by Jack Hunt
Ella continued beating the man to death until Gary intervened.
“Hey! He’s dead. That’s enough.”
She straightened up with brain matter on her face. Ella wiped it with the back of her sleeve. Zach hadn’t managed to wrestle the rifle away from the guy but he’d managed to keep him on the ground. Elliot pried the weapon out of his hand, breaking his finger in the process, then without hesitation fired a round into the man’s skull. Damon scooped up a rifle, and Gary took the other one. They gathered ammo and remained inside for a minute or so peering out the grimy windows to see if anyone else had heard. There was no movement. No one else came to back up their comrades.
“Let’s move out,” Elliot said leading the way.
Cautiously they darted out, heading south on Broadway. Within minutes of being on the road they came under attack. Rounds speared through some of the stalled cars and windows of nearby stores, driving them in the opposite direction. The three of them returned fire.
Walls were peppered with rounds, and the sound of gunfire dominated.
“If something feels too good to be true, it never fails to be,” Damon hollered.
Not everyone in Dallas’s group had gone on a road trip to see if there were horses. A large number of men and women had been patrolling the street around the Rusty Nail or making their way back after hearing gunfire.
Elliot and the others made it to the Fire Department building and hurried into the parking lot, and cut through woodland to Depot Street. Every few yards they had to take cover behind trees, stalled vehicles or buildings to return fire. They sprinted across a set of train tracks and dashed into a residential area.
“There are too many of them. We need to split up,” Gary said.
“No!” Elliot yelled. “We stick together.”
“Then we die together,” he replied.
Though he complained, they worked together to hold them off as they ran for what felt like half an hour, stopping and starting.
“I’m out of ammo!” Damon yelled.
Elliot reached into his pocket and tossed a magazine to him.
At the same time, in Lake Placid, Rayna remained on her knees while Boomer explained to Doc what he wanted in exchange for her. Now she’d seen a lot of trading being offered over the past six months but for people? That was a first.
“I don’t know she looks a little old for my liking.”
Boomer came over. “Oh no, she’s perfect. Look at the meat on this woman. There is plenty of flesh to sink your teeth into.”
Cannibalism had been a topic of conversation in the past few months but was that what he was referring to? She learned fast it wasn’t.
“No, she’s got at least twenty years on these gals,” Doc said slapping the ass on one of the women. They all looked doped up. Their arms and legs were riddled with needle marks.
“No, I’m telling you, this is a fine bit of ass.”
“Alright, let’s see the merchandise.”
He nodded, a look of wild excitement in his eyes. “Sure thing.”
With that he turned to Rayna, took out a knife from a sheath at his waist and cut down the front of her top. He made a large tear and then tore it open, slicing through her bra to expose her. She tried resisting but with her hands bound behind her, all she could do was kick him and that didn’t last long. One strike to the face and she was seeing stars. Blood started dripping from her nose across her lip.
“Hey! Don’t bruise the merchandise.”
“Yeah, yeah. So, what do you think?” Boomer replied.
Rayna groaned, her dignity vanished as Doc came over and manhandled her breasts. “Not bad. Not bad at all. How old are you?” he asked. Rayna spat blood in his face and told him to go fuck himself. That only made him laugh. He licked the blood from his hand and sucked it between his brown messed-up teeth. “Oh I think she will fit in just right here. I like a woman with fire.” He breathed in deeply. “I’ll give you ten grams for her.”
“Ten? She is worth more than that. I want thirty or there is no deal.”
Doc laughed and walked back over to his seat. He dropped down and took out a bag of crystal meth from below the table and started weighing out the white crystals. “Fifteen and I throw in ten grams of weed.”
“I’ve got plenty of weed. I need meth.”
“Then I guess you’re going to have to make your own.”
“Yeah, with what? You took all the ingredients.”
“Travel to another town.”
Boomer eyed him with a look of disgust.
“Twenty-five grams.”
Doc leaned back, placing both arms around his women like he was king.
“Sorry. It’s called supply and demand. This shit is in real demand right now. People want to get fucked up and float away to their happy place.”
“This is bullshit.” Boomer jabbed the floor. “Twenty, or I walk right now.”
The bald-headed prick ran his tongue around his lips while looking at Rayna.
“Okay. Twenty it is.”
“And I get the marijuana.”
“Don’t push it,” Doc replied as he went about filling up a bag with twenty grams. Behind her Rayna could hear Trixie snickering to herself.
She leaned in real close to Rayna’s ear and whispered, “Oh the doc is going to enjoy you.” She laughed again but her laughter turned to cries when Rayna jerked her head back and head-butted her.
“Bitch!”
She grabbed Rayna but Boomer pushed Trixie back. “She’s not our property now.”
He pushed her over to the couch and waited patiently, bouncing from one foot to the next, for Doc to give him the goods. Doc handed over the baggie and waved him off.
“Now go.”
Boomer frowned. “What about the marijuana?”
“Get the fuck out of my sight before I put a bullet in both of you!”
They nodded, backed up quickly and squabbled over the meth as they exited. As soon as the door slammed closed, Doc leaned forward and took another hit of coke.
“Darlin’, you’re going to like it here. Two meals a day. As much coke as you can snort, and the best part — you get to enjoy me.”
He reached over and ran his hand down her body. “Now let’s get you out of those clothes.”
Jill had no intentions of leaving her behind. She realized the odds were against her so she backed off and kept her distance. She’d seen them exit and watched those two assholes lead her into that shithole of an apartment block. Now, she observed the apartment from inside a home across the street. Jill had taken a long-range rifle from one of the two dead men.
Six months ago she would have run for her life, and allowed fear to rule, but that was the old her, before being pushed into a corner by her life, before being made to feel less than a woman by her husband. She already knew how to shoot a weapon, Gary had taken her to a firing range countless times. It made him feel secure knowing that she could use a weapon just in case anyone broke into the house while he was on shift.
When she saw the two tweakers leaving the apartment block without Rayna she hurried down the steps and followed them while keeping her distance. They moved quickly, threading their way around stalled vehicles. The rail-thin woman bounced around like an overly excited kid in a candy store.
They walked about six blocks before they entered a run-down house where the windows were shattered. Jill gave the street another glance before quietly heading inside. She could hear them talking.
“Twenty grams. I can’t believe that asshole gave you that for her.”
“I know. I would have accepted five. Did you hear me? Twenty or I walk. The look on his face.”
“Come on, give me some of that,” the woman said.
“Hold on. Hold on. How about you give me something first?”
“Boomer. After. I need it now.”
“After.”
“But—”
“Bitch, just do it now.”
She heard a sigh and then a table b
eing jerked around. Jill looked down at the glass on the floor and made sure not to step on any of the fragments. She pressed on into the house, the AR-15 raised and ready. As she came around the corner that fed into the kitchen, she found the guy with his pants around his ankles and the woman bent over the table. He was grunting, and she was groaning. He was in the middle of having sex when she crept up behind him and pressed the gun to the back of his head.
“Don’t fucking move!”
He stopped thrusting while she reached around and removed the rifle that belonged to Rayna. She tossed it out into the hallway while keeping her gun on him.
“Where is she?”
The guy laughed. “Probably laid on her back somewhere being used and abused.”
Jill lowered the gun and squeezed a round, shooting him in the ass. He let out a scream. He collapsed to the ground, his genitals flapping around as he groped his bloody ass.
“Ah, stop whining. It’s just a flesh wound,” she said turning the gun on the woman who was hiking up her underpants.
“You! What apartment is she in?”
“Don’t tell her,” Boomer said, but it was too late.
“3C.”
Without missing a beat Jill turned the rifle on him and fired another round into his leg then adjusted quickly as the woman lunged. “Aha, no, I don’t think so. Get over there with him.” She crossed the room. “On the floor.”
Jill noticed the bag of meth on the counter.
“Was that what you exchanged her for?”
They didn’t respond. Jill picked it up and tossed it at the girl.
“Go on, snort it.”
“What?” she asked.
“A few minutes ago you were begging for some. Go on. Snort it!”
“But—”
“Do it!” Jill bellowed.
The guy was groaning in agony and complaining about having been shot twice as if she wasn’t aware. She watched as the woman snorted some off her hand.
“And the rest,” Jill said.
She did some more but that wasn’t enough.
“Snort the entire bag.”
“But—”
Jill fired a round to the right of her. “The next one goes in you.”
Quickly the woman began snorting as much of it as she could. Watching her made Jill sick. She hated drugs. She hated what they did to people. What people were willing to do for them. Once the woman had snorted it all, her eyes were wild and her body was shaking. The woman started to laugh. At first it was mild then it turned into a full belly laugh. “Oh you are screwed. You aren’t getting her back. He’s the doc.”
“Then I have no need for you two.”
Jill fired a round into the woman’s chest, killing her instantly, then turned the gun on the guy who had his hands out. “Please. I can get her back.”
“Not in that state you can’t.” She pulled the trigger and a round punctured his skull. “I hate tweakers,” she said turning and walking out. It felt good to take control. For so long she’d just sat on the sidelines being controlled by fear. She was done with that shit.
Jill made her way back to the house across from the apartment and returned to the window. She took a moment to gather her thoughts. Her eyes roamed the room and then she glanced at the two guards outside the apartment. There was a chance one of them would raise the alarm but she had to take that risk. She slid open the window, pushed over a computer table and cleared it off. She then brought up the long-distance rifle, got on the table and rested the muzzle on the edge of the window frame. She recalled what Gary had taught her about handling, aiming and controlling her breathing. It wasn’t far away. Two shots, that was all it required. The first would be easy enough, the second tricky but possible. She brought the scope up to her eye and put the first guy in the crosshair. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as she touched the fleshy part of her finger against the trigger.
The gun let out a crack and one of the men dropped.
A few seconds was all she needed to adjust her aim as the other guy registered the attack. “That’s it, reach down to see if he’s alive, you idiot!”
Another gunshot echoed, and the round punctured the man’s temple.
Not wasting any time she dropped the rifle, picked up the AR-15 and hurried out of the house and across the road. Gunfire was so commonly heard, she knew if he had any other men inside, they probably wouldn’t come out to see what the commotion was about. She planned on using that to her advantage.
Bringing up the rifle, she pulled open the door to the apartment block and entered.
Chapter 11
The warm, rancid smell of piss wafted in Jill’s face as she entered the apartment block. Her pulse raced as she slowly but surely made her way along the darkened corridor heading for the stairwell. A groan came from farther down, an addict lying in his own vomit, probably overdosed. There was graffiti all over the cream-colored walls and unknown puddles of brown liquid on the floor. She stepped over it grimacing. The state of the world had become so bad, and it had all taken place in a matter of weeks. Since the lights had gone out, her world had changed dramatically. Not only had she learned her husband had been cheating on her with her best friend, but all the plans that she had for adoption had gone out the window. She’d always wanted kids and now it seemed like it would never happen. Jill tightened her grip on the AR-15 and used her foot to push open a grimy door leading into the stairwell.
Though she tried to remain focused, her thoughts kept drifting to what Rayna had said about their friendship. Nothing has changed. In her mind everything had changed and yet she was starting to realize that perhaps it wasn’t Rayna she was angry with, maybe it was herself and allowing Gary to take her for a ride. It was confusing because she knew that Gary loved her by the way he treated her when they were alone. It wasn’t the physical intimacy but the things he did for her — he’d take time out of his day and do things she wanted to do even though she knew he hated going to theater productions or dancing. But that was him — he’d always been loving, maybe that’s why the news from Rayna blindsided her. Of course she wasn’t stupid, Rayna was beautiful, far more beautiful than she was. But still, it had pained her to know that Gary felt he couldn’t get his needs met with her.
Jill glanced up the steps and traversed her way over numerous drug addicts. One grabbed her leg and for a brief second she nearly squeezed the trigger, instead she slammed him in the face with the butt and knocked the guy out.
At the top of the stairs she peered through the glass. There was no one there, at least that she could see. Easing the door open she kept the rifle low and cut the corner with her head. In. Out. Gary had shown her how to do it without being seen.
There were three of them standing at the far end of the corridor. While they weren’t holding weapons in their hands, she noticed the rifles strapped over their shoulders. It wouldn’t take them long to spin them around and return fire. Could she take out all three without being shot? She wasn’t wearing a vest. Jill took a deep breath and closed the door contemplating what Gary would have done.
On one hand she had considered traipsing back to the bunker and getting Jesse and Maggie but even if she jogged she was looking at a good forty minutes, and who knew what horrors were being inflicted upon Rayna? No, she couldn’t leave her.
Jill glanced down at the rifle. What if three rounds wasn’t enough? It all depended on where the bullet hit. She gritted her teeth and nodded a few times before pulling open the door and thrusting out into the corridor with the gun raised. It took the men less than two seconds to register her presence but that was all she needed to squeeze, once, twice, a third time and then she just kept squeezing moving forward, keeping them in the crosshair. Only one of them managed to swing his weapon around and unload two shots before he fell, the others collapsed and she continued squeezing off rounds until she was sure they were dead.
Jill pulled the magazine and tossed it, then palmed another in and prepared for the unexpected. Whoever was i
nside the room had no idea what was going on outside. They would have heard the gunfire but that might have come from their own men. She hurried down the corridor until she found herself looking at apartment 3C.
For all she knew there could be twenty men on the other side.
This wasn’t about heroics, it was about getting in and out. She tried the door but it was locked. She pulled back but not before scooping up one man’s guns. Jill hurried back to the stairwell expecting others to come. That’s when she got an idea. She laid down the rifles, grabbed one of the addicts who wasn’t conscious and dragged him to the corner of the stairwell. She tore her top and lay back beside him, covering the loaded rifle beneath her using a dirty blanket laid on the ground. She sank her hands into whatever brown gunk was spread across the floor and wiped it through her hair. Her gag reflex kicked in and she wanted to throw up.
Voices.
Several men.
“Fuck. Go. Don’t stand here. Go see.”
She covered the rifle and leaned against the addict as if she’d taken one too may pills. Drool dripped out the corner of her mouth and she acted as if she was barely conscious.
The stairwell door burst open and two hulking guys charged forward, glancing at her then inching towards the top of the stairwell. They were nervous. Certainly not ready to race down those stairs and engage in a gunfight but that was exactly what she was counting on. As they turned their backs, she pulled back the blanket, her finger ready on the trigger. Barely moving she raised it and without wasting another second squeezed aiming for their heads. One of the men collapsed beside her, the other toppled over the edge of the banister and vanished. A thud was the final sound of him leaving this world.
She waited a second to see if any more were coming. No voices. Nothing.
Jill rose to her feet using the blanket to wipe the shit — which she came to realize was vomit — from her face. Slipping back out into the corridor she moved with purpose, speed and confidence. Twenty steps down that corridor and another black guy came out.
