Ross shook his head. “They can’t shoot all of us.”
“Yes they can!” Tabby yelled at him.
“Well it’s better than dying in here!”
“Stop arguing!” Ben shouted.
Silence fell over them, until the highly anticipated, highly dreaded footsteps broke it.
Otis entered the basement first, his shotgun drawn, aimed directly at Ben’s head.
“You might want to let go of her,” Otis told him.
“And if I don’t?” Ben asked.
“Then I have to kill my own sister to get to you. And that won’t make me too happy, I reckon.”
Bobbi-Jo stiffened in his arms.
Ben knew it was his only option. They might kill him for attempting to escape, they might not. It didn’t really matter at this point. If he didn’t surrender, they’d kill him for sure. Giving up was the only game in town, and Ben didn’t have any other choice but to play it.
He gradually let go. Upon realizing that Ben had loosened his grip, Bobbi-Jo broke free. She immediately turned, kicking Ben in the balls as hard as she possibly could. The blow caused Ben’s knees to buckle. He writhed on the floor, letting an emasculating whine escape his lips. Bobbi-Jo kicked him again, this time in the ribs, which had been feeling okay until then. Pain shot through him like a bullet. He cried out again, feeling wetness sprinkle his face. A long string of saliva hung from Bobbi-Jo’s mouth. “Motherfucker,” she muttered. “And to think I was going to pity-fuck you before the hunt! You motherfucker!” she screamed, kicking him again.
Ben crawled into a ball. He tried to regain his breath, ignoring the debilitating pain that sabotaged the lower half of his body.
Bobbi-Jo reared her leg back to give him one last kick, but Otis stopped her.
“Now, now. There’s no use ruining Mr. Ben here. He ain’t goan be much use crippled.”
“I say we feed him to that fucker over there, right now!” she snapped, pointing to John Vander, who was still trying to reach his way through the chain-link fence.
“Damn, Bobbi-Jo!” Cooter yelled. “I ain’t seen you this worked up since you got your first period!”
The Three Little Pigs chuckled. Bobbi-Jo continued snarling at Ben, who remained in the fetal position.
“Bobbi-Jo, why don’t you head upstairs and wake Momma,” Otis said. She pretended she didn’t hear him. “Now, Bobbi-Jo! Go on!”
She turned to him. “Wake Momma?” she asked, seething.
“That’s right,” Otis replied. A smiled formed somewhere beneath his bushy, dirty beard. “We got ourselves a game to play.”
CHAPTER TEN
They had been huddled inside a large barn. While they were glad to be out of the dank and unforgiving basement, the barn didn’t offer better scenery. The day’s first light peaked through naked windows. The air was tainted by horseshit. It was so strong they could almost taste it. Otis and the rest of the Barker family stood before them, red, cross-bucked doors at their back.
Tabby sobbed heavily, holding her mute son while he looked with fear. He had no idea what was happening.
Ben and Josh exchanged glances. Ben’s ribs ached like hell. Josh needed a fix. Ross held Landry in front of him, resting his chin on the top of his son’s head. Paul Scott sat in the corner, looking at the Three Little Pigs with contempt, his mind running through the scenarios where he killed all three of them and escaped. Delusions, nothing more. The old dude in the cowboy hat, Bob, rested against the barn door, chewing his own tongue, wishing it was tobacco. Emily latched onto Brit, whimpering softly, hoping no one would notice how scared she was. Victoria stood behind her daughters, tears glistening on her face in the dim light the morning sun provided.
“Here’s the deal-e-o. Ya’ll gonna run, and we gonna chase you,” Otis said.
The Barker family cheered.
“You can’t do this,” Victoria pleaded.
“We can, and we will,” Otis said firmly.
“Look,” Ben said. “The woman I called. She lives near Pittsburgh. She said the government is going to blow everything east of Philly completely off the map. New York, Newark. Trenton. Philly. Boston. Baltimore. All the major cities on the East Coast are completely, one-hundred percent fucked. The government knows there’s nothing that can be done. So instead of infecting the rest of the country, they’re going to blow it all to hell.”
Otis smirked, laughing through his nose. He glanced at his family.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not. Otis, I swear that’s what she said. I didn’t get to finish my conversation with her, but it sounds like we don’t have a lot of time. It could happen at any point.”
Otis shrugged. “Well, I guess if that’s the case, then we fucked anyway. Might as well have some fun, right?”
“Otis, please—”
Bobbi-Jo stepped forward and punched Ben in the gut. He dropped to his knees. She grabbed his cheeks, hard. She steered his head so their eyes could meet. “I can’t wait to watch you die,” she grunted, then spat in his face.
The Three Little Pigs exploded into laughter. Momma Barker bent over while slapping her knee, finding her daughter’s actions hilarious.
Ben didn’t find it funny. Neither did the rest of them.
“We pros at this sheet. Guess now would be a good time to tell ya’ll that no one has ever made it longer than twenty minutes. And that means…” Otis said, gleaming at them as Cooter and Floyd pushed open the barn doors, letting the smell of the dead in, “…that no one’s ever survived.”
Bobbi-Jo kicked Ben out of the barn. He tripped and fell, mud splashing against his face. He glanced up, finding himself inside a corral. There were no horses, at least none he could see. Behind him, Josh was being booted out, tossed into the playing field. The rest of the group was being lined up, ready to be released into the arena.
“Ya’ll get a five minute head start,” Otis said. “Then we comin’.”
Victoria was next. Bobbi-Jo pushed her. She fell to her knees, next to Ben. It was Brit’s turn next and before Bobbi-Jo could give her the same treatment, Floyd grabbed her wrist.
“Dis one and the blondie are too precious to waste. I reckon we can find better uses for them.” Floyd licked his lips, gleaming at Brit as if she were a glazed-ham dinner. Brit’s face contorted. She nearly gagged.
Bobbi-Jo glanced at Otis for approval.
“Fine,” Otis said. “Put them off to the side. We goan have ourselves a little fuckfest when we get back.”
Victoria overheard them and went ballistic. She scrambled to her feet, trying to run back into the barn, swinging her fists and screaming at the top of her lungs. Ben hadn’t noticed any walkers in the area, but if there had been any nearby, they’d be on their way. Before Victoria could grab hold of her daughter, Otis knocked her in the head with the butt of his shotgun. The blow took her feet out from under her. Victoria hit the muddy ground hard. Ben crawled over to her to make sure she was okay. Her pupils rolled behind her fluttering eyelids.
“Stay with me, Vic,” Ben whispered.
Ben looked back into the barn trying to gauge what was happening. He saw Cooter prying Emily away from Bob the Cowboy. Once he had the two separated, Cooter socked Bob in the jaw, then tossed him out of the barn like a rowdy drunk. Bob tumbled across the earthy floor, losing his hat in the process. They gently shoved Tabby and Anthony into the arena. Next came Paul Scott, who didn’t fuss. Ross and Landry were the last ones to enter and they, too, went willingly.
The barn doors closed slowly. Ben watched the wet faces of Emily and Brittany disappear behind them.
Behind the trees, dawn illuminated the horizon.