Misery (12 page)

“There must be several, but they are good.” Deck’s voice was a low rasp. “Go ahead, make the stop. Maybe one of them will make a mistake. It will flush them out.”

It took a few miles to find a station, but they filled up with no problems. Then they were back on the road.

“Well, that was a disappointment.” Trump looked around as he spit out the words.

She could feel Deck watching in all directions without showing anything except his usual stoic unemotional statue-like mode. She thought he was in true warrior mode from the past.

“Will someone tell me what is wrong?”

The two nightwalkers looked at each other only for a second. Trump went back to driving
—
it was obvious he was waiting for Deck to explain and Deck never said anything.

“Come on guys, no matter how bad it is, it is worse for me not knowing.”

Finally Trump nodded. “We would like to take on some of them now. They are probably setting up a trap somewhere ahead that will have us so outnumbered that we don’t even want to think about it. If we can draw some out to fight, we can thin out the numbers on the way. We will have a better chance of getting you to Rad’s home.”

She saw Deck glance over at Trump. He gave a brief nod, then he was back in watch mode.

“So they are just hanging back, watching us. They are herding us to the trap. Is that the way you guys see it? How far away is the trap?”

Again Trump looked at Deck before he answered her. “They must know we are heading for New Orleans. We have help there, but they probably have some guys there also. They will have these guys moving north, but they will have others closer moving towards us. They don’t want us getting anywhere near Louisiana.”

She sat, thinking for a while. Finally she took a deep breath to make sure her voice was steady. She went ahead to make sure they heard her words. “Well, gee, guys, it seems to me, you have the best bait there is. So just find a place to pull over. Sit me out on a stump then just wait. That is, if you can assure me that you two can get me back once they grab me.”

She heard a deep animal rumble come from the chest of Deck. The noise actually ran the hairs down her back straight up to attention. She took that as a
no
.

But Trump was thinking it over. “Deck, you call the shots, but she has a point. If we give them half a chance, some of the suckers will fall out.”

There was a long uncomfortable silence in the SUV for another hour, then Deck pointed to a big green sign that indicated a state rest park in one mile. Trump actually gave a wicked smile.

“Okay, little girl. We are going to stop. Act natural. When the opportunity comes up, wander away from us.” Trump pulled over, following the signs. He reduced his speed and hunted for a parking spot near the center vending court.

They got out and in the action of soldiers guarding the President, they escorted her to the
ladies
sign and waited for her to go in. She took her time and relieved herself on a dirty toilet. Her feeling was she would be better for anything that might happen if she had an empty bladder. She washed her hands. She pulled the small silver blade from her purse and pushed it into the back of her jeans against her skin at her spine.

They took a position on each side of her as she came out and escorted her over to the inside area that had a wall of food and drink dispensers. This area was an open area with no doors, just a large overhanging roof with covered picnic tables, open on three sides.

She pointed at a water bottle dispenser, so Trump stopped to draw out change. She stopped at another dispenser, then without even looking at anything in it she pointed. Deck let out a deep low rumble, but began to hunt for change.

She walked on over to the last dispenser. She didn’t look back at her two guys but just wandered out on the grass. There was a large tree with a table under it
—
she knew it was just out of sight of her two protectors.

She wandered over with the intent to sit down, but there was no chance. The force that hit her was so fast she never saw it coming. Suddenly she was off her feet, moving in a band of steel as someone had arms around her. He had her moving at an unbelievably fast speed towards a parked van. This wasn’t what she had expected. She was thrown in the back of the van behind the man who still held her. She saw a blur of motion that she knew had to be a fight with her two protectors against however many others. This group was blocking the van so it could take off with her.

She was pushed flat, held down by one hand against her chest. A strong hand pinned her as the van, moving fast, careened back and rammed forward out of the parking lot. The tires screamed and she got the smell of exhaust.

The van had no windows in back where she was held, so the only light came from the front where she saw two males, as well as the one holding her down. He was forced to hold onto the side with one hand as the van swung from side to side, but was able to keep her on her back with his greater strength. She knew he was a nightwalker. She could feel the bite of her knife as the impression was pushed into her back. There was no way to get to it as long as his weight held her down.

She heard one of them speaking. “Slow down, they won’t be able to follow us. They probably won’t be able to be anything but dust in minutes.”

The driver growled. “I have heard too much about the big one, I’m not taking any chances. If you get a whiff of any police, be ready to influence them, because I am pushing this heap until we get to some more help.”

They rocked from side to side as it was obvious that he was riding the gas pedal, weaving back and forth between traffic at breakneck speeds. Unfortunately, for these men, this van didn’t have the ability to reach the speeds of the SUV’s that Deck and Trump drove.

Wait!
She was supposed to be helping. She was expected to be sending out emotions. Deck said he could follow her. This bastard had his hand on her chest.

She pulled in a breath and screamed. “Get off me, you asshole.” She started kicking and flailing her arms. She looked at him and decided he was the ugliest person she had ever seen. She hated him, she hated his touch, she hated the van, she hated being held down. She was getting sick.

“Shut up.” The Vampire growled at her as he struggled to maintain his stance against the rocking of the van. He fell on one knee. She slid sideways. This gave her an opportunity to begin kicking him, as she thought of all the names she could call him. She rolled sideways. He slammed his hand into her, knocking her into the side of the van. She saw stars, but she had her hands on her knife.

She thought of Freddy Kruger. This man was Freddy in real time. He was trying to do all the bad things that Freddy did to all the girls in the movies. She screamed as she rolled, cried, cussed, still calling him Freddy. He was thrown over her as the van careened across the highway in the opposite direction.

Someone in front yelled back to shut her up.

“I am going to bite her.” He pushed her towards the back of the van, against the back doors. He was finally able to hold her there by his extra weight including the Vampire strength. Now her fear was greater than her anger. He was going to sink fangs into her. She screamed as she twisted. She kicked, reacted stronger, knowing that adrenalin was pumping through her as he got one hand in her hair.

She sent out the fear, loud and clear. She knew he was pulling her head back to get at her neck. He raised up, but with full panic she brought up her little knife to bury it in his stomach.

The scream was now from him as his reflexes folded him up over her. He grabbed at her throat trying to strangle her. The van rolled again, which gave her a chance to kick him into the other side of the van.

At this point she could hear shouts from the front. There was a loud noise that told her that they were really in trouble. She was loose but was rolling, being slammed as the van rolled over. It tipped on one side, than on its top. She felt the van fly in the air for a moment before hitting its other side. She followed gravity as both her body and the van crashed down, with a noise of the crumpling metal.

Before the van had even stopped moving, the back doors were literally torn off, and the one who had held her down, who had her knife in him, was suddenly turned to dust.

She felt two strong arms around her as she was lifted from the trashed metal, pulled up against a broad chest of Decimus. He held her so tight she couldn’t see what was happening. He carried her at a run back to the black SUV, but suddenly she heard an explosion, and felt the heat from the direction of the van. She tried to raise her head to see what was happening but Deck held her too tight. She was too sore to resist.

* * * *

He was in the passenger seat with her on his lap, his arms still too tight around her. Trump quickly took the driver’s seat, swinging the SUV around, tearing down the road, away from the site of the burning van. They drove for an hour before they pulled over. Trump came around and opened the passenger door. Deck would not move, would not release the female.

“Deck, we need to see if she is injured. She needs to be checked out by a doctor.” Trump touched his shoulder. The vehicle sat in front of a walk-in Clinic. Deck looked at Trump, nodded and got out with her clutched to his chest. He felt no emotions from her. This was not what he wanted.

Together they entered the clinic, Deck carrying the female in his arms.

The aide looked up with a bored expression from behind her desk with the usual computer terminal. Two of the largest, meanest looking men she had ever seen were approaching with a woman in the arms of one.

Trump looked at her and spoke as they both continued down the hallway made up of sliding curtains. “We need a doctor. Now.” His voice was one of command as the two of them found a bed. They placed her on the clean sheets. Still Deck didn’t let go, keeping his arms around her as he leaned over the narrow, high hospital bed.

By this time, in a panic, the aide had pushed the silent alarm button that warned the people in back that there was an emergency in front. This could be anything from severe trauma to some wild drunk. They never knew what to expect, so The nurse and an intern came out cautiously. The intern was carrying a set of restraints.

They both stopped in their tracks at the sight of the two large men, dressed in black, looking like something out of a Stallone movie. “I think we need bigger restraints.” The intern set aside the ones in his hand with that comment.

He moved around the bed. Trump moved away to go to the front desk. Over his shoulder, the intern watched as Trump laid a stack of bills on the counter. The aide seemed to finally wake up. She began to type into the computer, but Trump reached over, stopping her.

The intern ignored him and looked at his patient.

She was beaten up pretty bad. He wondered if the guy holding her had been the woman beater. He had seen some guys who had hit their women but still acted so caring. He reached to move her legs and straighten them out, but Deck wouldn’t release them.

By this time Trump was back.

“Look, I need for you two to step out. I need to get her clothes off.”

Deck let out a low growl.

The intern continued. “I need to check for internal injuries and bleeding. Can someone tell me what happened?”

“She was in a car accident,” Trump began. “She was in the back of a van when it rolled over. Deck, you must let go so that he can check her out.”

Deck looked up at Trump at the end of the bed. He then looked over at the intern. He slowly slid his arms out from under her. Trump pulled him down to the end of the bed.

The nurse came around, pulling the curtain closed on its track, giving the bed privacy. She looked with obvious fear at the two giants. “If you want to sit in the waiting room, I will be able to undress her for the doctor.” She smiled over at the intern.

Trump spoke. “Look, I can move out, but you are not going to get him away from her. Go ahead and do what you must do, but he has to stay by her side or at the foot of the bed.”

The intern looked at them. “I don’t think this will work. If I have to, for the protection of the patient, I will call the police.”

Trump rubbed his head. “Look, she is a very important person.” He paused. “She is the daughter of a visiting dignitary and we are her bodyguards. If one of us isn’t at her side at all times, it could cause an international incident.”

The intern looked at the nurse and he nodded. So she began the strangest undressing she had ever done on a patient.As best she could, she began undressing the female. She took a sheet and placed it over her. After she had removed shoes, socks, jacket, and outer clothes, she left on the underclothes. By then, She noticed the big guyDeck had placed his hand on one of the female’s feet.

Deck was vaguely aware as the intern began sharing information.

“Most of these contusions weren’t caused by anyone’s fist. There are only a couple cuts that need stitches. My biggest worry is By this time the intern was pretty sure that most of the contusions hadn’t been caused by someone’s fist. Surprisingly, except for a couple of cuts that needed stitches, he was only worried about the contusion on her forehead. Her vitals are checking out good, her eye reflexes are quick.”