When I awoke, I could see some kind of living room. I tried to lift my head, but it was heavy and pounding. I fought against the pain, looking around at my surroundings. I was in some kind of kitchen and there was an old woman humming while she cooked. The smell of this place was rancid, like meat that had been rotting for years. That smell was mixed with something more sour, I couldn't name it though.
"Will.." I said, noticing my boyfriend beside me. His head was down on the table, I hoped he was okay. I tried to move my hands, but they were bound to the arms of the chair.
"Damn it.." I said, I looked up. The woman wasn't there anymore, but I could still hear the humming.
"Glad to see you're awake." the woman appeared in my face, almost sending me backwards. She showed her teeth and her hair was going everywhere. I could feel something crawl up my arm, but I was too scared to look away from that woman. She got out of my face, walking back to the kitchen. I looked to my hand, there was a huge cockroach crawling up my arm. I let out a scream, not wanting it to crawl any higher.
"What is wrong with you?" the old woman asked, scurrying around the table. I still stared at the cockroach, I would rather stare at it than stare at that woman any more.
She smashed the cockroach on my hand, moving it up to her mouth. From the crunching, I could tell she was eating it. I could feel my stomach fighting with whatever was in it.
"It's just a little bug.. You'll get real used to em' honey.." the old woman said. I didn't know what she meant by this, but I had a little feeling that the cockroach wasn't my greatest concern.
I heard Will groan, at least I knew he was alive. The woman ignored him, continuing her cooking and humming.
"Will?" I said, trying to get him to look at me.
"Where am I?" he asked, finally looking in my direction.
"I don't know Will.. I don't know." I said, I was panicking. I was so scared that woman would hear us talking and get pissed off or something. Or maybe she wouldn't care.
"It's okay Emma, I'm gonna get us out of here. Where is everyone else?" he asked, fighting with the rope that held his hands. He was still in pain from the stab, I could tell.
"I don't know where they are either.. I hope to god they're not here. But something tells me that's too good to be true." I said, fighting with the rope. It chafed my wrists, the pain wasn't worth it because I wasn't getting anywhere. Tears fought my eyes, I was so scared. Was I ever gonna see my mom again? What had me or any of my friends done to deserve this? What was even going to happen?
The double doors that I hadn't even noticed until now opened and a group of people walked in. A woman that looked like she would've been a 50's movie star with terrible teeth walked in the middle of the group. There was a tall guy with a hat and had some weight on him that walked with her. To the right of the group was a man with stringy white hair and a wife beater on. He was walking closer to another girl, she had long blonde hair with a tank top and ripped up jeans.
The guy with the white hair stared at me as he walked by, starting to laugh as he entered the living room I woke up staring at. When I looked back at the woman in the kitchen, she was giving a deadly look at the older blonde woman. His look made me feel violated, which made me nervous.
"Shut the fuck up!" the old lady screamed, throwing a dish into the living room. I just looked at Will, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
"Calm the hell down Marguerite, what's your problem tonight?" one of the guys said. I couldn't put a face to a name, but whoever it was had pissed her off.
"Shut the hell up! I will gut all of you sons of bitches. Don't ever talk back to me!" the old woman grabbed a knife from the counter and ran in the room.
"Holy shit." Will said, fighting with the ropes on his wrist. I heard the doors open again, this time much quieter. I looked to see a guy with black hair sneaking in, he put his finger over his lips to signal for me to be quiet.
He started cutting through the ropes, freeing my left hand first. The old woman and one of the guys were arguing, it sounded like it was getting bad. The guy cut my other hand free, I rubbed my wrist.
He started cutting through Will's when the old woman entered the room again.
"What in the hell do you think you are doing?" she screamed, pointing the knife in his direction.
"Emma get out of here!" Will screamed. The guy that had freed me pulled me through the door, I kept looking behind me as the old woman got closer. We went into a room that smelled like mildew and mold, it looked like some kind of laundry room.
"Get the hell out of there you son of a bitch! You stay away from my daughter!" the woman beat on the door, the guy was holding it shut.
"Go get in the hole, it's on the other side of that rail. Go ahead and I'll meet you." he said, pointing towards a little rail that had some rugs and clothes draped over it. I ran for it, looking back at him as he struggled to keep the door closed.
I jumped down the hole, it was muddy and smelled the same as the laundry room. It was some kind of crawlspace, I had no idea where it would lead. I heard some commotion above my head, then saw the guy that saved me crawling quickly towards me.
"Go go go." he repeated, crawling fast. I crawled as he ordered, going as fast as I could. I saw a light illuminate our way, I did the stupid thing and looked back. The old woman was crawling after us, only now she had some type of lantern or something.
We hit a dead end, but when I looked up there was a hatch door. He shoved it open, pulling me up and pushing me away from it. He jumped up and closed it, the woman's face lit up underneath it. She was staring directly at me, the lantern light lit up her smile.
"We gotta get to the door. Come on." he urged. He held my hand, I was almost frozen from all of this.
"Listen, you cannot freeze up on me okay? Just a little bit further." he urged me more. We ran through huge metal doors that looked like they would belong in some kind of castle. There was another door with these dog heads on them. He pushed the door open, leading me through.
"That trailer right there is safe for now. Sometimes they try to get in, but we should be safe for now." he said, running across the muddy and wet ground. It was dark, the trailer was illuminated by a light next to the door. He shoved through the door, pulling me through. He locked the door, putting his hand on his knees and catching his breath.
"That was way too close." he said, finally looking up at me.
"My name is Josh.. I've been here for a while. I have some people I'm trying to help." he said, I was glad I knew his name now.
"I'm Emma.. My friends are here, I think. That was my boyfriend in that room. We have to help him." I said.
"Alright, how many friends?" he asked.
"Five. Two girls and three guys." I said.
"Alright, I'll go back in and find them if I can. But I have to make sure you are safe first.." Josh said, putting his hand on my shoulder. I couldn't hold it any longer, I finally broke down in tears. He held me close, trying to make me feel safe.
"I don't wanna be alone again.." I said, looking at him.
"I can't take the chance of losing you.. You have to at least stay here, it's safer here." he said, walking me towards the bed. He let me sit down, wiping my eyes and looking at me.
"I'm gonna head back inside, I will get them. I'm gonna help them, I promise." he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. I nodded my head, trying my best to smile. I explained what they looked like, that way he would know them if he saw them.
Josh's POV
I hugged Emma one last time, dreading the adventure back in that house. Every time I went back in there, something bad happened. I had no idea where the dad or any of his kids were. All I knew was that the mother was already on the prowl, she'd have Jack on it as well soon. He always loved every chance he got to chase me down.
"I'll see you soon. Stay safe Emma. Run if you have to." I said, moving her hair behind her ear. She looked at me, nodding her head slowly. I didn't want her to have to run, but it was better than her getting caught again. I couldn't afford for her to get caught.
"Be careful Josh.. Don't get caught." she said, rubbing the side of my face. It had been a long time since I'd felt that from any woman at all. I really liked her, but it didn't matter since she had a boyfriend. I still had to save him as well, for her.
"I won't.." I said, standing up and going to the door.
"Lock this behind me." I said, grabbing the shotgun from the counter. I left the handgun with her in the hopes that she would use it if she had to.
The door closed behind me, I heard the lock click and looked back at the window on the door. She was looking out at me, and I was staring right back at her. I really hoped I was gonna have the chance to see her again, that taking this risk for her friends wouldn't get me caught. I barely made it out the last time I was caught, if that crazy ass dad didn't want me as a son I already knew I would be dead.
I heard the door open, so I ducked down into the bushes beside the stairs. In my head I was hoping that whoever it was wasn't going to find Emma in that trailer. I heard mumbling and babbling and knew immediately, it was Carson. He was going on about something and was pissed off, I was glad that something wasn't going his way. I watched him walk towards his place, the front door was right beside the trailer.
"I'm gonna find you!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. That told me exactly what he was mad about, he had wanted Emma.
I waited until I heard his door close, then I proceeded into the house. I opened the door slowly, peeking in at first. I didn't need to be caught just by trying to enter. How was I even going to find her friends? They were god knows where, if even here. She said herself she didn't know if they were here, except for that guy she said was her boyfriend. I wasn't going to not save him because I liked his girlfriend, that was just wrong.
I closed the door slowly behind me, where would I even check? If he was still in the kitchen, then there was no way I could get him there. I had to wait until he was somewhere else, but how would I know when that was? We'd only spent about 5 minutes outside of this house, chances are he hadn't went anywhere far.
Of course, I hadn't heard from the mother in a long ass time. I also had Ray and Madison to find. Let along Madison's daughter, who was in and out of her mind at the same time. They called her Eveline, although her name was Alicia. I knew her because Trey was with her for a long time until he got with Sitara.
No matter what she was in trouble, but I wouldn't be able to do anything until I found Ray. He knew Zoe's recipe for whatever it was that Alicia needs.
I snapped my mind back to the task at hand, checking for anyone else who needed help.