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Looking out the open barn door, I saw it had begun to drizzle. The hazy blue-gray sky signaled it was early dawn.
I’d lost a full day thanks to a cannibal.
I took my first real breath and had never been more grateful for having a strong stomach. The smell of decaying flesh was so potent it burned my nose hairs.
Just for the hell of it, I tugged on the chain again, knowing it wasn’t going to magically unlock itself or come off the wall.
“He keeps the keys on a belt loop,” Arlen flatly commented.
She seemed resigned to the fact that we would be sautéed like fillets and then eaten with a side of flesh rolls. I was determined that wasn’t going to happen. This was just a minor setback I should have foreseen.
Every time I thought I was finally getting somewhere, this bitch called life decided she would try and break me down again.
I thought she would have fucked off by now and realized it would never happen.
I had already been to hell and back and now it was a part of me. There wasn’t much she could throw my way that I wouldn’t overcome. I think she forgot all the cards I’d already been dealt.
“Okay, Cali, you got this.” Looking around, I studied what was left of the woman on the table. Damn near all the flesh had been stripped from her bones, except for her face, which was untouched.
Not only did this make a plan begin to form in my head, but it made the inverted cross tattooed beneath her eye stand out like a beacon in the night. If she were part of Romero’s group, that meant they had to be around this area, just as Tito had said.
“You look like you might have a plan,” Arlen said, suddenly sounding much more alert.
I looked back at her and smiled.
I didn’t know shit about this girl but I wasn’t going to leave her here to become someone’s midnight snack.
Glancing out the door to make sure Lumberjack wasn’t coming, I began to explain.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I bit down on my lip and pushed two dirt-clad fingers into my stab wound.
“Fuck, this hurts.” Breathing through my mouth, I blinked to clear away gathering tears.
Arlen made a sound in her throat, watching me with a frown. Blood quickly seeped through my already stained shirt. I pulled my fingers out and pushed down on the inflamed skin, leaning over so blood would drip down on the ground, stopping when my head grew fuzzy and it felt like I would throw up.
I’m not sure how long we sat before Lumberjack showed up, reacting just like I thought he would.
“Oh, no, yer don’t!” He rushed towards me, grabbing for his key. “If yer dying I gotta skin yer now or the meat will go bad.”
I didn’t move from where I’d purposely slouched on the ground. I let him unlock the padlock, remove the chain, and drag me towards his table.
As I played half-dead, I couldn’t help but wonder how many people had been alive and fully aware of what was going on as they were dismembered limb by limb. Not that I cared; I was just curious.
His mistake was underestimating my will to survive. He lifted me up and dropped me down right on top of the bare torso. Bones shifted and collapsed beneath my weight, pressing into my back. I swallowed repeatedly in an effort not to throw up from the smell.
As soon as he turned to grab one of his buckets, I reached for the hacksaw he’d left near the edge of the table.
There were still pieces of tissue and flesh embedded between the ribbed blades.
I gripped the blood-crusted handle and swung without hesitation.
He screamed and bowed forward as the blade made contact with the back of his upper thigh. Before he could get up, I swung again, sucking in a breath as pain shot up the entire left side of my body.
This time, the blade hit the back part of his neck. Instead of pulling it out, I pushed in, making a seesaw motion to wedge it in place.
“You cannibalistic fucker!” Arlen yelled triumphantly.
