Hacked (9 page)

     “Yeah, my truck is back that way. What happened to your eyes?”

     “He cut off my fucking eyelids! Now can we just get the hell out of here?”

     “Yeah. Yeah. Come with me. I’m about a half mile back.”

     “What are you doing out here?”

     “Was hunting hogs. This property has been abandoned for years. I come here a few days a week and hunt hogs. I know a few butchers and a taxidermist who pay me good for the carcasses. Plus I like shooting things.”

     “If you see this guy will you shoot him?”

     “Hell yeah. Oh, and I’m Fred by the way.” The hunter said. The man looked to be in his forties or fifties. He had a full beard, a ball cap and wearing a camouflage hoodie and jeans. Erin had no idea how he could wear all that shit in this heat, but whatever. They walked for a dozen or so yards when they heard a scream. Fuck. It had to be Abby. How in the hell was she still alive? And what could she be screaming at?

     “What the hell was that?” Fred asked as he put the butt of his rifle to his shoulder. “Was there another girl with you?”

     “Yeah, but he killed her. I thought for sure she was dead.”

     “Well apparently she’s not. Stay here,” he ordered.

      “Wait? Where are you going? Please don’t go. It’s not safe, he’s dangerous! Let’s just get out of here!”

     “He’s not as dangerous as I am.” Fred lifted the rifle and headed into the woods when another scream sounded.

     Goddammit! Erin just wanted to get the fuck out of there.

     “I’m going to head to your truck, ok? You said it’s this way?” She asked, but he was in the ‘zone’, whatever that may be, and was now on another sort of hunt. Erin ran down the trail which wound around through several more curves. She hoped to find Fred’s truck soon. Maybe he left the keys in it and she can just get the hell out of there. No way was she going to stick around, waiting for this asshole.

     As she ran, gunshots rang out from the woods. They caused her to jump, but she continued on. After another sharp curve, she couldn’t help but think it looked familiar. Just ahead she saw why. The wrecked van was sitting in a ditch just ahead.

     “What in the fuck?” She said as she ran up to the van. Looking down at the wrecked vehicle she could easily see Rodney was not inside. He’d gotten free. She looked around frantically. Abby had fucked him up good, but he made it out and was probably the reason Abby had been screaming earlier. She had no idea how he could have escape, or how Abby had gotten away from a coyote, but things were starting to fall apart on her rather quickly. She thought for sure she was about to get out of here only to find she’d been going in a bit circle.

     “No, this can’t be happening,” she said as she began pacing up and down the trail. No! This can’t be! No! No! No!” She screamed, holding the last “no” for especially long. She hoped Fred at least killed the asshole. There was another scream and another gun shot. Tired and exhausted, she sat down on a nearby log and began crying.

Chapter 21

     Abby stumbled through the woods. Her hand, where the coyote had bitten off her broken thumb, had finally stopped bleeding. She didn’t know how she had managed to get away from that thing. The rock fortunately had been just within reach of her good hand. It took all her strength, but she was able to smash the beast’s head in.

     How Rodney got out of the van was a mystery to her. She’d left him handcuffed and near death she had thought. Somehow he got out and still had plenty of fight left in him, and here they were. The sticks and brambles slashed her bare legs as she ran over rocks in her stocking feet. With nothing but the work shirt on, she had to climb over a log and even through a dried riverbed.

     Looking over her shoulder he was still behind her, and not very far.

     “Keep running bitch! Better hope I don’t catch you. I’ll feed you your fucking eyeballs you cunt! I bet they taste great!” He screamed from behind her. He looked like some kind of hideous creature from a horror movie. His nose ripped off and half his teeth missing, plus the look of pure animal rage in his eyes. She didn’t want to have to look at him again. Why didn’t she just kill him when she had the chance?

     Then there was Erin. That fucking cunt. She must really be out of her mind for trusting that little bitch even for a second and buying her little act. How could she have been so stupid? Getting into this mess wasn’t her fault. But it was looking like she was going to die, and die painfully. She had every chance to get away and blew all of them. There probably wouldn’t be another.

     His footsteps grew louder behind her as he gained on her. She should have at least taken away his shoes. Another stupid and possibly fatal mistake. Before long, he was right up behind her. She felt his hand on her shirt, grabbing a handful of material and pulling her to the ground. Her balance left her as she tumbled to the ground, landing on a sticker bush as dozens of thorny little balls stuck to her legs and face. She let out a scream as they fell.

     This time she wouldn’t let him get the upper hand. Just as she hit the ground, she rolled onto her back, and grabbed a handful of dirt. He was on top of her, his mutilated face just inches from her as he smiled a twisted and distorted smile.

     “Hey honey! Did you miss me! If I was your boyfriend I’d never let you go! Hahaha!”

     She took the handful of dirt and stuffed it into the bloody hole where his nose should have been. He screamed and rolled off her, placing his hands over his face. His screams sounded like howls as she tried to scurry away. Pulling herself up by a branch, she stumbled past his body when someone began yelling.

     “Hey! Stop right there!” A man’s voice called out. She turned wondering who that could possibly be, to see a bearded man with a rifle standing about twenty or thirty yards away. “Stop I said!” He yelled again and fired a shot into the air. With that she froze as the man came running up to them. Abby should have been thrilled that help was coming, but because of events of the last twenty four hours, she couldn’t help but be skeptical.

     “Who are you?” Abby asked. “This guy is trying to kill me. He’s a fucking psycho.”

     The man looked down at Rodney who was still writhing in pain.

     “God damn. What did you do to him?”

     “Are you fucking kidding me? He fucking ripped out my uterus with some torture device. He looks like that because I finally fought back. We need to get out of here! Now!”

     “Now hold on just a minute. So, this is the guy that other gal was talking about?’

     “What other gal?” Abby asked.

     “Further down the trail. Some kid with her eyelids all sliced up.”

     Erin. Shit.

     “Not sure what she told you, but this guy tried to kill us both.” Abby was starting to realize this asshole wasn’t very bright. They guy just walked up on a scene out of a Euro revenge horror flick and he wants to stand around and ask a bunch of questions. Plus, he had a gun which made him stupid and dangerous.

     “Looks like you tuned him up pretty good yourself. Come on over here. My truck is parked just down the trail. Your friend is over there too. I’ll give you all a ride into town.”

     “What about him?” She looked at Rodney who was just lying there motionless. She had no doubt he was playing possum. There was no way she was getting close to him. Abby circled around to avoid Rodney.

     “I doubt he’s going anywhere. Come on now. Right this way.”

     She walked alongside the hunter, but tried to keep her distance. When they made it out of the woods and back to the trail, he looked around confused.

     “Where’d that other girl go?”

     “Erin? Where did she go?” So Abby could kill her.

     “I told her to wait here. Dammit. If she tried to find my truck herself, she’s gonna end up lost. I have a hiding place where I park it.”

     They walked down the trail when they reached one sharp bend. Instead of following it to the right, the hunter cut to the left through a small thicket. Just past there was a tan Ford F-150.

     “Here you go. Hop on in. We’ll go back and look for your friend as we drive out.”

     “Do you have a phone?”

     “I do, but there ain’t no signal out here. How long you been stuck out here?”

     “Since yesterday. Not even sure where here is. I live in San Antonio, he grabbed me outside my house last night.”

     He started the truck and pulled up the path and drove through the thicket back onto the trail. They did a full circle around the trail when they came upon the van.

     “That’s it,” Abby said. “That’s his van.” She was really wishing he would just get them the hell out of there and as far away from Rodney as they could. Instead this idiot wanted to fuck around as much as possible. Wandering down by the ditch was Erin. Her lidless eyes were looking all read and puffy. You’d think her eyeballs were about to jump out of their head at you.

     The hunter got out and called to her.

     “Hey! Over here! I found your friend!” He said.

     Erin looked up and came hobbling toward them. As he climbed back into the car, Abby noticed a large revolver on the hunter’s hip. Erin came lumbering up to the truck and opened the door. Despite her deformity, her face registered complete surprise when she saw Abby sitting there. Abby scooted over toward the hunter as Erin climbed in.

     “So,” Erin began. “Is he dead? Rodney?”

     “Not sure if he’s dead. He’s fucked up real good. And I’m no executioner. I ain’t going to prison when I have no idea what was going on out here.”

     “She was helping him you know,” Erin said. “She’s only hurt because it was part of their weird little sex game. She was helping him all along as they tortured me and tried to kill me.”

     The hunter leaned toward the door and looked at Abby.

     “Is that right?”

     “No that isn’t right! Are you fucking crazy? This dumb bitch tried to feed me to a coyote.” Abby held up her hand and showed him her gnawed off stump where her thumb had once been.

     “Maybe you should ride in the back until I get you to the sheriff. Let him sort this out.”

     He began to get out of the truck when Abby reached into his holster and pulled out the revolver. In a quick motion she spun around and smashed Erin in the face with the butt. It looked and sounded much worse than in the movies. The sound was sickening as it made a dull thud against her exposed teeth, shattering them all at once. Erin’s head jerked back against the window as Abby struck her again and again. Each blow doing more damage as what remained of Erin’s face caved in on itself. By the time Abby was finished, Erin’s body sat limp in the seat. There was a huge jagged hole where her face had once been. Erin was still breathing, making a pained wheezing sound as blood bubbled up from the crater that used to be her face.

     Chunks of brain and skull were splattered onto Abby as well as the gun’s handle. Abby had to force herself to stop hitting the girl. While she had never been a violent person, if she were honest with herself, beating Erin’s face in actually felt good. Whatever sympathy she may have had for the girl had dissolved hours ago.

     “Holy shit!” the hunter yelled as he tried to grab the gun away from Abby. She was too quick and spun back around, shoving the gun to his forehead.

    “I’m not riding in back and I’m not fucking around here. Get in the goddamn truck and get us the fuck out of here.”

     “Now hold on just a minute. I know you won’t shoot me. You need me to get you out of here.”

     She lowered the gun, aiming at his leg.

     “You think I’m fucking around? Get us out of here!”

      “Put the gun down and I’ll get in. You ain’t holding me hostage with my own gun.”

     “Fine,” she said as she pulled the trigger, striking him in the shoulder. He went to the ground as she slid into the driver’s seat, pulled the door closed and stomped on the gas.

Chapter 22

    Rodney waited until they were gone before he looked up. He was glad the hunter wasn’t too bright. Looking around as he wiped his eyes. Dirt and crust had formed around them from his eyes watering so badly. Making his way to his feet he grabbed the hammer and worked his way through the trees toward where he believed the trail picked back up.

     A pair of gunshots rang out as he made his way to the edge of the woods. Did the hunter shoot the girls? That would be unfortunate, since he wanted to kill them himself. Killing with guns seemed like such a waste. There was so much to enjoy with a kill. Why just shoot them and be done? Enjoy it, drag it out and revel in their pain.

     As he reached the trail, an engine roared from his right. He moved just past the tree line as a tan pickup truck came racing around the bend. He caught a glimpse of Abby behind the wheel. There was blood splattered all over the windshield. He stood by the tree and counted as the pickup got closer.

                                                     ***

     Abby did her best to keep control of the pickup. Last thing she wanted was to wreck in another ditch. As she drove around the corner, she saw a right turn, which took her back from where they had come from earlier. Just as she approached the turn a bloody, deformed man ran out of the woods. It was Rodney. He grabbed the bed of the truck as she sped by and pulled himself in.

     He reached around the cab and smashed the hammer into the driver’s window. The truck swerved as the glass cracked. He took several more swings until it was totally shattered. Abby was swerving and screaming as they took a right turn down the trail. She turned and pointed a revolver at him through the back window. He figured she must have gotten it off of the hunter and killed him. For the first time, he noticed Erin’s dead body flopping around in the cab.

          It was odd he was noticing all these things just as a gun was pointed at him, but his mind worked that way sometimes. He ducked to his right as a gunshot went off, blowing glass out onto the back of his head. He kept his face down, making sure no glass shards when into the hole in his face. No telling what damage that would do. He popped his head up as she pointed the gun again. She was trying to drive with her wounded hand while pointing the gun.