Beyond Terminus (Book Two)

Chapter 3: Escape

Gareth kneels in front of Rick, a phoney smile on his face. He pulls his gag off, and Rick glares at him.

"We saw you go into the woods with a bag and come out without it. I'll have to pull my snipers back before we go and look for it." He pauses, taking a quick look towards Glenn and I before back to Rick. "What was that?"

Rick doesn't answer, and I watch Gareth as he looks to the dead guys.

"You hid it. Right? In case something went bad?" He nods his head. "Smart. But, still fool-hearted. It's too dangerous to go out there now." He presses his lips into a straight line as he pulls out a knife. He places a hand behind Bob's head, holding the knife an inch or two away from his face. "What was it again? I'm curious. It was a pretty big bag." Rick remains silent, and he sighs. "You really want me to do this? If this won't work, I can always grab one of those girls back there..."

I growl and thrash against my bindings. Ain't no one gonna touch my girl, my wife. Gareth looks to me with amusement written all over his stupid little face.

"Why don't I take you out there? I'll show you," Rick suggests, his voice oddly calm.

"Hmm...not gonna happen. This might..." He moves the knife closer to Bob's eye. "And...I've still got those girls. There's a few of them. I'd choose the pretty one with the curls...Hope, is it? I bet she'll taste wonderful."

I growl again, and he smirks.

"There's guns," Rick says. "AK-47, 44 Magnum, automatic weapons, a knife or two, a compound bow...and a machete with a red handle." There's a long pause, and the tiniest bit of a smirk appears on Rick's face. "That's what I'm gonna use to kill you."

Gareth laughs, putting Rick's gag back on, putting the knife away, and patting his shoulders.

"You have two hours to get them on the dryers. I'm gonna go back to public face. I know we don't like to be messy but we've got to dial it all in by sundown."

"Yes sir," Thug One and Two agree.

As they prepare to smash Glenn's head in, Gareth pulls out his walkie-talkie.

"Hey Chuck?"

Before there's an answer, a huge explosion sounds somewhere, shaking the ground and raining dust onto our heads.

Rick, Bob, and I fall to the ground, while Glenn manages to stay upright.

"Stay here," Gareth commands.

"Man, they aren't-" Thug One starts.

"Just stay here until I know what's happening!" Gareth yells, bolting from the room.

Rick looks around before pulling something into his hands and starting to cut the binds on his wrists.

Thug One throws his bat down and pulls out a walkie-talkie, storming away from us.

"You there Gareth?" he asks.

"He's busy," Thug Two says.

"Do you smell smoke? Do you hear the shots? He could be dead! What the hell are we doing here, man? This whole place could be going up!" Thug One yells back.

"We take care of the roundup, and all that new protocol. We don't deal with security, it ain't our job. This is." Thug One doesn't respond, and Thug Two rolls his eyes. "Hey! Look at me!"

As he turns around, Rick buries the sharp piece of wood into his neck before tackling the second to the ground, stabbing him in the throat and gut.

Rick takes one glance at the man on the table before heading back over to us and cutting our bonds.

"Let's go get our people."