A Dead Man's Tale

Chapter 16 (Jessica)

Jessica slowly gained consciousness and her head bobbed, before her eyes finally cleared. She could feel swollen and throbbing lump on the side of her head. She moved her hand to cradle her sore head but something held her down and heard soft clink. She discovered she had been chained to the wall of a dimly lit cavern within the mine. She counted herself lucky that she wasn't pinned to the torture device alongside the broken Kat. Her first thoughts were of her friends. Where were Dennis and Craig? They were not in her cell. Were they captured or given another tale by the Prophet to explain her disappearance? Her head was throbbing and she felt blood ooze from the wound on her temple.

There was no doorway, just an opening that led to the main tunnel, but it was guarded by two shadowy figures. They were on the other side of the wall and their shadows shifted in the unsteady light of the torches. Jessica realized they were talking in hushed tones but the echo was enough to carry the conversation.

"Looks like we got a good supply of sacrifices, huh?" laughed the first guard.

"Yeah, do you think that the 'Chosen One' will be found amongst all these?"

"Perhaps. You know what the Prophet says, "The Chosen One shall come to us bitten but with the heart beating and shall be living and dead, mortal and undying."

"I heard that they already made the short older man and that die-hard Mormon girl get bit."

Jessica held back the tears as she realized Craig was bitten in some macabre ritual to discover the messiah for their twisted religion. Another distorted sense of life perverted by the monstrosity of the plague and the walking infected.

"Any results, yet?"

"Nope..."

"So what about the girl?" They had to be talking about Jessica.

"She'll be brought to the altar next since that one big guy got away."

Jessica was glad to hear that at least Dennis got away, she wasn't surprised. The man was a one man army. Jessica had trouble breathing, fearing Craig dead and Dennis trying to fight his way to find her. A piece of her wanted him to not attempt the rescue, Jessica considered herself dead.

"The giant killed two others before ducking out, hope he comes back so I can get a crack at him."

"What about all their gear?"

"It's still at their campsite. Not like it's going anywhere." The guards laughed.

The guards changed in the next hour, but they discussed very little compared to the first pair. Jessica's body was drained, still trying to recover after the hard hit to the head and the weight of imminent death. Her body began retreating to the confines of unconsciousness in an attempt to recover and escape her conditions. She had to think of a way out of this prison but her brain was more concerned with recuperating then escape.

Jessica heard noises on the edge of consciousness, muffled and brief but they were there. The noise disturbed her rest and initially her mind tried to reject the pull to consciousness but she was awake enough. Her head bolted upright and her breathing quickened, she inspected her surroundings, and heard the voices of the guards. One of them was leaving for some reason, the footsteps slowly fading into the darkness of the tunnel.

The remaining guard entered, he looked familiar to her. The recently shaved head had cuts that were beginning to scab over. He stood towering above her causing Jessica to press herself against the solid wall behind her. She gripped the chain that tied her to it.