Face ignored Joel to walk around behind Carp where Haley was, and yanked her back. The barbwire slid across Carp’s hand, ripping it open. Blood secreted from the gash in thick spurts.
He finally let go of the gun.
Joel caught it before it hit the floor. Then he staggered back, thumbing back the hammer, and aiming.
He wanted to shoot Carp, but Pillowface was too close and since he was struggling with Haley as she slapped him with fists layered in barbwire, he was afraid he might hit either one of them, or both.
“Damn it, Face!” yelled Carp. “Look what you made her do to my hand.”
There was a swoosh of movement to Joel’s left. He turned as Buddy sprung at him. Joel quickly pointed the gun and fired. Explosions shot up his right arm to his shoulder and back down to his fingers, locking them up. Screaming, he dropped the gun. He pulled his hand close. It dangled loosely at the wrist, flopping this way and that.
It had been snapped completely.
He could vomit from the pain.
Buddy was also screaming. His hand was clutched to his ear as blood jetted down his forearm. When he pulled his hand away, Joel saw he hadn’t shot his entire ear off, but only the top half.
It would do. Seeing Buddy injured in any fashion brought a smile to his face.
Carlee ran to Joel, swiping the gun off the floor on her way. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him tightly against her. Holding him close, she aimed the gun at Buddy and cocked the hammer with her free hand.
“Leave Haley alone!”
Pillowface was holding her by the wrists, but he wasn’t trying to harm her, only subdue her by the looks of it. If he wanted to kill her, he could have done so three times already. Joel had witnessed displays of the man’s strength enough times to know that Haley posed no real threat to him.
“Kill her, Face!” shouted Buddy.
“You do it, and I’ll blow a hole straight through your leader here!”
Carlee’s tone sounded serious, but it was hard to be afraid of her from how her swollen lips made it almost impossible to pronounce the words she was trying to say.
Carp approached Buddy, but was slapped repeatedly for doing so.
“Ow…shit…what was that for?!”
“Get them!” He pointed at Carlee and Joel.
“Fuck that…”
“She can’t shoot all three of us at once.”
Carp was doubtful. “No…but she’ll get one of us for sure.”
“Then so be it.”
Joel saw Haley step away from Pillowface and kick, planting her foot squarely between his legs. He moaned nearly as loud as he had in the woods when fighting Clay Ray. It was a low blow, and even after all of this, he still felt bad for Pillowface.
Haley managed to pull her hands away from him as he dropped to his knees and ran past Carp to join up with Carlee and Joel.
Buddy began to laugh. “You two are completely ridiculous. Do I have to do everything?” Still holding his ear with one hand, he used the other to reach behind his back, and when he brought it back he was brandishing a white canister.
It looked like the can of pepper spray that Carlee showed Joel back in the car.
Before Carlee could even react, Buddy had used his thumb to flick the plastic stopper off the top, and pushed the button down. A stream of thick white foam shot across the room, lapping Carlee’s eyes. Her shrieks murdered Joel’s ears. She pawed at her eyes, swiping them with her fingers as if she could pull the burning out.
Buddy and Carp lunged.
Carlee didn’t even notice, nor did she try to shoot.
Haley yanked Joel away from Carlee so fast his toes slid across the floor a couple feet before finding traction again. The last thing he saw before being hauled outside was Carp clouting his knife deep into Carlee’s stomach.
(I)
Haley pulled Joel behind the shed. She leaned over, looking past him and around the side of the building. Through the windows she could see Carlee being sliced repeatedly by Carp. No way was she still alive. She was being punished extra brutally.
Buddy stood near Alan, gazing directly at her, but she doubted he could see her.
“I know you’re out there,” he said. “We’ll be along shortly.” Then he went back inside.
“What’s happening?” Joel asked.
“Don’t look,” she warned. Thankfully he listened. “We can’t get to the cars, or they’ll nab us on the way. We have to go through the woods, make our way up the road that way. Get to someone’s house and have them call the police.”
Joel nodded, but Haley doubted he’d comprehended anything she had said.
“We have to move quick…They’ll be coming after us.”
Joel didn’t say anything.
“Joel?”
He looked at her. His eyes were two white spheres in the dark.
“Are you going to make it?”
“Yuh-yeah…I’ll be all right…I think.”
“How’s your hand?”
He looked down at it. From where it was broken it made his right arm look longer than the left.
“I can hardly feel it anymore.”
That wasn’t good. Shock was probably setting in, making him numb to everything. Haley needed to keep him moving before he became completely catatonic.
“Let’s go before they come after us.”
“Pillowface…He…didn’t kill me…”
“Come on!”
She grabbed his left hand and tugged him along. Together they ran to the trail directly behind the house. If Haley remembered correctly when they got to the fork in the trail they needed to take a right and it would lead them up to the bend on Marble Lane. Even if it didn’t, it would still lead them away from here.
The darkness enveloped them when they entered the woods.
“He didn’t kill me Haley….”
“I know, Joel. Come on!”
He was lagging and it felt like she was about to rip his arm off. With an already broken wrist, she didn’t want to add a dislocated shoulder to his injuries. “We need to move faster!”
“You don’t understand.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” She sighed through her huffing breaths. “Come on!”
He jogged
with her, but not fast enough. They stumbled over rocks and roots. Haley’s bare feet were being poked and pricked by acorns and jagged sticks, and though it hurt, she was not going to let it slow her down. That responsibility was Joel’s and he was doing a damn fine job of it.
“We
are
friends,” added Joel. “He didn’t kill me because we
are
friends!”
“That’s wonderful, Joel…but he killed Alan and God knows who else.”
“Tonya.”
“He killed Tonya?” Her legs went rubbery. “And you
knew
this?”
“Not until afterward!”
He spoke as if that was a perfectly logical argument.
“Joel…if we get out of this…you and I need to have some serious discussions about your well-being.”
She might be able to save him physically, but feared that mentally he was already dead.
“She’s dead, Carp. You sick bastard, that’s enough!”
Carlee lay on her back while Carp was knelt over her with his knife to the hilt in her belly. He twisted the knife so the sharp edge of the blade faced her breasts, then heaved it up to her ribcage. Finally, he pulled the blade out, syrupy dark strings of blood seeping off. There were at least a dozen stab wounds on her front side and Buddy had lost count of those on her back. She’d been mangled beyond recognition, which was a shame because she was so pretty. Buddy actually liked her and had hoped to let her live, but when she got hold of the gun, everything changed.
He put the piece of gauze he’d taken from their first-aid kit to his ear, and tore the tape across it to hold the square of white mesh in place. Carp would need his hand bandaged but the idiot could wait. “Carp, get next door and set it ablaze, posthaste.”
Carp wiped the blood from his knife on the one spot of Carlee’s shirt that had remained unsoiled, so now it matched the rest. “What about the two runners?”
“Face is going to get them.”
Face, who’d been fretfully pacing the floor, stopped and gawked at Buddy. Buddy wasn’t sure if he liked the new look, but assumed he’d warm up to it eventually.
“You heard me, old friend.” Buddy stood up, grabbing his camera and mask as he got to his feet. “I’m going to pack up here, Carp’s going to torch the neighbor’s place, then come over and torch this one. We’ll meet up at the creek in one hour.”
“That doesn’t give us much time,” said Carp.
“No, time is something we don’t have. Not anymore. I’m sure the neighbors have heard that gunshot and are probably wondering what the hell’s going on. So, we need to get this in gear.”
Carp nodded. “I’m gone.” He walked to the broken door, stopped at the dead body, and dragged him inside by the ankles. “I’ll be back in five minutes.” Then he took off.
Buddy looked back to Face, who hadn’t moved. “And, I don’t want you going in those woods and wandering around for a while, then coming back and telling me you killed them. I want proof. Bring me something…not a finger or a toe or some bullshit like that. I want one of their heads. Got me?”
Face didn’t move still.
“Face?” He raised his head to look at him. “Got me?” Finally he nodded. “Good. Get going.”
Face walked towards the door.
“Oh, Face?” He turned back. “Do you want me to pack this?” He held up the saw that had been welded or glued to a weight belt with chains adorning the sides. Face waited a moment, then nodded. “All right. They’re in the woods, because it’s the only place for them to go. Make it fast and don’t be late getting to the creek.”
Face disappeared into the shadows.
****
Face kicked the basement door open and marched straight to where he’d left his chainsaw. He picked it up. It felt good being in his hands again. A wonderful reunion.
He exited the basement, then walked to the edge of the yard. He could smell Haley’s perfume. It would lead him straight to them like a vaporous finger beckoning him in the right direction.
He entered the woods unwillingly.
(I)
Carp stood shivering and naked in the creek, scrubbing his skin with leaves to get the blood off. It had dried and was now tacky, but he was still managing to clean himself just fine.
The gash across his hand burned like hell. Getting some antibiotic cream on it wouldn’t be a bad idea once he was finished washing it. He hoped infection wasn’t already setting in. That barbwire was old, rusted, and filthy, and it had been ten years since he’d had a tetanus shot, but his jaws didn’t feel like they were wanting to lock up, so that was good.
Buddy slowly walked back and forth atop the slanted tor, his hands behind his back, and his eyes focused on the ground. Pillowface wasn’t late yet, but there was only a couple minutes left before he would be.
Carp wondered if Buddy would stick with what he’d said. On their way to the creek he’d declared that if Pillowface wasn’t on time, they would leave him behind.
Did he mean it?
He wasn’t anxious to see Face gone from the group, but he also knew they would do just fine without him. It would be tough for a while, but they’d get new members and be a strong unit yet again.
Smoke from the burning houses had corkscrewed its way through the trees and now lingered above the woods like a blanket, but from where they were at it seemed to spread around them like fog. They’d heard the faraway sirens from all the fire trucks reverberating through the trees several minutes ago. It would take them a long time to get those fires under control. He doubted the police would even realize anything was truly awry before they were long gone.
The sound of snapping twigs pulled Carp’s attention to the woods. Buddy had stopped walking and was listening as well. The crackle became louder as Face emerged from the thicket of trees, carrying his chainsaw with one hand, and something else with the other.
When he stepped into the clearing, the gray light of the moon exposed the mystery item.
A head.
“Holy shit,” said Carp.
It was Haley’s head. Even in the darkness he could see the long blonde hair twisting around Face’s fingers, the stump of her neck and track of spine protruding from the bottom of it. Her eyes had been gouged out, and most of her face was torn away. In fact, if it wasn’t for the hair, he’d have had no idea it used to be attached to Haley’s body.
I wonder how much it fucked him up to kill her and the kid.
Face would probably never recover from it. He’d seemed to really like those two. He agreed with Buddy that Face was jeopardizing everything they’d set out to do by shacking up with them, but he also thought Buddy was a son of a bitch for making Face be the one to kill them. Carp would have gladly volunteered to save him the agony.
Seeing Face stalking over the hill with the moon casting a net of murky light behind him, the saw and severed head on each side of him, spooked Carp more than he wanted to admit.
Buddy met Face by the tree stump where they’d set their bags. “I knew it.” He lightly clapped his hands. “I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”
Face held the head up so Buddy could see. He nodded his approval. Then Face chucked the head at the creek for Carp to see. It splashed in the water like a heavy rock. Carp shouted in revulsion, hopping about the water as if a snake was nipping at his heels. He leaped out of the creek, a cold chill shuddering up his spine.
“Damn it, Face!” Carp hugged himself. “I was fucking taking a bath in there! You don’t just throw a fucking head in someone’s bath water!”
Buddy laughed.
“Glad
you
got a kick out of it,” said Carp, stomping to his clothes. He shoved his legs into his pants.
“I am very pleased. It was a mess there for a bit, but we pulled through. This was a huge stepping stone in the plan.”
Carp pulled his shirt over his head. “Glad you’re happy.” He hoped the sarcastic tone in his voice didn’t go unnoticed.
“I am
very
happy.”
Carp could see Buddy’s appreciative smile glowing in the night. He wouldn’t mind shov
ing his fist through that grill of teeth. “What’s the plan from this point on, boss?”
“We have to move on. Pack up our camp, load up the van, and drive.”
“To where?”
“Somewhere I’ve been trying to avoid going since getting out of the army.”
“And where’s that?”
“Home.”
“No shit?”
Buddy nodded. “Yep. Since Face has proved to me that he could do what needed to be done to secure our future, I need to prove to the two of you the same. And, going back home to Wisconsin will do that.”
“The cheese state, huh? Carp laughed. “I should have known.”
“I figure we can find somewhere out there to set up a new camp and start over. In the town of Badin, a place I used to go to as a kid. Whisper Lake.”
“Sounds boring.”
“Not much is out there, so it’s the perfect place for us to prepare.”
****
Pillowface waited for Buddy and Carp to finish getting the bags. Going to the Midwest was a good idea. He needed to be as far away from here as he could get and relocating to Wisconsin would ensure that.
When they were ready, Pillowface followed Buddy and Carp deeper into the woods. He looked at the blood on his hands and sighed.
He already missed the kid.
He’d never forget him.
(II)
Iridescent flames crackled and snapped behind the scorched-twisted planks of their house by the time Haley and Joel made it back. The roof had collapsed into the upper level. What remained of the overall structure was a jagged J shape.
Firemen and police officers had raided the yard, darting back and forth in frantic dashes and shouts. The fence that ran between their house and the Cantrell’s had been knocked down so the firefighters could battle both the fires simultaneously. Both looked to be under control, but massive damage had been done.
Haley’s throat tightened with the swelling of her eyes. All their stuff…their memories. Mom and Dad’s room, their belongings…it was all gone now, burnt to crispy flakes that were now soggy clumps of ashes from all the water that was used to douse the flames.
She looked down at Joel. Tears streamed down his blood-smeared cheeks, cutting wet lines through the dark red. He would never recover from this. His mental health had already been deteriorating after Mom and Dad’s deaths, but after all this…she was certain he’d spend some time in an institution.
Please God let him get back to normal someday.
Maybe Joel would take some kind of comfort in knowing he’d been right about Pillowface, and that they were indeed
friends.
When they had fled into the woods, they’d stumbled upon a trodden body with a crushed head. For obvious reasons the face was unrecognizable, but the suit dressing the body was very familiar.
Jonesey.
She’d asked Joel about it.
More like grabbed him by the shoulders and violently shook it out of him.
He said Jonesey had made some kind of deal with the killers and they’d let him go in return for bringing Joel to them. He and Pillowface had found him slinking around her room earlier today and he’d escaped by jumping out the window. When he told her about the panties in his pocket, and how he’d admitted to killing Rusky, it felt as if she’d been stabbed in the back with an icy dagger.
She also believed he was the one who’d been calling her and masturbating into the phone. It all made sense in a weird, sick kind of way.
And, that was when Pillowface had found them.
He lowered the chainsaw he was carrying down to the ground. There was no confrontation as he went to a spot near Jonesey and began digging into the soil with his hands. Once his arms were in the earth elbow deep, he sifted around for a couple minutes before extracting a severed head.
Tonya’s
head
.
She had recognized her, even with the frozen face of death. Then he produced a machete and began cutting at the face, scaling the skin off like a fish. When he was finished with that, he used his thumbs to push her eyes back into her skull. The sloshing sounds her eyes made as they were imbedded into her brain were terrible.
Mercifully, he finally finished.
Joel walked over to him. Haley thought in hindsight that she should have grabbed him, but he was out of reach by the time it had occurred to her. When he approached the giant of a man, they hugged, and it was actually nice to see. Somehow, it had felt right to her knowing their friendship hadn’t been affected.
She also understood his plan. Tonya had the same color of hair as hers, and mauling the skin like that was his way of making it so the other guys wouldn’t be able to tell it wasn’t her. Why he’d had to do it, she wasn’t sure, but he was going to attempt tricking them into believing Haley was dead.
They finally separated from the hug.
Joel then ran back to Haley as Pillowface hunched over and picked up his chainsaw and the severed head. Before leaving, he nodded a single nod of good-bye, then turned around and vanished into the woods as a tumult of sirens descended from the roads.
Joel hadn’t spoken a word since.
Back at the edge of the yard, Haley curled her arm around her brother’s shoulders and led him toward the multitude of firemen. They spotted them coming and ran to greet them.
The one at the front, the same fireman she’d met at the bookstore, already had a blanket and was throwing it around them. If he recognized her, he gave no indication. “What happened to you?” He cringed when he saw all the blood. “Were you attacked?”
She nodded. “Help my brother, his wrist is broken.”
“Medic!” The man hastily waved his arm in their direction. Two paramedics darted towards them, medical kits bouncing off their legs. “This kid needs medical attention right away.”
“What about her?” the dark haired paramedic asked.
“I’m sure she does, but just a second on her.”
He nodded, then eased Joel away from Haley’s hold. They led him to an ambulance that had been backed up into the yard on the other side of the house.
“What happened to you?” the fireman repeated.
He was escorting her to a pair of police officers. She felt nervous as they joined them at the nearest fire truck.
“She and her brother were attacked,” the firemen told the police officers.
“Do you live in one of these houses?” asked the first cop.
“Yuh-yeah…”
“This one?” He threw his thumb over his shoulder, referring to the wreckage that used to be her home.
She nodded. “I’m Haley Olsen. My brother’s name is Joel.”
“Tell me…what happened.”
She took a deep breath. “It was Geoffrey Jones…He went crazy…”
“The lawyer?”
She nodded again. “Yes...His body’s in the woods. My brother killed him in self-defense.”
The cop gaped at her a moment before turning to the fireman. “Get her to the medics and see if she needs to go to the hospital right away.”
“You got it.” The fireman eased her into his arms and adjusted the blanket so it fit snugly around her. “Let’s get you taken care of.”
Someone taking care of her sounded lovely.
As she walked with the fireman away from the cops, she could hear orders being barked for a unit to search the woods behind her. It was hard not to smile knowing that Jonesey would be blamed for all of this.
Bastard.
Served him right.
She wasn’t exactly sure why she’d neglected to notify the police of Buddy, Carp, and Pillowface. Surely once the rubble of both houses was searched and dead bodies were recovered, questions would develop
. She could most likely pin Carlee’s regrettable death on Jonesey, but she wasn’t sure about any of the others. She’d just play dumb about everything else and hoped they’d believe her.
The medic who’d taken Joel met them. “The kid’s in bad shape. His wrist is badly broken and he’s in shock. We need to get him to the ER.”
“All right, this is his sister. She needs medical assistance as well.”
“We’ll take her too.”
“Good luck to you both,” said the fireman.
She watched him rush back to the chaos that was her backyard. She realized why she felt so comfortable around him. Something about him…reminded her of her father.
She smiled.
The ambulance floored it as they pulled away from the house.
Maybe it was for the best that it had burned. They could start a new life, a new beginning. She looked at Joel, and seeing the blank expression on his face, she understood that she would probably be starting this new life alone.