𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐂𝐫𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐞 - 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘐

9: The Beginning of the End V

The Beginning of the End
Part 5

It was raining the day Frank Summers died.

This fact wasn't significant to him at the start of the day, but sure enough, it would haunt his family for the rest of their lives.

The family of 4 had been busy going through the motions when disaster struck. Susie was standing by the car and Jake and Frank were inside a house, looking for possible threats.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Susie spun around, her gun raised instantly. There was a group of men behind her, they'd snuck up somehow and she was cursing herself for not paying better attention.

"What do you want?" she asked, gun shaking slightly in her hands.

"Just a talk. We know you've got people inside right now. Don't do anything rash, don't want to have to hurt them," the man in front said.

"We don't want any trouble," Susie said, "we have kids. Just- just keep walking."

"No can do, sweetheart. Now, what you're gonna do is put that gun down and walk towards me real slow, alright?" the man countered.

"No- no, I'm gonna stay right here," Susie argued.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" the man asked.

"It's Susanna," Susie said, wanting to keep him talking. Talking was better than putting her gun down.

"Nice to meet you, Susanna, I'm Joe," the man introduced, "now that the formalities are out of the way, we're not strangers anymore. So I think you can go ahead and put that gun down."

"I really don't think that's a good idea," Susie said, "we don't want trouble, keep moving and I won't kill you."

"You're gonna kill me?" Joe laughed, "Hear that boys? Susanna's gonna kill me!"

Laughter rang out around Susie and she became aware of just how outnumbered she was.

"Fuck," she cursed. Joe laughed again, taking a few steps closer.

"Alright, sweetheart, you can put the gun down, or we can do this the fun way, what'll it be?" Joe asked.

"I'm not putting my gun down, asshole," Susie said, standing firm.

"Suit yourself," Joe shrugged. He leapt forward, throwing Susie against the car, her gun fell to the ground and she found herself squished between the door and Joe's body.

"Let me go," Susie cried, struggling against the man.

"Woah, woah, calm down there, Susanna, not gonna hurt you just yet, okay?" Joe chuckled, shoving her harder against the door.

"Hey, what's- Susie!"

Jake and Frank came hurrying out of the house when they heard the commotion. Jake's eyes widened at the sight of his sister being restrained by the unknown man.

"Hello, gentlemen. I was just having a nice little chat with Susanna here," Joe said, sending a hard shove to Susie's back. She yelped, prompting Jake to jump forward in anger. Frank held his son back, seeing the group surrounding them and recognizing the danger.

"We're gonna go for a little walk. Susie here is gonna stay with me for- safe keeping," Joe said, pulling Susie away from the car.

"Please don't hurt them," Susie whimpered, being pulled fully away from the car.

"Nobody's getting hurt just yet, sweetheart," Joe said, shoving her to the ground on her knees.

"You, boy, get the kids out of the car," Joe ordered, "other one, step off the porch."

Jake did as he was told, getting Luke and Liam out of the car. They clung onto him, both crying for their sister. Frank stepped off the porch, quickly being grabbed by two of the men from the group.

Two more stood on either side of Jake, pushing him forward. Joe smirked, looking around at them. He yanked Susie up by her arm, dragging her along behind him without letting her get her footing.

Susie scanned about, not wanting to be dragged through the dirt. She struggled to stay upright as he pulled her. He wasn't giving her any chances. She knew that if she could just get on her feet, she could get free of his hold.

They walked for a while, eventually coming to a makeshift camp. There were tents set up in a circle, a couple of trees and a fire pit at the center.

"Tie em up!" Joe called, gesturing to the boys, "Me and Susan a are gonna have some personal time."

"Don't you touch her!" Frank shouted.

Luke and Liam yelled her name, but were soon gagged and tied up next to their older brother and their father. Their weapons were taken, and they were left sitting in a line.

Joe had tied Susie to one of the trees at the center of camp, her wrists were tightly bound with rope and she was hanging by them from a branch high enough to allow her to just barely touch the ground.

"What were you doing out there?" Joe asked.

"Looking for supplies," Susie said, struggling to keep pressure off of her bound wrists. Joe shoved her, making her lose her footing.

"You know, sweet little girls like you shouldn't be outside on your own like that," Joe said, running a hand down her side.

"Stay away from me," Susie grunted, trying to pull away from him.

"Sit still, and I won't kill you," Joe ordered. Susie froze, fear taking over her whole body. Joe pulled out a large knife, pressing it against her sternum.

"Hold still now, sweetheart," Joe smiled, dragging the knife downwards. He cut open the shirt she was wearing with ease, tearing the rest of the way and tossing it on the ground. Susie shivered, goosebumps erupting on her bare arms.

"Look at her, Jesus, the end of the world was kind to you, sweetheart," Joe chuckled, some of the men nearby laughed, too the rest having retreated to their tents.

"Now, I'm gonna leave her up here for the foreseeable future," Joe announced.

"Please, please just let us go, we didn't do anything to you," Susie pleaded, her eyes shooting over to her little brothers.

"I want you boys to teach her what happens to little girls all alone in the world," Joe said, turning away from her to face his men.

"Teach her all the way."

--------

Hey, everyone! Sorry I didn't have this up last night, it was opening night at the haunt I work at and I almost got killed by a falling barbed chain link fence. Anyways, I'm okay, if a bit bruised, and here's the chapter for this week. Sorry for the wait!

~Lyn