“I never liked you, Myers,” Smithford continued. “Fucking pussy.”
“Hey,” Maria shouted.
“Shut the fuck up,” Smithford demanded, keeping his eyes on Kevin. “Now, slowly, give me your sidearm.”
Kevin did as he was told, and handed the weapon over.
“He’s just confused,” Maria told Smithford. “He’s been down here too long. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“You’re a stupid bitch,” Smithford said. “You know that? Maybe if you’d been willing to put out, I would’ve tried to spare your ass; claimed you as mine, but you’re nothing but a dyke, aren’t you? Or maybe just a tease? Are you a tease?”
“What the hell is wrong with you, Roger?” Concern was evident on Maria’s face. “Cat’s out of the bag, stupid. You weren’t supposed to know about this place. What’s really going on. You two were temporary. Doc was going to ship you right back out, then hopefully get in some people, people like myself, that would go along with the program. But after the city fell, that plan went to shit. He was stuck with both of you. Military wasn’t letting anyone in or out. ”
“This is wrong,” Kevin pleaded. “Don’t you see that? Come with us.”
“Myers, you really are an idiot. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t leave here. It’s the safest place to be. But I ain’t going with you, because I’m going to do my job and get paid, paid a lot of dough for helping the Doc.”
Maria’s eyebrows came together, her face contorted into an angry snarl. “You piece of shit.” She went to get up, but Smithford stepped up to her and shoved her back down.
“Like I said, Doc wants you two alive and unharmed, if possible. Not sure why though. If I fuck you two up, he’ll just inject those bots into you and heal your asses.”
“So, everything Kevin said was true?” Maria asked.
“Wasn’t supposed to be like this, at least not for another couple of days. Maybe even a week, depending on how long Jack and his friend lasted. But fuck it. I’m sure the Doc will love hearing about your little plan to leave.”
“You haven’t radioed this in, asked for backup?” Kevin said.
“Nope,” agreed Smithford, eying Maria like a piece of meat. “Not yet.”
“What do you want then?” she asked.
Kevin knew. He saw the look in Smithford’s eyes. He wanted some alone time with her. Maybe he would offer her a deal in exchange for a romp in the sack. Or maybe he simply planned on raping her.
“He wants to have his way with you,” Kevin said coldly.
“What?” Maria asked, grabbing the blankets and pulling them up to her chest. “No.”
“You ruined the surprise.” Smithford stepped up to Kevin and smashed the butt of his gun into Kevin’s nose.
Pain exploded in Kevin’s head as white light flashed before his eyes. He stumbled back into the wall and crumpled to the floor. He heard Maria scream, then a loud smack sounded and she was quiet. Looking up through teary eyes, he saw Smithford standing over the bed, laughing.
“Leave her alone, asshole,” Kevin demanded.
Smithford turned toward Kevin, his eyes filled with malice. “You want more, huh?”
Kevin went to get up. He still had his knife strapped around his ankle, but took a boot to the stomach. The wind flew out of his lungs. He couldn’t breathe, and curled up on the floor. Smithford kicked him again and again. “Stay. ”-kick. “T he fuck, ”-kick. “Down,”-kick.
Kevin was on the verge of passing out when the blows finally stopped. Breathing was impossible and the pain was overwhelming. He thought for sure a few ribs were broken, and maybe some other parts too.
Halfway to unconsciousness, he heard Smithford talking to Maria. Shaking his head, he looked up and saw the big man on top of her. She was struggling, kicking her legs, but Smithford slapped her and held her down. He was simply too strong.
Focusing on saving his friend, Kevin pushed himself to his knees, finally able to draw in a small breath. Using the wall, he was able to stand. Smithford was too busy with Maria to notice him. She let out a scream, and yelled, “stop” and “no” and “help” before Smithford punched her in the face, silencing her.
“That’s better,” he said. “I don’t mind my women a little roughed up.”
Kevin pulled the knife from his boot, his stomach screaming at him for bending over to get it. He crept up behind Smithford, and using both hands raised the weapon.
Maria spit in Smithford’s face.
“Fucking bitch,” he growled, then tore her t-shirt down the middle, exposing her breasts.
With all he had, Kevin sank the knife into the back of Smithford’s neck, just below the skull. The man let out a small gasp, then collapsed onto Maria. Kevin shoved the man off of her, his body sprawled onto the bed.
Maria sat up, scooting away from the body, holding her shirt closed with both hands. She was breathing heavy, blood trickling from her nose and mouth.
“He… he tried to rape me,” she said, staring at the dead form. She looked at Kevin. “You fucking killed him.”
He nodded. His side was killing him and his face hurt like hell. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth. “Now do you believe me?”
Maria nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. She nodded. “We have to…”
“To what?” Kevin barked.
“Tell someone. Report what’s been going on here.”
“We will, expose Reynolds and the others, but first we have to make it out of here.”
Maria hopped out of bed, went over to her closet and changed into her black fatigues. She strapped on her gun belt and turned to Kevin.
Kevin grabbed his own gun from the floor, then Smithford’s, tucking it into his pants at the small of his back.
“Where to?” Maria asked.
“We’re meeting Jack and Zaun at the armory.”
“You better hope they have Reynolds or none of us will be going anywhere.”
A banging at the door made Kevin and Maria jump.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“Everything all right in there?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine.”
“I heard screaming.”
“I was having a nightmare. Sorry if I woke you.”
“Open up so I can make sure you’re okay.”
Maria’s nostrils flared as she took a breath. Silently, she mouthed the words “What do we do?”
“Ask. Who. It. Is,” he replied in a whisper.
“That you, Clark, wanting to get into my room after hours?” She tried to sound lighthearted, playful.
“Yeah, it’s Clark. Stop fooling around. You know the protocol. Just open up so I know everything’s okay or I’ll have to call whoever’s on duty.”
Shocking Kevin, Maria opened the door and put her gun in Jerome Clark’s face. He was wearing shorts and a white t-shirt, and looked as if he had been sleeping.
“What the hell, Maria?” he asked.
“Get in here or I swear to god I’ll blow your head off.” She backed up, giving him room to enter. She opened the door a little more, Kevin saw Clark’s eyes move to the bed where Smithford’s body lay-blood covering the man’s back and neck, staining the white sheets crimson-the knife still protruding from the corpse.
Clark’s eyes went wide, his mouth hanging open. “What the fuck did you guys do?”
“Get in here,” Maria demanded, talking through clenched teeth.
“Okay, just calm down,” Clark said, holding his arms out, but before Kevin knew it, the man had bolted from the doorway.
“Shit,” Maria said, running into the hall. Kevin pulled his sidearm, joining her. She aimed her gun at Clark’s back, but didn’t fire. “Damn it.”
Kevin watched the man’s form disappear into a room down the hall.
“You had a shot,” Kevin said.
“I’m not about to shoot a man in the back who might not be involved in all this.”
“Don’t you get it?” he asked. “We’re on our own. We killed Smithford. We’re as good as dead down here. You know what happens when a soldier turns on other soldiers. And these guys are nothing more than fucking mercs. All they’ll see are two people getting in the way of them making money. It’s us against them.”