Moving back into place she watched Wren with the others, she had no idea how many be had freed but was happy to see none of them had tried to make a run for it yet. They were remaining calm, natural, something she was truly surprised at.
A deep resounding horn bellowed from the cliff face. Their time was up. Things were about to get dangerous and pass the point of no return.
Instantly the three guards were on their feet looking towards the noise, all thought of anything else long gone from them. That was Wren’s moment; the group picked up and ran, fanning out into the woods as quickly and quietly as they could. But Wren wasn’t among them.
Auska caught sight of Jennifer and Wren struggling over the last two prisoners. She cursed loudly; one of them was Jen’s brother. Keeping low she ran closer, keeping out of sight in case the element of surprise was needed still. “What the fuck?”
“The damn locks are jammed!” Wren told her as he tried another attempt on the chain around Kalvin.
Jen looked panicked as she tried to unlock the other woman’s chain. “This one has dirt and shit in the hole, there’s no getting it out! Not without more time!”
“We don’t have more time, we have to go, or we will all be dead!” Auska hissed back, keeping a watch on the guards. It was only a matter of time before their luck was going to end. Then her eyes landed on something by one of the seats between the three distracted slavers.
“I’ll not leave without my brother, Auska,” Jen barked, “I told you this already!”
“I know!” Auska replied, unshouldering the rifle. “I’ll buy you some time, but when you see me running, your time is up. What happens after is on you!”
Wren looked up from what he was doing, “What the fuck are you doing?”
“I made a promise, I need to keep it,” she called over, as she sprinted across the open ground towards the three guards.
As she ran, she aimed the gun and fired. A bullet punched through the left man’s neck and he pitched forward. The other two turned around to see what had happened when Auska slammed the rifle stock into the middle one’s jaw spinning him wildly around to crash into the fire pit. She tried to reverse the swing in time to catch the other, but her wounded side and shoulder couldn’t react in time and her target was able to swing out of reach.
“You, stupid bitch!” Dirk growled, his fist connecting with her face, spinning her around.
Auska almost lost her footing but managed to stay upright. Her vision was dazed; bright lights exploded all around her and nausea threatened to consume her. She berated herself for thinking it would be that easy. These men were hard men, killers, fighters… survivors, like her.
Lifting the rifle back she tried to aim, but his arm shot out and slapped the barrel aside and her shot tore through the side of the truck. The screams of the man who had fallen in the fire and the gunshots had drawn attention as others who moved cautiously closer.
Another fist thundered into her side and she nearly blacked out from the agony that ripped through her as stitches and cracked ribs broke.
“Don’t know where you came from, but the boss will be glad we found you again!” Dirk grinned, ready to throw another punch.
A gun went off and Auska watched as he was bucked back to crash into the truck, his eyes wide as blood pumped from the hole in his chest. Stealing a glance, she saw Jennifer standing a dozen feet away reloading.
“Time to go!”
Auska gritted forward and snatched the skull up into her arms and took off behind Jennifer into the trees. A look to where they had been showed Jen’s brother had been freed but the older woman remained. One left behind was better luck then they had any right to.
Gunshots went off, but they couldn’t tell if they were coming their way or the other. Confusion had taken over between the two camps, and that was good for them. Hopefully, the two groups would kill each other and be too distracted to do anything else for a while.
They ran for several hard minutes, slowly making their way back to where the cliff trail brought them to the forest, where Wren and Kalvin were waiting with watchful eyes. A path Auska had travelled over a decade ago with night looming in on them and men and infected clawing at their backs. Looking up at the darkening sky, it was going to be a similar experience now, too.
“Why the fuck did you come back for me?” Auska gasped, needing to slow down before she collapsed.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Jen countered. “I could also ask why you risked your life like that to buy us more time.” She looked at the skull Auska had clenched in her hands. “But I am sure the answer would disappoint me greatly.”
Auska stopped beside Wren. “You did good. All but one, far better than I expected. Hopefully, most of them make it out there with night coming.”
“I couldn’t clear the lock out, it was caked in there too tightly.” His expression showed shame. “I was going to keep trying, but the woman forced me to go. Said it was alright so long as everyone else got away.”
“She was smart then,” Auska told him firmly, trying to catch her breath as she looked down at her side. It was oozing blood and badly. She would have to clean it up soon… somehow. They had no supplies. “You wouldn’t have gotten any more time and then more people would have died or been captured again.”
Jennifer could hear distant shouts in the distances, but the gunshots had ceased. “We need to find the others and get regrouped.”
Auska shook her head. “We don’t have time for that. It’ll be dark soon. I know this area. There will be infected swarming the woods, cannibals, and slavers searching for us. If we try and find everyone right now, we will all likely be killed. We need to get moving. There is a small city just through the woods a few hours away. We can hole up there for a few days, then we can see if we can track down some of the others if they haven’t made their way there already.”
“A few days?” Jennifer gasped. “You can’t expect them to survive a few days on their own!”
“They are going to have to!” Auska snapped back. “They don’t and we don’t have much of a choice.”
“She’s right you know,” Kalvin stepped in. “It’ll be dark soon. There is far too much noise and enemies about for us to be able to do anyone but ourselves any good right now. They are smart. I saw them run off in small groups. They will be able to watch out of one another until we find them, sis.”
Auska started walking as quickly as she could bring herself to.
“Where are you going?” Wren called to her.
“I told you what I am doing, what the only logical thing to do is right now. I helped you free them, what you do with that is up to you.”
Wren and Jennifer shared a look.
“I’m going with her, she’s right,” Kalvin said, jogging after Auska like a scared pup.
“She’s not wrong,” Wren said watching Auska leave. “As shitty as it is.”
Jen spat bitterly. “I know, it’s just how she says it. Let’s go. This night is going to get a lot uglier before it starts to get pretty again.”
Time seemed to slow for the small group as the last few hours of dusk lingered in the sky, giving them faint light to see by, pushing as quickly as they could through the edge of the forest.
Auska was slowing desperately, her oozing wounds draining what little strength she had and making her stumble and her feet drag tracks through the forest floor. “You are leaving tracks even a blind woman could follow.” His words prodded her resolve, but to little use; she couldn’t lift her feet any higher.
“They are getting louder,” Kalvin said, his eyes looking back every few moments.
Wren grimaced. “That’s because they are getting closer.”
“We need to find someplace to hide soon.” Jen looked back and thought she could make out silhouettes in the trees. “How much further?”
Auska forced herself to stop and lean up against a tree. She hadn’t the strength to keep walking and talk at the same time. Wiping the sweat from her eyes
she looked around. It had been so long since she had been here last, and even then she had been a child and hadn’t paid much attention as they had run for their lives. “There should be an old work site around here soon.”
“I don’t see anything in any damn direction!” Jennifer growled at her, fingering the rifle she hadn’t given back to Wren.
Auska had to restrain herself from yelling; it would only waste energy she didn’t have. “I was fucking twelve.”
“We need to keep moving either way,” Wren urged them, knowing this wasn’t going to get any better. “Let’s move further out of the trees. Maybe we will be able to see this worksite.”
“If she dropped that stupid skull she’d have less to carry and maybe she’d be able to stop leaving such an easy to follow trail,” Jen muttered coldly.
Auska pushed off from the tree she was bracing herself on. “If it wasn’t for this skull, you three would be fucking dead already. Now let’s go.”
Another hour rolled by, the demonic sounds of the infected howled throughout the woods like a pack of dogs. But soon they found the rusted chain-link fence that led into the old construction yard. Not much of the fence remained; a decade longer had seen most of it taken down and used for whatever its scavengers had needed it for.
“This… this is what cities look like?” Kalvin and Jen both gasped in awe as they moved their way through the broken yard towards the looming skyscape ahead. Both had been born in Sanctuary; neither had ever been this far from home nor seen the world for what it once had been.
The years had taken its toll on the old buildings. Few windows remained undamaged. Many of the buildings looked as if they were ready to crumble at the slightest disturbance, others were encased in Mother Nature, who was fighting back to take what was once hers. It was a breathtakingly beautiful sight to behold in its macabre way, but Auska also knew what dangers would lurk within.
Stopping again, they caught their breath. They had been able to stay ahead of the infected hordes. They suspected the infect would have been more interested in the noise from the cannibals’ lair than anything they had done.
Looking up at the old loader, tears stung Auska’s eyes. It was the same one, the same one that he had hidden them in while he had saved their lives yet again.
“You okay?” Wren asked, seeing the tears streak down her dirt and blood-stained face.
Sniffing them away she nodded. “The past brings back cruel reminders. We need to keep going, we are almost safe for the night.”
A scream from the right drew their attention and weapons were raised and ready.
“Where is Kalvin?” Jen cried out, forgetting anything else and rushing to the screams.
“NO!”
Before Auska or Wren could clear the corner two-gun shots sounded. When they finally reached the spot, Jen was pulling the bodies of two infected from her brother. His arm was bleeding badly.
“No, no, no!” Jen cried pulling him up into her arms. “What were you doing?”
“I… I… had to piss,” Kalvin muttered, shock and confusion plain on his face. “They came out of… nowhere… I didn’t even have time to…”
“He’s been bitten,” Wren whispered.
“Shut up!” Jen hissed back. “He hurt himself when he fell, right?”
Kalvin looked from her to the others, knowing the truth, but not knowing how to say it. “I… I…”
“Hurt yourself when you fell damn it!” Jennifer screamed, pulling him up to his feet. “Now we need to keep moving so we can find somewhere to hide and look after your cuts!”
Wren and Auska exchanged glances. This was bad, really bad, but they both knew it wasn’t the time to deal with it. The sounds of gunshots would have been heard for miles, and trouble would be coming, either in the form of the infected or people, possibly both.
Auska grunted and lead the way, her mind racing with how this would now play out. This changed things, this made things a lot harder…
“You brought someone in to see her!” Tonka raged, the veins in his arms and neck bulging with fury as he paced the empty cell room.
Everett felt like a child being scowled by an angry parent, except this parent was a cannibal leader and this conversation could quickly turn into his untimely death. “She wanted to fuck. Fearing it might be her last time before she died. A simple request, one we all would be so happy to receive if we knew we might die soon.”
Tonka turned a violent eye on him. “Have you fucked today?” The question was dripping with intention. “Because you might very well die this day, too!”
Everett wanted to rebut, to not cower away, but to do so would be certain death right now. He had to be calm, play the fool, and play the smaller man if he wanted to see the light of day again. It was daunting and cut his pride deeply, but survival was more important than pride. “It was clearly a mistake but an honest one.”
“Clearly!” The cannibal leader snapped turning his attention back to his guards. “Who allowed Everett to bring this man in?”
A nervous man stepped forward. “I… I did sir. I thought no harm in it since we often allow our slaves to fuck as a reward.”
“In the cell.”
The guard’s eyes widened. “Sir?”
“Get in the cell, or I will kill you where you stand,” Tonka replied with a frightening calm. “You will fight in her stead until she is returned and finished what she started! If you are still alive by the time she is back, then you will have your freedom. If not, then you will continue to fight until you die or win your freedom in my eyes.”
The guard looked for a moment like he would argue, but quickly thought better of it and slowly entered the cell where he was locked in.
“This deal has turned very poorly, Everett,” Tonka said, glaring at the man in the cell. “Six of your men are dead, eleven of mine, not to mention all but one of your slaves are gone. Your fighter has fled and you stand here before me with empty hands for a deal we shook upon.”
“I will find her, and bring her back here,” Everett said evenly, “and I will collect the runaway slaves as well. Give me a day or two and all will be put right.”
Laughing, Tonka shook his head. “No, this will never be made right, but it will be made acceptable!” He turned his fierce gaze upon the slaver. “Six of my men with go with you and your men to collect this bitch! The rest of your men stay here, under my protection, while my men collect the runaway slaves. The slaves are mine now! You bring me the woman and she fights once more, and the deal will stand with half the supplies promised!” He moved impossibly fast and clenched Everett’s throat. “And each year you will trade me half of your new stock and this is the only deal you will get that doesn’t involve you being my fucking dinner!”
“Deal!” Everett choked out, knowing he had no other options.
Tonka shoved him back. “Now go and bring me back my property, and so help me if you think to run from me, Everett, I will send my hordes swarming through this wasteland to bring you back kicking and screaming!”
The slaver straightened himself and met the cannibal’s eyes. “I’m not so foolish as to think of anything that stupid.”
“I should hope not,” Tonka’s eyes showed his distrust. “My men will meet you outside in twenty minutes, be ready to go. We already know the direction she and her little friends went. The trail they left is easy enough to follow.”
Everett stocked from the room, his rage seething out of him, as two of his men followed in behind him. “We need to get the cunt back and now and be away from this place!”
Vincent finished cleaning the floor as best as the mop would do on the aged linoleum. Pushing the bucket back into the closet, he closed it and turned back to face Kelli, who had her back turned to him as she finished setting out some of the things they would need tomorrow morning.
The last twenty-four hours they had said very little to each other. He was still hurt deeply by her words. He had told her nothing of Preston’s and his conversation, as it w
ould only further their argument and things were already tense enough. He had even spent last night sleeping on the floor; the thought of sharing the same bed angering him.
Vincent grabbed his coat and was about to leave when suddenly he felt a fool. Was this worth fighting over? What was happening, he would figure out and expose and then it would get better. But to be mad at Kelli for something she had nothing to do with was foolish, regardless of her opinions about it.
Grabbing her coat, he went to her, her back was still to him. “Let’s go home and relax on our stupid little deck with a cup of tea and put this shit behind us, okay.” He placed her coat over her shoulders when he noticed a piece of paper poking out of her jacket pocket.
“I would like that. I would like that very much.” Smiling, she turned to face him, relief on her face.
Vincent pulled his eyes from the paper. It was paper, nothing more. Grinning he held out his arm. “Then let me walk you home, my lady.”
Vincent finished pouring the two cups Earl Grey tea. Stolen tea. He didn’t care; he took very little ‘extra’ ever for himself, but every now and then something would find its way into his pocket.
He went and sat beside her on the little bench they had set up outside their storage container. They both cuddled up under the thin blanket as they sipped their tea, enjoying the crisp fall air.
“I missed this,” Kelli told him, “more then you know.”
He kissed her head. “I missed it, too.”
Just then they saw torchlight coming from the direction of the old water tower; something was being carried on a stretcher.
“What the hell is going on over there?” Vincent wondered.
“Not our problem,” Kelli said. “Maybe we should go inside, it’s getting cold.”
Vincent put his drink down and stood. “It looks like someone is hurt or something.”
“We are cooks, not doctors.” She grabbed his hand. “I’ve missed you, let’s go get ‘warm’.” But he wasn’t listening as he started to make his way down the ramp. “Where are you going, Vincent?” She called to him desperately, not wanting him to get involved in anything else.
What Remains (Book 2): What's Left Page 16
