Freedom -Negan-

Chapter 8

We moved to the northern side of the hill. We saw two figures crouched behind a small bush. Heather and I brought out our weapons and slowly approached them when I saw the glint of blonde in the moonlight.

"Carla?" I whispered loud enough for the two figures to hear. Their heads quickly turned our way and I silently cursed myself. Maybe it wasn't Carla, maybe it was someone part of the men's group.

"Jesse? Heather?" I heard her soft voice and my heart slowed. We ran over and gave the small blonde a hug. Another small, petite, red-head sat next to her. I recognized her from the barn.

"This is my sister, Jane." Carla motioned to the other girl. "She's willing to help us, but she said the other girls are too scared."

"I don't blame them." I crouched and put my head in my hands. I was hoping the other girls would gain the superhero courage that us four had, but I couldn't put blame on them for being fearful of the men who raped and beat them. So this was it. Four of us versus 12 of them. AT least we had the advantage of the men being drunk and sleeping.

"There aren't many guns in the camp. The only ones to carry them are Jimmy and one of the guards on duty." Jane lifted her hands to show us a handgun. "And I have Jimmy's."

Heather dug the man's gun from her waistband. "And we have the other asshole's." The smile on her face was so wide.

I placed my hands on Jane's shoulders and looked at her face in the lowlight. "You're going to get justice for what they've done. You've already done enough." I smiled at her and I could see her cheeks glistening. She gave me a small nod and shoved the gun in my hand.

I took it and offered the small knife in my pocket. "Not much, but better than nothing."

We crouched in a circle and came up with a quick plan to take out the rest of the men. We needed it to be quick and as quiet as we could be. We discussed using the guns, but it would be too loud and we had no idea if they had a large group nearby that would come for us. We could only use the guns if it was the only remaining option.

We stood up and I reminded the girls of my need to leave Jimmy for last. They questioned why, but I told them it would be a surprise and they went along with it.

I lead them up the hill and to the side if the structure where they were all sleeping. I slowly peered around the side and against the wall was a man curled up next to a brunette, both sleeping. She was also from the barn and was one of the first to volunteer to be taken up to this camp. I wonder how they were treated up here at the camp but had no time to ask Carla's sister.

I motioned for the other three women to stay behind the wall, and I slowly went over to the man fast asleep. I tapped the brunette on the shoulder, waking her and she looked up at me with large eyes. I held a finger to my mouth, indicating for her to be quiet and she gave me a not. She covered her head with her hands and scootched forward just enough to give me access to the man's head without stirring him from his sleep.

I raised Ben's knife above my head and brought it down with enough force to get it through the man's skull. A muffled grunt escaped my mouth, causing a man laying behind me to begin to wake. I motioned for the brunette girl to get up and leave and she followed my unspoken orders. She went behind the wall and the other three girls emerged to help me finish the job with the other men.

I turned and the man laying behind me blinked his eyes open to meet mine. This was the second man who raped me, I remembered all the vile things he whispered in my ear before bringing my knife down through his chest. He sputtered and gasped as I held the hand over his nose and mouth. The noises of the man dying was enough to cause the others to wake. I motioned for the three girls to do their thing, but they were already off. I watched as the woman killed the closest man to them and got the girls out of their ways before working on the next victim. They had each killed two men before they had even fully woken up.

I ran over to the other end of the shelter and searched the men for the leader. I found Jimmy in the far left corner. The young boy, Will, not but a few feet to his right. There was more yelling and clamoring as the girls did their work and I saw Jimmy sit up and scramble for his gun. Will just looked around him and men screamed and finally met my eyes, fear spreading over his face.

I grabbed his gun from my waist band walked over to the two men. "Looking for this?" I pointed the weapon at Jimmy and then at Will.

"Woah, don't point that thing at my nephew. He's just a fucking kid." Jimmy's eyes raced around the room as he took in the reality of his situation.

"A kid? I thought he was a man now after raping a helpless woman. Isn't that what you said. He's going to fuck you and you're going to like it." I mocked his words and his jaw clenched.

I heard the groan of the final man and the 3 other women joined me. Heather pointed her gun a Will. Carla came over and whispered in my ear "One of the guys had a radioed and sent a signal to someone. We don't have much time." She raised her hand to show me the busted radio. I sighed in displeasure. We'll just have to work quicker than I originally planned. "Tie Jimmy's hands behind his back. Think he needs a taste of his own medicine."

The man began to fight and was about to grab his knife when I raised the gun and shot him in the left foot. He screamed out and reached out to grab the bleeding nub. Heather and Carla grabbed his wrists and tied them behind his back before removing his knife from his belt and checking him over for more weapons.

"What are you going to do with me?" Will was crying and sat with his arms curled around his knees.

"Come with me. And wrap up uncle's useless foot." I jerked my head to the left and the boy scrambled to his feet and followed my directions. I stopped him and checked him for weapons to which I found he had none on him. Allowed the other girls to watch Jimmy as I grabbed the crying boy by the arm and dragged him around the side of the building. I shoved him against the wall and held the gun up to his temple.

"Please don't kill me! I'm so sorry, I didn't want to do it, but my uncle would have hurt me-"The boy begged for his life. He kept rambling on, but my ears were ringing so loud I couldn't make out what he was saying, His mouth moved but the sound didn't meet my ears. He sobbed and got down on his knees to beg for his life.

"How old are you?" I interjected into his rambling.

He looked up at me, eyes red and swollen. "I'm only 16." He sobbed. My stomach dropped and my mind wanted to have sympathy for him. He was only a young kid, strongly influenced by the older men around him. I remembered when I was his age, long before the world went to hell. I began to lower my gun when I looked into his eyes.

My mind went back to the moment in the barn. The look in his eyes when I mentioned his mother. Almost as if another person had stood in for him entirely. I heard my voice begging for him to stop.

I blinked and my mind went back to my freshmen year of college. I saw the eyes of the college boy on top of me, ignoring my cries as I begged him to stop in a similar way. I remembered how weak I felt back then, not fully acknowledging what had happened.The images popped into my head again. The college boy, my mother, the doctor, my professor, the women strung up, and now this young boy sobbing in front of me. Their voices began to talk all at once. Again, the boy's mouth was moving, but I couldn't hear him. I just wanted it to all stop. I squeezed my eyes closed, unable to keep the room from spinning.When I opened them, Will was laying flat on the ground, eyes starting to glaze over, exit wound coming out of his back.