by Dirk Patton
They moved a few dozen yards away from the track and came across a narrow game trail cutting through the forest in the same direction as the path. Stepping onto it Rachel led the group at a decent pace for another ten minutes until the game path took a sharp bend to the right. This was opposite the direction they needed to travel to stay with the track and Rachel abandoned the trail and pushed back into the woods in the direction the smell of the cooking fires was coming from. Dog easily moved through the heavy underbrush, but Rachel had to slow as she pushed through, careful to not make any more noise than absolutely necessary.
Finally the brush thinned and they reached the edge of the trees. In front of them was a large clearing, at least two acres, and much of it was occupied with camping tents. Directly in front of them was the track that led from the road which ended to the right in a large area where dozens of all different types of vehicles were haphazardly parked. At the far edge of the camp Rachel could see several larger tents that looked like they were probably military surplus and had once been command tents. Set amongst them a large cross towered over the camp. People were moving everywhere in the camp. Normal looking people, going about their business. Cooking food. Fetching buckets of water from the small creek that ran along the edge of the camp. Children playing. Children. Rachel’s resolve weakened at the thought that children might get hurt during John’s rescue.
“Oh my God!” Rachel turned and saw Nora looking at the camp through the rifle scope. “Oh my God!” She repeated, eye glued to whatever she was seeing.
“What?” Rachel and Betty asked at the same time, staring at the young girl.
“Look at the cross,” she answered, her voice shaky.
Rachel raised her rifle, but the scope she had did not have any magnification, only a red dot for aiming. She called the boy over that was carrying John’s pack and dug through it until she found a pair of binoculars. Raising them to her eyes it took her a moment to find the cross, then another moment to focus the glasses. When they came into focus she said exactly what Nora was still repeating. She had found John and he had been nailed to a cross that was standing amongst a small forest of impaled heads. She was unable to tell if he was still alive. Several emotions blasted through Rachel at that moment, everything from disgust to pity to rage. Rage won out. The kind of rage that made her want to wipe out every living soul in the camp. She now understood how John could do the things he did and still sleep at night.
The sun was low on the horizon and soon they would have the cover of darkness to move around. Rachel didn’t know yet how she was going to rescue John, but she was working on it. Her biggest fear at the moment was that he was too severely injured to be able to move and they would have to carry him. She knew from experience just how big he was and knew there wasn’t anyone in the group that could carry him. Maybe four of the kids working together, but they would need to be able to move fast. This thought coincided with her looking at the parking area as she scanned the camp with the binoculars. Parked off to the side of the area was a short bus, painted white with hand lettering along the side that read Primitive Baptist Church.
“Betty, you said you were a bus driver. Right?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Do you know how to hot wire one if the keys aren’t available?” Rachel answered the question with a question.
“I don’t, no. But young Mr. Hillman over there had a bit of trouble with the police this past spring and I expect he can.” Rachel lowered the binoculars and looked at the kid Betty was pointing at. The boy was scrawny and had kept to himself as much as possible since Rachel had joined the group, but she had caught him stealing longing glances at Nora who studiously ignored him. He maintained a perpetual scowl on his face and was glaring back at them, knowing he was being talked about but unaware of what the conversation was. Rachel stood up, staying in a crouch, and moved over to squat in the dirt next to him.
“Hi,” she said. “What’s your name?”
“Jared Hillman.” He answered. “What do you want?” The anger and attitude the boy carried with him was evident in his tone and in his expression.
“We need your help. Do you know how to hot wire a bus?” Rachel stared at his eyes and saw the look of surprise cross his face before he shut it down in favor of the scowl.
“I can start anything with a motor,” he said, sitting up straighter and puffing out his chest.
“Good!” Rachel beamed and put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to need you soon. Don’t go anywhere.” The kid smiled for the first time and nodded his head. Working through more of the plan in her head Rachel went back to sit next to Betty and lifted the binoculars back to her eyes. After seeing what she needed to see she motioned the Hillman kid over to her.
“Alright, Jared. You and I are going to sneak through the brush and into that parking lot. See that white bus off to the side?” Rachel asked, pointing and handing the binoculars to the kid. When he nodded she continued. “I’m going to get you into that bus, but I don’t want you to do anything other than hide for now. Sometime later you’ll hear gunfire, and that’s when I want you to get it started and have it ready to go. Can you do that?”
“Damn straight!” He answered, cracking a smile and glancing around to see if Nora had noticed that his help was needed.
“Is there anything you need to break in or get it started?”
The kid reached into his pocket and pulled out a multi-tool that had everything from a knife blade to pliers to a screwdriver. “Got all I need right here.”
“Good. Let’s go.” Rachel patted Dog on the head, telling him to stay and set off through the brush with the kid close behind her. It didn’t take them long to reach the edge of the parking area and they worked their way across by moving from vehicle to vehicle. The bus was parked at the edge of the lot closest to the camp and there was a good 40 yards of open space between it and the closest vehicle. Pausing, Rachel looked at the open ground and at the movement in the camp just on the other side of the bus.
“What’s wrong?” The kid asked.
“I don’t know how were going to sneak into the bus without anyone seeing us.” Rachel answered, doubt creeping into her mind over the decision to hide the kid in the bus.
“I’ll just walk over,” he said. “The trick is to look like you belong and know what you’re doing.” Before Rachel could say anything Jared stood fully erect and started strolling across the dirt lot to the bus. He moved slowly and casually, head down and feet dragging with each step, just like you’d expect a sullen teenager to move. Several of the people moving around in the camp glanced his way but ignored him and went on about their business.
Mouth hanging open in surprise, Rachel watched as he walked right up to the bus like he had all the reason in the world to be there. The multi-tool was already in his hand and in less than 15 seconds he had jimmied the door lock. Climbing into the bus he pulled the doors closed behind him, moved towards the back of the bus and waved at Rachel through one of the side windows before disappearing from view. Rachel stared in surprise for a few moments before she smiled and started making her way back across the lot to the edge of the brush where the group waited, but paused when a thought struck her. Even if they did get John away from the camp, made it into the bus and drove off what would keep the people in the camp from pursuing them.
Looking around the lot with an evil smile Rachel kneeled down and pulled her T-Shirt over her head and started tearing it into long strips. With a handful of strips she moved through the parked vehicles and randomly stuffed a strip of fabric into the gas tanks of more than a dozen of the trucks. Task completed she worked her way back to the group, greeted by the thumping of Dog’s tail and the appreciative stares of all the teenage boys. Digging a spare shirt out of her pack she worked it over her head then looked around the group and asked if anyone had a lighter. Two of the boys quickly dug disposable butane lighters out of their pockets and held them out towards Rachel. Taking both lighters she selected one of the b
oys, the one who had blushed when she overhead his comment about her breasts earlier, and brought him over to the edge of the brush. His job was to wait for explosions and gunfire, then he would run through the parking area, setting fire to each of the strips of fabric Rachel had placed in the fuel tanks on his way to the bus where he would wait with Jared for the rest of the group. She had him repeat her instructions and satisfied he understood she marshalled the swiftly dwindling group and started off through the brush.
They spent the next 20 minutes moving around the perimeter of the camp, getting closer to where John was nailed to the cross. Rachel could picture how she wanted this to go, but her plan fell apart just as they reached an area that was close to the cross. As they watched two men walked up to the cross, removed a couple of bolts from the base and let it fall backwards to the ground, John still attached. They then removed the nails from his hands with a large hammer and cut the ropes that were binding him to the rough wood. While this was going on people started assembling in a rough circle to his rear and it looked like the entire camp was in attendance. Again, Rachel experienced some doubt, but the rage she had felt earlier returned as she watched the two men drag John inside the circle made by the people and hold him there while a giant man started talking about God and how God had found John guilty.
Thinking hard, Rachel turned and was momentarily distracted by the heavy bag tied to the side of her pack swinging and banging into her arm. It was the bag John had told her to fill with grenades when they were bailing out of the Humvee. Grabbing it she spilled the contents on the ground and counted 10 grenades. Gingerly picking one of them up she inspected it and quickly saw how it worked. There were six kids remaining in the group after having left Jared in the bus and the other boy ready to start the fires. She wanted to keep Nora available on the rifle which left five. Gathering them into a tight group she quickly explained what she wanted and looked closely at them, getting an acknowledgement from each that they could do it. Handing two grenades to each kid she sent them on their way, telling them to hurry.
What was she forgetting? Something nagged at the back of her head, but she couldn’t pull it out so dismissed the distraction and turned her attention back to the assembly just as several men were uncovering a large pit in the ground and setting torches into the dirt around its perimeter. The people were chanting ‘Pit’ at the tops of their lungs and as she watched the giant strode up directly behind John and using both hands shoved him forward to disappear into the pit.
Chapter 26
When I hit the ground at the bottom of the pit I landed on my face then rolled and wound up coming to a stop on my back against the legs of one of the infected males, spitting out a mouthful of dirt. He snarled and leaned down to grab me as the female screamed and charged, the other male stumbling around trying to change direction and come after me. As the male above me bent down I grabbed one of his arms, ignoring the searing pain in each of my hands, and yanked hard. Pulling him off balance I raised my knees and deflected him into the female as she dove for me and the two of them went down in a tangle of limbs. Above me the crowd roared in excitement but I ignored them and scrambled to my feet and to the other side of the pit where the second male greeted me with outstretched arms.
Ducking his embrace I tripped him with a leg sweep and tuned back in time to deflect the female into the wall of the pit. They were all dangerous, but the female was the higher priority because of her speed. I took half a second to look around for anything I could use as a weapon but the pit was all smooth dirt. In the time I had taken to glance around the female had regained her feet and was charging again. This time when I tried to deflect her I was hampered by the grip of the male on the ground who had snaked a hand out and grasped my ankle. The female slammed into my chest and started tearing at my bare skin with her splintered nails. Raising an arm to protect my face I lashed out with an elbow and knocked her aside, broken teeth falling from her mouth when she landed on the ground. I stomped down with my free foot and heard the infected’s arm snap and the grip loosened enough for me to break free and move away.
The other male was closing in and the female was back on her feet, screaming as she prepared to launch herself through the air at me. The male with the broken arm had struggled back to his knees and I grabbed him by the upper arms and yanked him to his feet, facing away from me, just as the female sprang forward. She impacted the male’s chest and the three of us tumbled to the ground with me on the bottom of the pile. The male squirmed like a beetle on its back as the female tried to reach around him to continue slashing me. Summoning energy reserves I wasn’t sure were there I pushed off with my right arm and leg and rolled the three of us over so the female was on her back with the infected male and me on top of her. The other male loomed over me and I slithered sideways and kicked out, shattering his knee and sending him to the ground.
I reached around the male and fumbled to get a grip on the female’s throat but had to jerk my hand back when I felt the male’s lips on my arm as he tried to bite me. The female was screaming and fighting to escape but she had over 400 pounds lying on top of her and for the moment at least she wasn’t going anywhere. The crowd was in full throat and I absently noted the sounds of bets being shouted out and accepted as I raised up and started raining elbows onto the back of the male infected’s neck. He was a big man, larger than me, and in my weakened condition the impacts weren’t having any effect. I thought about wrapping up his head in my arms and breaking his neck but dismissed the idea because I didn’t want to put my flesh that close to the female’s snapping jaws.
The male with the broken knee had crawled within an arm’s length of me and my skin crawled when his fingers brushed my naked hip. Kicking out I caught him in the nose with the heel of my foot, breaking it, but otherwise having no effect on him. Forced to scramble sideways out of his reach my weight shifted and the male underneath me was able to roll to the side and slip me off his back. Continuing my roll across the floor of the pit I came up against the wall and looked up at the stakes embedded in the earth at the top of the pit. Scrambling to my feet I continued the motion and leapt high, well… high for me, and grabbed one of the stakes in the lower row. The pain in my hands was unbelievable and I nearly let go until the scream of the female sent a new surge of adrenaline into my system and I was able to push the pain down due to sheer panic. Hanging from the stake I started bouncing and felt it give slightly. Bouncing harder the stake shifted a little more then pulled free from the dirt wall of the pit. I now had a weapon, but when the stake came lose and I fell back to the floor of the pit I stumbled and went down.
The female had finally extricated herself from underneath the male and charged directly at me, rushing across the pit on all fours like an animal. Prepared this time I met her, getting a forearm under her chin and on her throat. Twisting with her I used her momentum to drive her to the ground and put all my weight into a push on her throat. Feeling her larynx collapse I spun away from her clawing hands and tripped over the broken knee male. I automatically stuck a hand out to break my fall and almost passed out from the pain when all of my weight came down on my left. Rolling away from the male I protectively pulled my throbbing hand to my chest and lurched back to my feet. The male on the ground changed directions and started crawling towards me while the other male stumbled around the far side of the pit for a second then righted himself and started in my direction. The female also rose to her feet unable to scream with a broken larynx and barely able to rasp a breath in and out. I grasped the stake in both hands, leapt over the male on the ground and charged the female who met me half way across the pit.
I held the stake in front of me and as the female and I met adjusted its position and succeeded in driving it deep into her mouth. Using my legs to drive forward I held the blunt end of the stake against my chest and kept churning forward until she went limp and fell away from me. The stake had gone into her mouth and pierced the back of her throat, the sharp tip eventually coming out of the
back of her neck as the bulk of it embedded in her vertebrae. She was finally dead. A huge roar sounded from the crowd when she went down and losing betting slips fluttered down into the pit like a heavy snowfall. I was backing up to face the still mobile male when the first explosion ripped through the night and silenced the crowd. A heartbeat later more explosions sounded and the roars of excitement from above turned to screams of terror.
When John disappeared into the pit Rachel told Nora and Dog to stay close and started moving forward. The kids with the grenades had gotten into position quickly, spacing out in a large semi-circle surrounding the crowd that was pushing in to look down in the pit. Their roars of excitement made her blood run cold as she imagined what was waiting in the pit for John. Stopping a few yards behind the back edge of the crowd Rachel looked to her right and spotted one of the kids she had sent off with grenades in hand. The girl looked at Rachel then looked to her right and watched for a few moments. The crowd roared again, even louder, and the girl looked back at Rachel and nodded her head that they were ready. Another roar from the crowd, shouts of happiness and disappointment both obvious, and Rachel looked directly at the girl as she raised her arm high over her head. The girl’s eyes were fixed on Rachel’s arm and when it dropped she yanked the pin out of the grenade she was holding and tossed it forward, deep into the ranks of the crowd.
A few seconds later the grenade detonated with an ear shattering blast and bodies flew through the air in all directions. The crowd fell silent as everyone froze for a heartbeat, then there was the start of a stampede away from the point of the explosion. The people who were trying to get away hadn’t taken more than two steps when more grenades tore through the crowd, the explosions each coming from different points around the circle. Now the crowd screamed as one and everyone was trying to go in a different direction as no one could tell where the destruction was coming from nor where it would strike next. Rachel let the panic grow then raised her arm and signaled the girl for the second wave. A few seconds later five more explosions ripped through the crowd and all semblance of order evaporated. Frightened people ran in all directions in their desperation to get to safety. People were knocked down and trampled as panic reigned and in moments a nice wide path opened up in front of Rachel and Nora leading directly to the pit.
