30 Days After by Lastlegolife
Chapter 3: By Force
The skies were cluttered with sparse milky clouds as the preceding sun rays crept over the horizon. The dew forming rapidly on the trees over head tread downward toward the tips of the leaves and fell into the puddles of water below. The air was moist and overpowered by the scent of mud and mulch.
Major Henry West slouched back in his favorite chair on the patio. Despite the chill in the morning air, he didn't bother to put on a shirt or grab his green camouflage jacket on his way out of the bedroom. He sat up momentarily to fish a cigarette and lighter from his pants pocket. After setting it ablaze, he put the lighter away and slouched again. His dog tags jiggled slightly as he took a long swig and then held it loosely between his index and middle finger.
A set of slow and heavy footsteps came up behind him and stopped just out of his sight. West didn't bother to look up nor did he care who it was.
"How was it?"
The heavy footsteps came a little closer and stopped just a few feet within his peripheral vision. Corporal Mitchell raised a lighter up to the cigarette already sitting in his mouth, using his other hand to protect the flame from a sudden breeze. His attire was identical to his superior officer, except he wasn't too proud to wear a jacket.
"Swell, sir." He put the lighter away and tossed a puff of smoke into the air. "Sweet as sugar."
He surveyed the lush green land mine-filled lawn and, for the first time since he and his comrades had come to live in the mansion, everything was beautiful.
"The girl started bleeding a lot." He finally admitted.
"And?" West said in a tone that almost made Mitchell regret bringing it up.
"She's fine." The officer threw out his palm for emphasis but West didn't see it. "It stopped."
The Major's chest rose and fell sharply. "Lock her in another room just for tonight. If she or any of them are hurt internally then there's nothing we can do." He turned his head slightly in the corporal's direction. "Clear?"
"Yes sir," was all he could reply.
"Let them sleep for another hour then get them cleaned up for breakfast."
"Yes sir." Mitchell finished his cigarette and disappeared back into the large mansion.
Lucia sat with her back against the head board with her legs drawn up almost all the way up to her chest. She stared blankly around the room as her mind wandered to no one thought in particular. She spotted her bra crumpled on the floor beneath a chair across the room. A green camouflage jacket had been throw carelessly around it.
She had been robbed of her innocence.
A few swift knocks at the door startled her with surprise. The covers had all been dragged off the side of the bed leaving Lucia with on a thin sheet to cover her nakedness. The door open a moment later and Sergeant Farrell poked his head in to see if it was alright before entering. He was followed by Private Clifton who carried a gun in one hand and a robe and towel in the other.
Embarrassed, Lucia tightened her jaw and averted her gaze across the room.
"Well good morning to you too, princess." Clifton tossed the robe on the bed next to her. "Bath time, sweet-cheeks."
So they're going to watch?
She looked at the robe then at them, waiting. The Sergeant didn't need to be told. He turned his back to her, keeping his head turn away from her location. Clifton cut his eyes over to his partner and sneered.
"Private!" The Sergeant glanced over at him with threatening eyes. Clifton sighed and reluctantly turned his back to Lucia.
Lucia quickly removed the sheet and threw the garment around her shoulders. She slipped off the opposite side of the bed and stood to tie her belt.
"Are you done yet?" Clifton asked impatiently.
"Yes." She folded her arms across her chest.
"Hope you have a change of clothes with you." Sergeant Farrell warned. "Breakfast will be on soon."
Lucia and her armed escorted traveled through a series of halls and passed several rooms. Sergeant Farrell lead the way silently while Private Clifton took up the rear, occasionally smacking his lips and fantasizing about the cigarette he was going to have after breakfast. Finally they came to a washroom. There were sounds of running water and faint voices coming from the other side. Sergeant Farrell knocked lightly, then stepped aside to allow Lucia to enter the room by herself. She slipped inside and pulled the door shut behind her.
"How was she?" Clifton asked, sitting in one of the two chairs placed nearby.
"What are you going on about?" The Sergeant answered half-heartedly.
"Her," Clifton jerked his head in the direction Lucia had gone, "I'm not usually into the big ones but I might give her a try. She worth it?"
The Sergeant sat down and removed his gun strap from his shoulder and set the weapon the floor next to him. "I was standing guard last night."
The younger man slouched back in his chair. "Ah, the O.C. put you on guard duty eh?"
Farrell shook his head. "The man escaped last night and damaged the gate on his way out. I volunteered to stay on watch."
Clifton totally disregarded the part about Jim. "We haven't shagged in weeks, a fresh trollop comes along and you pass it up?"
"Watch your mouth Private," Farrell was through talking.
The wash room was much smaller than Lucia anticipated. It was less than half the size of her bedroom. Except for a few feet around the door, the floor was made entirely out of white porcelain. Huddled under the running water of a large metal showerhead stood Selena and Hannah who were staring up at her fearfully as she entered. They breathed a sigh of relief when they realized who it was.
"Lucia!" Hannah jumped up and ran to the other woman with her arms out stretched. She buried her face in the softness of her robe and began to sob. "They- they-"
She couldn't get the words out and started to sob.
Selena rose to her feet, on the verge of breaking into tears herself. "I can't believe this fucken happened."
"I know," Lucia held the fifteen-year old close as she wept. "I managed to get to Jim."
Selena looked hopeful. "Jim? Is he alright?"
"I think he escaped. He promised to come back for us."
"So he's alive then?"
Lucia shrugged. "As far as I know."
"Fuck," Selena swore, lowered her head, and sobbed. "I don't know how the fuck– what are we going to do?"
"There going to kill us aren't they?" Hannah sniffled.
Lucia shook her head causing the tears that had been dancing on her eyelids to shake free. "No sweety. They're not."
"How do you know that?" Selena said with a raised voice. She paused then began to weep again. "Jim."
Lucia wiped the tears from her cheek. "If they meant to kill us they would have done it by now. I doubt they would waste water on us, let alone food. Besides, its obvious we have something they want."
"Yeah, a vagina," Selena answered sourly.
There was a knock on the door that made their hearts jump into their throats. All eyes were glued to the wooden door.
"Ten minutes ladies," came Clifton's voice.
The women sighed with relief.
Lucia released Hannah and stripped out of her robe. She and the two other women stood beneath the showerhead. The room was already stocked with wash rags and bars of soap. They lathered it all over their bodies, trying to wash away the smell and the touch of sin but it they'd been saturated in it. No matter how hard they scrubbed their skin, they could still feel the pressure holding their wrists together and the constant tugs at their legs. The hands that groped them were still there, fondling and pinching. It wouldn't stop.
They dried themselves off quickly and tossed on the clothes they had brought in with them. By the time the door open they were smoothing out their wet hair the best way they could. Clifton inhaled the steamy fresh smell of the room and sighed with a smile on his face. He instructed them to leave their belongings behind and ushered them to the dining room.
"Hannah, don't say anything," Selena whispered to the young girl. "Don't give them the satisfaction."
Swallowing hard, Hannah nodded.
Sun rays from the outside poured in through the windows and lit the dining room where Jones, donned in his pink uniform, took his time setting the places. He was feeling too good to rush. Private Davis and Bell were already seated towards the end of the long table, mumbling amongst each other and swearing each time they accidently brought themselves more pain. Mitchell and Bedford entered the room nosily announcing that they were feeling "fucking good" and they wanted some "fucking food."
Mitchell was first to notice Davis's bandage. "What happened to you?"
"Fell out of bed?" Bedford chuckled, taking a seat next to Mitchell.
Davis tried to speak out of the uninjured side of his face. "That loony American-bitch shanked us like a couple of pigs."
"What American bitch?"
"And she got all of you?" Bedford was still chuckling.
"It's not funny!" Bell snapped which only made his partner laugh a little louder.
"That other girl's a Yank eh?" Mitchell asked.
"And a wild one at that!" Jones jumped in. "The O.C. and I gave her a seeing to last night."
"So you didn't get any mate?" He laughed.
"Fuck you Mitch." They grumbled.
The dining room door opened and Sargent Farrell came in first followed by the three exhausted women and Clifton.
"Goooood morning ladies!" Mitchell ignited cheers all around the room.
The women kept their eyes fixed downward as they took their seats at the table. Hannah was already blinking moisture out of her eyes, her face flushed bright red. The tension was likely to drive them all to tears soon. It was nearly unbearable. Lucia clenched her jaw tight, refusing to show any sign of weakness to these pricks. She felt the sting of tears biting at her eyes and swallowed a hard lump in her throat. She tried to concentrate on something to block the memory of last night from her mind. Her eyes settled on a small carving knife left on a nearby counter top the night before.
Selena rubbed Hannah's back in an attempt to comfort her.
"Bastards!" She said acidly.
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad." Mitchell laughed. "As a matter of fact, you fuckin' loved it!"
He ran his tongue in between his fingers at her suggestively.
"Go fuck yourself!" She spat.
The soldiers laughed and hooted obscenities in response.
"That's enough!" Sergeant Farrell snapped. "In your seats, all of you!"
The men did as they were told with merciless grins splashed across their faces. A moment or two later, Major West and Davis arrived at the table and took their places. Jones leapt up and began serving breakfast which was pretty much the same as dinner except this time with canned fruit instead of vegetables. Lucia again wondered just how much food actually was left in the mansion. Such a large dwelling was sure to have more than just these few canned goods laying around.
While the majority of the room dove into their plates like a pack of ravenous wolves, the three young women sat idly across from them with their eyes lowered to the cherry wood table. They listened to the bounderish sounds of the soldiers who seemed unnerved by the tension stirring nearby.
"What the fuck, Jones," Bedford said. "There's a goddamn hair in my peaches."
"Doris likes hairy peaches, don't you sweetheart?" Bedford shoved a chunk of ham into his mouth.
A round of giggles circled the table.
Selena was the first to realize that this uncomfortable silence was pointless and futile. For their own sake it would be wise to take advantage of this time to replenish themselves. There was no telling what their captors had in store for them today. She only wished that they would leave Hannah out of it.
"Come on Hannah, eat," Selena whispered to her quietly. "You'll need your strength."
She picked up her fork and forced down a piece of ham.
"She's right Hannah," Major West agreed. "There's a lot of work to be done today."
Lucia cut her eyes over to the Major sharply as if offended. She didn't like the sound of that. He glanced at her and she immediately rolled her eyes away from him and tightened her jaw self-consciously in anger. A sharp pain throbbed around the base of her neck. She rubbed it instinctively and recalled the evening before when one of the aggressors got carried away in the moment and gave her a vampiric bite as he began to ravage her. The teeth marks left behind were barely visible, but the rose colored flesh under her dark hair shown clearly from across the room where the Major was sitting.
"Why don't you tell us how you got here Lucia?" West asked her, drawing half the attention of the table in her direction.
Another annoying wave of embarrassment flushed over her but she held her head high, determined to not let them turn her into a blubbering mess. After a long night of forced intercourse, being in their very presence outraged her. A part of her wanted to block out the memory and continue as if everything were okay, but her anger was not so forgiving and it was clear they didn't intend to let her forget it..
"Got lost following the yellow brick road," Her bitter American accent drew more attention from around the room.
"I knew it," Bell commented after a moment. "She's a complete nutter."
"I like my women with a sense of humor!" Clifton grinned, being one of the few in the room who actually caught the irony.
Lucia glanced around the table without making eye contact with anyone.
"So what's a Yankee-Doodle Dandy doing way out here anyway?" Bedford slurped the fruit juice from his spoon. "Are you a student?"
"Sky-diving," she said drily.
"You're a terrible liar."
"Better be careful man," Jones said. "Or she'll stick you too."
Bedford smirked. "I'll stick her."
"Settle down," The Major warned. "Well it appears our guests aren't hungry," He turned to Mitchell and Clifton. "See that the ladies get started on their chores."
The men nodded and rose from their seats.
Corporal Mitchell pointed his weapon at the women. "Alright ladies, you heard the man. On your feet."
Selena rose from her seat, taking Hannah by her shoulders and ushering her to the door. Lucia followed closely behind them.
"Hold on a minute!" West tossed his napkin down on the table and approached them.
He stopped in front of the unruly foreigner and held out his hand. Lucia glanced down at it briefly then glared back at him with narrowed eyes. The rest of the room watched dumbfounded as the dark-skinned girl produced a small carving knife from her waistband and gently placed the wooden handle in the Major's palm.
"Sneaky bitch," Mitchell muttered. He took Lucia by her forearm and led her out of the room with the rest of the group.
"That one's likely to be trouble I think," Davis carefully bit into his food and used his tongue to direct the chewy morsels over the right side of his mouth.
The Major interrupted before he could speak anymore about it.
"Only if you allow her outsmart you again." He said sternly and returned to his place at the head
of the table. "We can expect resistance but they'll all adapt eventually, just as we have."
Sergeant Farrell stared at his commanding officer with disagreement reading on his face. However he said nothing and returned to his plate.
Led at gunpoint, the women were taken to the main hall at the front of the house where Mitchell explained the details of their chores for the day. "I don't care if you have to use the shirts of your backs, I want these floors clean enough for me to eat you on."
Only Clifton found his dirty humor amusing. Of course it was all meant to keep appearances. Moments after the women started straightening up the first room, Private Jones supplied them with a bucket of water, clean rags, cleansers, and a broom. With no other choice they got to work dusting off shelves of books, polishing the wood, shining the brass, and shaking out the rug. Their guards leaned casually against the wall staring at their bums whenever they bent over and admired their graceful movements as they worked in perfect sync like honey bees.
The mansion hadn't been cleaned since the owners fell victim to the Infected several weeks earlier. In the meat time, things had gotten shifted out of order once the soldiers settled in. They were men after all and the house was in dire need of a woman's touch. The soldiers unanimously agreed that only a woman possessed the instincts to keep a clean house in orderly shape. It's simple genetics that couldn't be helped.
Lucia swiped at the dust on the heavy velvet curtains, her mind working fiercely on an escape plan. She was angry. And unbeknownst to her captors, cleaning was the usual outlet she used to calm her nerves... or inflame them. Cleaning up after these pigs didn't weaken her resistance as it was intended to. It merely allowed her time to think.
By the time the drawing room was cleaned, Private Jones reappeared with more work ready for the three women. The kitchen was in need of the most attention. The walls were covered with dirt and cobwebs. The soldiers had used it as cooking area and a makeshift laundry room. They often hung their damp clothes across a line they'd fastened to the walls. The cabinets near the floor and above their heads were brown with grit and grease. The old fashioned brick stove to the right side of the room was surrounded with a blackened halo of soot. Atop it sat cookware that looked that it hadn't seen water in weeks. The floor, having never been swept that month, carried a thin layer of sand and mud in some places. Soiled dishes from breakfast and dinner cluttered the sink. The groceries that had been seized from Frank's cab were scattered about the kitchen table.
"Are you fucking serious?" Selena was angry.
"That's right sweetheart," Clifton grinned and raised the barrel of his gun.
Lucia turned to the Corporal, ignoring the hunger pains flaring up in her stomach. "Can we go to the bathroom first?"
"What's this? The Yank's got to tinkle? Can we all go together?" Mitchell replied in a mocking tone. He signaled Clifton to take up the job as escort. "One at the time. The rest of you get to work."
She turned toward the exit but her path was blocked by the Corporal.
"You wouldn't be hiding any knives on you wouldja?" He used his free hand to grope around the hem of her pants and smacked her rump.
"Asshole!" Lucia shoved him away and put a few steps in between them.
"Just for that," he smiled sinisterly. "You go last."
It was going to be a long day.
The next stop was the library. Though it was unlikely they would be finished by suppertime, there was always tomorrow as far as the soldiers were concerned. Dusty old shelves lined every wall. In the center of the grand room sat several floral colored couches with matching end tables and lamps all facing an underused fireplace at the far wall. Priceless trinkets, oil paintings and family keepsakes decorated the room.
Selena busied herself with shining the glass and silver while Hannah polished the wooden furniture. Lucia was stuck with beating the dust from the bookshelves and the drapes with a rag. The airborne particles stung her eyes and tickled her throat. Private Clifton, their sole guard, phased out her gripes and grumbling and kept his vision fixated on the African goddess before him. His face read of the many impure thoughts flowing through his imagination. Selena did her best to ignore him and focused on her work but he enjoyed her uneasy behavior all the more.
Voices in the hallway caught their attention as Sergeant Farrell and Corporal Mitchell passed by.
"Want me to get it?" Mitchell asked.
"Nah I can find it. I'll be right back." The Sergeant's footsteps disappeared down the hall as Mitchell strolled up to the door and peeked into the library. He scanned over each of the women who ignored his presence and then casually strolled up to Clifton.
"Got any smokes, man?" He asked him.
Clifton dug into his pocket and produced a pack.
"Bedford keeps borrowing mine and fucken Doris is stealing his," Mitchell complained and stuffed five cigarettes into his pocket.
"How's it going out there?" Clifton asked him.
"The fucken gates bent to hell. It's probably going to take more than a day to repair it with the tools we have here," he swore. "That fucken escapee has been hanging around too."
"Who? Jim?"
Jim.
"Whatever the fuck his name is. He's taken stuff from the blockade," Mitchell leaned his shoulder against the wall. "We're not positive but it's gotta be him. Jones and Davis are down there on lookout now."
The sudden hush that fell over the room interrupted their conversation. The soldiers looked up at the woman who had paused in the middle of their chores to listen in.
"Don't get excited. Get back to work!" He ordered. His eyes landed on Selena who was the closest to them. "Especially you darling. You know what happens when you get excited."
She glared at him. "Fuck off."
Mitchell smirked and walked toward her slowly. "Oh yeah? You want it again? So Soon?"
Realizing what she had just provoked, Selena became fearful and backed away from him but he was quick to grab her. He laughed viciously and gyrated his hips against her pelvis as she struggled fiercely to free herself.
Hannah appeared behind them and struck Mitchell in the back of his knee. The sudden jolt nearly made him loose his balance. Raging with anger he backhanded the young girl to the floor. Seeing Hannah take a blow filled the African goddess with a hateful rage. She lurched at Mitchell with claws at the ready but Clifton was quick to stop her.
"Still got some fight left in you eh?" Mitchell mocked.
Before Clifton could speak up Lucia had a handful of the Corporals hair and pulled back as hard as she could.
"You fucking bitch!" He released Selena and turned on his attacker.
Sergeant Farrell rushed into the library and pulled the feisty American back ultimately freeing the other officer. Infuriated, Mitchell turned his gun on her while spewing offensive slurs. Though the barrel of his weapon sat only inches from her face, Lucia never flinched. With one flick of her free hand she swatted the gun away and launched a loogie at his face. Farrell quickly threw himself in between them before Mitchell could react. The enraged Corporal tried to push past him but the Scottish man was stronger.
Lucia helped Hannah to her feet and stood back.
"Soldier!" Farrell slammed him into the wall. "Calm the fuck down or I'll take the torch to you instead!"
Mitchell growled in his throat and stared daggers at Lucia.
"Mitchell!" Farrell shouted. The Corporal finally met his eyes. "Is that clear?"
"Yes sir," he said finally and relaxed.
The Sergeant released him and sent him outside to work on the gate. Once the other officers was out of sight, Farrell turned to the three women. "Keep pulling stunts like that and you won't last long."
Lucia watched him sympathetically. "Neither will you."
He left without a reply and everyone went back to work.
