compliance would be quicker than his arguing, something Daniel that had learned from his wife, he stooped to pick up the surprisingly heavy little baggie, shoving it down the front of his pants after a moment of not knowing what else to do with it. She nodded in thanks, breathless, and took a hop forward with his help.
Almost tasting the freedom that the wreckage of the world would afford, Daniel led Terry through the yard and into the driveway, where a blood-curdling scream shattered the stillness of the night. It was the pain-filled scream of a young girl.
Rebecca was the first thing that came to Daniel’s mind, and he stopped abruptly, nearly letting go of Terry to turn and look up the drive.
There were men in grey jumpsuits everywhere. Some were emptying the garage of its cache, while others stood guard all around. Half a dozen rifle barrels and flashlights leveled off at Daniel and Terry, who had become very aware of her expose bits again. She grabbed painfully onto Daniel’s ribs to get behind him, pressing her breasts against his back to cover herself. They were caught dead to rights, and a few of the men started laughing as they approached.
Out of sight, the little girl howled in anguish again.
“Leslie!” Daniel roared, overwhelming odds the only thing keeping him standing where he was.
“Uncle Danny! Help me…Ouch! Stop it! Stop it!” Leslie howled, from somewhere near the truck on the far side of the divider wall.
“If you hurt her…!” Daniel screamed, his vow going unfinished. He tried to take a step forward, but was hampered by Terry.
The men all laughed; one asking his fellows, “How’d Mack know that’d work?”
Terry whimpered as the men surrounded them, snatching gropes at her bare white skin and slapping at her ass. Daniel could not do anything about those behind them, and he took a brutal sucker punch to the ear. Terry, as Daniel was her only form of protection, somehow managed to keep him up on his feet.
The men then pushed Terry and Daniel, still pressed together, toward the hole in the wall. The jostling, wobbly procession passed though the strangely roiled and pitted back yard and by the two bodies of the shredded policemen.
Daniel could actually feel his hope trying to abandon his body.
Ushered through the hole in the wall and around the back of his truck, which had been emptied of the crates, they walked into a nightmare. The orange Maintenance Department dump truck was there at a skewed angle, and ten or more jumpsuits were on this side of the wall spread all around it. One of them, a giant black man, who Daniel immediately pegged as their leader, held Leslie by the neck. Daniel had no doubt, given the man’s massive proportions, that he could snap it her thin spine like a twig.
Terry clawed at Daniel’s back, trying to shield herself from further abuse. Daniel felt as if he were stranding before a king and his court, awaiting judgment, jesters all around taking cheap shots at him. Leslie started crying freely when she saw Daniel, but the monster held her squirming body easily, and she was forced to calm down or risk being strangled unconscious.
An eternity passed in a moment. The fear shook Daniel down to his bones.
Try as he might, Daniel could not match the withering gaze of the giant. The man’s eye were like dark holes, devoid of all feeling and compassion. Several hands then pulled Terry painfully from his back and held him fast, dragging her forward to stand in front of Mack, where she promptly collapsed into a heap. Flashlights and leers followed her the whole time, highlighting just how abused she had been under Bob’s care.
“You do ‘dat to her?” Mack growled at Daniel. Without waiting for Daniel to attempt forming an answer, he then asked Terry, “’Dis skinny fucker hurt ya like ‘dat?”
Terry, to Daniel’s great admiration and appreciation, managed to shake her head ‘no’ and say coldly, “Bastard in the basement did…”
Mack nodded his head at some of the surrounding jumpsuits, and they trotted off to check out the house. Mack nodded again, and Daniel was released. The workers stepped back, far enough so that Daniel could not turn and surprise them. This left an awkward silence.
Daniel broke it when he whispered, “Don’t hurt her, please.” finding that he could now look the giant in the eye.
Mack followed Daniel’s eyes down to the little blue-faced girl clenched in his hand, almost looking surprised