Episode 7: Bonds

Episode 7

"Bonds"

(Ned)

I was sitting in camp with Doug. I was eating some roasted squirrel. That's about all we had. Every once in a while I would give Doug a few bites. It wasn't much food, but it was better than what I had before I joined Ryder. It makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about the fact that I joined Ryder. I never thought I would stoop this low in my life. Ryder is scum, he's a bandit. I had no other choice though, Doug and I would probably be dead if I hadn't joined him.

"It'll be okay buddy." I pet Doug on the head.

(Ryder)

I stood by some trees with Elise, talking with her about this whole Jeff situtation.

"I think I remember Ned," Elise said, "he was in Jeff's group when I let them in my cabin during the winter."

"He's looking for Jeff too," I added, "that's why he showed up at the mansion. Lockwood are the only people that could have taken them. I don't know anyone else who would want to. I think we can come to the conclusion that Lockwood has him."

"Right," she said, "and since Ned wants to get him back too, we could use him to our advantage. Ned wants to get Jeff back because he's his friend. We want to get Jeff back for revenge. If we tell Ned that we want to get Jeff back for revenge, he won't help. We need to come up with a good excuse to get Ned to help us."

"What help would the guy be anyways? He's one guy." I said.

"He knows Jeff best. Jeff trusts him. We can use that advantage. When the time comes, we can kill them both." Elise explained.

"So what're we gonna tell him?"

"We could force him." Elise said.

"Force? Like threaten him to help us?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll talk to him." She said.

Elise walked off towards Ned. I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. This was a bad idea. I've messed with Jeff enough, and it never ends well. I don't even know how we're going to get Jeff out of Lockwood. This is a stupid idea, Elise is going to risk everyone's life, just for some revenge. I don't even want Jeff that bad, I would be fine never seeing Jeff again, but Elise has her mind set on finding him. There's no stopping her. I guess we're going to have to go through with this. I really don't like it though.

(Ned)

Elise walked over to me, I was letting Doug finish the last of my squirrel. I was still really hungry, but this was the best it was gonna get for now. She sat down on the log beside me. Doug growled lightly at her presence.

"Ned, you remember me don't you?" She asked me.

"Yeah," I said with my head down, not wanting to look her in the eyes, "you're the lady that let us in your cabin during the winter. Jeff killed your husband. I'm sorry."

"That's fine, don't be sorry. Jeff is the one that needs to be sorry. Speaking of Jeff, you know we're looking for him, right?"

"Yeah, I kind of figured. What do you want with him?" I asked.

"I think you know Ned," she said, pulling out her knife, "he needs to pay for what he's done to me, and my family. He ruined my life. I want to find him, and kill him. You're going to help me."

I saw her knife, this was a direct threat. I sighed and buried my face in my hands. I know I had no choice.

"You want me to help you guys find Jeff, don't you?"

"Yes. Jeff trusts you. We could really use you Ned. You're free to go once we find him. Until then, you're helping us find him."

"Well," I said, "I can't say no when you're holding a knife to me. I'll help."

Elise smiled and put the knife away.

"Thank you Ned, we'll keep giving you and your dog food and water as long as you're helpful."

With that, she stood up and walked off. I looked at Doug, who looked back at me and whimpered. I'll help Ryder and Elise find Jeff, but I will not let them hurt him.

(Brad)

There were six of us, now there are only three. We've been surviving in the forest for a few days now. It's been rough, rougher than I thought it would be. Food was extremely hard to come by out here, none of us had experience with hunting. There were many hungry nights we had to go through. Water was even harder to come by, but the truck we hijacked had some extra bottles of water inside of it that lasted us a while. We still had two bottles left. We were rationing it as carefully as we could. Stranglers were a big problem too. We lost three soldiers to them. One on the very first day of escaping, strangler came right up behind him and clawed his neck open. We learned to be very alert since then. I guess we weren't alert enough though, because just in the past few days we lost two more. One of them was grabbed by a strangler tied to a tree, and the other was killed in their sleep. His screams woke us up. Thank god it didn't get any more of us. The only soldiers left are me, James, and Walkerton. James was a young kid, around the age of twenty or so. He had red hair and freckles. He was very skinny, I could probably pick him up and toss him a few yards. Walkerton was a lot older. He was an old man with a scruffy, white beard. He was a little overweight, but he was sturdy. He could hold his own in a fight. Six soldiers, reduced to three, all in a few days. I've forgotten how bad the world outside was. No matter how bad it gets, I will still never return to Lockwood.

We were walking aimlessly in the forest, nowhere to go, our only goal to survive. James has been losing hope really fast, he thinks we're going to die out here just like the other soldiers. I try to keep my hopes up as best as I can. Walkerton on the other hand, has been really positive. Ever since day one, he keeps telling us that we are going to find refuge someday, and it'll be a perfect place. A real safe haven, not an illusion of a safe haven like Lockwood. We came across a burned down after walking all day, we searched around it to see if there were still any supplies left over. We knew there probably weren't, but we were desperate.

"I wonder what the story is with this one." Walkerton said.

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"This cabin. It's burned down. I wonder what happened to it."

"It was probably Lockwood. We know how much they like to burn people's homes down." James said.

"Let's not talk about Lockwood," I said, "we left to forget. Not to remember."

"Sorry. It's just hard not to."

I picked up a charred log and moved it to the side. I began to dig through the rubble, maybe I'd find something. It was so stupid and I knew it. Whatever was in this cabin is burned and ruined, why am I even bothering.

"You guys find anything?" Walkerton asked.

"No, not yet." I said.

"Of course we aren't gonna find anything!" James exploded, "the place is burned to the ground! This is useless!"

"I don't like your attitude boy." Walkerton said, pointing at James.

"Well I don't like you acting how you know everything!" James yelled, "you keep telling us it's going to be alright, but it's not. It will never be alright. We're going to die out here, in our pathetic attempt to try and live on our own."

"Guys stop yelling." I interrupted, "you'll attract stranglers."

"Let them come!" James yelled, "they'll just speed up our death, maybe we won't suffer as long."

Walkerton punched James in the face and he fell face first into the dirt, knocked out cold.

"Jesus, Walkerton! You didn't need to punch him! Now what're we gonna do?" I asked.

"The kid was gonna get us all killed. It needed to be done."

I put my fingers on the bridge of my nose and sighed. I didn't know what to do, we were in the middle of this forest, no food and barely any water, with a knocked out kid we have to deal with now. At least it wasn't cold.

I walked over to James and rolled him over onto his back and wiped the dirt off of his face. I slapped him lightly in the face to try and wake him up. He was still out cold.

"Good job Walkerton." I sighed.

"Oh shit! Brad get up!" Walkerton shouted.

I looked ahead to see three stranglers run out of the forest and at us. I backed up and pulled out my knife. Walkerton readied his knife as well.

"Only shoot as a last resort. Three ain't that hard to take on. We can do it."

"Okay, I got your back. Protect James, don't let the stranglers get to him."

Walkerton and I moved in front of James, forming a wall in front of him. The stranglers eyed us up flashing their blood coated, sharp teeth and claws at us. They gnarled like animals.

"Come on you ugly bastards." Walkerton taunted.

A strangler schreeched as it lunged at me, Walkerton tackled it mid air and threw it to the ground. Another one tried grabbing Walkerton from behind, I kicked its legs out and it fell to the ground. I plunged my knife down onto its chest. It thrashed around for a few seconds before dying. I looked behind me to see that Walkerton had dealt with his strangler too. I looked at James, to see that the third strangler was darting directly for him.

"Shit!" I panicked as I ran over to James.

Just before the strangler had the chance to claw at James, I tackled the strangler into the dirt. The strangler screamed at me with its blood curdling screams as I held its arms to the ground. It tried biting me, but I kept myself far enough away from its mouth.

"Walkerton! Kill this thing!"

The second I said that, a boot came down and crushed the strangler's head. Blood and brains splattered at my face. I gagged and jumped off of the strangler. I wiped at my face to clean all of the blood off, all still while gagging.

"What the hell Walkerton? You couldn't have just stabbed the damn thing?"

Walkerton laughed at me while wiping the blood off of the bottom of his boot.

"I didn't want to bend over and stab it, sorry kid. Bad back and all."

I threw up onto the ground, right beside James's head. I probably got some in his hair. It's probably best James doesn't know about that.

I sat down to catch my breath, so did Walkerton. I had wiped most of the blood from my face, but the stench was still as strong as ever. I really wish Walkerton hadn't of done that. After about five minutes, James woke up. He jolted upwards and looked around. Then he felt his face and cringed.

"Damn. That hurts." He said.

"Just as I was enjoying the peace and quiet." Walkerton said.

"You know what man, screw you." James said, standing up.

I heard a screaming sound in the distance. It echoed through the forest, it sounded close.

"Shit," I said, "that's a strangler scream for sure. We need to get out of here before they show up."

"Good call, we parked the truck not too far from here, let's go." Walkerton agreed.

We made it to the truck which was parked in between two big trees a few hundred yards from the burned down cabin. I volunteered to drive, Walkerton sat in the passenger seat and James took the backseat. I started the truck up and slowly drove through the forest, making my way around the trees. There was a pathway that was in this forest from the old world, I just followed the dirt road.

"Walkerton I think you may have given me a concussion." James groaned from the back.

"You deserved it." Walkerton said.

"You could have just like... hit me lighter or something."

"Then you might not have shut up. Your voice was gonna attract stranglers. In fact, it did."

"Really?"

"Yeah, while you were knocked out, three stranglers showed up, and Brad and I had to deal with them. One was gonna get you if it wasn't for Brad."

"Shit, I guess I oughta thank you Brad." James said, sounding guilty.

"Don't sweat it." I said.

"Oh yeah and Brad also threw up on your head while you were passed out." Walkerton added.

"What? Brad what the hell?"

"Oh come on Walkerton. You're exaggerating, I threw up beside his head. I doubt any of it got in his hair."

James gasped and put his hands on his hair, feeling around. Walkerton started laughing at him, I couldn't help but laugh as well.

After driving for about twenty minutes, I stopped the truck and decided we've gone far enough for the day. The sun was starting to go down. We got out of the truck and looked around, everything looked the same. All trees, nothing else. I didn't see any buildings anywhere.

"Looks like we'll just have to settle here for the night," I said, "we can sleep in the truck again. It's the safest option."

James stretched and yawned.

"I know I just had a dirt nap and all, but I'm tired. Sounds like a good idea to settle here for tonight."

"Yeah, I'm tired too-" I started, I was interrupted by the sound of a gun clicking behind my head.

I felt a cold barrel being pushed up against the back of my head.

"Nobody move," I heard a man's voice behind me, "or he gets his brains blown out."

James and Walkerton slowly put their hands in the air. I raised mine too.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't blow your head off, Lockwood scum." Said the voice.

"We're n-not Lockwood," James stuttered, "we're former soldiers, we escaped."

"That's bullshit." The voice said.

"No it's not! We're on the run, they're probably looking for us right now."

"Why would you want to escape Lockwood?"

"We know about the evil things they've done. We don't want to be a part of it."

The gun lowered from my head, I felt a little better, but I was still scared.

"Take out your weapons," the voice ordered, "and drop them on the ground."

I reached for my weapons and pulled them out like the voice instructed, I then dropped them onto the ground; James and Walkerton followed.

"Elise," the voice ordered, "grab the guns."

A red headed woman walked in front of me and picked up our guns. We were only carrying pistols on us, there were some rifles in the truck. They didn't know about those. The woman gathered all of the weapons and tossed them away from us. I looked over at Walkerton, who was thinking the same thing as I was. I could tell by his facial expression. Whoever these people were, they were really terribly organized. I could surprise the man with the gun behind me by turning around and swinging at him. Then Walkerton could grab the rifles from the truck while everyone was distracted.

I took a deep breath, and swung around to face the man. He had his head turned and was talking to the red headed woman. His rifle was down, pointed at the ground. He was acting like an idiot. Without hesitation, I swung at him, knocking him face first into the ground. I grabbed his rifle and pointed it at the woman. She put her hands up, Walkerton opened the truck door and grabbed the rifles. He tossed one to James, and he grabbed one for himself. Now the woman had three guns pointed at her. The tables turned really fast.

"Son of a bitch." The man mumbled from the ground.

"You idiot Ryder!" the woman yelled, "how'd you let this jackass disarm you like that?"

"I didn't see you putting up a fight either." He complained.

"Enough both of you!" I shouted, "who are you guys?"

"I'm Ryder," the man said, who was still on the ground, then he pointed at the woman, "the red one is Elise."

"I mean, who are you? Bandits, or just assholes?"

"Assholes." Ryder said.

"Wait a second," I said, "Ryder. I know that name. You are a bandit aren't you? You're the one who used to always give Lockwood trouble."

"Damn am I that popular?" He asked.

"Yeah you are. Now start explaining."

"Can we please do this in a more comfortable setting? I can take you guys back to our camp. Don't worry, there's only a few people at camp. Another guy and his dog. Nobody else."

I looked back at James and Walkerton. They both shook their heads. They didn't like that idea at all. Walkerton probably just wanted me to shoot both of them to move things along, but I wasn't going to do that. I'm trying to be a better person.

"Fine," I agreed, "but if we start feeling like something fishy is up, the deal is off. I shoot both of you, and we leave."

"Deal," Ryder said, giving a thumbs up from the ground, "can I get up now?"

"Yes, but do it very slowly."

Ryder got up slowly like I asked, Elise walked over and punched him in the arm.

"Now lead the way." I said, keeping my gun pointed on Ryder.

Ryder and Elise started walking in front of us, we followed.

"Why'd you invite them back to our camp?" Elise asked.

"I don't know Elise. I'm trying not to get shot here."

Walkerton walked up beside me.

"This is a bad idea. I don't like the look of these guys." He warned.

"I have it under control. Maybe these people could help us. We need food, and water." I replied.

"I like your enthusiasm Brad. I doubt they are going to give us anything, unless you're willing to rob them." He whispered.

"I'm not going to do that."

"Then why are we wasting our time with them? We should just leave."

"I don't know, okay?" I sighed, "let's just go to their camp. Maybe they have something we need, we can make a deal. I'm desperate Walkerton, I'm trying anything at this point."

After walking for about ten or fifteen minutes, Ryder and Elise stopped. In front of them was a small camp. A fire pit, and one tent. Beside the tent was a few boxes, that's probably where they kept their food. There was a man sitting on a log with his dog sitting beside him, he was feeding the dog some scraps.

"This is it?" I asked.

"Yeah. You disappointed?" Ryder replied.

"No actually, I'm glad it's small. So you weren't lying, you don't have a big group."

"Yeah, I actually did have more of a camp a long time ago, back in my glory days."

"Back when you were the leader of that bandit group." I finished his sentence.

"Yeah." He said, sounding sad.

"Alright," Walkerton jumped in, "we'll take a seat. Then we'll sort everything out."

Ryder and Elise sat down on the ground by the fire pit, we sat across from them, still keeping our guns on us.

"So," Ryder said, "you planning on giving me my gun back?"

"After we sort everything out." I said.

"That's what I figured."

"Okay, onto business," Walkerton said, "from what Brad has been saying, you were the leader of a bandit group, which gave Lockwood a lot of trouble?"

"Yeah. Ryder's the name. My group was disbanded a while back by a different group. Ever since then its been pretty much just me and Elise here."

"What are you guys doing out here?" I asked.

"Just surviving. At least, that's what I want to do. Elise here wants to break into Lockwood, which is suicide."

"Why do you want to do that?" I looked at Elise.

"There's someone in there that we need. You probably don't know him. His name is Jeff Jones."

I stopped and looked at Walkerton and James. They looked surprised.

"I do know him. Pretty much everyone in Lockwood knows him. Charlie has him captured in the basement. He burned down their mansion."

"Really? So it was Lockwood that took him. That confirms our suspicions." Elise said.

"Why do you want Jeff?"

"He wronged me in the past. I want to confront him." She said.

"So you want to risk your life breaking into Lockwood, just because he wronged you in the past?" I asked.

"It's complicated."

"What about you guys?" Ryder asked, "what are you guys doing out here?"

"We used to be Lockwood soldiers," I said, "I used to be one of the managers. I learned too much about Lockwood though, all of its dirty secrets. Charlie realized I knew too much, he tried having me killed. I escaped with a few other soldiers who also knew of the evil in Lockwood. We've been on the road ever since."

"You knew Jeff?" Ryder asked.

"Yeah, Charlie tried to kill him several times. Jeff has been a thorn in Charlie's side for quite some time. Although I always thought of Jeff as a friend. I don't know about you guys though."

"You guys know Lockwood really well then," Elise said, "maybe you guys could help us get Jeff out of Lockwood."

I wanted to turn them down. I told myself I wanted to get as far away from Lockwood as possible. I never want to go back there, it's too evil there, too dangerous. But it just feels wrong to leave Jeff there, I know how evil Charlie is. His group is suffering there, after all he's been through, am I just going to leave him there to die?

"We all have different reasons for wanting to get Jeff out of Lockwood. The other guy in our group," Elise pointed at the guy sitting with his dog, "that's Ned. He wants to get Jeff out because they were friends. I want to get him out to finally confront him. Let's put our differences aside, we all share one goal, to get Jeff out of Lockwood. We can do it if we work together."

"Before I decide anything," I said, "what do you mean by confronting Jeff? What are you going to do when you break him out?"

"Not much. I just want to sort things out with him. I need to put a matter at rest once and for all."

"You aren't like Charlie though, right?" I asked, "you aren't going to hurt him?"

"No, I promise." She said.

I sighed and looked at Walkerton and James, they looked conflicted.

"Fine," I said, "we'll help you."

(Elise)

The soldiers went back and got their truck back. They drove it into the camp and told us they would stay in the truck. They gave Ryder back the rifle, I guess they trust us enough. Good. Everything is going according to plan. Ned and Doug settled in for the night, sleeping on a sleeping bag outside. I went into the tent with Ryder. We laid next to each other.

"That was a crazy day, wasn't it?" Ryder asked.

"Yeah, I'm glad we got a lot more backup though. It should be even easier to get Jeff back now. Those soldiers should be able to help."

"Why did you lie to Brad?" Ryder asked, "you told him once you got Jeff you weren't going to hurt him."

"Isn't it obvious?" I said, "that Brad guy said he considers Jeff a friend. If I told them the truth, they wouldn't want to help."

"Ah," Ryder said, "that makes sense. I hope you have an endgame plan though, because once we rescue Jeff, how are you going to kill him with those soldiers around?"

"We're in a really complicated situation right now, but everything will come together. I know it." I said.

(Brad)

I laid in the back of the truck with Walkerton and James. I was trying to get sleep, but Walkerton wouldn't let me.

"I can't believe you agreed to helping them without our input." He said.

"Jeff is my friend," I said, "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I left him in Lockwood."

"I thought your plan was to escape Lockwood, and never look back. You did it, you finally escaped that living hell. Now you're going back."

"I know," I said, "I know it sounds crazy, but I know that Jeff wouldn't leave me in there. I know he wouldn't."

"I don't know Brad," Walkerton said, "going back to a hellhole like that, I don't know if anyone would go back."

"You don't have to be a part of this," I said, "feel free to leave. I'm doing this."

"I'm not one to back down from fights," Walkerton grunted, "I've been a fighter my entire life. Although I did back down from one fight in my life, and it was the rebellion of Lockwood. Jack told me too, he wanted me to join his rebellion. I'm a strong soldier Brad, but I'm not a stupid one. There is no way we will win a war against Lockwood, so I backed out. Instead I just focused on leaving Lockwood."

"So are you staying or leaving?" I asked.

"Brad," he sighed, "we escaped with our lives from Lockwood once, I'm not about to risk it again. Good luck with your break out. I'll be leaving first thing in the morning."

(Charlie)

I sat in a chair, Marcus Phillips sitting across from me. I had scheduled an appointment with all three of these men. The men that were ordered to kill Brad in the freezer room, they must know what has happened to him. If he's still dead or alive. I selected Marcus first, then I'll move onto the two others.

"Marcus," I cleared my throat, "thank you for coming in."

"I don't think I really had much of a choice." He said nervously.

"Ah, well this is a very important matter. So I appreciate your help. So let us begin," I straightened my tie, "Brad. You've heard of him. You were assigned to kill him in the freezer room were you not?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You see Marcus, we've had reports that a man that fits Brad's description had hijacked one of our trucks along with a few other soldiers. Is that true?"

"No, Brad is dead. I assure you." He answered.

"He is? Alright then, who killed him?" I asked.

"I did, myself. Slit his throat like the rest. Just as you asked Charlie."

"Alright, that's all. You can head back to your room." I said, standing up.

Marcus shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the suite, the guards escorting him to the elevator. I walked over to my desk and called Alex on the phone.

"Alex," I said, "send up Ray Wilson next."

"Right away sir." He answered into the phone.

Not five minutes later, Ray Wilson was knocking at my door. I answered it and he walked in and sat on the same chair Marcus sat on. I sat across from him.

"Hello Ray," I began, "do you know why you're here?"

"Something about Brad is it?" He answered, sweating.

"Yes. I would like to ask you a few questions if that's alright."

"Sure, go ahead boss." He said, laughing nervously.

"Was Brad killed, or did he escape?"

"Oh we killed him. You don't have to worry about that boss, haha."

"Mhmm, alright then," I said, "who killed him?"

"Oh.. that was Jack! He stabbed him in the side of the neck! I watched myself."

"Is that so?" I asked, Ray was looking even more nervous, "Because your friend Marcus said that Brad had died in a different way."

Ray was sweating buckets, his lip quivered and he wiped his forehead, he started blinking a lot.

"Oh darn! That's right sorry, Marcus did kill him my bad. I must have mixed Brad up with someone else."

"Thank you for your time, you can go now." I ordered.

Ray got up, his knees were wobbling. He walked out of the door, closing the big doors behind him. Now I knew for sure something was up.

(Jack)

I was cleaning my gun in the armory when two soldiers walked in, they walked straight towards me. They stood over me and I looked up to see what they wanted.

"Jack Ackerman. Charlie Lockwood wants to speak with you." One of them said.

My heart dropped. I clutched my gun so tightly my fingers turned white, my eyes fell in a trance and I kept repeating the same image over and over again in my mind. Charlie was going to take me out back and some soldiers were going to gun me down. They've finally tracked it back to me. I'm going to die. I can't, I can't let that happen.

"Does he?" I asked.

"Yes, and he seemed in a real hurry. So come with us, and don't waste any time."

I didn't know what to do. Should I go with them and play along? Should I kill these soldiers right here? What do I do? I finally decided that I was just going to play along, just because Charlie wants to talk to me doesn't mean he's figured it out yet. I may still have some time. I don't wanna mess things up now.

"Alright men, lead the way. I'll follow." I stood up.

I was led to Charlie's suite doors. They were big and intimidating. I swallowed the lump in my throat and knocked on the door. The knocking sound echoing throughout the hallway. After about ten seconds, the doors opened, revealing Charlie standing behind them. This was the first time I've personally seen the guy. I've seen him make speeches before, but I've never seen him up close. He waved me in and I walked in. There were two seats, I was guessing he wanted to talk to me face to face with some things. Probably about Brad, why else would I be called here? I sat down on a chair and Charlie sat across from me, he crossed his legs and put his hands on his lap.

"Jack Ackerman." He said.

"Charlie Lockwood," I answered, "it's a pleasure."

"I wish I could say the same, but Jack, we have very serious matters to discuss, and I think you know a lot about them."

"Depends, I'm involved in a whole lot. What did I do this time?"

Charlie grinned, he could tell I was trying to make fun of the situation. Truth was, I was just so terrified that comedy was the only escape.

"Brad. He was killed in the freezer room, right? I mean, that's what I ordered, and my orders are never to be disobeyed."

"Of course he was." I replied.

"Hmm, you see your friends Marcus and Ray said the same thing. Although they had different opinions on how he was killed. That's impossible though, because you were all there when he was killed. So tell me Jack, how was Brad killed, and who killed him?"

Damn, Charlie was smart, I'll give him that. Questioning us separately so that he could tell that we were lying if we all gave different answers. This is when I really started to panic. How was I supposed to answer this? Charlie already knows Brad is not dead, it's pretty clear.

"That's weird," I answered, "truth is that I don't know who killed him. I guess I just wasn't looking when it happened."

Charlie's face got red really fast, he stood up and kicked the chair away and walked up to and grabbed me by my collar with such force I thought he was going to snap my neck right then and there.

"Don't play smart with me Mr. Ackerman. I know exactly what happened. You three fucks let Brad go, and now he's on the run. That's what happened."

"Charlie, why are you so angry? What's the big deal if Brad got away? Is it because you don't want your little secret getting out that you killed an entire floor of innocent people? That you lied to your people and slaughtered innocent men, women, and children? You sick fuck!" I shoved him off of me.

I was angry. I knew from the start of walking into this room that there was no getting out. It was over when it started. Charlie knew what had happened, he is going to have us killed for what we did. That's fine by me, because I have an entire rebellion behind me. I know that even after I'm dead, Charlie will be soon to follow. Too many people know of his crimes, and it's almost time that he pays for them all.

Guards must have overheard me and Charlie yelling. The suite doors opened and guards with guns rushed in. They pointed their guns at me and I raised my hands.

"Take him to the basement," Charlie said, "then leave him there to rot."

The guards walked over and grabbed me, they started pulling me away.

"Your days are numbered Charlie, you psychopath!" I yelled.

Charlie smiled as the doors were shut behind me. It was over for me, but it was only the beginning for a new age in Lockwood. It'll come, and the people will be free. Killing me is only going to add to the blood Charlie has on his hands.

(Charlie)

I called Alex on the phone, then Colin. I instructed both of them to meet me at my suite immediately. This was important. I know that something was up, it's pretty obvious something is. Both Marcus and Ray had different sides to their stories. Jack pretty much admitted that Brad got away. The only thing left for my to do to confirm my suspicions is to dig through the bodies that were killed on the fourth floor, and see if I can find Brad myself.

I waited around the suite for about ten minutes until Alex and Colin were both here. They walked in and sat on the couch across from me.

"Alright you two," I started, "I'm almost one hundred percent sure Brad did get away. Everyone had a different side to the story, so they definetly didn't kill him. So I have one question, where were the bodies of the fourth floor residents put?"

Alex and Colin looked at each other, and then looked back at me.

"They were kept piled up in the freezer room until we were ready to safely and discreetly move them outside to burn." Colin answered.

"Excellent, so they're still there?" I asked.

"Yes sir."

"Good. I want you two to take me up there to examine the bodies."

"You sure Charlie?" Alex said, "I mean, they're really disturbing, and it probably smells awful up there."

"Yes I'm sure, now take me there. Now."

There was no argument. Alex and Colin are trained to do whatever I say without question. They didn't want to upset me after all. They walked out of the suite with me following behind. We got into an elevator and Colin pushed the eleventh floor button, we went down one floor and got off. The freezer room was just ahead of the hallway. There were a few guards also guarding this level. Nobody is allowed to be in the freezer room unless instructed otherwise, that's where all of the food is stored. Although the freezer room has to be under very heavy protection now, because of what's in there. When the guards saw us, they stepped aside and let me through. I opened the door and walked in, a wave of cold air and foul odours hit me like a truck. I stepped back and gagged a little.

"You okay sir?" Alex asked.

"Shut up Alex, I'm fine." I snapped.

"Sorry."

I walked over to the bodies that were thrown into a pile. There were a lot of bodies. Men, women, and children. I could tell that Alex and Colin were bothered by this, but they were trying not to show it. I wasn't. I didn't really care, I had nothing to gain from these people, so why would I be upset that they are dead? Human emotion is useless in life, only there to hold you back. I started grabbing bodies and turning them over, looking for Brad.

"Help me with this," I said, "see if you can find anyone who looks like Brad. If not, we know what happened."

Alex and Colin hesitated, but followed my orders. We spent a long time in that freezer room. Just turning bodies over and examining their frozen facial features. Their faces frozen in fear, some still had their eyes open, some had frozen grins marked on their faces, and some people just looked like they were terrified, even though they were dead.

After I had turned the last body over, it was clear Brad wasn't in this pile of bodies. He had escaped. This made me very angry, to have Brad so close to being dealt with, then for him to slip away like the weasel he is. I can't have him getting away, he knows too much. I don't know what he's going to do with the information he has on Lockwood. Will he return to tell people? Or will he just start another life? I don't know, and I can't take any chances. I'm going to find him. Brad will not escape me.

"Alright," I pinched the bridge of my nose, "I want you two to deal with these bodies soon. I don't like the idea of them just lying around like this. Also, I want you to track down Marcus and Ray, kill them."

"Yes sir." Alex and Colin both said at the same time.

With that, I walked out of the room and headed back up to my suite.