Alone (12 page)

He slid behind the first tree as he entered the woods. He stood for a minute and scanned the tree line.

He started to work his way around the clearing, from one tree to the next he moved carefully.

He assumed if they were waiting for him, they would be hidden near where they had tied Trish. They would try to jump him when he was distracted by looking at Trish tied to the tree.

Tony had worked his way to the corner where Trish was tied. He could see the green of her clothes through the leaves. He moved much slower and was more alert as he drew closer. He studied every tree and shadow as he moved.

He slowly moved around the last large tree separating him from Trish.

He stared. “Shit!” He mind screamed as he saw the ropes.

In front of him was Trish’s green clothes, stuffed with grass, tied to the tree.

Trish was nowhere to be seen.

Chapter 14

Debbie led Trish through the field. Trish had a gag over her mouth. Her hands were tied behind her back as she stumbled through the tall grass in her underwear.

“It was a shame you had to give up that pretty shirt and pants.” Debbie said as she pushed Trish forward. “But you have to admit it feels so much better out here in the breeze and sunshine in your undies.”

Debbie laughed. “Your boyfriend should really be surprised about now to find out all he got in exchange for his food was a scarecrow. But since you aren’t much more than a scarecrow yourself, maybe he isn’t too disappointed.”

Trish didn’t try to say anything. It would only make things worse. She had learned to just keep her mouth shut.

Debbie and Trish walked out of the last section of the woods and entered the field across the road from the house.

Debbie stopped and turned to look back at the sound of something shuffling through the woods behind them.

Roy and Tom were just coming out of the woods. Each of them held a case of beans. Roy had a stick of beef jerky sticking out of his mouth, chewing as he walked.

Roy had a large smirk on his face as he saw Debbie and Trish.

“That was a nice move faking a trade of little Sis for two cases of baked beans.” Debbie laughed.

“Roy is a slick dude!” Tom shouted.

They all laughed.

Trish didn’t think any of it was funny. For a brief moment, she thought she would be getting away from Roy and Tom. She didn’t know what she would be getting into, but she definitely knew what she would be getting away from.

“That still leaves us with a problem.” Tom said. “What do we do with her now?”

Roy laughed. He walked up to Trish and put his fingers under her chin and pulled her face up to look at him.

“Tomorrow we dress her up real pretty for her boyfriend and take her back and see what else we can trade her for.”

“That guy might just start shooting at us tomorrow when he sees us.” Tom said sounding surprised that Roy was going to try another fast one tomorrow.

“No!” Roy laughed. “I’m sure we can do this at least one more time. If he thinks he can get the girl, he’ll go for it again. But this time we will have to get a lot more for her. We might have to actually trade her this time, but we will be sure to make it worth our effort.”

“Do you really think that guy will fall for the same trick again?” Debbie asked then looked at Trish. “For that?”

Roy smiled. “I guess there is no accounting for taste.”

Debbie laughed.

“Maybe we could work it to get more food and keep her too.” Tom added. “I’m sure we could use her for something.”

No, one way or another she needs to go.” Roy replied. “I never did like this little bitch. She can’t be trusted.”

They walked across the road and up to the house.

Tears were running down Trish’s face. She knew Roy had never liked her, but it was painful to hear him talk like this right in front of her.

To make her feel even worse, asshole was sitting on the porch as they led Trish into the house. He stared at her the entire time as she walked by him. His eyes roaming over her as she walked by him made her cringe.

Trish hoped they wouldn’t tie her up like some piece of livestock again tonight. The pain in her arms was so bad last night that she wasn’t able to get any sleep. She had laid there in agony all night.

This time they tied her tightly to one of the old wooden kitchen chairs. They tied her around the waist and tied each of her arms and legs to the chair. Then slid the chair to her corner behind the couch.

She couldn’t move. There was no way she could even begin to think of a way to escape.

Her only hope was that they would actually trade her for something tomorrow.

She only hoped that guy Tony would still be willing to give up something for her. If he was fed up with them, then she could only imagine what would happen to her.

Then again, if Roy actually traded her to Tony, who knew what would happen to her then.

She should have run away when she had the chance.

But now it was too late.

Either way, what ever happened to her now, it was out of her hands.

Tony walked around the edge of the clearing.

He was looking for some tracks or clues to follow, but tracking things in the woods was not something he had ever been very good at.

He had looked for half an hour but had no idea where they had gone.

Even if he could have picked up their tracks, he wasn’t sure how far he would have been willing to follow them.

He had only seen the two guys and Trish. He didn’t know how many more of them there were back wherever they came from.

One thing he did know, and that was that they would be back.

Now that they knew he was here and had food, they wouldn’t just leave.

They would be back for more.

Then they would want more. Finally they would want it all.

Tony hoped there weren’t many more of them.

The two guys could be hard enough to handle, especially if they had any smarts.

The warehouse was big and Tony only had one window to see out. Even then he could only see the area in front of the warehouse. There were a lot of blind spots they could use to sneak up on him.

Then there was Trish. He wasn’t sure what to make of Trish. Had she been in on the whole thing? Had she been coming out, playing a game just to see what he had so they could rob him?

He would have gladly given them food if they would have just asked. If they said they were Trish’s friends and they were hungry, he would have been happy to share.

He would have been happy to have the opportunity to talk to them and find out what they had seen.

But he wasn’t sure what to think about Trish and her part in all of this. Was she part of it or was she a victim too.

The black eye and swollen lip looked real, but it all could have been a ruse just to get into the warehouse.

As long as he has been hoping and planning to find other living people, when he finally did run into someone, they tried to rob him.

It certainly wasn’t what he was expecting.

If he managed to get out of this dilemma, he would definitely have to change his thinking when it came to his plans to find and meet others.

If Trish had been lying to him to find out what he had in the warehouse, she had been truthful about one thing. The living could be worse than the dead.

He hoped that this wasn’t what mankind had become, a bunch of outlaws. But he had to be ready to accept that, if in fact, that was what the world had become. A world of the dead and outlaws. He almost smiled. “It sounded like some damn movie title.”

Tony went back into the warehouse after gathering up the rope that was on the ground below the window. The rope he had used to lower the two cases of beans. They could use the rope to climb up to the window and get inside. They probably had their own rope, but no reason to make things easier for them.

He went back into the warehouse, grabbed a bag of pretzels and went up to the room to think.

He sat at the window and looked out into the woods and tried to think what they might do next.

He had no desire to get into a battle over the warehouse, but he also didn’t feel like walking away and giving up what he had here. He had never been someone that would turn and run at the first sign of trouble. He had always stood his ground and that was what he intended to do now.

Besides, if what he had seen so far of what was left of mankind, he couldn’t expect to go somewhere else and hope to settle down peacefully.

It could be struggle to find food and a place to sleep while trying to keep a low profile. It could be a never ending battle to survive. It could be like what he had gone through in town, but that had been a losing battle. Now he not only had the dead to worry about, he had to beware of the living.

He had found a place where he could survive and wasn’t going to give it up willingly. Not until he didn’t have any other choice. He would have been willing to share his good fortune, but he knew sharing wasn’t something this Roy ever had in mind. Now it was a matter of honor. It was also a matter of survival.

As he ate the pretzels he looked at the desk in the corner of the room. He got up and started to rummage through the drawers and found a key ring with six keys on it. He got up and headed for the door. He should have done this before, but he wasn’t thinking before.

He was thinking now.

Tony went down in the warehouse and to the doors. He went from door to door until he found a key that worked.

Now he had a way to go outside and lock the door behind him.

That was good, but would be of little help if he couldn’t figure a way to deal with the thugs that would be coming back.

Chapter 15

Trish was sleeping lightly when she felt someone grab her hair. The next thing she knew, her head was jerked back and she found herself staring at Roy.

“Time to wake up sleeping beauty!” Roy smiled.

“Sleeping beauty?” Debbie repeated. “Please.”

Roy looked at Trish and laughed. “I think the black eye is a big improvement.”

Trish’s eyes got wide. “She knew it had hurt like hell when Roy hit her, but she didn’t realize she had a black eye. She must look horrible. She hadn’t seen herself in the mirror. Not that she had the chance to look at herself. Even if she would have had the opportunity, she wasn’t like Debbie who stared at herself in the mirror all day long since they came here. Debbie was happy to see this place still had a mirror that hadn’t been smashed. “

Trish was happy that she hadn’t seen her reflection. She felt bad enough without seeing what she probably looked like now that Roy had worked her over.

Roy reached in his pocket and pulled out a knife.

Trish tensed up. She hoped this didn’t mean there was a change of plans. A new plan that no longer included her.

She watched nervously as Roy stepped closer.

He bent over and began to cut the ropes that held her to the chair.

When he had cut the last rope that held her right arm to the side of the chair, Trish slowly began to rub her arms to get the circulation going again. She watched Roy out of the corner of her eyes, hoping he was finished with her.

Unfortunately for Trish, he wasn’t.

“Now sit still and don’t move if you know what’s good for you.” Roy ordered as he ran his hand through her hair.

Trish closed her eyes. She didn’t like him touching her. She had watched Roy play with Debbie’s hair. It was always followed by him running his hands all over her.

She didn’t want him touching her anywhere. She thought about bolting for the door, but she knew Roy was faster than she was. She sat there with her eyes closed.

Her eyes shot open in half horror and half relief as she felt Roy pull on her hair, then started to cut off her hair with his knife.

She stared in shock as he cut off handful after handful of her long black hair.

“What are you doing that for?” Tom asked as he walked into the living room and saw Roy.

“Our scarecrow is going to need some hair today to be more convincing.” Roy asked.

“Did you ever think of being a beautician?” Debbie laughed. “You seem to have a knack for cutting hair.”

“Really?” Roy smiled. “You think so? Would you like to be next?”

“No Thanks.” Debbie laughed as she stared at Trish. “Now she really does look like a boy. Maybe we should change her name to Todd.”

“Todd!” Roy laughed. “I like it.”

When she thought it was safe, Trish reached up and felt her hair. It still covered her ears, but not much more. Tears ran down her face.

“But she still cries like a little girl.” Debbie added.

“Tom, get her that straw hat hanging out in the kitchen.” Roy said. “We don’t want her boyfriend to see her like this, he might not want her anymore.”

Tom laughed as he went out to the kitchen and returned a minute later and pushed the hat down over her eyes.

Roy walked over to the couch and picked up the black shirt and jogging pants and tossed them at Trish. “Here, put these on, but don’t get too comfortable in them. I’m going to want them back in about an hour.”

Trish stood up and turned so her back was to the others as she pulled on the pants. Then she took off the straw hat and let the shirt drop down over her. She put the hat on and turned back to the others.

Trish watched as Roy laid her hair on the couch, then took a piece of rope and tied a knot around one end.

He picked up the hair and after turning the bundle of hair around to examine it, he put it over his hair on top of his head. “How do I look? He laughed.

Debbie laughed. “Black isn’t your color. It makes you look like one of those dead things out there.”

Trish stared at all her hair draped down around Roy’s face. She had always tried to keep her head clean so she wouldn’t get lice. Today she hoped that lice or some other parasite had recently taken up residence in her hair and crawled onto Roy.

Roy tossed the hair to Debbie. “Here, you’re in charge of Todd and his hair until we get to the warehouse.

“What’s your plan?” Tom asked.

“I’ll explain it on the way.” Roy answered. “Let’s get moving.”

They started out the door and soon crossed the road and into the field. Tom kept staring at Trish’s hair as Debbie waved it around, tossing it up in the air, then catching it as it came back down. He was hoping after Roy was done with it, maybe he could have it.

Trish walked with her head facing straight ahead. She was trying to ignore Debbie, but she could see Debbie tossing her hair around.

Whenever Debbie thought Trish was looking, she would run her hand through her own hair, trying to rub it in that her hair was now longer than Trish’s.

“They were all bastards!” Trish thought. She didn’t know why that guy Tony had offered to trade anything to get her, but after the fast one Roy had pulled yesterday she hoped he was still willing to trade for her today. Whatever he wanted couldn’t be any worse than staying with these bastards. He didn’t look like he would be like Roy, but what did she know. She didn’t know if she knew anything anymore. Except she knew Roy was in his glory right now. He was tormenting her and using her to cheat that Tony guy. She could see the attitude in his eyes. He thought he was so much better than anyone else.

He had always thought he was better than everyone else. Now that he didn’t have to keep looking over his shoulder for the police, he was unbearable to be around.

They had walked for twenty minutes and were now at the patch of trees that separated them from the warehouse.

Roy had them all gather around so he could explain his plan.

He looked at Trish. “You are coming with me into the clearing. You say nothing unless I tell you to say something. If you try to warn that guy about anything, I’ll cut your throat and leave you in the clearing to bleed to death. Understand?”

Trish nodded. She had no doubt that he would do it. Even if everything went as Roy had planned, she didn’t doubt he might still do it because he could. It would impress Tom and Debbie would be afraid to disobey anything he said. Of course she had never seen Debbie refuse do anything Roy told her to do. In fact a lot of the time she would even suggest things for him to tell her to do. She couldn’t believe that she and Debbie had been raised in the same house. She and Debbie were nothing alike.

“Tom.” Roy said. “You come with me. When I give you the word, I want you to take Todd here down to the warehouse and leave her there, take the hat and put it on and walk back up to me.”

“You want me to take her down there and just leave her there?” Tom asked sounding confused.

“Yea dumbass. Just let her there and be sure you take the hat and put it on your head before you come back.” Roy answered sounding annoyed.

Tom shrugged his shoulders.

Roy looked at Debbie. “You take this high grass.” Roy took his knife and cut a few thick stalks of the surrounding high grass and handed them to her. He continued and finished explaining what he wanted her to do.

Debbie chuckled. “Sounds like fun.”

“Just stay out of sight and wait until I nod my head.” Roy said. “Now get in position.”

Roy watched as Debbie moved off through the woods.

Five minutes later he looked out from the high grass and saw her wave at him.

He looked back at Tom. “OK get up here and grab her arm. Stay behind her for cover in case that guy is holding a grudge.” Roy chuckled.

“What if he just starts shooting?” Tom asked sounding worried.

“I don’t think he will. If he wants little Todd here, he will go along with us and hope he actually gets her this time.” Roy smiled.

Roy grabbed Trish’s other arm and held her out in front of him, then started to walk out of the woods, into the high grass, then into the edge of the clearing. He reached in his pocket and pulled out the radio.

“Hey Pal. You home today?” Roy said into the radio.

Tony had been watching. “You have some nerve showing up here again today after that trick you pulled yesterday.”

But Tony knew they would be back, in fact today he was counting on it.

“I’m sorry about that.” Roy said.

“I’m sure you are.” Tony thought as he listened.

“When we took little Trish up to that tree and looked at her, we decided she was worth much more than two little cases of beans.” Roy added.

“Why didn’t you just say so? Maybe we could have renegotiated.” Tony replied.

“I’m really sorry about that. I am. I’m new to this negotiating stuff. I just didn’t know what to do at that point. I apologize.” Roy said. After releasing the button for the mic he added. “Yea I’m sorry we didn’t get in to the warehouse to help ourselves and kick your ass.”

“Let’s say I believe you.” Tony said. “Which I don’t” He thought.

“What do you want today?” Tony added.

“Well I was thinking Trish is worth at least a half dozen cases of canned goods.” Roy said.

“Well how about a case of beans, a case of Spaghetti-O’s, a case of beef jerky and a case of vegetable soup?” Tony replied.

“See I told you he would try to deal for the girl again.” Roy said quietly looking over at Tom before pushing down on the mic. “No that’s not enough.” Roy answered.

“After your trick yesterday, if you want to trade that’s all you are going to get.” Tony replied.

“We can’t do that. Little Trish here is worth a lot more. I think you would agree with me if you would have seen little Trish after we took her clothes yesterday.” Roy said.

Tony could hear the other asshole with him start to laugh before Roy released the mic.

Tony stared out at them. He would like to go out there and kick that guy’s ass, but not yet, let him talk.

He wasn’t sure if he should feel sorry for Trish or not, but that’s what he intended to find out before he did anything drastic.

When Tony didn’t answer back right away, Roy pushed the mic. “If you would like, I could give you a look.”

Trish tensed.

“No, that’s not necessary. I’ll take your word on that. I agree she may be worth a little more than I offered, but here is what I will offer. I trusted you yesterday and you ripped me off, so you will understand if I’m reluctant to trust you again. But giving you the benefit of the doubt that you just made a mistake yesterday, here is what I will consider doing. I will give you the four cases of food that I had offered. After I’m sure I have the girl, I’ll slide two more cases of anything else you want out the window to you.” Tony offered. Then under his breath and after he clicked off the radio he said quietly. “Mistake my ass!”

Roy smiled as he glanced over at Tom. He held the radio up to his face. “Being I screwed up yesterday, I think I can work with that.”

“I’m not going to go with you tying her to that tree again.” Tony said.

“How about this.” Roy said.

“This should be good.” Tony thought.

“How about I have my man here bring her down under your window near the side of the warehouse. You drop the food down. He will take the food and leave little Trish there at the base of the wall with her feet tied together. Will that work for you?” Roy asked.

“I can work with that.” Tony said.

“OK Good. I’m glad we could make this right.” Roy said. He had to release the mic so Tony wouldn’t hear him start to laugh.

“Go get our food. I’ll have my man bring her down.” Roy finished.

“I kind of figured you would be back. Do you see the blue tarp on the dock under my window?” Tony asked.

“Yea, I see it.” Roy replied.

“Under that tarp are the four cases of food I offered to trade. Like I said, I figured you would be back. I decided what I would be willing to trade and put it there. Tell your guy to take Trish down there. He can look under the tarp and see the food is there. He can take the food and leave her there.” Tony said.

Roy didn’t like the idea that this guy had anticipated that he would be back. This could be a trick. Maybe the guy had set a trap. But Roy smiled to himself. “Hey it’s worth a try. The worst that could happen would be he would lose Tom and the little bitch. He could live with that, if it happened.” He thought.

“That sounds fair.” Roy said into the radio.

“Take her down.” Roy instructed Tom. “Don’t forget to take the hat. Grab the food and get back here.”

Tom grabbed Trish. He grabbed her arm with one hand and her ass with his other hand.