Night of Vengeance (4 page)

Chapter 9

     Colt sat in his truck and watched the mayhem unfold around him. He wasn’t sure he’d trusted this Jo
e fellow, but his own brother vouched for him. So far, Colt was impressed with Joe and his crew. Men with bats, clubs and tire irons were busting into the stores. The employees were running out screaming, only to be beaten or shot or stabbed to death in the parking lot. Colt stepped out of the truck to get a better look at the madness he had caused.

     There was a fat man running out of a video game store. He was wearing a shirt and tie, so Colt figured he was a manager. One of Jo
e’s men was right behind him with a gas can, dousing him in gasoline. The man then lit the fat man on fire. Colt was almost fifty feet away and he could hear the man’s screams as he ran in circles flailing about. Had it not been so horrific to watch, it would have been comical. Finally the man collapsed as his body continued to burn.

     Colt walked over and looked down at what used to be a fat video game store manager. He took out a cigarette and knelt down next to the burning body and lit the cigarette
with the flames. He stood and saw Joe’s man with the gas can. He was looking at Colt with a hint of fear in his eyes.

     “Good work kid,” Colt said. “Go have some fun.”

     “Yessir,” the young man said before he ran off.

     Colt jumped after an explosion went off behind him. One of the stores had just been blown sky high. There
were about five or six of Joe’s men lying dead near the exploded storefront. Idiots. Colt had figured some of them would kill themselves with the dynamite. Apparently not everyone realizes you can’t throw a bunch of sticks of it into a building and stand five feet away while it goes off. Those clowns sure won’t be doing that again. He walked back to the truck and climbed inside. He didn’t think he’d missed anything.

     The strip mall sat on the main road out of town. He figured any minute, Sheriff Briggs should go tearing through there. From what he knew of Briggs, the man didn’t have a heroic bone in his body.
Joe’s men had been ordered not to hurt Briggs, so Colt figured Briggs would hightail it out of town as soon as he could.

     As he watched the stores burning and all the violence around him, he noticed something he hadn’t expected. It wasn’t just Jo
e’s crew causing damage. He saw a group of teenagers pull an old man out of a car and stab him. These kids couldn’t have been more than fifteen or sixteen. Another motorist had pulled a gun on her attackers and shot at least three of them before the others overpowered her.

     The townspeople were joining in. This
was so much more interesting than he’d expected. Some folks this night would be victims, while others would learn what they are capable of. He was shaken from his thoughts by a rock hitting his passenger window. A group of angry teens was running toward him. They were waving sticks and knives. He grabbed the AK-47 from the floor and hopped out of the truck. It looked like it was about to be his turn to shed some real blood.

     As he walked around the truck, the kids were screaming and laughing which sounded like a pack of hyenas being tortured. They ran faster toward him once he stepped out of the truck, until they saw the AK in his hands. The smiles and laughter disappeared quickly from their faces as they almost tripped over each other trying to stop. He gave them a minute to gather themselves and start running the other direction, and then he opened fire.

     It only took seconds before he’d mowed each of the boys down. There had been one girl among them, she looked older, eighteen maybe. She was the only one who didn’t run away. Colt wasn’t sure if she froze due to fear, or if she had just resigned to her fate. The others all died being shot in the back, a coward’s way to go. Blood sprayed and splattered as Colt filled them with bullets from the high powered weapon. One took a round to the back of the head causing his face to explode.

     Colt walked among the bodies and was sure they were all dead.
He hadn’t intended to kill all these kids, but they were in his way and he wasn’t about to be beaten down by a bunch of teenage shitheads. He turned back to his truck and climbed back inside. Just as he got situated, he saw Briggs drive by. He was going full speed with his lights and siren on, except he was headed away from the emergency. Perfect.

     Colt put the truck into gear and pulled out of the parking lot. He had to speed up quite a bit to catch up to Briggs, but he had no trouble doing so. While he could have easily killed Briggs instantly, he wanted to have some fun with him first. It was important Briggs knew who was killing him and why. That and he wanted him to suffer.

     It was hard for Colt to believe that many years ago he had been the Sheriff of this town. He was a compassionate and caring man back in those days. Unlike Briggs, he had risked his own life many times to save someone else’s. Those days were long over though. Colt was nothing more but a soulless vessel seeking vengeance: vengeance in the form of the most human pain and suffering he could dish out. So far, he was off to a good start.

Chapter 10

     Briggs raced through the town, passed the strip mall and toward the city limits. Houston was a few hundred miles away, but he didn’t plan on stopping until he got there. It was hard to ignore all of the death, fire and explosions happening around him, but he managed. Granted, this wasn’t the behavior of a dutiful peace officer, but Briggs had always believed in self-preservation above all things. Not to mention, Colt Stillman was around town somewhere, and he didn’t want to run into him.

     As he raced past the outskirts, he glanced into the rearview mirror. There was a pickup truck behind him. He couldn’t tell if it belonged to the thugs tearing up the town, or another person trying to escape. He looked back to the road and swerved to avoid a dead body lying in the road. The swerve scared the hell out of him since he almost lost control of the cruiser. Once he’d regained control, he looked back up in the mirror and saw the truck was getting closer. The truck also ran right over the dead body as it gained on Briggs.

     “Son of a bitch,” Briggs said as he watched the truck approaching. He stomped on the gas, holding it to the floor as he pulled away from the pickup. The truck held its distance though, and started closing the distance again.

     “Shit, fuck me!” Briggs shouted as he watched the truck getting closer. The road took a sharp curve just ahead. Briggs steered the car around the curve, but his speed was just over 120 mph. It was a much sharper curve than it looked however,
and the cruiser slid off the road, down a small hill, rolled several times and came to a stop upside down in a field.

     Briggs struggled at his seatbelt which was digging into his neck and shoulder. He tasted blood in the back of his mouth
.  He tried to reach for his gun, he couldn’t move his left arm. It was either pinned or broken. The pickup truck pulled up and stopped on the shoulder of the road. He couldn’t see it, but knew it had to be the truck by the sound. The truck door slammed as footsteps moved closer to the car.

     He kept going for his gun, but his belt had moved in the accident and his gun was pinned behind him. A pair of boots was suddenly standing next to the driver’s side window and a man knelt down. The man was Colt Stillman.

     “Well hey Sheriff. It’s been a long time,” Colt said. Briggs froze with fear at the sight of Stillman. Last time he’d seen Colt, Briggs was in his teens. Colt was an athletic young man with short hair and a friendly smile. Now, he was a weathered older man with long, stringy hair down to his shoulder. He had a scar down the side of his face and a permanent smirk.

    “Hey Colt. You think you could help me out here? It’s uh, good to see you. Glad to see you made it out of prison finally. It’s a shame what happened to you back then.”

     “Oh well you’re all concerned about me now are ya? That’s mighty Christian of ya Sheriff. Last time I saw you, you were in high school. Looks like you moved up in the world.”

     “Yeah, I guess so. Um, I’d love to spend more time playing catch up, but could you maybe help me out here? Hanging upside down in this wreck is making me lightheaded
,” Briggs asked. He knew Colt hated his father, but was hoping he had some goodwill left in him. In the back of his mind, he wondered if Colt was behind the rioting going on in town, but pushed the thought away.

     “Sure, no problem,” Colt said as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a large bowie knife.

     “Now, hey man! Don’t do anything crazy! You just got out of the slammer. I’d hate to see you go back over an old grudge!” Briggs yelled as panic set in while the blade moved closer. He felt the cold steel against his neck as it pressed against his flesh. Briggs closed his eyes, waiting on his throat to be cut. Instead he fell from his seat onto the ceiling of the squad car. Pain shot up his left shoulder as he landed on his broken arm.

     “Aw shit!”
he yelled as he looked up to see the severed seat belt. Colt used the knife to cut him out. Maybe he was just trying to help. He heard Colt grunting as he pulled the door open and bent back down next to Briggs.

     “Ok Sheriff, time to get you outta here.” Colt said as he pulled him from the car. Briggs howled in pain as he held his broken left arm.

     “Not so loud, you sound like a little girl Briggs. That’s not very manly of you,” Colt said.

     “Sorry man. This shit hurts.”

     “Why are you out here anyway? You’re the Sheriff, your town is going to hell and you’re leaving? What kind of Sheriff does that?”

     “What kind of Sheriff kills the mayor’s wife?” Briggs asked, instantly regretting it. Colt’s smirk turned into a scowl as he leaned down, grabbing him by the shirt.

     “Now Sheriff, that wasn’t very nice. You know as much as anyone it was your daddy who killed your mama. But that’s all in the past. I’m here for the future.”

     “Future of what?” Briggs asked.

     Colt stood upright and raised his arms out to his sides.

     “The future of Peace, Texas! The future of Colt Stillman! Sheriff Briggs, rejoice, today is the last day of the rest of your life!”

Chapter 11

    
The burly man walked around the restaurant with a twisted smile on his face. Melissa sat on the ground next to the counter holding her shirt closed. With some of the commotion, the men had forgotten about her, at least temporarily. The men went around the restaurant taking turns raping and beating each of the women, even the old ones. It wasn’t about sex for them, it was about the violence, control and humiliation.

    
Screaming and crying filled the dining room. The men stood by silent and helpless as their captors had their way with each of the women. Melissa almost felt guilty that they’d barely touched her till this point.

     “Bet you think we forgot about you didn’t you?”
the burly man said standing over her. So much for that thought. “Didn’t you!”

     “Um, n-n-no
,” she whimpered.

     “Well good. You’re the finest piece of ass in here. We saved you for last!” He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her onto the counter as she screamed. He turned to look at Chad who had been sitting in the corner watching the whole thing. “Watch closely sport, might wanna take some notes
,” the man said as he ripped her clothes off of her while his pals held her down. She didn’t bother screaming at this point.

     The burly man entered her first. He smelled like grease and sweat as his beard and long, dirty hair brushed against her breasts. She closed her eyes and tried to think
of something, anything that would take her away from this place. The burly man hardened and throbbed inside her as he grunted, his whiskey breath stinging her nose. He climaxed inside her as she tensed up, gritting her teeth as his unwelcome, disgusting sperm filled her. He pulled out of her and let out a howl.

     “Yeah! Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! That right there is some grade A, prime pussy! You boys gotta get you some a this! Everyone gets a turn!”

     She looked up just in time to see another of the thugs mounting her.

     “Oh god…” she moaned as she closed her eyes again, cringing as he entered her.

     “See guys! She loves it! Fuckin’ whore!” one of the men shouted.

     Each of the men took his turn with her, something they hadn’t done with the other women. Once the last man had
come inside her, they weren’t even holding her down anymore. She just laid on the counter, staring off into space. As if they hadn’t done enough, the burly man turned to the dining room.

     “Ok boys, I’m gonna give you guys a treat! Which of you wants a turn?”
he asked his captives. The men all sat around, looking at each other. An old man in the back of the dining room cleared his throat, getting the burly man’s attention. He walked straight to the old man and grabbed him by his shirt.

     “Hey pops! Whaddya say we see how much lead is left in that pencil
,” the burly man asked.

     “Um, no, that’s quite alright
,” the old man said. He’s already watched his wife and granddaughter being raped, both of them sat silently on the floor next to him.

     “This one is on me pops! Can’t let you kick the bucket without having a piece of this tight, young pussy.” He dragged the man up to the front near Melissa and yanked the man’s pants down.

     “Go on pops! Hit that shit!” the burly man said. The old man just stood there embarrassed, holding his hands over his groin. “What’s wrong? You a faggot? You want to nail bitch boy back there instead?” he said pointing at Chad. The old man shook his head frantically. “Ok then. Stick yer dick in her, or we’ll have another go round at your ladies over there.”

     The old man moved his hands and stood over Melissa. He took his flaccid penis and rubbed it up and down her labia, trying to excite himself enough.

     “I’m sorry,” he said to Melissa who didn’t answer. She was starting to become more aware of what was going on. She found herself feeling sorrier for this old guy than herself. She didn’t want to be raped, but didn’t want him to see his wife and granddaughter hurt any further either. Somehow the old man managed to get hard enough to enter her. She could barely feel it as he worked in and out. She closed her eyes again trying to think of something else until it was over.    

     The thoughts that came to her
were going fishing with her dad when she was little. It was always so quiet as he baited her hook and cast her line out for her. The first time she got a bite, he stood over her as she slowly reeled her line in. The fish tried to tug and pull on her line, almost yanking the Barbie fishing pole out of her hands, but her dad held onto it as she reeled. Finally she pulled in her first fish. In remembering, it wasn’t a big fish at all, but at the time she was only five, so it looked huge to her.

     As the thought faded, she opened her eyes and saw a totally different guy on top of her. This one was one of the younger men from the restaurant. They were going to have every single guy rape her before they were done. Would they kill her once they were finished? She hoped so. There were only so many nice memories she could retreat into. Once those were gone, there was no way she could face what had been done to her. The best thing for her would be sleep. At least that’s what it felt like. Once the last man was done with her, the burly man walked over and looked down at her.

     “You have fun whore? That was some fun shit. Don’t worry. We’re not gonna kill you. That’d be a waste of some great pussy. Gonna save you for later.”

     He turned and faced the rest of the dining room.

     “Ok folks! We got a long night ahead of us. Time to blow this joint. Literally. Let’s go boys.”

     The other men all grabbed each of the hostages and started duct taping them to the tables and to each other. There was more crying and screaming, but no one resisted. The burly man and his crew had singlehandedly broken everyone in the restaurant. They had no fight left. That is, until they started pouring gasoline over everyone.

     For some reason, they didn’t bind Chad and Melissa with the rest. She still lie naked on the counter in a daze, watching the scene unfold in front of her. The rest of the hostages began to scream and struggle frantically once they realized their fate.

     “Sorry folks,”
the burly man said. “I know this will hurt a lot, but figured what better way to tear down a barbecue place? Haha!” He turned and they all walked outside. “Hey Romeo,” he said to Chad. “Go get your girlfriend and bring her outside.” As the men walked out.

     Chad
went over and grabbed Melissa by the hand, trying to pull her up.

     “Come on!” he said. “Get up!”
But there was no answer. She just looked up at the ceiling. “God, you’re such a needy bitch!” he said as he threw her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. He would have left her there to burn if the burly man and his crew hadn’t demanded he bring her. One thing for sure, he did not want to cross those guys. Once outside, the burly man pointed to a pickup truck.

     “Put her in back and climb in. You guys are goin’ for a ride.”

     As Chad climbed in, the burly man lit a match and tossed it into the doorway, instantly engulfing the restaurant in flames. The hostages screamed the most horrific, shrill sounds Chad had ever heard. The smell of the smoke and flames burned their nostrils as the screaming slowly died down. The burly man climbed into the passenger’s side of the truck as the rest of the men climbed in back with Melissa and Chad. They all sat staring and smiling at them as the truck started up and drove toward town. Melissa looked up as the smoke rose into the evening sky. She watched wishing she could drift up in the air with it, and fade into the night, just like the smoke.