Life After

Chapter 8: The Day Soda Led to Death

That morning, I took a shower and brushed my hair. If all went according to plan, it might be another several days before I was able to bathe myself again. I only wore makeup because George "insisted" (aka threatened me with the rifle) that I try to cover my black eye.

Gwen helped me pick out an outfit that would cover my arm. It took everything in me not to tell her about her dad, but I couldn't risk it. As much as I was worried about everyone's safety, I didn't trust them enough to tell them about AJ.

The day went on as usual, we all sat around the table waiting for someone to come by. Only 2 men showed up the entire day. Both times, I got up and went to the bathroom when I heard the front door open and hid in there until I could either hear noises from upstairs or footsteps leading up.

We were all given dinner that night early. I was shocked that they were showing some humanity, but I knew it was only because of what was in store at the party. Not exactly out of the goodness of their hearts.

After dinner, a man, whom I assumed to be the day guard, instructed us to line up at the front door like a group of elementary children. We had to put our wrists together in front of us and, once again, out came the zip ties. When we walked out the front door, there was a large white SUV and another man was holding open the door for us to file in.

This time, I was thankful to have my hands tied in front of me because it was much easier to climb in and out of a vehicle with the use of my arms. I was in the far back, sitting by the window next to Emma. I recognized the direction we were going was the same way I had been taken to the house from the sheriff department. I pressed my face against the window as we passed the transformers in the fenced area and could see what looked like the top of a wind turbine on the ground but much smaller and facing upward. I realized that it must be the "wheel" that had been mentioned before.

We pulled into the parking lot of the sheriff's office and I felt sick seeing it. I should have guessed that the party would be here. This is where the "Sheriff" felt like he had the most control. He really was shaping up to be a stereotypical cult leader. I made a mental note not to eat or drink anything at this event, but I also knew we likely wouldn't be allowed to anyway.

Once out of the vehicle, we were taken past the lobby into another door on the opposite side of the room from the door that led to the desk room. It was a break room with several tables piled with different types of potluck style foods. Against the back wall was a countertop with a sink, a coffeepot, and a stack of restaurant style serving trays. A refrigerator was next to the counter and a trash can. It was a very typical break room setup for an office party.

There was a window and door that led into the desk room. All the desks had been stacked and shoved up against walls and there were various chairs against the desks. There were cheap streamers along the ceiling and walls and various colors of balloons and glow sticks all over the floor. A CD player was playing a song I did not recognize but was loud enough to catch a few snippets of lyrics every once and a while. For a "big blow out party" it looked a lot more like a sad middle school dance.

We stood against the wall and about 8 men filed in behind us also zip ties, who stood against the wall opposite us. AJ and I locked eyes and I was glad to see he looked okay and probably hadn't been caught the night before. Next to me, Molly gasped and one of the men who was very tall and covered in tattoos smiled at her. It was her brother and he was alive.

Old and Young Man came around and cut all our zip ties. When Young Man got to me, he leaned down in my ear and whispered, "Tonight, you're gonna get it." I felt my blood both boil and freeze at the same time. It was the creepiest thing that had ever been said to me, but it filled me with rage.