by Amy Cross
But still I refuse to sleep.
If I sleep, something might happen to him, and I might not wake up again.
And then suddenly I feel the ground starting to shudder beneath my damaged paws.
I look both ways along the dusty road, but there's no sign of anyone coming this way. The vibrations suggest that a car is approaching, even though I can see for hundreds of meters in both directions and there's definitely no-one around. A moment later, I hear a high-pitched whistling sound, and I turn just in time to spot a plume of smoke in the distance, coming closer.
“What's that?” Harry whispers, his voice sounding slurred. “What...”
The whistling sound stops for a moment, but now I can also hear some kind of engine. The plume of smoke seems to be moving somehow, and finally I spot a car far away. Except it's bigger than a car, and much longer, and noisier too. Figuring that maybe it's someone who can help Harry, I step around him and hurry across the rocky ground, until I spot a set of familiar metal rails up ahead.
I edge closer, while taking care to hold back in case something tries to attack me.
The huge machine, whatever it is, has begun to slow as it reaches a point where the gleaming rails turn through a bend. I can hear voices, too, and suddenly I spot a figure waving at me from a window at the very front of the machine. I hurry forward, putting aside my fears for a moment, and then I see the figure tossing something out the window. He leans back inside, and then he tosses something else out. Still a little nervous, I watch as the machine grinds around the bend, and then slowly it starts to pick up speed again, releasing fresh plumes of smoke as it heads off into the distance.
Once it's gone, the rails continue to hum for a few minutes before falling still, and finally I dare step closer so I can see what was thrown out.
There are two small packages on the ground. They look like clumps of paper, but there's something inside and slowly I start to pick up the scent of meat. By the time I reach the nearest package, the scent is even stronger, and I realize that the men in the machine definitely threw some kind of food out toward me. My belly is so empty, it's starting to hurt, but I know I can't keep the food for myself so, instead, I take one of the packages in my mouth and then hurry back to the side of the road, where Harry is still unconscious.
Setting the first package down, I run my paw against his arm to wake him. When that doesn't work, I scratch him harder, finally making him stir.
“Leave me alone,” he whispers, “I just...”
His voice trails off, and a moment later his eyes flicker open and he stares at the package. He pauses, before suddenly sitting up as if he's gripped by a fresh burst of energy. His trembling fingers tear the package apart until he finds a chunk of meat inside, slipped between two slices of bread.
“Was that a train I heard just now?” he stammers, before taking a large mouthful.
Turning, I hurry back to the side of the rails and grab the second package, which I carry over to him. He's already finished the first sandwich, and he wastes no time in tearing the new package open and finding another. He slips a piece of meat out before starting to eat, and then he holds the meat out toward me.
“Go on,” he says with his mouth still full. “Eat.”
I wait, not daring to take food from him, but finally he holds it closer and I can't help myself. I gulp the meat down without even chewing, and my belly immediately lets out a faint rumbling noise.
“I thought I heard a train,” Harry continues, turning and looking toward the distant tracks. “I opened my eyes and saw it, but I thought it had to be some kind of hallucination.”
He pauses, before turning to me again.
“How can that happen? How can a train just appear from out of nowhere, unless...”
His eyes widen with shock.
“Unless someone repaired it and sent it out!” he continues. “But that would mean that someone, somewhere, is trying to get things back to normal!”
Getting to his feet, he looks toward the tracks again. The scrap of food, along with the brief appearance of that huge machine, seems to have given him a fresh burst of energy, and he takes a sip from his bottle of water before pouring some onto the ground for me.
“Did you see anything, Ben? Did you see anything at all that might help us figure out where it was going, or where it came from?”
Not understanding what he's saying, I simply wait as he stares in awe at the gleaming metal tracks.
“That means that if we follow them, in either direction, we might eventually end up somewhere. I mean, somewhere with people who are trying to put things right. I mean, it's been ten years since everyone got sick, so eventually there had to be signs of life again, right? At least we know people are trying!”
He pauses, before turning and setting off along the road again, still following the tire tracks but with a renewed sense of enthusiasm this time, as if those two sandwiches were enough to give him a vital boost of energy.
“It's a sign,” he continues. “It has to be. Come on, Ben, we have to find Sophie.”
With that, he quickens his pace. Despite the pain and aches in my body, I hurry to catch up. The trail is still strong, although the heat has baked the tire tracks into the mud. Ahead, the sky is darkening.
Chapter Fifty-One
“It's them,” Harry whispers several hours later, as the sun sets in the distance and casts long shadows across a set of small farm buildings. Outside one of the buildings, a familiar black car has been left in a patch of shade, while loud voices can be heard shouting in the distance.
Rain has begun to fall.
My heart is pounding, and the thought of going anywhere near the buildings fills me with fear.
I can smell blood in the air.
“What's that, over there?” Harry says, pointing to the side of one of the buildings, where a large wooden barn sits with rotting walls. “There's something moving inside.”
Sniffing the wind, I realize I'm picking up more than blood. Everything about this entire area is telling me to back away and leave. There's raw sewage somewhere, from humans, as well as the lingering scent of fear. I think humans don't tend to pick up on these smells, but I can tell that a lot of people are scared here. Bad things have happened, and blood has been spilled on the ground. The entire barn seems to be leaking the scent of fear from every battered hole in its walls and roof.
Suddenly Harry takes a step forward.
I immediately let out a whimper and paw at his leg, to warn him that we can't go any closer.
“Can you smell her from here?” he asks cautiously. “Is Sophie close?”
As soon as I hear that name, I realize I can smell Sophie. Her scent is intertwined with several others, and it's clear that there are a lot of girls somewhere down in one of the buildings. They're scared, too, and their fear makes me take a few steps back while whimpering in the hope that Harry will understand. Rain is already falling faster and harder, which makes it harder for me to pick out too many scents.
“It's pretty dark,” he says after a moment. “The rain's loud, too. I can hear it hitting the barn's roof. We have to down there and see if she's around, but...”
He turns to me.
“You can't bark, Ben. Do you understand? If you bark, you'll give us away. Maybe you should stay up here.”
He pauses, before cautiously making his way down the slope.
“Stay!” he hisses. “Ben, you have to stay where you are!”
I wait, watching as he heads closer and closer to the buildings. Every fiber in my body is telling me that I should keep back, that the stench of death and blood is too powerful, but at the same time I know that I should stay close to Harry. Finally, even though my heart is pounding, I start scrambling down after him, following his scent through the darkness until we reach a flat patch of mud just a short way from the long wooden barn. The sound of rainwater hitting the barn's roof seems much louder now, hissing ahead of us.
Now that we're closer, I can smel
l Sophie even more clearly. She's definitely in that barn. I can hear groans and cries, too, from several other girls.
“Do you hear that?” Harry whispers. “What are they doing to them in there?”
Keeping low, he hurries across the muddy open ground until he gets to the barn. I follow, jumping from one muddy pool of water to another, and trying to stay as quiet as possible. I can still hear the girls crying out, but now I can also hear the voices of several men a little further away, laughing and arguing around at the other side of the building. From the way they're talking, it's clear that the men are drunk.
“I have to go and take a look,” Harry tells me, keeping his voice low. “Please, Ben, don't bark. Whatever you do, stay quiet.”
He starts making his way along the side of the building, although he stops when he gets close to the far corner. Leaning down, he peers through a hole in the wooden wall.
“It's hard to really see anything,” he whispers, but when he turns to me I can see the fear in his eyes. “It stinks, though. If Sophie's in there, I have to get her out.”
He makes his way around the corner until he reaches the barn's large, open door. We both peer inside, but the place is vast and unlit, leaving us staring into pitch darkness. I can hear a lot of rustling sounds, though, and sobbing coming from either side of the cavernous space, as if there are girls lined up against the walls. The whole place stinks of sweat and other bodily fluids, and it's clear that these people are living in filth.
There are still loud, drunk voices arguing in the distance, although they sound as if they're around the far side of the barn, maybe even beyond the main building.
Harry takes a step forward. I can tell that he's scared, but still he makes his way slowly into the darkness, and I have no choice but to follow. Rain is pouring down now, hitting the barn's high metal roof and echoing all around us.
“Sophie?” Harry whispers. “Sophie are -”
Suddenly there's the sound of footsteps outside, traipsing through the mud and getting closer to the barn. Fortunately Harry hears them too, and he picks me up before stepping back against the wall. I can feel his body shaking with fear, and he puts a hand around my jaw, as if to keep my mouth shut.
A moment later, a figure steps past us and then stops, and I see a faint orange glow in the darkness. There's a strong smell, too, and I realize he just lit a cigarette once he came in from the rain.
“Please let me go,” a female voice begs from the far end of the barn. “I won't tell anyone, I just -”
Immediately, several other girls also call out, their voices rising to a crescendo as the dark figure laughs. I can just about make out his silhouette as he leans a rifle against the wall, and then he turns and starts heading deeper into the barn.
Reaching out with a trembling hand, Harry grabs the rifle and pulls it closer.
“Don't hurt me!” a familiar voice shouts suddenly. “Please, just let me go...”
A moment later, there's a flash of light as the figure switches a flashlight on, and the bright beam swings across the barn, picking out the horrified, bruised faces of several girls who have been chained to the walls in tattered rags.
Turning, the figure shines the light directly at one particular face, and I realize that I've seen her before.
“Sophie,” Harry stammers, suddenly dropping me down onto the mud as he runs forward, holding the rifle up high.
The man turns at the last moment, startled, but Harry quickly slams the rifle's butt against his face, sending him crashing down into the mud. As the flashlight rolls away, Harry hits the man a couple more times, before stopping breathlessly and staring down at the prone body on the ground.
I step forward. My paws are already sinking slightly into the mud.
Grabbing the flashlight, Harry slips a set of keys from the unconscious man's belt and then hurries over to Sophie, who's trembling on the ground with a large chain attached to her ankle.
“Stay quiet!” Harry hisses, fumbling as he tries to find the right key. “I'm gonna get you out of here!”
“And me!” another girl shouts. “Don't leave me here!”
“Me too!”
“Help me!”
“Quiet!” he says firmly, shining the flashlight around and picking out more and more of the terrified faces. “I'll get you all out, but you have to keep your voices down!”
He struggles with the chains for a moment longer, before finally managing to get Sophie free. She immediately grabs him, holding him tight as she starts gently sobbing.
“I thought I'd never see you again!” she whimpers. “Harry, thank God you found me!”
“I had help from Ben,” he replies.
Sophie glances toward me, and I can see the shock in her eyes.
“We have to get everyone else out,” she says after a moment, turning back to her brother. “Ben, these people are maniacs. I think they already killed one girl since I got here. After what they did to Mom and Dad and -”
“I saw what they did,” he replies, turning and hurrying to the next girl. “Let's just get out of here as fast as we can!”
I watch as he makes his way along the barn, and he quickly gets better at unlocking the padlocks that are keeping the girls fastened to the walls. While some of the girls seem relatively fit and healthy, like Sophie, others are barely more than skin and bones, wasting away with cuts and bruises all over their emaciated bodies. A few of them can't even stand, and simply stay slumped in the mud once they're free. One of them in particular simply slips down face-first, as if getting out of the chains is enough for her and now she's ready to die.
Slowly, one by one, the freed girls start limping and staggering toward the exit, framed against the rain that continues to crash down.
“That's everyone,” Harry stammers finally, hurrying back over to Sophie with the flashlight still in his hand. “We have to get the hell out of here before those assholes realize what's happening.”
“They killed my family,” one of the other girls says suddenly.
“Mine too,” says another.
“I know,” Harry replies, “but -”
“And ours,” Sophie adds, grabbing his arm. “We can't just let them get away with it.”
“There are too many of them,” he stammers. “Sophie, please -”
“There are only four left,” another girl says, interrupting him. “There were five, and with this one down...”
She pauses, staring at the unconscious man on the ground.
After a moment, Sophie crouches next to him. She fumbles with something around his belt, before pulling out another gun. This one is smaller, and she stares at it with a hint of shock before turning to the others.
I step back, horrified by the sight. The last time I saw a gun like that, it was in Melissa's hands and a lot of people died. Turning, I see that the girls in the doorway have stopped and are looking back at us, as if they're waiting for something.
In the distance, the drunken voices are still arguing.
“You can't,” Harry says after a moment. “Sophie, you can't just go and shoot them.”
“Someone has to,” she says firmly.
She hesitates, still holding the gun, while Harry and the other girls watch.
“If you kill them,” one of the other girls stammers, “then aren't we just as bad?”
Sophie pauses, before nodding.
“I want them to pay,” another girl adds. “I don't want to be a killer, but I still want them to pay. How do we do that?”
They all stand in silence for a moment, as rain continues to come crashing down outside.
“It'd only need to be one of us,” Sophie says finally.
“Whoever does it,” a dark-haired girls says after a few seconds, “I mean... those guys are drunk right now. We all know what they're like, and what they did to us. They deserve to die, but still... Whoever goes and does it, it's still killing, isn't it? I don't know if I can pull the trigger, even when those assholes are...”
Her voice trails off.
“We don't have time for this!” Harry says, clearly running out of patience. “We have to get out of this place!”
“You weren't here with them,” one of the girls tells him. “No offense, but you don't know what it's been like. They killed our parents -”
“They killed my parents too!” he hisses.
“And they kept us alive,” the girl adds. “Just the girls, just the young ones.” She limps toward him, with blood stains all over her tattered shirt and pants. “I don't need to tell you why, do I? I could show you where they split me open, if you need proof.”
Harry stares at her, his eyes wide with shock, before slowly shaking his head.
“We have to kill them,” Sophie says finally. “One of us has to...”
They all stand in silence for a moment.
“We could draw straws,” another girl suggests. “Well, not straws but...”
She heads to the door and grabs some strands of grass. After fiddling with them for a moment, she holds them carefully in her right hand.
“Everyone take one piece,” she says finally. “One of them has a yellow mark on the blade, near the bottom. Whoever gets that one, has to take the gun and... Those bastards will be passed out drunk by now, anyway. You can't even hear them singing. Come on, we have to do this so that they can't go and hurt anyone else.”
“So... One of us has to basically sacrifice her soul?” Sophie asks, her voice trembling with fear.
“At least the others will be able to leave with a clear conscience,” another girl suggests. “And we'll never tell anyone. Whoever does it... We'll keep it between us.”
Silence returns, before one of the girls reaches out and takes a blade of grass. Slowly, one by one, they all do the same, until finally they're left standing in a small circle, each holding one blade.
“I don't know if I can,” one of them says finally, staring down at her hand, where a discolored blade of grass rests in the palm.
“Oh Lily,” a girl whispers. “Not you...”
