Plagued

by Barnett, Nicola

  Duke watched Sarah with a smile on his face, his arms crossed in front of him. She stared back at him apathetically. The revelations of the day had numbed her.

  “Well, I’m knackered,” Mitch said and yawned. “It’s been one hell of a night while you two were here relaxing.” He took off his boots and sat next to them on his bed.

  Duke went over to his bed and took off his boots, placing his gun on the bedside table.

  “Looks like the freaks are coming from Winding now, seen a few old friends with them; they ain’t looking so hot anymore. But we can hold ‘em off, don’t worry.” Mitch winked at Emily, flashing his plaque-covered teeth. She turned to Sarah, her face white with revulsion. “Come on now pretty, out of my bed. I want to spend some time with my lady,” he said to Sarah, putting his arm around Emily.

  Emily grabbed Sarah’s arm and shook her head frantically, begging her not to go.

  Sarah stroked her cheek and smiled as reassuringly as she could.

  “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’ll be right over there. Be strong.”

  Sarah stood up and turned to Mitch, eyeing him threateningly. He got to his feet and stood in front of her, their faces inches apart. Sarah looked up into his eyes and whispered, “You hurt her and I’ll kill you.”

  Mitch was clearly unnerved, his smile faltered for a second then—knowing Duke would be watching—it returned, even cockier than before. “You’ve got a feisty one here, Duke!” he laughed, his voice shaking, still watching Sarah with uncertainty.

  Duke laughed heartily as he took off his vest and dropped it on the floor. He was a well-built man, black hair covered his muscular chest and his biceps flexed heavily as he unbuckled his belt and took off his cargo pants. He dwarfed his fellow men when standing near them, in both height and mass. Sarah could see why they were intimidated by him. He climbed into bed and he patted the space next to him with his hand.

  “Come here,” he said coldly, looking at Sarah.

  She walked to him, expressionless and stood at the foot of the bed.

  “Get in,” he ordered.

  She took off her shoes, leaving the rest of her clothes on, trying to keep a stern face and avoiding his gaze. He watched her intently as she climbed into bed with him, leaving a large space between them.

  Duke grinned as he examined her body under the sheets and he moved across the bed to be closer to her. Sarah turned to him and gave him her best ‘don’t even think about it’ stare but as she looked into his eyes, she felt her anxiety creep back in. Her courage began to fail as he made a grab for her breast and she slapped his hand away in surprise. He laughed, clearly amused by it.

  “No! Get off me!” Emily shrieked from across the room, and Mitch laughed squeakily at her pleas.

  Duke shook his head at them and turned his attention back to Sarah. He turned on his side, facing her and as he moved, she saw the handle of his knife under his pillow. A pang of fear stabbed her stomach and she realised she wasn’t in any position to piss him off. He smiled at her with a raised eyebrow and she knew what his intentions were, she had to delay it as long as she could.

  “You met Jack in prison, didn’t you?” she asked, as an attempt to distract him.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Duke smiled. “For years. He was never very good at his job.” He laughed and watched her intently, his eyes shooting up and down her body. “Doesn’t that surprise you?”

  “Nothing surprises me about him anymore,” she said, sneering at the thought of Jack. “I’m going to kill him, you know.”

  Both Duke and Mitch laughed thunderously.

  “I highly doubt it darlin’ but it would be fucking good to watch you try!” he grinned and slapped her thigh over the covers. “He’s not as considerate as I am, when it comes to the ladies.”

  The candle in the sink went out, leaving only the candle that Duke put on his bedside table lit. Emily screamed in the darkness.

  “Don’t worry, babe, I’ll be gentle.” Mitch laughed.

  Sarah’s skin prickled. She couldn’t see what was happening from the other side of the room, but she could hear Emily struggling against Mitch.

  Suddenly, she felt Duke’s hand move slowly up her thigh. She pushed it off of her quickly but this made him squeeze it harder and she cried out in pain. She dug her fingernails deep into his hand, gritting her teeth as she did so.

  “Argh!” Duke’s hand recoiled.

  A hard blow hit her across her face and heat spread across her cheek. She held in a scream.

  “Stop struggling or I’ll make you stop,” he whispered, spit flying from his mouth.

  His hand returned to her thigh and he squeezed it gently, warning her not to move. She lay still this time, conscious of the knife under his pillow. He climbed clumsily on top of her, his enormous weight pressing against her chest. She let out a small cry as she adjusted to his weight.

  Sickeningly, she felt his hardness against the seat of her jeans and his hot breath was putrid on her face. He grabbed a hold of her right breast and roughly squeezed it, making Sarah’s eyes water. Don’t cry, Sarah. Whatever you do, don’t cry.

  Somewhere in the darkness, Emily whimpered and Mitch began grunting breathlessly. Hopelessness drowned Sarah’s thoughts and she closed her eyes tight, trying to black out the world around her. She felt the warmth of his naked legs over her jeans. He pushed his erection onto her mound so hard it hurt her.

  “I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised after having had Jack for so long. He was never the man I was.” He laughed out loud. “You know, he told me to ease off you tonight. Isn’t that funny? He didn’t tell me not to fuck your brains out, just to be gentle. Hah! What a gentleman.”

  “I don’t care anymore,” Sarah said. Her voice was dull and mechanical.

  “Good. ‘Cos neither do I,” Duke laughed. “He wasn’t going to come back for you, know you.”

  “I gathered.”

  Duke reached over to the candle on the side table and extinguished it with his fingers. The room plunged into darkness. Duke began fumbling with Sarah’s jeans. She closed her eyes and thought of a desert island, somewhere far away. She thought of the warm breeze blowing her skin as she sat on the beach, watching the waves lap the shore. She heard her zip fly down and the fantasy was dashed. Panic crept in. Mark flashed into her head then—the morning they spent on Annie’s farm, laid in each other’s arms. Her head lay on his warm chest, listening to his heart beat.

  Her eyes shot open. She had to get out of there and get back to him. She reached across to Duke’s pillow and searched for his knife—it wasn’t there. Where is it?! She felt around the bed, thinking it had been dislodged, but felt nothing but mattress.

  Suddenly, Duke moved a hand to her throat and squeezed gently. Sarah clawed at it and wiggled her hips from side to side frantically, trying to knock him off but was too heavy to move. Duke’s grip on her throat tightened and Sarah stopped fighting, as she struggled for breath. Her throat began to hurt.

  “If you’re not going to play nice, then neither am I,” Duke whispered, and she felt his hot, stale breath on her face.

  He pulled off her jeans with one hand and then started on her underwear, trying to get between her legs. She resisted, closing her thighs against him, but he tightened his grasp on her throat in response. Her throat was closing now and pressure building inside her head. Her lungs began to burn. She held her legs closed still, knowing he would stop if she would just let him inside—but not caring. She wasn’t going without a fight.

  Her thoughts turned to Mark again, and the mistake she’d made in choosing Jack. She knew she would never see him again—never get to tell him she was sorry. Her body grew weaker by the second as it lacked enough oxygen to survive, and Duke finally managed to overpower her. He opened her legs and climbed between them. She felt his hot erection against her naked skin as he tried to find his way inside her, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t in the caravan anymore. Her thoughts were with Mark.

  He had saved her
life on multiple occasions and she had run straight to Jack without a moment’s thought. Stupid girl. A wave of dizziness came over her and white speckles filled the darkness. She thought about her family and mentally told them she loved them. Duke was still desperately trying to get inside her, viciously pushing his hardness against her and missing in his frustration.

  The sound of Mitch raping her best friend was a distant one now. Ringing filled her ears and her lungs were on fire. She desperately clawed Duke for breath, but her strength had diminished. She let go of him and her arms flopped to her side. She was dying. I’m so sorry, Mark.

  “Get the fuck off her.” Sarah heard in the darkness; it sounded like the world was underwater.

  The room flooded with light and she caught a glimpse of Duke shielding his eyes, releasing his grasp of her throat in the process. Feeling her airwaves clear, she desperately sucked in for breath. Sweet oxygen filled her lungs and the fuzzy world quickly began to clear. She choked and coughed uncontrollably as she held her raw throat in her hands.

  “Mitch!” Duke shouted in a panicky voice.

  “Mitch is a little busy right now,” a woman’s voice said from the other side of the room.

  Sarah cried out involuntarily. Her voice was raspy and it burned her throat to speak but she didn’t care—a smile came to her lips as she saw the scene in front of her.

  Duke was still perched over Sarah on the bed, completely still. Above him—with a shotgun pointed straight at his head—was Mark. At the other side of the room, next to naked Mitch was Annie. The knife she held to his throat seemed to be having a dampening effect on his erection. He was whimpering and Emily was struggling to get her clothes back on.

  “They came, Sarah! Can you believe it?!” Emily cried as she pulled up her jeans.

  “Of course I did.” Mark winked at Sarah. “Your boyfriend came back without you, smelling of booze. I got suspicious. Plus it got a little quiet without you both.”

  Sarah stood up on the bed, towering over Duke. She lifted her right leg up and kicked him hard in the balls. A loud groan left his throat as he fell into the foetal position.

  “Fucking bastard!” Sarah said, looking down at him with her fists clenched.

  She found her underwear and jeans and put them back on. Mark looked away modestly and she shook her head. Still considerate in a hostage situation. She pulled on her boots and then ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into his chest. He grunted at the impact and hugged her with one arm—the other was still pointing the shotgun at Duke.

  “I’m so sorry,” Sarah said, muffled in his chest.

  “It’s not your fault—”

  “It is my fault!” Sarah had tears rolling down her face. “He was never the one for me, you are.”

  Mark pulled away to look at her. “Are you having me on?”

  “No,” Sarah laughed at his comical look of surprise. “I knew something wasn’t right when we found Jack again. I knew it but I ignored it. I thought I needed him to survive but I was wrong.”

  “You don’t need anyone, Sarah. You can do anything. I keep telling you that,” Mark said, gently.

  “I know that now. You taught me that, and that’s part of the reason why I love you.”

  Mark’s eyes began to fill up. “I love you too, Sarah, I always have,” he said.

  Annie smirked in the background.

  “Wait a minute,” Duke said, recovering from his blow enough to sit on the end of the bed. “How the hell did you get in through the gate?”

  Mark turned his attention back to Duke, still pointing the shotgun. “A girl opened the gate and ran out, just as we were coming in.”

  Duke’s eyes went wide. “Fuck! Did you close it?”

  A series of roars and wails began bellowing outside the caravan. Mark ran to the window just in time to see an explosion of fire outside. The caravan shook violently and he just managed to duck as one of the windows blew to pieces, showering the inhabitants with safety glass.

  “Holy fuck!” Mitch squeaked. “What’s happening?”

  Annie, Mitch and Emily backed away from the door as another explosion rocked the room. Screams filled the air from outside.

  “The infected are in!” Mark screamed from the now-glassless window. “Jesus Christ, there are loads of them!”

  Sarah ran to the window next to Mark. “Oh my God.”

  Two of the spare gas tanks had exploded outside and had a chain reaction with the others that were nearby. Flames filled the air and people ran wildly around the camp, silhouetted by the fire-light. Men were laid on the ground screaming in sheer agony as the infected hovered over them, clawing and biting at their faces. Some of the women tried to make a break for it and climb the fences but were soon pulled back down and mauled viciously by more infected, who were laughing and yelling indistinguishable words as they toyed with their victims.

  Natalie was one of those trying to escape. She ran towards the caravan where Sarah was, screaming for help. Sarah ran to the door, trying to get it open as an infected woman ran out of the flames and clawed at Natalie’s face with blood soaked hands.

  Natalie tried to tear her fingers away but the infected over-powered her and pulled her on the ground. She grabbed Natalie’s legs and dragged her backwards, kicking and screaming for dear life, into the blaze. Sarah screamed her name hysterically and Mark put his hands around her shoulders to pull her away from the door.

  “Mark!” Emily squealed.

  Mark spun around and stopped as he saw the gun pointing at his face. Duke chuckled, holding the gun in shaky hands. His eyes were wide and his manic laughter made him look psychotic.

  “Drop the fucking gun and slide it towards the bed,” Duke growled.

  Mark did as he was told, the gun glided across the floor and rested under the bed, out of sight.

  “You shouldn’t have interrupted me, Mark, not when I was on a date. It was really fucking stupid. Getting the girl is the last thing you’ll never do.” He laughed hysterically, his left eye twitching.

  Duke’s finger closed on the trigger as Emily shot in front of them, trying to push the gun out of Mark’s face. The bullet hit the wall besides Mark’s head. Sarah screamed. Duke grabbed Emily by the throat and threw her violently at the wall, growling wildly. She hit it face on, making an ‘ugh’ sound as she fell to the floor.

  Seeing this, Mitch—who had been watching with amusement—had a flash of bravery. He swiftly pulled the knife from a distracted Annie’s grasp and positioned himself behind her with the knife at her throat. He stayed that way, laughing maniacally as he watched Duke lay into Emily on the floor.

  “Stupid little bitch!” Duke said, as he kicked her viciously. Blood poured from her mouth.

  Sarah ran behind Duke, trying to catch him unaware but Mitch saw her intention.

  “Behind you!” Mitch shrieked.

  Duke turned and pointed his gun in Sarah’s face. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  “Don’t hurt her,” Sarah pleaded as she backed towards Mitch.

  “When are you going to learn?” Duke said, with a cruel smile. He pointed the gun towards Emily’s head. “I do whatever I want. I’m The Duke.”

  The world slowed for Mark as he lunged for the gun in Duke’s hands, knowing what was going to happen. It was too late. Duke put four quick bullets into Emily’s head. The sound reverberated around the room, leaving a high pitch whine in their ears. Mark knocked the gun out of Duke’s hand with one swift motion and with his other hand, punched him hard in the face. Blood sprayed from Duke’s mouth as he fell down next to Emily’s lifeless body. He didn’t move.

  Mark looked at Mitch, who still had the knife on Annie’s throat. Seeing his boss laid on the floor, unconscious quickly made his bravery disappear. He dropped the knife and backed to the far wall, his hands in the air.

  Sarah opened her mouth to scream, but no words would come out. She stood there in a trance as blood poured from Emily’s head onto the floor.
Sarah’s head began to shake. “No, no, no.” She ran to her friend’s body and dropped down next to her, grabbing her warm hand and pulling it. “Emily, please wake up. Come on, we’ve got to go!”

  “Sarah, she’s—” Mark couldn’t say it.

  Emily’s face was peaceful. If it wasn’t for the thick, glutinous blood flowing out of the wounds and turning her blonde hair red, she could have passed for being sound asleep. The dark pool around her grew large, covering Sarah’s knees as she rocked back and forth, holding her friend’s arm and whimpering.

  Mark watched in misery, not sure what he should be doing. He placed his hand on Sarah’s shoulder and she jumped a little at the touch.

  “She saved you,” she whispered, stroking her friend’s sticky hair.