Then There Were Three

CH 16

"El? Are you down here??" I hear Kendall's voice ringing in my ears, my eyes blurred with tears. I've never been this scared in all of my life. This is worse than zombies. Worse than zombies.

"Say you're going on a walk and that you'll be back soon," the guy says, pulling tighter on my ponytail. It feels like the gun is going to pierce through my skull; it's held so tightly against my temple.

"I-I'm just going on a walk. I'll be back soon," I whimper.

"Are you okay? Where are you? Did you find your dad??" I hear rustling in the trees, I can tell he's getting closer.

All I'm thinking is; Please don't come over here, Kendall. Please.

"Say; I'm fine, don't come over here. I've found my dad, he's okay," The voice snarls in my ear, trying to keep his voice down.

I repeat what he says, a sob escaping my lips.

"Elizabeth, I'm coming over there. Just... stay where you are," more shuffling comes from in front of us, "are you hurt?"

This time, the guy answers, "She will be, if you don't stand back!"

"El, what's going on..." his voice trails off, he's running now.

The man releases my ponytail a little bit, so I can straighten my neck out.

"Kendall, listen to me. Don't come over here, okay? Please. S-stay back." I beg him, my lip quivering.

He steps out from the trees, his mouth hanging open and his hand on his gun holster.

"Let her go." he whispers. I swallow hard, this isn't going to end well. His free hand is clenched in a fist; like a 14 year old's fist could stop a kidnapper. Right.

"Kendall, you have to g-get out of here," I say, hoping I'll persuade him enough. They need Kendall, not me. He knows how to do everything and he can keep them alive when no one else can.

"I said let her GO!" he shouts this time.

"You'd better listen to your little lady friend here and get out of here, NOW, or else." The man says, grabbing my ponytail and pulling my head up again.

"Or else what?" Kendall says, pulling his gun out slowly.

"Or else what?" The man laughs, I look up at him. A stubbly face with dark eyes and a plump face, "I'll kill her. And then you."

"How you gonna kill her? You and what army?" Kendall crosses his arms.

Kendall, please. Don't taunt him.

"Kendall, please.." I beg, a sob escaping my lips. The man lets go of my ponytail and wraps a dirty hand around my nose and mouth.

I squeal, "Me and what army?" The man laughs, which is apparently a cue for something. I hear rustling of leaves again, and Kendall's eyes widen. I guess he does sort of have an army.

"You're trespassing, let her GO and I won't say anything," Kendall pleads. I stop from trying to keep the tears in now. I'm terrified.

All of a sudden, a gunshot goes off, and Kendall falls to the ground, clutching his knee.

I scream as loud as I can with a hand over my mouth, tears starting to form in my eyes. I get hit over my head in return.

Kendall.

I'm moving. I can feel my head vibrating against something cool and smooth. It feels like we're in a car.

"Do you think they'll follow us?" I hear a young voice ask from beside me, holding me against the window.

"If they do, we'll kill them," The voice I've been hearing all day, the voice that keeps replaying in my head, the voice that will scar me for life says.

I don't want to wake up, in fear of being torchered, tormented, killed. My head is throbbing and my heart is beating so fast it feels like it might fall out of my chest. I try to keep from blinking my eyes too much, so it looks like I'm unconscious. If I'm unconscious, they can't do that much to me... hopefully.

"What if they find us?" the young voice asks.

"Then we kill her. Stop asking so many questions!" The voice yells.

The younger voice is quiet for some time until he finally asks what I've been dying to know, "Why her? What are we going to do with her?"

The older voice sighs, "We'll use her as bait."

Bait for what??

"I know the old hag that owns that property, and I know he knows about the stockpile. His wife owned the store. They'll come; we'll swap her out for him and torture him until he spills the beans. Then, we kill him. And her."

What money?

Torture?

What stockpile? How come I've never heard of this?

KILL US?

The car (that's what I'm guessing we're in) comes to a complete and sudden stop, causing my to jolt forward. I keep my eyes closed, in fear of being hit again. Or worse.

"Pick her up, let's head inside."

Oh snap. it's about to go down in zombie town. Thanks for reading this, guys. xox.