The Flares

Stab, Twist, Repeat

I HAD EXPECTED Gwen to be a ball of unravelling emotions, sobbing desperately for Stephanie's company. Or for Stephanie to be a profanity laced bag of empty threats thrown at people that we all probably couldn't see, though this wasn't the case. I was unsure of whether they were even near me, as their surprising silence seemed a little out of character. With a murder already hanging over our heads, I didn't want excessive defiance to be added to the possible list of reasons that they may want to butcher us.

I could hear hear voices in he background, soft spoken but deep and coarse. I couldn't make out what they were saying, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to know either.

I felt disappointed in myself for allowing Gwen and Stephanie to get captured. I knew that once the group had arrived that I was powerless to stop them, but I can't help feeling as though somehow I could have prevented all of it from occurring in the first place. If I had stuck to my rules and just kept moving, they might not have been in this predicament. I wish that I could have stopped all of this, but wishful thinking is wasteful thinking. We may be trapped, but we are still alive, and I couldn't allow the first people to travel with me since the world went to shit to turn up dead on my watch. Seems a little irresponsible.

My face still hurt immensely. Swallowing down the blood was as terrible as it sounds, but I had nowhere to spit unless I wanted it sloshing around in the bag that covered my head. I felt my body being hoisted up and placed over somebody's arm, and could hear Stephanie cursing out in a fit as well. She was probably being taken away as well. I didn't fight against this person as they moved me around like a ragdoll, because irrationality seemed insensible at the moment. I heard Gwen's sobs as well. Choking, actually. It slowly dawned on me that she must have been a lot more terrified than I had assumed.

I was placed down on a chair and somebody began touching at my hands. I felt rope, and it grew tighter after a moment. The bag was yanked off my head, and a figure stood before me, blurred by my vision. The light rushed in all at once and I squinted against it, like it burned at my corneas. "Wakey, wakey." A condescending tone called out, followed by indistinct laughter.

"We're real sorry for our. . . precautions, but after your little stunt we couldn't have you two doing whatever you please." I looked up to see someone talking in front of me, dirty vest and untamed beard, no facial expression. I looked to my side and saw Gwen and Stephanie seated beside me, Stephanie's mouth covered by a layer of duct tape, her eyebrows arched to showcase her anger. She looked away, too disgusted to stare at the people that captured us. They both looked okay as far as I could tell. No noticeable bruises or bodily harm. I turned back to the guys in front of me with a perplexed look.

The room around us was vacant and derelict, with only a wooden table adorning its dusty floors. Paint torn walls grew moss out of the top corners. One window to the left of me, boarded up shut. One door. One way out.

The men mumbled secretly to one another before two of them left the room, clearly believing that we were subdued with no chance of retaliation.

"So what do you want now? We killed your friend, and you kidnapped us and took our shit, so if you wanted to kill us I expect you'd have already done it." I looked up expectantly to the man who had spoken previously. He lowered his gaze and let out a small hearty laugh, crossing his arms.

"Smart lil fella, ain't ya." Same accent as the dead one, just a slightly deeper voice to accommodate the larger build. "It's a shame, really, that you had to go off and kill John. Or should I say, for the sassy one to kill him." He pointed a finger to Stephanie, who was now at the stage of pretending to be ignorant of his presence.

"One less mouth to feed, but you really shouldn't just go on a spree with the shootin'. Besides the fact that you killed one of us, you know how many infected came running after the shot? It was hard enough getting that one back here with all her squirmin' and hollerin' without having to deal with those creatures." He pointed to Stephanie, and I'm fairly certain she mumbled fuck yourself under that duck tape.