Fiction logo

The Doomsday Shift

Copy written 1994 by Darlene Dawson. Chapter Eight

By Darlene DawsonPublished 2 years ago 16 min read
Like
Chapter Eight.

Once Arlene and the others were away from the cabin, back on the trail that they were following with Quicksilver, Joann told Arlene she was heading back to her sons. Leslie also went with Joann, she wanted to get back to Pennyworth with her daughter, Stacy, to check on her parents. Just before they went their separate ways, Arlene asked them to let her husband know where she had taken their daughters.

Arlene and her daughters kept to the trees and tall grass for cover. They had been travelling for a couple of miles when Arlene's youngest daughter, Candy, tripped and sprained her ankle. Arlene decided to let Candy rest her ankle before they went any further.

Joann, Leslie and Stacy were on the trail for about an hour when Leslie heard someone coming towards them. They darted into the trees and crouched down, waiting to see who was coming. It was still dark out so they had to be almost beside the person to see who it was, with the light filtering through the trees, from the full moon, they could make out the outlines of two men. Before Joann could stop Leslie, she stepped out onto the trail, pulling Stacy along side of her. Joann stayed where she was and was thankful that she had because the two men were mutants. Before Leslie could do anything, the two mutants had them. Joann kept still and waited to see what was going to happen to Leslie and Stacy. Joann could hear the mutants talking, the one called Stan, was saying that they would be rewarded by Link for their find. The one called Yoyo, was rubbing his hands together and was letting out a gleeful chuckle. Joann also heard them mentioning the mountain at Collinswood. As soon as Joann got back to Pennyworth, she would report this information to the police and get help sent out, to help Leslie and Stacy.

Leslie knew that if she gave Joann away then thre would be no hope in them being rescued from these creatures. Leslie put her hand on Stacy's shoulder and gave it a squeeze of reassurance. Stacy was so terrified that she couldn't let out a sound.

Joann waited for some time to pass once the mutants took Leslie and Stacy, she wanted to make sure that they didn't come back. Once she felt safe enough, she headed for Pennyworth.

Stan and Yoyo wanted to take good care of the lady and young girl, they wanted them to be in good shape when they took them to Link. They didn't just score with the knapsack full of food, now they had the woman and the girl as well. Link would be very pleased with their find.

Arlene had gathered some pine tree branches and had covered the ground where they would take their rest, she had enough left over to cover them up as well, just in case someone happened to come their way. Tammy and Candy were exhausted and Arlene was getting to feel the same way, after all, it was a tiring trip. Arlene was on the verge of going to sleep when she heard someone talking as they were walking by where she had her daughter's and herself hidden. Arlene peeked through the branches of the tree that was protecting them from detection and she saw two mutants and they had Leslie and Stacy as prisoners.

Arlene waited to see if anyone else was coming, after fifteen minutes, she realized that either Joann was dead or she had escaped capture.

As the first rays of the sun started to show on the horizon, Arlene and her daughters started their trip to her brothers place in Collinswood. Instead of taking the trail that they had been following, since their escape, Arlene decided to head more west then southwest, there were too many travelers using this trail and Arlene didn't want to come across the wrong people. She knew that this way would take her longer but she felt that it would be safer.

Joann had to take cover and hide a couple of times before she was near the town of Oliver, this town was about twenty miles from {Pennyworth. Joann was looking for someone who could drive her the rest of the way to Pennyworth. For her to walk the rest of the way it would take her most of the day and she wanted to get back to her sons as soon as she could. They would be hundry and upset, her youngest was still being breast fed. She hoped that her parents had made their way over to the boys and was tending them. Just as Joann entered the town, she heard a helicopter passing overhead,. As she watched it go by, she noticed that it was heading towards Pennyworth. This made her feel a little better, knowing that help was going there, that meant that someone had survived and had called for help.

Stan and Yoyo stopped at intervals to let the woman and girl rest, they wanted them to look in good shape when Link saw them. This was taking them longer to get back to the compound but they would get a better reward in the long run.

When Leslie got a chance to talk to her daughter, Stacy, without the fear of the mutants over hearing her, she told her not to mention about Joann being left behind, this way, Joann would geet help and tell them in which direction they were going, if the mutants found out about Joann then they would change their course and nobody would be able to find them. Stacy reassured her mother that she wouldn't say anything, when she told her mother she didn't like these men because they looked scary and that they both smelled bad.

Arlene and her daughters were near Collinswood Bay, when they had to take cover once more. Their trip was slow and tiring. There were many men and mutants traveling through the bush on foot and Arlene wasn't prepared to trust any of them, so when she heard someone coming, they would just hide until they had gone by. They had been traveling for several hours when Arlene noticed that Candy's foot had swollen, that was when Arlene decided to let them take a rest. She had gathered more tree branches and did the same thing that she had done before, to give them cover from anyone seeing them. Shortly after they were settled in their hiding place, Arlene was glad that she had decided to take a rest, she could see the two mutants who had Leslie and Stacy, walking between them, heading for Collinswood. If Arlene had attempted to cross the bay, a few minutes before, then the mutants would have seen them. Arlene watched as the two mutants, Leslie and Stacy crossed the white sand and decided that she would wait here with her daughters until they went away, even if it took all day.

Joann was walking up the towns main street looking for a house that was left undamaged when she came upon a woman. Joann went up to the woman and asked her "did she knew anyone who had a car or truck that would be willing to take her to Pennyworth?" The woman introduced herself as Ruth, then she went on to t4ell Joann that everyone was at the church and maybe someone there would be able to help her out.

Once they reached the church, Joann told the people there what had happened to herself, Leslie, Arlene, Joann and all the children. A man stood up from where he was sitting, listening to the tale that Joann had just related to all the people in the church, and walked over to Joann and introduced himself as Richard Dorset, and if Joann didn't mind waiting for just a few more minutes, he would be glad to take her to Pennyworth. Joann was so overwhelmed by the simple act of kindness, that all she could do was swallow the lump that had raised in her throat and gave Richard a nod of her head.

Richard and Joann had just left the town of Oliver and were heading for Pennyworth when Joann asked Richard "had he seen any police or military people?" Richard told her they had got through to the police on a C.B. he also informed Joann that they had contacted the police to report the incident that she had told them. The police were in a town named Wawa when they got his call and they told him that they would be in Pennyworth within the hour. The drive only took twenty minutes and Richard was just pulling up in front of Joann's house when they noticed several military men coming out of the house next door. Joann jumped out of the truck and rushed over to where Private Blackthorn was standing. Joann knew this Private, he had come up to her house on several occasions to go fishing with her husband. Joann asked him if he had seen her husband. Private Blackthorn put his arm around Joann's shoulders and led her over to the side of the house. He told Joann they were doing house searches and that he sent Private Williams in to get her husband. Joann asked the Private if her husband had checked in on their sons yet? Private Blackthorn was just about to tell Joann that they had when her husband came over to where they were standing. Joann took one look at her husbands face and she knew that something was wrong. Her husband, Jack Bernardi, was a Lieutenant in the army and as soon as he saw Joann, he hurried up to her to embrace her. The grief that he was feeling was so overwhelming that as soon as he touched his wife, he broke down and cried like a baby. Joann was trying to think of what was so bad for her husband that he would break down in front of his men when Jack started to speak in a chocked up voice, he was telling her that their sons were dead. Joann pushed herself out of her husbands embrace, shaking her head and telling him that they promised her that they wouldn't touch her sons if she did what they told her. Jack took a hold of Joann by the shoulders and asked her " what are you talking about?" Joann broke away from her husband and headed for their house. She didn't hear her husband shouting out orders to his men to stop her from going into her house, but just as she got to her front door, she was seized once more by her shoulders and was kept from going inside. Joann started screaming for them to let her go so she could see her babies. Jack got Jim Blackthorn to give him a hand in taking his wife into Arlene's house, which was the house they had just checked out.

Once Jack got Joann inside the house and had quieted her down enough to talk to her, he asked her again " what was she talking about when she said that she did what she was told?" Joann wouldn't answer Jack's questions until he answered some of hers. She asked Jack, if he would be able to let her see their sons, when Jack told her " the boys weren't in the house," Joann asked him " how he knew that their sons were dead, if he hasn't seen them?" He told Joann, "there was enough blood and other things spread around the family room that told him that they were dead." Joann insisted that she should be shown the family room because she had seen it just before she was taken away. Jack promised her that if she told him everything that had happened then and only then would he allow her to see their family room. Joann told Jack " when you let me see our family room then I'll tell you everything that you want to know, then and only then will I say anything more. Jack saw the determined look come across Joann's face and he knew from past experience that he wouldn't get anything from her until she got a look at their family room. He was just afraid that once she saw the room, she would be useless in telling him where the others were taken. Jack gave orders to Private Blackthorn and Private Casa, to take his wife over to their house and wait for her. Jack knew that he couldn't go back into the house.

Joann went into the family room and couldn't believe what she was seeing. Now she understood why Jack said that their sons weren't here, only parts of them were. Joann knew who had done this and she would make him pay for it. Joann knew it was Jackson, he had chopped off the boys heads and had set them on the floor next to the sofa, then he had gutted them. Beneath each head was a pile of insides, liver, lungs, stomach, kidneys, Jason's heart was with the rest of his organs, Chad's heart had a bite taken out of it but Scotty's heart was missing. The three boys intestines were roped around the room like you would string up Christmas garland. The smell was so putrid that you could only stand there for a few minutes. Private's Blackthorn and Casa couldn't understand how Joann could stand there and not be sick. They both remembered quite well when they first walked into the room and saw what had happened to the three boys , how ill they had become, they had almost tripped over each other trying to get to the bathroom first and here was the mother of the three boys and she wasn't even gasping. Joann turned to the Private's and asked them" please leave me alone with my sons for just a few minutes". Both Privates turned without saying a word and went down the hall to wait for Joann. She went up to each of her sons and laid a kiss on the top of their heads, promising them that she would get the man who did this to them, then she slowly turned around and walked out of the room to where the Privates were waiting .

Once back in Arlene's house, Joann told Jack she didn't know exactly where she was taken but she would be able to show them. She told Jack that he should get Arlene's husband to meet them at Collinswood Mountain. Jack got on his radio and called the base to see if Corporal Skidmore was back from his trip yet. When he got the answer back that he wasn't there yet, Jack left a message for him telling him that his wife and daughters were near Collinswood Mountain and that Jack and his men were getting ready to go there now. They would wait for Corporal Skidmore at the bottom of the Mountain.

As Arlene sat undercover in her hiding place, she watched as several people appeared on the opposite side of the bay. They seemed to be waiting for the two mutants and their prisoners. Arlene couldn't tell if it was more mutants or people standing there, but she got the feeling that it was mutants, she couldn't see people just standing there, waiting to be taken captive by them. She was glad that she had waited, she would let her daughters rest for as long as she could see anyone about.

When Leslie, Stacy and the two mutants were close to the other side of the bay, she glanced up and noticed that there were mutants and other people standing on the shore, waiting for them. Leslie didn't realize that there were so many mutants in this part of the country. She had only heard of the ones that were in another country or in the large cities in the compounds. As she got closer to the ones on the shore she noticed Terry and Arnold were standing there with the mutants. Arnold started walking towards Leslie and as he was getting near her, he started to rub the side of his head where she had hit him at the cabin. When Arnold noticed Leslie watching him, he sneered at her. Arnold walked up to stand beside Leslie and he told her in a lowered voice she was going to get hers as soon as he got her back from the mutants leader. Leslie spat into Arnolds face and this made the mutants and other men roar with laughter. Arnold went to strike her across her face but Stan grabbed him by the arm and said he was not to touch her until Link saw them. Stan didn't want to have the woman damaged from this guy, especially when he and Yoyo took good care of her until now. They didn't want Link to think that they had done it.

A mutant called Batter, came up with Gold, Batter told Stan to tie the woman and girl up with the rest of the women. Stan and Yoyo didn't want to do that because they wanted Link to see their catch that they had brought, they didn't want Link to think that Bater got all of them. Batter promised them that he would make sure Link knew that Stan and Yoyo got the woman and young girl. With this, Stan took Leslie and Stacy over to where the other women were tied.

Leslie didn't even notice the other women until Batter mentioned them, that was when Leslie looked over towards the mouth of the cave. As Stan led Leslie and Stacy over to the other women, Leslie took a good look at them. The blond girl was only five foot two and her hair was a dirty blond, feathered back and just below her shoulders, her eyes looked like sapphires, fringed with long dark lashes, she had an upturned nose and her lips were perfectly shaped. Her chin was quivering and she was fighting back tears, but even in the state that she was in, she was still beautiful. The brunet was five foot four, she had an oval face, she also had beautiful eyes, they were the color of emeralds and they were fringed with black eyelashes and she had a pug nose and her lips were the natural color of cherries. Her face was as white as snow and she seemed to be keeping herself under tight control, her chin was set at a stubborn angle. Leslie knew that if a chance came up to try and escape, she would be able to count on these two women.

Once Stan had tied Leslie and Stacy to the rope that held the other women, he walked away towards the other mutants. This gave Leslie a chance to talk to the two women, she found out that the blond was named Angel and the brunet was Dini, she also learned what the mutants had done to their father. Leslie explained tp Angel and Dini how she got here with the mutants and how a friend had escaped capture and would send help, just as soon as she made it to a town.

The three women agreed that if an opportunity arose they would try to escape. After another ten minutes or so, Yoyo came over to where the women were and untied the rope from the tree, and they started their trip to the compound where Link was waiting.

Fan Fiction
Like

About the Creator

Darlene Dawson

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.