Bryan Smith - The Killing Kind

The bald girl tackled her and drove her to the ground. She cried out in triumph and straddled Zoe, shoving the barrel of the gun into her open mouth. The gun’s sight scraped the roof of her mouth and drew blood. The salty tang stung the back of her throat. The feeling reminded her of having strep as a child. She wished she could be a kid again, safe within the sheltering embrace of her family.

Mommy…

The bald girl, Julie, grinned and leaned close. “End of the line, bitch. I’m gonna watch your brains blow out the top of your head. That’ll be fun. For me. Not so much for you.” She giggled. “You just get to die.”

Missy caught up to them then and stood panting near where the back of Zoe’s head rested in the sand. “Don’t…do…that.”

Julie frowned and glanced up at her. “Why not?”

“Because you’ve damn near emptied that thing. Too much noise.” Missy dropped to her knees and stared down at Zoe. The girl’s smile was weirdly serene. “Boy, you sure fucked yourself there, girl. I was really gonna do it, you know. Let you live if Chuck helped me do the rest of them.”

Zoe swallowed more blood as she struggled to talk around the gun in her mouth…“I…couldn’t let him do that.”

Missy laughed. “Oh, sure.”

Julie eased the gun’s barrel out of her mouth. “Yeah. You’re all noble and shit now. You were singing a different tune a few minutes ago.”

Still smiling, Missy shook her head. “Doesn’t matter now. I’m rescinding the offer. You’re gonna die, just like the rest of them.”

Zoe’s eyes filled with tears as a bleak hopelessness overtook her. “Please…”

Missy leaned closer, her expression more intent now. “Say that again.”

Zoe coughed. “Wh-what?”

“What you just said. Say it again.”

Zoe couldn’t think straight. Her fear was overriding everything. She couldn’t remember what she’d said just a second ago. Then it came to her and she made her mouth form the word again. “Please.”

“Again.”

She whimpered. “Please.”

“Please what?”

Another whimper. “Please don’t kill me.”

Missy made a sensual sound deep in her throat. It was the kind of sound you made when biting into something delicious. “I always dig the begging part.”

Julie looked almost bored now. “So what do we do with her?”

Missy lifted her head and looked out at the ocean. The gentle roar of the incoming tide was louder at night. Zoe remembered how soothing the sound had seemed on previous nights. But now it just struck her as ominous.

Missy sat up, leaned back on her haunches. “I have an idea.”

A corner of Julie’s mouth tipped up. “Yeah?”

“I was just thinking…I don’t think I’ve ever drowned anyone.”

“NO!”

The word erupted from Zoe’s sore throat, that one powerful syllable somehow invested with enough raw anguish and terror to express the entirety of the horror engulfing her. Desperation possessed her and she thrashed with all her might, nearly dislodging the younger girl until Missy got her hands around her throat and began to squeeze. Her hands were strong, surprisingly so, like a band of steel drawing tighter and tighter against her flesh. The pressure only let up when she stopped struggling.

Missy let go of her throat. “Let’s do this.”

They hauled Zoe to her feet again and began to drag her toward the ocean. She was weaker than before and let herself be dragged at first. She felt numb. Defeated. She was about to die horribly and there was nothing she could do about it. Then an inch or so of salt water tide rolled over her feet and reignited the agony in her wounds. She screamed and tried to tear out of the grip of her captors. But it was no good. They held on and steered her deeper into the water. She stepped on a rock invisible beneath the water and screamed again. And she heard the most awful thing. Their laughter. Her misery amused them. Christ, they were barely fucking human. They continued to wade deeper into the water. She stepped on more rocks and shells. By the time they stopped, the water was up to their waists and Zoe had been reduced to a gibbering, insensible mess from all the pain. She couldn’t scream anymore. Couldn’t even plead anymore.

Missy laughed. “Big breath.”

Julie’s hands were at her waist and the small of her back. Missy had one hand at the back of her neck and the other wrapped firmly around a bicep. They were really going to do this. Drown her. How could anyone, no matter how cruel, do this to another human being?

She drew in a breath just before they plunged her into the water. She thrashed against them and tried to break free. If she could break free, she could swim way out there, a mile or more, whatever it took to make them give up. But they clung to her with a maddening tenacity, refusing to let go. They danced around her, shifting positions, pinning her under the water. She twisted her head and could just make out the shapes of their heads and the moonlight-limned clouds above. The surface was so tantalizingly close, but it may as well have been a million miles away. Missy’s grip on her neck tightened and her head was pushed farther under the water. A minute passed. Longer. Her lungs burned with the need to breathe out and breathe back in. She knew it was time to start praying. She didn’t believe the way Annalisa believed, but the possibility of something on the other side, no matter how slim, was the only hope left to her.

They held on to her. Never let up.

And the inevitable happened.

Her mouth opened and the salt water rushed down her throat and into her lungs. Her struggles increased and became more frantic for a few seconds longer. She experienced a sensation like being crushed from within.

Then she stopped feeling anything.

They held on to her a while longer to be sure she was gone. Two or three minutes. Then they exchanged a look of mutual, silent assent and let go of her. They watched the body float beneath the currents.

Julie scratched the side of her head with the gun sight. “I thought they were supposed to float.”

Missy shrugged. “Maybe the body has to get all bloated and gassy first.”

“Huh. I guess. Anyway, that was fun.”

“Yeah.” Missy lifted her face as a pleasant breeze rolled over them. She stared out at the ocean. The endless expanse of inky blackness seemed to beckon to her. “Nice night. It’s really beautiful out here.”

“I guess.”

“We should get back.”

“Okay.”

They slogged their way out of the water and began making their way back. The house they had invaded was some hundred yards or so distant. It was easy to distinguish because it was the only house with all its lights on. Missy had to give Zoe some credit. She’d given them a real run for their money. Had almost made it, in fact. Probably would have made it, if not for a little bit of dumb luck.

“Hey.”

Missy glanced at Julie. “Yeah?”

Julie smiled. “I liked it when she went limp. That was my favorite part.”

“Yeah.”

“I mean, you just knew she was gone. You could feel the life going out of her. It was fucking awesome.”

Missy smiled. “You’ll have to describe that for Chuck.”

Julie giggled. “I know! I can’t wait to see the look on his face.”

Missy’s smile faded as they neared the dune separating the beach from the house. That was when she heard the screams coming from inside.

March 27

The guy had stabbed him three or four times, at least. Twice in the arm, once in the side, and another time in the leg. The wounds all hurt like hell, but none of them were too deep. No mortal blow had been struck yet. Rob came at him with the knife again, a wild look on his face as he slashed down toward Chuck’s chest. He looked almost as crazy as the girls now. Maybe he wasn’t a killer by nature, but he was on the verge of becoming one by necessity. Chuck rolled again and got out of the way just before the knife came down and thunked into the floor. He heard a sound of exertion. Instinct made Chuck roll back over before Rob could pry the knife out of the floor. He launched a fist that landed with sledgehammer force on the guy’s jaw and made him let go of the knife and go flying backward. Rob landed on his back and didn’t move. Maybe he was out cold. He’d hit the motherfucker hard enough. Chuck grabbed the knife and yanked it out of the floor.