Live (NOLA Zombie Book 3) (19 page)

“What the fuck are you doing, Junior?” Senior ripped the tarp away from the shelves, causing a bunch of items to come crashing down around us. It actually was a good thing for Junior, because the tarp fell on Senior, impeding his view and allowing Junior to put his dick away and step back from me. Too bad, I would have liked to see Senior shoot Junior. That would have been epic.
 

“Jesus, Dad, what the hell?” he cried, playing dumb.

“You fucking my property?” Senior managed to get the tarp off of him and survey what was going on. He saw me sitting on the bed and Junior standing to the side.

“Nah, I ain’t fucking her, just talking to her. She seems like she’s got an attitude. Damn, Senior, get off my fucking back, I wouldn’t fuck your property. Get up, bitch.” He yanked me to my feet and pushed me to his father. I managed to stay upright this time and stopped in time to avoid slamming into the scowling father.

“You keep my property out of your area. I don’t care what you were doing with her. You ain’t president yet and won’t be for a long time, kid.” The old man scowled at his son. It was obvious there was no love lost between these two. But what could you expect from a bunch of drug-using rapists?
 

Senior grabbed my arm and propelled me out of the destroyed area and back toward the sofa. I sat back down in my customary spot and continued to watch the depraved drama play out before my eyes. I was a conscientious witness, not a participant. Every once in a while Senior would try something on me. He would fondle me or make me do some ridiculous stunt. At those points in time, I would check out, it helped to relive happier times. I didn’t think about Zach or Blake, that would only destroy me. I thought back to pre-Z, maybe a night out with the girls or times spent with my parents when they were on the straight and narrow. It helped to not think about what I was doing.
 

I must have gotten too inwardly focused because a hard slap knocked me back into the present and I had to shake my head to get back to what I was doing. Senior had Melinda and me, along with another girl, dancing for him while he did line after line on the counter. I didn’t know how he managed to ingest that much poison, but he kept standing, kept hollering and even managed to dance behind me, rubbing his rough jeans against my naked body.
 

“Come on, rub on her,” he crooned in my ear, spittle flecking the side of my face. He took a chug from the bottle he was holding in his hand and leered as he had me pet and stroke a girl whose name I didn’t even know.

I knew it was the end. I couldn’t deal with this anymore. Melinda and I managed to make eye contact and with one motion of her hand the plan was placed into action. It would be tonight. I was getting the fuck out of here. Melinda had gotten herself some help.
 

I caught her eye one more time as Senior dragged me into his office and Melinda walked off with one of the enforcers. She smiled weakly and winked. It was the best reassurance I could get. If this plan failed, we would both be killed. There was no question about it.
 

BLAKE

“She’s alive,” Romeo said the moment he walked into the classroom.

“Jesus.” Zach placed both of his hands on the desk and dropped his head as if bowed in prayer.

“They have her dressed like a slut, and it’s obvious they are manhandling her, but she looks fine, alive, still with it. It’s Lex.”
 

“Then I guess we know what we gotta do,” I said.

“Take those fuckers down,” Zach laughed.
 

“Tonight, a couple hours before dawn, we go in hard.” For once I felt like this nightmare was almost over.

ALEXIS

That night I managed five minutes to myself. Senior had a mirror in his office and I glanced at myself self-consciously. I didn’t even recognize the woman that peered back at me. My eyes were huge, almost like I was in a perpetual state of shock, and there were dark circles underneath my eyes. The bruising on my face from that first night had faded to a nasty yellow. My long dark hair, which was my one vanity, was now limp and greasy since I hadn’t been able to bathe in anything more than that stupid tub in the back room. I had even begun to fade out, my usually dark, tan skin, inherited from my Mother’s South American roots, was now ashy from lack of sunlight and vitamins.
 

“I knew you was a vain one,” the old wretch said as he pushed himself into the room and I stepped back from the mirror.
 
He began to undress, his old skin hanging from his skinny frame. At first I had thought he was an attractive older man, his salt and pepper hair making him look distinguished. But now I saw him for the disgusting addict he was.
 

Luckily for me, his dick still laid limp and small against his leg. There wasn’t even a twitch from his useless member as he again yanked on it like a spoiled child trying to get a rise out of a scared cat.
 

“You just don’t have what it takes to get me hard, you ugly ass bitch, look at this shit!” he growled gesturing to his flaccid cock. He strode across the room and grabbed me by my hair, flinging me to the bed and forcing me on my hands and knees. I didn’t say a word, I held completely still. Hopefully, it would be like the night before, his inability to achieve an erection driving him to more drinking and then eventually passing out.
 

“I’m going to show you some respect, bitch, I can tell you’re laughing at me, all quiet and shit. I know you think you’re better than me, but you’re not.” He grabbed something and slammed it down hard on my back. It was some kind of stick that was pliable and it made a resounding whack as it came down hard on my back. It stung like a bitch and had me splaying across the bed, my arms and legs akimbo as they gave out. I couldn’t help myself, I screamed out in pain. The red hot intensity of the blow shot through me and brought tears to my eyes. I did manage to stay clear in my head enough to fall further toward the end of the bed, closer to my knife.

He struck me again and I pulled away in pain, pushing myself further up and toward the side of the bed. My hand was now hanging over the edge. Just a little bit more. I could take this. Another blow.
I couldn’t take this
. Another blow.
I couldn’t.
Another blow.
No one…could take this.

Pain. All I knew was pain.
 

With the next blow I screamed, trying to expel the feelings that were about to burst out of me, the pain that felt like it would crack my skull open and burst forth in black rivulets from my eye sockets. If I didn't relieve the pressure I might implode. I almost let it overtake me. I almost let the darkness eat at me. My vision began flashing with white lights. The intensity was so great that I was panting, dizzy, and the bursts behind my eyes were intensifying. I began to sob, I couldn’t help it. I was sobbing so hard I coughed, spittle flying from my mouth as he hit me again and again. It hurt so badly and he was hitting me hard enough that I was afraid my skin was busting open. I felt the bed move as he crawled onto it with me.
 

Was he done with the beating?
I didn’t even want to imagine what was next.
 

“If my dick can’t fuck you, maybe you’ll like this.” I heard the clatter of something as he rummaged around on the shelves near the bed. I couldn’t picture in my muddled brain what was up there, but I knew, whatever it was, wasn’t good. Did he plan on raping me with something? The old bastard couldn’t get it up so he would use something else?

I wanted to let go, just fall onto the bed and let the blackness take me. But I couldn’t.

I had to fight back.
 

I focused on the lines of fire on my back. I focused until it was just me in the room, me and my pain and the anger that was saturating every cell of my body. With each pant, with each sob I let Senior hear, with each weakness that I showed, my anger grew until I was ready to explode.
 

It was time.

I didn’t stop and think about it. My time had run out. I would either sit here like a fucking sheep while he violated me, or I would fight back. There was no guarantee that I would survive. I had planned on taking him out tonight while he slept, but I couldn’t take this anymore. I could come back from a beating…if something else happened would I be strong enough?
 

He fell on top of me, his nasty hands pawing at me, pushing at places I didn’t even want to acknowledge.
 
I used his momentum to push myself further to the edge, my hand reaching down under the mattress and gripping the hilt of the knife.
I had it.
 

I felt him press something against my ass and I squirmed away, crying out as he pressed harder with whatever it was.
 

“You gonna like this,” he hissed. I glanced over my shoulder, he was intent on whatever he was doing, eyes focused on my naked ass.

It was now or never.

In one motion, I turned underneath him, throwing him off balance. He was a skinny fuck, and I still had some of my strength. He fell back as I used my tinier frame to move up and under him in those defense moves that Zach had taught me what seemed like ages ago. My back screamed in pain, but I ignored it.

He didn’t expect me to fight back. This was the first time I had ever shown a lick of defiance since that first night. His eyes were as round as saucers as my arm came around, the knife held firmly in my grip. I plunged it into the most accessible piece of flesh that was available. It happened to be his stomach.

Warmblood gushed over my hand and I yanked the knife out hard, the belly tissue soft and pliable for the sharp blade.
 

His hands went to his stomach and he lifted them, surprised at the blood that coated them. There was a stupid look on his face that made me wish I had a camera to capture it forever.
Bye bye, Senior.
A one-way ticket to Hell, coming right up.

He cried out and his feeble hands came up to try and fight me off, but I was motivated.
Really fucking motivated.

The second stab was harder and deflected off of his ribs. I yanked back quickly, not wanting to give him any time to recover. With the third, I hit pay dirt and it cleanly went through the space between his ribs, plunging in and taking out his lung. The gasp of air that he expelled and the blood on his lips confirmed my target.
 

Using the hilt of the knife, I punched him hard in the face to get him off of me. He had been fighting me hard, but I barely noticed it. We were both nude and I was the one with the weapon. It was almost too easy.
 

I pushed his dazed ass off of me and he fell on his back on the bed. He wasn’t dead yet and was gasping like a fish. He still had some time before he met his maker. I looked down at him, his eyes had clouded over. I hoped all the horrors he had visited on other people were flashing before his eyes. If there was any justice in this godforsaken world there would be a hell and he would be joining his evil compatriots shortly. My newly formed nihilistic frame-of-mind didn’t think so, but a girl could hope.

I had no more time for Brandon Senior. I didn’t even gift him with a parting shot or a bit of gloating. I stood from the bed, catching my reflection in the mirror again. I was covered in blood. It was even smeared across my face and down across my breasts. I was red to the elbows and the bloody knife was still gripped tightly in my hand. Even my hair was matted with the red liquid.

There I was.
Welcome back, Alexis.

ALEXIS

I managed to scrounge up a t-shirt and a pair of jeans that didn’t look too big. I rolled them a few times to get them to stay in place and then slipped on Senior’s boots, which were oversized and clumsy. I was better off barefoot, so I pushed them to the side.
 

I would have to wait for the place to clear out. I could still hear the sound of voices and the occasional laughter as the men continued to party outside the office. It was the longest hours of my life.

What if someone came in? What if Senior was needed? Could I take anyone that came through the door?
 

I searched around the room some more, to the backdrop of Senior's death gurgles. I was looking for weapons or anything I could use to facilitate my escape. Senior was lazy about stowing his gear and I found three handguns and a holster piled on a chair. I put the holster on, cinching it to my body, and placed the third gun in the big man pocket of the jeans. I also found two more knives which were subsequently placed at my back and in another pocket.
 

If they did come in, I would have to shoot them and that would draw the men. I didn’t have enough ammunition and I wasn’t that good of a shot to take out the entire crew.
 

It was my only option though.
 

I went through the entire room again, loading up on as much ammunition as I could. I even got to look in the other mystery room, which turned out to be only a closet with of all things, paper money stacked in neat rows on shelf after shelf.
 
What a waste of space. There was room for a body, though. An idea struck me and I went over to the bed where Senior lay. He was close, he would turn soon. I yanked and pulled on him, his body hit the floor with a loud thunk. I took him by his legs and pulled him toward the closet.