The Emerald Virus (50 page)

    
“Tammy” came the whisper.

    
“Okay Tammy, there is another lady being held in another RV. If we alert those
men we won’t be able to save her also, so you have to work with me.”

    
“Okay, I’ll do anything you say.” She was now sobbing, but as quietly as she
could.

    
Jack asked, “Are you dressed, or do you have clothes in here you can wear,
especially shoes?”

    
“Somewhere in the RV should be the clothes I wore that first day. I had clothes
and shoes then.”

    
“Alright, you stay here and get your thoughts together; I’ll look for your
stuff.” Jack pulled out his pen light and started by shining the tiny light
around the bedroom. There was nothing on the floor so he moved to the living
area. He didn’t think the men would have put the clothes away.

    
He found blue jeans and a blouse thrown on the sofa. A pair of shoes had been
kicked under the table.

    
He went back to the bedroom and Tammy was sitting up holding the blankets up to
her chin. Jack said, “Tammy, I found your jeans and blouse and a pair of
running shoes. I didn’t find socks or underwear but we’ll stop and get you some
once we get out of here. Can you get dressed by yourself?”

    
“Yes I can, but my ankle has a chain around it. I’m chained to the bed frame,
which is bolted to the floor. The chain is just long enough to let me go to the
bathroom.”

    
“Okay, that’s not a problem, let me look at it. Okay, just lay back and hold
still while I pick the lock. Fortunately it’s a simple pin and tumbler padlock.
I used to be halfway good at this.” The lock opened quickly and Jack took the
chain off of Tammy’s ankle.

    
She was crying again, but softly. She grabbed her clothes and let go of the
blankets. Jack quickly said, “Tammy, wait a minute; let me get into the other room
first. Come out when you’re ready.”

    
Sixty seconds later Tammy came into the living area and said, “Let’s get out of
here.”

    
Jack responded, “I’m going to disable the RV before we leave, it will just take
a second. Jack pulled a set of wire cutters from his coat pocket and reached
under the dash. He pulled down until he could see a handful of wires and cut
them all. Some sparked and some didn’t. He did this until he couldn’t find any
more wires.

    
He said, “Okay, now we’ll go quietly out the driver’s door. I’ll go first.”

    
He opened the door and stepped out quickly and helped Tammy down. They crossed
the street quickly, keeping the RVs between them and the front door. He led her
into the backyard and into the house. Heather was waiting for them at the front
window with Jack’s M-16. She handed the rifle to Jack and took Tammy’s hand.

    
She said, “Hi, I’m Heather, I’m here to help you, so tell me what you need. I’m
going to take you back to our RV where we have heat and light and food and
you’ll be safe.”

    
“Jack, be careful, I’m going to get our friend settled in our RV and I’ll be
back to help you.” With that she took Tammy by the hand and said, come on and
we’ll get you fixed up.” And she and Tammy were gone.

    
They walked the same route Jack had taken earlier, found the car, and drove to
the RV. On the way, Tammy said, “Who are you guys, what are you doing here? How
did you know I was here?”

    
“We’ll I’m Heather, and the man that rescued you is Jack Sweeney. You might
have heard of him. He used to issue bulletins to survivors.”

    
Tammy sounded surprised when she said, “That Jack Sweeney! Why did he come
here?”   

    
“He found a message on the web from you or the other lady.”

    
“That can’t be, that message was only live for about three minutes before he
found what I had done and deleted it.”

    
“We’ll Jack found it and we’ve been checking out the areas around all of the
Sawmill Ponds we could find. I’ll tell one thing, I’m glad you were here
because the next stop was going to be in Maine, and I didn’t really want to fight
that weather, although if Jack had gone, I would have gone with him.”

    
They pulled next to the RV and Heather helped Tammy into the RV. Once Tammy was
inside she looked at Heather and said, “You’re only a kid!”

    
Heather smiled and said, “Yep, but I don’t always act like one, if you want to
verify that you can ask the guy that I took the gun from today, or ask what he
thought about me being a kid when I put the knife in his leg. But all of that
aside, yes I’m very young.”

    
“Now first things first, how does a hot shower sound?”

    
“It sounds really good.”

    
“Okay, you go take a shower. I’m going to find a pair of Jacks sweats for you.
I’ll leave some of my underwear with them, but if they don’t fit don’t worry,
we’ll stop first thing to get some decent stuff for you. By the way, I think
you’re doing super right now. We just need you to hold up for a little while
longer. While you’re in the shower I’m going to fix something for you to eat.
But then I’m going to have to leave you while I go back and help Jack with the
other woman.”

    
Tammy’s eyes expanded and she looked scared, “What will I do if you don’t come
back?”

    
“Good question. If I were you I’d wait right here for two days or so just in
case the bad guys are out looking for you on the freeway. Then head south as
quickly as you can. There is a group of survivors in Delaware that will help
you. Look, here in the center console are all of the numbers on this print out.
The Delaware group is here on the third page. You’ll be alright.”

    
“What about you and Jack?”

    
“I don’t know. I plan on coming back for you but I’ve found in the last couple
of weeks that things don’t always work like I want them to. I’m going to cook
now.”

    
When Tammy finished showering she found sweats, socks and underwear stacked
just outside the bathroom door. A minute later she walked into the living area
with her hair wrapped in a towel and found breakfast on the table.

    
Heather said, “I forgot to ask what kind of food you like, but I figure
everyone likes breakfast.”

     
Tammy smiled and said, “I haven’t had a decent meal in weeks, this is great.”

    
“I’m really sorry to do this but I’m going to leave you now. Do you know how to
shoot a gun?”

    
“No, I never thought I’d need to.”

    
Heather went in the bedroom and came back with the shotgun. She jacked a round
into the chamber and handed it to Tammy as she said, “It’s loaded and ready to
shoot so be careful. We’ll knock on the door when we come back so don’t shoot
us. If anyone other than Jack or I show up just point and shoot.”

    
Fifteen minutes later Heather was back with Jack. She said, “I think she’s
okay. I didn’t know what to say about what she’s been through so I didn’t say
anything. I mostly acted like I was in a hurry, which was no act. I told her to
hold herself together until we got back. I hope she can do that. It’ll be okay
for her to fall apart once we’re with her again.”

    
Jack said, “You did what you had to do. I’m sure she understands that. Let’s
get the other victim and get out of here. Same drill as before except I’m not
going to check the house this time. There’s been no movement since you left.”

    
Jack walked out the back, around to the front and directly across the street to
the middle RV. This was the one he had watched Red enter. He quickly picked the
look on the driver’s door and entered the RV. The first thing that struck him
was the awful smell. He knew that if she was alive she wouldn’t be for long.

    
He walked into the bedroom using his pen light and saw the figure lying on the
bed. He felt for a pulse and found none, but the body was still warm. She had
died very recently.

    
He couldn’t believe how badly she had been hurt. There were cuts and bruises
over her entire body, and multiple cigarette burns on her face and breasts. She
was completely naked and the chain around her ankle was covered in blood where
she had tried to get away from the torturer. It was impossible to tell what she
had looked like in life.

    
As Jack thought about the monster that had done this to an innocent person his
phone vibrated in his pocket. He didn’t hesitate; he took out his handgun and
pulled back the trigger. He stood in the doorway to the bedroom and waited for
the side door of the RV to open.

    
Instead he heard the door to the first RV open and close. Jack left his RV
quietly and waited by the door to the other one. In about ten seconds the door
flew open and a man jumped out. As he stepped down Jack kicked his feet out
from under him and the man did a face plant on the curb. Jack slammed the gun
into the back of his head and immediately looked at the house. The light was on
in the living room and Jack saw a shadow move towards the front door. He
crouched next to the body and lifted his gun.

    
The man called Red opened the door and took a step onto the porch. As he did so
he realized something was wrong, probably the door to his RV being open. He
threw himself to his left and pulled a large revolver from his belt. Jack’s
first two shots missed him and he had to move to some kind of cover. The big
revolver went off twice and Jack felt the slugs enter the RV behind him. He
dove under the RV as he heard the M-16 open up.

    
Heather was firing single shots but doing so rapidly. Red pointed his gun at the
flashes caused by Heather’s shooting and fired twice. Jack stood up and took
deliberate aim, when Red swiveled his gun towards Jack, Jack emptied his clip
at him. Red fell heavily to the floor of the porch. Jack ran to the porch,
inserting a new clip as he ran. He quickly fired two more shots into Red and
turned and ran across the street.

    
As he did so the front door opened and Heather came running out. Jack scooped
her up and said over and over, “its okay now, he’s dead, it’s okay now, he’s
dead.” Heather didn’t say anything, she just held on.

    
Jack then said, “I have to go look at the other one, he might be alive still.
Come with me.”

    
They walked back to the RV and found that Jack had opened Gus’s skull with the
gun and he was indeed dead.

    
They walked back into the house they had used as a lookout post and collected
their gear. Fifteen minutes later they opened the front door to their RV and
watched Tammy come out of a deep sleep and start to raise the gun barrel
towards them.

    
Jack yelled, “It’s okay Tammy, it’s just us, it’s just us.”

    
Tammy took a second to remember that she was safe and lowered the gun. She
said, “I’m sorry, I must have dozed off. Heather, what happened to your face?”

    
Jack looked and saw that Heather had a piece of wood sticking out of her cheek
and a trickle of blood had flowed down her face.

    
Heather said, “Oh that must have happened when he shot at me. One of his
bullets hit the frame of the window. I must have gotten a splinter.” And she
smiled and said, “Boy, it just doesn’t seem that long ago when getting a
splinter meant something altogether different.”

    
Tammy said, “Someone was shooting at you, almost shot you, and you’re joking
about it. Are you crazy?”

    
“Well, before today I would have said no, now, I’m no longer sure.”

    
Jack said, “Heather, you did well, but you shouldn’t have started shooting,
that was a sure way to draw his fire towards you.”

    
“Well I know, I thought it would give you a chance to finish the other guy and
then worry about the big guy. Remember, I had no idea what was going on with
Gus but I didn’t hear any shots so I thought you were still worrying about
him.”

    
Jack grimaced and said, “Again, you did the right thing. I think I can trust
you more now.”

    
Heather said, “Well you’ve taught me all this other stuff, but I wouldn’t mind
lessons on how to live less dangerously.”

    
Jack laughed and Tammy just shook her head.

    
Tammy asked what had happened and Jack said, “We had a shoot out with the other
two, they’re both dead. The other woman is also dead; she had been tortured and
died shortly before I got to her. Time wouldn’t have mattered though, I don’t
think she could have lived long even had we been able to rescue her. More
importantly, how are you? You’ve been through a lot these past two weeks. I
think you’re doing remarkably well.

    
“For being kidnapped I think I got off easy. I don’t want to spend a lot of time
talking about this, but Gus couldn’t get it up. He tried and tried, and he
would touch me and try to get excited but he couldn’t do it. He was a strange
man. He could masturbate if he stood back and looked at me, but if he touched
me he couldn’t get aroused. Most of the time anyway, he did manage to get
aroused close to me a couple of times but he ejaculated before he could
penetrate. I think that’s all I want to say now. I’ve been humiliated in the
worst way, but I watched this evil man humiliate himself because of me. I think
that makes it easier for me.”