Basically Strangers (revised)

[11 - Stranger With A Cannibal]

[11 - Stranger with a Cannibal]

You weren’t doing anything wrong. You didn’t think you were doing anything wrong. Maybe what you were doing was even the right thing to do. I mean, no one would really be down to let a cannibal keep working in the middle of a city about an hour’s drive away.

You dashed through the large industrial building. It used to be a dog food factory. Now Arkin was nowhere in sight and you were carrying a bag with a human hand and several toes as you ran away from a man chasing you with a chainsaw. You took a sharp turn and dropped through a window into a lower level break room. You crashed onto a table pushed against the wall, hearing the footsteps of the murderer. He had a crazed grin on his face, a blood soaked shirt, and an appetite for flesh. And he wanted your flesh.

“Hehehe,” he giggled like a psychopath. “Come on out! I’m wanting a little bit of kobe kid steak. Maybe I’ll make a good stir fry!” You covered your mouth, not wanting to let him hear you breathe. “Come on out, you whore. Maybe you can still taste good!” You looked at the hand in the plastic bag. It was feminine with a ring on the hand and a bite mark in the meat of the thumb. You were disgusted. “Found you!”

His hands dropped through the window and grabbed your neck from behind. You dropped the bag as he crushed your windpipe. You scratched at his hands as he pulled you back, trying to hit your head against the wall behind you. You were losing air fast. The man was ready to kill you.

“You whore, trying to take my paradise! Die! Die! Die!”

“Duck!” A gunshot rang through the air and his hands went limp around your neck. He dropped and you gasped for air, thankful to finally be free and breathing. You turned around, seeing half of the man’s head blown off. Arki pulled the body and dropped him to the side. “Holy fuck, are you okay? Did I hit you? He pulled the body away and dropped through the window to sit beside you. He put a hand on your cheek, seeing the nicks and small cuts.

“I’m okay,” you said, wincing as he touched a forming bruise. “I’m okay.” You looked up, seeing a bit of brain next to you on the floor of the raised platform. “What do we do with him?” Arkin sighed, just paying attention to you.

“We burn the place. This sick fuck kept all his gas for the machinery in a back room. There’s gallons of it. I’ll make a small trail out the back door. You get to the car and clean up a bit. We’ll leave the evidence for the cops.” He pressed his forehead against yours. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” you said, closing your eyes and leaning in. “I’m okay. Are you?”

“Yeah….. I didn’t want to kill someone in front of you. I really just-”

“It’s okay,” you chuckled. “It was technically behind me.” Arkin rolled his eyes and picked a piece of brain out of your hair.

“Don’t get smart with me. There’s an employee bathroom upstairs. Let's go get you washed.” Arkin pulled himself back through the window, kicking the cannibal’s body. He helped you through the window and led you to the women’s bathroom. You walked in first, starting the water. He said he was going to look for a wash cloth or towels.

You splashed water from the sink onto your face, trying to wash the blood off. You’d find a way to wash the brain out of your hair. With a deep sigh, you glanced up into the mirror. Your reflection showed your dripping face, as well as a man about to swing a pole into your head. You ducked just in time for the pole to smash into the mirror.

The man grunted and swung again, aiming to kill. You rolled on the cracked tile floor as he swung again.

“Die, you bitch!” he screamed. Each movement was erratic and unplanned. Thanks to the months Arkin had been training you, you could tell which way he was about to strike. But you miscalculated. The pipe slammed down onto your stomach with all the force he could muster.