I tried to ignore his lecherous exploration. I looked anywhere but at him. I started reciting Hamlet in my head, that damn verse we had to memorize in high school and recite in the front of the class,
whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer.
It didn’t help,
and it was definitely not very noble to suffer
.
When good old Frank had enough of his breast examination, he grabbed me by my tied wrists and pulled me to my feet. He wasn’t very gentle. You would think he would be a bit nicer to me now that he’d gotten to second base. Gentlemen were a rare breed these days.
“This gonna be fun,” he laughed and pushed me forward toward the back of the store. With my wrists tied behind my back it was hard to maintain my balance, I stumbled and fell forward.
The motherfucker didn’t even try and help me up. It was awkward trying to stand with my hands bound, but I managed to get back to my feet. I was seething at this point, and when he pushed me from behind again, I made like I was falling forward, just like it had happened previously, but shifted my weight at the last minute. I turned and horse kicked him in the kneecap. I heard the crunch, it was a perfectly aimed kick. He went down hard and I didn’t waste any time and drew back my boot and slammed him hard in the face. Once, twice, three times, maybe a fourth, I didn’t stop until I heard his breath stop rattling. His body didn’t even twitch and then I ran.
I tried to get my wrists undone, but they were tied tight and they weren’t budging. It was going to take an act of God to get out of that door.
If only I could use my hands!
When I got to the back of the store, I ran into a major problem. The door had a deadbolt held firmly in place. I tried to push it with my chin, nose, anything. I even tried using my teeth.
It wasn’t working.
I had to get these damn ropes off. I had just wrapped my lips around it and was getting it to move when I heard a shout from the back.
“What the fuck?” I knew I was two seconds away from being caught.
I had to get out of here fast. I fumbled with the lock, but it slipped back in place. Sweat was pouring down my back. This was my only way out. I yanked at the ropes desperately, but they were wrapped around my wrists and hands in such a way that I just couldn’t get them to budge.
Something big slammed against me and my head struck the door causing a sea of stars to erupt in my vision. Another hit and I was fading quick, the black was creeping in from the side pooling like dark ink into my peripheral. I felt bile rising up my esophagus.
If I passed out, would I choke on my own vomit?
I didn’t have time to find out. I crashed to the floor and everything went black.
ZACH
“Alpha Team, this is Boss One, I’m moving into position.”
“Copy,” Romeo’s tinny voice broadcasted through my earpiece. We had come in from the lake using paddles to stay silent. I had swum in the remaining thirty yards and made landfall at the marina, taking cover on a large covered slip that was at the edge of the property.
“Boss One, this is Beta Team, we’re in position.”
“Copy,” I responded. Martinez and Baby were on the south side of the marina near the main building that was a restaurant and shop. Romeo and Jimmy Camp were on the west side; Blake had taken the north point, and I was pulling up on the east side. Our objective was to observe and figure out where these people were hiding and if they had Alexis.
The marina was located a few miles from our compound, closer to the Mississippi line. It was a large place, built in the typical fashion of the area. The main building was a sizable raised structure, sitting about twenty feet off the ground. Underneath it there was a docking area for fishing boats to pull up and drop off their wares.
Running along the water’s edge, there were boat slips.
Some were covered with aluminum siding, others were just slips with wooden decking around them. We slipped in an out of the area trying to stay covered as we monitored for any sign of life.
Thirty minutes passed and it was too quiet. There was no one here, no movement. As each team member reported in, they all said the same thing, nothing, no movement, all quiet. There wasn’t even a random Z, which was telling in itself.
There was sure to be a few of them wandering around here unless they were cleared on purpose.
“Beta Team, get closer to the store,” I ordered.
“Roger,” Baby’s voice came softly through my com. I watched as the two came in fast from the marsh and crossed the open area to take cover at the back of the store. They kept the coms open, and I heard every breath they took as they moved against the wall to the stairs and then they quietly ascended to the back door. I held my breath as the loud boom hit letting me know they had kicked it in.
“Clear,” Martinez called.
“Clear,” Baby repeated.
For a few tense moments, they stayed silent as they moved through the marina, checking all rooms for any sign of activity.
“No one’s home, got a body on the floor though,” Baby said.
“Fresh?” Blake asked.
“Practically breathing,” Martinez chuckled.
“Fresh candles and signs of first aid. They were just here,” Baby said over the com.
“Anything of hers?” I asked trying to restrain myself from rushing up there and checking myself.
“No, but I got a bloody pair of pants that I think Clara was wearing. They patched her up here. Got a nasty gash in her thigh judging from the rip in these jeans,” Martinez said.
“Let’s all move into the building. Stay alert. We missed them, but they might be back at any time,” I hissed.
I slid from behind the crates I was using as cover and made a beeline for the marina. I kept low in case we had missed something.
I stayed silent until I was at the front door of the marina and then called in my position so I wouldn’t startle the rest of the group. Blake was right behind me, and we pushed into the building. The darkness of the interior was in stark contrast to the brightness of outside. A few moments later, Romeo pushed through the door behind us, followed closely by Jimmy. Jimmy had been training hard with Ito and Romeo and it showed.
His movements were precise and he handled his equipment with an expert’s confidence.
We all clicked off the coms now that we were in sight of each other and began looking around the building. It was barren, shelves bare, small candles dotting the shelves everywhere. It was obvious from the look of things that they didn’t live here; they had just used it as a temporary holding area.
On the counter, there were piles of bloody gauze and the torn pants that Baby had mentioned. I grabbed them.
It was a pair of jeans, obviously female, but I couldn’t place them. I hadn’t paid much attention to Clara.
“It looks like we just missed them, some of the candles are still soft,” Martinez said, picking one up and sniffing it and frowning.
“There are sleeping areas in this back room, a few personal items,” Romeo called from the back. “They weren’t dug in though.” He came out shaking his head, holding up a few items. “Looks like this is just a temporary place.”
“It’s obvious they have the girls, but where did they go?” Blake asked to no one in particular.
“There are food stores here, not a lot, but enough that they'll want to come back. They’re definitely coming back,” Romeo said assuredly.
“We know they had the girls here, we know they will most likely come back.
Do we fall back and wait for them or do we scout out another area?” Baby asked. “Their permanent shelter could be one of the camps to the east of us. We could check each one, look for their camp.”
“We're staying here, let’s set up around the perimeter.” I walked over to the body. It was a male. I couldn’t tell his age because his face was caved. He had been beaten to death, probably kicked or bludgeoned to death. Why would they kill someone and leave them in one of their safe houses unless it wasn’t planned?
Did Alexis fight back? Was this her work? I felt a smile break out across my face. My girl, this had to be her work, nothing else made sense. She had taken out two of the motherfuckers. I was scared out of my mind for her. I couldn’t lose her, but I knew she could take care of herself. She was going to make it through this.
I just had to get there to help her along.
“They’ll come back. Get in position to wait them out.” I was the first to stalk to the door. I wanted to get out of this dim and oppressive building; the body was already starting to stink.
Everyone took up their spots around the store, out of sight, but in view of the points of entry. I slipped back across the street and climbed onto the roof of what looked like a storage area. There was a raised facade that would block me from view, but still give me a perfect line of sight of the road and the store across the street.
I settled in to wait, trying to clear my mind of all the shit that was churning around and pushing me to the brink. If I didn't control my thoughts, my chaotic state of being would get the best of me. I wanted to scream, I wanted to kill something. I had to be in control or I would screw everything up. I had to wait this one out even though I only wanted to do something, anything.
Until I got Alexis back, the wait would be unbearable.
BLAKE
I couldn’t sit still, my fucking hillbilly armor itched and I was about to go out of my ever-loving mind if something didn’t happen soon. I had been able to sit for days in the sandbox when I was in the shit, and even after James and I had gone PMC, intel gathering was always a breeze. We were always in pursuit of info, which usually required large amounts of time waiting and watching. Fifteen hours of eyes on doors for one hour of actual door kicking. At the time I used it as a meditation period, the quiet before the storm.
Those were moments when I was able to get my thoughts together and process the things to come.
I wasn’t up for it right now though. My hands were shaking and the adrenaline coursing through my body was causing my heart to beat a mile a minute. This didn’t bode well for my aim. I wanted to show up and kick ass; I didn’t want to hole up in some tree and wait for some dumb redneck to
maybe
show their ugly mug.
It was creeping up on almost twelve hours since Alexis went missing. A lot could happen in twelve hours. I had seen a lot of shit in my lifetime, shit you can’t unsee. I had witnessed firsthand what happens to women when men lose all respect for the fairer sex and have no fear of recriminations. There are animals out there, too many to sleep comfortably at night, and they are always looking for their next prey. I always believed there was a special place in hell reserved for men that take advantage of women and children, especially in wartime.
I heard the crunch of a twig and swung around.
Three Z’s were coming in from the east. Their uneven gait was almost comical, straight out of a horror movie, step, drag, moan, step, drag, moan.
“Boss One, I got Z movement, three dead fuckers,” I whispered into my com.
“Copy that. You want to wait for backup?”
“I’m all good,” I replied.
“Out of sight, keep it quiet,” Zach said.
Like I didn’t fucking know that.
I still bristled at his call sign, I hated calling him Boss One, felt like some inmate or criminal, b
oss, Stupid.
“Oorah,” I replied, even though I would have loved to tell him to fuck off. It was three fucking Z’s, I could do this in my sleep.
I slipped out of my tree and pulled the fixed blade dagger out from its sheath at my waist. I stalked around the dead trio until I was behind the straggler. I reached and grabbed it by its shirt and with one precise motion inserted the dagger in the back of its skull as it stumbled back, clean, quick, precise. The commotion alerted the other two though and they swung around to face me, their nasty mouths hissing as they sighted a meal.
I moved quickly and sidestepped their shambling advances. I kicked out and knocked the first one off of its feet.
As it lay on the group, I slammed the dagger into its skull. The second one was reaching for me, its dirty, blood caked fingers scratching at my makeshift armor.
I pushed at it and it stumbled back. I moved forward and held it in place so I could plant the dagger in just the right spot.
“Tangos down,” I hissed into the com.
“Copy. Back in position,” Zach said.
“Roger.” Back up the tree like a fucking monkey. Killing the Z’s felt good, but I needed to get my hands on something living or I was going to flip my shit.
ALEXIS
I was getting tired of passing out. I was going to have the mental capacity of a sea slug after this bullshit–
if I survived it
. My cheek throbbed and so did my head. I had to have brain damage.