Sickness

by Kellee L. Greene

  I looked down at the blood coating the side of my hand. I swallowed hard. “I don’t care. She’s here. I heard her.”

  Blake nodded. “We’ll get to her.”

  Miles was walking toward us with his hands behind his back. His eyes were filling with questions.

  He stopped about five feet away from us. “You’re looking for someone here? Someone named Maddie?”

  “Yes,” I said with a tearful gasp I was unable to hold in. “She’s my daughter.”

  “Well,” Miles said with a smirk. “I’m sorry to inform you that there isn’t anyone here by that name. Isn’t that right, Tracy?”

  I hadn’t even realized the girl had been following him. She looked even smaller than she had before.

  “Yeah, there isn’t anyone here by that name,” Tracy said. She held my gaze for several moments. Tracy blinked once… slowly as if trying to send me a secret message. It was like she was trying to confirm my suspicions that Maddie was in fact with them. And I was pretty sure she was on the other side of the door.

  “I hope you find who you’re looking for,” Miles said gesturing toward the exit behind me. “Let me show you the way out.”

  “I’m not leaving here without my daughter,” I said firmly planting my feet in place.

  Rapid footsteps pounded on the worn-down carpet floor. “Miles,” the young man said sounding as though he were out of breath. “Deacon is back with the others.”

  “Shit!” Miles said. He pushed Whitney toward the hallway exit. “Time to go.”

  “Hey!” Blake said shoving Miles away from Whitney. “You don’t ever put your hands on her.”

  “You need to fucking leave,” Miles said as his face reddened from the steam building inside of his head.

  Tracy’s eyes were wide. “There’s no time for this.”

  “Dammit,” Miles said grabbing Blake and throwing roughly into the room across the hall. He’d moved so quickly that it had taken us all by surprise.

  Blake raised his gun but before he could do anything, Miles pulled Dax in front of him like a shield. He growled as he threw Dax into the room. Dax stumbled and landed on top of Blake.

  Miles reached over and clamped his hand around her upper arm. I reached out and starting clawing at his back, growling like a wild animal.

  I fought Miles like I’d always want to fight Freddie. “Let her go!”

  Tracy grabbed me from behind and pulled me away from Miles. I was stronger. I turned and glared at her with pure rage bubbling in my eyes.

  Within seconds, I was yanked from behind and pushed into the room on top of the others like I was a piece of dirty laundry being added to the laundry basket. The door was slammed shut in the blink of an eye.

  I got to my feet and tried the handle. I twisted and pulled. Pushed and kicked. I took three steps back before charging and throwing my shoulder into the door as if I could somehow break through the thick apartment door.

  “It’s no use,” a voice from behind us said. “They lock it from the outside. We’re stuck in here.”

  I turned and studied the young man that was nervously looking at each of us. There was fear in his eyes but I wasn’t sure if it was directed at the men outside of the apartment or us. Maybe it was both.

  On the sofa in the living room behind him, two women were hugging one another. Tears rolled down the cheeks of the younger woman with reddish hair.

  “What is going on here?” I asked.

  “They found my girlfriend and I upstairs and locked us up in here with them,” the young man said.

  “Upstairs?” I asked swallowing down the sour taste that was filling the back of my throat.

  He nodded. “That’s Lila from the third floor and… Bethany. This is her apartment. I’m Elias from the fourth floor.”

  “Elias?” I said in a raspy voice that was threatening to stop working. “That’s my daughter in the other room, isn’t it? Maddie Easton. Do you know her? What are they doing to her?”

  “You don’t want to know,” the woman Elias had called Bethany said.

  My mouth felt like it was coated with sand. I turned toward the door and started pounding again. Harder and harder.

  “Let us out of here!” I screamed.

  “Maddie is a fighter,” Elias said.

  “Why are you here? I told her to stay put… to wait for me,” I said glaring at him. I blamed him without even knowing what happened. He should have done more to protect her.

  “They have guns,” Elias said defensively. “We didn’t have a choice. I tried but when they put a gun to her head, I would do anything they asked.”

  My shoulders sank and my stomach filled with acid. I covered my mouth with my hand as I looked over at Blake.

  His expression was unreadable.

  “I have to do something. I have to get to her,” I said. My entire body felt numb.

  “Why are they keeping you here?” Blake asked as he turned to Elias.

  “We’re their slaves,” Elias said. “We’re sent out to gather supplies, used as shields, and then in here, we do whatever we’re told. Anything from cleaning and cooking to things that are much, much darker. We do what we’re told or we’ll get shot.”

  “It’s like we’re not even human,” Lila said through her tears.

  Bethany shook her head. “They shot my son in front of us. He was only trying to protect me.”

  Bethany didn’t cry even though her voice cracked. There were dark circles around her pain-filled eyes. It looked as though there were no tears left to shed.

  “There has to be a way out of here,” Dax said looking around the room.

  “I’m not leaving without Maddie,” I said.

  “Of course, we’re not,” Blake said. He started to pace the floor. He stopped near the refrigerator and threw his fist into the wall. “He took me by fucking surprise. It’s my fault we’re stuck in here. I should have shot the bastard in the face.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not your fault.”

  Whitney probably thought that it was my fault but at least she didn’t say it out loud. It wasn’t like I didn’t already blame myself.

  Dax walked over to the window and tapped it with his knuckle. “He mentioned the fire escape.”

  “The one outside of this room is broken,” Elias said. “That’s why this room is the cell. Besides, she’s on the other side of the hall. The fire escapes don’t connect that way.”

  “But if we can get into one of the other rooms,” Dax said. “Blake, help me get this window open.”

  Blake walked over to him. They both turned red as they tried to slide the window upward. Blake let go and wiped his brow.

  “What did they do, glue it down?” he asked half-jokingly.

  Elias shrugged.

  “Welcome to my apartment where only half of everything works,” Bethany said. “To think I was moving out next month. The building is old and the landlord is lazy. He was going to fix the window along with the fire escape but I guess my apartment wasn’t a top priority.”

  “What’s wrong with the fire escape?” Blake asked.

  “There is no ladder down. One day it just fell off,” Bethany said. “Almost took out a homeless man when it crashed to the ground.”

  Dax and Blake exchanged a glance before stepping back up to the window. They grunted and growled but it wouldn’t budge.

  “Why not just break it?” I asked.

  Blake glanced over at Bethany. She blinked several times before offering him a shrug.

  “They’ll hear it break,” Lila said.

  “If they do, maybe they’ll come to see what’s going on,” Dax said holding up his gun. “This time we’ll be ready.”

  “There’s more of them,” Lila said staring at her feet. “I don’t want to die.”

  Dax smiled at her. “They probably have terrible aim but just in case, you could hide in the bedroom.”

  Blake placed his hands on his hips and stared at the window. After a long moment, he looked over at Bet
hany. “Got anything heavy?”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The glass shattered and the tiny bits sprinkled to the floor. Dax was kneeling behind the kitchen island with his gun aimed at the front door.

  The others were hiding in the bedroom. Blake and Dax had both tried to convince me to join them but there was no way I was going to just sit there and wait.

  “Doesn’t seem like they’re coming,” Dax said.

  Blake stuck his head of the window and looked around. “You should both wait here.”

  “Not happening,” I said stubbornly.

  “I’ll go through and unlock the door,” Blake said. “It’ll be easier and quicker if it’s just me.”

  Dax shook his head. “I can’t let you do that.”

  “I should do it,” I said as I walked over to the window. My breaths were hectic and my finger shook as I leaned forward. “They’re not even connected.”

  “I can make it across,” Blake said confidently.

  “It’s like six feet between them,” I said.

  Blake shook his head. “It’s like four and there is a ledge.”

  There was a thin ridge of bricks that circled around the building. “That’s not a ledge.”

  “Kit,” Blake said looking into my eyes. “Let me do this. I can do this.”

  “I don’t know how many times I have to say this but you don’t owe this to me. If this is about what happened to my husband—”

  “This has nothing to do with your husband. It has to do with getting you and the others out of here safely.” Blake climbed out of the window and placed his hand on the rusty railing. “Two minutes. I’ll unlock the door in two minutes.”

  My heart thudded as he swung his leg over the railing. “Blake,” I said reaching out for him. My fingertips grabbed the fabric of his shirt. There was a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. “You don’t have to do this.”

  Blake swung his other leg over and his shirt fell away from my fingers. He steadied himself and smiled. “I know but I’m going to do it.”

  He placed the toe of his shoe on the narrow ridge and moved quickly as he swung himself over to the neighboring fire escape. I didn’t pull in a breath until his legs were safely on the other side.

  “See,” he said bowing slightly as if he were a magician that had performed a great trick.

  Seriousness washed over his face and he pulled the gun out of his waistband. His voice was mostly carried to me by the wind. “Go to the door and wait for me to unlock it.”

  I nodded and he disappeared into the building.

  “He’s in,” I announced and Dax’s shoulders relaxed slightly.

  “Now, we wait,” Dax said.

  “Just don’t shoot him if he opens the door,” I said.

  Dax chuckled nervously. “I’ll try not to but my nerves are shot. I might flinch.”

  “Maybe you should put that thing down then,” I said.

  “I won’t shoot him,” Dax said meeting my eyes.

  I nodded.

  There were sounds in the hallway but I couldn’t be sure who or where they were coming from. Seconds later, there was a snap at the door and it popped open.

  Blake stepped in and I threw my arms around him like we were long-lost friends meeting again after years of being separated. He squeezed me back but quickly let one of his arms fall away. My cheeks felt warm and my insides fluttered.

  “We have to move fast,” Blake said. “They’re down the hall having some kind of meeting. Not sure how much time we have.”

  I could see over his shoulder that the door across the hall was still closed. “How are we going to get to her?”

  “I have an idea,” Blake said gesturing toward the hammer sitting on the table near the broken window. “Grab the hammer.”

  “Let’s go,” Blake said jerking his chin toward the hall.

  Bethany stood but Lila didn’t let go of her arm. She clung to her like a girl holding her favorite dolly.

  “I think we’re going to stay,” Bethany said.

  Blake stared at her for a long moment. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m not ready to face those things out there and neither is Lila. We’ve been out there before with Deacon and we’re both lucky to still be alive,” Bethany said. “For now, it’s just easier to do what they tell us to do.”

  Blake shook his head and sighed. “I’m sure we can find somewhere safer for you.”

  “I appreciate it but we’ll pass,” Bethany said holding up her palm.

  “Well, good luck to you,” Blake said with a nod.

  “And to you all as well,” Bethany said lowering herself back down on the sofa.

  Blake took my hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “Ready?”

  “Ready,” I said and before I knew it, we were across the hallway sliding into the room next to the one Maddie was in.

  Blake closed the door after everyone was inside and locked it from the inside. He led us straight to the window.

  “Hammer,” Blake said reaching backward.

  “What are you doing in here?” said a heavy and quite hairy shirtless man. “More importantly, who the hell are you?”

  “Just passing through,” Blake said.

  The heavy man’s eyes darkened. “The hell you are!”

  He charged toward Blake like a sumo wrestler in the five-hundred-yard dash. Dax held up his gun but the man tripped on the corner of a rug under the dining room table and fell toward the ground. On his way to the scuffed linoleum floor, he smacked his head on the corner of one of the wooden chairs.

  The man didn’t move. Blood leaked out of a large cut just above his eyebrow.

  Blake unlatched the lock at the top of the window and slid it upward with ease. He handed me the hammer and stepped out onto the fire escape.

  “I’ll go across first and then help you,” Blake said.

  “Okay,” I said crawling out of the window. My eyes stayed focused on the concrete below.

  “Don’t look down,” Blake said.

  I swallowed hard. “I don’t have to see it to know it’s a long way down.”

  “You’ll be fine,” Blake said as he swung his leg over the railing. He pulled himself across like an acrobat that was performing a trick for the millionth time. Blake stretched out his hand to me. “Look at me.”

  I locked my eyes with his but it didn’t help. At least not much. It didn’t matter if I was looking at the ground or not if I fell. Either way, I was going to at a minimum break my legs if I hit the concrete.

  A quick swinging motion got me to the other side. I reached out for the railing but Blake caught my waist and held me. I stared into his eyes for a moment and felt something I didn’t quite understand.

  “Climb over,” he said.

  “Right,” I said taking the hammer out of the back of my pants.

  Whitney was more than halfway over when I smashed the hammer into the window. I could feel their eyes on me.

  “We weren’t ready,” Blake said grabbing the hammer out of my hand.

  “You can catch up,” I said. “I’m going to save my daughter.”

  He grabbed my arm but I jerked away from him easily since he was still helping Whitney across the fire escapes. I ducked my head and crawled into the apartment.

  I looked around the empty living room. There were empty beer cans and trash scattered everywhere. It was like I’d walked into my living room after one of Freddie’s weekend-long benders.

  The bathroom door was open but the door that I presumed led to the bedroom was closed. I twisted the knob and pushed open the door.

  My eyes instantly connected with Maddie’s wide, tear-filled eyes. The beating of my heart felt as though it had moved up into my throat.

  “Maddie!” I said dashing across the floor.

  She couldn’t respond. There was a piece of silver duct tape over her mouth.

  Maddie winced as I pulled it off her face. “Mom!” she said as her body jerked an inch toward me. “My hands are tied. He
’s going to be back soon.”

  “Who’s going to be back?” I asked.

  “I don’t even know his name,” she said. “We call him sir.” She looked at something over my shoulder. “Who’s that?”

  My head whipped around as Blake approached. He reached down and pulled the knife from my hip.

  Maddie cringed away from him.

  “This is Blake,” I said placing my hands on her shoulders. “He drove me here.”

  Blake held up his hand without the knife. “I’m going to cut you free, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said unable to take her eyes off him. “You look familiar.”

  “He’s our neighbor,” I said.

  “Where’s dad?” Maddie asked.

  I forced a smile. “Let’s talk about that later. First, we need to worry about getting you out of here.”

  “Okay,” she said rubbing her wrists the second the popped free from the plastic ties that had been far too tight.

  “Did they hurt you?” I asked as I helped her to her feet.

  “They pushed us, they hit us, and for some of the girls they did other stuff,” Maddie said.

  I swallowed hard, biting my cheek so tears didn’t leak out of the corners of my eyes. “You?”

  “No,” Maddie said her hands shaking. “They were waiting until I turned eighteen. Like it was going to be some big special event.”

  “Well, we don’t need to worry about any of that anymore,” I said wrapping my arm around her shoulder. “We’re going to get you out of here.”

  Blake nodded and led us out of the bedroom. The others were standing by the window, staring at us as we emerged.

  “Maddie,” Elias said rushing to her. He embraced her and planted a long kiss on her lips. “I was afraid I wouldn’t see you again.”

  “I know the feeling,” She said smiling at him as she gazed into his eyes. Dammit. She had it bad.

  “No one might ever see us again if we don’t get out of here,” Dax said sticking his hand out toward Maddie. “I’m Dax.”

  Maddie stared at his hand for a second before taking it. “Hello.”

  “Let’s worry about introductions later,” Blake said. The sound of a key being inserted into the lock cut through the awkwardness in the room. Blake raised his hand and pointed his gun at the door. “Out the window! Go!”