by Tim Miller
His eyeballs were next as the bubble and popped out of his head, their fluid sizzling within the fire. He could still hear the cheers of the crowd before the cross tilted further forward. His head began to hurt and swell as the pressure built. The pain intensified beyond comprehension, until his skull finally gave way and cracked open. His boiling brains bubbling out into the fire as his pain faded away for good.
Chapter 18
Five months later
Sheri looked at herself in the mirror. Her baby bump was getting bigger. Being a mother hadn’t been in her original plans, but here she was. Donald had sex with her several times a day. For a guy in his fifties, he sure had a sex drive. She had gotten use to the sex. Not to say she ever enjoyed it, but she didn’t dread it anymore. It had just become a part of her day, like laundry.
A car pulled up outside as she pulled her shirt back down. She didn’t think Donald would be back for a few more hours. Once she reached the door, Eli was standing there.
“How’s it going mama?” he said.
“Hey. Good I guess. What’s going on Eli?” she never did like the guy. He was always creepy and asking things about being a lesbian.
“Do you use strap on’s with each other?” he once asked. She didn’t even know what to say to that. She was certain he had a thing for her. The only times he ever went to talk to her was when Donald wasn’t around. She got the impression they didn’t like each other. At least Eli didn’t care for Donald. Eli was short and looked like a high school science teacher. Donald looked like he just came out of a jungle safari and was much taller.
Not that it matter, she wasn’t attracted to either of them. The only reason she put up with any of it was fear of her life. Now she had the baby to worry about. A part of her worried Donald would take the baby away to be with the other kids. She didn’t think he’d do that to his own child, but so far nothing here made sense. She didn’t want to talk to Eli, but no way to avoid it now.
“Oh nothing. I just thought I’d check on you and the little one,” he said. “How are you both doing?”
“We’re fine. The baby won’t be here for a few months yet.”
“Oh it will be here before you know it,” he reached up and patted her belly, taking her by surprise.
“Oh, hey!” she said as he put his other hand on his shoulder.
“You know, I know a few tricks on how to help you relax and to relieve some of the soreness you may be having.”
“No, I’m fine. It’s no big deal.” She was sore, but wasn’t about to let him touch her.
“It’s ok, really,” he said as he moved around her, trying to rub her shoulders. She stepped away again and spun around. She could see where this was going and didn’t want to go there. As she turned around, the friendliness had disappeared from his face.
“You know Sheri, I’ve always liked you. I’ve always been nice to you and treated you like a lady. Yet you continue to look at me like you’d rather eat shit than be in the same room with me. Now why is that?”
This was awkward.
“I don’t know. I’m with Donald. You know that.”
“You’re his hostage! I know what he does to you. He rapes you, orders you around and treats you like shit. I’d take good care of you,” he said as he began running his hand along her belly, sliding his hand up her shirt.
“I’d love you and make you feel really good.”
She grabbed his hand and stepped away, this time he grabbed her arm.
“Bitch! I’m going to show you who is a real man!” Eli pushed her up against the table and pushed her back. He ripped her shirt open and punched her in the face then pulled her shorts off. She tried to kick but he hit her several more times. He then held his fist like it was a hammer over her stomach.
“Stop kicking or I’ll give you a fucking abortion right here,” he warned. She froze as he tossed her shorts to the floor and began undoing his pants. He took out his small, but hard little penis and pressed it against her when the door flew open. Donald was standing in the doorway and looked furious.
Eli froze like a deer in the headlights as Donald pulled his knife. Before Eli could scream, Donald had cut his throat from ear to ear. Blood sprayed and gushed all over Sheri as Eli staggered and stumbled around the cabin. He finally fell to the ground as blood pooled on the floor around him. Sheri looked up at Donald who stood over Eli’s body holding the knife.
“Shit,” he said. “You ok?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to. He forced me, he was hitting me,” she explained, terrified Donald would take it out on her.
“I know. I never trusted him. He’s a little snake.”
“So what now?”
“Now I have to think of something. He’s been with The Prophet from the beginning. The Prophet won’t be happy.”
“What will he do?”
“Probably kill us both, and sacrifice the baby. That or sacrifice all three of us. I’ve seen Eli do this kind of shit before. He does what he wants. I’d warned him when I brought you to be mine you were off limits. I guess that just encouraged him more.”
She wasn’t liking the sound of any of this and didn’t want to be sacrificed.
“So what do we do?”
“After it gets dark I’ll take his body into the hills and bury him. I’ll have to stash his car too. Maybe they’ll think he ran off.”
Sheri sat looking at Eli’s body and wondered how much longer she had before her own throat was cut. Though part of her felt relieved knowing Donald was scared. While it frightened her, it showed he was willing to break the rules if it suited him. Maybe in light of this, she could talk him into taking them away from there. It was definitely something she would mention once he calmed down. She just hoped she could stay alive that much longer.
Chapter 19
Julia lie in her cage staring up at the ceiling. What day was it? What week? She didn’t remember and it didn’t matter. Since that day months ago when Donald threw her to the boys below, her mind had snapped. From there, each day and hour blurred in with the next. One minute it was time for sex, then time to eat, and then time to be beaten.
They all took turns with her now. She’s stopped fighting ever since she stopped feeling. The sex no longer hurt, neither did the beatings. Most of her teeth had been knocked out. Her nose was perpetually broken and she hadn’t seen out of her right eye in months. A girl in the cage next to her asked if she wanted to die. That was a funny question to her. She was dead. If there were such a thing as zombies, she was it. Walking dead girl, rotting from the inside out.
Her cage door swung open as another man came walking inside. She’d seen him before, but he’d never spoken much to her. She had no idea why he was coming in her cage now.
“Come on you ugly bitch,” he said. “It’s play time.”
He grabbed her by the arm and down the catwalk into the man floor. He took her back to an empty room where four more guys were. The man took her hands and tied her to a post in the middle of the room, her back exposed to them. She hadn’t put on any clothes in months, so she was already naked. The men seemed amazed at her lack of fear.
“You weren’t kidding. She’s not screaming at all. The others always scream and shit.” one of them said. He took his belt, rolled it up and cracked her across the back with it. Months ago, it would have hurt like hell, it still did, but the pain felt far away, distant. Like it were someone else. It was as if she was floating around outside her own body watching herself be punished, but not actually experiencing it. Despite the distant pain, she didn’t so much as flinch.
“Holy shit,” he said, laughing. “That’s a tough bitch.”
He cracked her several more times until the other men wanted their try. Each of them took their turn lashing and whipping her. She could feel her skin tearing and the blood oozing down her back, but not the pain. One of them got extremely angry over her lack of response.
“Stupid fucking bitch! This shit has to hurt!” he screamed as he too
k the belt and swung it so the buckle hit the side of her face, knocking her off her feet and leaving her dangling. The man pulled her back up by her hair and began smashing her face into the post.
“Hey knock it off!” one of the men said. “You’re going to kill her”
“I don’t give a shit. She’s fucking worthless.”
“I know, but Donald said to keep her alive. Said she’s useful like that.”
“Whatever,” the man said and let her go. Another man came over, untied her, and sat her up on the table. He undid his pants, threw her legs up on his shoulders as he inserted his penis, and began pumping away inside her. Julia lie still as the man fucked her.
“Dude, that’s like necrophilia or some shit,” another guy said.
“I know, but it isn’t. Kinda cool huh?” he grew harder as he erupted at climaxed inside her. Once he finished he stepped away and pulling his pants up. He just stared at her, fascinated by her lack of movement. There was a loud bang coming from the main floor as another man came running through the door.
“Hey guys, sorry to interrupt. One of the boys got loose, one of the older ones.”
“Shit, let’s go!” Another man said as they all adjusted their pants and shirts as they ran out of the room, leaving her alone. She had laid there several minutes, waiting for them to return. After some time had passed, she stood and walked to the door looking around. There was screaming and banging from another part of the barn, but no one was nearby. She walked out of the room and down the corridor.
One of the rooms she ran by had two swinging doors. Looking through the window it was some kind of butcher shop. There was a man at the counter cutting a child’s body to pieces. His back was to the doorway as she slid the door open, slowly and silently. Grabbing a butcher knife from the nearest counter she walked up behind the man. At the last second, he turned and saw her. Just as he tried to yell, she thrust the knife into his throat. Blood sprayed from his neck, showering her naked body as she pulled the knife free. He collapsed to the floor as she stood over him.
Looking at the bloody knife, she walked out of the kitchen and back down the corridor. There was a door at the end, she pushed open and was standing in a large field. In the distance, there were dozens of cabins. The door swung shut behind her as she looked around. Why did she come out here again? Where was she going? Home. Where was home? It was a city. She remembered that much.
The door swung back open behind her as one of the men from earlier popped out. His eyes went wide when he saw her.
“There you are. I guess you got some life left in you after all. We didn’t bother closing the door. Figured you were just gonna lie there.”
She looked him up and down didn’t bother to speak. He grabbed her by her wrist and began dragging her inside. She reached up with the knife and slit his wrist that was gripping hers; sliced deeply from palm to elbow. Blood sprayed as he let go of her hand and stumbled back glaring at her wide-eyed.
“What did you do?” he asked, stumbling up against the wall. “What did you do?” He slumped to the ground, landing on his face. She took a few steps back looking at him. Now what? She just killed two men. That’s what they do here, they kill and hurt people. What did she do before she was living in cages and killing people? She did something. Something before this place. The thought snapped out of her head when more men came through the door. This time she remembered what she needed to do. Julia RUN!
Chapter 20
Sheri stood by the Land Rover while Donald dug the hole. She wanted to help, but he didn’t want her straining herself with the baby. He wouldn’t even let her turn on a flashlight so no one from the compound would see them, even though they were almost a mile away.
“Almost done,” he said wiping the sweat from his forehead. He’d removed his shirt and been digging for over an hour. After a few more shovelfuls of dirt, he tossed the shovel aside and climbed out.
“Ok, I’ll need your help with this part,” he said as he walked to the back of the Rover and opened the tailgate. Eli’s body was wrapped in a sheet in the back with a large bloodstain in the front. Donald pulled the body out to the edge. Unfortunately, the sheet did nothing to hide the smell. In the extreme heat, Eli began decomposing immediately. Even inside the Land Rover there were flies buzzing around.
“Grab his legs for me,” he said. Sheri did as she was told though it felt weird holding a dead guy’s legs. He was heavy, but not so bad she couldn’t manage. They reached the edge of the hole as Donald nodded. With one swing, they tossed him in.
“There. Now I just got to fill it in, that won’t take long.”
He started tossing dirt into the whole until it was full. It only took a few minutes to fill it in. For some reason Sheri felt like she should say a prayer or put some flowers down or something. Even though she never could stand Eli, and if anything, she was happy he was dead. While she feared Donald and had no feelings for him, at least he protected her when it mattered. He smoothed it over with the shovel when several spotlights came on in the compound. There was screaming and commotion as people were running out of their cabins. Sheri’s stomach tightened as fear immediately gripped her.
“What’s going on? Is that about us? Did they figure out Eli’s dead?” Sheri asked.
“No, the searchlight at the top of the barn is on. Someone escaped from the barn. Shit.”
“How is that possible?”
“I have no idea. Someone got careless. It happens, but it’s been a good ten years or so since the last time. Not like they have anywhere they can go. The heat, terrain, or coyote’s will get them before they even reach the road.”
Those very things had gone through her mind months ago when she had considered an escape attempt. She had thought of trying to steal one of their vehicles but could never drum up the courage.
“Let’s head down there,” Donald said as he grabbed his shirt, pulling it on as he climbed into the Land Rover. They raced back to the compound where Donald flagged down one of the men searching.
“What’s going on?” Donald asked the man.
“Some girl got out. She was with that film crew months ago. Not sure how she got out. Some guys were fucking with her and weren’t paying attention.”
Julia. Sheri hadn’t even asked about her since Donald took her out of the barn. She’d assumed she was dead by now. The fact she was still alive made her wonder what kind of condition she was in. She’d seen some of those other girls in the cages and none of them looked good. Some looked like walking corpses. She should have known Julia would make it. That girl was tough. She’d known that when they first met, this was just solidifying the point even more.
“Shit,” Donald said. “I thought we’d broken that girl. All right. Where was she last seen?”
“They saw her running toward the cabins. She’s killed two of our own men when she got out.”
“Jesus Christ. What are you guys doing in there when I’m not around?”
The guy just shrugged.
“Ok. She doesn’t have any clothes on and can’t have gotten far. Get everyone around and we are going to search each cabin.”
The man nodded and ran off as Donald looked at Sheri.
“Looks like your girlfriend is making a last stand. Can’t say as I blame her. I figured she’d lost her mind by now. Last time I saw her she didn’t even know her own name.”
“So what is going to happen?” Sheri asked.
“I’ll take you home and then we’ll try to find her. Once we find her, we’ll just put her down. She’s outlived her usefulness anyway.”
To Sheri’s surprise, she didn’t feel sad at the thought of her captor killing her girlfriend, or former girlfriend. She had been in survival mode since they took her prisoner. So had Julia, but in a much different way. Donald stopped in front of their cabin where Sheri climbed out and headed inside. Once inside she watched Donald climb out of the Rover and run to the center of the compound with the rest of the men to join the search.
S
he walked over to the bed and sat down. Part of her hoped Julia got away. Maybe she could get help from the police or FBI would swoop in and save them all. She walked to the washbasin and threw some water on her face as she looked in the mirror. Her face had aged almost ten years in the last few months. She looked back down into the water and looked up again. There was a dirty face in the mirror standing behind her. It was the face of a woman who had been beaten severely. Her hair was matted to one side, nose was turned at an unnatural angle and one eye was swollen shut. Right away Sheri knew it was Julia.
She turned and faced her former lover. Julia was naked, but her body was covered in dirt and sores. The woman looked like some kind of feral girl you’d seen in a movie. In her right hand was a butcher knife.
“Hi Sheri, did you miss me?”
Chapter 21
Before Julia found Sheri, it had all come back to her. She wasn’t sure what triggered it. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but once she was on the run, it hit her. Her name was Julia and she was from San Antonio, TX. These men chasing here were horrible awful men who had been torturing her for months. She wasn’t an animal, or a piece of meat but a person. From there it all flooded back, Bronson, Sheri, the movie. Sheri! She’d heard they had taken her away. She thought maybe she’d been killed, but whispers in the cages around her said Donald had taken her as a wife or girlfriend.
Julia couldn’t stomach the idea, not to mention why would Sheri even go for such a thing. She hated men. Just picturing Sheri with a man made her blood boil. Picturing her with anyone infuriated her, but especially men for some reason. Maybe it was her way of surviving. God knows the tough girl act didn’t serve Julia well, except she was now running free. Well, running for her life at least. Despite her weakened state, she managed to outrun the men easily and ducked in between some cabins. She used the night as cover as she crawled underneath one of them and held her breath until they passed.
