Beginnings

by Sandra R Neeley

  It was obvious the man asking if they were military had no regard for the military at all. If he thought they were military, it might make getting him to cooperate this evening so they could all get out alive more difficult. He decided to tell the truth instead of staying with the military association they’d been told to claim. “Not anymore. We work for an organization called the Alliance. Anybody have any more questions or you want to get the hell out of here?”

  “When you going to open this fucking cell?” Three asked.

  “Open ‘em” Acker ordered. “Stay alert,” he added.

  Ah, One thought. That’s why there was one male for each of them. They each had their own keeper just in case they decided to flip the fuck out and attack their rescuers.

  Each of the cells was unlocked and the men unlocking them backed away from each door, holding their rifles at the ready just in case.

  One walked out of his cell first and eyed the male that had opened his cell. He looked out over the room to be sure each of his males had been freed, then turned his attention to the man called Acker. “We will die if these bands pulse red,” he said simply.

  “Naw you won’t. Already killed the fucker with his finger on that control. Was lucky Searcy was there,” he said, indicating the man holding a rifle on One, “heard this slime ball yell orders to euthanize the animals. He chased the fucker down as he ran to carry out his orders and shot the piece of shit just as he entered the order into his computer. Lucky for you he didn’t get a chance to confirm the order, so all Searcy did was click the little red no, instead of the little green yes. We were half expecting to find ya’ll all dead. Glad to see you’re not.

  While Searcy ran after the flunky intent on ending ya’ll, we grabbed this fucker, and he cried like a little fucking baby. Telling us all about how if we’d just let him live he’d give you to us. Told us about the collars and everything. Though, to be honest, we already knew. Just didn’t know how to work ‘em. But, now we do. Fingerprint recognition.”

  One’s chest rumbled at the thought of them all dying. They had a miserable fucking existence, but at least as long as they breathed there was a chance at freedom. A steady growl built in his chest and rose up his throat as he stalked toward the small, sobbing man that Acker held at gun point.

  Acker stood his ground and watched the big sonofabitch approaching. One stopped in front of him with a sneer on his face.

  “Welcome to freedom, brother,” Acker said.

  “They’ll kill me! Don’t let them kill me!” Montagna begged.

  “Oh, but you wanted to euthanize them all fifteen minutes ago. Called them animals. Seems to me these men are all just as human as I am.” Acker leaned close to the man’s ear as he forced him to his knees. “Be glad it’s them and not me. I’d start with your toes and disassemble you joint by joint. But, I’m focused like that. I don’t mind taking my time.” Acker straightened and met the black eyes of the man in front of him. He’d have sworn just a few seconds earlier he had hazel eyes. He was taller than Acker by at least four inches, and wider by even more. There was a steady growl coming from him like you’d expect from a lion or a tiger at a zoo. He’d said they were human, but he honestly wasn’t so sure anymore.

  “Lift your hand fucker, unlock his collar,” Acker ordered.

  “They’ll kill me!” the man whined.

  Acker moved quickly, moving the pistol that was pressed into the back of Montagna’s skull to Montagna’s foot where he knelt on the floor. He fired the gun, and immediately moved it back to Montagna’s head as Montagna screamed and pissed himself. “I’ll shoot you in every fucking extremity you got. Now open the fucking collars!” he screamed right up against Montagna’s ear.

  Montagna was screaming and shrieking in pain, trying to reach back and grasp his foot, but Acker kept him upright on his knees. Acker met One’s eyes. “What’s your name, buddy?”

  “One.”

  “One?” Acker asked, since a number wasn’t at all what he expected. “Well, One, let’s get that fucking collar off your neck.”

  One turned his back and knelt in front of his owner and Acker. He waited, his eyes wary, his fists already clenched as he waited for his owner to press his thumb against the small panel on the back of the band and release him.

  He felt a pressure as his owner’s thumb released the airlock on his neckband, then it popped open, the hydraulics letting it go and a relief valve sounding a hiss at the same time.

  One rose to his feet as he snatched it off his throat and flung it across the room. He turned back to his owner and took one step toward him with a snarl, showing his teeth and lifting his hands that now had sharp tipped claws extending from them.

  “Hold up!” Acker bellowed. “We got four more men to take those collars off of!”

  One froze where he was, then slowly turned to look at his squad. He didn’t say anything, but he lifted his chin in the air to indicate they should come closer.

  One at a time they each turned their backs and dropped to their knees so the man who used to taunt them, used to threaten them on a daily basis, and took delight in starving them whenever he decided they needed to be reminded of who was in charge, could finally release them from the fucking death bands they wore around their necks.

  Once the last collar was removed, Acker released Montagna and shoved him toward the group of men waiting for their chance to kill him. Acker shouted above the snarls that had suddenly become almost deafening to his own team. “They earned it, boys. Do not intervene.”

  After an anticlimactic finish for Montagna, One and his squad walked out of the room that had been outfitted with their cells as free males for the first time in years. One followed Acker closely. “I thought you said you were coming to free us?” One asked.

  “We did, and still are. We ain’t finished yet,” Acker responded, stopping to look at the male who called himself One instead of using a name. If Acker wasn’t as seasoned in battle as he was, he may have tipped his hand when he startled at the sight of One’s eyes a bright hazel again, when he knew for fucking sure the male’s eyes had been black not ten minutes before.

  “Why the armed guards?” One asked with a fresh sneer on his face.

  “As we speak there are four other locations with teams going in after men just like you five. We have no idea what the fuck you’ve been through, if you’re alright with whatever it is you’re doing, or if you’re waiting for somebody to break you the fuck out of whatever hell you're living. Protocol is assume the worst until we know better. We have to keep you secured until we arrive back at base and you’ve been evaluated.”

  “It’s pretty fucking obvious we weren’t here of our own free will,” Three added sarcastically, pointing over his shoulder toward the cells they were held in.

  “True. But protocol, my friend. We all want to go home as alive and free as each of you,” Acker said, beginning to walk again.

  All the males fell into step with him.

  “Anything is better than it fucking was,” Five said.

  Nobody answered but a few of One’s team nodded in agreement.

  “The females,” Two said.

  Acker stopped in his tracks. “What?” he asked without turning around.

  “The rewards,” Three answered.

  “What the hell is a reward?” Acker asked.

  “You do a good job, you’re given a female. You fuck up a job, you die or they make you watch while they fuck the female that was supposed to be given to you,” Four said.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Acker said, looking alternately at each male they’d just freed.

  Two, Four, and Five all shook their heads.

  “Where are they?”

  The males shrugged.

  “Anybody have any targets left alive?” Acker asked over the radio he carried.

  “Negative, boss.”

  “That’s a big negatory,” another man answered.

  “I’m not sure…” one voice answered. “O
op, no, he’s dead.”

  “We’ve been advised there are females on site. Be aware, they’ll most likely be traumatized.”

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” a voice answered over the radio.

  “Wish to hell I was. No idea where they’re housed. Do another total sweep,” Acker said. He turned back to the five males he’d just freed. “I’m guessing they ended up here the same way you did.”

  None of them answered. They weren’t exactly sure how they got there.

  Acker focused on One. “You gonna tell me you don’t even know how you got here?”

  “Buddy, we don’t even know who the fuck we are,” Three finally said.

  “You’ve gotta have some idea,” Acker said.

  “Remember a doctor. Remember training. Then here,” Five added.

  Acker looked over at One. “How the fuck did this happen?” he asked.

  One just stood his ground, giving no response at all. He looked relaxed, but was in truth anything but. He was ready to attack in a split second if necessary. Finally, he simply shrugged.

  “Holy fuck,” Acker mumbled. He sighed deeply and started walking again. “Let’s get ya’ll to the chopper and out of here. I’ll stay behind with team two to locate the women and then we’ll follow in the second chopper.”

  Chapter 15

  Acker bent at the waist, ducking low as he ran to the waiting chopper with its propellers spinning, waiting to take off again.

  One and his squad followed.

  Acker stood beside the chopper, his head ducked as he spoke into what must have been a blue tooth ear piece. “No, sir. Not yet, but I can’t be sure.” He paused as he listened, then said. “I’ll try, sir.” Then he turned to One and spoke. “Give your names as you get on. I’ll relay to the General. He’ll be waiting on the other end of this helicopter ride. You'll have a place to stay, a warm bed, regular meals, counseling, medical care — whatever you need when you get there. You are no longer prisoners. General’s behind this whole operation.”

  One stood there across from Acker, his own head ducked even lower as a result of his altered size and called off his male’s names as they boarded the helicopter. “Five, Three, Four, Two,” he said, pointing to each male as they got on the chopper.

  “What are your names? Anything you call each other, other than numbers,” Acker pressed.

  One glared at Acker. “One,” he said thumbing at his own chest. Then he pointed to each of his males already on the chopper. “Two, Four, Five, Three!” he said insistently.

  “Okay. Okay, I get it,” Acker answered.

  One boarded the chopper and just before they took off, Two leaned over and shouted to Acker. “My reward said she liked smelling the books. It calmed her.”

  The pilot shouted back to Acker. “We clear, sir?”

  Acker backed away from the helicopter and as soon as he was clear, he signaled to the pilot who was watching him that they were clear to take off.

  Acker stood there for a second watching them as they lifted into the air, then off toward freedom. Then he thought about what Two had told them. They’d been given rewards in the form of female companionship. But they had no idea where the females came from or where they were housed. He pressed the button on his radio and spoke again. “Anybody locate any females yet?”

  “Negatory, sir.”

  “No, sir.”

  “Still looking, but not even a hint, sir,” another answered.

  Acker strode toward the house once more. He looked up at its impressive facade, built to flaunt the wealth and opulence of its owner. Before he disappeared back inside the house to assist in the search for the females Two had mentioned, he glanced back at the gate. Twelve feet high, electrified, razor wire on top. Entire perimeter closed off to outsiders and watch towers in the north and south corners. It was not meant to protect the house’s occupants, it was meant to keep the men that the owner had bought from escaping. He pressed the button on the radio fastened to his shoulder again. “Before we leave, I want that fucking fence torn down, too.”

  “Yes, sir!” several voices called back.

  Acker went back to the wing of the massive house that had been turned into a prison. He started there and slowly methodically searched every fucking inch of the place. There was nothing to indicate anyone else was being held anywhere. He checked every door, watched the floor when he walked for telltale signs of scrapes on the floor from hidden doors swinging open. He went back to the beginning and retraced his route and watched the ceilings. He stepped harder than usual listening for a difference in sound, but found nothing out of ordinary. Finally, after searching the entire rest of the house, he ended up in the center of the entranceway, looking up at the open center of the room, that boasted a wide staircase and three stories of banisters looking over into the main foyer of the home.

  Acker put his hands on his hips and spoke aloud as several of his men, also having found nothing, joined him. “The fuck are they?” Acker said aloud.

  “You sure they’re here?” Benson asked.

  “They seemed pretty sure. I can’t believe they'd bring in women each time. Eventually someone’s gonna talk about what they’ve seen here,” Acker answered.

  “Maybe they’re dead,” Findley commented.

  Acker with his hands still resting on his hips shook his head unbelievingly as he turned in a slow steady circle allowing his eyes to fall on everything he could see from his spot in the grand entranceway. He stopped and a slow smile started to curve the corners of his lips. “Couldn’t be that easy,” he said aloud.

  “What couldn’t be easy?” Benson asked, looking in the direction Acker was focusing.

  “Two said his reward said she liked the smell of the books,” Acker explained.

  Findley started walking in the direction they were all now looking. “And there’s a fucking room full of them.”

  Acker and his men walked into what could have been called a study, but ultimately was nothing but a library. “Look for anything that opens, anything that looks out of the ordinary,” he said.

  Ten minutes later several other men, finished with their duties of tearing down the fence, joined them in the search. Shortly after Findley spoke up excitedly. “I think I got ‘em.”

  Acker hurried over to him. “Look. Just a book shelf against a wall, right? Then why does it sit six inches further out than the shelf next to it?”

  “Mounted on a false wall,” Acker answered.

  “And it doesn't have half as many books on it as the others do,” Benson added.

  After a few minutes of pushing and prodding, they found it. A simple push and release latch at the bottom of the bookcase that could be hit with your foot. Soon as Acker pushed it with his boot, the familiar snick of the catch could be heard letting go.

  The bookcase popped free from the wall by about two inches and a couple of the men took hold of it and walked it back another four feet. It was set on a rolling platform and was smooth as silk when it was pushed open. The platform took most of the weight, which allowed the bookcase to be easily opened and closed. Then they faced a steel door. There was a scanner beside the door, and no place for a key, or even codes to be entered.

  “We need a finger print,” Acker said.

  “Who you want to start with?” Benson asked.

  “Bring me Montagna. He’s in the wing the men were in.”

  “You got it,” Benson said.

  “And bring me the fucker that was trying to kill the men in the computer room, too!” he yelled.

  “On it!” another yelled as he too left the room in a sprint.

  The second man was back first, carrying a body over his shoulder. “Here is the computer room guy,” he announced, walking over to Acker and shrugging the man off his shoulder and into his arms so Acker could use his fingerprint to try on the scanner.

  The scanner read the fingerprint, then beeped three times before buzzing at them.

  “Well, fuck,” Acker said. “He didn�
��t work.”

  The man who’d gone after him stepped aside and dropped the body he’d held to the floor as Benson entered the room with Montagna’s body. He walked over to where Acker waited, and held Montagna’s body still while Acker scanned his fingerprint. The scanner beeped three times, then the door latch released.

  “Bingo,” Acker said.

  He reached for the door and opened it all the way. “Some of ya’ll stay out here. These women are going to be traumatized. Let’s try not to add to it.”

  Acker stepped through with Findley on his heels. Their weapons were drawn just in case anyone was in there guarding the women, and they proceeded slowly and carefully. After a few steps through a short hallway, they found themselves standing in a small room, no more than 10 x 12 feet. One small cell on the left, one small cell on the right. And inside each cell was a woman.

  Both women were completely nude. Both had a bunk, a metal toilet in the corner of their cell, a sink, one pillow and one blanket. Each wore shackles on their ankles and their wrists, though they were not chained to anything at the moment. And each looked at them with terrified expressions.

  Acker did his best to control himself. This fucking shit made him want to kill Montagna all over again. “Ladies, don’t be afraid. We’re here to free you. This hell is over,” Acker announced.

  Both of them started crying. One fell to her knees on the cold, cement floor. The other walked over to the locked door of her cell with tears streaming down her face and wrapped her fingers around the bars.

  “Findley, we’re going to need Montagna again, and bring something to cover these ladies with,” Acker said softly, trying to keep his voice low.

  “I’ll be right back,” Findley answered.

  Acker kept his voice calm and steady while he explained that the man that had kept them prisoner was dead, as were all his men.

  The woman who was standing at her cell door facing them, waiting to be freed interrupted him. “You didn’t kill the males that were imprisoned here too, did you?” she asked, concern showing on her face through her tears. “It wasn’t their fault. They were drugged, and even then, their leader made sure the others didn’t hurt us.”