“What’s your name?” he asks me as one of his men takes off my backpack and begins to rummage through it. Another gives the leader my rifle and pistol.
“None of your business.”
“What are you doing here?” the leader asks.
“Looking for supplies.”
The leader looks at his man that’s searching my backpack and the man hands it to him.
“Beans,” the leader says, fumbling through the bag, “pocket knife, fish…” He pulls out Jessi’s medical file. “These aren’t really the supplies I thought one would go into a hospital to find.”
“I’m looking for someone,” I say this time.
“New story, eh?”
“Why do you care?” I can feel my cheeks beginning to turn red. “Just do what you want with me and let me go.”
The leader shakes his head and motions for one of his men to grab me. “I don’t think so,” he says. “We’re going to take you in, question you.”
“What, are you pretending to be cops?”
“I do police this territory, yes,” the leader says. He thumbs through the file. “I don’t know you so I’m taking you in.”
My stomach sinks at his words. This could mean a lot of things. Long hours of questioning. Maybe there won’t be questions at all and they will do nothing but have their way with me until I’m withered away — this being the more likely scenario.
I should have pulled the trigger. I should have ended it myself. I wish I was anywhere but here.
The leader looks at the man who’s got a hold of me and nods. I’m about to say something when I feel a sharp pain in the back of my head and all I see is black.
Chapter 18 – Remi
I’m not surprised when I wake up in a dark room with my hands tied to the back of my chair. My coat, backpack, and guns are all gone, of course. I’ve been stripped to just my t-shirt and jeans and they even took my shoes and socks. My bare feet feel so cold against the concrete floor.
My head is screaming with pain and I’m sure there’s a giant lump under my hair. I’m almost glad there isn’t a bright light in here since I know it would just add to my headache. There is, however, a faint light shining around the cracks of the door on the other side of the room. Occasionally I will see the shadows of someone moving past the door, but no more than that.
I didn’t see anything on my way here. All I remember was being hit in the head and then waking up here. I have no sense of the layout of whatever building I might be in, so using my special hearing ability is difficult. I’m not sure where the bearded leader might be, so finding him will be next to impossible. Instead, I try to find any nearby conversations.
I close my eyes and listen as intently as possible. I’m pretty sure that beyond the door is a hallway, so I project my hearing through the door and I turn left. I hear a conversation.
How long do you think the rain will continue?
I don’t know, you idiot, it’s not like we have weathermen anymore.
I move forward and pause after a few feet. I hear a door open at the other end of the hall, so I know there is something ahead. I move forward and push through the next door. I can hear the sound of the wind, so I know I’m outside now. I can hear voices to my right, so I try to move there.
You’re it!
No, you’re it! I was in the safe zone!
Stop cheating, Marshal!
Yeah, stop being such a baby.
These are the voices of children playing outside in the rain. That means that I wasn’t captured by raiders at all. Is this another town or village? I have never heard of there being such a place so near the Epicenter. But there is no way that the bearded leader could guess that I know that. He’s going to try and make me think that I’m in danger, though there is still a possibility of that. But if there are children, then that means these people are just trying to stay safe. Once they see that I’m not a threat, they aren’t going to kill me.
The thoughts leave my mind instantly as I open my eyes. It isn’t true. Townspeople kill outsiders all the time if they think it will better serve them. Regardless, it makes me feel more at ease.
The door opens wide and beardy flips on the light, blinding me and sending a surge of pain through my head. Through squints I can see two men at his side, both carrying guns. Beardy seems unarmed but he undoubtedly has a knife or something.
The light shows me that there is a table in front of me with a chair on the other side. Beardy scoots the chair out and sits across from me, a large stupid smile spread across his face.
“I’m glad to see that you’re awake,” he says. “Would you like some water?”
“I’d like you to explain why you knocked me out and tied me to a chair. Then I would like you to kill yourself and burn for eternity,” I say with as much callousness as I can muster.
Beardy turns to his men and waves them away. They close the door behind them leaving only the two of us in the room.
“My name is Stephen,” he says.
“I don’t care.”
“What is your name?”
“Bill,” I say.
Stephen is stoned-faced. He stares into my eyes for a long moment before turning his face down to look at the table. His fingers tap the smooth surface and his knee moves up and down as if he’s already getting frustrated.
“You know if you don’t tell me the truth, I can make your life very miserable,” he says. “You know what we raiders are capable of.”
I have to keep myself from smiling. Stephen is no more a raider than I am, but I know he’s got to try and keep his edge. Next, he’s going to threaten to kill me or torture me.
“What were you doing in the hospital, Bill?” He says Bill very slowly as if to tell me that he will play my little game for a beat.
“I already told you,” I say.
He nods. “Yes, well, you told me two things. First, you were going in for supplies, then you told me that you were looking for someone.”
“Can’t it be both?” I ask.
“Why are you looking for Jessi Paxton?” he asks.
“Why? You know her?”
“I’m asking the questions,” he says.
“So am I.”
“You don’t have the right.”
“Neither do you.”
“You were trespassing on our territory.”
“There are no more territories.”
Stephen’s face is turning red beneath his beard. “I didn’t come in here to play games.”
“No, you came in here to intimidate me, but you won’t get that chance. I’m not afraid of you.”
He stares at me for a moment, his eyebrows lowered as if he’s studying what I just said. “No,” he says. “You aren’t afraid of me. I see that clearly.”
“Why don’t you just let me go?” I ask. “I didn’t do anything to disrupt your livelihood. All I did was take a file.”
“Yes, and that’s what I am curious about,” he says. “Had you come out with syringes or medicine, I might have let you go, but the file intrigues me.”
“Lies, Stephen,” I say with a clenched jaw. “Raiders never let someone go. If you are true to what you claim then you would have just killed me and taken my stuff. Truth is, you or someone above you runs the village or town where we now sit. You’re trying to scare me to get some truth out of me because you saw that I was alone. And if I’m a woman and alone, I must be scared already, so why not tie me to a chair, take my shoes, and tell me you’re a raider?”