Undead Souls - Broken World

Captured

"Anyone here not with a group?" A tall and muscled woman asked in front of the eight men tied with rope around their wrists along with Seth. The eight males stood in two's as they prepared to walk. Seth stood on the right, second from the back next to a young man with a dirty face smeared with mud and ragged clothes torn from his body.

"Don't." The man whispered, trying not to move his lips as much. "They'll kill ya on the spot."

"How'd you know?" Seth asked, whispering in the same way.

"Saw 'em 'bout two days ago. If they ask, me and you are in the same group." He rubbed his wrists while the woman grabbed one of the two from the front. "I'm Charlie, 'case they ask." He added.

"Seth." Was all he replied before the man screamed in agony as the woman started stabbing him with a knife.

"Anyone else!" The woman barked with fresh blood over her hands, chest and the tips of her chocolate coloured hair. "Good." She exhaled, calming down. "Let's go." She turned around and started walking as a man cut the rope and gave it to the man standing next to him. Four men surrounded them with all of their weapons. Some guns but mostly knives or melee weapons. The woman continued to lead the way through the mostly dry dirt path through the forest.

"How'd they get ya." Charlie asked, stepping over the now dead man.

"Some guy in the woods found me. Yelled at me to run. Wasn't until he got shot by an arrow when I realized why. Some girl behind him with a bow and arrow." He laughed slightly, but quietly. "Would've laughed then if not for the fear of being hit by one. So I ran, for about an hour before they ambushed me and well you know the rest."

"Can't believe this happens to us, in two weeks." Charlie thought it over for a moment before finishing. "-ish. thought this'd be sorted. Damn sluggers can't done nothin' right."

"Sluggers?"

"The um, government, or someone, heck I don't know ya damn slugger. Sorry." He said lowering his voice as one of their captors scowled at him. Seth just shook his head slowly. Already gone native. He thought, smirking.

They walked through the forest for several hours until they arrived at an abandoned building which was surrounded by a mesh of wire and barbed wire along the tops. A few windows had holes in and vines and bushes up the wall. "This their camp?" Someone muttered as they walked through a knocked down fence. One of the captors jogged to the woman, handing her a crowbar. As the door flew open, dust was thrown up into the air. "Guess not."

They were taken down the gloomy corridor then a right, a left and another right into a small room, but big enough to allow them to all sit along the side. Two men struggled to tie the rope through a rusted pipe, behind Seth then attached a pair of handcuffs from the rope to the pipe. They tugged on it and once satisfied it wouldn't break they left. As the last man was leaving he kicked a penny across the floor. "Have fun kid." He chuckled closing the door. Seth stared down at the coin in his hand.

Looking to Charlie, still on his left, smiled. "That slugger just gave us a way out of here." Charlie smiled either from the use of his mixed language or from the same thought. He leaned forwards, pulling the rope a little.

"Hey mate, at the door. Make sure no one's comin' will ya." He nodded in response and moved closer to it as Charlie moved back. Seth had already stood up and was starting to turn the first large, rusted screw. It squeaked after each turn, which was amplified by the bare walls. There was little light from the small frosted glass window at the back of the room making the whole process harder.

Finally the first screw fell into Seth's hand who passed it to Charlie as he moved onto the next screw. "Maybe you shouldn't do that. If you mess up will all get blamed." The same man who asked about their camp earlier. "You are just a kid after all." Seth stopped and stared at where he thought the voice came from.

"Fuck off. You damn slugger." He smiled at that and turned back to Charlie while continuing to unscrew. "Kind of addictive." All he did was nod in reply as he took the second screw. Halfway through the third the man called out.

"Hey, you-" He cried out a little as the man on Seth's other side hit him in the ribs and grabbed him, covering his mouth. Through muffled cries he continued until he was hit again. The man at the door shook his head so Seth carried on. As the third came out, his excitement rose as he began the fourth. Through every agonizing squeak, it didn't stop or get stuck, it just went smoothly. And then it fell out. It bounced off his palm and echoed in the dark as it landed.

After several minutes of rapid breathing, no one came. Charlie put the screws on the floor and grabbed the bottom of the pipe. "Three, two, one. Now." He said, groaning as he started pulling. As they both stopped after a few unsuccessful seconds, Seth groaned, seeing that the pipe was connected through the roof. "Damn." He hissed. "Everyone, we gotta pull the rope together. Thing's rusted to hell so it should break easily." Everyone murmured in agreement, except the man who tried to tell their captors.

"You cry for help and we will kill you much more painfully than they would." The man on Seth's left growled in his ear, still holding him. Letting go they both turned around. "Ready."

"Alright, three, two, one." Seth said then started pulling. Everyone pulled as well, making a 'U' shape around the pipe and across the room. The bottom of the pipe started to crack. Through the cracks, water started leaking out. More of the pipe broke off making it easier to pull. A large burst of water hit into Seth and Charlie as they fell back when the pipe snapped. They crashed into the others. One of the men at the back cheered quietly, pulling the now loose ropes off his wrists.

"Thanks." He murmured then splashed across the room and burst out of the door turning left. The others quickly followed, pulling the ropes off. One by one they began running out of the door, some turning left, others turning right. Seth and Charlie were the last to get the ropes off after getting out of the water.

They stepped out into the darker corridor then turned left. "Stick with me, we'll wait around 'til they chase after the others." Charlie said running ahead of Seth. They turned round various corners and then stepped inside a storage room which was one door from the exit. "We'll wait for a bit and when them sluggers figure out we've gone we'll go out behind them."

"Why not just go now?" Seth asked.

"We don't know if they'll check on us or how long that'll be. We wait and they ain't gonna have a clue." Seth nodded in agreement and started to lie down flat on his back.

For what felt like hours in complete silence, they lay in the dark for only half an hour. "What!" The woman shrieked, piercing the dark. Footsteps ran past their room and went outside. "Get in the cars! We'll hunt them down, they can't have gotten far." Car engines started and slowly faded. "Chances are they went that way. You two go that way and use the radio if you find them. You darling, stay here in case they come back. If you see them kill them immediately, they won't hesitate to... No, I don't want to think about it." After a few moments some of the men were grumbling as they walked away. "Just make sure to kill them first."

After several more minutes Seth and Charlie crept out of the room and slowly crept to the door. Charlie listened and gave a quick nod before turning the handle. The orange sunset light blinded them despite it not being as bright. "C'mon." Charlie said keeping low and moving towards the tree line. "Alright." He stood and continued. "So how's 'bout we... Ugh..." Charlie stopped. Clutching his stomach, he leaned against the tree on his right, he slowly turned and slid down the side of the tree. A single, long, black arrow was sticking out of him. As he reached the floor a tall, slender girl stood holding a bow with an arrow drew aimed at Seth.

Panic took over and he fell back into the sunlight. "W-Why?"