To The Grave

Chapter 18. Marty. Day 104.

My eyes were fighting to stay open, despite the tired raging over them. My sisters were asleep in the back row of seats. Randall's head was pressed against my shoulder, faint snores coming from the back of his throat.

"What the fuck?" My dad's voice came out soft and confused. The car came to a slow stop. He looked back seeing if any of us were awake. I sat up more, pushing Randall's head to lean against Ferris.

"What's wrong?" I asked, moving to look out the windshield. A line of cars blocked the entire road. "Oh."

He unbuckled his seatbelt, climbing out. Ferris sat up, gasping for air. His eyes were welled over with tears. He quickly wiped them away, looking around. "Help me move these cars." My father said to the two of us. I climbed out, abandoning my best friend in the car.

We walked close to the cars. My dad moved to the first one in the row, facing a ditch. He pushed his hands against the back, watching as it moved slightly. Ferris moved over to his side, helping him push.

I remained useless behind them, watching as they did all the work. I had left my glasses in the car, not wanting to wear them on the drive. Not wanting to see what the world had dissolved into. "Put your hands up and get on your knees." I turned around quickly, expecting Randall to be beside me, a huge smile stretched across his face.

Instead a tall man held a gun too close to my body. His free hand swung up, landing against my face. I fell to the ground, holding my nose in my hand. "Get on your knees." The man screamed again. I looked back to my dad and brother, watching as they slowly crouched down, their knees meeting the asphalt road.

There was movement in the surrounding trees, as four more men came rushing out. Each of them carried a large gun, strapped across their chest. I remained curled on the ground, pooling blood in my hands.

"This one doesn't like to listen." The man who had hit me laughed, pointing the barrel of his gun against my head. I turned my head to look at my dad. I could feel the gravel tearing the skin on my face. The man leaned down, pulling the gun away from me. "I said on your knees. You look like the kind of pussy who should know how to get on his knees." His hand pulled me up, pushing me back to the ground so I was kneeling in front of him.

"They got girls in the car." Another man shouted from near the vehicle. The doors were pulled open as my mom was dragged out by her hair. Randall was pulled out after her. He was thrown against the ground, his thin arms shielding his face.

My two sisters climbed out, slowly moving to the ground beside our mother. "Line 'em up." The man who hit me called from the middle of the commotion. Hands grabbed me, dragging me across the pavement to sit beside Randall. My father and Ferris were allowed to walk over. I looked behind me, seeing two men holding large guns behind us. I looked back to the three men standing in front of us.

"Look, boys. We hit the fucking lottery today." The ringleader was speaking to his men. I felt my stomach starting to churn inside me. "Who do we kill first."

"How about this one." A gun pressed against my back. The leader moved closer to me, his large hand wrapping around my thin arm. He pulled me forward, in front of my family.

My dad jumped forward, grabbing my leg. "Please, you can kill me. You can do whatever you want to me, just don't hurt my kids."

The man laughed, jerking me forward again. He moved his face closer to mine. "Should we take him up on that?" My face twisted into horror as he asked me to choose between being killed or watching my dad get killed. "He doesn't even know what to think. How cute."

"Just kill me and get it over with." I pushed the words out.

The man let out a long laugh. "It's never going to be over with. I'm killing you first, but then I'm killing everyone else." Tears poured out my eyes. He swung the butt of his gun into my face. I fell against the ground, feeling blood pouring from my cheek. I kept my eyes close expecting to hear the spring of the gun click, before I died.

"Take the older girl to the camp, I want to keep her." His voice shouted to someone else. I pried my eyes open, watching a man grab Molly from around her waist. He dragged her away, to the car they dragged her out of. Another man walked behind him with the gun trained on her. "And the boy, the scrawny one. He'll make good target practice."

Randall was pulled off the ground. He jerked his arms away from the man, earning him a knee to the stomach. He leaned over, choking loudly. A hand moved against my cheek.

Ferris sat quietly on the ground looking at his arm. He took a deep breath, leaning over to cough into his lap. I watched his arms move together, cocking a gun. It remained hidden in the sleeve of his oversized jacket. He sat back up, quickly pointing. He fired the gun, sending a man behind the ringleader to the ground.

The sound of the car rushing away filled my ears as I tried to wipe the blood off my face.

Ferris turned quickly shooting the man hovering over me. He collapsed to the ground, gasping for air as blood gushed out of his chest. He grabbed his gun off the road, firing a single shot. I pushed my arms into him, knocking him back to the ground. He continued gasping. Ferris threw the gun to me, expecting me to be able to shoot it. Instead I stared at it on the ground.

Randall was on top of the man who had grabbed him, his small fist flying into the man's neck. He moved to stand up, bringing his foot down on the man's throat. There was a loud crack. I looked over at Winona. Her face hadn't changed from the first time I looked at her in the line. She was scared. Her big blue eyes looked up at me but quickly flashed back down.

A loud sharp scream pulled me away from the emotionless look on my sister's face. I looked to my mother, her arms covered in blood. She was holding my father's body close to her. I looked down at the gun in my hand and at the man gasping for air. I ripped the large gun out of his arms, pressing it against his shoulder.

"Where's your camp?" I pushed the words out, my voice only shaking once. He let out a blood-soaked cough. I pulled my finger in, squeezing the trigger. He let out a sharp cry. I moved the gun to his other shoulder. "I said where's your camp. You look like the kind of pussy who knows where your camp is." I fired another shot into his other shoulder. He screamed out, barring his teeth at me.

I moved the gun quickly at his mouth, hearing the barrel slam against his crooked teeth. I held the tip of the gun in his mouth, still dripping blood down my face. "Where are they taking my sister?"

The man remained quiet. The trees moved with the slight wind, carrying the distant smell of the dead. I watched as a small group stumbled through the trees. I stepped back, watching them crowd around the man Ferris shot. They began tearing into his flesh, their hands and faces glowing red with blood. One looked up seeing the leader on the ground. He stumbled over, his face beginning to show the faintest signs of rot. He fell to the ground, biting into the face of the man. I fired the gun into the corpse's skull, stumbling backwards. Randall stood up, holding a large gun from the man. Ferris followed our steps, firing bullets at the group of dead.