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

I went through the door without even slowing down. This new room was much darker; anything I could see was only shapes and shadows. I had the impression of more storage racks. I fumbled in my pocket for the lighter and started thumbing the wheel. I don’t remember anything immediately after that moment.

The next thing I remember was an all-consuming, throbbing ache in the back of my head, demanding attention and lifting me up into consciousness. The more awake I was, the more it hurt. I groaned and tried to find my way back to sleep.

“There, see? He’s coming around. I told you I didn’t kill him.”

Now in chorus with the ache in the back of my head, there came a familiar throb and pressure centered at my sinuses. I found it was impossible to breathe except through an open mouth. Tremendous. Someone had smashed my nose in again.

I levered my eyes open and was met with the low light of a gas lantern. We were in some kind of office, the walls on two sides (to my left and ahead of me) housing large picture windows looking out onto the shop floor. I was hunched over in a rolling chair with my hands bound behind me. I looked up and had to fight through a wave of nausea as the room tilted on its side. I ground my teeth while I waited for the feeling to subside.

“Jake!” I heard Lizzy call from somewhere ahead of me. I looked out and squinted. She looked shorter than she should have been and her body looked wrong; it was reflecting the light of the lantern in strange patterns. I was confused. Clothing is not typically reflective.

I looked around and just made out three other people; a woman and two men. I couldn’t tell for sure if it was the same woman who drove away with our van but I thought this was a new person I hadn’t seen before. About all I could tell from the low light and my swimming vision was female, neither young nor old. The two men were a mystery; I had killed all of the men I had encountered so far.

“Easy, there, fella. I hit you pretty hard,” one of the men said.

I tried to speak, coughed, and then spit out angrily, “The fuck is going on here?”

“Whoa, whoa,” the woman said indignantly. “You just killed two of ours, buddy. Maybe you want to rethink your tone.”

“Killed two that were stealing my van! Drug the girl off to God knows where. What did you expect? High-fives and fist bumps?”

There was silence for a few beats. Finally, she said, “Donny, cut his hands loose.”

“The fuck you say?” exclaimed someone (presumably Donny).

“Cut him loose, damn it. You have him covered with guns from two different directions. Look at him; he can barely breathe.”

I had my head down again as it was taking a lot of energy to keep it up and the strain along the back of my neck was aggravating the migraine. I saw a pair of feet in sneakers come around from the side and move behind me. There was a sharp tug at my wrists, and then my hands were free. I was able to sit up fully.

I sat up too fast and was struck by another wave of vertigo. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. When I opened my eyes again things were better. I looked around and noted that this was definitely a different woman than the one who had driven off with the Ford. I looked over at Lizzy and saw that she had been shrink-wrapped to a chair.

“Look, about your van? I’m truly sorry about that. Our people need what you’re carrying. This was a simple case of you versus us.”

“Again, if you want the van, take the van. You’re welcome to it. Let me and the girl leave.”

“Well, that’s a problem, isn’t it? Is she your daughter?”

“No.”

“I see. Well, what are you doing with her?”

I started to see where this was going. Though I hated to admit it, I understood where she was coming from. I was in her same position only a few days ago when Billy and I were deciding what to do about Amanda and her situation. Was she dealing with someone who needed saving or someone who was where they wanted to be? Unfortunately, I could also tell by looking at her that she had already made up her mind. I don’t know why she bothered to continue talking to me.

“She’s my friend. I’m watching her until her mother gets back.” It sounded lame, and I knew it.

“Your friend.” Statement not question.

“That’s right.”

“You want me to believe someone your age is lugging around this little kid because you enjoy her company?”

“Ask her, why don’t you?”

“Oh, yeah, I could. But how do I know you haven’t coached her? How do I know you haven’t frightened her into telling me whatever you want her to say?”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes, which also hurt miserably, by the way. “You’re right, lady. When we woke up this morning, just after I finished doing unspeakable things with her, I told her, ‘okay, here’s your story just in case we get ambushed by a really suspicious broad and a crew of gun-wielding henchmen! Listen up now…’ Are you insane? In what god damned universe does that sound even remotely plausible?”

I felt a barrel press into the side of my neck. “Easy, there, shit for brains. You don’t get to talk to her like that.”

“I haven’t decided what happens to you… yet,” the lady said to me, hanging on that last word. “I do know that I can care for this girl better than some caveman who runs around killing people he doesn’t even know…”

“Yeah, again, people who were stealing our supplies!” I interrupted.

“We stole. You killed. Who’s the real bad guy here?”

“Well, I would have been pleased as punch to let them live. All they had to do was not stick guns in our faces.” Her superior, schoolmarm attitude was really starting to get under my skin. “Besides, where the hell do you come from talking about her wellbeing? One of us has saran-wrapped this girl to a chair, and it sure wasn’t me.”

“None of this conversation matters. The girl stays with us.”

“Now listen, you…” I groaned as I started to get out of my chair. When I came to a standing position, the entire planet (never mind the room) tilted on its axis. My thigh slammed into a desk, and I had to brace my hand on it to keep from going over. I leaned forward again because that seemed to be the only position my inner ear was happy with. The pressure in my sinuses immediately built up to intolerable levels. It seemed that no matter what position I put myself into, there was some portion of my body waiting to tell me why my ideas were stupid. I reached my hand up to my nose and fingered around the wreckage gingerly. It felt all crooked and mashed in again. I gave a gentle squeeze, and pain blossomed from my nose and wrapped all the way around my head. The tear ducts in my eyes shot water like a couple of sprinklers.

“Which one of you schmucks broke my nose again?”

“S… sorry,” a voice said from my left—who I guessed was the guy standing next to the door to the main warehouse floor. “You fell on your face when I clubbed you.”

“Yeah, about that…” I began, “what did you club me with anyway, a Volks…” I had raised my head to look forward. The woman I had been talking to was standing behind Elizabeth. She was holding a knife pointed at the girl’s eye.

I froze. The guy behind me said, “Hey, Brenda, come on…”

She silenced him with a look. Turning her attention to me, she said, “Not another step now.”

“What happened to looking out for her wellbeing?”

“Well, it’s clear you have no regard for your own safety. Something had to be done to get your attention.” I scanned her face for any trace of shame or guilt for what she was doing. There was none. If I made a move on her, that knife was going in Elizabeth’s eye, best as I could tell.