by W. A. R.
“Are you calm now?” she whispered and he clenched his jaw, suppressing the urge to smart something off at her.
After a tense moment of him gathering his willpower, he nodded, worried that if he opened his mouth to respond to her that a load of obscenities would come from his bleeding lips. She looked on at him for a second, then two before exhaling and lowering her chin. Her eyes, however, landed on the man with the gun once more. Brian didn’t speak, didn’t question what her connection was to that man because he knew that she was going to give him the answer without him having to ask.
“You see that man?” she asked softly, almost wistful…like she was remembering something fond about him. Brian nodded and again didn’t speak. “His name is Jasper. He’s my brother.” She supplied him and Brian lifted a suspicious and disbelieving brow at her. What brother would let his sister be raped and beaten while he stood there and watched? And furthermore, what kind of sister would look fondly at her brother after knowing he let it happen? She sighed but continued looking at the man who didn’t have a care in the world that his sister was there. “When we were kids, we were close. Very close. He was my best friend.” She bit her bottom lip and turned quickly away from him, lowering her gaze to the ground between them. “But…we grew up…he left…I was never sure where he went. I didn’t hear from him for three years until he called me, telling me he had been arrested for simple burglary. I learned later that he was arrested for torturing three people to death…a married woman, an old man, and a young woman. They were all missing for so long…” she paused and cleared her throat, bringing her eyes up to his. He reeled in his interest and shock, keeping his face impassive. “He had been in prison for five years, waiting on death row whenever the outbreak hit. I was in Louisiana by then, Bernice and I thought he had just…died. I didn’t look for him, but he looked for me…and a few months ago he finally found me and my husband. When I saw him, it was like seeing a ghost. He tortured my husband before killing him, forcing me to stand there and watch him die. I saw the twisted and crazed gleam in his eyes as he did this and I knew then that he had lost his mind. Long story short, he allowed his men to have their way with me and beat me before taking me captive.”
Fucking psycho, Brian thought bitingly as he glanced up at the man. It angered him…no, infuriated him. He could relate to the woman, as he had watched Shelly get captured and then make a run for it only to be killed while he got to live. What he couldn’t understand though, is what in the hell was wrong with this man. If he had his sister back with him like this man did, he would do everything in his power to ensure she was safe and yet…this sorry bastard watched his sister get tortured and enjoyed it. He felt sick to his stomach at the thought.
“What does any of this have to do with me or my family?” he asked her and she turned her hesitant green eyes to him. He knew she was weary now, untrusting of him because of his reaction earlier. He couldn’t assure her that it wouldn’t happen again because he wasn’t entirely sure that it wouldn’t.
“Well,” she began, glancing nervously around them at the enemy that remained engaged in their conversation. She lowered her voice even more so clearly frightened. He glanced at the other women, who shared the same look of fear and weakness and he couldn’t help the pang in his heart that told him Shelly and Amber would have been deviant and hard-headed if put in the situation that these women were in. “When Jasper and his men took us, we were supposed to be taken straight to the community after a week in El Dorado gathering one last handful of people. We were supposed to leave a few months ago. We should have already been at the compound…months ago.”
He furrowed his eyebrow weakly in confusion. So that was why she looked so…rough. “Alright, and why didn’t y’all go?”
She licked her dry lips, glancing around yet again. “Because they came across your family and watched you take down the experiments.”
Brian swallowed thickly. He knew that. Of course he knew that. They had followed the smoke because they just had to burn those bodies, didn’t they? “Alright…” he trailed off, feeling the knot in his stomach pull tighter.
“So, they sent word to their boss…”
“Adrian…” he whispered breathlessly, the name falling from his tongue like turpentine.
She nodded hastily, her bottom lip trembling. “He told them to wait, that you were all necessary to whatever it was he wanted.” Brian felt the sickness rise up. “You and your family were all that they could talk about. They talked about the type of people you were, your relationships, schedules, names…everything…” she looked away, clearly uncomfortable. “…and then some…” she shook her head in disgust, closing her eyes. “Then they took you all down…and then on the bridge, they learned that twenty of their men had gone down and your family had survived…though later…well…your sister was the only one left…”
Brian grit his teeth angrily. “I was on that bridge…”
Her eyes widened. “Yes, but did you hear what was happening?”
“My family died.” He stated evenly, trying to maintain his composure.
“I’m sorry…I really am…but did you hear what was happening?” she prodded him before looking up at the men. They were watching something in the distance at that point and briefly he wondered what it could be. The possibilities made him sick, however, and he gulped down the bile that rose in his throat and turned back to the woman. What was she getting at?
“What are you talking about?”
“They…” she paused as a woman turned and glanced at them curiously. Both Brian and the woman hesitated, listening now to the sound of a truck approaching them and their camp. They remained silent and nonchalant until the woman turned away and walked over to the other side of their little circle. The beaten woman turned back to Brian. “They didn’t mean to kill your sister or your wife.” She whispered hastily. He felt yet another pang.
“It doesn’t change the fact that they did.” He snapped out bitterly. She clamped her mouth shut in reprimand and he closed his eyes, sighing. Yes, he was hurting and he was bitter, but he knew, realized rather, that with this woman he was going to have to keep those feelings at bay until he got the answers that he wanted. After a moment, he looked back to her, offering her a break. “Why didn’t they mean to kill them?”
She looked at him sadly and some part of him knew that her next words were going to hurt like fire. “They found them extremely beneficial to the community. Or so they said. Adrian wanted them…you included. On the bridge, however…what happened with your sister…they certainly won’t kill you now.” she looked at him nervously as the sound of the truck grew louder. He was curious.
“You know why Justin’s so upset and obsessed with what happened to Amber?” he asked and she furrowed her eyebrow at him curiously.
“Did you not hear…”
“I was in and out of consciousness. I vaguely remember some pieces.” He supplied quickly as the roaring of the truck came to a stop. Whoever that was, Justin and the rest more than likely, they were there and there wasn’t much more time to talk. “Tell me.” He urged her and she glanced up nervously. Her eyes immediately lowered to the ground, looking contrite and she straightened away from him. She acted like a child that had been chastised and was frightened. He continued staring at her, hearing the sound of footsteps as they approached him. He didn’t want to look up, knowing that it would do nothing but anger him or hurt him. Finally, the footsteps stopped and the stare digging into his back became unbearable. He furrowed his brows, knitting them together angrily as he slowly lifted his chin defiantly. He was ready to see Justin, to face him and take on the punishment that the sorry bastard thought he deserved. What he saw, however, wasn’t Justin; and the anger he felt before turned white-hot and he all but lunged at the man. He didn’t get far before plummeting to the ground face first. He grunted in pain and spit the dirt and leaves from his mouth. His feet were tied to the base of the tree he had been leaning against. The man that was supposed to ha
ve helped them, the man that didn’t even give Shelly and Miles a chance.
Ryder stood before him, a hardened glint in his eyes.
“Hello Brian. Long time no see.” Ryder said evenly. All of Justin’s men were watching the interaction with interest and Ryder chuckled smugly before kneeling and reaching down, gripping a handful of his hair in his hand. He lifted Brian’s head and looked at him. “Who did you piss off? You look like shit.”
Brian spit at him, seething angrily. It landed on his shirt and Ryder seemed not to notice. “Ask the man in charge.” He growled, feeling the anger burn through him like a toxin. His anger with Justin was slow, the dawning in the back of his mind that he would let his anger fester before taking Justin’s life…slowly. Ryder, however, he was angry with yes, and yet at the same time he wasn’t sure how to feel. He felt as if the man had helped him, truly, and that right then, his bitterness was just a show for the members of Justin’s crew…but he didn’t know for sure.
Ryder lifted a curious brow. “I am the man in charge.” He furrowed his brow in curiosity, though it was a little intimidating as well. “Are you saying Cory did this to you?” He asked and Brian could see the scrutiny in his counterpart’s eyes. He appeared angry and uncertain.
Before Brian could answer, however, Jasper stepped forward hastily. “Cory uh…he left a few days ago. We haven’t seen him since.” He stated and Ryder’s eyes grew heated though he kept it in check. He lowered Brian’s head easily to the ground and rose to his full height, facing Jasper head on.
“Where did he go?” Ryder asked. His voice was low and intimidating, frightening almost.
Jasper shrugged, obviously threatened. “I’m…I’m not sure.”
Ryder growled lowly in his throat and turned back to Brian. He looked to two men on his left. “Help him to his feet.” The two men quickly rushed forward, not questioning their leader at all. It made Brian wonder as to how it was so easy for Justin to take out Cory and be accepted and yet Ryder had done nothing to scare them, and yet they all seemed to respect him to the point of fear. Once on his feet, Brian sighed in relief. It felt a little better to be standing on his feet instead of sitting as he had done constantly for two days. He had most certainly grown tired of that, his muscles telling him so as they screamed and stretched. Ryder watched this, his reaction, and the interaction between Brian and the two men, and suddenly he pointed nonchalantly at Brian’s feet. “Take those binds off of his feet.” He ordered. One of the men took out a knife and cut the rope that bound his ankles. Oh, the sweet relief. He wanted to bask in the reprieve that overwhelmed his body but the look Ryder gave him made him tense up as if nothing had changed. “Brian.”
“What do you want?” Brian asked, and he winced because his question wasn’t intimidating or threatening…no, instead it was tired and worn, almost pleading and he hated feeling so damn weak.
Ryder stared hard at him, analyzing everything about him. “Is what he said true?”
Oh damn. Jasper lurched forward. “You’re going to listen to this prisoner?”
Ryder cut his eyes heatedly at Jasper. “I’ll listen to whomever I wish. I know of your reputation. I don’t need someone to tell me how untrustworthy you are. I can see that for myself. You can take your advice and shove it.”
Jasper scoffed, squaring his shoulders and readying himself for a fight. “Why are you even here? We were fine until you came back. Justin was handling everything just fine.”
“You call this fine?” Ryder asked, motioning towards Brian. Brian flinched as the men’s holds on him grew tighter. “Justin radioed me and told me what happened on that bridge. The whole bunch of you lost that woman. Knowing what you knew, you lost her. This man is all that is left and you all treat him as if he were a normal prisoner. I leave you for one week and this is what happens? Adrian’s prize killed, our own Doug and Rich the ones that killed her, his other prize…” he motioned to Brian who felt the angry heat flush across his chest, “…beaten, Cory disappears; not to mention whatever has happened to these other people. This is fucking ridiculous.” Brian growled. He wasn’t a fucking prize to be had. It took every ounce of willpower he possessed to bite his tongue and keep from lashing out at the man.
Jasper narrowed his eyes. “If you and your brothers weren’t gone so often we wouldn’t have had these problems. You could have been here to stop them.”
Ryder bowed up to Jasper angrily. “I go where I am sent to retrieve what I need for our community, what Adrian needs, and Adrian entrusts me with that. I shouldn’t have to babysit you.” He seethed. “You all know that Adrian would approve of none of this. He prefers his specimen to be in good condition to better the results and yet…look at this bullshit. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.” He bit out and though Jasper breathed heavily like he was going to protest something Ryder said, he didn’t. Instead, he backed off. In an instant Ryder turned back to Brian, his eyes burning into him. “Now, what he said. Was it true?”
Brian gulped and cut a quick glance at the man, Jasper, who had his eyes narrowed at him angrily and then his eyes wondered over to the man’s sister who sat tiredly on the ground, watching the entire thing. Damn his selfless heart. He knew that he needed to lie or Jasper would certainly take his frustration out on her. Brian couldn’t risk that. He hated her then for being so incredibly weak, if only because it forced him to remain calm and lie for the betterment of others when all he wished to do was lash out and beg for a death he had already been told he wouldn’t receive. He turned back to Ryder. “Yes.”
Ryder was silent for a very long and drawn out moment, studying Brian. His actions made Brian nervous and he thought that maybe he was going to hit him or try to hurt him in some way. Instead, he slowly nodded and asked, “Is Justin the one who did this to you?” he asked and Jasper huffed, turning away.
Brian swallowed. “Yes.” He tried to speak firmly but his throat was dry and his voice was weak. Ryder nodded before turning to everyone else, guards and prisoners alike. He raised his voice easily and loudly, his words reaching everyone’s ears.
“Allow me to make myself perfectly clear. Justin is not in charge here. Nor will he ever be. There is a reason that he isn’t. I am in charge and you will follow my lead. As far as Brian, he is my ward. No one touches or talks to him but me. Am I understood?” he bellowed. There were some mumbled agreements and slow nodding from others, some clearly chastised and others upset about their obvious change of plans. These few looked on at the prisoners as if they were the ones that had done wrong, but they didn’t act. “I expect these other prisoners to be better cared for, effective immediately. Brian?” he heard Ryder ask and Brian jerked towards the man, clearly surprised though it seemed that Ryder had been calling his name for a short while. Brian didn’t even get the chance to answer. “Follow me.”
As Ryder turned and left, making a beeline for a large four door truck, Brian felt his feet move of their own volition. He was angry, or well, wanted to be, and he was so very unstable. Still, he knew that within seconds he would be alone with the man and only then, with the newfound freedom of his feet, he would be able to serve out justice on the man. The walk was quiet, and Brian couldn’t help but tossed an apologetic look at the woman that he had spoken to. She looked after him with the same apology on her face. There was something more that she was going to tell him but hadn’t gotten the chance to. Damn her. She and Ryder brought forth all of the pain that he was trying so desperately to move past and yet couldn’t, the pain that simply took hold of him and was drowning him in his own agony. He let these thoughts fester on the walk to the truck where Ryder rounded it and waited with an open door to the backseat. Brian hesitated for a moment, his stare digging into Ryder like a razor.
“Trust me.” He muttered lowly, so low that Brian almost didn’t hear him. Ryder’s facial expression never changed, but something told Brian to listen and obey, and so he turned and climbed into the backseat of the truck as best as he could. Ryder then closed the door and
was gone for a minute or two. Brian sat on pins and needles this entire time until he came back, opening the front driver’s door and startling him. He offered Brian a look of regret and held up what appeared to be the cooked carcass of a rabbit.
“Hungry?” Ryder asked and Brian, mouth watering with whatever saliva he could gather, nodded.
How long had it been since he had eaten? He wasn’t sure; he had quit paying attention to the hunger pains a few days before. Ryder held up the meat and lifted a brow, waiting for an answer before he would close the door. Brian hesitated, unsure. Was the meat poisoned or would it make him sick, or even worse, did it have some chemical that would help aid in the process of turning him into an experiment like the rest of them? Brian’s stomach growled loudly.
“I know you’re hungry. I swear its just meat.” Ryder stated as if reading his mind. Finally, assured and still a little uncertain, Brian nodded and Ryder closed the door, sealing them both within the confines of the truck. Brian watched intently as Ryder tore some pieces of meat off the carcass before easing it towards Brian’s mouth. Ryder glanced around them as if ensuring that no one was around to watch them or listen to their conversation before he spoke. “I would untie your hands but that would be showing far too much trust. I’m sorry.”
Brian chewed on the food he was offered and narrowed his eyes at the man. “I’m going to kill you.”
“Now…that’s just not nice.”
Brian narrowed his eyes at the man. “You said you would help us.”
“I did.” Ryder stated evenly, though lowly. He glanced around once again and sighed. Brian felt the knot in his stomach clench even tighter. He thought he was going to be sick.
