* * *
My headache was worsethan before and the ropes were tighter, not just bound around my wrists and ankles but my waist, legs, and torso too. I couldn’t do anything but turn my head and wiggle my fingers. Something hard was digging into my spine, and whatever it was, it wouldn’t budge when I tried twisting and turning.
The sweat had dried on my skin and my throat was so parched, I could hardly speak. I still wore my pajama shirt and underwear, now torn and smeared with dirt and blood. I felt gross, inside and out. How long had I been unconscious this time? It must have been several hours because the light was different. Late afternoon?
“Thirsty?” Jeremiah asked, wearing only his sweat-stained tank and cargo pants, though still with all of his weapons, including the knife I’d stolen out of his boot. He loomed over me with his canteen of water as if to threaten me with it.
My head was pounding and my throat was on fire. I nodded without speaking and Jeremiah gripped my jaw with one hand, forcing my mouth open, then dribbled water over my mouth, but not enough to drink. I tried to lap up as much as I could while he sneered.
“You’ve been a real pain in my ass, Joshua,” he said as he emptied the rest of the water into his mouth before capping the canteen and tossing it aside. “I’m very disappointed in you. I thought you knew how to follow the rules.”
I was too overwhelmed by my own defeat to speak, angry that he was gloating about it, but lacking the will to argue. What was the point? Let him say what he wanted. None of it mattered anyway.
Jeremiah shook his head. “I’ll admit, I’m not much of a rule-follower myself, but I can appreciate the need for self-discipline. Out here, it’s the difference between life or death. For instance, we had a guy in our unit who wasn't worth a damn. Always complaining, couldn’t shut his mouth when he needed to, wouldn’t follow orders. A realpain in my ass, you know?” He stared at me as if waiting for some acknowledgement, but I had nothing.
“So, I decided to take care of him. I emptied his gun while he was asleep, then told him it was his turn to take watch. I climbed a tree and waited for the Rabids to come. Survival of the fittest, as they say.”
I whimpered, not wanting to hear any more of his twisted tale. He was likely only doing it to scare me, and it was working.
“It’s a harsh world out there, Joshua, and I can’t be bothered with dead weight. The man was a liability, and everyone knew it, but none of them had the balls to take care of it.” He shook his head and spat on the ground. “Do you know why I’m telling you this story?”
I shook my head. My own conclusion was that he was a very cruel man or at least, mentally disturbed. Jeremiah delivered a backhanded slap across my cheek that sent my head spinning. It burned like fire and made tears sprout in my eyes. I tried to hold them back.
“Because little bitches who make trouble get fed to the Rabids.” The flash of pure fury contorted his face into something truly monstrous, and I had no doubt Jeremiah would be laughing as Rabids feasted on my flesh. After a moment, his features settled back into a weirdly blank expression. “Now, I chose you because I thought you’d be easy to handle, but so far, you’ve stolen my knife, then tried to stab me with it, ran away and refused to come out when I told you to, and for what? To end up right back right where you started. Not very smart.” He tapped one finger to his temple.
“Fuck you,” I muttered, the first time I’d ever said those words to another person.
He slapped me again, the other cheek this time. Both of them stung like fire with a residual ache in my jaw. Jeremiah whipped out his knife and aimed the point of it at my throat. Part of me wanted him to just do it, kill me already instead of dragging this out. My mother and father were waiting for me in Heaven. I’d rather go to them than be a captive of this crazy asshole.
“There are worse things than death, you know?” he said, digging the point of his knife into my throat. “I could let a Rabid bite you, then sell you to a lab where they’ll strap you down to a gurney and do all sorts of terrible things to your body, worse than you could possibly imagine. You’ll be in so much pain, every second of every day for the rest of your miserable life.”
“Please…” I whimpered. “Please, don’t.”
“Then what do you say to me, Joshua? I’ll give you a hint because you still don’t seem to get it. The first word is ‘I’m’ the second word is ‘sorry’ and the third word is ‘sir.’”
“I’m… sorry… sir,” I choked out.
“I don’t believe you, so let me break it down for you. You are now my bitch. You eat, drink, and shit when I say so. I tell you to bend over, you’d better do it. I tell you to get in the cage, you’d better hustle your ass up there. You address me as sir, always, and if you try another stunt like that, I’m going to start cutting things off, starting with your balls. And if you still don’t get it, I’ll feed you to the Rabids and sell you for spare parts. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
He stepped away, far enough for me to see the bulge in his pants. He caught where my eyes had landed and grinned. “Yeah, something about you just does it for me.” He dug his hand inside the waistband of his pants to fondle himself. “I can taste your fear, Joshua, and it is delicious.”
He pushed down his waistband so that his cock was fully exposed and stroked it, just as he’d done in the men’s locker room. I shut my eyes, not wanting to bear witness, but he smacked me so hard that even my bad ear was ringing.
“Open your eyes and watch me, bitch,” he snarled.
I stared at his hand moving over his shaft while the rest of my senses shut down completely. I was no longer with him, but floating somewhere above. I tuned out the sounds of him masturbating and watched without really seeing. It was only when his hot cum splashed against my thigh that I realized it was over. Jeremiah reached up with his soiled hand and smeared the rest of it across my face, mashing his fingers in my mouth, making me taste his bitterness. I wanted to bite him, but that was probably what he wanted, another reason to hurt me.
“That should give you a good idea of why you’re here.” He left his dick hanging out as he glanced around. “Night’s coming. Feel free to scream and cry all you want. The Rabids like that, and I do too.”
With his pants still undone, he sauntered away. The panic of not being able to see him, to not know what he planned to do next, was almost worse than having him right in front of me. I heard movement behind me, a creaking sound that I recognized as him climbing the ladder of his rig. That must be where he planned to station himself for when the Rabids came.
My fight was gone. I was tied to a stake in the middle of Rabid Country with nighttime approaching. Jeremiah would use me as bait to reach his Rabid quota, and if I survived, he would rape me, and that would be my life until I escaped him or died.
Unless a Rabid got to me first. Then I would no longer know myself. What sort of existence would I have then? Would I lose my soul too? Would I ever be reunited with my mother and father in Heaven?
I scanned the edge of the clearing as the first Rabids began to appear as shadows behind the trees. I thought my terror had reached its limit already.
