Last chapter we alternated between Georgia time and California time. For now on it will be all Georgia time. Just wanted to let everyone know so no one gets confused.
December 12th at 5:50pm
Sam's head jerked up as he tried to stay awake but that was proving impossible. He had slept through the night, or at least he assumed it was night. The hammering and drills had woken him up. That had to have been at least ten hours ago. Sam had no idea what they were doing but he could tell the noise was coming from right outside his door. Were they boarding him up in here? He laughed at the stupid idea; Master had put too much "work" into him for them to do that.
Amidst all the banging no one had come down here though and his stomach was starting to rumble again. And he had to use the restroom. Sam believed he could make it to the restroom if someone opened the cage. He had managed to walk around for a little bit. His back was stiff and he could feel the dried blood crack a little with every movement. His arms still hurt like a bitch but they were getting better. He couldn't lift them more than a few inches and Sam wasn't going to push it. After hanging by his arms for so long he would be perfectly fine not using them for a few days.
Sam looked up as the banging stopped and he heard the door open. This time instead of struggling to sit up Sam managed to stand up, relatively easy considering he could barely use his arms. It was Master again. There was food in his hands and… a video camera. Sam tensed up, this couldn't be good. He stepped back when his cage door opened. Master just stood there though, Sam looked at him briefly but his eyes quickly fluttered away. He realized that he was supposed to ask. "Master, can I use the restroom?"
"Yes." Paul stepped out of the way and watched the slave go into the bathroom. He had video taped Seeth's beating, as they did with all of them. There was a small surveillance camera installed in the corner of the porch, positioned to catch all the action perfectly. He had debated showing the video to the slave but figured it couldn't hurt any. If the video brought 242 out of the slave mindset then he would just have to start again. Plus Nick had wanted to show the slave the video and while Nick certainly wasn't a friend Rick and the rest of the slave holders tried to keep their suppliers happy. Without them they wouldn't have any slaves. And energy spent searching for the slaves themselves would cut into precious farming time.
Sam walked back out of the bathroom after having quickly used the restroom and splashing some water in his face. He wanted to get in the shower badly but didn't think he would be allowed. Maybe in a couple days he could ask for one. He went into the cage wordlessly and turned around to face Master again. "Master, can I have some food?" There was a routine now and Sam recognized that. He was bored though, growing up like he had didn't allow for routine and Sam found he didn't like it. Even with Jessica there hadn't been a routine, that's why he had fallen for her so hard, she kept things exciting and fresh. Not as thrilling as hunting mind you but thrilling enough to still lead an average life style.
So just like all the other times he hate silently and without his hands, slurping up the soup and struggling with the bread. There hadn't been bread before and Sam was having a hard time trying to get a bite off. But he wasn't going to complain, he was losing weight and the soup and oatmeal weren't filling him up. Eventually he did manage to finish the bread. Once the plate was clean he sat back and waited. There was nothing else he could ask for was there? Nothing else he was supposed to do in this little dance of theirs.
"Watch it."
The plate had been picked up but before he had stepped back again Master had handed him the video camera. He flipped open the viewing screen and pressed play. There were some footsteps in the background, sounded like heavy boots on a wooden porch. Then four people appeared in the screen. He immediately recognized Nick and Seeth. Sam felt his heart start to race when he saw Seeth limping and the blood splotch on his jeans. The camera had impeccable quality and Sam started to silently curse technology.
Then Nick punched his brother and Sam jumped. The kicks came again and again. And then Sam noticed that they were in the exact place he had been tied up for days. He saw them put the rope around Seeth's hands and then string him up. Sam started to breathe harder, almost on the verge of a panic attack. He wanted to look away, God he wanted to look away so badly but he couldn't. It was like watching a massive train wreck. Each cry could be heard clearly and Sam visibly flinched with every crack of the whip.
As he watched his baby brother get beat something switched on in Sam, back on rather. His pride, his independence, his stubbornness that was often overlooked because of Dean's, but it was anger that engulfed him. Anger at himself for giving in so easily and succumbing to this guy's sick game, anger at Nick for what he was doing to Seeth but he was mostly angry towards the man standing in front of him. Sam felt nothing for Paul but venomous hatred. It was this man's fault for putting him in this situation, in a situation where he couldn't protect his brother. This man's fault that he spewed such hate filled words toward Seeth. This man's fault that he was watching this video.
But Sam knew how to play the system and he was a genius at poker. He had almost been a lawyer for God's sake. So it was no hard trick to hide the anger he felt and the sudden release of independence and desire to kill Paul. Instead he watched the video to the end and then handed it back up to Paul, eyes lowered like a good slave. He felt the video camera leave his hands and for an instant he was tempted to jump up, pull Paul to the ground and kick him over and over like Seeth had been treated. But there were more guards upstairs and there was no telling where Seeth and Charlie were. If he killed Paul they would probably kill him, forgetting about the money paid for him. If he was dead he couldn't help Seeth, couldn't get him out of this hell hole.
So it wasn't until Paul went upstairs that he stood up and slammed his fists against the wall. Injuries on his back be damned.
December 12th at 6:30pm
Dean let out a big yawn as he sat down. His arms were sore and his back was killing him. Hunting kept him in shape, or so he thought. But nothing was like putting up fence posts and trying to dig in hard, frozen ground. The surface had been misleading, there was mud indicating that it should be soft, but when they started to dig it was like trying to cut through rock. For three hours they had dug holes, put in posts and stapled chicken wire to the fence. His fingers were bleeding from the harsh metal. And what was worse was that Dean had a sinking suspicion they were going to be doing it again and again for quite some time. He also anticipated them starting earlier in the day. 'How nice of them to ease us in slowly.' Dean said sarcastically to himself.
"You know they say you yawn because your brain is lacking oxygen."
"You know they say you should scale back on work as you get older."
Don let out a small laugh at that. It was true though. He was getting old and today proved that. Even though Dean was sore and hurt with most likely some cracked ribs and various other injuries the younger man had outlasted him by a long shot. Don had been forced to keep going although his body had all but shut down. It was sad when someone injured was able to work better than you. But it shouldn't have come as a surprise to Don. He had always envied Colby and David, being young and just starting out. And his dad's constant pressure for grandkids before it was too late didn't help any. 'Wait, I'm not that old.' Don looked over at Dean suddenly upset that he had put these things into his head. Not truly upset but just annoyed like he got when Charlie wouldn't get to the connection between a math problem and the case.
"So what's the plan sparky?"
Dean looked over at Don. "I'm going to ignore that one."
"Oooo, don't have a comeback for once."
"Shut up." Dean said, half laughing. If Don wasn't a fed he might actually like him.
December 12th at 7:15pm
They had cleaned their brushes and picked up their supplies and were now being taken back to the basement of the barn. Charlie couldn't get Seeth out of his head. He hadn't noticed where they had taken him. After he had seen them untie Seeth from the post he had gone back in the room and had no idea where they had gone. The rest of the day he had been thinking about what he could have done differently. If there was someway he could have gotten to the phone without having Seeth go through that. The events kept replaying in his head but Charlie knew what had been done was necessary. But still, he felt guilty. 'Is this what Don goes through everyday?' Charlie couldn't handle it.
There was no way that Charlie could have missed the blood on the steps going down to the basement. Besides the obvious physical evidence there was a change in the atmosphere that a two year old couldn't have missed. When he walked down there were dozens of pairs of eyes staring at him. Then they all shifted to a bed. Charlie followed their gaze to a bed over in the corner. The blood led there. He rushed over to Seeth and felt Tina follow. Seeth was still unconscious but he looked a hundred percent better. He was clean, the wounds were taped up.
"We've had a lot of practice patching people up. They allow us to keep a first aid kit down here."
Charlie looked up at saw a woman standing over him. She was painfully thin and looked older.
"Do you know him?"
"A little, yeah. Thanks."
"You're welcome."
Charlie covered Seeth back up with the blanket, just thankful Seeth was alive. He sat down on the floor next to Seeth. He may not have been able to prevent Seeth from getting hurt but he was sure as hell going to be there for him. Charlie couldn't, and didn't want to imagine the things this kid had been through. He had to only be eighteen or nineteen. Growing up in his house it was hard to ever imagine any one being abused by their parent. By their older brother yes, but there parent know. There had always been love when he was a kid, his parents did everything for him. They protected him, they gave him anything he could ever hope for, they helped him shape his dreams, they gave up their lives for him. But this kid had never gotten any of it. Charlie wondered if he had ever even been hugged.
"Charlie."
The voice had barely been a whisper and for a second he had almost thought it was in his head. But he looked up and saw Seeth facing him. Charlie sat up on his haunches so he was eye level with Seeth.
"Yeah."
"Did you call?"
"Yeah, just rest okay." Seeth turned his head to the wall and went back to sleep while Charlie sat back down. He looked at the others and saw they were all talking amongst themselves, Tina and the other two people that had been in the house were the center of attention. He just hoped that no one would blow it. If the guards and Paul found out they might be able to move them all to another location. Then they would be screwed.
Charlie looked down at his hands, thinking of how good it would feel to see his dad and Don again. He had missed them so badly. It sometimes got annoying living in the same house as your senior citizen father, especially as Amita and he got closer. But now, after this, he wouldn't trade it for the world. And no matter how badly Don and him fought or disagreed sometimes he wouldn't have it any other way. Charlie leaned his head back against the wall, looking up to the ceiling, and just thanked God that his family was safe. That he wasn't in the position that Sam and Seeth were.
December 12th at 9:45pm
"I've been through there, about a year ago though."
Megan, David, Colby, Hendrickson, and Yates looked up. Yates was the Agent in Charge at the Atlanta office and he had been helping them come up with a plan. It was late by the time they arrived and dark. Everyone decided the people already had enough of an advantage by knowing the land better and they didn't need to give them more help by providing them with the cover of darkness. When another agent walked up to them they had been discussing teams.
Yates spoke. "This is one of our newer agents, Tom Peters. You say you've been to Brent?"
Megan, David, and Colby all perked up, hoping this guy would be able to tell them more.
"I've driven through there a couple times, going home and coming back. There's a gas station that almost anyone has to stop by when they go through. Whether you coming from further down south or leaving from here to go down south it's a critical gas stop. If you're coming from this direction and going through it's the last gas station for 160 miles, if you coming from down south then it's the first gas station in 160 miles. The owner has always been nice and the sandwiches there are pretty decent."
"What about the farms and houses, do you know anything about those?" Megan asked eagerly.
"Not really. There's only one road. You continue on down the Main Street in Dansville for twenty miles and you'll hit the outlying part. Other than the owner of the gas station I've never seen anyone walking around in that area. I take it back, I've seen people working out in the fields but they are far from the road so I could never make out individual people. It's big farming country. I'd say there are about seven or eight farms. I think I heard somewhere that those farms provide about thirty percent of Georgia's produce and like fifteen percent of the south's. Either way they got to be making some money, the houses are huge, even from a mile away."
"Any other information you can give us?" David asked, hoping there was more.
"Nah, not that I can think of but if I do I'll be sure to let you know."
"Thanks." Colby said, turning back to his team as the man walked off.
"Alright I definitely think we need to divide up in teams and hit each house at the same time. If we go one at a time it will give too much warning. And we don't know what farm he's at, if any? But if they do have him at one and we alert them they could be gone with Charlie and Don before we get there." Megan said, looking at their most updated satellite images from the area. There were eight farms, all over 100 acres each, four of them were over 300 acres. Thankfully all the buildings on all of the farms were fairly close together.
"I agree, we divide and conquer. Eight teams, each one hitting a house and searching through it. Do you think we can get warrants for them all by tomorrow? How's the judge down here?" David asked, looking up at Yates.
"Screw warrants, we're going in whether they like it or not." Colby said, he wasn't going to have some judge interfere with getting his boss or his friends back.
"No, the warrants shouldn't be a problem. The judge used to be FBI actually so he is pretty good about giving us what we want. He'll go for it, especially since one of our own is in trouble." Yates liked this Don Eppes guy already. Anyone with a team like this had to be one hell of an agent.
"Alright, can you be at his doorstep first thing in the morning?" Megan asked.
"Of course." Yates said, rolling up the maps they had been looking at.
"If these guys do have Don and Charlie we don't want them getting off on a technicality." Megan looked at Colby as she spoke, giving him a silent but forceful warning.
Colby just brushed it off and followed the other four agents out of the building. It was late and tomorrow was a big day. They would all need the rest if they were going to be able to do this. They had to not only prepare themselves for the physical work of searching eight very large properties but the emotional and mental drain it would take from them. As well as the real possibility that they could be too late.
I'm a horrible story planner and I never think out my stories behind the very very simple guideline. However, I do know that there are only two or three chapters left. Maybe four. So we're getting to the end here. Let me know what you guys want to see, I'm always bad at writing the endings and if someone comes up with a good enough idea I might throw it in here or at least parts of it.
Once again, this was done without the magnificent ALEO so don't blame her for the horrible grammar and mistakes, send the townspeople with pitchforks after me.