Auska got to her feet. “Not without them, too.”
“What!” he hissed, rifle in hand, knowing trouble would be upon them soon.
“We’ll need them.”
“I’ll not fucking help you!” Jennifer spat.
Auska turned a deadly stare on her. “You will unless you want to become food tonight!”
“Hurry up!” Everett tossed her the knife and Auska quickly cut their bindings. “But I swear to either of you, betray me or try to run, you will die!”
“What the fuck is going on here?” one of the cannibals bellowed out, coming around a massive stack of rock.
“Change of plans!” Everett growled, his rifle bucked, and the cannibal was thrown back, a gaping hole in his chest. “Move!”
Within moments, the sound of gunfire purged the world around them. Bullets whizzed by, striking the ground by their feet or punching holes in whatever they were near.
One of Everett’s men turned and fired two rounds before he was shot in the thigh and fell to the ground. “Help me!” He tried to stumble out of the way.
No one stopped; to stop was to share his fate. Several more shots fired from his gun before he was easily overtaken.
“Give me a damn gun!” Auska screamed over the noise as they rounded the shell of a gravel truck.
“Not on your damn life!” Everett replied, checking to see how many rounds he had left.
“Then we will all fucking die here, you idiot!” she screamed, another bullet ricochet above their heads.
“We’re fine!” he growled. “There are only three left!”
Auska turned to Jen, who was huddled near Wren. “Jen, you and me, circle five!”
Jen’s eyed her with resentment but nodded, knowing if they didn’t help, they would be gunned down. “Fine, but this doesn’t change what is going to happen between us.”
“Give us cover fire,” Auska ordered, “now!”
“Where the fuck do you think you are going?” Everett called out as both women ran from the cover of the truck into a maze of debris. He and his remaining man fired several rounds in the direction they had last seen the enemy. “Get back here!” he screamed. “Damn it!”
The two moved in perfect union through the piles of garbage and rubble that made up a good portion of the construction yard. The sound of gunshots lessened, as bullets were drying up, and shots needed to count.
Jen grabbed Auska’s arm and pointed to her eyes and then to the left where she had seen someone duck down behind a large cement mixer. She hefted up a metal pipe she had found along the way and nodded.
Nodding back, Auska slipped off ahead and circled back around to await the signal.
Jen watched her go and almost turned her back to leave. Why should she be doing any of this? She could easily slip away right here and now. But she couldn’t; something inside her refused to leave. She would see this through, and then she would get her revenge for her brother and stop what was being planned for her home! Yes, she could play this out, wait for the perfect moment before the strike.
Jennifer caught sight of Auska in place, and banged her pipe on everything around her, making as much noise as possible. She heard the shuffling of feet on the dusty ground and quickly found cover.
The cannibal rounded the corner, his handgun leading the way. “Come out, come out, wherever you are! Come out nicely and I won’t kill you… at least not yet,” he snickered.
Jen’s heart was pounding in her chest; he was getting close, too close. Had Auska abandoned her? Set her up to be killed so she would no longer be a threat? The bitch was cold-hearted and malicious, it should come as no surprise.
“Fine!” the taller woman whispered. “I’ll deal with this myself!”
She shot straight up, pipe back ready to strike, blood sprayed across her face as a knife blade tore through the man’s jugular.
Auska snatched the gun before he hit the ground. “Why the fuck would you stand up?”
“I thought you left me to die.”
Walking right up to Jennifer, Auska pressed a finger into her chest. “Keep up this bullshit and I will. I need you to fucking trust me in this and know I have a fucking plan to see everyone out of this, hopefully alive. Now let’s go, we got two more.”
“I’ll never trust you. You killed my brother. I won’t let that go unpunished.”
“I didn’t kill your damn brother!” Auska roared. “I would have when he turned if you were too much of a coward to do it like you should have done after he was bitten. But I was leaving that to you, hoping you’d have the balls to do what needed to be done! If I would have killed him, I would have come to you and told you, not done it in secret in the dark like a coward!”
“You bitch!” Jennifer screamed, swinging the pipe for her head.
Auska quickly sidestepped the deadly blow and fired.
Jen froze, shock upon her face, staring wide-eyed with fear at Auska. A grunt and the sound of someone collapsing behind her shook her out of her daze. She looked back and saw one of the other cannibals in his death throes in the dirt. Quickly, she checked herself; she hadn’t been shot. “You… you didn’t shoot me…”
Stepping in Auska thundered a left hook into the taller woman’s jaw-dropping her to the ground. “Attack me again, I fucking dare you!” She grimaced; throwing that punch had flared the pain in her side and shoulder but she threw another one anyway, knocking Jen further into the ground. “This isn’t going to work if I have to fight you, too!”
Before Jen could spit back a reply, Wren, Everett and his man came around the corner. “There you are! Tried to run, did you?”
The handgun came up again and the dull click was heard by all. Auska shrugged and tossed it to Everett. “You got lucky. I had to waste a bullet on this piece of shit.” She kicked the dead cannibal.
Everett finally noticed the two corpses and lowered his weapon. “Don’t do that again.”
“Do what?” Jen spat, pulling herself off the ground, wiping the blood from her split lips. “Save everyone’s lives? I’ll pass on listening to that advice, idiot.”
The slaver stepped in close to her. “It’s not advice, it’s an order. Or a threat, however you choose to take it.” He looked at both sternly. “You are both still MY property, and until the bargain is fulfilled it will remain so.”
Jen was about to speak when he slapped her hard enough to knock her off her feet and into the dirty ground once more.
“Don’t fucking test me.” Then he reached over and grabbed Auska by the throat and pulled her close. Looking down at the empty gun, he squeezed her neck harder. “Pull that shit again and I will snap your fucking neck!”
“Can’t blame a girl for trying.” She tried to grin.
“Boss, we need to get the fuck out of here,” the other man said. “That one that got away, he’ll be running right back to his friends and then we are fucked.”
“We need to get back to the Abyss and quickly,” Everett told them, starting to lead the way.
“What? Boss why?”
“You and I, Boras, can’t take Sanctuary by ourselves. We need others or as many as we can save.”
“Jesus Christ, boss, going back there is suicide!” the burly slaver said, fear gripping his every word. “We should just run, we can get far enough away. Tonka’s grasp only goes so far. He won’t give chase more than a hundred miles before giving up.”
“What makes you think you’ll get a hundred miles before he finds you?” Wren asked.
“Shut up slave!” Boras snapped back.
“He’s right, Boras. If we are going to do anything, we need the men back, and hopefully some of the gear, maybe even a trunk.”
“I don’t like this. Not one fucking bite, boss,” Boras grumbled.
“Neither do I, but we are fucked right now. We’ve got nothing. We lost everything.” He turned a bitter glare towards Auska. “But this ‘arrangement’ could turn out very well for us, so long as we do it right.”
“You know this bitch is going
to betray us, right? Or try to kill us or run.” Boras shouldered his rifle.
“Stop treating us like property and the chances of me running a knife across your throat lessen drastically,” Auska snapped back. “Besides, this one,” she pointed to Jen, “wants to go home and he wants to find a home. Promise them that and I am sure they will lessen in the attempts on your lives, too.”
“And what about you?” Everett asked. “What do you want?”
Auska’s eyes burned with purpose. “The council dead, and Sanctuary the way it was promised to be.”
Jen rolled her eyes. “And you think a slaver will be a better choice for leadership?”
“I’ll have no need to be a slaver once I rule my own community,” he replied, the idea growing more and more on him. “Now let’s get going. We will come up with a plan on the way.”
By the time the small group had reached the Abyss again, dusk was setting in. They had come across the cannibal survivor of their fight: he had been taken by surprise by the infected and torn to pieces. It had been a gruesome sight, but a welcoming one, ensuring the group that no one would be on alert yet and their betrayal was still unknown. A slight chance that this would work was still within their grasp.
“Good, they haven’t locked them up within the mine,” Everett whispered as they watched his band of slavers milling around their small campsite, surrounded by enemies. From what they could see at least seven stood guard around Everett’s men.
“I don’t see any weapons,” Jen said. “They must have taken them in fear of retaliation.”
“That’s going to make things harder,” Auska muttered. They themselves only had a few weapons and only eleven rounds between them. She glanced at Everett. “You’ll have to share those guns if you want this to work.”
“So, you can shoot me and run off?” he scoffed. “Not likely.”
“There are at least seven or more armed men guarding your men. You think you and your man are going to be able to take enough of them down before bullets are flying everywhere and everyone gets killed?” Auska reasoned. “Besides, you are the least of my issues right now. Getting caught here again is worse for my health than being stuck with you for a week!”
Everett stared into her eyes for a moment, then nearly laughed out loud. “Almost made me want to believe you.” He looked back to his men. “They aren’t without weapons. See how they are all stationed around the trucks and trailers? We have some hidden. When shit starts, they will know what to do.”
“Don’t think I am going to risk my neck helping with this madness if I am unarmed,” Auska growled.
“I would never dream of sending you in unarmed,” he handed her the hunting knife, “see?”
Auska resisted the urge to lunge at him with the blade, knowing he was expecting it. “Fine, let’s do this.”
“Not yet. We will wait until it grows a little darker…” Everett began to tell them when Auska darted forward ignoring him.
“Keep trying to tell her what to do,” Wren chuckled. “Working out really well.”
“Stupid bitch!” Everett growled nodding to Boras. “Open a path, get one of the trucks, drive north! The men will follow!”
He nodded and moved forward.
“You two, stay near me, and stay alive!” he grumbled.
Auska glanced back and saw the others finally moving up. Not that it mattered; she needed a gun and if he wouldn’t trust her with one, she would get her own! Sticking to the shadows but moving far faster than she normally would to remain stealthy, she cleared the distance to the first sentry.
“Whose there?” the man called out, looking around.
Auska wasted no time playing games and sprung out of the bushes she was hiding in. With all the strength she could muster she launched the hunting knife, her side and shoulder roaring at her in agony, nearly stealing her breath as she did so. The moment the blade left her fingertips she was running with it, watching her target’s eyes widen with understanding, lifting the shotgun up in her direction just as the knife slammed home in his chest.
There was no time to swerve or roll. Auska just kept running as the gun went off, the sound near deafening as she closed the distance. She felt a burst of heated air by her arm as she leapt forward and speared into the falling man. If the buckshot had hit her, she didn’t have time to worry about it.
Auska’s hand wrapped around the hilt of the knife twisting savagely, tore it out and slammed it down into her enemy’s throat, before rolling off and picking up the shotgun. Already she could hear calls for help, angry voices and boots getting closer. “Fuck it, who wants to live forever anyway!”
Someone stepped around the knot of trees, handgun leading the way. Her knife laced up into his groin as she sprang up from her knees, with trained reflexes her free hand pushed the handgun up under the cannibal’s chin. Twisting the hunting knife at the same time, the enemy couldn’t help but pull the trigger on themselves.
Instantly all around her gunfire and screams erupted, some in the distance, some striking the ground and trees around her. She watched Everett fire twice and then move into the opening, yelling orders to his remaining men who quickly realized their leader was there to help them. A truck roared to life and she knew it was time to go. She was in no condition to fight or run from an army of cannibals.
Checking the handgun, she grinned. Seven bullets would be helpful if she could manage to keep it. She tucked it away in her boot; hopefully, they wouldn’t search her too closely. Cocking the shotgun, she jumped out into the confusion and fired into the chest of the first person she saw; whether he had been a slaver or cannibal she didn’t know, nor care. The truck was already starting to move, and she needed to get on it or be left behind.
Running by another truck, she fired taking out the radiator. Hopefully, the others thought the same and dealt with the trucks. If not, the chase would be on in short order.
Wren was holding onto the back of the truck as it slowly moved through the camp and towards the grown-in road. “Auska, come on, hurry!”
Twenty feet to go! Already her lungs were burning, her side screamed at her and she could feel fresh blood trickling down her leg. Worry about that later! Flowing blood means you are still alive!
Ten feet! But the truck was picking up speed, and she was slowing down. Others were running past her, jumping into the open doors or grabbing hold of rails and steps, holding on for dear life as a war zone opened around them.
“Behind you!” Wren screamed.
Auska registered it too late as something slammed into her back causing her legs to buckle beneath her. She ate dirt as she crashed into a roll, bringing the shotgun up to block a steel pipe that came thundering down at her.
The impact of the blow made her elbows buckle; the next one nearly snapped her wrists. She kicked out, catching her attacker in the knee and quickly rolled to the side as another blow struck where she had just been.
She aimed the shotgun and fired, but nothing happened. The two blows had bent the chamber and destroyed all hope of it ever firing again.
“Gotcha now!” the cannibal roared, preparing for another mighty swing.
Suddenly his knees gave out, his eyes wide with surprise. Auska didn’t question her luck and kicked up into his chin, snapping his head back as a knife slashed across his neck and gushes of blood sprayed out.
“Get up!” Jennifer screamed at her, her eyes dangerous. “You’ll not die like that!”
They scrambled for the truck which had slowed only slightly; for them or the last of the other men who ran for it, they didn’t know, nor cared. But soon they were holding on for dear life as the truck sped away into the growing darkness and the sound of fighting died away. But it would follow them… none of them had any disillusion that this would be over that easily.
Vincent woke to the sound of his cell door being opened and lights being turned on, flooding his room with blinding white light. He flinched and covered his eyes, allowing them to slowly adjust after the last
two days of almost pure darkness.
Blinking away tears, he tried to focus on the open doorway and the three people who entered. He knew instantly one of them was Kelli; the others were Conwell and Murphy, captain of the First.
He had been held down here in his cell, wherever here was, for what he had to guess was four or five days now. It was hard to tell time underground and often in pitch blackness. And calling it a cell wasn’t a fair description, for as far as imprisonment went it was the nicest cage he’d ever found himself in.
It was an empty room, with a cot, blanket, bucket and empty faded grey walls of concrete. The floor was cracked white tile that likely hadn’t been cleaned since before the virus spread. The room was at least ten feet by twelve, and only had the slight lingering musky smell of feces and urine.
“Good, you are awake,” Conwell said, standing just inside the doorway, the other two flanking him on either side.
Vincent blinked away the burning tears as he tried to stare up at the older councilman. “You here to finally kill me, or you just going to let me rot down here like an animal?”
“Kill you?” Conwell gasped in dismay. “Nothing could be further from my mind. I am here hoping you are finally going to see reason and accept things for what they are.”
Vincent’s chuckle dripped with slight mania. “And what would that be, that you sell well-bred and well-fed slaves to the outside world?”
“To put it simply, yes,” Conwell replied. “But let us be real, you aren’t an idiot. Kelli surely tried to explain it to you and surely, with all the time in the world lately to think it over, you can see the reason behind it.” Conwell stepped closer. “I’ll not lie, Vincent, it is a cruel and horrible thing, sickening really, and took us years of hard discussions. But after seeing dozens die from starvation, overpopulation, and sickness each year, we realized it was the only way to keep the majority alive and well.”
Laughing, Vincent forced his eyes to lock on his. “The fact that you have so easily justified it, your tone so devoid of any real emotion. A decade or more of doing it and you haven’t even tried to change things, to expand Sanctuary or set up a new location… nothing… just acceptance of what you are doing. What happens when things beyond the walls get even worse? Do you really think these slavers just ‘find’ these things? You know as well as I do they kill innocent people for them. Steal, cheat, murder, whatever it takes.”
What Remains (Book 2): What's Left Page 18
