Different (23 page)

"All right. I suppose I really should let him fuck you, Sara, in case he's a spy and been sent here to test us. How about it, Adam, do you fancy her?"

The girl smiled at him and he tried not to stare at her breasts pressing against the confines of her shirt.

"Yes,” he said. “Josh, we'll talk later, but I really do need to eat and have something to drink."

"You do if you're going to have it off with Sara,” someone laughed. “You'll need plenty of stamina to satisfy her."

"Well, you could never manage it,” Sara shot back, provoking more laughter. “Come on Adam. Let's go to my hut.”

Nodding in agreement, Josh stooped and untied Adam's bundle. He snatched something out of it in excitement. “It's a mobile phone ... no it's some kind of walkie-talkie. Shit, the battery will be dead that's for sure.” he switched it on and held it to his ear, “It's dead!"

Adam saw the disappointment on their faces as their hopes fell. “It does not matter because we'll be leaving by crossing the marshes. I know how it can be done,” he said. Sara took Adam's hand in hers and he allowed her to lead him to her hut.

While he was eating some bread and soup Sara told him that she was nineteen and expecting a baby.

"I'm only two months gone,” she said, “so our doing it won't affect the baby."

As she began to undress, Adam felt a sudden and almost overwhelming sorrow, as he remembered Ben and Eve and their baby. “No Sara,” he said, “I cannot mate with you, let us be friends instead."

Sara looked at him strangely and then shrugging she dressed, “What about the other tribes, are you going to help them escape too?”

"Other tribes?”

"Yes, the Blonde and Red Hair villages are about a two hours walk away. Callum, the red headed boy, is always fighting Josh and Oliver who's the leader of the Blondes. Callum wants to be the leader of all the tribes, but I don't like him much, he's mean."

They left the hut and Sara showed him the pen where chickens were kept and a smaller one containing rabbits, “This is where we get our meat, vegetables are grown by the latrine and our water is taken from that tank over there!”

The tank was the one he remembered eight feet square, six feet high and made of thick plastic and mounted on a steel platform five-feet above the ground. Once a week a large tanker, driven by one of Dr. Maylor's men, had drawn up along side it and pumped fresh water into it and it used to be his job to refit the tank's plastic lid.

"Have the other tribes got this type of water tank?” he asked.

Sara nodded, “Yes, I think so, why?"

"Because that's how we're going to get across the swamps,” he said.

Josh came towards them and nodded, “I've sent a couple of runners to tell the other tribes to meet us here. It'll be lunch time before they arrive. Sara, get the other girls to help you prepare some extra food. I've told Matthew and Jacob to kill a few chickens. Adam, I think we'd better talk before the others arrive."

Adam followed Josh away from the huts and could see by the expression on the boy's face that he was worried. “What's wrong Josh?” he asked.

"I'm not sure how Callum will react when we tell him we're planning to escape. He might try to stop us because it's against the rules to even talk about life outside of here."

His grey eyes regarded Adam thoughtfully, “You do realise that if we're caught, the Lord Lands will have us killed and thrown into the swamp?"

"Then why are you and the others risking it?"

"Sara and I love each other, and everyone in this tribe is terrified of being taken to the house and losing an eye, liver, kidney, or being killed. And I'm twenty-one next year, and I'll be killed anyway. I was going to try and hide in the woods, but no one has survived in there, they send the dogs after you and if they don't get you, the open mine shafts will."

"We'll escape and get help and I won't allow Callum, or anyone else stop us, that's a promise!” Adam meant it, he had to find Eve's daughter, Jay, for she was girl who'd screamed and was now the only other of his kind.

Wheatstone City, South Hudson, USA

South Hudson State Senator, Henry Matheson acknowledged the applause of his supporters, making no attempt to hide his smile of satisfaction as his main rival for the Republican nomination came towards him and shook hands. Russell too was smiling, because now that Henry had been nominated as the Party's official Vice-Presidential candidate for the forthcoming Presidential election. Henry could afford to accept his opponent's gesture of defeat graciously.
After all,
Russell thought,
I was the one who'd found out about Senator Wilsthorpe's twenty-three year old mistress and sent the videotape to the Wheatstone City Post
.

He scanned the crowd and located his men who were anxiously monitoring faces, looking for any sign of potential trouble. They were armed and would shoot to kill. You didn't take chances with a Vice-Presidential candidate. He'd be relieved when Henry was safely inside the conference hall, where the FBI, who had insisted on taking charge of his security, would take over. Russell's deputy could supervise the bodyguards, while he checked out the surveillance on Mary Slymond and Scott Mallard. The other girl, the freak, may have escaped from him in England, but she was flying into the New Hudson State Airport today and into his territory. Like a moth in a spider's web, she would be his for the taking.

He would've liked to have been there to knock her off as she left the terminal building, but there was no way he could've left Henry's side today. He could've put a contract out on her but he wanted to take her out himself.

For the past thirty years, Russell had found a perfect way to dispose of those who could possibly pose a danger, either to himself or to Henry. After drugging them, he'd hide them in the storage box under the bed of his camper, and take them to his isolated cabin near the Bitterfoot forests in Montana. In the security of the basement, he and Nathan, a psychotic retard who looked after the cabin while Russell was away, would have some fun devising ways of torturing their victims to death. Russell's favourite opener, for a good looking woman, was to let Nathan have his way with her before he amputated one of her legs below the knee. Russell would then cook the limb and force her to watch as he and Nathan ate some of it, and forced her to eat a little of herself too. They had once succeeded in keeping a woman alive after amputating her legs and both arms. She'd bled to death as they tried to remove the upper stump of one of her arms.

When the victims eventually died, Nathan got rid of the body by cutting it up and feeding it to his dogs, before crushing the bones and throwing them into the river.

He had found Nathan living in a tumble down shack a few miles in the woods from Russell's own cabin. It had been easy to persuade Nathan to move into the cabin as a caretaker and look after the prisoners in the basement. Strong as a grizzly bear and just as vicious, he liked to watch Russell working on his victim and sometimes Russell allowed Nathan to lop off a few fingers or toes as a treat. The freak's friend Mary would be the next one to experience the delights of the cabin's basement after the funeral on Friday. Russell found himself almost drooling as he speculated on how she'd taste.

Greensburgh, South Hudson.

Mary drove the car off the black top and followed the dirt road that led to the house and Jay thought that despite her grief, her friend had grown even more beautiful. Her raven black hair cascaded around her shoulders and even at the airport men had stopped in their tracks to admire her. Jay wondered what it would be like to have that effect upon men.

They had spent their previous night at the airport's hotel and Mary had, in between bouts of crying, told Jay the awful details of Scott's parent's murders.

Scott was waiting outside the house when they arrived and as soon as she was out of the car, he hugged her and then Mary and then putting one arm around each of their shoulders, he led them into the house.

"We'll have something to eat and we'll get your bags in later. I guess you guys must be starving,” he said. Scott had a quiet air of maturity that reminded Jay of his father and she realised that she had never thought of him as a man before; before he was always Peter's son, her adopted cousin.

They breakfasted out on the terrace and as they were having coffee afterwards Scott turned to her. “There's a car coming in an hour to collect me and take me to the funeral home to view Mom and Dad. I have to go but you two can stay here if you don't feel up to it.”

"No, I'll come with you, I'd like to say my good-byes to them, if you don't mind, that is,” Jay said.

"Me too,” said Mary.

"Of course I don't mind. Mom and Dad would have wanted that, after all you're family,” he said.

Jay was touched and decided that Mary and Scott deserved to know the truth about what had happened to her last weekend, they might want her to go into hiding or something.

"This Death Dancer, do you think he'll come after you here?” Scott asked quietly, once Jay had finished her story. “I think I'd better contact a friend of mine, he's into security in a big way. After mom and dad were ... well I had him come over here and check out the security, but after I've told him about you, he may want to review it."

"The police don't think that he will, so please don't go to any more trouble because of me..."

"Jay!” he said firmly, “You can forget it, as I said before you're family."

She was touched by both his and Mary's concern for her, but didn't really think the killer would come looking for her over here and anyway, America was a huge country. Finding her would be like looking for the proverbial needle, almost impossible.

Russell lowered his binoculars and eased himself up from the ground where he'd been laying as he surveyed the approach to the Mallard house. He'd recognised the girl immediately and was tempted to forego his ritual with the Beretta and simply kill her using the snipers rifle that had he'd kept as a souvenir from Vietnam. Janine had caught the flight before Jay Mallard's and he'd met her at JF Kennedy Airport and after installing Janine in the airport hotel, Russell had simply followed Jay and Mary to South Hudson.

He took another look at the Mallard girl, she'd be an easy target and perhaps it would be wise to get it over with he thought, end it now. But on the other hand, he'd never got any pleasure out of a long-range kill because the victim never had time to experience the terror of impending death. Russell was damned if he was going to give up his trademark. He'd get the girl tomorrow night after the funeral. Right now, he could do with a little sleep, the jet lag really was catching up with him, yawning he made his way down the hill to the car.

The Devil's Footprint—England

The first of the other tribes to arrive was the blondes, six young men and twelve girls, one of whom was pregnant. Their leader was a boy about Adam's age called Oliver, who was obviously pleased to see Josh, and they embraced warmly.

"What's happening Josh, why the urgent summons and is that food I smell cooking?"

"Oliver this is Adam,” Josh said, “and he's the reason I sent for you. He says he knows how we can escape, so I sent for you and Callum, to discuss it."

Oliver looked at Adam thoughtfully. “When did you arrive?” he asked.

"I was born here, if you can call being created in a test tube being born, but I will explain everything later when the others arrive, they're just coming over the hill now.” Adam said pointing.

"I can't see them,” Josh said, “can you Oliver?"

"No, oh wait a minute, yes they're just coming over the top. You must have good eyesight Adam,” Oliver said. “I only hope Callum isn't looking for trouble because I'm getting tired of him trying to take over. You'd better watch your back Josh, knowing him; he'll be ready to try something."

Adam waited until the newcomers, who all had red hair, entered the village and had no trouble in identifying their leader. Callum was almost a head taller than the other boys, broader across the chest and he was carrying a homemade spear.

"This had better be important Josh, now what do you want?” Callum demanded his face within a few inches of Josh's.

"Callum!” the tone of Adam's voice caused everyone including Callum to turn towards him. “Get something to eat now and stop wasting time."

Callum, his face red with anger, strode towards him. “Who the fuck do you think you're talking to!” He stopped and frowned, “And who the fuck are you, anyway?"

"Adam. I'm the reason you're all here. We're going to escape, and soon we'll all be free.” Adam heard the excited murmurs from the others.

"You'll get us all killed, you stupid bastard!” Callum towered over Adam his fists clenched in anger. “I'm going to hand you over to the house and as for you Josh, you'll end up in the swamp with that bitch Sara."

"I can't let you do that, Callum,” Adam said quietly. “No more members of the tribes will be thrown into the swamps or made to breed like dogs. We
are
going to escape."

"Fuck you!” Callum roared. Moving quickly he jabbed the spear towards Adam's chest.

Adam caught the spear with one hand and casually held on to it, stopping its progress.

Callum's eyes widened in surprise but he recovered quickly and brought his other hand into play. Gripping the spear with both hands, he thrust forward with all his strength, but instead of moving towards Adam, the spear started to bend. Using just the one hand, Adam pushed him slowly backwards.

"Get him!” Callum yelled and Adam turned to face the boys with red hair who'd advanced towards him from behind. Four of them were carrying homemade spears and the other boy held a club. Instead of backing away from them, Adam thrust Callum backwards and then sprang towards his other attackers, eluding their spear thrusts and blows with ease. He wrenched their weapons from their hands, disarming them and he turned to see Josh and the others looking at him in amazement.

He grinned at them as he hurled the weapons away. “Lock Callum in one of the huts and then I'll tell you how we're going to escape from here.” he said.