The Condemned (20 page)

      He
led her into the room and though she had pretty much just about
pulled
her gag reflex under control
,
the stench in here was far worse. The air in the small room was hot and
stifling;
the buzzing
was
incessant and so loud it felt like it
was
inside her head. She cried out in surprise as the source of the sound was revealed and she swatted at the
countless flies that thronged around her head, they were thick and it felt like there were thousands of them. When she managed to see past
them,
she looked to where Amato was aiming the torch and gasped at the sight in front of her.

    
Beriael and Morgan had squeezed in behind them and they too were gazing at what lay on the small bed.

    
The bed itself looked old but relatively sturdy and was piled with comfortable looking blankets. A small cabinet sat beside it on top of a thin
,
threadbare rug.

    
It would’ve been a very nice, cosy little room if not for the putrid, decomposing corpse
that lay in the centre of the bed and
sort of ruined the scene.

    
Leci watched
, fascinated,
a
s a
fat
,
white maggot crawl
ed
from one of the e
mpty, staring eye sockets and tumbled
down what remained of the face,
it fell
through the space between exposed ribs and into the chest cavity, then she turned and left the room.

Chapter 17

The men had removed the body. Amato had asked her to burn it but she had refused. If he had pushed the matter she would’ve done as he wished
, grudgingly,
but he seemed to understand her reluctance and he had not.

    
They had wrapped the remains in the sheets and blankets it lay on and had taken it into the woods
, she didn’t know what they had done with it there, left it for animals to find, buried it, burned it, she didn’t care enough to ask them
.

     Many
of the flies had followed them but in an effort to clear the room of those that had remained Beriael had torn down the board that covered the small window in that room. Slowly
,
they were making their way back to freedom now that the promise of a free meal had been removed.

    
Leci hoped that the open window would also help to dissipate the smell a little
but she wasn’t so sure that it would
.

    
The thin mattress had needed getting rid of too, the fluids leaking from the decaying body had soaked through it and it was completely unsalvageable. Amato had broken up the wooden bed frame and tossed the pieces to one side of the small fireplace to be used as kindling later on. Other than the small cabinet and the ragged old
rug,
the room was now
bare.

    
Whilst the men had worked the girls had stayed outside, away from the mess and smell. Morgan had tended to the horses
, which she seemed to have become rather fond of,
while Alecia had sat quietly and mulled. The situation they found themselves in was
,
of course
,
a good one,
really, all things considered.
Some old coot had lived and died here in such isolation that
his
death had gone completely unnoticed.
Leci was just going to assume it had been a man, the gender of the body had been impossible to discern but somehow, to her, he felt like a he.

    
Essentially
,
it implied that staying here long term may even be a possibility. If so few people frequented the area that looters had not yet found the cabin and stripped it bare, or wild animals gotten to the body and helped to dispose of it, giving nature’s own slow process a helping hand, then maybe the four of them could stay here for weeks, years and never be found. Leci wasn’t sure why this disturbed her. Maybe it was the idea of taking advantage of the natural passing of some innocent old guy, maybe it was the idea of settling.

    
She’d never b
een one for that.

     M
aybe it was the thought of spending the rest of her life in one place when she’d spent so long
fighting against just that... w
ho knew?

All she
did know
was that she was anxious about the whole
thing but couldn’t quite put her finger on the reason why.

     Not that it mattered
how she felt anyway, Amato had decided that the place was safe for now and so they would be spending at least a little of their time here. She just didn’t want to go back in there until ev
ery sign of the body was gone.

    
She looked up as Bitsy sat down beside her, bumped shoulders in a friendly manner and gave Leci a quick squeeze as though she knew she needed the contact for support.

     
‘Kinda gross, huh?’

     
‘Tell me about it.’ Leci wrinkled her nose. ‘I seen a lotta shit but that’s gotta be one of the worst. Kinda feel sorry for the poor guy too, I mean, he spent his life out here alone and then he died all alone too? What kind of life is that?’ She looked at Bitsy questioningly and the other woman shrugged gently.

     
‘If it’s what he wanted I don’t see the harm. If he was happy living alone it makes sense he would've wanted to die alone, don’tcha think?’

    
Leci considered this thoughtfully and eventually nodded.

     
‘I guess so, it doesn’t seem as horrible when you put it like that.’

     They fell into a comfortable silence, watching
the horses grazing for a while
,
Leci struggling to fight the wave of emotion that was threatening to overcome her. Finally, she
gave up trying and just
embraced Morgan tightly
in a fierce hug
.

     
‘Thank you.’

    
Bitsy seemed surprised but not shocked and she returned the hug.

     
‘It’s what friends do, Leci.’

    
The two shared a warm smile and then Alecia went back to scanning the surrounding area. It really was very nice here, she had no reason to be so worried, was probably just feeling icky from what she had seen in there.

     
‘So, you think we’ll be safe here?’ She asked.

     
‘I reckon we’ll be as safe here as we could be anywhere else. It’s about the best thing we could’ve found and we’re not hurting anyone to keep our own asses out of sight
, that’s gotta be a bonus
.’

     
‘I’d say it’s just about perfect.’ Amato’s voice made them both jump as he came up behind them.

    
Leci looked over her shoulder at him. He wasn’t looking at them but seemed to be
busy
assessing the land.

     
‘Quiet, secluded, no one around, not even any real reason to find a town. The old guy probably lived off whatever grew or any animals he caught, there’s plenty around here to keep you alive and off the radar.’

     
‘So... What? We’re just moving in?’
Leci asked.

    
Amato looked at her and shrugged.

     
‘I don’t see why not, do you have a better plan?’

     She
shook her head.

    
She didn’t, it was a good plan.
They would be comfortable and secure here and while she knew that staying away from society was the best option for all of them, she was just having a little trouble accepting that for now. Bitsy’s assessment of the situation had been a kind one but it still upset Leci to think of dying all alone like that and nobody even knowing or caring that you had gone.

‘What was in the other room? The door next to the...’ She trailed off, didn’t want to think about what had been in there.

    
Amato joined them, sitting down on the other side of Alecia, sandwiching her between the two of them. He picked up a stick from the forest floor and toyed with it idly.

     
‘Another room, bigger than the little one. It’s got another bed in it, a
nice
big one. Everything in there is covered in dust, don’t look as though the door has been opened in years.’

     
‘You reckon we’re safe to pull off a few more of those boards? Let some light into the place? It’s kinda creepy, all dingy like that.’

    
He nodded and Leci was relieved.

    
Somehow she felt the place would seem less foreboding with a bit of light to chase away some of the shadows.

     
‘So, where are you gonna sleep?’ Bitsy asked Amato with a grin.

     
‘I’m gonna kick Ber out and share with you, pretty lady.’ He joked with a wink.

    
Bits laughed and reached across Leci to thump him playfully on the arm.

     
‘I dunno though.’ He answered more seriously this time.
     

     
‘I’ll take the couch and Leci can steal some of the extra blankets and shit and get comfy on the floor in the empty room.’

     
‘Nu-uh, no way. Not a chance. I’m not sleeping in there. I’ll take the couch.
You
can sleep in the stinky dead guy room.’ Leci held her hands up and shook her head to emphasize her point.

     
‘I don’t want some pissed off ghost coming after me for stealin’ his bed.’

    
Bitsy was laughing again and Amato looked amused.

     
‘You believe in spirits Leci?’ He asked.

    
She nodded quickly.

     
‘Damn straight I do. If I believe in dead people standing back up again and carryin’ on like nothin’ happened and if I believe in mind reading and all that shit I don’t see why it’s such a big deal to be a little freaked out thinkin some dead dude might not be too happy about us taking over his home.’

     
‘Aw, don’t you worry there Princess.’ Amato ruffled her hair as he stood back up. ‘I won’t let the big bad ghosts come get you.’ He laughed and headed back into the cabin, shaking his head.

    
Leci picked up the stick he had been playing with and tossed it after him
half-heartedly
.

     
‘Come on.’ Bitsy stood, brushed the dirt and twigs from the seat of her pants and then held out a hand to help Leci up. ‘Let’s go see if we can rustle up something to eat, they’re probably hungry after all that work, I know I am and I’ve done fuck all.’

    
Leci took the hand and
the two of them
headed inside.

    
One wall of the main cabin area was fitted with shelves that seemed fairly well stocked with tins. Nothing perishable remained, mould and maggots
had
rendered anything that had been opened or uncovered completely inedible
,
but with what they had brought with them and the supplies inside they should be able to put together something close to a feast.

#

Leci stood with her hands on her hips, surveying the meal on the table. She had to admit to being pretty damn pleased with
herself. She and Morgan had done a good job with what
limited supplies they ha
d had.

    
The door to the cabin stood wide open
,
every board had been ripped down to try and give the place a good airing. The smell was still there, Leci had a feeling it would never be gone entirely, but she no longer had to struggle to keep from bringing back whatever was in her stomach
.

    
Setting a fire in the stove seemed to have helped a little, the smell of burning wood
was quite nicely
masking the scent of rotted flesh and giving a more homely atmosphere to the cabin.

    
They had searched through the cans of food that were stored on the shelves. Some had no labels on them and some were badly dented but most were in good condition. They had opened a few of the unlabeled ones but had mostly been disappointed; one tin of small carrots, one tin of something unnameable that smelled almost as bad as the body had, two of the ones they opened were empty except for small piles of ash like powder
,
as though the contents had simply disintegrated over time. The dented ones were no more use, the girls quickly learned that if the exterior of the tin was damaged then something on the inside would’ve corrupted the contents long ago and left a slimy reddish coloured mess on the inside.