I dropped the photo on the ground and was immobile for a while, simply thinking. But Durham came in a couple minutes later, picked up the photo and the wallet that was on me and placed them on table with wax. But I didn't care, I just wanted to be left alone. And alone I was. I would constantly fall back asleep since I was bored out of my mind, but I didn't have any dreams for the next couple of days.
The times where I got hungry or thirsty, Durham would come in with either a bowl of berries or a canister of water. He would feed me like I was a toddler since I couldn't feed myself, it's a shame that the berries tasted like shit. I'm not sure what it was, but the aftertaste it left in my mouth made me want to vomit every time I bit into one of them. I asked Durham why they tasted so terrible and he told me that they were picked right out of the forest's bushes. He said he couldn't exactly find anything else to eat since they were very slim on supplies, so I just manned up and ate them.
Durham would come in every ten minutes or so to wash my foot and try to start some small talk. But I wouldn't say much in response. Although that didn't seem to stop him from talking to me. In one of the many 'conversations' we had, he told me he was studying medicine in Oxford, and that he was interning at a hospital when he came here. I asked him what if he saw anything, but he said he dozed off while he was in drug storage.
Woke up in a dessert with a number of vials and syringes scattered around him, walked aimlessly until he found Howard and his group . I thought it was pretty weird that he didn't wake up when he was being taken here, but I was in a weirder position when I came here so I can't say much.
However, sometimes when he was in the room with me, I would notice that his breathing was ragged and that he was sweating profusely. I didn't think it was that weird at first, it was pretty hot out in the forest. But the thing that got me suspicious about Durham, was how he would sometimes just leave in the middle of a conversation. And then he would come back three or four minutes later either being completely calm or overly happy.
It only happened a few times, but it happened. At first, I thought he had to check up on 'Grunk', or that he simply forgot something important and was relieved that he remembered. God, I was ignorant back then. During times like that, I would ask him what he was doing but he would turn it around, ask me how many people I've arrested and how many times I got in a shootout. But I kept my mouth shut when he asked those types of questions. Which in turn left my brain wondering what he was hiding.
But at least he would talk to me. Howard, on the other hand, wouldn't give me the time of day. He'd give me a slight glance here and there, but other than that we really didn't have any other social interactions with one another. This type of
And after a few days passed, my hands were beginning to feel numb, and I couldn't do anything about it except sit there and wait for Howard to come in and unlock the cuffs. You know I'm not certain if it's true or not, but I think Howard was suspicious of me. I could be wrong, but the way he always looked at me didn't help. It's probably one of the reasons why he kept me in cuffs in the first place.
But eventually after sitting in the same spot and counting the lines on the wall for the hundredth time, Howard came in and looked me over. He didn't say anything for a minute or so and we just kept staring at each other. And suddenly he pulled out a key from his back pocket and unlocked the cuffs on my hands and legs. But before I could thank him for his 'generous' action, I felt him push me into the bed and hold a knife to my neck. It wasn't any regular knife either, it was military grade, from what I can tell. It's handle was painted to look like desert camo, and the blade was sharper than a razor as it was pressed up against the hairs on my neck.
"Yer lucky Durham convince' me tah unhook ya, but if'n ya try anythang or hurt anybody 'ere, I will put you down mah self, ya understan'?" I slowly nodded my head, my eyes being fixated on the knife that was about to slit my throat. He slowly got off of me and walked out of the room, dragging his feet behind him. When he left, my hand slowly went to my chest in an attempt to calm down my increased heart rate. Once I was calmed down, I started twisting my body this way and that in order to undo knots that had built up while I was stuck to one spot.
But as I was moving my body around, I couldn't help but think why Howard unhooked me. He didn't listen to Durham before, so I didn't understand why he would do it then. I thought he might have grown a heart, or maybe he felt sorry for me somehow, but it never really added up. But hell, I didn't care; I could finally move more than a few inches.
After a minute of enjoying my freedom, I began to get off of the bed that I was trapped on for days on end. My feet met the cold dirty ground and relished in the feeling of anything that wasn't cloth. And I ever so gently pushed myself from the bed and tried my best to keep myself steady. Now that I think about it, I wasn't in the best physical state, and probably shouldn't have been walking.
But being locked to a bed for a couple of days, made me restless. Being on my feet again felt good, but I could still feel my foot in pain. It wasn't anything excruciating. thankfully, hardly noticeable in fact; it was like a small bruise you didn't notice until you hit by accident.
So with my new found freedom, I slowly made my way towards the door. I reached for the handle out of muscle memory only to remember that there was no handle. So I simply pushed the door open. Outside, I could see an open field with a bit of dead grass peppered throughout its landscape. In the middle of the small confined area, I could see the ashes of a once lit fire surrounded by a few big rocks. Near me, and lining the outer rim of the forest, I saw a few trunks of trees still in the ground, molested by green mold and decay. The forest sat behind it, foreboding and freighting as it always has been.
I looked deep into its green mass thinking and pondering to myself. To be honest, I thought about running back out into the wild, but doing something like that would be suicide. I barely survived my encounter with those wolves and I would more than likely become sick with something else. And if I was unlucky, I would more than likely suffer an extremely painful death alone and afraid. But now isn't the time to speculate the 'what ifs' and the 'could'ves', now is the time to tell a tale.
I looked away from the green menace and looked back to the small encampment that I was trapped in. Surrounding the small fire place, were some small huts that were constructed around it.
They weren't as big as my prison cell I was in. If anything, it just looked like a hovel. So, with a small bit of care, I walked towards the small huts. But once I was halfway there, I could hear voices penetrating the 'walls'. It was extremely muffled and I couldn't make out what they were saying, but it sounded like they were having an argument.
But as I got closer and closer to the disturbance, I was able to distinguish who was arguing. It sounded like Durham and Howard were having a pissing fit and a woman's voice was trying to stop a fight from occurring.
Being the ever curious man that I was, I walked closer to the small but and listened into the conversation.
"-For the last time, Howard, he's in no state to do anything! He needs at least a week before he-"
"If he can walk, he can leave. We 'ardly 'ave enough food for ourselves. Wha' makes ya think that we can support 'em?"
"He has a point, Durham. We have a couple of weeks before fall comes and we hardly have enough supplies for our lonesome," I didn't recognize this voice. It was of the female persuasion, but as luck would have it, it was not the same voice that had helped Howard kidnap me. This voice had a bit of a British side to it and seemed to be more upper class. But other than that, there really wasn't much else to tell about it.
"Then he'll help! He did have a rifle with him, maybe he could hunt-"
"With 'ow many shoots ah heard, ah doubt he can hunt as good as Sarah can."
"You know, as well as I do, that Sarah is more than likely dead."
"Ya don't know that."
"Yes, and she just leaves her lantern in the forest for someone to stumble upon," You remember that lantern I found out in the forest? Well, I was just 'lucky' enough to find it out there. It served its purpose when I needed it, but now I think it was getting me trouble.
"She could still be alive," Howard said with a noticeable hint of anger slipping into his voice.
"It's been a week, Howard, if she's still alive, then she [i][b]is[/b][/i] going to die soon."
"Well, we ain't gonna know until she comes back, now will we? An' if she don't, then ah 'ave a couple more questions fer our [i]friend[/i]," There was a small bit of silence after that. I don't know if they were glaring at each other or just didn't know what to say next. But soon after, Durham made another suggestion for my workload.
"... He can collect resources."
"Grunk collects resources."
"'Grunk' is a stupid Neanderthal who only understands one word. James is someone who can talk to us, and he has the strength to do what Grunk does."
"Grantherin' is Grunk's-"
"Grunk is out of commission. He's sick right now because he ate a poisonous butterfly. And we need someone to gather wood for us while you hunt for food. So unless you want to grab that axe and start chopping down trees, I would suggest we have our friend here help," There was sickening silence in air. It was as if Howard was deciding in that moment whether or not he wanted my help. Not a single word was uttered in their silence not until 'Mary' spoke up.
"He is right about that. We've nearly run out of wood and we're going to need some in the next couple of days," Came the voice from the sophisticated lady.
"... Fine. But if'n he tries anythang, ah warned ya," I heard him begin to walk my way and was about to book it as fast as I could. But I was saved by the almighty hand of a curious young adult.
"And why do you think he'll hurt us?" And there that voice was. That was the voice of the one who helped Howard. It sounded like a typical American accent, but it sounded young and inexperienced. But it stopped Howard in his tracks. Howard's steps stop instantly and I heard his response in a low and cold tone.
"Tha' look 'e has in his eyes, Nicole. I don' like it..." That was as much as I heard from them, I was practically half way back to the cell that I had escaped from, thankful that the small limp I had didn't hinder me that much. But not a moment later, I heard an intense growling and barking mixed with the sounds of paws pounding against the ground.
I didn't get the chance to turn around. Instead, I felt something bite the lower part of my pants, which in turn caused me to fall flat on my face. Turning as fast as I could while on the ground, I saw a German Shepard tugging and ripping my pants as it struggled to keep me down. I looked at the old dog in a small bit of disbelief, but before I could register what was truly happening, I felt it jump on my chest and start trying to bite me.
I immediately put one of my hands on its throat and the other on its nape in an attempt to save myself from its vicious bite. I used all of the strength I had in order to keep the dog from ripping my head in two, but that damnable dog was persistent. I felt it try to rip itself out of my grip, but I kept it in place as best as I could. I was thankful that Howard had come out at the right moment.
"Goddammit!" Howard practically yelled as I felt him lift the dog off of me and saw him throw it away from me. "Get, ya stupid mutt!" Howard then turned his attention to me and gave me the angriest look that could rival Kathleen's. Behind Howard, I could see Durham in his white lab coat and two other ladies hidden behind him, watching the scene unfold before them.
"Tha hell do ya think yer doin'?!" He said in such a loud voice that it was on the verge of screaming. His hand reaching behind him as he yelled at me.
"I was jus-" Not even a second passed before I saw him pull out a pistol from his side and aim it at my head. It was a Colt.45 m1911 being pointed directly at me. I froze. I thought he was going to blow my brains out and that would be the end of my journey. But Durham came to my rescue.
"Hey, hey, hey! What do you think you're doing?! You can't just kill him!" Durham came running up on his side and started pleading with him. But even though he was saving me, I didn't dare break eye contact with the gun in fear that he Howard would think that I was going to make a run for it.
"Why tha hell not? Dis 'ere idiot jus' tried leavin'. Probably off ta the rest of 'is group to rob us while we's sleeping," Howard said as he was itching to pull the trigger. I could barely see it out of the corner of my eye, but I saw Durham's face turn into a glare as he stared at Howard and saw his arms fold in an angry manner.
"Then fine, pull the trigger and see how long we can survive the onslaught of wolves, lions, and whatever else this damn forest has," Howard stopped looking at me and slowly let his gaze turn to Durham, his gun still pointed at my head. Seeing as he got Howard's attention, Durham continued to rant at him about the implications he was about to take.
"They will come down on us and it won't matter how many bullets we have, or how fast we run, we will die. So go ahead pull the trigger, kill us all while you're at it," Howard looked at Durham for a couple of more seconds before looking back down at me and I could feel his anger and hatred leak out of him. We stared at each other for a minute or so, a man about to murder me in cold blood while I lay on the ground waiting for him to pull the trigger. He then slowly lowered the gun and started to walk away from me. He then stopped in his tracks and turned to Durham.
"Get 'em tha hell outta 'ere," I slowly let out a breath that I had been holding in and Durham came around to pick me up. I was no sooner was off of the ground, thanks to Durham, and was being led back to the small prison I had lived in for a few days. But my mind was bubbling with a question to ask Durham. I was confused and curious as to his actions, but I knew it wasn't the time nor the place to ask him. So I kept my mouth shut until we were truly alone.
When Durham finally got me back to my prison and helped me back on the bed, I looked him in the eye and asked him the question that had been bothering my mind when he picked me up.
"Why?" Durham looked at me, confused by my question.
"... Why what?" He said in response
"Why'd you stop him? He could've shot me and you would've been completely fine. So why'd you stop him?" He looked at me for a couple of more seconds before he looked down at the ground, his glasses nearly slipping off. I saw a stray tear fall down from his eyes and hit the dirty ground before he looked up at me with tear filled eyes on the verge of pouring down his face. His mouth slowly opened with his lips trembling to get the answer out.
"... I don't want to see anyone else die," His voice stammering as he told me.
Durham didn't say anything after that and soon left. We didn't exactly have much to talk about afterwards so he just left me alone with my thoughts. I began to think about who this 'Grunk' was and who 'Sarah' was. I knew that this 'Sarah' was more than likely dead. A human can only survive for so long out there without sustaining some kind of injury, I was a great example of that. And Durham said that she's been out there for a week, so I wouldn't be surprised if they found her body being chewed on by some wild animals.
But when they mentioned that lantern, I think my heart stopped. That lantern that I had found out there was more than likely hers, and Howard was more than likely thinking that I had done something to her. That was probably why Howard treated me like he did.
But Grunk though, I had no idea who Grunk was. By the way Durham and Howard described him, it sounded like a cliched jock, a lot of muscle but very little brain. But he sounded like an important individual to their group, collecting resources would make you extremely important in the eyes of people who depended on you. What I was confused by was how Durham described Grunk. 'A stupid Neanderthal' a bit harsh when I heard those words. But now? Grunk most certainly was.
And that damn dog. It knew what it was doing, it was trained. Regular dogs don't do those types of things without having someone train them, and I was more than certain with how it grabbed me, that its trainer was a professional.
I sat on my thoughts for a while, not noticing the time pass me by as I let my mind wonder. I was, however, disrupted from my small world that I was in by the sound of a door slamming against the wall. My eyes snapped to the sound and I saw Howard menacingly standing in the doorway looking at me with suspicion and hate. Without saying a word, he walked over to me, his footsteps echoing in the small enclosement that we were in. It wasn't until he was towering over me that he finally said something.
"Tha hell were ya doin' out der?" His voice was calmer in comparison to how he was before but it still held the same amount of suspicion and anger.
"I needed to stretch my legs a little, they felt a little-"
"Why'd ya leave dis room?" He said in a rude manner as he interrupted me.
"... I wanted to know where I was," With the answer I gave him, he just sort of stared at me. No real anger or hate in his eyes after a while. But after staring into his blank stare for a couple of minutes, he started to speak to me again.
"Yer gonna work tomorrow, ya hear? Ya ain't gonna be in dis bed like a useless shitter," And with that he started to walk back out the door, but not before I opened my mouth.
"And what exactly I'm going to be doing?" I knew what it was, but I had to make it think like I didn't hear him when he was talking to Durham and the others. He turned around and said in five simple words to me what he had planned.
"What eve' I tell ya," Howard said before walking back out the door and closing it behind him. And with the event of the day coming to a close, I shut my eyes and fell into the land of nod.
