Joshua Gayou - Commune - The Complete Series - A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Box Set (Books 1-4)

I held my breath, not knowing where he was going with this, yet also knowing that there was indeed some hidden plan.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to put everyone at ease, Jake,” said Jeff, sitting on the edge of his chair. “Whatever it takes.”

Jake’s head rotated suddenly to lock onto Jeff, and I saw a flicker behind his eyes as they settled into place; it reminded me of some small creature frozen under a spotlight.

“I’m glad,” Jake said quietly. “I’m glad. You may begin by unbuttoning your pants.”

“What!” Jeff barked. He leaned back in his chair, head whipping over to look at me with a horrified, unspoken question hanging on his lips.

“I’m terribly, terribly sorry for this,” Jake apologized. “It really is the only way to be sure.”

Unable to restrain myself, I finally asked, “What is this about, Jake?”

“Maria described a birthmark on Jeff’s person, close enough to his genitalia that she couldn’t possibly have seen it without also seeing his genitals. You see where this is going, of course…”

“You… you can’t be serious,” Jeff whispered. His face had gone white, and sweat was breaking out over his forehead. “I’m not going to expose myself here… in front of her!”

He wrapped a shaking hand around his wrist and began to spin the silvery bracelet he wore, winding it around and around in nervous jerks. The bright metal flashed and shined in the light spilling through the windows as it darted under his fingers, then back out again. It fluttered and weaved under his hand, reminding me of noon sunlight flashing off the surface of running water. The reflection crossed the path of my eyes, so bright that it caused me to squint.

“You needn’t worry,” Jake said in gentle, calming tones. “Amanda won’t see anything; I’ll ask her to go stand behind you. But I must insist, I’m afraid. It’s really nothing, isn’t it? Just a quick peek, and this is all over. I’ll be able to take this news back to the others and clear your name.”

I got up from the couch and positioned myself behind Jeff as Jake had suggested, balancing lightly on the balls of my feet in case things got aggressive.

“This… this is fucking crazy!” Jeff shouted. “You can’t do this to people! You can’t make them do this! What the hell happened to basic rights?”

Jake hung his head and sighed. “Jeff… look. I’m doing my level best to give you every opportunity to redeem yourself.” He looked up again. “I’m inclined to believe you. I want to believe you, don’t you understand that? But I have to be certain. You must understand.”

I saw the back of Jeff’s head jerking left and right silently as Jake rose ponderously from his seat to take a step forward. In response, Jeff sprung from his chair, knocking it backward into the wall with his legs, and attempted to step away from the other man.

Jake’s left hand shot out so fast that I didn’t even have time to flinch or anticipate the shot to Jeff’s face. It took me a moment to realize that he hadn’t actually struck Jeff at all; he’d only wrapped his hand around the man’s throat to hold him steady. Jeff squawked, wrapped both of his hands around Jake’s wrist, and began to struggle.

All of the warmth and understanding had washed completely from Jake’s face by now. He was that Thing again, that killer I’d seen stand over a half-conscious woman to offer a simple, offhand remark before shooting her through the face; his own face now as smooth as a porcelain mask, as it had been then. Eyes wide and passively intent, muscles rippled and flapped briefly over the bones in his arm as his hand clamped down. The wide, square fingers buried into the sides of Jeff’s neck, plunging into the skin so deeply that I nearly expected them to puncture the surface and bury under the muscle. A horrified, strangled gagging sound began to pour from his mouth without end; I thought of a gazelle being eaten alive, throat torn out completely as it kicked wildly in a futile attempt to run away.

Jake stood that way, motionless, for what seemed a very long time but what was probably only five seconds, and just stared into Jeff’s eyes, all the while those panicked gurgling sounds continued to trickle through the room. Finally, his head rotated down to Jeff’s midsection. Jake’s hand reached out, and I saw his right elbow began to jerk and twitch as he undid the front of Jeff’s pants. A few seconds more, and he’d exposed the groin area; his elbow rotated and twitched further as he prodded at Jeff’s penis. His left arm remained rigid and motionless as iron; the skin of Jeff’s neck began to purple around the trauma being inflicted.

Jake looked back up to meet Jeff’s eyes and, without lessening the pressure in the slightest, said, “What would have been your excuse for this, I wonder? She happened upon you while you were urinating into a bush, I suspect. Only, this mark is so faint; no one would even notice it unless… unless they were close, would they?” Jake drew Jeff in, the smaller man’s feet tiptoeing, and then partially skidding across the rug. He stopped when their noses nearly touched. “Close like this, yes?”

Abruptly, Jake released his throat and lightly pushed him back, causing him to fall heavily into the chair. Jeff began coughing spasmodically while his shaking hands groped clumsily to cover his crotch. He began to sob uncontrollably as he coughed, which I think remains as one of the absolute worst things I’ve ever heard to this day.

“Amanda, would you please see him back to the trailer?” asked Jake in a calm, polite voice. “We’ll need to decide what comes next.”

It wasn’t very long after Jeff’s interrogation that we all stood together around the front porch of the house, with the exception of Jeff himself, who was confined to the trailer, and the children, who had all been sent to Oscar’s place to be together. Jake sat quietly on the top step of the porch, looking deflated as he brought everyone up to speed.

“It’s not good, but it could have been a lot worse,” he said as he ran a hand back through his hair. “Having spoken to Maria, it looks like he only progressed as far as petting and it seems… Oscar? Are you holding up?”

Oscar stood opposite Jake in the patch of dirt before the steps, surrounded on either side by the rest of us. He held his left arm across his chest with his right elbow propped on top of it; a clenched, trembling fist obscured his mouth. His eyes flicked up from their focal point on the ground to glance at Jake, and he jerked his head in an abrupt nod.

“Fair enough,” Jake continued. “As I was saying, it doesn’t seem as though he’s gone after any of the other kids, but that’s strictly from Maria’s point of view. I suppose it’s possible she just doesn’t know. There are two paths we can take at this point. We may choose to question the other children regarding their interaction with Jeff or, knowing what we know now, we can focus on dealing with this problem.”

Oscar coughed into his hand and said, “I already know enough, but I’ll wait on the other parents if they feel like they need it. I know where he is. It’s enough right now.”

Faces turned to shift between Otis, Monica, and me. Shortly after that, Otis and Monica shared a glance, and then they looked in my direction as well, more or less lacking the will to add to any decision. I realized it was down to me, so I said what was in my heart.

“You have to cut out the cancer before you can start healing,” I murmured. Then louder, “Let’s… deal with Jeff right now.”