He opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a towel and washcloth. Turning on the shower he quickly stepped out of his jeans. The hot water washing over him was the first thing that had felt right all day. He washed his hair, then concentrated on scrubbing all of the blood from his body. There had been thirteen bodies in all, and countless skeletal remains down in the hole. He couldn’t imagine the horror and fear that those people had felt being led there and tossed to the monsters below.
He dried off and put his briefs back on, grabbed his jeans from the counter and looked them over. There were spots of blood here and there, but nothing like what was on his shirt. Stepping back into them, he pulled them up and fastened the buttons.
Mitch opened the bathroom door and turned toward the master bedroom. Time to go shopping for a new shirt. When he reached the room and opened the door, he was surprised by the slam of force that knocked into him the moment he walked through it. The person who had slammed into him was obviously just as surprised by Mitch as he was of her.
He stood leaning against the wall he had been knocked into and took a deep breath; willing his heartbeat to calm down. The girl couldn’t be more than nine or ten. Her wrists were bound and there were ropes lying on the floor that he bet had once bound her ankles. She must have worked her feet free before he opened the door.
“Who are you?” she asked her voice an equal mix of fear and anger.
“I’m Mitch. The man who had you here had a friend of mine too. I came to rescue him,” he told her, standing with his hands slightly raised to show her that she was in control here.
“Did you find him?” she asked.
“Who?” Mitch questioned, not sure who she was referring to.
“Your friend!” she sighed.
“Yes, yes we found him. We took care of everything here, so it’s safe now,” he finished. HIs voice was soft, soothing. Who knows what this girl had been through, the only thing he wanted to do was set her at ease.
“Mister, I’m not sure where you’ve been, but this is the apocalypse. Nobody’s safe anymore,” she said, her eyes hard and level.
He took her in for a moment. One of her braids was loose, causing a cascade of dark hair to hang in her face on one side. Her cheeks were rosy from the physical act of plowing into him when he opened the door. She was still standing with her feet spread and her legs slightly bent, ready to pounce again if needed. This girl wasn’t going to lie down and die. This girl was going to fight.
“Can I free your hands for you?” he asked, hoping she would relax a bit, he didn’t want her to run when he released her. “We can take you with us if you’d like. My friends and I are going back to my place. There are other kids there, and you won’t need to worry about things like food and a warm place to sleep.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said, thrusting her arms out in front of her; a silent plea to be released.
“So, what should I call you?” he asked, as he cut the rope that had bound her.
“Hayden,” she said, as she rubbed her wrists where the restraints had dug into her skin. “Now can I ask you something?” she questioned, pausing long enough for him to nod. “Where’s your shirt?”
“Oh!” he laughed, looking down at himself. He had momentarily forgotten what he came in here for in the first place. “That’s what I was looking for when I came in,” he chuckled as he walked over to the closet.
When Mitch opened the door, he half expected something else to jump out at him. Fortunately, it was nothing but your average closet. It took a bit of digging to find one that looked like it would fit. The black long-sleeved shirt was a bit snug through the shoulders but was certainly better than the one that was drenched in blood. He took a moment to stretch his arms back and forth to loosen the fabric. When he turned around, he was startled to see that Hayden was right behind him.
“This isn’t the time for exercise Mister!” she said with a huff, crossing her arms and giving him the look. The look that girls master in early childhood and perfect throughout their lives. The look that says “you are the inferior form of the species.” His daughter had perfected this look, and it always had the intended effect on him.
He dropped his arms at his sides feeling foolish for no good reason. “I was just stretching out the shirt,” he told her.
“Ooo kay, well are you done now so we can get outa here? This place is terrible,” she said, showing the first hint of vulnerability he had seen from her.
She pushed up beside him and laced her fingers into his. “So how many friends do you have here?” she whispered.
“There are three other men here, my friends, Mike, and Travis, and a young man named Henry that we found in one of the other bedrooms.”
“You mean, I’m not the only survivor? I thought he had people in the other rooms but I wasn’t sure. He took all of the others that were with me, I thought I was the only one left,” she finished, her voice a hollow monotone.
He gave her small hand a gentle squeeze. He couldn’t imagine the horrors she had been through in the last week, he hoped that he could offer her some small comfort in the madness.
“Whoa, where did she come from?” Mike asked, choking briefly on the food he was eating when they walked into the kitchen.
“I guess Travis didn’t finish the sweep he started when we got here,” Mitch answered. “This is Hayden, she was being held in the master bedroom.”
Travis’ face went white at the sight of the girl. “Shit, I’m sorry! I got distracted with my buddy Perk, and I never finished the sweep. Did you check the last room? Shit, I’m going to go finish now,” he stammered, setting down his plate and pulling his weapon from his holster.
Mitch erupted in laughter. “Glad to see you’re taking everything so seriously, Travis,” he said, once he caught his breath.
Hayden stood to the side with her arms crossed in front of her. Mitch could tell that she was feeling vulnerable standing in a room full of men, but her chin jutted out in defiance. As he glanced down at her, he noticed for the first time that she was missing a shoe. There were large holes in the knees of her pants and he could see scabs forming underneath. When Gus grabbed her, she must have put up quite a fight.
“Let’s get you something to eat, Hayden,” Mitch said, as he began looking for the right cupboard to find another plate.
“They’re here,” Mike said pulling a plate from the cupboard behind him. “I’ll get you something to drink,” he told Hayden as he opened another door, he reached inside, and took down a glass.
“Water please, I’m so thirsty,” she said, reaching for the glass as soon as he finished filling it at the tap. When she emptied it, and passed it back to him, he filled it once more.
“Thank you,” she said simply, putting the glass beside the plate that Mitch had put on the counter for her.
Mitch watched her eat the food and wondered how long Gus had been holding her. “Do you know how long you were kept here?” he asked as she cleaned her plate.
“A few days at least, it’s hard to keep track. He had us locked up in town before. The people who lived, he brought here,” she said quietly staring at her feet.
“How many was that?” Mike asked.
“Just four,” she said taking a big shaky breath. “Look Mister, if you’re looking for the facts, here it is. That man Gus, he was a monster. Worse than any of the others. I was going to kill him, I had a plan, I wasn’t going to let him feed me to them, and then you came along and beat me to it, which is okay I guess. Just so long as he’s really dead,” she finished, glancing up at him with crystal clear blue eyes, from behind the curtain of hair that hung in her face.
Mitch didn’t say anything as he finished eating his food. Travis came back from his sweep at the back of the house with a despondent look on his face. When his eyes met Mitch’s, he shook
his head “no” once; letting Mitch know that there were no more survivors. The dark blood that was dripping from the tip of his knife didn’t escape Mitch though. There had been something back there still.
“Hayden, would you like to clean up a bit now that you’re finished eating?”
He watched as she reached up and touched the limp greasy hair that hung in her face. He caught the look of disgust that crossed her features before she quickly traded it for indifference. “I’m fine,” she said her chin jutting out once more.
“Hayden, we need to figure out our next plan. I’ll take a look around here and see if I can find you something clean to put on. We’ll make sure it’s safe for you while you’re in there,” Mitch finished, never taking his eyes off of the girls fixed gaze. This was an issue of trust. He could tell she wasn’t certain that she could trust them all yet. Smart girl. Even though Mitch knew that she was safe with them, there was no way for her to know that, not yet anyway. He felt an odd swell of pride for this little girl, she was right to not let her guard down.
“The bathroom door locks from the inside. You’ll be safe in there,” Mitch told her. “You get cleaned up and I’ll see if I can find some clothes. I’ll just leave them outside the door if I find something that I think will work.”
He walked back down the hall and smiled when he heard her catch up behind him. He was glad she gave in. The girl could really use a bath. Stopping at the bathroom, he turned on the light for her, walked in, and pulled out a towel and washcloth. “There is soap and shampoo in there. Take your time,” he said as he walked back out of the bathroom.
The first room he looked in only held an empty dresser and a collection of old blankets lined the shelves in the closet. He hoped he could find something for the kid, her clothes were ready for the fire.
He walked into the far bedroom at the end of the hall and felt a surge of hope. He had heard about Karen’s tragedy from one of the other neighbor’s years ago. Mitch shook his head. He hated idle gossip and could never figure out why people always felt the need to spread stories of sorrow. He could only imagine the tales about him and his family that must have circulated around the mountain.
The room looked like it belonged to a young girl. There was a pretty purple quilt that covered the bed and a few beloved stuffies that lay in the center. The accident had been so long ago, he was a bit surprised to find the room like it was, although everyone handled grief differently.
He pulled open a dresser drawer and let out a sigh of relief. The drawer was stuffed full of little girl things. He had no idea what size Hayden would wear, but when he held out a t-shirt it looked like it would fit well enough. He grabbed a few things to take out to her. When she finished her shower, he would have her pack a bag from the room. After rummaging through the rest of the drawers, Mitch found everything she would need. Including a fuzzy blue sweater that looked nice and warm.
Satisfied, he gathered the small pile and turned to go. As he turned, he could see a small shoe sticking out beneath a blanket that was lying on the floor beside the bed. He set the clothes back down and crouched to lift the corner of the blanket. A deeper searing hatred for Gus bubbled up inside of him and he had to fight the urge to scream out.
Under the blanket was a small boy about Jimmy’s size. He was bound tightly at the wrists and ankles with a gag over his mouth. “He’d turned Mitch, I had to put him down,” Travis said quietly from behind him.
“Jesus Christ, Travis! You shouldn’t sneak up on people,” Mitch growled in irritation, letting the blanket fall back over the boy. He bent his head and said a silent prayer for the tiny loss of life.
“I’ll take him out.” Travis approached timidly, scooped the boy up in his arms, and left the room.
Mitch took a moment to just breathe through the anger and sadness that were roiling around inside of him, making his thoughts turn dark and muddy. He took one last deep breath and stood back up. He grabbed the clothes and left the room.
He stopped at the bathroom and tapped on the door. The shower water had just shut off. “Hayden, I found some clothes that I think will work, I’ll leave them out here,” he said, placing the clothes on the floor. “The last bedroom on the left has a dresser full of clothes that are about your size, once you’re dressed I want you to go pick out a few things to take when we go,” he finished, as he headed toward the kitchen.
Mike was standing next to Henry when Mitch reached the kitchen. He could tell that their conversation was solemn by the weight that hung around Mike’s shoulders. He could feel a similar weight around his own.
“Talk to me Tank,” he said slapping Mike’s back as he walked past.
“There’s a Dually parked out by the barn and a horse trailer on the other side. I think we should load up and get the hell out of here. Maybe grab a few things for Dave before we go, I don’t think we’ll be coming back this way any time soon,” Mike laid it out for him.
“Henry, you need to grab a shower before we go, no offense but I don’t want to be stuck in the cab of a truck with you smelling the way you do,” Mitch laughed, noticing for the first time just how dirty the kid was. “The master is the last room on the right, you’ll be able to find something down there, they might be a bit big but hey, beggars can’t be choosers.”
Henry glanced down at his pants and cringed. “I am a little ripe,” he said with a disgusted look on his face. He pushed off his chair and headed down the hall.
“Two more,” Mike said with a sigh. “The house is filling up fast Addie, are you sure about taking them on? They have shelter here, and food. We wouldn’t be leaving them helpless.”
The anger that Mitch had tried to stamp down in the bedroom ignited inside him once again. “They’re kids! Leaving them here would be a death sentence for both of them and you know it! I don’t know if you somehow missed this, but we’re on the endangered species list now. Anyone that I find that isn’t trying to do us harm has a place in my house. You got it?” he finished, just inches from Mike’s face.
“Relax Addie, I just had to be sure you knew what you were getting into. They could be dangerous. Who knows what Gus has done to them,” Mike growled, his calm facade slipping for a moment to show an equal mix of anger and fear hidden below.
“If they had been bitten or scratched they would have changed by now. I’m not leaving them here based on fear, Mike. We need to band together now. We’ve all lost everything, I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose my humanity too,” Mitch said, as he walked to the key rack hanging beside the back door.
There were enough keys on the rack to rival the nearest car lot. Of course, this wouldn’t be simple. He pulled them all down and placed them on the counter, and began sorting them by size and style. When he was finished, he had twelve keys that belonged to vehicles; the pile for door locks was substantially bigger.
Travis came back in from outside looking defeated. “What’s the plan?” he asked, his gaze landing on the pile of keys. “Are we going to take some wheels?” he finished, a look of relief on his face.
“That’s the plan. We need to toss some hay and grain into the back of the truck. We’re going to take a few of the horses, and a milk cow if the trailers big enough,” Mitch finished, feeling a bit apprehensive. He knew very little about livestock.
“We’ll need to bring the gear for the horses too. I know I’m not going to go riding bareback,” Travis chuckled.
“Are you familiar with horses?” Mitch questioned, hoping one of them knew something about this.
“My ex-girlfriend’s family owned a ranch. When we would get leave together, we usually went to her parents’. She taught me quite a bit about horses,” Travis replied, with a far off look on his face.
“Where is she now?” Mitch asked.
“She’s still enlisted. I hope wherever she is, she’s safe,” Travis finished, as he grabbed a key from the pile. “This one’s for the Dually,” he said, tossing the key up and catching it with a smile.
“I’m g
lad one of us knows something about all of this,” Mike said, grabbing Travis’ shoulder. “Why don’t we go load up. Mitch can wait in here for the kids,” he finished, giving his friend a final look of resignation.
Chapter Sixteen
Juliette
“Yahtzee!” Kate exclaimed, with a look of pure joy on her face.
“Nana, I don’t know how you do it. Are you sure you're not switching to weighted dice when we’re not looking?” Drew teased. This had been her third Yahtzee since the start of the game, so there was no catching her at this point. She had suggested that they play the game as a distraction.
“I’ve always been lucky, my boy,” she replied, tenderly patting his cheek.
Juliette leaned back in her chair and studied the faces of the group around her. She felt a sense of calm having everyone in the same place. Micah wasn’t playing the game, but he was sitting with them, which gave her hope. She knew he was struggling with everything he was feeling and she didn’t want him spending time alone.
Juliette felt her mind wander back to the place it had been most of the night. Mitch. All of the “what if” scenarios took turns playing through her mind. None of them good. She let out another big sigh, causing the rest of the group to glance at her. Each of their faces betraying their own variety of torment and worry.
“Relax, Juliette, maybe you’ll get a Yahtzee this next time around,” Kate said, giving her a wink as if to say, I know what you’re feeling but you mustn’t let it show.
Juliette sat up in her chair as the dice were passed to her. “Come on lucky number two,” she said as she shook the dice between her hands. Juliette glanced down at her scorecard and chuckled, she had already scratched her Yahtzee, and the large straight, the only thing she had left to go for were the two’s and her three of a kind. It was nice of Kate to try and assure her that she still had a chance, even though they all knew the game was already over.