Primal - By D.A. Serra Page 0,34
of rodents. He opens the front door and steps out onto the porch. To the left, up against the building, is a tool bench. He lifts the top and searches inside. Alison creeps up onto the porch and aligns herself along one of the log posts. She slips the knife from her belt. She closes it into her fist, but wait, the stabbing needs to be down, and so she turns the grip in her hand so the blade points down. Jesus, she thinks. Oh, god, can I do this? Her throat is so tight she cannot swallow her own saliva. She closes her eyes and brings Jimmy’s face to mind. Her arm and leg muscles contract. Adrenaline floods her forcing her heart to pump harder. Every pore in her body opens and she becomes instantly clammy. She prepares to strike.
Bent over the tool bench, Ben raises his eyes. He senses her. He spins around. Methodically, he scans the woods in front. She is not visible only feet from him. Ben smirks at himself; too much time in the pen has his antenna’s working overtime. He returns his attention to the toolbox.
She runs through it: three quick steps, plunge it in. It’ll be gory. He might yell. Have to hope he doesn’t. So close though. Not like sending someone over a cliff. She lays her eyes on exactly the point in his back where she will do it. This is it! Go. She yells inside. Do it! She wills her feet to move. She grips the knife. Go! Frustration builds toward explosion! She is paralyzed.
Ben chooses a small metal piece he hopes he can make work. He flips the cover down on the tool bench and walks back inside the lodge closing the door. Alison smacks her head against the post in defeat. Her opportunity. She hits her head hard enough to bring a lump, but she doesn’t feel it. Shit! Rage engulfs her. She wants to scream aloud! She screams inside so hard and long that her face goes red and then blue, her muscles shake with unrestrained energy.
Minutes later, inside Hobbs’ cabin talking to Curtis, she is livid with herself. “He was right there! The first guy was chasing me. It just happened.” She begins to whine in trembling anger. “I had the knife. I couldn’t make my arm move, or my feet move.” She is nearly hysterical.
“Don’t melt down, Alison. Killing isn’t easy for most of us.”
“Goddamn it. God, god…”
“The other guy was kind of an accident. This is different. First, calm down.”
“Ughhh…” an animal like cry.
“You have to outthink them. Use what is on hand. Check the shed. I’ll keep trying to reach someone. The storm is lifting. It’s all I can do. I’ll keep trying. Go.”
She hates herself. That may have been her only opportunity, her best chance, and she failed. She has failed to save her child. Fear has been replaced with fury. Anger is the framework now supporting her, now keeping her from collapse. Anger is at least useful. She leaves the cabin and heads for the shed, which is about fifteen yards from the lodge on the path up from the dock. Be smart. Be smarter. Her feet have learned the terrain with exceptional speed. She knows instantly what is solid and what only looks solid. Like any animal in danger, her awareness is heightened and her muscle memory is flawless. Moving with alacrity and experience she has become a competent forest animal. She sneaks inside the shed. It is a tin structure. A countertop runs along three sides and holds what must be hundreds of screws, nails, saws, tools of all kinds. She finds a flashlight, very useful, as the floodlights from the lodge are quite dim here. She covers the light so it only casts a direct beam. She flips it on. There are old motors, anchors, clamps, ropes, what looks like a generator. The side wall has hooks holding fishing nets and lures. On the far wall on larger metal hooks various fishing poles, a harpoon, and several axes all orange with rust.
Ben tries to make one of the little metal parts he found in the tool bench work in the carburetor. Gravel snores on the sofa. The hostages, worn from terror, sit together in the corner. Kent flips through a book. Ben glances at the group. He watches as Jimmy realizes his foot is touching Bella. He pulls it back and presses against his dad. Ben rises from