My Name is Stab

Chapter Twenty Six - Miasma of Evil

Two hours later, we were kneeling side-by-side on a hillside behind a partly collapsed dry stone wall. The sun had come out for the first time in a couple of days making the hills almost glow with a verdant life and there were birds singing happily. It was simply beautiful. Almost as if I hadn't just buried my best friend and lover.

Mike was inspecting a stone farmhouse down in a little fold in the hills below us using a pair of cheap children's binoculars. "They're competent," he said at last. "They've got proper military people in there and they know what they're doing."

"They called one of them 'Sarge'."

He nodded. "What we're going to need is some sort of distraction. There are too many of them and they're too well set up. We can't get in without it."

"That's easy," I told him. In spite of the warmth of the day, an implacable cold had spread through my entire being. "I'll let them capture me. They'll be very distracted for a couple of hours."

"Don't be stupid," he snapped. "You'll be raped and probably killed before I can get to you."

"Those bastards have tortured and killed everyone I care about. If I have to take being raped and even killed for my revenge, then it's a price I'm prepared to pay."

"I can't let you."

"You're not going to stop me. If it was a matter of the security of the farm, I'd do what you told me. This isn't."

"But..."

"Do I really have to repeat all those words you said at the graveside?"

He thought for a long time then gave a sigh. He couldn't argue with my logic... and he couldn't come up with a better plan.

"So, how am I going to get myself captured?"

He picked up the binoculars and studied the scene again. "You're going to go in, just before dawn, along that track down there," he pointed to an overgrown track that led down off the hills towards the house. You're going to stop at the last wall. Then you'll start taking shots at the main guard post from the gateway. The guys in that second observation post will come in round the side of you. They'll have to get close enough to see that you're a girl and then they're bound to try and capture you."

"If they stick to their normal routine, they'll have their 'special party' in the evening," I told him. "When it's about to start, I'll try to get them to take me outside for a minute - I'll say I need a wee or something - and you let me know you're ready..."

"Two owl hoots," Mike suggested.

"Then when they get me back in, I'll try to cause as much chaos as possible."

"They're going to be seriously pissed off with you."

"But they'll still be thinking of me as rape fodder so there are limits to what they'll do... And, anyway, by then you'll be coming in to rescue me and eviscerate them." I gave a sort of smile - the sort of smile of somebody who had decided that they are never going to smile again.

So, as dawn broke the next morning, I was kneeling behind another dry stone wall, but now I was much closer to the house. I suppose I should have been scared but the worst had already happened. I had nothing to be scared of any more.

I was patiently waiting for enough light to put the plan into action when a figure emerged from the farmhouse and started to walk across to the guard post and my heart jumped. I thought I recognised the silhouette and, as he walked out of the shadow of the house, my suspicion was confirmed. It was Sarge.

A couple of the guards stepped out of the shelter to speak with him and I knew it was my chance.

Sarge was thrown backwards and another two of the men just stood around, stupidly wondering what had just happened. I was sure that I had hit at least one more of them before they threw themselves to the ground. And one of the others hadn't found proper cover, as if he hadn't realised where the bullets were coming from. I was pretty sure I had wounded him and any wound these days was pretty much a death sentence.

For the next couple of minutes, I exchanged a couple of shots with the remaining men in the guard post and in the house. I didn't really think I was going to hit anyone - I just wanted to show the guards coming in from the second observation post, off to my right, that I was preoccupied.

It was fortunate that I knew they were coming and was already moving my head away when the rifle butt hit me. That guard wasn't holding back with his blow and it might have cracked my skull otherwise.

When I came round, I was being dragged towards the farmhouse by two men, one holding each of my arms. I managed to pull myself sufficiently upright so I could at least manage a stumbling walk by the time we reached the farmhouse.

As they forced me in through the door, the smell struck me. I mean, pretty much everywhere was smelly - even our farm was quite bad in spite of the combined efforts of Mam and Susan to maintain some basic standards of hygiene and cleanliness. But this evil gang had a miasma of their own that was not just vile but characteristic. When she recognised it, Theodora struggled to free herself from her box and start screaming but I firmly pushed her back in.

"Well, look what the cat's dragged in," Deemo laughed when he saw me. He gave one of my nipples a vicious twist through the material of my shirt and it made me whimper with pain. "We heard you were heading this way with your little lover boy."

He looked up as the rest of the gang gathered round him. "Hey, back on duty. This bitch has already taken out three of us including Sarge. Don't worry, we won't start without you!"

With some grumbling, they returned to their posts. That was interesting; there would never have been any grumbling when Theodora was being held by the gang. Was order starting to break down?

Then I realised that he'd said that I'd killed Sarge and a couple of others. That news sent a surge of satisfaction through me. Sarge had always been the brains of the operation. Even if we failed, I'd already damaged the gang - possibly fatally.

"So what happened to little lover boy, then?"

"He was killed in your ambush." I deliberately let a little bit of my distress leak out. "But not before he took out the men attacking us." Deemo thought there were just the two of us and I was quite happy for him to keep thinking that.

"Well, something else you're going to have to pay for tonight," he said with an evil leer. "I'm looking forward to it!"

I was quickly hog-tied then thrown in a corner.

I don't suppose I should have been surprised but I was. There was another girl there. She looked to be about ten though it was hard to tell these days with everyone so underweight. She had blond curly hair and, of course, she looked terrified.

As soon as I saw her, it became clear to me what I really knew all along. If it cost James, Mike and me our lives to destroy this gang, it would be a price I was prepared to pay.

I waited until I was no longer the centre of attention then rolled over and flashed a quick smile to my partner in captivity.

"Quiet!" I mouthed to her.

She nodded.

Then I rolled back and, with the benefit of the military training I had received from Laura and Mike, I started to observe my captors.

The first thing I noticed was that they were all thin. By that time, nobody was carrying any excess weight but these guys were well below the level at which they would be starting to get weak. So, it seems like life as a despicable parasite only works as long as your host is relatively healthy.

Looking around the kitchen, I could see about ten heavy spears leaning up in a corner. It looked as if they were starting to run out of ammunition, too.

Then I felt at the ropes securing me. James and Sampson had worked on that a couple of times when we had been shut up in the barn, even going as far as to tie me up and having me untie myself. At first the knots seemed secure enough but then I found one that was slightly loose... and another was just too close to my little finger. By playing the section of rope between the two knots, I was able to slacken the whole thing off. I left the ropes in place but I knew that I would be able to free myself in seconds if I wanted.

There were other small signs that discipline was starting to break down. There was almost constant bickering and Deemo even had to break up a violent fist fight at one stage. He was obviously running short of patience. "Any more of this and you don't get your leg over tonight," he shouted at the two.

The responses of "Yes, Deemo," were just a bit too slow in coming, too.