Better off Undead

Chapter 39: Counterpoint

Eli sat on his knees as a strange man stood in front of him, shotgun on his shoulder, staring placidly back at him. Eli couldn't take his eyes off the man's mouth, which steadily moved up and down like he was a cow chewing cud.

"You know," Eli said, "prolonged use of chew tends to lead to very disgusting sores and abscesses in the mouth and there aren't really any doctors around anymore to help with the pain."

The man did not skip a beat in his chewing motion, but his eyes narrowed into a look of confusion. He stepped forward and kicked Eli straight in the gut hard enough to double the young man over and leave him gasping for air.

"Shut the hell up," he snarled, eloquently. He spat a streak of thick, red saliva down near Eli's knees as if in defiance. He turned and continued down the line to Amber. He looked her up and down, a smile spreading across his lips. Her face, inversely, was a mask of sheer disgust. She look ready to punch the man in the face, and probably would have if her hands, like the hands of everyone in the group, weren't tied behind her.

He continued on, next to eye Aliyah, which put a similar expression on his face as the one he'd had for Amber, and then on to Gabriel. When he came to the preacher he walked around him, looking him up and down, and even squeezed his arm as if testing the thickness of it.

"It's like they're sizing us up for the slaughter," muttered Amber.

"I'm pretty sure they want more than just a meal out of you," whispered Eli back. She turned and narrowed her eyes at him dangerously. He shrugged.

The entire group, like Eli, were down on their knees just off to the side of their SUV, while men from the stranger's group went through it or held various guns aimed at their captives. One of the men popped out of the SUV and tossed a couple bags onto the ground. "Looks like that's all of it, Bob," he said to the man with the shotgun.

The first man nodded, as if this all made some kind of sense to him. "Well, well," he said. "Blankets, clothes, guns, and gasoline. Seems like you were prepared for a trip. Where were you headed?"

No one answered. Jay, Eli, Amber, and Gabriel simply stared jaw set and steely eyed at the man. Aliyah looked like a panther ready to pounce. Daina had not stopped crying since she had been pulled from the vehicle. Mac just looked bored, as though this was not any more inconvenient than standing in line at a grocery store.

The man pulled his shotgun off of his shoulder and placed the barrel up against Aliyah's temple. He pushed it into her, forcing her to lean back. "I said, where you goin'?"

"Home," Jay said quickly. "Just home. We're just all trying to get home."

The man – Bob – didn't look like he bought the answer, but he did pull the gun away from Aliyah's head. "Ain't no planes for China right now, boy."

Jay just looked incredulous. "Do... do I sound Chinese to you?"

Bob walked casually over and smashed Jay across the side of the face with the butt of his gun. Jay bent over, bobbing up and down and grimacing in pain as Bob leaned down close to him.

"If I want your opinion, boy," he said, "I'll give it to ya." He stood straight and cast an angry glare across the group before him. "You all seem to be under the impression that nothing has changed. Let me make this clear to you. You are no longer you. You are ours now. You will say what we tell you to say, do what we tell you, and when we tell you." He smiled at Amber and Aliyah and added, "All of it. Your survival is ours to give you. Your life is ours to give you. You. Are. Ours."

He scratched at his thick black beard thoughtfully. He spat to the side and then turned to face one of his men. He pointed at the man and then motioned to Eli and the rest with his thumb. "Okay, throw them in the back of the truck. We're gonna take 'em to Red. I'm sure he'll be happy to see our catch."