Chapter 20 – Gone
It felt like waking from a bad dream. Foggy-brained and confused as to what was real, I opened my eyes to the perplexing sight of the back room of the motorhome. The room itself wasn't confusing, but the way it jostled around; it almost appeared as though the world was moving outside the window, which was utterly bewildering.
I squeezed my eyes shut, just trying to clear my mind, but when I opened them again, the scene before me didn't improve.
"Edward?" I called out. Surely, he was there somewhere, and seeing him would make everything right. He would have some kind of explanation that would make perfect sense, and my fog of confusion would clear. "Edward?" I called again.
Not only was I overwhelmingly groggy, but I guess Edward forgot how carsick I got unless I was sitting upright and near an open window. The world was spinning around me, and my stomach was getting ready to go on a full-scale expulsion of epic proportions.
"Edward, I'm getting really woozy!" I called to him one last time.
Finally, the door to the bedroom opened, except it wasn't Edward's face that came into view…
"Irina, where are we going?" I asked, feeling too sick to realize the truth that was staring right at me. "Is Edward driving? Tell him he is being too rough. I'm seriously about to puke."
"Edward isn't here, and he won't be here ever again. Thank god," she said full of bitterness.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, but then my memory began to come back to me. "Wait… you did something to me. Irina, where are we going?" I asked, getting increasingly upset.
"You refused to see those pigs for what they are, so I'm saving you from yourself," she replied coldly.
"Irina, where are you taking me?" I shouted as I attempted to stand up and look out the window.
"To somewhere safe," she said before backing out of the room and shutting me inside once again.
It was only then that I fully understood the reality of what Irina did – She fucking kidnapped me!
There was a bag conveniently placed bedside the bed, so I used it to vomit in, and I kept vomiting until I lost all my strength and was forced to lie down. As much as I tried, I just couldn't fight exhaustion and I felt myself drifting back to sleep.
I had no idea how long I was out for, but I vaguely remembered flashes of Irina and Rosalie talking to me. They tried shoving something wet and salty in my mouth, and they may have taken me to the bathroom a few times, but it was all so hazy.
Eventually, I regained consciousness and despite a horrible migraine, I finally felt well enough to sit up and assess my situation.
I was in the motorhome, and assumedly we had traveled quite a ways. Edward wasn't there, and likely had no idea where I went. Imagining his panic when he realized I was missing was tearing me to pieces. He had just told me how scared he was of losing me again, and there I was, gone. There were no words to describe my level of anger at that point. But anger was an amazing driving force behind determination, and one way or another, I would make those bitches pay for taking me.
With the motorhome currently stopped, I used the stable ground to get my bearings, and then I went for the bedroom door. The fact that I was locked in didn't detour me for one second; I just kicked it open without much effort, and I went straight for Irina's head. She was sitting at the little table in the kitchenette, and before she was able to even react to my rampage, I had my fists aggressively entangled in her hair.
"You fucking bitch!" I screamed at her. "Take me back home before I fucking kill you!"
I was in such a blind rage that I began spewing out profanities to her without even hearing them myself. I couldn't tell what kind of damage I was doing to her as I pulled her hair and clawed at her face, but I didn't even care. I hoped she got a fucking infection from one of my claw marks. She deserved worse.
My attack felt like it lasted for hours, but because of my sickened state, I lost all my strength and settled for sinking to the floor as I continued to yell at her.
"You fucking bitch! You drugged me? My baby…"
"We didn't drug you," Rosalie cut in. "I used the pressure points on your neck to put you to sleep, and we caught you when you fell. You and your baby are fine."
"Fine? You took me against my will away from my baby's father, and I'm assuming you have no plans to ever return me!" I screamed at her.
"We saved you and your baby from monsters," Irina disputed, which prompted me to explode with even more cursing and insults directed at both of them. Although, I had to admit, seeing her bruised and bloody face from my attack did make me feel fractionally better.
It wasn't until I was virtually out of breath that I quieted enough to hear their explanations – not that they held any merit…
"We did this for your own good," Irina told me in a pathetic attempt to convince me she was some hero. "Those men are disgusting."
"Bullshit!" I managed to muster enough breath to challenge her. "They have never been anything but kind to you."
"Bella, they all assaulted her," Rosalie told me gently, and yet, I could still see her fierce protection towards her lover. "She was scared for you, and for me. We've been planning this since we moved in here from the house."
I glared at Irina. "So, you made up being raped? Really? That's low, even for you "
"She didn't make it up," Rosalie jumped to her defense. "I saw the bruising on her arms from where they tried to hold her down."
"They who, exactly?" I questioned skeptically. "Who tried assaulting you?"
"All of them," Irina deadpanned. "Emmett and Seth attacked me when I was gardening, and they only stopped when you came out of the house. Then Edward threatened me that if I said anything to you, it would get a lot worse for me and you. I woke up to Pete pleasuring himself next to me on several occasions. They are dogs, Bella, all of them. I even heard them joking that they hope your baby is a girl so they will have her when we get too old for them."
"Sure," I said, knowing without a single doubt in my mind that she was nothing but a liar. "And I suppose Edward was just fine with them talking about raping his potential daughter? I'm astonished that you actually think any of this is believable."
"It's true. And the fact that you don't believe me is sad. You're calling a victim a liar, and that is something you're going to have to live with for the rest of your life," she said with faux pain, and I had to admit, if I didn't know her better, I might be convinced by her tears.
Deciding that speaking to her was just a waste of breath, I turned to Rosalie.
"I know you believe her. I realize she is a good manipulator, but you have to know that kidnapping me is wrong. You two could have left at any time. No one was forcing either of you to stay there, but now you've taken that right away from me. I want to go back. Edward is probably scared to death…"
"Edward doesn't care about you," Irina spoke over me. "You didn't hear the things he was saying to the other guys."
"She is lying," I said, still focused on Rosalie. "I've known Edward for over five years. He wasn't always my favorite person, but he never showed any kind of disrespect to me or any of the girls he dated in the past. He loves me, and our baby."
"Isn't he your cousin?" Irina asked, which made Rosalie raise her brows at me questionably.
"No," I said slowly. "His dad married my aunt a few years ago, but we aren't…"
"If his dad is married to your aunt, that would make you cousins," Irina pressed. "And, if I had to guess, I'd say you were never romantically involved before the virus mutated and we became an endangered species."
I huffed. "No, we weren't romantically involved before, but…"
"But he thought you were the last female on earth, right?" she asked evenly.
"We didn't know if there were other survivors or not. It was just the two of us for what felt like a long time…"
"And his nature of being a sex-driven male took over and he convinced you to fuck him when we all know if he hadn't manipulated you, you would have never gone there since he is your cousin and as you just said, you never had romantic feelings for him prior to believing there were no other survivors."
She honestly made my head spin.
"Look, I'm not going to stand here and argue with you or even attempt to explain myself because it's none of your business. He and I are not related by blood, but even if we were, it still wouldn't be your business."
"But her and my relationship is your business?" Irina retorted. "She told me you tried convincing her to break up with me. Why? So one of those pigs could breed with her. That is why they saved her, right? Emmett felt she belonged to him since she bit him causing her to be cured. He thought having his cured cells running through her meant she was his to claim. You all risked your lives to go back for her, just so he could have a warm vagina to unload himself in."
"This is ridiculous," I mumbled to myself. "Look, whatever you want to think is fine. I don't care. All I care about is that you take me home!"
"If you want to go back there and get gang-raped for the rest of your days, that's fine," she said carelessly. "However, we couldn't live with ourselves if we left a helpless child to share that same fate. This is no different than your sense of duty to free the Amish from their captors."
I laughed once humorlessly. "You are comparing my unborn child to an entire community of people imprisoned by a group of ruthless drifters – who, might I add, were basically sacrificing those innocent people to monsters every night?"
"I heard Edward laughing at the other guys when they were talking about hoping your baby is a girl. He is every bit willing to sacrifice that baby to his buddies, just as those drifters were sacrificing my people to the monsters. It's the same thing, and I'm not going to allow it to happen."
Irina was unreasonable so I turned back to Rosalie. "What if she is wrong? What if I'm right and she is completely playing you? Then you have taken part in kidnapping someone, and taking a child away from its father that loves it. She is condemning people on crimes they haven't even committed, just because she hates men. And I know she was hurt in the past, and I know you were too, but they are not those men. They have never hurt me, nor shown any type of aggressive behavior."
"Did you not hear a word I've said?" Irina interrupted. "They have all assaulted me in some way. Every one of them."
"And you are a pathological liar," I countered.
"Call me what you will, but nothing you say is going to change the situation. We aren't going back to those barbaric heathens, and you aren't either."
"Are you just going to keep me locked up forever? Because that's the only way I'm staying with you wackos. Even then, it's only a matter of time before I kick both of your asses and free myself and…"
"And what?" Irina challenged me. "Take control of the motorhome? There is no key. Rosalie is skilled with automobiles and she hotwired it. Can you do that? Or are you planning to just walk back? You were out of it for over three days. You have no idea where we are, and if you set out on foot, you would just get yourself killed at first nightfall. Do you think you're immune too? Even if you were, it wouldn't do you much good against a horde. They would rip you to shreds before the cure would have time to take effect on them. The only way you keep breathing is if you stay with us."
As much as I hated it, Irina was right. I had absolutely no idea where we were, and if they drove for three days straight, we could be anywhere. I was sure Edward would try to find me, but it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. The only way I was going to ever see him again was to bide my time and hope to figure something out along the way.
After some more useless bickering, I grudgingly sat down and stared out the window as Irina drove, hoping to spot some kind of landmark or sign on the side of the road that would cue me in as to where we were. However, as far as the eye could see, there was just nothing. Miles and miles of open planes and blank scenery. There were probably farms and crops planted in those fields at one time, but now it was just empty wasteland.
They would drive for hours on end, taking turns when one got tired, and I had to sit upfront with them the entire time to avoid getting sick again. Occasionally, Irina and Rosalie would make small talk, but for the most part, the three of us stayed quiet and just watched the end of the world go by.
Over the next several days on the road, I would periodically attack them in an attempt commandeer the motorhome, but with two against one, it wasn't much of a fight. And then one day, it happened – my stomach popped out seemingly overnight. It was what Edward had been waiting for, and he missed it. Those bitches made him miss it!
"Wow, look who finally looks pregnant," Irina said pompously, which immediately sparked my latest bought of rage fueled profanities. I even began throwing shit at her. Cups, bowls, shoes, the bag of stale chips I had been munching on. It didn't matter what I threw, I just wanted to hurt her. At the very least, I hoped some salty crumbs landed in her eyes.
In an attempt to stop me from lashing out at them, Irina resorted to keeping me chained to the table. The chain was long enough for me to stand and stretch my legs, but not long enough to reach either of them where they sat in the front seats. I was only let off when I needed to use the restroom, during which both women would escort me there and wait for me to do my business, before escorting me back.
That motorhome was a prison, and if Irina had it her way, I'd be serving a life sentence. What I wouldn't give for a good old fashion prison uprising where I could attack my warden in an adrenaline fueled savage brawl. I didn't have a doubt I'd kick her ass and make her wish she never fucked with me. Unfortunately, given my chains and newly rounded belly, a fight of that magnitude would have to wait.
The days dragged on, and my anger only grew, but my hope began to falter. What if I didn't find a way back to Edward before the baby was born? The birth of our child was something we could never get back, and I absolutely refused let him miss it …except I didn't know how to get back to him.
As we continued traveling, the scenery never changed much. Since we were keeping our distance from any previously inhabited areas, we were pretty much living off of what they had managed to stockpile before we left, but it was only a matter of time before we needed to restock.
"I'm the only one who is immune; I'll go alone," Rosalie tried insisting, but Irina wouldn't allow it.
"If there is a horde, you would be killed. We need to stick together."
"Do you guys have guns?" I asked, thinking it was a dumb question because even Irina wasn't stupid enough to go into an unknown town without a gun.
The two women exchanged a look, but Irina quickly returned her focus to me. "Aren't you so clever," she sneered. "I know what you're planning. You honestly think you can overtake us and get control of our weapons? I think not."
"We don't have any weapons," Rosalie mumbled to her.
"Shut up," Irina whispered back. How they thought I couldn't hear them, I had no idea.
I nodded to myself. "Great. We're going into an unknown place without guns. Smart. I can't wait for both of you to be eaten. If it's all the same to you, I'm just going to wait outside in the sunlight."
"There is no way in hell I'm going to leave you alone outside, and I'm sure as hell not letting Rosalie go inside alone either. All three of us will be going in together," Irina declared.
"Your idiocy is going to get us all killed," I warned her.
"Well, then at least we will die together," she replied unconcerned.
They kept me in the chain, which was wrapped around my hips below my belly, and we made our way through the rubble that used to be a grocery store. I felt like a fucking dog on a leash, and because of that leash, I was utterly defenseless. If we were attacked, I wouldn't even be able to run away; which, needless to say, kept me on high alert. As Irina and Rosalie rummaged through the piles of cans and nonperishables, I kept scanning our surroundings for any sign of attack.
On the plus side, we left the store without incident, however we also left without many usable goods.
"I guess it's onto the next town," Irina said unfazed.
Because we were only finding a few items per location, we began stopping every couple of days, which also drew us closer to possible hordes. By the fourth of fifth uneventful stop, however, Irina was beginning to get cocky.
"I think most of the demons have died out," she said as she carelessly strolled through the store we were currently in. She even began twirling my chain as she walked. "We haven't seen a single one since we left that wretched place we were staying at with the boys."
As if on cue, we heard a crashing sound, and then out of the shadows came a stumbling, hunger-crazed monster. I just so happened to be standing in the sunlight shining through a window, but Irina was petrified, standing there just beyond the rays. It all happened so fast, but at the same time, the world seemed to slow around us.
I should have just let the monster take her, but at the last moment before the thing was about to grab her, I yanked my chain back, thus pulling Irina into the sunlight with me.
She crashed into my legs, so I looked down at her. "You're so right. The demons have definitely all died off," I said derisively.
I didn't even wait for her to stand up before I began dragging her out of the store. Rosalie came running out after us, but surprisingly, her concern was for me.
"Bella, are you okay?" she asked in a panic.
"Yeah. That wasn't my first run in with a zombie," I told her. "But I can see that you're not okay," I added as her breathing seemed to speed and she was immediately covered in sweat.
"I… that was…we…" Rosalie couldn't even speak, and I was pretty sure I knew why.
"Rose, just breathe," I instructed her. "You're having a panic attack. Just keep taking deep breaths."
"Oh my god, calm down. We are all fine," Irina said full of annoyance as she climbed to her feet and brushed herself off.
"Irina, Rosalie was locked up and attacked nightly by multiple zombies," I told her. "It's not surprising that she is suffering from PTSD."
"Whatever the hell that means," Irina grumbled.
"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," I explained. "She was severely traumatized, and she still isn't over it. It's something she will probably struggle with for the rest of her life. As her partner, you should be a little more sympathetic."
"Oh please, this is the apocalypse. Survival of the fittest. We don't have time for mental freak-outs. Suck it up, Rosalie!" she said sternly.
"Why the hell did I save you?" I asked myself.
"You didn't save me," she retorted. "We were chained together; if that thing took me, it would have pulled you in too. You saved yourself."
"We weren't chained together," I disagreed. "You were holding my chain. If you would have been attacked, you would have dropped the chain and I would have been free. I saved you, you fucking bitch, and don't forget that."
To further prove my point, I grabbed the chain that was still wrapped around my hips, and I yanked it hard, which forced Irina to drop her end. "See? I only wish you would have let go like that back in the store. Then both of us would have been put out of our misery," I said before walking back to the motorhome, dragging the chain behind me.
I hated them both with a passion, so I wasn't exactly sure why I saved Irina and attempted to talk Rosalie through her panic attack, but I suppose I just hadn't reached the level of complete heartlessness the way Irina had. That wasn't to say they wouldn't eventually drive me there, but as for now, I was still stuck with my annoying human compassion. Of course, it was only a matter of time before Irina pushed me over the edge…