Whiskey Black Book Set: The Complete Tyrant Series (Box Set 1) (8 page)

“Murder?”

“My home was attacked, and my husband and daughters were burned alive a couple days ago. I aim to repay, tenfold.”

The stranger lowered his pistol and said, “My name’s Jamison.”

“Tori,” she said.

“I’m not going to stop you, but I would ask that you leave me some food, water, and my firearms,” the man said.

Tori let her pistol hand hang next to her side. She left her finger on the trigger.

“What else can you tell me about this Kyle?”

“He lived in this neighborhood before the Flip and was a troubled kid then. Now that he’s a man, all he does is loot. He’s not right in the head. He suffers from full-blown stupidity.”

“Address?”

“He’s down on the eight hundred block somewhere. Guy roams, hard telling.”

“Thank you, Jermaine.”

“It’s Jamison.”

“Thank you, Jamison.”

Tori left the man’s residence and embarked on a path towards the eight hundred block of Fifth Street.

Tori was already examining herself and learning how difficult things would be from here on out. She knew that the only way she could survive was to be strong. She was now free from any ties that would bind her to a home life and the things that made people both weak and strong. Tori reasoned that having a family gave her a reason to be strong, but without dismissing their deaths, she was coming to understand a different kind of strength she had to adopt now that they were gone. That same love that made her strong also made her weak. A new boldness that didn’t exist before was beginning to raise its head.

Tori was approaching the eight hundred block, and so far, her plan was as simple as walking in and getting involved with the group for the sole purpose of infiltrating its ranks to kill each of them.

Two men stepped down out of a store and faced her directly.

“What do we have here, Chuck?”

“I don’t know, Kyle. Looks like a purdy girl without a home.”

The comment, although sarcastic, had nothing to do with her loss of home and family. They did not recognize her and had failed to see her face when she was rescued by Tony, Albert, and Rob. The comment had a certain effect on her, though. Something clicked in her mind when she heard that comment, “girl without a home,” as though they knew what they had done.

Without missing a beat, Tori strolled up next to them and kicked the man named Chuck in the groin.

Kyle punched Tori in the face and she spun around from the force of the impact. When she twisted back to face them, she had her 1911 out and pointed at Chuck.

He was still bent over, writhing in pain.

She pulled the trigger and shot him in the top of the head.

Kyle instantaneously threw his hands in the air. “I’m sorry for punching you,” he said.

“Get in there,” she said as she whipped the gun in the direction of the store and back on him.

“What do you want?” he asked as he moved backwards, up the steps and into the store.

“Just information. Two days ago, my home was burned down and my family was burned alive. I want to know everything! The names of the people involved, where they’re staying, who’s in charge, everything.”

“Chris Thompson is in charge. I can take you to him. I know about the fire. I saw the whole thing,” he squealed.

“You’re gonna give me addresses, Kyle, or I’m gonna kill you.”

“I don’t know the addresses, only how to get to them.”

“Then tell me how to get there.”

“Okay, walk in that direction towards Fifth Street, then turn right at Straight Street. He’s in the green house. It’s like the second or third house on the right. I can take you and show you. It’s easier that way.”

“No, Kyle, it’s easier this way.”

Tori pulled the trigger and killed Kyle where he was standing.

“Boom! Head shot,” she said.

Tori slowly exited the store, stopping at the threshold of the doorway and peeking out, looking left and right. She stepped out, walked towards Fifth Street, took a right turn at Straight Street, and looked for a green house on the right side of the street.

Tori remembered a day when this street would be full of parked cars. When the Flip came, most people evacuated amidst the rioting. Many others did what the president had told them to do:
Report to your nearest human handling center.

Tori and Richard saw the eventualities; that was why Tori was involved in the Southern Illinois Home Guard meetings with Nathan Roeh and others.

For the most part, there was widespread panic at the announcement of martial law. General lawlessness ensued, and group survival became a necessity. Unfortunately, the pack mentality took root in most groups, and everybody followed after the strong. That sometimes meant committing acts of evil against those perceived as being weak.

Tori was now a few feet from the green house that was described to her. She paused and looked around. She didn’t see anybody conspicuous. She took another deep breath to calm her nerves and walked up to the house. It was unlocked, so she took the liberty of inviting herself in.

There was a man sitting on the couch and another standing in a hallway, leaning on the wall.

The man that was sitting immediately stood up, and the man leaning against the wall stood up straight.

“Wow! Are you the girl Tommy was supposed to send me as a Christmas present?”

“I am,” she said as she played coy.

“Where’s Tommy?” he asked.

“I was hoping you could tell me,” she said as she started walking around the front room, looking at photographs hanging on the walls. “Are these pictures of your family?” she asked.

“No. They’re just some pictures of some random family that used to live here.”

“Are you Chris?” she asked.

“I am. Now come here.”

Tori’s back was to Chris as she was looking at photos on the wall. When she turned around, she had her pistol drawn and pointed right at Chris’s face.

“Whoa, take it easy, chick,” Chris said.

The other stranger had his hands up too, but he was slowly moving backwards down the hall.

Tori looked deep into Chris’s eyes and said, “Tell your dog to stop moving. He’s making me nervous.”

“Jesse, sit still, man. She has a gun pointed at my face.”

“Where’s this Tommy fellow?” she asked.

“He’s next door. What’s this all about?”

Tori took notice of just about everything that was in the room when she entered it. It was apparent that these men were bad people. There were ropes, knives, guns, gasoline, and a multitude of other items that were, no doubt, stolen from others.

Tori slowly took two steps back and kept her pistol pointed at Chris. “Don’t you even think about moving, or you’ll be a dead man.”

She found herself next to a rope and she slowly lowered her posture to grab it with her free hand. When she came up, she tossed it to Jesse without taking her eyes off Chris.

“Sit down,” she commanded Chris.

Chris sat down, and Tori switched her position to maintain a visual on both men.

“Tie him up,” she commanded Jesse.

“What’s all this about?” he said again, only louder.

“I’ll explain everything in a minute, but for now, do what you’re told if you want to survive this.”

Jesse tied Chris up, as she had commanded; then Tori pointed her pistol at Jesse.

“On your knees,” she commanded.

“No way am I gonna get on my knees,” he said.

About that time a man came walking in the front door. Tori had failed to secure it, and now the severity of the situation had escalated.

“Tommy!” Jesse said.

Tori sidestepped into the corner and pointed her pistol at Tommy.

Tommy was quick enough to knock the pistol out of her hand when she swung it in his direction.

Jesse ran up and punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground.

“Now, you’re going to tell us what this is all about,” Jesse said.

Tori came up with her Swiss Army knife and stuck Jesse in the neck with it. He grabbed the knife while Tori was reaching for the pistol now a few feet from her, lying on the floor.

Tommy grabbed her leg as she was reaching for it, but he was too late. She swung the pistol around and shot Tommy in the chest and then turned the pistol towards Jesse, who was bleeding profusely from the neck.

“December first, just two nights ago, my home was burned down and you were involved. I want to know who else was involved?” Tori asked.

Chris began shouting from his position on the couch. “Chick, we burned your house down because you didn’t give us what we wanted.”

“You killed my husband and two daughters in that fire, you maggot.”

“We didn’t mean to kill anybody. You had your chance,” Chris said.

“How many daughters did you have, woman?” Jesse asked.

“I just told you, two!”

“We caught one of them early on,” Jesse said as he put pressure on his knife wound.

Tori’s heart leaped when she heard his words. Initially she doubted the truthfulness of what he had said.

“What did you just say?”

“A little girl named Amelia was outside when we bombed the house. Plan was to use her as leverage, but the fire got out of control,” Jesse said.

“Shut up, Jesse! She’s going to kill us when she’s done with us.”

Tori quickly pointed the pistol at Chris and pulled the trigger. “I’m done with you,” she said to the lifeless body.

She pointed the gun back at Jesse and asked, “What did you do with her?”

“If I tell you, you’ll let me live?”

“Yeah, I’ll let you live. Where’s she at?”

“We traded her for three bottles of J.D.”

“To who?” she yelled.

“Some man, south of town at an old farm.”

Tori took a step closer to Jesse, and he immediately threw his hands back in the air and said, “Whoa, whoa, you said you would let me live.”

“Yes, I did.”

She pointed the gun at his knees and shot his left knee, dropping him instantly. He was writhing in pain and groping at his leg when she shot his other knee.

“Although, you’ll never walk again.”

Tori walked out of the house and headed south. Her journey took her south towards Red Bud, Illinois. There were several farms south of Belleville, and Tori wasn’t going to rest until she found Amelia.

By the time she had reached the south side of Belleville, darkness was falling. She was feeling more like predator than prey, unlike just a couple nights ago. Her inner veteran was taking over, and the skills her government had instilled in her to keep the country safe were paying off.

Tori found an old farm and searched it thoroughly. She couldn’t find anything worthy of carrying off the property.

She wanted to continue without rest until she found Amelia, but she knew she would be useless to Amelia if she was groggy from lack of sleep. She found a soft spot, using the couch in the farmhouse, and slept on it.

December 4

The country farmhouse filled with morning light, and Tori sprang to her feet in search of food from the cabinets.

They were empty.

She was leaning over the kitchen sink when she happened to see movement outside. She peered through the window and saw a man walking outside, about a half mile down the road.

Tori ran out the door and headed south, towards the place where she saw the man. By the time she had arrived, the man was gone.

The house was tall and white. A 1950s-style farmhouse. The windows were boarded from the inside.

“Hello,” she shouted. “My name is Tori. I’m looking for a little girl named Amelia. She’s my daughter.”

“Are you alone?” a grizzled male voice called out from inside the house.

She didn’t want to answer that question. It made more sense, to Tori, to avoid that question because it could escalate a crisis if the man knew she was alone. However, the motherly instinct that gave her strength also gave her weakness. She couldn’t help but answer whatever the man wanted to ask so that she could gain access to the home.

“Yes, I’m alone. Please help.”

She heard a lot of bolts and chain locks unlocking as he had made the decision to let her in.

The man was older, in his sixties, and was wearing a pair of coveralls.

“You can come in.” The man suspiciously looked around as he spoke to her.

The man stepped aside after he opened the door to her. She entered the house and was met by a foul smell of rotting flesh, body odor, and putrescence.

She slowly and cautiously moved into the interior hallway and waited for the old man.

“I don’t get many visitors these days,” he said.

“I’m looking for my daughter Amelia. I was told she came this way. Have you seen her? She’s about this tall, with black hair, wearing a blue shirt and a black coat?”

“No, I’m sorry, nobody here fits that description.”

It was that comment that made her especially wary of the old man.

“Nobody here?”

“I mean, there’s nobody here but me.”

Tori caught a glimpse of a room off to the side that was full of children’s clothes. There, in the pile, she saw Amelia’s black coat.

The old man had his back to Tori as he fiddled through the kitchen drawers. She took this moment to pull her pistol out and hide it behind her back.

When the old man turned around, he walked over toward Tori and saw that the door was open. He rushed over to it and pulled the door closed.

“Would you like something to eat?” the man asked.

“Yes, please. I’m famished.” Again, she found herself playing coy.

The old man looked at her one last time and walked towards another door that was closed.

“Stay here,” he said. “I’ll be right back. All my food is downstairs.”

The man walked through the door and did not securely fasten it behind him; instead, he accidentally left it cracked.

Tori ran to the room that had the pile of children’s clothing and went through Amelia’s coat. It confirmed her fears that the man was hiding something.

She went to the cracked door and snuck down, taking care not to be seen.

What she saw was horrifying and sent more than shivers down her spine.

There were a number of game hangers attached to the ceiling of the basement. There were butcher blocks and dried blood everywhere. Tori knew what was going on, and the thought of it made her need to vomit. She quickly ran back up the stairs and slammed the door behind her. Leaning on it, she bent over and vomited on the floor.