Untoten Kreuzung
Chapter 28
Daylight broke over the opposing tree line on the other side of the highway and that cued Nikolai to wake the others.
"C'mon guys, is daytime. Get your asses up before I breathe on you all." He rudely threatened. The threat was more than enough to get them up and out of their sleepiness.
"Shizer, vhat time is it?" Richtofen yawned. Rune shook her head and pulled out her phone.
"O' six hundred and ten hours." She answered.
"Vhat's ze date?"
"June 10th."
Richtofen raised his eyebrows in a surprised manner.
"Vell, summer is fast approaching und I don't know about you, but I do not vant to be in America for ze summer." he admitted, stretching his arms.
"Why not, you don't really think it's that bad do you?" Rune asked.
"Yeah Richtofen, not afraid of a little heat are ya?" Dempsey added.
"I'm not concerned about ze heat Dempsey I'm concerned about ze conditions zhat summer brings about."
Dempsey gave him a blank stare to which Richtofen scoffed and had to proceed with further explanation.
"Summer is a hot bed for any activities, be zhem animal, insect, zombie, or human. Vith ze increased activity it vill be harder to stay on ze down low, und it vill be harder to escape notice from any predators, natural or human."
"So you're saying that the likelihood of running into raiders, gangs, or unfriendly anyone is higher." Rune simplified.
Richtofen nodded and Rune gestured to Dempsey who then slightly nodded his head in understanding.
"In that case we need to get to the teleporter as quickly as possible." Takeo concluded.
"Exactly, und since ve haven't even seen a glimmer of ze beam zhat might not be for a very long vhile." Richtofen replied.
"All right then, so let's just hope the odds are in our favor, shall we?" Rune hoped and slung her duffel bag on her shoulder.
The town they had spent the night near seemed a bit less intimidating now that they could see it in full daylight. From their vantage point it didn't seem inhabited by anything, but as they got closer and time passed the town slowly came to life. The first sign of habitation was not a good one. Three men came out of the police building and by the looks of them they were not the friendly types.
All of them wore blue do-rags on their heads and they dressed like distraught juvenile delinquents, which they more than likely were judging by the way they carried themselves. The five quickly decided that it was best to skip this town and keep going until the next town. They retreated back into the woods and started their way around the town, making sure to keep an eye out just in case there were any patrols. To their luck there weren't any groups surveying the tree line, but their luck soon turned on them when they heard a few gunshots that seemed to be aimed in their general area.
"Get down!" Dempsey quietly yelled. They didn't argue and plopped to the ground. Hopefully those hooligans were just taking pot shots at the trees and hadn't really seen them. A few fits of laughter echoed into the woods and a few more shots went off this time they were closer. The air grew very tense with every moment they waited.
Soon they could hear footsteps and comprehend the conversations. The men got closer and closer to where they were hiding and every second seemed like an agonizing eternity.
"Are you sure you saw something man?" one of them asked, his voice cracked in several places.
"Man I swear I saw somethin' runnin' round here." the other one answered, he was more than likely African American.
The five heard them stomp through the vegetation and snap twigs as they walked.
"Hey guys look!" a third one called, his voice wasn't even close to a teen's.
"What?" the African American one asked.
"There's downed grass here, something's been through here."
"Or someone?" the cracking voice suggested.
Rune's heart raced and she prayed that they wouldn't be found. The footsteps became closer and the voices were louder. It would only take one good look in the right direction and it was game over.
"Hey, hey James, what's that?" the cracking voice asked.
"Heheh, looks like people to me." The young one named James chuckled.
The five were compromised, and it was a matter of it they could take them or not.
"How many of 'em?" the African American questioned.
"There's five and they just lyin' here. Get your asses up!" James ordered.
They got up slowly, taking their time to analyze their opposition. Two of them had pistols, small caliber, the young one and the African American.
"So what brings you all out here in our territory, huh?" the cracking voiced teen asked. None of them answered, they still had guns of their own, but of course they had the disadvantage of not having them drawn.
"He asked you a question motherfuckers, answer him." The African American threatened pointing his pistol at the five.
"We're passing through." Dempsey answered grimly.
"Passin' through, huh? Well we don't like people who just pass through without payin' toll." Cracked voice warned.
"Then what do you want?" Dempsey asked.
The three delinquents chuckled and looked at each other.
"Oh no, you all already violated our toll policy. We're takin' you to the boss." Cracked voice answered.
"Hand us your weapons and bags. No, scratch that we'll take 'em off your hands ourselves." James offered.
The three took their bags and guns and set them on the ground away from the five.
"Derrick, go get some others to carry this stuff back, we'll take them to the boss." James ordered. The cracked voiced teen ran off to the town while the other two forced the five in the same direction.
"Hey boss we got some visitors!" the African American teen introduced as they walked into the warehouse. Thousands of boxes had been moved aside to make room for several furnishings and other pieces of loot including televisions, speaker systems, jewelry, and the whole nine yards. Near the back of the wall of boxes there was a two seat couch surrounded with the most expensive of things of the loot. On the couch there was an older teen, probably eighteen or nineteen with a scar running down his left cheek and a bloodstained do-rag around his neck.
The lighting of the warehouse was poor and it wasn't until they got closer that they could distinguish more details on the young adult. He had a shaved head and dressed like an army punk crossed with a British anarchist. He also had his right arm showing and it was tattooed with several insignias, including a swastika. He wasn't exactly a big guy, but he was built like one.
"Where'd you find them?" the boss asked with a scratchy voice.
"Out in the woods, they claim they were just passing through." James clarified.
"Out in the woods, huh?" the boss mused giving them all a sinister look, but glancing a second time at Rune. The boss got up from the couch and strutted to the five.
"So…just passing through is that it? Ha, well if you had read the signs we put around the area you'd have known that all travelers must pay a toll to us." The boss stipulated.
"We were traveling through the woods even before we got here so we didn't see any of those signs." Rune explained rather defiantly. The boss made his way to Rune and sneered at her.
"Well sweet cheeks, I'm afraid you don't get a second warning if you didn't see them the first time." He replied.
Rune didn't make eye contact with the delinquent and that raised his ire. He quickly smacked her and sent her to the ground.
"You fucking look at me when I'm talking to you bitch!" he shouted. That move made the four men lunge forward, but they were halted by the click of more than two guns.
Several other teens stepped into their line of sight aiming pistols at them.
"Well let's not forget these guys right. Let's see here, we've got an Asian, a blondie, a commie, and an old school Nazi." The boss examined. The four men said nothing, but their faces showed every form of damning look imaginable.
The boss walked by them in a cocky manner and gave each one a sneer.
"So which one of you is responsible for the little bitch?" he asked. None of them replied so he strolled back over to Rune.
"So none of you are, not a single one of you is related in anyway?" he asked more specifically.
He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up to her feet. Rune squeaked only a little bit, but rage was quickly building in her body.
"Then she's free game. Which one of you guys wants her after I'm done?" the boss asked his entourage. They all chuckled and that was the line for Richtofen.
"I'm her boyfriend you little schweinhund, und if you so much as make a glance at her in ze vrong vay I vill make you know suffering beyond your darkest nightmares!" he threatened. The boss only laughed at him and tugged on her hair.
"You're her boyfriend Nazi man? Hahah! Well then, I've got me a more desperate girl than I thought. How many men have you whored yourself out to, huh? Five, ten?" the boss questioned.
"Just him." She answered gutturally. The boss nodded his head multiple times.
"Well sweet cheeks, after we're done with you it won't just be him. It'll be all twelve of us, right guys?!" he called out to his entourage. They cheered, hooted and whistled and some made dirty comments.
"You're going to have one hell of a night sweet cheeks."
