by E. E. Borton
The burglar bars over the second door were locked. A crowbar above and below the lock defeated it with speed and little noise. As with the first, the apartment door behind it was unlocked. As soon as we entered the living room, we saw that two couches were occupied.
I stood over one of the sleeping men, and Tucker stood over the other. Doug and Daniel continued into the adjoining kitchen. When they nodded it was clear, they took positions at the bottom of the stairs. Tucker and I needed to eliminate the threats before we all went up to clear the second floor. It was time to make a decision.
We all carried several large zip ties. They have hundreds of uses that include binding hands and feet together. Our decision was to incapacitate them, but let them live until they did something to change our minds.
Tucker and I leaned in close to their faces and became the things that go bump in the night. With one hand on their throats to keep them from screaming and large hunting knives in the other, we gave them their wake-up call. There was enough ambient light from Doug’s lantern so they could see the blades in front of their eyes and the intent in ours.
“You try to yell and you die,” I whispered, firming my grip on his neck. “You try to fight me and you die. Do you understand?”
His wide eyes and frozen body let me know that he did. Tucker’s sleeping beauty reached up and grabbed his arm when he woke, but dropped it back to his side after a brief conversation. The lack of air getting to his lungs persuaded him to stop resisting. We rolled them off of the couch and onto their stomachs. After binding their hands and feet, I knelt beside him and leaned in close to his ear.
“Where are the women you took?” I asked, pressing the dull side of my knife into his cheek.
“Th-Three are upstairs.”
“How many of your guys are up there?”
“Four.”
“Where are the other women?” I asked. “Are they in this building?”
“Some.”
“How many?” I asked pressing harder.
“I don’t know. Maybe seven or eight.”
“You took more than that,” I said. “Where are they?”
“They’re all over.”
“You make a sound and I’ll cut your throat,” I said, ending the interrogation.
Tucker and I rejoined the snake, and we slithered up the stairs. The layout was the same as the first apartment. At the top of the landing, there were two bedrooms to our right and a master bedroom to our left. We lit a second lantern as we positioned ourselves in front of the two bedroom doors to the right.
We didn’t have enough men to clear all three rooms at the same time. Tucker and I would enter one while Doug and Daniel entered the other. JD stayed in the hallway with his weapon pointed at the master bedroom door. If anyone came through it, his decision was easy. Squeeze the trigger.
Neither door was locked, and we made a simultaneous entry. In our room, there were two occupied twin beds. We subdued them in the same fashion as the men downstairs. Doug and Daniel must have done the same, as the upstairs remained silent. Both had pistols next to them that they didn’t have time to reach. When the Kramer brothers came out of their room alone, we knew all of the women were in the master.
Doug, Daniel, and I made entry through the unlocked bedroom door. The one occupant complied like the others. We looked around the room to find him alone. I asked him where they were. He looked over at the bathroom door. It was padlocked from the outside.
JD took the man’s key and removed the lock. He held the lantern in the doorway for a moment before taking a step back. I could see the rage in his eyes as he turned and stared at the man bound on the floor. I’d seen that look before. My decision to let the captors live was just overruled.
The women were bound together on the cold tile of the bathroom floor. Before the light from the lantern illuminated their prison cell, they had been huddled and shivering in the darkness. The oldest was in her forties. The youngest was in her early teens.
They were all beaten and broken. What was left of their torn clothing hung off of their skinny bodies. Their eyes were hollow from the brutality and their stomachs tight from the hunger. It looked as if they were given just enough food and water to keep them alive.
JD picked the man up by his hair. When he grunted in pain, a hard punch to his stomach stole his air and silenced him. He tried to double over, but JD lifted his head so he could see his work.
“How could you do this to them?” asked JD. “These are mothers and daughters, you sick fuck.”
JD pulled him away from the door and reached down to unsheathe his knife. He pushed him into a corner of the room out of the women’s sight. After whispering something in his ear, he ripped the blade across his throat and threw him to the floor. The only noise in the room was the gurgling of blood and air through the large gash. It didn’t take long for silence to return.
When JD walked out, nobody tried to stop him. I’m not sure we could have if we wanted to. I was sure I didn’t.
It was becoming an all too familiar scene of men turning into monsters because there were no longer consequences for their actions. Whatever deep-seated psychosis kept at bay by laws and law enforcement were set free. If they were strong enough to take what they wanted, they did. They wouldn’t stop until something stronger stopped them.
Before the power died, most people couldn’t comprehend what was coming. There was a belief that good would prevail over evil. The thought of hurting someone would never cross their minds. The problem with that is, people without a moral compass don’t care what others think. If they want something, they’re going to take it. These men wanted women, so they took them. It was as simple as that.
“My name is Henry,” I said, moving slowly as I cut through their restraints. “We’re here to take you home.”
They were in shock, but understood my words. After helping each other to their feet, they moved with trepidation into the bedroom. I didn’t blame them for being wary of strange men.
Doug and Daniel looked around for whatever clothing and blankets they could find. There wasn’t much lying around, so they removed their coats and jackets. My guys did have a moral compass.
“Thank you,” said a young woman. “My name is Michelle. Please get us out of here. You have no idea what they’ve been doing to us.”
“They’re animals,” said another woman, looking at the man slumped in the corner. “They’re all animals.”
“We need to go find the others,” I said. “I promise we’re coming back for you.”
“You can’t leave us,” said Michelle, pulling a blanket over her shoulders. “They’ll take us again.”
“No, they won’t,” I said. “We won’t let them, but we can’t leave the others behind. You understand that, right?”
“I do,” said Michelle, exhaling. “We just want to get out of here.”
“I know you do,” I said. “We will be leaving very soon. I need your help, Michelle.”
“With what?”
“I need you to take everyone next door,” I said. “The apartment is empty. Keep everyone together and ready to move. When you get inside, look around for any more blankets or clothing. It’s very cold outside, and we have a long walk ahead of us. Can you help me with that?”
“Yes.”
When JD finished his work, he led them to the empty apartment. We were ready to enter door number three when he returned. Nobody reached for zip ties when we breached.
Again, the layout of the inside of the apartment was the same as the others. It helped us move faster through the rooms. The only mercy we gave was a fast death after a rude awakening. The only sounds were the bodies hitting the floor. JD escorted five more women back to the first apartment.
The final door was defeated, and we moved inside. As Doug swung the lantern around a corner, a wide-awake face was illuminated. The man froze for a moment, and then Doug told him to get on his knees. He didn’t comply.
He lunged for Doug and knocked the
lantern out of his hand. As two gunshots shattered the silence and Doug took a step back, a wall of flames separated us from the man dying on the floor. Burning oil splashed onto Doug’s legs. As Daniel and I pushed him to the ground and started smothering the flames, JD and Tucker bolted up the stairs. We lost the element of surprise.
More gunshots accompanied by yelling and screaming cascaded down onto us from above. By the time we put out the fire, JD leaned over the railing on the second floor and told us they were okay. Doug’s eyes were wide, but he was okay as well. I told JD and Tucker to find the women while we set up security outside. We had no doubt more trouble was coming.
After we left the apartment, we dropped to a knee and scanned the area. As JD was rushing four more women out the door, trouble materialized out of the driving snow thirty yards away. We saw them long before they saw us.
It was snowing harder, and our whitewash camouflage made us difficult to see until it was too late. The two men with a pistol and a shotgun were walking right at us, but not firing. Their dark clothing made them perfect targets silhouetted against a white background. A quick burst of fire dropped both of them before they fired a single round.
Doug covered Daniel and I as we peeled off and ran toward the first apartment. We turned and covered him as he ran back to us. JD was already leading the women out of the building and down to the road that would take us back to the riverfront.
Tucker joined us, and we held our position outside of the first apartment until we could no longer see JD. We were confident there would be nobody behind us, so we concentrated on what would be coming from the front. A few shots from small caliber pistols came from the other side of the white wall, but nobody was coming through it. Using hand signals, I directed my guys to take positions behind a row of cars farther down the street. It was where we would make our stand until I was certain JD was a safe distance away.
Sporadic gunshots echoed in the distance as people fired blind into the intensifying snowstorm. A few moments later, those shots were much closer. A group of three materialized in front of us as they hugged the front of the building. They were moving their weapons back and forth, trying to find a target.
We found ours first. Another quick burst and they all fell. The noise we created allowed the others we didn’t see to pinpoint our position.
A group of four or more came rushing at us from behind the corner of another building closer to us. Our camouflage didn’t matter at that distance. I heard an unfamiliar sound next to me as I swung my rifle in their direction. Before I could fire, Daniel pulled me to the ground behind the car. I’m glad he did recognize the sound.
I didn’t see it, but I felt it. The grenade from Doug’s launcher must have hit its mark. As I recovered from the shock of the explosion, nothing was moving toward us anymore. There were no more gunshots being fired at us. The only thing I could hear was moaning.
Chapter 34
Forgiven
Blood-soaked snow, body parts, and screams of pain were enough to keep any more trouble from running straight at us. Random shots continued to snap behind us as we moved further down the road. The explosion and automatic rifle fire bought JD enough time to get the women out of harm’s way. Doug and Daniel lagged behind to make sure we weren’t being followed.
Tucker and I alternated between jogging and walking to catch up with JD. It didn’t take us long to reach them. The women were helping each other walk, but they were moving slow. They used what little energy they had to get away from their prison.
I moved up the procession, and Tucker stayed at the end of the line. I tried to encourage them to move faster, but they had nothing left. The storm was intensifying and the temperature was plummeting. They were dragging their feet through six inches of snow. A woman ahead of me collapsed. Two others were trying to help her up. That’s when I noticed she wasn’t wearing shoes.
“JD!” I said. “Hold up.”
“What’s up?” asked JD, moving toward me and noticing the woman with bare feet. “Oh, man. I didn’t know she didn’t have any shoes.”
“She doesn’t either,” said another woman, pointing at a young girl.
“Why are we stopping?” asked Tucker, coming up behind us. “We need to keep moving. We’re not even halfway there.”
“We can’t,” I said. “They won’t make it.”
A two-mile hike in a raging snowstorm for us was difficult, but possible. We were wearing foul weather clothing, had full stomachs, and boots on our feet. They had none of those things. They were dehydrated, starving, had little clothing, and they had been brutalized and beaten for weeks to the point of near death. They survived all of that. I wasn’t going to lose any of them on the walk home.
“He’s right,” said JD. “They’ll freeze to death out here. We need to find shelter fast.”
“Let’s get them into that warehouse over there,” I said, pointing. “Tucker, bring up Doug and Daniel.”
“Okay,” said Tucker, looking down at the woman’s bright red feet.
We carried those who couldn’t walk the short distance to the warehouse. We left them outside as JD and I cleared the large building. It was a good space to rest.
It was the size of a football field inside with large doors on either end. A train track ran through the middle of it with two empty boxcars in the center of the open space. We could see all the access points to the building from there.
“Nobody following,” said Doug, joining us inside. “I think we took the fight out of them. At least for now.”
“We did,” said JD. “I’m guessing we took out twenty of ‘em. They probably think there’s ten or twenty of us. Naw, they ain’t comin’ after us.”
“I agree,” I said, “but we still need to post a watch.”
“Looks like that catwalk goes all the way around,” said JD, looking up at the tall ceiling. “If I can get up to those windows, I’ll see ‘em coming.”
“Good,” I said, noticing rows of wood pallets along the wall. “We might also need to use those windows up there for ventilation. We’re going to be making a lot of smoke down here.”
“Okay,” said Doug. “Daniel and I will shore up those doors and lock us in. We’ll make sure someone will have to make a lot of noise to get to us.”
“Tucker, let’s get some fires going,” I said. “One small fire in each boxcar and then a bonfire out here. I don’t care how much smoke we make, we need to heat this place up in a hurry.”
Before we split up to complete our assignments, we saw JD sit down and take off his boots and his wool socks. He handed his socks to one of the women without shoes and then pulled another pair out of his pack to give to another. He cut strips of cloth off of his white tablecloth camouflage. He wrapped them around his bare feet and then laced up his boots. We all did the same.
“You’re a good man, JD,” I said, wrapping my feet. “I don’t care what these guys say about you.”
“Neither do I,” said JD, smiling and then making his way to a ladder.
An hour ago, JD was cutting throats without a second thought. A moment ago, he was sacrificing his comfort and giving away what little he had to help a stranger. These days we don’t have time to think about what we did an hour ago. We have to be able to put things in their place. Some of those things need to be forgotten as soon as they happen. The weight we carry in our hearts can slow us down more than the weight we carry on our backs.
Even though they were exhausted and freezing, the women who could walk insisted on helping us carry pallets. They began breaking them up for the small fires while we tossed whole pallets on top of each other in front of the boxcars. Within minutes, all three were blazing. Everyone’s mood changed as we were bathed in heat and warm light.
Doug and Daniel brought in buckets of snow and filled barrels inside before barricading the last door. Tucker fashioned a cooking surface out of scrap metal over one of the fires. We all pulled every ounce of food we were carrying and piled it next to him. I felt around th
e bottom of my pack for the personal item Kelly gave me. It wasn’t enough to make robust cups for everyone, but there was enough coffee to give each cup that was passed around a little aroma and hint of flavor.
Blankets were coming off shoulders as the bonfire radiated intense heat. Feet and hands no longer needed to be rubbed, and we started looking around for anything that would make us more comfortable. Chairs and two small couches from an office were pulled up next to the fire.
It didn’t take much food to lift the spirits of those who hadn’t eaten for days or more. I believe it was starting to set in that their nightmare was over. Few words were exchanged between us, but low sobbing could be heard over the crackling flames. We didn’t know what to say to them, and they didn’t know what to say to us. After what they witnessed us do to their captors, I guess I’d be a little hesitant to speak to us as well.
“My name is Katrina,” said a voice to my left. “I don’t recognize you. Any of you.”
“I’m Henry. This is Doug, Daniel, and Tucker. The monkey up there on the catwalk is JD.”
“JD,” said Katrina, smiling. “He gave me his socks.”
“You’re very brave for accepting them,” I said, cracking a smile back.
“I didn’t even thank him. I guess I just didn’t know what you were going to do with us.”
“Keep you safe and then take you home,” I said. “That’s all we’re going to do. I promise you.”
“They traded us,” said Michelle. “Sold us and passed us around. That’s what Katrina wanted to know.”
“Know what?” I asked, realizing my stupid question before I could stop.
“If we belonged to you now,” said Michelle, lowering her head.
“Chin up, girl,” said another woman from the couch. “We don’t belong to anyone. Never did belong to anyone. You didn’t have a choice, Michelle. None of us did. There’s no shame in that. There’s no shame in what we had to do to stay alive.”
