by W. A. R.
It was brief, the affirmation that the footsteps belonged to someone else other than one of his own people, and the result was instant. Before the man had a chance to lift his weapon or make a sound Brian had pounced, slinging his left hand to the left, and the sound of the blade of his knife slicing through skin and muscle was loud in his ears. The man quickly dropped his gun and grabbed his bloodied throat, with no success in stopping the death that was coming for him. Brian immediately grabbed the dropped weapon and searched around for light, attempting to determine if they were looking or not, and he bolted forward on bent knees, keeping to the shadows. Damien followed slowly behind him as they settled behind another shelf. It was the first time Brian had actually murdered someone, and though he should have, he didn’t care. He was running on adrenaline, on rage, and he couldn’t stop himself. He vowed he was going to kill them all to get to Shelly.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are.” A deep rumble of a voice taunted and Brian felt his stomach tighten. “I have someone you are looking for ‘Brian’.” The man mocked them and Brian felt sick. “She’s really pretty….” He heard the man inhale her scent from across the at least three rows that separated them and Damien placed a hand on Brian’s shoulder, attempting to hold him back from taking reckless action. “I might like to keep her.”
Brian forced himself to remain calm and leaned back against the wall, cupping his hands over his mouth in an attempt to throw his voice down further than he was. “Let her go.”
“And why would I do that?” The man said and Brian could hear him walking around, trying to determine where Brian was. Brian leaned onto the balls of his feet, turning his shoulders and his mouth another direction. Damien looked about them wildly.
“Because I will kill you like I did your friend if you don’t.” Brian replied and for a moment things were silent, as if the man was considering whether to believe what Brian had said was true or not.
“Which one?” the man asked after a moment of silence, and Brian felt his heart catch briefly. “I have five.” At this the man laughed haughtily at them all and Brian felt everything within him go cold.
A sudden crash sounded and Brian saw Miles’s silhouette dart between some overturned shelves. “You have two.” Miles said firmly from across the store and Brian breathed a sigh of relief. The man began chuckling softly, grating on Brian’s already tense nerves.
“So, you have killed three of my men, huh? I guess that’s fair, considering I have killed two of yours and I’m holding pretty little Shelly here hostage.” The man laughed at this and Brian felt everything inside of him go numb. No, no…he couldn’t be saying what Brian thought he was saying. “What were their names?” he mocked them. Brian knew very well that the man knew their names. “Oh that’s right…Jackson and Rick. They were good guys, but they were…in the way.”
Brian felt his heart begin racing as he stood to his full height, uncaring of who saw him. He held his gun and the handgun from the man he had killed firmly in his hands, replacing his knife back into its holster. Everything was quiet as he looked around the damaged store. The bigger part of him wanted nothing more than to be reckless, but there was also that part of him that had to suck it up and try to find an easier, more careful way of getting Shelly back. Even though the man’s words were cutting and they hurt, it didn’t hurt him as much as Shelly’s life being in this stranger’s hands.
“Look, if you just let us go, we won’t hurt you. Got it?” Brian asked loudly, angrily, still searching for any sign of movement from somewhere within the store. He needed Shelly from the man’s grasp before he could really do anything, and then, when he could, he was going to torture him; he swore he would. It was a dull threat; he knew it was, considering that he would do anything for Shelly, to get her from the man that had taken her. He stepped forward, with purpose, leaving Damien to huddle in the shadows alone. There was a crunch of broken glass to his right and quickly he ducked beneath an overturned shelf once more, flattening onto his stomach. Glass dug into him and he winced but remained motionless as a knife graze past him and hit a box of outdated crackers directly to the left of his shoulder. He released a heavy breath and watched through the shelf in front of him as heavy feet crossed his path. First were Shelly’s cooperative feet and then a man’s. He felt liberation at the sight, and he closed his eyes against every other emotion. She was alive. The man laughed at Brian’s suggestion, mocking him. Brian seethed and longed to torture the stranger, to make him pay for everything that he had done, whatever his sins were.
“Brian? Miles? Are you there?” Amber’s voice belted out, unsure, from the direction Miles had come previously. It startled Brian and he immediately felt the tension draw tight among them as the silence reigned on. He watched through the shelf as their feet froze in their movements and he turned pleadingly towards Miles’s general direction, hoping he didn’t overreact. “Hello? Anybody there?” Her voice was urgent and frightened and Brian forced himself to ignore it. They had to get out of the store safely in order to reach them, to save them. They sounded as if they were in trouble, and though Brian wanted to find his way to the radio and tell her what was happening, to warn them if it wasn’t already too late, he couldn’t.
“Theeere she is….I was waiting on that to happen…hoping for it actually. Amber’s a smart girl…she’s…special…obviously. Can’t you just wait to see how she turns out? What will she become?” He asked, his voice menacing and slashing. Brian quickly stood and hurried back to Damien, sticking to the shadows. Things were either going to come to a standstill or there was going to be a fight. Feeling the nervous sweat crawling up his back, he was betting on the fight. When no one answered him, the man laughed and his next words sent chills up Brian’s spine. “Just imagine what we are going to do with her and that lovely daughter of hers…what we are doing to them…right…this…second…”
Chapter Thirty Four
Miles had dispersed from the others once they had come into the store from the cooler, searching for food of any kind that was still good and still intact. He studied all of the toppled shelves and the grotesque image of broken glass and food spilled over the floor and the sight made him uneasy. Still, he shrugged it off and hurried along to find what they had come for. He was just as ready to leave there as the others were. With this desperation in mind, he ambled towards the deli, kneeling down behind a large glass counter when he saw a few jars of quail eggs. The big glass counter he was behind kept him hidden; so much so that he hadn’t noticed anyone or anything around him.
As he was stashing away one jar of the preserved quail eggs he had found, he had heard Shelly yell for Brian. It had forced his senses to kick into overdrive and reflexively he slid silently across the floor and pasted himself against the metal counter. The silence was deafening as Miles attempted to listen for Brian and Damien. He swallowed back the panic that threatened to overwhelm his senses. Slowly, he had looked up in time to see an unfamiliar body in front of him in the dark, rounding the corner and seemingly lost, unsure of what he or she was looking for. Grateful for the shadows where he had taken sanctuary, he had easily slid the bag from his shoulders and set it silently to the side before retrieving his knife. He glanced around at the floor around him for something, anything to draw the man’s attention from what was so clearly in front of him. He saw a Mason jar lid off to the side and easily he lifted it from the ground before tossing it to the right. The metal lid clanged against the floor, causing the stranger to jump and look towards the sound, startled. Knife in hand, he quickly snuck up behind the man in the shadows and easily slit his throat, lowering him gently to the floor before crouching back down behind the counter in the deli, closer to the edge. He listened as the strange man taunted them from the front of the store; listened as Brian told him that he had already taken down one of his men. He glanced up and saw the blade used to slice meat resting on the counter among other dust covered parts of the machine, as if it had just been cleaned whenever the outbreak occurred. H
ow convenient, he thought to himself, his heart pounding. Quickly he grabbed it and turned just in time to see another man heading his direction. In a split second decision, he stood and slung the blade as hard as he could at the strange man. It sliced into the strange man’s face before he was even aware of Miles’s presence and he fell dead with a clatter against the glass barrier of the counter. Miles hastily cleared the top, running forward and ducking behind a shelf where he saw Brian and Damien across the way. He had sighed in relief feeling the ache in his palm that told him he had sliced his hand. He didn’t care. At least Brian was safe
“I have five.” Miles heard a man laugh at them. Who was this guy and where in the hell did he come from? He asked himself before glancing at the almost black blood on Brian’s hand. They had taken down three already. Surely they could make it out of this.
“You have two.” Miles said firmly, yet breathless as he finally landed behind the shelf, pistol held tightly in his hand. Let that sink in, he thought, hoping the loss of three men would discourage the man. The man began chuckling softly and Miles frowned. This was not going to end well.
“So, you have killed three of my men, huh? I guess that’s fair, considering I have killed two of yours and I’m holding pretty little Shelly here hostage.” The man laughed at this and Miles turned to look at Brian incredulously, mentally begging him to remain in place. He understood what the man was suggesting and it frightened him. If they had done that, had gotten in so easily to kill two people, they would definitely do it again…and right then, the people at the house were vulnerable. “What were their names?” he mocked them. It was patronizing, really, and Miles watched as Brian clenched his hands into fists around the handles of two guns. “Oh that’s right…Jackson and Rick. They were good guys, but they were…in the way…” the man let this sentence trail off, and he knew he was searching the store, hoping for some kind of reaction.
Miles watched as Brian stood, his eyes mentally tearing the room apart.
“Fuck.” Miles muttered under his breath, his muscles tightening. Miles brought his gun up, his hands gripping the handles so tightly that it hurt. Get down Brian…get down, get down….
“Look, if you just let us go, we won’t hurt you. Got it?” Brian asked loudly, angrily, still searching for any sign of movement from somewhere within the store. Brian stepped forward, with purpose, leaving Damien to huddle in the shadows alone. Miles’s eyes flicked to Damien, who rose up slightly on the balls of his feet, staring past Brian at…something…to the right of Brian. Miles followed his line of sight when the dull silhouette of an intruder moved. There was a crunch of broken glass to his far right and quickly Brian ducked beneath an overturned shelf once more and dropped to the floor, flattening onto his stomach against the glass covered floor. Miles grimaced and started in surprise as a knife graze past Brian and hit a box of outdated crackers directly to the left of his shoulder. Miles felt his heart pounding in his chest and he risked a peek around the shelf he hid behind to the front of the store, where light footsteps could be heard. The first pair of feet he saw was Shelly’s cooperative feet and then a man’s, threatening to becoming tangled in Shelly’s slight stance. He lifted his eyes, scanning them as they slowly entered his sight. Shelly had her back pressed against the man, her face full of fear and anger as she gripped the hand he held at her throat. She was wheezing, and weak as his fingers dug into her throat, into her windpipe. His other hand held a gun to her temple. His face was stoic, if maybe having a little twisted pleasure on their older features when he suddenly laughed at Brian’s suggestion. Miles swallowed thickly, glancing at Brian. The deadly yet playful gleam in the man’s eye damn near broke the faith that Miles had for them making it out of there.
“Brian? Miles? Are you there?” Amber’s voice belted out, unsure, from the radio Miles had clipped onto his bag. Miles started, surprised at hearing her trembling voice. He shut his eyes tightly as the silence reigned on. “Hello? Anybody there?” Her voice was urgent and frightened and Miles felt his heart ache, terror gripping every fiber of his being. They were there. They were at their house, hurting Amber, hurting the kids…Rage like never before hit him and he felt Brian’s eyes on him, pleading with him to remain calm. He wasn’t sure what to do, but they needed to do something and fast.
“Theeere she is….I was waiting on that to happen…hoping for it actually. Amber’s a smart girl……she’s…special…obviously. Can’t you just wait to see how she turns out? What will she become?” He asked, almost teasing, his voice menacing and slashing. Miles felt his blood run cold at the sound of her voice, at the fact that the man knew her name. He grit his teeth as Brian made his way back to Damien. Miles refused to let them hurt their people anymore. He would die first. When no one replied to the man’s taunts, he laughed and his next words sent chills up his spine, causing him to rise to his full height, rounding the shelf to come to the other side of the man. The gun shook in his grip and his knuckles were white. “Just imagine what we are going to do to her and that lovely daughter of hers…what we are doing to them…right…this…second….”
“You lay a hand on either of them and it will be the last move you make.” Miles growled angrily, stepping stealthily along the length of the shelf, remaining in the shadows, an aiming for the coolers. He knew the man was only baiting them. He had Shelly’s life in his hands, provoking Brian, and now he was provoking Miles. That was all, Miles forced himself to believe. He could be wrong, the man could have people there killing them. But if the man wanted them dead, he would have already done so; he would have already killed Shelly. He froze mid step as he watched a man round the corner of the deli, Miles’s backpack in one hand, the radio in the other. His black hood was pulled up, making visibility of his face impossible. Miles lifted his gun but the man disappeared behind the cooler door as quickly as he had come. The man seemed as if he didn’t have a care in the world. However, that only meant that the other man that was holding Shelly only had one counterpart then, and that brought a twisted smile to Miles’s face. They could easily get the jump on them if they were quiet and quick enough, which shouldn’t be a problem. He glanced behind him to see Brian round a shelf on the other side of the store. Damien had disappeared, and Miles was unsure of where he had gone. Regardless, Miles surged forward. Following Brian’s pace he slid across to the shadows of the coolers, feeling his heart beating rapidly. He did his best to remain quiet, the moments seeming to take forever, as if every second had intensified and he was living in slow motion.
“You know,” the man began, avoiding answering Miles’s statement. Miles edged to the end of the cooler, and the man was in plain view of him. Miles lifted his gun, settling his aim directly at his temple. The man moved back some, and Miles placed his thumb on the hammer. “I am so very surprised that neither one of you has asked who we are. Aren’t you at all curious for some answers?” Miles cocked back the hammer, and the man jerked his attention towards the sound. Immediately Brian stepped forward, both guns aimed at the man who pulled Shelly to him even tighter, causing her to whimper. He cocked the hammer back on his gun, setting his finger on the trigger, completely demolishing their plan of shooting him before he did her any harm. They couldn’t risk it. They could shoot him and in a reflexive movement take her out with him. They could do nothing. Her face was red from the struggle for air as he cut off her windpipe. Miles swallowed thickly. They needed to get out of there and fast.
“Release her.” Brian said coldly as Miles stepped forward as well. His voice was deadly, and Miles mirrored his anger. Both men had their guns trained on the man, who ducked down cowardly behind the woman that he was choking. He infuriated Miles.
“I don’t think so. We followed you out here for a reason.”
“It looks like you have no choice. You’re outnumbered.” Miles said and the man merely smiled, taking a slight step back. The action was unsettling to say the least.
“You’re wrong.” His voice rumbled and Miles felt a shiver snake its way u
p his spine. Miles looked around. He could see no one else in the store, no one coming to the man’s rescue.
“Let. Her. Go.” Brian growled one last time, stepping forward and pressing the barrel of the gun to the man’s forehead. The man began easing on the trigger, smiling devilishly at Brian as he pressed the barrel of the gun tighter against Shelly’s head. Miles heard the footsteps before the man even had time to ready his gun, and he withdrew his other pistol, clicking back the hammer and aiming it at the hooded man now to his right. The hooded man stood with a rifle pointed directly at Miles. Brian’s eyes never left the man before him. Miles’s heart pounded in his chest.
“This is your last chance to listen to reason. I’m warning you.” The man growled and Miles noticed how the hooded man jerked briefly to look at the other man holding Shelly. A sinking feeling knotted in the pit of his stomach. The hooded man was obviously nervous, and Miles attributed that to the assumption that the other man seemed to be reckless; reckless enough to actually kill Shelly if he didn’t get his way. There was no doubt about it, and Miles realized that there was no getting out of it. It hurt him, the realization; it hurt him so badly that it damn near knocked him breathless. He glanced over at Brian and pleaded silently with him. Brian seemed as if he were warring within himself. Brian knew that the man meant business, that he was serious. Miles watched as tears filled Brian’s eyes.
