Alone (11 page)

Chapter 13

Tony sat down in the warehouse. He had just removed a large pan of oatmeal from his little stove. He had found a box of sugar packets on the top of one of the sporting goods shelves.

He was amazed at how they had stacked items on the shelves.

He had been here running up and down the shelves for almost a month. He still had no idea of how they decided to organize things on these shelves.

There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to how they decided where to put things. But he was sure there was some kind of system that only warehouse workers knew.

Luckily he had a good memory. Even with a good memory sometimes he had to search for hours to find things he had remembered seeing somewhere.

Today he was having hot oatmeal smothered with sugar.

He had only discovered the sugar yesterday. It made the oatmeal taste really good.

He was eating his breakfast down in the warehouse instead of at the window in his room.

The smell of the dead had gotten worse. He didn’t want the smell to ruin the taste of his oatmeal with sugar.

If he stayed here much longer, he would have to do something about the smell.

He didn’t enjoy the idea of dragging the dead away from the warehouse and out into the woods behind the employee’s parking lot. But it might be something he would have to do.

Tony smiled. “Farmer George wasn’t finished making things tough for him.”  Tony was sure that guy still weighed a ton.

The first thing Tony had done after getting up this morning was to take a walk around the clearing that surrounded the warehouse.

He didn’t know what was going on elsewhere, but back here in the trees, the area right around the warehouse was quiet. Except for the dead lying all over the front parking lot, it almost felt peaceful.

As long as he didn’t do anything to attract any attention, he hoped it would stay that way back here.

He had gone to the spot where Trish had sat in the tall grass. He collected all the coat hangers and put them back on the coat rack in his office room. He hoped after yesterday Trish would feel comfortable enough with him that he could go out to talk with her. If not, he had his coat hanger delivery system as a backup.

Tony had also found a small picnic table, assembly required of course, and put it together. He sat it in the back of the warehouse near the back door.

He would like to have lunch with Trish at the picnic table, but he knew it was way too soon to think she would be willing to get that close to talk. He could hope, but the best he could realistically expect at this point was to be able to sit out in front of the warehouse while she sat across the parking lot in the grass. That would be nice too.

Tony wondered what had happened to her that she was this afraid.

Of course with the dead roaming the country eating the living, he didn’t have to think too hard to understand whatever happened, it must have been bad.

Tony looked up at the skylights. They were glowing bright yellow. The sun must be directly overhead.

If he was lucky, he could hopefully expect his daily visit soon.

Waiting for Trish to come back, made him wonder where she went. He couldn’t understand where she went and why she wouldn’t tell him. Well, maybe he understood why she wouldn’t tell him where she went. If she had a safe place to hold up, if she told anyone where it was, it would no longer be safe.

But it was sure strange the way she always had to leave.

Tony climbed back up to his room and sat down on the chair at the window. After Trish left today, now that Tony could get out of the warehouse, he should probably go out to the other side of the trees to see what was out there.

The weather was perfect, he was in the best shape he had been in for over a year and he had a safe base to work from. If he was going to find out what was going on, he should make his move now. He would never have a better opportunity.

Tony sat back and read over the little journal he had been keeping since he came to the warehouse.

He smiled as he read. The first two weeks not much happened. He seemed happy just to be somewhere safe. The last two weeks the entries were longer and he had made large strides to take control of his life again. He was starting to feel alive again. He could see the happiness in his hand writing after he discovered someone to talk to.

It was good to feel he was doing more than just surviving.

Tony heard his radio click. He smiled as he got up to put the pad and pencil back under his mattress.

“Hello!” Trish’s shaky voice sounded over the walkie-talkie in his pocket.

“Hi Trish. How are you today?” Tony asked.

“Oh, I’m afraid your little Trish isn’t doing too well today.” A man’s voice boomed out of the little speaker.

Tony straightened up, surprised by the man’s voice.

“Who is this?” Tony asked.

“Look out your window, pal!” The arrogant voice instructed.

Tony felt a chill run down his spine as he turned and went over to the window.

Out at the edge of the clearing were two men. One standing on each side of a girl who was wearing a green t-shirt and a pair of green jogging pants. The girl’s head hung down over her chest and her long black hair was draped down over the front of her, hanging down to her waist.

“Who are you?” Tony asked again.

“I’m the man that has something I think you want!” The man replied. Tony could hear the other man laughing.

Tony stared. Trish just stood there with her face down.

“Ask Trish to hold up her head so I can see her.” Tony asked.

The man grabbed her by the hair and jerked her head up. “Can you see her now?”

Tony held the binoculars to his face and focused on Trish.

Her left eye was black and she had a swollen upper lip.

Tony held the radio to his mouth. “Trish are you OK?”

“Trish has had better days.” The guy’s voice said as he laughed. “But Trish isn’t talking now, I’m doing the talking.”

Tony clicked the mic. “What do you want?”

“I have something you want and you have something that I want. I thought we could make a trade.” The man said.

“What do you have that I want? Tony asked.

The man laughed. “Don’t play games with me.” He pulled Trish’s head back until her face was looking towards the warehouse. “We both know you have been trying to get this little bitch inside that building with you. I can’t blame you, I’ve thought about her myself a bit. But being the generous man that I am, I’m willing to give her up if the price is right.”

“What do I have that you want?” Tony asked.

“I thought we would come in and we would show you.” The man replied.

Tony stared at the scene outside. He now knew what Trish had meant when she said the living was worse than the dead. The view from his window explained it all.

If letting them in to take a few things would save Trish, he would gladly do it. But Tony knew it would not work.

If he let them into the warehouse, both he and Trish would end up dead and those creeps would have the warehouse.

Tony clicked the mic. “Sorry, you’re not coming in.”

The man held the radio up. “Then I’m afraid Trish is going to have a bad day” Before the radio went dead, Tony heard the other man saying. “You tell him Roy.”

Tony looked at the 22 caliber rifle leaning by the window.

He grabbed the gun and stuck the barrel out the window and aimed at the men. He clicked the mic. “Then I’m afraid you won’t be having a good day either.”

The two men moved closer together, hiding behind Trish. They started to move backwards towards the woods.

Tony keyed the mic again. He didn’t want them to leave with Trish. Who knew what these two would do to her if they had to leave empty handed.

“No one has to have a bad day. There is another way. We could still make a trade. You give me the girl and I’ll give you a case of baked beans. Then we all can have a good day.” Roy said.

He looked out the window and saw the two men talking. Trish was getting yanked around as they talked.

Finally the man, Tony guessed his name was Roy, moved the radio to his mouth. “Make it two cases of baked beans and a case of those beef jerky sticks and you have a deal.”

“I can do that.” Tony said. “Send in the girl.”

“No way. You bring out our stuff then we will send in the girl.” Roy answered.

“I don’t think so. You need to do better than that.” Tony said.

He watched the two men talking. Roy got back on the radio. “How about this? I’ll take little Trish here up and tie her to the tree at the end of the clearing where you can see her. My friend and I will come back down here and you send out our stuff. After we get our things we’ll leave out the other end of the clearing and you can go get your Trish.”

Tony thought for a minute. “What could go wrong here?”

The answer was obvious. “Everything.”

But it could work. The other alternative was to have them come in the warehouse. That was too much of a risk.

If they left with Trish, Tony was sure Trish would definitely have a very unpleasant day. He couldn’t let that happen to her.

“OK. Take her up to the tree. After I’m sure she is OK, I’ll get your things.”

Tony watched as they led Trish up to the far edge of the clearing. They took her to the large tree on the end. The leaves and branches made it difficult to see clearly, but Tony could still see the green pants that Trish was wearing.

They seemed to be up there for ten minutes. Tony wondered how long it could take to tie up a little skinny girl.

Soon the men started back down through the field. For some reason they kept glancing back towards Trish. They finally were back at the edge of the clearing where Trish usually hid when she came to visit.

Roy held the radio back up to his face. “OK. We have done our part, now do yours. Don’t think about using that gun. If you do, you can’t get us both. One of us will go up and slit your little friend’s throat.”

“I honor my deals.” Tony said. “It will take me a few minutes to get your things.”

“I’ll be happy to wait a few minutes.” Roy said cheerfully over the radio.

Tony glanced up at Trish. All he could see were the pant legs of her green pants. A rope was around her legs holding her legs firmly against the tree.

He could only imagine where they had tied the other rope to keep her upper body secured to the tree.

He turned and ran down into the warehouse and pulled two cases of beans off the shelf. Dropped a box of beef jerky onto of the cases. He bent down and struggled to lift the boxes.

“I can’t send these cases down the line. They are way too heavy.” Tony thought. “I need something else.”

He looked around and grabbed a large bundle of rope and headed to the stairs.

He unbundled the rope and looped it around the two cases and tied it tight against the top of the cases.

He grabbed the other end of the rope and climbed to the top, then pulled the package up to him.

After carrying the heavy bundle into the room, her sat it on the window seal, grabbed the rope and slowly lowered it to the ground.

Tony picked up the radio. “The beans were heavy. One of you will have to come down and carry them over to the edge of the clearing on your left and my right. When the beans are at the tree line, then both of you can leave.”

Tony watched the two men talking again. He guessed one of them was a little worried about coming down so close to the warehouse. “Good.” Tony thought. “A little fear can be a good thing.”

Tony watched the smaller guy run down to the beans and struggle to move the bundle out to the tree line. Then he disappeared into the woods. Before Roy disappeared into the woods he held up the radio. “We need to rest for a few minutes before we leave. I don’t want to see you come out after the girl for fifteen minutes.”

“Just go and don’t worry about me.” Tony replied. “Do us both a favor and don’t come back.”

Tony heard Roy laugh. He knew they would be back. He wouldn’t get rid of them this easy.

Tony waited five minutes. He wasn’t going to wait fifteen minutes. They could be setting a trap. He wasn’t going to give them time to get ready for him.

He slung the bow over his shoulder and picked up the rifle. He went to the back door in the warehouse. The door he had been using when he went out to walk around the clearing.

He opened the door a crack and studied the area. It looked clear. Tony stepped outside and let the door close. He began to run towards the tree line out behind the warehouse. He wasn’t going to make it any easier for them to pick him off then he had to. Fortunately the tree line was much closer to the warehouse out back.