"Let us out" Ellie snapped
"Well, that's certainly the goal. Hungry? Come on, bunny. I know you gotta be hungry"David taunted you.
"Let us out first" you countered. He laughed and shook his head.
"No. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I'm afraid of you both. Both of you are dangerous. You've both certainly proven that. The others still want me to kill you both." He said. You rolled your eyes and shook your head.
He didn't like that.
"Did you hear what I said? They wanted to kill you both. But I stopped them" he repeated
"Fuck you" Ellie spat out.
David's demeanor changed.
"Alright. How about we start over. What's both your names?" He asked his tone changing to be less inviting.
"Eat shit" you snapped
"Hey! Listen to me. You ladies can't survive on your own. But I can help you. Let me protect you" he said walking up to the cage. You and Ellie scooted back.
"We aren't on our own" Ellie reminded him.
"Right. Your friend...and how is he?" David asked
Ellie sighed and looked at you with worry and you felt the hot tears form as you thought about Joel.
"I can see how much you both care about him so I know it hurts. But even so you gotta face reality. That part of your life it's ending. What I'm offering both of you is a beginning. But if you can't find a way to trust me then, yes, you are alone." He said
You felt Ellie shudder under your embrace as David left.
You waited a few moments before pulling Ellie to her feet.
"Ellie, listen. We gotta focus. This guy is good at playing mind games. We gotta find a way out. And if we can't find a way out we have to talk our way out" you said to her. "Let me boost you up to the window. See if you can pop it open" you said to her. She nodded and you crouched down and cupped her foot. You boosted her up.
"It's thick. It's like glued into the cement. There's no latch" Ellie said. You sighed and slowly brought her down.
"Shit. Fuck. Fuck!" You yelled kicking the cage.
Ellie slid to the floor and put her head in her hands. She looked back up and saw something horrifying on the ground.
"Ol-Olivia! Olivia!" She shuddered grabbing your leg. You looked down and looked at her wide eyes. You knelt down to look at what she was looking at and your eyes went wide.
A fucking ear. Your eyes went up to the butcher cleavers and your stomach turned.
"Holy shit. They're gonna fucking cut us up and eat us" Ellie whispered in disbelief.
You ran to a corner and hurled out whatever bile was in your stomach. You groaned as it burned on its way up and out.
The door suddenly opened and David came back with a tray of stew meat. Ellie jumped up and ran over to you. You coughed and turned back around. Your eyes fell on the tray of stew and you wanted to hurl again. Ellie's nerves picked up and you both were heavily breathing realizing these people were cannibals.
David slid the food underneath the little gap of the cage. He followed Ellie's wide eyes to the ear then looked back at you two.
"For what it's worth this is just deer meat. I swear." David said
"You're gonna chop us up into little pieces?" Ellie asked
"I'd rather not. Please, just tell me your names" he asked again
You scoffed.
"If you wanna judge me—"
"Judge you? You're eating people you sick fuck!" You screamed running up to him and kicking the food back to him. He stepped back away from the gate separating you from him. You were fuming.
"Yes. There are only a few of us that know. I would have told you sooner or later. I guess sooner." He said
"You're an animal" Ellie said as you walked back to her
"Well that's sort of the point. It was a last resort. You don't think I'm not ashamed? What am I supposed to do? Let them starve? These people who put their lives in my hands. Who expect them to keep them safe. Who love me" David said
"Yeah, maybe" you scoffed
"You don't believe me. I don't think your friend would either. Didn't he take another man's life to save yours?" David questioned, referring to Joel.
"He was defending himself" Ellie snapped
"He was defending both of you. But you knew that. You see a lot. I do too. And you know what I see when I look at the both of you?" David questioned.
Ellie looked from him to you and you both locked eyes
"Me. You both remind me of me" David answered for himself.
"Natural leader, smart, loyal. And my favorite: violent" he said
"You don't know us" Ellie scoffed.
"But I do. If I let you out if this cage right now, put that knife if yours in your hand, both of you with stick me in a second. You both have a violent heart. And I should know. I've always had a violent heart" he said approaching the gate.
He was playing mind games and you had to play back. You saw the keys on his waist band of his pants. You needed him to get close and Ellie picked up on it too.
David continued to talk nonsense. As David inched closer to to the cage wall Ellie also inched closer. She put a hand behind her back and motioned for you to follow and pointed to her waist and hoping you understood that she wanted you to grab the keys once she got him closer.
You knew the plan.
"Think of what we could do together as strong as we are. We could make this place perfect. Grow out, spread out. We'd do whatever we needed for our people. Imagine the life we could give them. " David said putting his hand on the cage bar.
She stepped forward and slowly put her hand on his
"Imagine the life we can build, my bunny" he said to you. Ellie looked at her hand on his and felt you behind her.
She grabbed his hand and yanked his fingers back making him scream in pain and falter. You snuck beside Ellie and reached your hand out to grab his keys but just brushed them off and they fell to the floor. He yanked his hand back as you put your arm through the bars to grab keys. He quickly grabbed your hand and yanked you so hard that your face smashed into the bar with such a great force that your teeth cut into your cheeks again and blood drained from your nose. You recoiled backwards and Ellie helped scoot you back.
"You cunts" David groaned in anger and pain as you coughed out blood.
He grabbed his keys.
"Let's go see what I tell the others now" he huffed as you wiped the blood off your mouth.
"Olivia and Ellie" you said, your voice cracking with anger.
"What?" He snapped before walking out. You slowly stood up with Ellie's help.
"Tell them Olivia and Ellie are the women who broke your fucking finger!" You screamed through the cage
"How did you put it? Hmm? Tiny little pieces?" David taunted with anger seething before storming out.
You exhaled a shaky breath and then turned to Ellie
"The moment I get them distracted you need to run and get out. Find Joel." You instructed her
"What if I don't find him? What if he-"
"Ellie. You have to find him. These people...these are what we mean by people. They are not good. I need you to get out because the things that man will do to you is beyond evil" you explained quickly.
"What about you?" She asked
"I can handle him. I need you to run and do not look back. The moment you get a chance fucking run" you said.
Not even 2 minutes later David came back with James right behind him.
"Shit, stay back Ellie" you said, pushing her behind you and pushing her back into a corner.
James grabbed you and threw you off of Ellie and David grabbed Ellie. You jumped back up and attacked James while you heard David scream in pain as Ellie bit his hand.
David threw Ellie into the corner and she laid on the floor. David turned to you and grabbed you while James landed a punch to your face. Blood spewed out of your mouth as both men dragged you to the butcher block table.
"Stop! Don't do it! Please!" You screamed
Ellie groaned in pain and slowly stood up. Her vision came back and she saw Olivia being held down on the butchers block with David holding a cleaver.
Both Ellie and Olivia screamed at the same time.
O: "I'm pregnant!"
E: "I'm infected!"
Everyone stopped and silence filled the air. Your eyes were wide as was James and David's. David slammed the cleaner into the empty space beside you making you flinch. They slowly turned to look at Ellie who was looking at you with wide eyes.
"Run!" You screamed at Ellie
She didn't hesitate and took the opportunity to run as fast as she could and you prayed she would make it out.
"Let her go. She won't make it far. Our men are out there" David said looking at his bite mark Ellie left.
"David" James said with a warning tone
"No, she would've turned by now. This ain't real" David countered.
You took advantage their moment of confusion and yanked the cleaver out and whipped into James neck. He fell back choking to death on his own blood. You rolled off the table and ran out while David fired off two rounds from his gun. You ran out unscathed from the bullets.
•••
Ellie found a small window she was able to break and squeeze out of.
The winter wind whipped across her face as she looked around and ran. She just kept running until she saw someone heading her way.
The wind caused the snow to drift so it was hard to tell but she was sure it was Joel.
She screamed his name and he looked ahead. It was Joel. A wave of relief hit her and she knew it was time to find and save Olivia. When he approached her he pulled her in a tight embrace . The first time Joel showed his love for Ellie.
"Joel they-they took us" Ellie cried as Joel held her tight in relief he didn't lose her.
"It's okay baby girl, I got you. She's still in there?" He asked
"We have to find her!" Ellie exclaimed.
•••
You ran into a kitchen and through the kitchen into a dining area where you saw double doors. You pushed it but it wouldn't budge. You quickly ran back to the kitchen to look for a weapon. You saw wood burning in a fire pit and you grabbed a piece that had a flame on one end. You quickly ran behind the bar of the dining area and waited for David to come through.
You peered around the corner and watched him walk in. You chucked the piece of wood at him but he ducked. The wood landed in the corner off a booth and the curtains lining the window went up in flames.
You turned and ran behind some booths.
"There's no way out, Olivia. The doors are locked and i have the keys." David taunted.
"Olivia!" He sang looking around for you with the cleaver in his hand. Your tried to control your breathing as you tracked him from your hidden spot.
"I don't want to hurt you or your baby" he taunted. Your heart started pounding even harder
You could no longer see him from your spot so you quickly and quietly ran to the next booth to hide behind.
"It's his baby isn't it? He's that special to you huh?" David continued to taunt.
You ran behind a pair of swinging double doors that led back into the kitchen. You found a sharp knife and grabbed it.
"Come on, Olivia. No one likes being humiliated. You don't know how good I am! You don't know what I could've given you!" David yelled as the flames continued to engulf the room. You could feel the heat and the air became thick, making it harder to breathe
"I do have good news for you though. Neither one of us is dying today. You see, I've changed my mind. I've decided you need a father for that baby you're carrying. So I'm going to keep you and I'm going to teach you." David said. You realized how close his voice was from where you were hiding.
"Olivia!" He sang
You peered out to see his back to you. Perfect opportunity. You ran behind him, screamed, and just as he turned you stabbed him in the side. He dropped his cleaver but grabbed you by the hair and threw you on the ground.
You groaned in pain and looked up to see the cleaver under a table. You slowly dragged yourself to it. David, after straightening himself out, kicked you hard in the ribs and you coughed and yelled in pain as he rolled you over and sat on you, pining you down.
"Get off of me you sick fuck!" You screamed and then spit on him.
He laughed manically.
"Oh, I thought you already knew. The fighting is the part I like the most" he taunted making fear crawl through your skin. He used one hand to pin your arms up while his other traveled to the button of your jeans.
"Don't be afraid. There's no fear in love" he said as he fumbled with the button of your pants. You screamed and wiggled one hand free. You reached back as hard as you could to grip the cleaver. You felt your fingers touch the cool metal handle and you instantly pulled it and swung it up and over right into his shoulder. He screamed in pain, falling backwards off of you.
At that moment you lost who you were. You had now just become a human at their end trying to survive. You let out an animalistic scream and jumped on top of David hacking away and his face and chest. Blood sprayed all over your exposed torso and face as you got all your pent up aggression out.
You stopped when you realized it was over.
He was dead. Threat cleared.
You found yourself breathing quickly and deeply. The heat from the fire blazing around you snapped you into reality or somewhat of a reality. You jumped off of David's mutilated corpse and cleaned your face off with a table cover. You grabbed the keys from his waistband and hurried to a door.
The outside light blinded Olivia as she stumbled out. Olivia didn't feel a thing. Not the heat from the burning building nor the ice cold wind snapping against her bare body. Her eyes were locked on a lake a head that had waves crashing violently. The waves, calling her name, and Olivia felt a pull to walk to it. She stumbled wanting to just let go and let the vicious lake take her. She was tired, in pain, and alone.
You felt a deep cramp in your lower abdomen making you stop. You groaned, clutching yourself and took in a deep breath in and out. Fear made its way in and now you weren't sure what was going on with you.
A hand suddenly grabbed your shoulders from the back and you instantly started screaming as the hands pulled you back and you felt your body hit a hard chest. You screamed, kicking and trying to break free.
Not again.
"Hey, hey! It's me" Joel's weak voice echoed through your ear. You stopped fighting for a moment and he turned you around.
Maybe you were dead and this is you dreaming?
"Joel?" You whispered
"You're safe. Baby, it's me" he said pulling you into him when he realized you were just in your sports bra.
The moment you were engulfed in his arms you let out a cry, a cry that came from deep within you. A cry that let out the pain, fear, and trauma you had held in the past few days.
"Olivia!" Ellie's voice echoed. You pulled away to see her walking up behind Joel, holding her pack and yours.
You let Joel go and instantly Ellie ran into your arms. You held her tight as Joel took his jacket off.
"Let's get out of here" she whispered to you as Joel wrapped his jacket around you.