“What’s happening?” I said immediately.
“I took you.”
I bit down hard on my lower lip and refused to cry about it. “Why?”
“As payment for services rendered.”
“I’m the… payment?” I asked and he nodded. “Does Brother Larry know about this?”
“Of course he does. You and I are going to have a little fun together.”
My stomach dropped. If Larry was a part of this plan, then he’d probably made up some reason for my disappearance. He’d say I’d gotten bitten by Rabids, or worse, told Cipher that I’d run away. Would Cipher believe him? I was so lost in a fog of fear that I didn’t notice Jeremiah still speaking.
“I wanted the little blond in the window, but Larry is stingy with his breeders. That’s okay though. You’ll do.”
“I’ll do? For what?” I asked shakily.
He smiled in a way that only made me feel worse. “I should thank your boyfriend for the idea. See, as I was coming through the gates, I saw what y’all had done with that poor little goat. Cipher told me it was to catch a tiger, but it gave me an even better idea.”
“You’re going to try to catch the tiger?” I asked, hoping that was all this was, some sort of bounty hunt, and I’d be returned to my family once Jeremiah had succeeded.
“No, I’ve got no interest in tigers. But I am going to use you as bait.”
“Bait?” I swallowed, my terror making me slow to respond. “Bait for what?”
“Rabids.”
I was light-headed, worried I might pass out, while Jeremiah continued, “See, I’ve got a quota to meet or my client doesn’t pay. And if you survive the night, then I might just have to give you a reward.” He reached down to cup himself through his pants as he leered at me. “Your boyfriend told me you like giving head. Is that true?”
He was lying. Cipher wouldn’t have told him that, not even if he was drunk. I turned toward the window, intent on figuring out where we were going and how to get back to Promised Land if I got the opportunity to escape. A sharp slap to the side of my head made me swivel back to find his face flush, nostrils flaring.
“Don’t ignore me, bitch. Answer me and address me as sir. Do you give good head?”
“No… sir,” I spat with my head still ringing. I’d bite his dick off if he tried to put it in my mouth. But then he’d probably kill me. Or torture me, then kill me. That wouldn’t be smart if I hoped to survive.
Jeremiah shrugged and stared out the windshield. “Then there’s not much sense in keeping you around, is there? Not a very wise strategy, Joshua. If I were you, I’d be thinking about how to play to your strengths. You’ve got two holes for me to fill. Willing or not, I don’t really give a fuck so long as you’re warm and tight. And I got a feeling you are.”
He started groping himself again, then glanced over to see my horrified reaction. Cackling, he said, “Yeah, I might like it even more if you put up a fight. Should keep me entertained for a few days at least.”
He was getting off on my fear, just as he had in the locker room. Was it only threats meant to scare me or did he intend to follow through? I assessed myself, looking for any soreness or evidence that he’d abused me already, something worse than kidnapping and tying me up, but I felt mostly okay. But how long would that last? I didn’t want to contemplate any future besides escape, so I stared stubbornly out the window, trying to memorize the landscape until he said much later, “Here we are at Rabid headquarters. You gonna sit here and sulk or you gonna get out?”
“I’m tied up.”
“Oh, that’s right.” His twisted smile indicated that he hadn’t forgotten. He climbed out of the Humvee and slammed the door behind him, then walked over to a tree and started pissing on the trunk. I drank in our surroundings, trying to understand what this was, a way station of sorts with a lean-to that included a fire pit and rudimentary grill for cooking. There was also a smokehouse, or perhaps it was an outhouse, set off to one side. What if Jeremiah was a cannibal? I’d heard stories of people who ate Rabids or other human beings, and not even out of desperation. Jeremiah might use me for bait and once he’d finished, carve me up and eat me. What if he made me eat other humans too?
A shiver ran through me. I had to be brave. I had to survive, make a plan. Isn’t that what Cipher always said we needed to do in times of distress?
“Come on then,” Jeremiah said, opening the door and slinging me over one shoulder. The pressure against my bladder almost caused me to lose control. I didn’t want to piss myself. For some reason, it seemed like the ultimate humiliation. He brought me to the tree and stood me up, made a clumsy grab for my crotch and I twisted away.
“I can do it myself,” I said.
“Not without hands.”
“Then untie me.”
He laughed–it was not kind. “Not going to happen,” he growled so I stood there, spitting mad and burning with indignation, as he reached inside my underwear and pulled out my cock. It was a sad, shriveled sight, the physical manifestation of my terror. But the urge to pee was too powerful, so I focused on a clump of sap clinging to the tree’s bark while the urine flowed out of me. Jeremiah shook my cock and tucked it back inside my underwear, lingering longer than necessary to grope me with one hand.
“Now, was that so bad?” he asked while pressing his hardness against my backside. I froze, unable to speak or breathe while he ground himself against me. I’d never felt so helpless before, so completely at the mercy of another person, not a man but a monster. I worried that he might force me right then, but instead, he only chuckled darkly, then lifted me up and sat me on a stump under the lean-to. I glanced around for anything I might use as a weapon, but there were only rocks and sticks. Nothing with a blade. And to make matters worse, he still hadn’t untied me.
