by Sean Patten
“Kelly, there’s not going to be a National Guard coming in.”
She looked confused, like I’d just told her the sun wasn’t going to be rising in the morning.
“How do you know?” she asked.
“Because if the military still had the power to do anything, they’d have been in the city before sunrise this morning. Vegas is too important of a strategic location to let the looters have it for too long—there’s Hoover Damn and McCarran and the interstate access—it’s a choke point to get to LA. And now you have men like Oleg thinking they’re going to control it.”
“So…there’s no one coming in to save us?”
There was a trace of panic in her voice. Kelly was a smart woman, but I was sure she, like most people who knew what was going on, were still holding out hope that the troops would arrive to save the day. But Carlos and I had already seen what happened when the cavalry showed up. And it wasn’t pretty.
“No,” I said. “No guard, no nothing. So Oleg’s wasting valuable fuel keeping this place running like always, and with each day that passes he runs the risk of something happening to the generator. And if that happened…”
“The party would stop, and quick,” said Kelly.
“Yep,” I said. “And he must know this on some level, because he offered me a job.”
“Are you serious?” she asked. “A job doing what?”
“I told him about my engineering background and he told me that he’d keep me on staff if I wanted.”
“And what did you say?”
“I tried to get him to let me go get Steve, but he wasn’t having any of it. Not a chance I’d work for a prick like that anyway.”
Kelly sat back in her seat.
“Good,” she said. “I’ve seen how they run this place. Oleg and his men are pure scum. If anything, you should put that big brain of yours to work sabotaging this place.”
“I’d be happy just to be able to get the fuck out of here.” I said.
She nodded.
“Yeah,” she said. “That sounds good to me. Then what’s our next move?”
I shook my head.
“No idea. Best I can think of is that we take another look around, try to see if there’s another way to get out that we missed.”
“Not the best plan,” she said.
“You’ve got a better one?” I asked, my tone verging on sharp.
“No,” she admitted. “I guess not. And we’ve still got Steve waiting for us, so not like we have time to sit around trying to come up with one.”
Kelly took out one of her casino chips and placed it on the table. Each of us shoved down a couple more bites of food before getting up and going back to the casino floor. Once we started crossing it, I spotted a hallway that I hadn’t seen, a few well-dressed men and women heading down it.
“There,” I said. “Let’s check that place out.”
I pointed in the direction of the hallway, and Kelly gave me a nod to show she was on the same page.
Right as we reached the threshold of the hallway, however, I stopped in my tracks and turned around to take one more look over the casino floor.
It was strange—there was a different tone to the revelry going on, something less restrained.
It was like the booze and the confinement and everything else were beginning to take their toll, turning the patrons from orderly casino-goers into something else, something more bestial. Something more like what I’d seen them become during the show.
I knew there was only so long Oleg would be able to keep these people plied with booze and fun and women. Eventually the hangover would begin, and they’d start asking questions.
“Hey, Justin,” Kelly hissed, her voice snapping me out of it. “Bad time for you to start staring off into space.”
“Just thinking about what this place would look like if another stampede broke out,” I said. “Like the one I saw at the Medley.”
“Worry about that when we’re out of here,” she said. “Turn off the doomsaying for a minute.”
She was right — me thinking about this place going to hell was a small-scale version of the apocalyptic obsessions that she remembered.
“Right,” I said, focusing on the task at hand. “Let’s go.”
We went on, the bright lights of the casino floor giving way to low-lit halls. We passed men and women, all dressed up, all drunk, all hanging off each other as they kissed and groped one another, some disappearing into the doors that lined the hallway.
It felt like we were descending into someplace primal, a place where men and women went to do things that weren’t acceptable under the bright lights of the casino floor. I didn’t like it one bit.
I turned to Kelly, ready to tell her we should turn back, but too late.
“Hey, you!” called out a man in a tux.
“Huh?” I asked.
“Yeah, you two,” he said, pointing to Kelly and me.
“You guys looking for someplace?”
“Yeah,” said Kelly. “An exit.”
“An exit?” he asked. “Now, why would you want to find a thing like that?”
“To get out of here,” I dead-panned.
“That’s dangerous talk,” he said, his eyes flicking over to Kelly for a moment longer than I liked. “You know that leaving’s against the house rules.”
He opened his suit jacket enough to let me see that he wore a small badge that marked him as one of the Troika employees.
Shit.
But his smile returned.
“No worries,” he said. “I’d be happy to look over this little breach of etiquette if you’ll come with me.”
Kelly glanced at me, and I nodded.
“Where to?” I asked.
“One of the most exclusive parties in the house. Come on.”
Part of me wanted to clock him and take off running in the opposite direction. But I knew that we’d been busted, and the smarter play would be to go wherever this guy was leading us and lose him when we got the chance.
“Here we are,” he said, stopping in front of a large set of double doors. “Have fun.”
Without waiting for Kelly or me to say anything in response, the man opened the doors and gently led us inside.
The room was total chaos. It was a vast, open space dozens of men and women drinking and necking and making noise, the lights a dim red and a heavy electronic bass beat thumping. A circular stage was in the center of the room, a pole in the center running from the floor to the ceiling.
The doors shut behind us, locking with a click. Wherever we were, neither of us was going anywhere.
“Justin…” Kelly said lowly. “I don’t like this.”
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s look for a way out.”
Together, the two of us weaved our way through the crowd, my eyes scanning the place looking for an exit.
But before the two of us could get even halfway through the room, the music died and the lights went out.
“Fuck,” I said sharply.
I had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was I knew it wasn’t going to be good.
A light flicked on, a spotlight that beamed over to the corner of the room at a red door. I could feel anticipation in the air, everyone in the crowd waiting for someone to step through.
They didn’t have to wait long. Seconds later, the same man in the tux who’d led us into the party entered through the door, wild applause breaking out. A big smile on his face, a microphone in his hand, he stepped onto the circular stage.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!” he said. “So happy to see such a big turnout for our humble little auction.
Auction?
More applause broke out.
“Yes, yes,” he said, speaking over the noise as it died down. “While the rest of the world is going to hell in a handbasket, you’re all in here, drink in hand, waiting feast your eager eyes on the finest talent this city has to offer.”
I didn’t like where this was going
one bit.
“So, as much as I’d like to think you’re all here to gaze upon my handsome face, something tells me you all are eager to take in a visage that’s a little more…delicate in nature.”
More applause.
“Then let’s get right to it! You all know the rules—winner gets their prize for one twenty-four-hour period, during which you can do whatever you want with her. Within reason, of course. The sadists among you will need to keep all that in check.”
A broad smile spread across his face.
“Then again, what you and the girl decide behind closed doors…”
Wild cheers.
It didn’t take much to put two and two together. This was a flesh auction.
“Here we go!” the man shouted out. “Our first girl of the night is the wonderful Wendy!”
The light went back to the stage entrance as the pulsing beat picked up again. Out from the door strode a skinny blonde in nothing but a black bikini, a big smile on her lips and her hands on her waist as she stepped over to the pole.
“Hailing from Minneapolis, Wendy’s ready to make all of your perverted fantasies come true!” called out the man in the tux. “Let’s start the bidding at two thousand!”
Calls for the amount filled the air. Kelly grabbed my shoulder and turned me around towards her.
“We need to get out of here!” she said.
“No kidding.”
“The door where the girl came out from,” she said. “I bet it takes us backstage!”
It was worth a shot.
“We need a distraction,” I said.
She nodded.
“When the next girl comes out, we move!”
“Bidding is finished at seven thousand!” called out the announcer. “And not a penny overspent!”
Some sloppy guy in a suit hurried on stage and took the girl by the hand. I could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t too happy with who she’d be spending the next day with.
“Let’s have a round of applause for Wendy”
Cheers and catcalls filled the air.
“Let’s get a good, long look at our next girl!” called the announcer.
The music continued as another girl, a shapely woman with short black hair, stepped out onto the stage.
“Now!” said Kelly once everyone’s attention had been occupied.
We started off, but before either of us could take a step, a hand shot out and grabbed onto Kelly. She let out a yelp as she was jerked backward and out of sight.
I turned to see who had put their hands on her, my mouth slacking open at what I saw.
Seated in a big plush chair, a lip-curled smile on his face, was Elvis Presley himself.
Or, at least, a really, really good impersonator.
He was the full glammed-out Elvis too, dressed in a sparkling jumpsuit, his ink-dark hair in a majestic pompadour, his eyes hidden behind massive sunglasses.
“Come here, little lady,” he said, even doing the voice.
“Let me go!” Kelly yelled as he pulled her onto his lap.
“I came here to see the pretty girls,” he said. “But I never would’ve guessed the sexiest little number wasn’t going to be on stage.”
“Get your hands off me, you freak!” shouted Kelly as she attempted to break free.
By now she’d attracted the attention of the men and women around us. I did my best to get over to her, but the crowd was so thick I could barely move.
“Come on, gorgeous,” he said. “How much for a night? Five thousand? Ten?”
Rage boiled inside of me. I shoved whoever was in front out of the way, but by the time I reached Kelly and the impersonator, she already had her hand raised up and balled into a tight fist.
All I had time to do was think “here we go,” as Kelly’s fist came down in a hard arc onto Elvis’s face.
Chapter 10
“You fucking bitch!”
So much for the impersonation.
Kelly hit the Elvis impersonator so hard the gaudy glasses flew right off his face, revealing an expression of pure anger. The blow landed hard enough to loosen his grip on her, and Kelly took advantage, jumping up from his lap and rushing back towards me.
But the guy wasn’t about to let her go so easily. He jumped up from the seat and started after Kelly, his big body slamming into the other people in attendance.
“Get back here, you little cu—”
That was all he managed to get out before one of the men around him made his lack of appreciation for getting bumped into clear. The other patron pulled back his fist and sent it sailing in the direction of Elvis’s face.
But Elvis was too quick for this punch. He ducked, the fist flying over his head and connecting with the shoulder of another man.
“What the hell?”
The man who was accidentally punched went for his revenge, trying to hit the man who’d clocked him. But this punch, like the other, didn’t hit the right target.
It didn’t take much more of this before the squabble turned into an all-out brawl.
“What’s going on back there?” called out the announcer from the stage. “Cut that out right now!”
He glanced over at a couple of the guards, who didn’t waste any time in breaking away from their posts and running into the fray.
I glanced over at Kelly who seemed to be thinking the same thing that I was—we weren’t going to be getting a better distraction than this.
“Let’s go!” I shouted.
Kelly nodded and the two of us took off into the swarming crowd, yells and screams filling the air. This time I wasn’t about to let her go, so I grabbed her by the hand and led her through.
It felt strange to hold her like that, even in the circumstances. But I put it out of my mind. There were bigger things to worry about.
Together we reached the door to the backstage area, some of the men having already had the same idea we did, pouring through the open door. We followed in after them, the door leading to a large dressing room where several women in various states of undress were in the process of screaming their lungs out.
Guards rushed in, doing their best to keep the drunk and lecherous men away from the girls. We didn’t have time to stick around and watch how it was all going to play out. The two of us rushed through the dressing room, bursting out into another hallway—this one for employees only.
“Okay,” said Kelly. “Now where?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” I said. “I just wanted get away from the fight.”
“No kidding,” she said, shaking her head. “Fucking Elvis prick.”
“That was a nice punch, by the way.”
Kelly let out a dry laugh.
“Thanks,” she said. “Hopefully he got the message that you don’t put your hands on women like that.”
“Good thing those giant shades are part of the costume,” I said. “He’ll need them to cover up that shiner.”
Kelly giggled at that, but before either of us could say anything else, another pair of suited guards rushed down the hall towards us. For a moment I worried that they were coming for us, ready to tackle us for daring to enter into what appeared to be a restricted area.
But instead, they blew past us towards the dressing room.
“Employees only!” one of them shot out over his shoulder as he rushed through the door, screams following after them.
“Looks like your brawl might be our ticket out of here,” I said.
“Yeah,” said Kelly. “We just need to find the exit. Let’s not waste another second.”
“How about that way,” I said, pointing down the far end of the hall. “I think that leads away from the main casino floor.”
“Works for me,” she said. “Just as long as it’s far away from these assholes.”
I nodded once again.
“Let’s move,” she said.
We took off in a run down the hallway. The coast was clear at first, the only guards we encountered were those on thei
r way to the brawl. Finally, we turned a corner and I spotted an unguarded door with the word “EXIT” above it in bright, illuminated letters.
“There!” I shouted.
“Yes!” said Kelly as we ran. “We might actually get out of this freaking place!”
We approached the door, caught our breaths, and together, pushed through it.
But the coast on the other side wasn’t clear. Far from it.
The door opened to a small barracks, a handful of guards turning their attention to us as soon as they realized what was happening.
“Who the fuck are you two?” one of them asked.
Neither Kelly or I had a good answer. And I realized right away that they weren’t about to let us past like the other guards had.
I glanced over at Kelly, who was frozen with shock.
“Run!” I shouted.
That was all she needed to hear. The two of us turned on our heels and took off in a full sprint.
“Stop them!” one of the guards shouted out.
Other guards turned the corner that we’d just made, their eyes locked onto us as they cut the distance between us.
Shit, I thought. Nowhere to go.
We slammed hard into the guards, both of us falling backward. But while I landed right onto my ass, Kelly was snatched up by the guards behind us.
“Let me go, you fuckers!” she shouted as she struggled against their grip.
I tried to get up to my feet, but one of the guards quickly pulled back his fist and slammed it hard into my face, stunning me.
“Justin!” Kelly screamed.
I was dazed, but still coherent enough to watch as the men dragged Kelly off, taking her into an elevator at the far end of the hallway. With one last scream she was gone.
“Don’t…don’t you fucking hurt her,” I said, barely able to speak through the pain.
I struggled to my feet, a warm trickle of blood covering my upper lip. But right at the moment I stood, another fist drove into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me and dropping me to the ground in a heap.
I was done. As much as I wanted to take down each and every one of these assholes myself, I knew it would’ve been futile. I struggled for breath as a handful of guards formed a small circle around me.
