The Wastelands

Chapter 10

A rooster's crow drifted through the cracks around the boarded windows. His morning cries were loud and obnoxious, waking anyone within a mile. A second bird joined in his alarm and the racket intensified. The din echoed from wall to wall inside the dusty barn, ringing in her ears until her eyes fluttered open.

Everything was blurry. Brown blobs with thin strips of light broke between tiny cracks. A strange object hung from the wall ten feet above her, slender and metallic with a glint of silver reflecting the sunlight. Gradually, the room became clearer and she stared at the rafters high above and reminded her of the barn on her family's land.

Cobwebs dangled from the beams, swaying slightly as air seeped through invisible gaps in the walls. A hot sun flowed through the open window on the wall above where she lay. The object beside the window came to focus and she recognized the circular pattern of a giant, rusty saw blade. It was far from her reach even if she stood.

Where the hell am I? She asked herself while examining the interior of the barn.

After a moment, she realized she was lying on a thin sheet on the ground. It blocked the dirt and bits of straw from attaching to her clothing and hair. She took a deep breath through her nose, taking in the scents, then slowly exhaled between pursed lips. Dust was the main odor she detected. Dust and straw with a bit of a rotten wood thrown in the mix. The familiar stench of corn wafted through the window, along with dried grass and wheat. She put the smells and the barn together and made the assumption she was on a farm—most likely in the middle of nowhere.

Taking another, deeper breath she finally realized that she survived the gunshot to the stomach. Somehow she surpassed the agony and made it back to the land of the living. Her clothes and hair had dried from the rain and without touching her stomach, she knew the wound had healed. She wanted to be certain and moved her left hand toward the hem of her shirt. A metal clanking caught her ear and she stopped moving.

Her eyes darted to her hands and her heart beat accelerated. A thick chain bound her wrists tightly together, locked securely in place with a heavy padlock. A length of the chain stretched across the ground, flowing to a bracket that connected it to the wall.

"What the hell?" she questioned in a panic.

She tugged on the chain and pulled on the extra bit attached to the wall. It clanked and created a racket loud enough to drown out the roosters. She wasn't strong enough to break free and her mind slipped into a chaotic dread.

Get up! Get up! Get up! The monster shouted until she finally obeyed.

She bolted to her feet and wished she had taken her time to stand. The room began to spin and she closed her eyes until the lightheadedness faded. After fifteen counts, she slowly opened her eyes a crack and the world stood straight.

With her fingers securely wrapped around the chain, she tugged harder against the bolt on the wall. The steel was too strong to break and she grunted in frustration. She grabbed the chain and banged it repeatedly against the wall as if that act would somehow break the thick metal. It was a useless attempt and the anger only rose.

The metallic bangs echoed through the barn with heavy thuds beating along with her heart. The commotion brought footsteps trudging toward the barn outside. The person moved in a quick and heavy gait. She stopped struggling and her eyes searched for the door twenty feet away. The stench of sweat lingered on the other side of that heavy door and she shuddered.

"No, no, no," she repeated over and over as the footsteps stopped just outside the door.

The handle wriggled up and down, slowly turning until the latch came free. Sunlight cascaded into the room, harboring the shadow of a large man in the doorway. He entered the barn like a monster breaking into a nightmare, ready to steal the lives of children everywhere.