No Service (11 page)

They were both well back in their hiding place watching as he went to the small tent. He folded back a flap and reached inside. Roughly, he pulled out a limp figure.

“Wake up,” he growled smacking his victim.

The person had already begun to stir from getting pulled across the uneven ground, but began to squirm and whine more intently. As the flames flickered higher feeding on dried wood, it became apparent it was Steph, bound and gagged with duct tape.

“Do you know what they did to my brother?” he said getting on his knees and crawling further back into the tent.

Steph moaned, unable to reply any other way.

Kevin reemerged holding the large knife with the terrifying edge. “They killed him. Specifically, the woman did. She gutted him like a fish.”

Though they couldn’t see Steph’s eyes, they could tell she was fixed on the knife.

“Do you think I’m upset?” he asked her.

Steph noncommittally groaned.

“Well, I’m not. Little shit never had a real spine. He liked to push people around, but as soon as he had to get his hands really dirty, it was always ‘Oh, Kevin, please help me.’ Well, I was a good brother. I helped him, but always in the back of my mind, I knew he’d get himself into trouble, and now he did.”

Kevin spun the knife around in his hand, the handle and blade catching the light as he turned it.

“I must admit, that woman has a certain fascination. Most of them aren’t like that. Are you like that?”

Steph didn’t respond. Kevin’s form cast a huge, menacing shadow across her.

“Let’s find out.” He walked over and ripped the tape of her mouth rough enough to remove some skin. She let out a yelp as he pulled it off. “You listening?”

She stared up at him, dumbfounded and blind with fear, but she managed a weak nod.

Kevin cut the bonds on her ankles and then on her wrists. Steph rolled onto her stomach and scrambled up onto all fours. Their eyes met and he gestured at the knife offering it up, handle out, with a flourishing gesture like a gameshow host.

Steph reached out and snatched it holding it pointed at him. “You get the fuck away from me!”

Kevin let out one of his evil laughs and backed up toward the fire a few steps. Steph scrambled to her feet never taking her eyes off him.

“Come on,” Kevin mocked. “Take your best shot.”

Steph kept the blade trained on him taking her own steps backward. “Stay away!” she screamed again. She turned and began to race away.

Jess was ready to burst out of the bushes and help, but Chris pulled her back with a touch of his hand. They watched as Steph continued to try and separate herself from the situation.

“Come on!” Kevin bellowed at her. He pounded his chest with a fist. “I’m right here! Don’t you have the balls, woman?”

Steph had put a healthy distance between them. She turned and began to sprint away as fast as her legs would carry her. In one swift motion Kevin bent and grabbed the ax that had been on the far side of the fire out of view. With perfect ease, he whipped the hefty weapon with little more than a grunt. It swept through the air in an arc and was followed by a thud and a blood-curdling shriek.

Jess put her hands over her mouth, as if to hold her shock on the inside. Chris recoiled and winced. Jess couldn’t believe where that weapon’s edge might have headed if she’d run out a second sooner to try to finish the job herself.

Kevin stomped off into the dark and returned a moment later dragging Steph by the back of her shirt. The ax was in his free hand. Her blond hair hung over her face and her arms flopped limply dragging her fingers through the dirt. Like garbage, he tossed her aside face first on the outskirts of the circle of light.

“Come out,” Kevin said turning toward their hiding spot. “I know you’re there.”

Jess jumped in surprise and looked at Chris who seemed equally startled.

“Come out or you’ll get the same as her,” he said more fiercely. “You breathe so fucking loud, the deaf could hear you!”

Resigned and unable to think of an alternative, Jess and Chris climbed out of the shadows and into the open. The fire and logs cast dancing patterns across their faces. They stood side by side at the edge of the circle facing Kevin as a team.

“So you killed Kevin,” he stated addressing Jess. He propped the ax against a tree blade end down.

Jess bobbed her head, but kept her mouth shut tight.

“You look beautiful in his blood,” Kevin laughed darkly. “Like a demon princess.” He walked toward them, but not close enough they would feel safe enough to rush him. “It’s a shame more women aren’t like you, then maybe they’d be worth a damn.” He turned toward Chris. “Lucky catch. Did you enjoy watching her gut Mark?”

Chris averted his eyes.

“Don’t look away!” Kevin commanded. Chris met his gaze again. Kevin continued, “I’d like to propose a little something. We can play a little game.”

He went to the duct tape roll near the tent and then tossed it to Jess. “Tape up your husband, then we’ll talk.”

“No,” she said firmly.

“If you don’t then I’ll cut your goddamn head off. So take your pick,” Kevin responded nonchalantly.

Jess looked up at Chris. Chris looked hesitant, but he put his wrists together and held them out to her. She gave him the most apologetic look that she could muster as she began to tape him up. She tried to make it as loose as she dared without giving away that she was trying to give him a chance.

“Ankles, too,” Kevin ordered.

Jess helped Chris into a sitting position on the ground, setting her knife down as she did. She began to bind his legs, knowing that there was no way to make the tape loose enough that he’d be able to wriggle out. She took her time completing the task. Kevin didn’t say anything or make. Jess finished and faced Kevin trying to keep Chris just behind her.

“Good,” he said motioning. She threw the tape back to him and he set it aside. “Now, for the fun. You get to make a choice. You decide who lives and who dies. Your husband, a modern day Neanderthal who dragged you straight into danger by crying out your name when I told him to or he die? Or the blonde bimbo with the low IQ that you don’t personally know or give a shit about?”

Jess tilted her head and dipped to retrieve her cheap knife. “You’re not an option? I’d be happy to take a stab at you,” she said surprised at how cool she was under the circumstances.

Kevin grinned in a way that made her uncomfortable. The writhing shadows of the fire made him look possessed. His eyes glittered with hatred and hellfire. “Make your pick,” he said.

Jess looked down at her husband. Chris’s face was neutral and unconcerned. They both knew which option she’d pick given this forced decision. No matter how much she wanted to save Steph, she couldn’t pick an almost stranger over her spouse. She pointed at Steph weakly and Kevin nodded.

Even in the dim light, she could see Steph’s back rising and falling with effort. Her lower back had gushed an endless flow of blood. It seemed pretty clear that Steph wasn’t long for the world as it was. She probably wouldn’t live on her own until morning. The ax had penetrated deep and had almost definitely hit vital organs and maybe even major arteries.

Jess looked up at Kevin, steadying herself and trying to retain consciousness. The smoke blew in a plume in her direction and her eyes burned and her lungs seared. It was just enough pain to make her feel alert.

Kevin eyed her curiously like a cat eyes a mouse before the kill. It was a mixture of amusement and knowledge of the satisfaction to come. Jess breathed in the fiery air one more time. Her lungs scorched and she centered herself a little more.

She took slow methodical steps toward Steph as Kevin continued to lean against the tree with the ax at his feet. Their eyes met as she walked by and she shuddered seeing the darkness of his soul.

When she reached Steph, she set down the knife and turned her over. Steph gasped for air like she’d never breathed a day in her life. Jess feared she was going to drown in her own lungs or bleed out before anyone could help her.

She leaned over Steph and put her face resting against the other woman’s so their cheeks were touching.

Jess whispered an apology. Steph lifted her arm, her hand twisted into a claw from the pain and the terror. The whites of Steph’s eyes were as huge as dinner plates and the pupils were dilated to nearly full black. Jess interlocked her hand with Steph’s and they came to an agreement. Jess held on tightly with her left hand while her right found the knife on the ground.

She tried to remember where it would probably do the least damage. Where did Chris say the worst wounds of the ER were from? Where had the fatal blow been dealt to the people that had died on the table before him? A deep skin wound would do the trick.

Steph’s grip was like a vice. It was close to smashing and breaking fingers for the both of them.

Kevin ran his tongue over his lips, wetting them while he watched. Jess gripped the knife out of the view of Steph. She wasn’t surprised if years of therapy in her future if she made it out. The way that Kevin watched her, she wasn’t too certain she’d survive the night anymore.

With the knife firmly held in her hand, she struck. The blade shredded into Steph’s skin grazing over the surface of Steph’s ribs. Jess closed her eyes, but didn’t let go with either hand for even a second. Steph convulsed under her for just a moment, then went silent. Jess was terrified that she’d killed Steph. Two deaths on her hands in one day.

She let out a guttural howl at the sky. Her body couldn’t manage to audibly recreate the devastation she felt. She was a monster, a murderer of innocents. Again she cried out and then rested her head on Steph’s chest and sobbed one long loud sound.

She heard Chris yell to her. He shouted her name over and over, but her heart was mutilated by her monstrosity and she just wanted to cry to herself for a while. Rough hands were on her shoulders dragging her back before she could react and fight them off.

“Let go of her!” Chris screamed. He strained against the duct tape, biting at it frantically. He’d already been making progress on it, but it hadn’t been loosened enough her could get free.

Kevin held Jess from behind, her arms pinned at her side as his her wrapped his own around her like a bear hug. Jess struggled and swore, but his hold was like iron. Finally, a single backward kick got lucky. Kevin let out a growl and dropped her. Jess scrambled forward and picked up the ax from where it leaned.

Kevin lunged at her and she swung it. She missed and he positioned himself like a football player ready for the tackle. She swung again and once the blade passed him, he lunged at her again. Latching onto her around the middle, he drove her back into a tree. Her back slammed with such force the wind was knocked out of her, but she kept her hands wrapped around the handle.

Kevin pulled her forward to slam her again and she brought the end of the handle down on the nape of his neck. He didn’t let go and she hit him again. He let go to grab frantically at the ax. The two of them struggled for it, locked in a face-to-face battle. He was stronger and was definitely gaining the advantage.

She kicked him in the shin as hard as she could. Her hiking boots gouged his skin through his pants. She repeated her vicious attack again and again. His grip slipped enough that she threw the ax out of his hands. They both watched as it fell headfirst into the fire. There was a pause as they stared each other down, then they both bolted toward the weapon.

Jess took a flying leap and landed on her chest, grabbing the handle. Kevin jerked her back by the legs at the same time. A flurry of sparks shot out as the ax knocked over logs. Jess swung upward. The angle was terrible and she missed again.

Chris was chewing away at his wrists, the tape was nearly completely weakened. His teeth were mucked up with adhesive and fibers. He didn’t dare glance at the fight going on nearby as he remained focused on his task.

Jess kicked wildly hoping to get in another fortuitous blow, but Kevin dropped her legs and pounced on her. He pinned the handle between the two of them, his full weight on top of her. She squirmed and tried to shake him off, but he was too heavy and the weapon prevented her from turning too far to one side or the other.

Kevin put his hands around her neck and started to crush with as much force as he could. The compression was unbearable. He shook her as he choked her. Not hard because he was still keeping her pinned down, but enough to make stars burst before her eyes. Jess slid the handle with one hand bringing the blade in between their chests. The heat of the scorched metal burned into each of them.

She couldn’t get her right hand out of the way and it ate into the side of her palm quickly blistering the skin. The scalding hot head seared through her shirt sleeve and she felt the flesh cook on her upper arm. Kevin leaned back, a dark patch burnt into the front of his red shirt near the neck.

He wrenched the ax from her hands as she focused on the burning pain. With a single sideways swing, Jess heard the ax hit something. Looking up, she shrieked so loudly she hurt her own ears. Chris looked down at the growing red seeping from around the silver blade lodged in his chest. He put his fingers up and touched it for a moment before collapsing. Kevin gave a triumphant smile. Distracted with pleasure, he lost the weapon back to the enraged woman pinned under him.