“Smells like they hauled horses in here.”
“Or just their crap.” Jason glanced at Mark. “Poop. Sorry.”
Mark smirked and raised an eyebrow. “I can handle the word ‘crap.’”
“Good. Here, behind these boxes.” Jason pushed the stack of boxes around and crouched down, hiding himself from view of the doors at the back of the trailer. “Get down and stay down. Sounds like things are heating up out there.”
The pair pressed their ears up against the side of the trailer as
Tina’s shouting cut through, followed by the angry shouts and conversations of several nearby men. It was impossible to make out exactly what everyone was saying, but Tina was clearly very much alive and was acting the part of someone who was very upset to be taken prisoner. The men, meanwhile, were busy binding her hands while simultaneously wondering where she came from. Jason wondered with every new exclamation whether or not they would start searching the area and, if so, if they would search in the trailer. There was no reason for them to do so, but the fear persisted for several long, agonizing minutes until things began to change.
“She’s getting quieter.” Mark spoke softly.
“They’re taking her inside or out back, I’ll bet.”
“Maybe that means we’re going to be moving soon.”
The telltale clicks of doors opening and the soft thunks of them closing again signaled that the men from the truck were climbing back inside. The pitch of the engine changed abruptly and the trailer lurched as the truck pulled forward, sending Mark and Jason tumbling into the boxes.
“Does—does that mean it worked?” Mark pushed himself up into a crouch, keeping his center of gravity low to help counteract the swaying motion of the trailer.
“It got us on the trailer, so yeah. I just hope they aren’t going to hurt her too badly.”
***
“Where are the others?!”
Tina kept her eyes closed as Nealson struck her with an open-palmed slap across the face. She was old but never frail, and though each blow stung worse than the one before, she kept to the same line she had been using ever since she was dragged inside the community center and thrown into a chair.
“They burned to death. Like I keep telling you.”
Nealson turned and grabbed her by her jacket collar, pulling her roughly to her feet. His eyes were wide, his breath was rancid with the scent of stale coffee and his hair and beard were unkempt. “I know there were more people there with you! A man, maybe more children! Another woman, perhaps? Where are they!?”
Tina stiffened as he hit her again, then she shook her head and opened her eyes. It wasn’t hard to force a few tears out; the pain in her face ensured that. Getting her tone and her look just right was the difficult part. Her arms were free, the temporary binding having been cut away after he threw her into the chair. With the way he was holding her all she wanted to do was rip and claw at his face, tearing at his eyes and throat and making him suffer like he had made her husband and so many others suffer.
Doing so would jeopardize everything, though. Her life, Dianne’s life, Sarah’s life, the kids’ lives and more. So, instead of taking revenge, she unlocked the bottled-up pain from her husband’s death and used it. She breathed it in, letting it envelope her entire body and drive her every emotion.
“They’re dead.” She let loose a few ragged breaths before looking Nealson in the eye. “If you want to kill me, too, then just do it. It’s not like I have anything to live for anymore.”
“Why did you come here?”
“Was just trying to find shelter. How would I know you’d be here?”
Nealson growled at her before dropping her back into the chair. “Take her out back, with the others.” Two of the other men who had been standing nearby grabbed Tina from the chair and pulled her along in between them. Nealson watched her go, calling out just before she was taken out through the back door to the building.
“Nice to have you back again! Try not to leave us so soon this time, okay?”
***
The trailer jostled and shook, nearly throwing Jason and Mark off balance. They reached out and grabbed at the side of the structure for support as the road noise increased along with the bounciness of their ride.
“We must be close; road just turned to gravel.” More bumps accompanied a drastic sway of the trailer, confirming Jason’s words.
“So just a few more minutes till we get to the house. How are we going to do this when we get there?”
Jason put his hand on Mark’s shoulder, steeling himself for the uncomfortable conversion that he had been trying to avoid. “I think you should hang back, Mark. Hang back and let me do this.”
“Hang… back? To do what, try and flank them somehow?” Mark glanced around the trailer. “There aren’t any other exits from this thing. I’m not sure how—”