Page 76 of Defended By Bam
A sick, high-pitched laugh came from the other man in the truck. I couldn’t see him from where I lay, but he said, “Let’s get her inside.”
I was pushed across the floor, then with a kick, I winced and rolled out, landing with a hard thud on the ground. Coughing hard from the impact of the fall and the dust that flew around me, I listened to them laugh as I tried to adjust my eyes. My head bounced on the ground when I fell, and everything was blurry and running together.
“Get her up,” one of them said.
I was lifted by the zip ties, but I still wasn’t going to make it easy. They planned to kill me anyway, according to what he said about the smell not bothering me long. I couldn’t do much with my arms tied but I could be a pain in the ass. I went to dead weight again, the man dropping me to the ground. My nose hit the dirt, but there was no crunch sound and blood didn’t squirt out, so it was just sore, not broken.
“Cooperate, bitch,” Snake said.
After the sudden rise and fall of adrenaline over and over, I must have gone delusional, because I cackled. “I think I’ll pass.”
A kick to my back caused another coughing fit, but I wasn’t feeling pain anymore, just pressure, at least for now. I knew if I lived a few more hours, I’d eventually feel it, and it wouldn’t be pleasant.
“Grab her fucking feet, man.”
Tweedledee and Tweedledum finally worked together to haul me into a building. The smell of hay and manure were even stronger. Luckily for my eyes and head, it was a little darker inside of what looked like some kind of barn or horse stalls, maybe. I’d never been around large animals, so once again, my knowledge was limited to things I’d seen on TV.
“There’s some water in case you get thirsty,” the other man said. I never got close enough to see his name patch, but he wasn’t pleasant looking. His beard was unkempt and his shoulder-length hair could have been blond but it was greasy and stringy, making it look darker.
Looking in the direction he pointed, there was a large bowl, probably for an animal. But it looked as if it had been sitting out for days with flies all around and things floating in it. I’d rather die of thirst than have explosive diarrhea and still die of dehydration.
They both laughed as I grimaced at the water bowl and walked away. At least it wasn’t as hot and humid this week as last week. If I didn’t sweat as much, I wouldn’t get thirsty as fast.
They didn’t go far though and one of them must have made a call.
“Yeah, she’s here. The green haired one.” There was a pause then he continued. “No, they weren't with her. We got rid of a random Bastard and some bitch.” Another pause. “You’ll get her when we get our money.” Pause. “Hey, shit happens in this line of work. You want her or not? Because if not, my guys sure would have some fun with her.”
Guys. I’d almost forgotten there were more of them. The others must have gone to the other building we passed. Who was he talking about? They? Did he mean Sofie? But who else? Surely, they weren’t planning to abduct Bama. Nobody would be dumb enough for that.
“Alright. See you tonight. Yeah, we’ll find them eventually.”
Footsteps walked away, but someone had to have been standing outside because cigarette smoke billowed into the barn. It made sense. They’d tossed me in here but didn’t chain me to anything. Looking around, there were plenty of ways they could have. Lots of large, round hooks and rings were attached to the stalls.
I scooted against the wall, then used it as leverage to stand. Once I was upright, I stepped to the edge of the stall that didn’t have a door anymore but looked like it had at one time since there were hinges attached. Peeking around, it definitely looked like something I’d seen on one of those cowboy shows. They seemed larger than I remembered. But again, TV may not be accurate, or maybe the sizing just didn’t convert well on screen. Like how some camera angles seemed to make you look bigger or smaller.
Smoke still trickled inside, and there were several male voices outside, but they seemed farther away. The door to the barn wasn’t closed all the way. Since the voices seemed further and the smoker was probably just on watch, I decided to walk down and get a peek. Maybe if I played my cards right, I could sneak away somehow, even if not now, in a while.
The ground was dirt and rock, so my light footsteps didn’t make much sound. Tiptoeing to the door, I slowly moved closer, trying to get a look outside. When dark eyes locked with mine, I gasped, tumbling backwards.
The door flew open, and a totally different man looked down at me as smoke puffed from his nostrils. “Oh, you lonely, baby?” He took a drag from the cigarette, then flicked it to the side. He blew a huge plume of smoke out as he sauntered inside, leaving the door ajar. “I’ll keep you company.”
I tried to get back on my feet, but with my hands behind my back that proved to be difficult. Instead, I was scooting backwards across the dirt on my ass.
He laughed eerily as he slowly followed me, the metal of his belt clinking as he worked it off. Bile filled my throat and my flight reaction kicked in. Rolling to my knees, I was able to get onto my feet and started running to the other end of the barn as fast as I could without tripping. Light peeked through, so there had to be another door.
But I only made it a few yards before I was grabbed from behind, landing again on my face. “No, no, no,” I started repeating over and over as I kicked and squirmed.
His legs pressed mine apart, but I still writhed beneath him. The sound of cloth ripping was followed by something sharp piercing into my inner thigh and I cried out, wincing and frozen from the intense pain.
“Got those out of the way.” His hot and stinky breath danced over my face as he spoke in my ear.
Then the familiar feel of a man forcing himself inside me washed over me. Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes as I put my nose to the dirt, I went to my other place to make it through all he was doing.
Chapter 40
Bama
Hours had passed. I had to face Sofie but still didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t tell her anything. I couldn’t look into those innocent eyes and tell her what happened to Ollie and Glenda, and that I didn’t know where her mommy was. I took one quick break to give her a hug and put her to bed, but she wanted to speak to Linny. I told her I couldn’t get her on the phone, but if I did I’d wake her up. Her eyes drooped, but she forced a smile and told me good night.
