Survivor: 1 (37 page)

"I want the eyes," Mabel said. She walked up to Animal, looking at him as an elderly schoolteacher might
look up into the face of the school bully as she chastised
him. "Rick Shectman said I could have an eye!"

Animal looked at Tim. "What the fuck?"

"She's cool. I'll tell you all about her later. Now, come
over and help me get Lisa out.'

Animal joined Tim, and together the men hoisted the
box out of the SUV Tim produced a box cutter and sliced
the tape that bound the box shut. He opened the flaps
and grinned. Lisa Miller lay curled inside, still knocked
out. "I'll carry her out to the site if you carry the equipment. Camera and stuff is in the back" He reached into
the box and grasped Lisa beneath the armpits and
hoisted her up.

Animal reached into the rear of the van and grabbed
the tripod and the black leather carrying case that contained the camera.

"You bring what you need?"'ISm asked. Lisa was out of
the box now, and he threw her limp, unconscious form
over his shoulder.

"Yeah" Animal motioned to the Saturn. In my car."

"Go get it!

• Tim and Mabel waited while Animal retrieved a duffel
bag from the backseat of the Saturn. The hooded sadist
slung the strap of the carrying case over his shoulder,
picked up the tripod with his left hand, and the three of
them trudged up the hill.

It was slow going. They had to stop halfway up when it
became obvious that Mabel was going to have a hard
time making it up the incline. Tim felt a flash of irritation
as he marched behind her. Rnally, he stopped and put
Lisa down. "Why don't you go over the incline and set the
shit down and then come back for us;" he called out to
Animal. "I can't watch after this old bag and carry this
bitch at the same time."

Animal nodded and trudged up the hill.

He returned ten minutes later and, with Tim's help, the
three of them made it over the incline into the little valley. Animal helped Mabel step carefully down the indine, guiding her down by gripping her arm, steering her
down a safe path. Mabel talked to him the whole time, relating the same background she had given 75m on the
way over. Several times Animal glanced at Tim as if to say
this woman ain't shittin' me, is she? And each time Tim
had nodded. She ain't bullshittin'you, buddy. She is what
she says she is. By the time they reached the bottom of
the incline, Animal was treating the old lady as if she
were his grandmother.

Tim motioned to a rock set against. a small rise. "Why
don't you have a seat and enjoy the action, Mrs. Schneider`

Mabel maneuvered herself to the rock and sat down.
She was perspiring, and she looked happy. "My pussy's
getting wet just thinking about-this."

Tim tried not to show his distaste at the image she'd
just presented to him, and helped Animal set up the camera. Lisa lay slumped on the ground, her hands and feet still bound together. Once the camera was set up on its
tripod and Tim had checked to make sure he had a fresh
tape, he turned to Animal. "You ready?"

Animal nodded. He opened up his bag, brought out a
large hunting knife. He grinned. Tim nodded, catching
the rise of the sadist's penis from the open crotch of his
leather chaps. Why Animal chose to wear leather chaps
at these gigs, Tim could never understand. He always got
blood on them, and blood was hard to wash off of
leather.

Tim moved Lisa into position, then went back and
checked his camera angles. Animal stayed out of camera
range, poised and ready. Tim lined up the shot, made
some adjustments, then hit the Record and Pause buttons. The tape was set. Now all that was needed was to
wake their star up.

Tim reached into his bag and pulled out a syringe and
vial. He filled the syringe, being careful not to draw too
much of the Narcan in, and then lightly tapped it with his
forefinger to get the air bubbles out. "I fixed this stuff up
before l set out this morning. Should wake her right up."

"What is it?" Animal asked.

"Narcan. It reverses the effects of morphine-based
drugs. They use it in ERs when people OD."

Animal was watching intently. That needle doesn't
look big enough. Aren't you supposed to jab her in the
chest? You know, put that shit into her heart?"

"Nah,"Tim said, finding a vein in Lisa's forearm and injecting the drug. "'That's only in extreme cases, when
somebody's flatlined. They use adrenaline shots for that.
This'll wake her up fine." He pulled the needle out and
waited for a reaction.

The three of them watched Lisa, waiting for her to
wake up. After thirty seconds, Animal said, "V. ll?"

"It could take about five minutes; Tim said.

"My flight leaves in four hours," Animal said." he faster
I can fuck this bitch up and kill her ass, the quicker I can
clean up and get the fuck out of here"

"Okay, okay, hold on.' Tim Murray felt the time pressure, too. He fixed up another dosage of Narcan, measuring out two milligrams' worth, searched for a vein, and
slid the needle in. He injected it into her system and then
sat back, waiting.

"You gonna untie her?' Mabel asked, grinning.

"What the fuck for?"

"Not much fun watching her die tied up," Mabel responded. "At least loosen the knots a little. Make it more
exciting. After all, isn't he going to fuck her first?"

Tim turned to Animal. "What do you think?"

"What's this shit supposed to do to her?"

"It's supposed to block out all the effects of morphinebased drugs," Tim replied. "I only gave her enough morphine to knock her out a little. The Narcan should wake
her up long enough for our film. She'll be conscious, but
she might still be fucked up from the smack. She won't
be much of a fight. Your call!

Animal nodded. "Untie her. I can handle her."

Tim set the syringe down and leaned over to untie
Lisa. He laid her arms down at her side, her legs lightly
spread. "You want her clothes off?"

Animal shook his head. "No. That's what knives are for."

Lisa's eyes flew open and began blinking rapidly as she
began taking rapid breaths. Tim stepped back, picking
up the syringe and his bag. He moved behind the camera to get started. He wasn't even able to start the film
rolling before he heard Lisa Miller's first piercing scream.

When she came awake it was with a sudden rush.

She'd been swimming in a syrupy lake of deep, clogging sludge. She didn't know how she'd gotten there, but she knew if she stayed down much longer she'd never
wake up. She had been struggling to break to the surface,
fighting to break free and breathe, but her arms were
pinned to her sides and it had been hard to break
through the current. The lake she was in was so thick, so
resisting, it was like fighting quicksand.

And then she was suddenly shot out of the quicksand
and her eyes were open, the sunlight glaring in her eyes.
She felt the heat of the sun on her bare skin, felt the air
caress her body, felt the sting along the inside of her elbow, and for a moment she didn't know where she was.
Her eyes watered in reaction to the sudden light. Her
heart raced madly as she tried to remember what happened. She had been sitting in front of the TV vegging
out, trying to stay out of the dark place that was the memory of that awful weekend when she had been kidnapped by that perverted psycho and almost murdered.
That weekend she had seen Debbie Martinez horribly violated, then she'd lost her baby. The images of that weekend flashed through her memory as her eyes adjusted to
the light and she was no longer swimming in that deep
pit of quicksand. She was aware, she was conscious, and
she was being confronted with what had happened for
the first time since she had been knocked out. And what
she saw brought it all back to a screaming reality.

And then her vision swam back into focus and the
first thing she saw was the man in the leather bondage
hood, standing bare-chested in front of her. She recognized him immediately as the man who had raped and
tortured Debbie Martinez in that cabin in a time that
seemed like a thousand years ago. The same man who
told her how much he liked inflicting pain on other
people, and how he enjoyed killing them. The same
man who had later killed Debbie, Alicia, and Mandy after shed escaped. She saw him standing there, bran dishing a large butcher knife, sporting a huge erection,
and she screamed.

She screamed, scrambled back, and fell, not even
aware of the rough dirt that bit into her flesh. She heard
laughter and it was all coming back to her. Her escape
from the snuff-film makers, how she and Brad had been
lulled into a false sense of security at the Luxor, how she
thought they would never find her. And then how they
had been fooled when that old woman had come in looking so helpless and lost, asking to use the phone because
she had been separated from her church group, that old
seemingly harmless-looking woman. The same old
woman she had seen slitting John Panozzo's throat ...

The old woman in question was sitting on a rock, grinning in anticipation. Lisa screamed again, her heart racing. She felt suddenly hot, flushed with adrenaline. She
and Brad had been fooled! They had sent an old woman,
an old woman that nobody would have guessed to be a
killer, and they had done it under the noses of a hotel full
of expert security people.

A shadow loomed in front of her and Lisa blinked, her
eyes adjusting. A clean-shaven, familiar face grinned at
her. Lisa recognized him instantly, even without the
beard: It was Tim Murray, the man in the red van who had
kidnapped her. "Remember me?" he asked, grinning.
"You didn't think we'd let you get away, did you?"

Lisa felt her panic rise as she looked around. Tim Murray was getting behind the camera. The old woman was
rising to her feet, her features a mask of gleeful anticipation. Animal took a step toward her, his penis bobbing
like a divining rod, the sun gleaming off the blade of his
knife. She scampered backward, whimpering. "No!"

"Try to make it last, Animal," Tim said from behind the
camera.

They were going to make her suffer, that much was
dear from that statement. If that was the case, she was
going to go down fighting.

Animal was on her swiftly, pinning her down. Lisa tried
to scramble back again, but she only succeeded in scraping her knees. Animal grabbed her hair and shoved her
to the ground. She pushed herself off in an attempt to
make a run for it and she felt him grab her again. Thenshe was slapped across the face, the blow hard enough
to send her to the ground. Her cheek stung, and the slap
awakened her. Her face was in the dirt, and she pushed
herself up in an attempt to run for it when Animal pinned
her down from above. He grabbed her from behind, his
forearm getting her in a headlock. She felt his body over
hers and she could feel his erection probe against the
back of her thighs. She screamed and bucked, trying to
throw him off, but that only made him tighten the pressure around her throat. She saw stars, felt her body grow
warm, her heart racing. Her breathing was fast, panting.
He's going to kill me! He's going to rape me and kill me!

She felt Animal's fingers and hands ripping at her
nightgown, tearing it off. A rough hand moved between
her thighs, pushing them apart. She struggled, trying to
throw him off her back and scramble away, but he had
her down. She could feel his penis against her buttocks
as he pushed her to the ground, his forearm releasing his
grip from around her throat. She used the opportunity to
scream, and then she felt the weight off her back disappear and she took advantage of it. She bolted and felt a
crash at the back of her head, spilling her to the ground.
She tasted a mouthful of sand and grit, her eyes watering.
Rough hands ripped her panties off, cool air caressed the
back of her thighs and buttocks. Then she felt his bulk
over her again, pinning her to the ground. She slapped at him, her fingers clutching leather, and she pulled. She
heard a grunt, felt a blow to her chest, her face, and she
batted at his face, grabbing his mask again. She pulled
the mask off his head just as she felt a blow land on her
throat. She fell back, gagging. She dropped the bondage
mask, clutching her throat, breathing heavily, and then
she was pushed back to the ground on her belly. She
caught a brief glimpse of the man she had met back at
that cabin, that handsome man who looked like he
could have been a young doctor or a lawyer in her firm,
the perfect image of the young, good-looking, urban professional. That face now wore a mask of blood lust. She
gulped for air and she was realizing that when she pulled
his bondage mask off, her arms had probably helped deflect the blow to her throat, otherwise she'd probably
have a harder time breathing. She took a deep breath,
mustering up her strength for another round of struggle,
when she felt the hardness of his penis seeking entry
from behind, moving into the rough region of her dry
vagina.

No! Fight him! A warm flush flowed into her body; she
felt highly agitated, her breathing coming in harsh pants
in time with her racing heart. She felt the presence of his
body over hers, not as pressed down as before, still holding her on her hands and knees, her belly resting on the
ground. He was straddling her, his hips over her ass, his
penis working its way between her legs to her sex while
he tried to force her legs apart with his hand. His face
was six inches from hers, to her right, and she felt him
grip her hair with his left hand, tilting her face to his. His
eyes gleamed, his All-American boyish features frightening. "You like it, bitch?"

Lisa panted, meeting his gaze. She could feel her anger
building as she grew more agitated; she felt like a bundle
of live wires. She wasn't going to let these bastards take her down without a fight. The adrenaline pouring through
her system was reawakening her; no longer did she have
the luxury to cower in fear. She had to fight. She had to be
ruthless. She had to survive at whatever cost.