Chapter Fourteen: The Punishment 2: Red of Vengeance
Boss laughed as he stared at Matt and me. "Man, you guys must be really close to die together in this arena full of people who are ready for more blood to be shed"
Matt and I started to crawl away "Matt, why is it we always get stuck in a bad situation with a metal nutcase"
"It's my fault cause I hang out with you" Matt said
"Gee thanks" I said to him.
We crawled til our backs touched the cage wall as Boss looked at us to see who should he torture first. I noticed he stared at something behind him and slightly nodded then suddenly I felt something grabbing my wrists and shoving them through the fence with great force.
"What the hell" I screamed and turned my head as far as I could and saw two guys holding on to my wrists. I started to struggle as they brought out a piece of rope, but it was too late, my wrists were tied and from the warm liquid running down my fingers my hands were cut up.
"What the hell are you doing, untie her!" Matt shouted, but the two men only laughed and back away.
Boss chuckled "My dear girl, don't you know I know how to piss you off, your strengths-" He looks at Matt and grins "your weakness"
I growled and struggled to loosen up the rope "you stay away from him or god help you, I will kill you" I shouted
Boss just chuckled again "it must be hard to watch another person you love so much being murder right in front of your own eyes" he said "Just like your brother"
I felt like my heart just skipped a beat when he mentioned my brother and he smirked "by the look on your face you're probably wondering how in the hell did he knew about that, well, let's just say the therapist you talked to doesn't keep his mouth shut" he said
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Flashback:
A week after getting out of the hospital
"Tell me again why I have to be here" I asked
"Well, sometimes it's best to talk about your survival in the dead world before you came to this place" The Therapist said
" What's there to say, my whole family is dead, I was in a bus crash and nearly died" I said
"Hmm" He said, writing things down in his notepad "Tell me, why you don't see this as a big deal"
"Maybe because I still have my best friend with me so it's not a total lost" I said
"Are you and your friend really close" He asked
"Yes, I've been friends with him ever since I was ten, he was eight at the time, we do everything together" I said
He wrote some more notes in his notepad "Tell me about your life before the dawn of the dead"
"Well, if you must know, it's been very crappy"
"What do you mean by that" He asked
"Mostly problems at school with girls thinking I'm weird, fat and ugly by the way I dress and act. I finished my Junior year with twenty-six detentions, three suspensions for beating up grily-girls, and my counselor didn't like the fact that I was being a bad influence on my friend who was a freshman. Plus, they think that a girl my age should get out from dressing up like a boy and start acting like a proper lady. I don't see why though, my family likes me this way and my friend didn't give a damn either."
"What made you want to be this way" he asked
"When I was eight, I was one of those types that wanted to fit in and make friends, but of course, due to my size back then, they didn't accept me. For nearly half a year of teasing, I got fed up with it and next thing I knew I got a reputation of being the girl who beat up another student at the age of eight"
He nodded and wrote some more stuff in his notebook.
"Why do you need to know about this" I asked again.
"If you must know, you and your friend were selected to be in a group due to your survival skills in the dead world and I'm just making sure you're stable enough to handle this job.
"What kinda group" I asked
"The Supply Gatherer, they go out and collect stuff for the people in the town"
"I don't know what the doctors told you but I have no survival skills" I said
"Well, from what I heard, you and your friend manage to escape from the dead in Phoenix and I also heard that you were badly wounded due to a bus crash"
I stared at him and he continued "but I'm wondering why you were in Phoenix in the first place"
"Marc thought there would be a shelter there" I said
"And who is this Marc person" He asked
"My brother's friend" I said, hiding the ring Marc gave me. "He died when the bus crashed"
"I"m sorry about your brother's loss" He said, "Was your brother killed by the dead"
"My brother wasn't killed by the dead, he was murdered"
"Really, want to tell me about that" He asked " I promise you, no one else will know about this"
"If it gets me out of here faster then fine" I said and started telling him about my past.
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"Your brother was murdered by an unstable girl and you were right there next to him when his head blew up right in your face"
I growled as listened to Boss talk about my Brother's death. My hands were completely numb and my arms were getting cut by the rusty gate.
"Shut up" I shouted
"What? You don't like it when I talk about your brother? Maybe, I should talk about the bus crash!" He shouted. "About that guy, who gave you that ring on your bloody finger"
"NO, SHUT YOUR FUCKEN MOUTH, YOU BASTARD" I shouted "fuck you, maybe I should talk about how that old hog was beaten to death just like Marcie. I just regret that I wasn't the one who send her to hell cause that would've been sweet!"
I would have slapped myself silly for saying that if my hands weren't tied up when Boss's face darkens from the mention of his mother. Next thing I knew, Matt crawled on top of me and rammed his arms through the cage fence to try to untie me and hissing in pain from getting cut.
"Matt, look out" I screamed
Boss grabbed Matt by the legs and started to drag him to the middle of the arena. Matt's arms were free from the gate, leaving deep cuts with blood dripping and wrapped them around my waist.
"Stop buying you some time, Boy, and let her go" Boss shouted
Matt tightens his grip on my waist, it sorta reminded me of the times when he was eight and would always give me a hug for being a good friend/bodyguard.
"Leave him alone" I shouted, but other then that I was completely helpless.
After one more yank, Matt's grip broke and was dragged away from me. He left a smeared hand prints on my shirt and a small trail of blood on the floor.
"Matt!" I shouted
He tried to crawl back to me, but Boss's slammed his foot down on his back. Matt screamed out in pain "Oh shut up, Boy and take it like a man!" Boss shouted as he lifted up his foot and slammed it down on Matt's face.
"Leave him alone" I shouted and struggled to get free.
Boss gave me a sour look as he grabbed Matt by his short hair and lifted him up to his knees. His nose started to bleed. "I can't believe a weak boy like him means so much to you, Bianca" Boss teased.
"He does, now let him go!" I shouted again
Boss frowned and let go of his hair, making Matt falls on all four. With a few blood drops falling to the floor, Matt crawled away as quickly as he can, but just when he took two steps, Boss kicked him right in the stomach.
"Matt!" I shouted as I watched him fall to the floor, clutching his stomach and coughing.
"If Bianca said she wasn't the one who killed my mother then I would have to suggest it must've been you" Boss said "let's see, how you'll like it when someone kicks you"
"No, for the love of god, leave him alone!" I shouted.
I bit my lip as I watched my best friend getting beat up by an insane monster.
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"Garret, what are we going to do" Kristine asked
Garret looked away from the horrible site and stared at the Trash pile where Marcie's body is starting to attract flies.
"There's nothing you can do, but sit here and wait for your death to come" Lindsey said, shaking and smiling. "Yup, you two and that bastard that's still knocked out will soon be zombies' bait in the next game"
Garret crawled over to Kristine and sat next to her "ok, we really need to get out of her before she goes nuts" He whispered.
"But how, we're trapped in a cage, Matt is getting beat up and Bianca is tied up right now" Kristine sighed "if only we can get to the vehicle"
"Hey"
Kristine and Garret turned around to see the same boy, who was talking to Bianca a while back, standing behind them.
"If your friends get killed, I can still go with ya'll when you leave right" he asked
"Garret, is that kid, who brought Bianca Marcie's switchblade" Kristine whispered
"Hey, do you think you can do us another favor" Garret asked
"Ok, as long as you stop calling me "Hey" and "Boy'" He said, taking another sip of his soda.
"Fine, what is your name then"
"Esteban"
"Ok then Estetron" Garret said
"That's Esteban" He said
"Yeah, Estecon, go to the arena and untie Bianca for us please"
Esteban took another sip of his soda and walked over to the arena.
"Is he really coming with us" Kristine asked
"That would be up to Bianca and if we get back to the vehicle" Garret said
"Hey, I think Jimmy is finally waking up" Kristine said
They turned around to see Jimmy stirring in his sleep and crawled over to him. "It looked like he got hit pretty hard" Kristine said
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Blood coated the floor and I was compelled to watch Matt get beaten to a bloody pulp. "Come on, Matt, you've been training for two years, I know you can fight back" I shouted.
Matt had gashes on his cheek and his lip was busted open with blood running down his chin and staining his shirt collar.
"What's a matter Boy, is this the first time your friend didn't fight your battles" Boss said. "Your Father must've really messed you up if you have to hide behind a girl"
"Yeah, he can be an ass most of the time" Matt said.
"Just think about it, all your life you'd let a girl fight your battle, doesn't that make you weak, like your father always called you"
"Matt, don't listen to him, it's brainwashing" I shouted.
Matt just looked at me for one second when a fist flew right into his face then another then another. Matt fell to the floor and started coughing up blood then his face was slammed into the thick puddle by Boss's giant hands.
"You sick motherfucker, if you don't leave him alone, I'm going to gut you alive" I shouted.
Boss laughed as he kicked Matt in the stomach again "it makes you want to wish you just stayed in Flagstaff" He said "then you wouldn't be here, watching your friend dying by my hands"
The beating continued when Boss grabbed Matt by the back of his neck, lifted him up and punched him right in the stomach. Matt called out my name, he didn't want to die like this after all the shit we've been through.
The crowd cheered from the bloodbath while others were making bets to see what fatal wound will Matt die of.
"Hey" Someone whispered
I turned my head as far to the left as I can and saw that boy with the soda, standing on his knees "what do you want" I asked
"Where's that knife you had" He asked
"It's in my pocket, untie me QUICK!" I shouted desperately.
"You don't have to spit in my face" He said, as his hands roamed through my pockets and pulled out the switchblade. I heard a clicking sound and felt my arms swinging back and forth as the boy started to cut the rope.
"Hurry, hurry" I whimpered, at least Matt was distracting Boss so he wouldn't see the boy cutting me loose.
Suddenly there was a loud boom that came from the outside. The crowd grew silent and everyone stopped what they were doing. Even Boss stopped himself from punching Matt as Matt's hand hung there with his hair clutch in Boss's hands. There were sounds of screams, cries of agony and bullets being fired.
A guy ran past the arena shouted "RUN FOR IT , THE DEAD GOT IN, THE DEAD GOT IN!"
The people started to scream and panic as they raced in different directions, pushing, shoving and steeping on each other to get away.
"Got it" He said
I pulled my arms out from the holes of the cage and ignoring the blood running back into my hands, I grabbed the switchblade from the boy and stormed over to Boss, who had his back toward me.
"I don't care if the dead came in, I'm going to finish you and your stupid friend off once and for all" Boss shouted, right into Matt's bloody ear.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HIM" I screamed.
As soon as Boss turned around, I swung my arm across his face. A soft mist of blood sprayed me in the face as Boss grabbed hold of his face, screaming in pain as blood runs through his fingers.
"MY EYES, YOU FUCKEN BITCH, MY EYES" Boss shouted in pain as he rolled around on the bloody floor.
I ran over to Matt when I realized he wasn't moving. I lifted him up a little bit and started wiping to blood off his face. "Matt, Matt, can you hear me" I started to shake him. "MATT!"
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Jimmy woke up from Kristine's screaming and Lindsey shouted "We're all going to die, we're all going to die!"
He slowly got up and sat down on his knees and rubbed his head "What the hell is going on" he asked
"The dead got in, we're all going to die!" Lindsey shouted, and curled up in a little ball.
Jimmy stared at her then at people running and stealing things til his eyes caught the arena where Bianca was trying to revive Matt and Boss wiggling around on the floor with blood running down his arms.
"RUN FOR IT, THEY'RE COMING THIS WAY" A woman shouted as she ran past Jimmy and the others in the cage.
"Hey, can someone get us out of this cage!" Garret shouted at the people, but was ignored.
Jimmy looked at the lock on the cage door and took out a small black wallet and opened it up.
"What are those" Kristine asked
The wallet had small tool of different shapes and sizes. "Something my uncle taught" Jimmy said, taking one of the tools and started picking the lock "lock picking"
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"Matt, come on, Matt, open your eyes" I shouted in his face, but still didn't get a respond from him. I shook him a few more times, but nothing. As tears started to fill my eyes, I was grabbed by the collar and was pulled away from him. I turned around to see a bloody hand grabbing by shirt and Boss staring at me with his cut up eyes. When I swung the switchblade, I struck him across his right eye all the way down to his left cheek.
I was slammed to the floor and a rough hand gripped my throat and squeeze.
"Bianca, hold on, we're coming" I heard Jimmy saying.
As my windpipe was being crush, anger, stress, and sadness filled my head and spotted the knife next to me. I reached out and grabbed the knife and stabbed Boss in the arm. His grip loosens and I rolled away while releasing the knife from his flesh.
He screamed in pain as blood squirted out of his arm and I stood on my knees, taking deep breaths and coughing a little. Gripping the knife, I stood up and walked over to him and grinded my teeth. "You killed my best friend, you bastard"
"And you're about to join him" Boss screamed and tackled me to the ground.
Bad Move.
The switchblade pierced straight though the side of his stomach and he fell on top of me, gagging from the pain. I crawled out from under him and backed away a little bit to take a deep breath. My throat felt like it was on fire again. I looked at my blood soaked hand that was holding the knife and sigh.
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"I got it" Jimmy shouted and opened the cage.
Jimmy, Kristine and Garret ran out of the gage and looked around.
"Oh god, they are in here" Kristine shouted and pointed to the entrance of building.
A few zombies started to squeeze themselves into the door, moaning and growling.
"Dammit, we don't even know where the vehicle is" Garret said
"All the cars are park in the back of the town"
The three turned out to see Esteban, hiding behind the cage, rather pale and shaking from what was going on.
"Why didn't you run away" Kristine asked
"It was too crowded to run and it's better in here then going out there where the war is taking place. Everyone is running to the back of the cause that's where all the cars are" He said
"Ok, Garret, Kristine, you take the kid and bring back the vehicle while I get Bianca and Matt"
"We don't have any weapons to protect ourselves with" Garret said
"It's not that far" Esteban said
"Just run really fast, now go!" Jimmy shouted
Garret gulped and nodded then he and Kristine followed Esteban to the exit. Jimmy saw the dead getting in and walking over to them, but not before searching for people that were hiding. Jimmy turned back to the cage and saw Lindsey still sitting at the corner in a daze.
She looked up at Jimmy and answer his question before he could say anything. "I'm fine, just leave me here" she said, smiling.
Jimmy nodded, knowing she chose to end her life this way and ran over the arena.
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"Bianca!"
I looked up and saw Jimmy running over to one of the cage door and started to unlock it. I smiled for a second, but that didn't last long when I felt something grabbing my shoe. I looked back and saw Boss using my shoe to push himself over to me. "I'm not done with you yet" he said, with blood dripping down his chin.
I growled, "But I am!" I shouted, yanking my foot away and jamming the knife right in the middle of his hand and making sure it went right through the arena to hold him down. He screamed in pain and tried to reach for it when Jimmy stepped on his other hand.
"I think he'll make a good dish for the dead, don't you think" He asked
I nodded and crawled over to Matt again as Jimmy took off his belt and tied his other arm against his waist to make sure he couldn't get away. See how Boss feel being tied up, beaten and the knowledge of knowing his end is coming.
I crawled over to Matt and hugged him, ignoring the fact the dead were coming and Jimmy shouting at me for us to get out of here.
"Bianca, come on, we gotta go" He shouted
"No, I'm not leaving Matt" I said, hugging him tight.
"I know it hurts to lose someone you love, but the dead are coming"
I didn't move. "Do I have to carry you out, the others need you, I need you, and what about your parents back in Texas" Jimmy said
"Matt and I went through everything together, I always make sure he was safe and by my side and now I failed him and I don't want to live on with that guilt in my heart" I shouted.
Jimmy advance toward me and was ready to pick me up and carry me out of here but I just held onto Matt even tighter then I felt his body twitching as he started to cough a little.
Matt is Alive!
"He's alive!" I tear up a little and started to feel him breathing, it was weak, but he was breathing.
"Move" Jimmy shouted
Jimmy pushed me aside and lifted Matt up onto his shoulders. "Be careful with him" I said
"I am, now come on, Garret and the others are already gone" He said
I quickly walked out of the cage arena and was nearly grabbed by a few zombies, we're so lucky they were slow. I turned back and saw that the dead were entering the arena and headed over to Boss.
"YOU LITTLE BITCH, GET BACK OVER HERE!" He shouted.
He struggled to get the knife loose from his hand, causing him to scream out in more pain and more blood to pour out of his wounds. An ugly, decomposed hand grabbed hold of Boss's arm and bit off a huge chunk of flesh and before Boss could scream again, another hand grabbed the corner of his mouth and ripped.
We exit the building, only to more commotion outside as people were running left and right, others shooting and throwing explosives at the army of dead people.
"It's too crowded and dangerous to run, what are we going to do"
"EVERYONE, DUCK!" We heard Garret's voice.
I turned to our left and saw our vehicle, driving over with guns and fire arms ready to be use. The people around them fell to their stomachs and shots were fired at the dead. I fell to the floor and covered my ears as more bullets were fired and I felt some of them flying just above my head.
I felt my ears popping before going death for a second when everything stopped. I looked up, my hearing was gone for a minute as I watched some of the people getting up and running over to any car or vehicle they can find to get out of this outpost.
Jimmy tugged my shirt to run as Garret stopped the vehicle just ten feet away from us. I ran over to the vehicle and Kristine opened the sliding door. More of the dead were coming as I got into the vehicle and Kristine slammed the door.
My hearing was back, I just hear a low beeping noise "Let's get out of here" I shouted
Garret nodded and drove the vehicle right through the gate, opening a path for the others to escape. I hope there's an outpost near by for them.
I raced to the back, pushing Kristine, Jimmy and the boy that came with us, away and sat on my knees next to the bed where Matt was lying down at.
His breathing was weak as I stared at his beat up face.
"Please don't die" I whispered
Please . . .
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Chapter Fifteen: Home: With their journey coming to a close, Matt struggles to hang onto dear life. Bianca question herself if this was all worth it if she loses her best friend.