by Mark Tufo
“Because I’m one of the bad ones.”
Jess got out. Creighton laid a little rubber in Icely’s driveway as he departed.
“Come on,” the guard said almost tenderly as he motioned for Jess to come up the stairs. She moved as if she were a wooden marionette. When she finally stood before the man, he told her to put the baby down and raise her hands above her head. He frisked her, looking for weapons. When he was satisfied she had none, he told her to follow him. She scooped Zach up and clung tightly to him.
Jess noticed the two large opposite facing staircases. Her heart was thudding in her chest, but eased ever so slightly when she realized he wasn’t bringing her up there.
“Come on, Icely wants to see you in his office,” he told her as she hesitated.
“Am I going to be okay?” Jess asked.
The guard didn’t respond as he knocked twice on a large eight-paneled door. He waited a moment before entering. “Here she is, boss,” the guard said as he lightly pushed her in the back and into the room. He shut the door and withdrew back to his previous post.
“Come in, come in,” the man said as he rose from his seat, he was tall—NBA tall—not overly powerful looking, but he did possess a wiry strength. “The baby yours?” Icely asked.
Jess shook her head slightly looking around warily. “He’s my brother.”
“Parents dead?” Icely asked, although it sounded more like a statement than a question. “Of course they are. Why would you be out in this hot mess if they weren’t? Did you have to kill them? Sorry, forget it. I’ve been around roughnecks so long I’ve forgotten how to act civilized. Please sit…have a glass of water.”
Jess sat when she realized it wasn’t so much a request as a demand. There was a set to his eyes that said he was very used to getting his own way.
“Can I see your brother?” Icely said as he stood, arms outstretched.
“Sis, please don’t hand me over to him,” Zach cried.
Jess gripped him a little harder.
“The baby, please,” Icely said as his jaw clenched imperceptibly.
Jess reluctantly handed him over.
“I am SO going to remember this, Jess,” Zach wailed.
Jess half rose to snatch him back, but Icely had already moved back on his side of the desk.
“Oh, he’s a feisty one,” Icely said as he held the crying baby high over his head.
“Please,” Jess said as she stood.
“Relax. What kind of monster do you think I am?” Icely laughed.
Jess noted that Icely had not referred to himself as a man but rather a type of monster.
“I wouldn’t hurt a baby...unless I had to,” he said, looking at Jess. “You know they say these things are our future. I don’t see it.” He brought Zach face-to-face with him. “I think they’re just smelly little wastes of time personally.”
As if on cue Zach released everything he had been holding for the day. “How’s that for smelly?” Zach gurgled.
“Oh, God,” Icely gagged. “Take this thing from me.” He held Zach out at arms’ length.
Jess raced to grab him before Icely dropped him.
“Good boy,” Jess whispered as she held him tight.
“I’ve prepared a room for you. There’s adequate supplies for you and you brother, diapers, formula, all that crap. Now get that stink factory out of my office.”
“Sir,” Jess gulped, “when can we leave?”
“Leave? Why would you want to do that? Have I not been hospitable?”
“It’s not that, it’s just that we were trying to get somewhere,” Jess stated.
“Well you’re as far as you’re going to get. You’ll soon be one of my wives.”
Jess’ face blanched.
“Relax. If you’re good to me, I’ll be good to you...and your brother.” He added the last part as an effective threat. “Go upstairs. Any of the women up there will help you. Get cleaned up and be ready for dinner in a few hours. Now go,” Icely said as he sat back down.
If Jess had felt that she had walked woodenly going into the house, she was ill-prepared for her movement now; an I-beam had more flexibility than she did as she made her way up the staircase. When she made it the top, she was drawn to a room where she heard muffled conversations. She looked into a large sitting room where at least a dozen women were—some younger than her couldn’t even be qualified to be called that just yet—most older than her. Some had vacant eyes as they stared off into the distance, others talked animatedly with the person next to them.
“A baby!” a smallish woman of Asian decent said as she ran over to Jess and Zach. “Oooh, a baby in need of a changing!” she laughed. “Come on, honey, let’s get him cleaned up.”
Jess allowed herself to be led by the arm. Most of the women present did not acknowledge her presence as she passed.
“Thank you...”
“Mia, my name is Mia.” The woman led Jess to her new room.
“I’m Jess. What is this place?” Jess placed Zach down on a changing table.
“I’m sure you met Icely, right?” Mia asked as she cooed at Zach.
“I like her,” Zach purled, small bubbles of spit forming through his lips.
Jess nodded to Mia’s question.
“We are his wives.” Mia pulled off Zach’s diaper. “Oooh, you’re a smelly little thing,” she said as she tickled Zach’s belly. She placed the offending diaper into a disposal canister set-up just for that purpose.
“All of you are his wives?” Jess asked incredulously.
“And so will you be,” Mia said as she cleaned Zach up.
“But I’m not ready to be married…and certainly not to him.” Jess panicked.
“Shhh, sweetheart, I know this isn’t the ideal position to be in, but don’t ever let Icely hear you talk like that or even some of these women. They’ll throw you under the bus to curry favor with him. His ‘favorites’ get more privileges.”
“I’ve got to get Zach and myself out of here, Mia. There’s somewhere I need to be.”
“You’re here now, Jess. There is no leaving…not alive anyway. That man downstairs cares little for the lives of those around him in so much and only as far as he can control them. Marry him, let him feed you and take care of your baby.”
“Brother.”
“When your turn comes up, just moan at the appropriate times and think of happier times.”
“What? My turn? As in sex?” Jess was now in full on panic mode. “Mia, I can’t!”
“You’ll get used to it.”
“I saw some of the looks on those girls in there. Did they get used to it, too?”
“The world isn’t what it used to be. A lot of them watched as their families were ripped apart. Icely is an asshole, but he’s not cruel, at least unless you cross him,” she said as she shuddered.
Mia made a blowing sound on Zach’s stomach. He cooed as she did so. “He’s adorable,” she said as she put some powder on his butt and placed a new diaper on him.
“She’s a keeper!” Zach bellowed.
“Thank you,” Jess said as she picked him up. “You hungry, Zach?”
“Always!” Zach said reaching for her breasts.
“I’ll feed him,” Mia said. “You look exhausted. Get some sleep.”
Jess looked at Mia.
“I’ll stay in here with you while you sleep. Zach and I will get along fabulously! He reminds me of my kids.”
“Kids?” Jess asked. “You don’t look much older than me.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere. I’m twenty-four, not my kids. I used to run a daycare center in Flagstaff. I was out here at a daycare convention of all things when the zombies came. Crock of shit that is, a daycare convention in Vegas, just a way for all of us to get away from the little rug rats for a few days. Thing is, I always wanted to be around them. Babies are always honest. They let you know when they’re cranky, when they’re hungry, happy, sleepy, or stinky,” she said as she tickled Zach. “If only
adults were as open as babies, the world would have been a better place.”
“You don’t mind?” Jess asked as she stifled a yawn. She sat down on the edge of the bed. She had barely heard Mia’s response as her head hit the pillow and she drifted off to a better realm.
“Come on, Chubba Bubba, I’m going to heat you some food up.”
Zach was staring at her breasts “What’s wrong with those?” he asked, reaching for them.
“Typical boy, aren’t you,” Mia said as she grabbed some formula and a bottle. She quietly shut the door to Jess’ room and headed downstairs. She was startled when she saw Icely waiting at the bottom for her.
“I see you’ve met my newest,” he said coolly. “What do you think?”
“She’s a sweet girl,” Mia said guardedly.
“But?” Icely prodded.
“It’s not my place to question you.”
“If only all women understood it like you, Mia,” Icely said as he began to stride away. “You’re up tonight.”
“Yay me.” Mia said sarcastically—and very, very quietly.
“Hungry!” Zach told Mia in no uncertain terms.
She looked down at the cherub face. “Sorry, mi amore.” She smiled.
CHAPTER SEVEN - The Following Day - Early Morning
I paced back and forth along the gate as I watched Patches and Ben-Ben get swallowed up in the dark. I was angry I could not be there to help. Lights were going on inside the house as the alarm blared. Two-wheelers were going into the yard and others were leaving, I followed to the point where they were going in and out. I watched as a man opened it up, and then he followed the car up towards the house. I ran in before he came back.
I was about as far from the fence as I was to the house, and now I was wondering if this was the smartest thing to do. I did not know where Patches and Ben-Ben were; and neither would they know where I was now. I crawled closer to the house and got next to the porch, which was lined with huge bushes that offered concealment.
I peeked my head out when I heard the door open.
“What the fuck is all this noise about?” a large man yelled as he stood at the entrance, a glass of foul smelling liquid in his hand. I could smell the pungency from where I laid.
“Another dog attack, Icely,” the man who had been opening the gate said.
“All this noise for a fucking dog attack. I thought the Fourth Reich led by a zombie general was coming. Shut that shit down!” he barked.
The guard said something into a little thing he held in his hand, looked a lot like Daniel’s toy. Ben-Ben had chewed up one of what Daniel had called a walkie-talkie, but I did not know why he was so upset, he still had one more. Two-leggers are funny like that. A few beats of my heart later the siren once again stilled, my ears rejoiced in the silence.
“How bad?” Icely asked once the siren whined down.
“Dead.”
“Another dead? What kind of dog are we talking about? Cujo?”
“Cujo, sir?”
“If you had any education at all you’d know who Cujo was and then maybe you could do more in life than just open a stupid gate. Let’s try to dumb this down for you, what kind of dog has killed two of my people?”
“Some sort of Bulldog according to Schools.”
“Pit bull?” Icely asked.
The guard shrugged.
“You know you’re fucking useless, right? Go guard something.”
“Yes, sir,” the guard said, as he came down the stairs his foot landed no more than a dog bone’s length away from me.
Icely slammed the door shut. I stayed where I was until I was sure that the man that watched the gate was far enough away to not hear me before I crawled out from my hiding spot. The lights in the house began to go out. I stayed low as I went up the stairs. The front door was open a crack.
“What are you doing here?” Patches said from behind me.
I almost barked in fright. “Cat, you have got to stop doing that. I saw a way in, I wanted to help.”
“How’d you get the front door open?” Patches asked as she pushed it open with her paw.
“I didn’t, Icely slammed it shut. I’m not sure why it’s still open.”
“Must not have caught,” she said as she strode in like she owned the place, which I was finding was a pretty normal reaction from her. If she was there, then it must be hers.
I pushed the door open wider to allow myself in. Ben-Ben was close behind me.
“I smell Zach,” he said.
“Me too.” My heart was happy with the scent of him.
“Which way?” Patches asked inside the entry way.
I could hear Icely off to my side, or more accurately, the cold water cubes in his liquid container as he stirred his drink around.
“Upstairs,” I said as I sniffed around.
Patches and I stayed close to the shadows against the wall as we climbed the stairs. Ben-Ben was too busy looking around to realize we were trying to be undetected. His reluctance to believe humans could be evil might be his undoing.
The cat got to the top of the stairs first. “Next room,” I told her.
The house was mostly quiet, but there were some conversations going on in the room we passed and in the room where Zach was.
“What do you think all the noise is about, Mia?” Jess asked someone that was in there with her. My tail involuntarily wagged at the thought of her being so close, she was safe!
“Wait, Riley, we don’t know who’s in there with her,” Patches said.
“It’s Jess!” Ben-Ben said excitedly.
“Did you hear that?” the other voice that must have belonged to Mia asked.
“It sounded like a dog,” Jess said.
“Icely doesn’t have dogs, can’t stand them,” Mia responded.
Patches and I moved as close to the wall as we could so we wouldn’t be seen. I heard footfalls approach the door, and the door opened to illuminate the tail wagging features of a smiling Ben-Ben. His tongue was lolling out as he looked upon the woman who had opened the door.
“Oh, what cutey!” Mia squealed as she bent down.
“Ben-Ben?” Jess asked as she came alongside the other woman. “What are you doing here?”
I came out of the shadows, my fur bristling, a heavy growl coming from my throat. All of my teeth were exposed, and I was low on my haunches as I approached the woman. She backed away, terror showed in her eyes. I could smell the fear shooting off of her.
“Riley?” Jess asked. I could smell a hint of fear on her as well.
“You...you know this dog?” Mia asked, looking for some hope that she was not about to be attacked.
“Wow you are truly scary looking,” Patches said as she came up next to me.
“Shush, cat, I’m trying to intimidate the human.”
“Well you’re doing a fantastic job, but I think Jess and the woman are friends,” Patches said.
“You think so?” I asked, still growling, but not taking my eyes off Mia in case she tried to do something.
“Zach is alright!” Ben-Ben said from inside the room. He was standing on the edge of the chair that Zach was propped up on sniffing at the baby’s diaper.
“Took you long enough.” Zach said, pulling at Ben-Ben’s face.
“Riley, it’s okay, she’s my friend,” Jess said, putting her hands up.
“Told you,” Patches said as she strode in.
I stopped the growl, but I wasn’t done glaring at the woman just yet. Partly because I had lost some trust of the humans and partly because I just hated that the cat was always right. I came completely into the room, Mia backed up even further.
I went over and took a quick sniff of Zachary. “My heart feels better that you are alright, Zachary.”
“As does mine,” he answered. “The man that owns this home is a bad person, Riley. We need to leave. Mia we can keep, though.”
Ben-Ben looked up at Zach when he mentioned that Icely was a bad man.
“Je
ss, tell your dog that I need to shut the door. If Icely sees these animals here, we’ll all be in trouble,” Mia said.
“Riley, can Mia get by?” Jess asked. She leaned down and rubbed my face. “Are you hurt, my sweet girl? You have blood on you.”
‘Not mine.’ I wanted to tell her.
Ben-Ben looked over at me. “Will she still love you if she knows?” he asked.
“Stupid dog,” Patches said as she jumped up on the chair with Zach. “You smell better,” she said as she brushed her face up against his.
“You don’t,” he smiled.
Mia moved around me. For a moment I had a fear that she would cry out in alarm, but she stuck her head out and looked both ways down the narrow room and then closed the door quietly. “What are we going to do with them?” she asked.
“How did you find me, girl?” Jess asked as she rubbed my back. “How did you all find me?” she asked. She was nearly at tears as she stroked and rubbed each of us in turn.
“We need to leave,” Jess said as she stood. “All of us.”
“We can’t,” Mia said, “Icely has guards. Even if we somehow got out of this house—which I’m not sure if we can or not—no one in this town will help us.”
“We just get a car and go,” Jess said with conviction.
“You make it sound so easy,” Mia said sadly.
“We can’t stay here...I can’t stay here. I will not marry him, and I will certainly not moan for him at the appropriate time, I would rather die trying to escape.”
“He won’t just let you die,” Mia said, her feelings wounded. “He’ll make an example out of you to everyone else that’s thinking about crossing him.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Jess said, heading for the bedroom door.
“Wait, wait, we have to wait until he goes to bed,” Mia said.
“It’s after three in the morning. When is that going to be?”
“Another hour at the most.” Mia answered, “Unless...”
“Unless what?” Jess asked.
“Shh, I hear something. Oh shit, I think he’s coming,” Mia said as she went across the room and quickly extinguished the light.
I could hear the multiple thudding of scared hearts—mine included.
