No little quip and jab?”
“My wit would be wasted on the likes of you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, funny man?”
Other slavers began to chuckle. “Mean’s he’s calling you dumb, Pike.”
Pike turned a dangerous eye on the restrained man. “Is that so?” He unleashed a blow to the man’s guts, doubling him over. “Maybe stupid, but I’m not the one tied up like a little bitch.” He spat and walked away.
“Let us go, you filthy bastards!” the younger women screamed, pulling at her restraints only to have the man holding them yank her off her feet and push her to the ground.
“Got ourselves a lively one here,” he jeered, smelling her blonde hair. “Lively normally means fun.”
“You four did good work tonight, these two will bring in a decent price,” Everett told them, looking the two survivors up and down. “Secure the ‘funny man’ and get this body far enough away from camp before it attracts any unwanted visitors.” He stopped and looked over at the young woman. “Then you four may have some fun with our new guest as a reward. Don’t damage her face and nothing that will cause scarring.”
“You got it, boss!” they all chimed with devilish glee, their eyes burning with cruel lust.
“No!” the girl cried, trying to fight tooth and nail as two of the men dragged her across the camp to the far side, knowing what awaited her. “You can’t do this to me! Let me go! Stop! Please don’t do this!”
Auska turned her eyes from the scene; she knew what would happen next. Her blood grew dangerously cold and she almost wished she could help the woman. But deep down she knew if she had stumbled across this scene that she would have left it alone knowing the odds of helping were slim. The woman’s fate was sealed, as were most of the people here.
“Get over there, idiot!” Pike grumbled pushing the man down to the ground near Auska’s own tree as a new chain tether was put in place.
“You’ll all pay for this,” the man said with a chilling calm as the chain was secured around his neck and a heart-wrenching cry ripped through the night. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“Shut up, funny man,” Pike tapped the knife at his side, “lest I feel the need to cut that smart tongue out. We can still make as good a profit off a mute as we can a comedian!” With a kick to the man’s guts, Pike walked away towards the muffled screams on the other side of the camp, already loosening his belt.
“Remind me to kill that guy, slowly, when I get the chance.” The young man groaned, pulling himself into a sitting position against the tree, clearly in pain. It didn’t take him long before his bound hands were in front of him and free of the length of cord, which he stuffed in his pants.
Auska looked the newcomer over and nearly laughed out loud. He was no taller than herself and firm but skinny; if he weighed twenty pounds more than her, she would have been surprised. His face radiated a boyish softness in the growing darkness, with patchy facial hair that looked more suited for a seventeen-year-old boy. It made her wonder how he’d survived this long. She winced as the poor woman cried out again across camp and cheers from the slavers followed. That was how this man had survived… off the backs, misery, and death of others.
“The name’s Wren.”
The smooth voice cut through her thoughts and she realized she was still staring at him. “What did you say?”
“I said my name is Wren, what’s yours?”
“I didn’t ask.”
He shrugged. “No, but I figured if we are to be tree neighbors we might as well know each other’s names. Seems a better way of communicating than, “Hey you”, don’t you think?”
Auska rolled her eyes at his attempt at witty charm. “‘Hey, you’, suits me just fine.”
A blood piercing wail that lasted for nearly a minute tore through the still evening and chilled everyone’s blood to the bone instantly. All those chained to trees huddled closer to them, turning their eyes away and trying to shut out the sounds.
Jen edged her way closer. “God, what are they doing to her?”
“Destroying her,” Wren replied, his voice distant.
“I would have thought you’d be more concerned about your friend’s predicament then you appear to be,” Auska said, watching Wren closely. There was something different about this man, something she was unsure about.
He sighed remorsefully. “Truth be told, I’ve only known them for four days. The group I was travelling with for the past four months got overrun by a pack of infected. We were low on ammo and so we all bolted, hoping to find each other once we scattered the monsters.” He rested his head up against the tree, clearly distraught. “I found a few of their bodies, even saw a few of them walking around with the infected that attacked us. The rest, I assume, just kept on running. So, I was on my own, again. I worked my way through the mountain passes for a few days solo, until one evening I smelt a campfire. I approached with caution and saw Caitlyn and Ellen huddled in the small overhang in a rock face. They looked like they hadn’t eaten in a few days and I still had some food in my pack, so I approached them with my hands in the air. Thankfully they didn’t have any bullets in the rifle they had, or I am sure they would have shot me dead before I had had a chance to speak. Turns out they were part of a similar-minded group travelling out this way before the turn of winter to find someplace called Sanctuary. Apparently, they are hidden out here in the mountains and take on able-bodied survivors. Or at least those are the rumors going around.” He shrugged. “I doubt there is such a place, but the idea of hope is powerful.”
Auska and Jen shared a glance, and before Auska could mouth the words “don’t” Jen piped in. “We are from Sanctuary!”
Wren’s interested showed easily in his eyes. “So, it’s not just a myth, it is real. Well, at least I don’t feel like such an idiot for joining the group to come searching for it. A shame they aren’t going to see it, though.”
“Neither will you,” Auska cut in.
He looked almost hurt. “Surely you have no intention of telling your people to leave us to die out here when they come to save you from these heathens?”
“Our people are the reason these heathens have us,” Auska explained, still annoyed that Jen gave such information out so easily. Not that it mattered now anyway.
“They sold us like cattle for winter supplies!” Jen spat bitterly, staring dangerously at one of the slavers as they walked by.
Wren cursed under his breath. “Well, that’s very disheartening news. The rumors made it sound like it was different from the rest of the ‘rulers’ of the wastelands. A place that might care about the common folk for more than just slave workers. Guess even fantasy is twisted and cruel behind the covers.”
Tears streaked Jennifer’s face. “Yeah, everyone here thought that, too, even the ones that were born there. Raised plump and healthy to be sold off to the highest bidder.”
Wrens eyes grew wide at that news. “That must have been a bitter pill to swallow. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
They all grew quiet as a guard came around with their meager dinner and water. The slaver’s urges a
t what he was missing out on kept his mind and eyes wandering over to the other end of camp where they had taken the girl, whose screams were lesser now as she tired and gave in. As soon as he moved onto the next group, Wren moved closer once again.
“So, when do we make a move to escape?”
Auska rolled her eyes. Of course, this man would try to latch onto a new group as quickly as possible; leeching onto others was the only way someone like him could hope to stay alive. “Escape whenever you feel you can,” she muttered curling herself upon the ground.
“Well, that doesn’t seem like a very good plan,” he countered. “Strength in numbers and all seems better suited for this kind of thing.”
“Auska doesn’t believe in all for one, one for all,” Jen replied with contempt. “More of a save yourself, kind of girl.”
Before Auska could fire back a response, an all too familiar and terrifying sound filled her ears. The awkward, stumbling charge of flesh-hungry fiends from behind them. “Fuck, we got company!”
In one smooth motion, Wren was on his feet and back from the tree as far as his chain would allow, a fist-sized rock clutched tightly in his hand as he prepared himself for the attack.
“Coming in-between you two!” Jennifer called out; her fists balled up as her only weapon.
“Auska, go in low!” Wren called out.
Auska was taken back by the sudden command but knew their best bet was to work together. If he had even a faint plan, it would serve them well for her to play her part as needed, but she would be ready to act further.
The deranged, rotting fiend tore through the underground just behind their trees, locking its milky white eyes on Wren. It charged with a blood stopping screech, covering the distance quickly.
Auska dived forward and kicked out, her foot snapping through the knee of the ghoul. It pitched forward hitting the ground hard in a snarling rage, turning its attention to Auska, who was now closer prey in its eyes.
Even with a crippled leg, the fiend moved with frightening speed, launching itself at Auska, its chipped, blackened teeth snapping in eagerness at the meal to come. She tried to scamper back, but her metal tether had reached its length as it threw itself upon her. She got her legs up just in time to catch it in the chest with her feet. Its raw strength proved nearly too much for her as its putrid mouth snapped impossible close to her throat and she struggled to push it back.
Auska knew she would one day die horribly, shot down in a gunfight or ripped apart by a fiend just like this, but tethered to a tree by slavers was just excessively insulting.
A loud crack sounded in front of her and the weight of the creature gave way, slumping to the side. Over the top of her stood Wren, gore-splattered rock in hand.
“It’s not over yet, up now!” Wren reached down and hauled her to her feet.
Auska turned just as another infected broke through the tree line. With a scream she charged, grabbing the chain tether in both hands as she banked as far as it would let her to the side, catching the fiend in the chest with the chain. She kept her momentum as she circled the tree pulling as hard as she could, slamming the creature into the trunk, pinning it with the chain.
Her arms and shoulders bulged as she pulled back, using the tree for support. The chain cut deep into the rotting flesh of the creature and through its pained howls, she could hear bones snapping.
The ground beneath her feet was quickly chewed up as she fought to kill the thing before it could overpower her efforts.
“Another one!” Jen yelled out. “Coming right for you!”
A gunshot rent through the chaos and all resistance left the chain, then another and the new threat dropped a dozen paces away in a gurgling sputter.
Auska fell back and gasped for air; the muscles in her arms and legs burned far more than she had noticed.
“Well, well, that was quite the show.” Brock sneered, holstering his sidearm. “Though I have to admit I was rooting for the infected for a while.” He gave all three bodies a solid kick before tearing the rock from Wren’s hand with a disapproving glare.
The camp was alive now. Slavers were arming themselves quickly, their eyes feverishly on the lookout for any movement from beyond the dull reach of the light from the camp.
“What are you standing around for!” Brock growled at a few of them that were just standing around. “Perimeter check! No more damn surprises tonight!”
“That was quite the display.” Everett clapped exiting his large canvas tent. “I, for one, was on the edge of my seat the entire time. But unlike Brock here, I was rooting for you two the entire time. I wouldn’t be much of a businessman if I got excited over possibly losing talented merchandise.”
“A man has got to have priorities,” Wren spat in disgust.
Everett eyed them both with growing interest. “That he does, and this man’s priorities have just grown in a different direction. Brock, get this mess cleaned up and get patrols out half-mile around camp. I want no more fucking surprises tonight! Tomorrow we change course for the Abyss!”
Auska didn’t need to know more about what place Everett was talking about; the terrified or eager looks on the faces of his men told her enough. The growing pit in her guts told her it was a place she might have known once, and deep down she hoped she was wrong.
“We got a runner!” was screamed at the top of someone’s lungs just as the first rays of morning broke through the canopy of trees, tearing everyone from slumber.
Instantly, the camp was in motion. A group of five set off in pursuit of whoever was lucky enough to make a run for it. Other guards swarmed around the prisoners checking the chains and locks, ensuring no further escape attempts were being made.
“Who was it?” someone asked from two trees over.
“I don’t know, I can’t see,” another called over.
“Shut up!” Dirk barked, cradling this rifle eagerly. “No talking.”
“It was Parry!” a woman’s voice beamed from across the camp. “He’s going to get help! We’re going to be saved!”
“I said shut the fuck up!” the guard growled, stepping closer to the woman, threatening.
A man a few trees down stood up proudly. “We will be free soon, help will come!” he proclaimed.
One of the guards laid him low with the butt end of his rifle. “Stay down and shut the fuck up!”
Auska grinned to herself; so, he had taken what she had said to heart and made a run for it to save himself. She made no illusion that he would make it back to Sanctuary alive; on foot, it would take a week. Parry had no food or weapons, nor the skills needed to fight off the infected he would surely come across. Even the slim chance that he did make it back, what would happen to him? He would no more have a welcoming return to warn them as she did. No, he was as good as dead, by one means or another. Still, she respected him for taking the chance.
Auska laid down. When her time came to escape, she knew she would be more than capable of surviving on her own. The only issue with Parry escaping first was now the guards would be even more alert than they already were, more so with her no less.
“Lucky bastard,” whispered Wren. “Though whenever you are ready, just say the word and we, too, can make a run for it.”
“If only it were that easy.”
“Have a little faith in me, and you might find that it is.”
“I’ve seen what happens to people you group up with,” she countered coldly. “You just need someone to help you stay alive.”
“I am wounded, but you aren’t completely wrong,” he said with no hint of offense taken. “But we all need others to stay alive, as we all have our strong points and uses. One of mine happens to be very useful in the situation we are now,” he tapped the chain around his neck.
“I stay alive just fine by myself, it’s only when working with others,” she glanced at Jennifer who was clearly hurt by the words, “that I end up in situations like this.”
Wren looked between the two women and could see the te
nsion and growing animosity. “Don’t forget my offer, Auska, it might not last forever.”
The sound of angry jeering and cries of pain shifted the camp into nervous alertness once more. It had been nearly three hours since Parry had made his escape, and everyone was beginning to believe he had truly gotten away.
“Everett, we caught the little bastard!” one of the men who had given chase announced proudly, strutting into view with a cocky grin on his dirty face, a very bloody and haggard Parry in tow.
Auska was on her feet, trying to get a better look as they came in through the tree line. She could hear the murmurs and whispers of those around her. The disappointment and realization that help would not be coming were clear in all their crestfallen expressions.
The slaver’s leader made his way from his tent to where Parry knelt on the ground, blubbering like a child, his cheeks stained with countless tears already. “Good work, gentlemen.” Everett nodded to the group that had brought the slave back. He started to pace around the kneeling man. “Did you have a fun little run in the woods? Was it exhilarating thinking you had escaped from the vile clutches of the bad men?” The big man moved around to face Parry. “Well, come on now, was it? You can tell me.”
Parry’s lips quivered in fear as he tried to lift his eyes to the giant of a man in front of him, but terror prevented him from reaching his eyes. “F…uck… youuuu…,” he stuttered out.
Everett stood up, a look of mock surprise upon his face. “Such bitter vulgarity! When all I did was ask a few simple little questions.” His demeanor turned hard as he grabbed a fist full of Parry’s hair, jarring his head back forcing him to look up into the violent, steel grey eyes. “I hope your little outing was worth it because you’ve wasted my time now!” He spat and stood up. “Hobble him and let’s move out! Another day and we will be at the Abyss, where there’s money to be made!” This brought a round of cheers from the slavers, though some still were clearly not eager to go there. But the promise of wealth always pushed back fear.
What Remains (Book 2): What's Left Page 11
