Battle of Ash

Chapter 15

"When your time comes to die...
Sing your death song,
and die like a hero going home."
Tecumseh

2017.05.07 16:05
Ash rolled to her side to let the vomit spill out of her mouth and onto the cold, concrete floor. Her chains chaffed at her just barely bloodied ankle. It had been days since they had been locked up in what appeared to be a warehouse and her condition had only gotten worse. She felt delirious; dehydrated. Her body was ice cold and on fire. She ached from every pore, even blinking brought nauseating agony.

The thin blond, Kyla, would come in with a few of her groupies every few hours to drop off food and water. Or to let an infected loose in the compound; whichever pleased her more. Everyone was separated; chained to their special, personal pillar in the warehouse. They could hear each other breaking; hurting. They could see and call out encouragement. Some of Kyla's groupies were thrown in with the bunch; there were a few others who had been there before and a few from after Ash's capture. From where the captives stood it looked random, like mindless torture on innocent people.

But Ash knew. She could see through the clever ploy in an instant. Kyla was trying to break the group. To destroy them so that she could rebuild them. It was like boot camp. You were destroyed; you went through awful hardships with your brothers and came out as a tight knit cluster you'd trust with your life. You were taken apart and rebuilt into the powerful machine of service. And you had no qualms because that was your life now.

Kyla was using that same method to build her empire. And she was good at it. Already some of the teens were caving; Carlos was the first to start showing the mental shift when Kyla would come in and bandage his wounds, feed him fresh food, or save him from his loneliness. One by one, down the line she'd go. Administering hugs, Band-Aids, medicine and food where needed; the camaraderie that most people were aching to have in this day and age.

In this war.

The door rattled. Everyone became alert, even Ash- though she was loathe to admit it. The blinding light of the afternoon sun made the captives flinch, though they strained to see what was coming towards them.

Would it be respite? Would it be terror? Ash grimaced as someone harshly slid a mask over her face. She was grateful that someone was protecting her- she was apprehensive of what she would need to be protected from.

With baited breath the group watched the willowy silhouettes become more solid as they approached. The groans and whines were louder with each step. The fear and tension began rising with each scraping footstep.

Another infected.

Ash squinted as the shapes became solid, the colors of their skin and outfits easier to see. She gasped as she struggled to sit up. Not one, but two infected were trailing behind Kyla and two of her soldiers.

"Well hello my darlings." Kyla crooned.

The sound of her voice rattled against Ash's ears. Everything seemed to be too loud, too close.

"I said hello." She snapped.

The group murmured a greeting in return.

"I know you're all wondering what I'm going to do to you today." Anticipation in the crowd rose as the infected began to rail, fighting their constraints louder; harder. "I'm not going to hurt you." She offered, holding her hands up, "instead I think we're going to go on a little walk. However, if I unbind you today and you decide that you want to rebel against me, or hurt me, or disobey my orders or those of my crew you will be punished. If even one of you steps out of line then all of you will be punished for that one person's selfish acts." She tapped her lip, standing with one hip cocked. "Am I understood?"