Revenence: Dead Silence, A Zombie Novel (27 page)

Adrian crouched down casually next to the man, who was sprawled on the ground, trying to be still, tears streaming down his face.  "So," he said, "how many other towns full of survivors did you animals lay waste to?"  The sadist whimpered, shaking his head.  Adrian nodded, his expression one of phony sympathy.  "Oh, does it hurt to talk?  Does it?  What about--"  He took out a pocket knife, unfolded the blade, and dragged it sensuously along the sadist's face and throat.  "What about some more where that came from?  Hmm?  I can make your death very slow if you don't wanna talk.  Now, that's time I'd rather spend looking for my daughter.  So what's it gonna be?  You wanna open your mouth, start talking?"  He flipped the man over onto his front side.  "Or should I find a nice, dark hole for my blade?"

The sadist's eyes shot wide open.  "No, no!" he gasped.  He struggled to turn back over onto his back.  "I didn't rape your daughter," he uttered with difficulty.  "Only the leader did...the one with one eye.  I don't fuck kids."  He stared Adrian down, panting and wincing.

"Well, it's good to know you don't fuck kids," Adrian sneered.  "It honestly is.  But you apparently won't hesitate to
kill
them, or anyone else, for that matter."  The sadist continued staring Adrian in the eyes.  "So tell me...how many other towns
did
you guys annhilate?"

"I don't know," the sadist said, rolling his eyes.  "I wasn't really counting."

Adrian laughed, glancing back at Shari and Daphne.  "He wasn't counting!"  He turned back to the sadist.  "Well, guess what, asshole?  There's something I
did
keep count of.  You know what that is?"  The sadist was silent, staring at Adrian defiantly, coldly.  Adrian flipped the sadist back over, yanking his jeans down and jamming the knife between his buttocks. 

"
Noooo!  Ohhhgggod, no--ahgodd, no!"
  The sadist's protests began as shrieks, then quickly died down to a whimper when Adrian stopped short of gouging his rectum.  He rolled the man over onto his back again.

Good thing he stopped,
Shari thought. 
He needs at least one lung to talk, and a shank up the butt tends to make a person scream.

"You know what it is that I kept count of?" Adrian asked again, panting with disgust...disgust for the sadist, and disgust for what he himself was doing.  "Thirty-nine.  That's the number of people in my settlement that you animals killed.  Twenty-two men.  Twelve women.  And five children.  Thirty-nine people."  He paused, squeezing his eyes shut.  "Thirty-nine...unless my daughter's already gone."  His voice cracked.  "Unless Celia makes forty."  He turned his face to the sky and let out a loud, convulsing sob before he continued.  "And you haven't been counting how many other towns you fuckers have been through, punishing people for doing nothing other than trying to survive in a world gone to shit.  Now, there's only one thing you can do before you die to redeem yourself, even a little.  And so I ask you...."  He turned the sadist back over onto his belly.  "Where is my daughter?"

The sadist had given up on struggling or panicking.  He lay still, his shallow breathing causing his chest to move almost imperceptibly.  "We traded her," he whispered under his breath.  "We traded her to another gang.  We traded her for guns and ammo.  I think they were headed north.  That's all I know."  He turned his head and lifted it slightly to look directly into Adrian's eyes.  "Now put a bullet in my head, you stupid cocksucker."

Daphne lunged forward, plunging her titanium talon into the back of the sadist's skull.  She yanked the blade free, turning to look at Shari and Adrian as she stood.  "Nineteen down," she muttered.

"I think we're safe here for a minute," she said.  "So what do we do now?"

Adrian spoke up.  "I don't know about you two, but I'm going to find my daughter.  I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to join me in that wild goose chase.  To be honest, I'm grateful for what you've already done." 

Shari gazed northward absent-mindedly.  "Yeah, I think it's time I try to make it to my parents' house," she said.  "That was my game plan until I heard about your plight on the radio."  She looked at Daphne.  "We figured we'd postpone our plans a little to avoid those sadists making it to another settlement.  But now that we've taken care of them, I guess we should be on our way.  And besides, you can drive a lot faster if you don't have Eva and me keeping you under thirty miles an hour most of the time."

Adrian nodded.  "You go on ahead...look out for your own, and I'll do the same.  I can't thank you two enough for what you've done.  I was lucky to have run into good folks like you."

"I'm sure you'll run into more," Shari said.  "And spread the word to other survivors.  It's us survivors against the sadists just as much as it's us against the undead...maybe even more so.  If all the good people gang up against all the bad ones, the sadists won't stand a chance.  But it's really going to take a committed alliance.  Zero tolerance for evil."

Adrian donned his sunglasses, starting his motorcycle back up.  "Shit...you don't have to tell me."  He nodded toward Shari and Daphne.  "I want to thank you two again.  You both take care.  Maybe I'll see you around, if you're ever in the area again."

Shari nodded.  She and Daphne waved as he drove off. 

"So Daphne," Shari said as they got ready to continue down the highway, "have you ever been to Carbondale?"

Daphne shook her head, starting her ATV.  "No, why?"

"They have a coffee shop there, they sell some of the best iced mochas around."  She grinned.  "Maybe we'll stop if we have time."

Daphne smiled, rolling her eyes.  "Sure, why not?"  She turned to face the open road and started east, Shari following behind her.

Kandi rode beside Shari, facing her as she sat sidesaddle.  "Well, princess...I've got to hand it to you, you've come a long way."

Shari rode eastward, her eyes straight ahead toward the ascending morning sun. 
And still a ways to go.