89.4 Zombie Radio

It was dark out, and the moon was full. I knew it was full, even though you couldn't see it through the clouds in the sky. I was sitting in a chair, on top of a platform, and looking over a crowd of people. They were all facing the same direction I was, so I was staring at the back of their heads. A woman who I didn't recognize came over and told me that it was time to join them. She was dressed in a black robe, with a dark red veil covering her face. She took my hand and helped me off of the chair.

"Go with them, they will take you where you belong," she said. I did as told, and found an open spot in the group. As I started to look around, I noticed everyone looked exactly alike. All the girls looked like Taylor Swift, and all the guys looked like Seth Meyers. I didn't exactly fit in with this crowd at all. I looked up in the sky and saw the clouds starting to form over my head. I could feel the pressure building in the air, and I knew it was going to storm.

I looked at the Taylor Swift clone next to me, and tried to ask her where we were going. She didn't respond at all. She just continued to look straight ahead, not blinking or showing the slightest hint of emotion. I could hear the thunder in the distance, and knew it was heading my way, but suddenly, I couldn't move. My feet felt like they were glued to the ground, and my arms felt like they each weighed a ton. I knew something was wrong, but I just didn't know what exactly it was.

A bolt of lightning struck the middle of the crowd, and I could see the bodies on fire from the blast. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't scream, some unseen force was preventing me from speaking. I looked behind me, and noticed that there were even more of the clones behind me now. The platform I was sitting on before had now disappeared, and blank faces had replaced it's location. Another bolt of lighting struck the crowd, this time it was behind me. None of the clones even flinched at the crash. They just kept staring straight ahead.

I looked back and noticed a new figure had emerged. He was glowing white, and wore armor, like a medieval knight. Two white doves perched on his shoulder, and a golden sword rested on his back. He was shouting something to me, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. He started pointing and yelling about something that was in front of me, so I turned around to see what it was. It was another man, this one was glowing red. He also was wearing armor, but his was much more gruesome than the white knight's, as it was covered in spikes and animal furs.

The dark knight was making his way through the crowd, chopping down any clones that were in his way with a giant sword that looked like it was made out of black fire. The white knight was trying to get to me, but it seemed like the clones were blocking his every move. I tried to move but I couldn't, I wanted to scream, or run. I wanted to do something other than stand there and watch it happen, but I couldn't. Suddenly the dark knight stopped, and I could hear him laughing over a few more claps of thunder. I looked around at the clones next to me, and noticed they were all different now. They were all smiling, and looking at me. Then slowly they started towards me, and they knocked me down to the ground. I still couldn't scream or move as I felt them start to tear away at my flesh. Another clap of thunder made the ground I was laying on rumble. It kept on rumbling, and then finally I woke up.

I opened my eyes and thanked God it was just a dream. I hated nightmares, but who didn't? My head was still rumbling, and I finally gained my senses enough to notice it was Layla's phone, vibrating in front of my face. I went to move my arms to answer it, out of instinct, but they were bound behind my back with something. I looked down at my feet and noticed they were tied with pink duct tape. I was making an educated guess that my hands were tied with the same thing. I tried to scream, but the piece over my mouth made sure I couldn't.

I scooted my way over to the phone and saw that it was Roxy trying to call. They must have noticed we were missing by now, and were trying to find where we were. I rolled back over and took in my surroundings. We were laying in the bed of an old, rusted out pick up truck. It was loud, almost too loud to even think, which told me it was in serious need of a new muffler. Layla was lying motionless in front of me and something was hitting me in the back. I rolled over and seen that it was one of the other people we were with before. I couldn't quite remember his name, but I remembered he was always writing in something.

I could tell he was trying to communicate with me somehow, but without hands or a voice, its not always the easiest of tasks. He started to scoot toward the front of the truck and rolled over, turning his back to me. He then started motioning his hands, and I started to get what he was asking of me. I put my mouth up against his hands and he grabbed the edge of the duct tape. I twisted my head and managed to get enough of it off that I could use my tongue to take care of the rest. I could now talk, this was a step in the right direction. He and I then switched positions and we got the tape off of his mouth as well. Now we could communicate, and hopefully figure out some sort of plan.

"I feel really bad about this," I said almost shouting over the muffler. "But what was you're name?"

"Its Gabe, don't feel bad, I'm pretty quiet usually," he replied. "We can catch up on everything later, right now we need to think of a way to at least signal for help. The only plan I can think of is to try and maybe to open that cell phone with your mouth and use your tongue to try and text someone who can help."

I nodded to him, it was a crazy plan, but it was one that just might work. But what the heck was I even supposed to text?

"What should I say?" I asked.

"Its going to be almost impossible to type very much. So just look for road signs, and type the street names, or the route numbers. We just have to pray someone can figure it out," he said.

"How am I supposed to get it open? I don't think the touch screen will work with my tongue," I explained.

"Like I said, you're going to have to try and use your mouth. I know it sounds insane, but if you want to stay alive, you'll do it," he replied.

I scooted over to the phone and started trying to use my tongue to open it. It wasn't working. The phone kept sliding around, and I couldn't quite get the leverage I needed to open it. I noticed a piece of the truck bed was rusted out, and there was a sharp chunk of metal sticking upwards. I moved the phone with my nose until it was caught on the rust. Then I started to shove my tongue as hard as I could into the crease of the phone. I got an opening and used my lip to stop it. I then used my tongue to push the rest of it open, and slid the phone away from the rust spot.

Just as I did, I saw a sign that read "State Route 2" So I started to try and type a full sentence that said "We're on state route 2, help!" It proved to be way to hard however, so I did as Gabe had instructed earlier, and cut it down to just "2." It took me even longer to scroll through Layla's contacts and finally find Roxy. I sent the text and within a little while I got a reply text saying, "What? Where the fuck are you?"

"What's happening?" Gabe asked.

"Roxy sent something back to me, she was asking where we are," I told him.

"I think it would be a good idea to tell her what road, and also include the word help in there somewhere," he replied.

"I gave her the road already, but you're right, I'll send her another one," I said. I sloppily texted "help 2," back to Roxy. It took me a little while to text it to her, after all, I had to back space about ten times before what I wrote was even legible. It didn't take long for the reply text to come back.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Roxy's incoming text read.

"She wants to know what's wrong, and whats happening," I informed Gabe. "There's no way I can send her all that, help took long enough to type in."

"Just keep sending her the route numbers, and hopefully they get it," he said.

We were still on the same road as far as I could tell. I wish I could see some surroundings, but it was hard to see anything over the walls of the truck bed. I was lucky to see the occasional road sign up overhead. I could tell we were switching lanes a lot, probably because of all the abandoned traffic on the road. The truck started to slow down a little and we exited the highway. I took a look at the sign. It was black and had the shape of the state of Ohio in white, with a black number 4 in the middle of the state. I pressed reply now, and started to text Roxy the road we were now on.

"st rt 4," I typed with the currently most useful muscle in my body. I was actually starting to get better at texting with my tongue. It didn't take long before another reply came, but it wasn't really what I was hoping to hear.

"Layla! You know the rules! We can't come get you. I'm sorry but you're on your own," it read. I wanted to cry. I had forgotten all about the stupid rules we had all agreed upon. Before the rules, someone came and rescued me. They went out of their way, because they felt it was the right thing to do. Now what was I supposed to think? It was hopeless. Gabe could sense something was wrong.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"They aren't coming," I said trying to hold back the tears. "The rules say no more rescue missions."

"Fucking Christ!" he screamed. It was a response I didn't want to hear. Gabe had been very level headed up to this point. If he was losing it, it might not be long before I did too. I didn't know where we were going, or even what this freak wanted with us, but I knew it wasn't going to be anything good. Nobody drugs you and ties you up to take you to Disney Land or someplace like that.

"Jessie, don't give up. Just keep sending them the texts. Its a long shot now, but if we give up hope, we're dead," Gabe said. I just nodded, and kept looking for signs. Gabe was right, maybe there was some chance that they would change their minds, what other choice did we have? We had been driving on the same road for a while, when suddenly the phone started vibrating again.

"Layla! This is Dalton! Is Jessie with you? What do these texts mean?" the incoming message said. I knew immediately what I had to do.

"roads" I texted back. It didn't take long for me to get a response.

"Okay! Got it, but is Jessie with you?" It read.

"yes," I replied. I wanted to type "YES THIS IS HER! PLEASE HELP!" If only my tongue was just a little more agile.

"Thank God! Bob and I are coming! Hang in there, and keep sending these so we can find you!" Dalton sent in return. Just then, the car suddenly swerved to the right and we were on a new road. I knew I was lucky the phone hadn't slid after that. I decided to lay my head on it, so it wouldn't budge in case he decided to take a turn like the maniac he was.

"113!" Gabe shouted. "We're on 113!" I didn't waste any time in sending the text. I knew we had to give them as many details as possible so they could find us. I just hoped I could help lead them in the right direction. I looked up and saw a sign that read "Welcome to Bellevue."

I immediately started trying to send them the name. Bellevue was a little too much to type, so I abbreviated it to "bview." I couldn't see what road we were on now, but we were swerving a lot to dodge the stopped traffic. Before I knew it, the maniac took one hard left and the phone slid out of my reach. When he got back up to speed, it slid to the back of the truck. I scooted my way towards the back and managed to grab it behind my back. We then took a right and flew down another road. I was doing my best to get back into the position I was in, with the phone nestled safely in the little rust spot, but then I noticed we were slowing down, and we took one last left onto a gravel driveway.

I knew there was nothing more I could do, I had to hide the phone, and quick. If he knew help was on the way, he may just kill us right then and there. There was no way of truly telling what his intentions were, so i did my best to stuff the phone down the back of my pants, and rolled my face on the truck bed to put the tape back over my mouth. I watched as Gabe did the same thing, and he winked at me before he closed his eyes, and pretended to play dead.
I lied there in fear as I heard the truck's engine turn off, and the door open. I was more nervous now than I had ever been in any of the zombie attacks, this guy was capable of way worse than just cannibalism. I heard the tailgate lower and I wanted to scream more than anything in the world, but I held my breath and continued playing dead. I could feel him grab my foot and pull me toward him. He hoisted me over his shoulder and then grabbed Layla. He carried both of us, one on each shoulder, into the house and I opened my eyes on occasion to make note of my surroundings. The house was a mess. It looked as if he was in the process of a massive remodel.

We went downstairs into the basement, and the demeanor of the house changed. It went from a mess, to sparkling clean in a matter of seconds. He made his way down a hallway with glass doors on both sides. I tried to look into one, but he was walking so fast that I didn't have the time to see what was inside. We then turned and he threw me down outside one of the doors. It hurt badly, but I did what I could to not make a noise. I figured it may benefit to fake unconsciousness for a bit longer.

He opened the glass door, and took Layla inside. I could hear her body hit the floor, and I heard her whimper in pain. The impact must have woke her up. I heard him approach me, and he hoisted me back over his shoulder and carried me into the room, then he dropped me down, right on top of Layla. I kept on pretending I was knocked out, but I had the feeling it wasn't going to matter soon. I heard him leave and lock the door behind him, Layla and I were alone, and I moved myself off of her and looked into her eyes. I could tell she hadn't quite realized what was going on yet.

I looked around the room, and quickly realized it was a place designed to do horrible things in. It was an all tile room, with a large drain in the middle of it. The walls were filled with metal hooks and rings. The door noticeably had a hole cut in the corner of it, and I couldn't help but wonder why. Something told me I didn't want to know. I heard him walking down the stairs, and immediately began acting dead again. He came walking in with Gabe draped over his shoulder. He threw him down in the opposite corner of the room, whistling an off key tune the entire time.

He walked back into the hall and I heard him dragging something in our direction. I opened my eyes just a little to try and see what it was. I heard Layla start to mumble through the duct tape, and decided the heck with the playing dead routine. He entered the room armed with a hose, and set the end down near the drain. Then he re-entered the hall and I could hear him turn the hose on. I watched the water run down the drain, and could only wonder what he was going to use it for. He came back into the room, picked the hose up and put his thumb over the end of it. Water began to spray everywhere, and he directed its stream at each one of us, until he was sure we were conscious, and soaking wet.

"Well good morning everybody. How did everyone sleep?" he asked like he expected an answer. He pulled out a large knife and made his way over to Gabe. He ripped the tape off of Gabe's mouth and smiled at him, then he slammed him against the wall by his throat.

"I'm going to tie you up now, and you're not going to fight it. If you give the slightest sign of resistance, I'll cut one of their pretty little nipples off," Lucky told him. I finally remembered the freak's name, the drugs were for the most part out of my system now. Lucky picked Gabe up by the collar, and proceeded to tie his hands with zip ties to some loops on the wall. He turned around and smiled at Layla and I. My heart felt like it was going to beat its way out of my chest when his eyes met mine. He walked over and ripped the tape off of my mouth.

"My, my, such a pretty little thing," he whispered. "I believe you know my name, but I don't think I ever caught yours. Would you care telling me?" I wasn't going to give him any answers, he didn't need to know my name. At that point I don't know what came over me, maybe it was anger, or maybe it was instinct, but I cleared my throat and spit the contents into his face. He closed his eyes upon the impact, and then started laughing.

"Oh! You're a fighter! I like that in a woman. That's a big turn on of mine," he said as he took his hand and wiped the spit off. He then licked it off of his hand and started to hack up something of his own. He grabbed me across the mouth, his fingers pinching my cheeks together, and put the knife up to my throat.

"You want to fight!? I love to watch bitches like you break in half! I'll fucking teach you to fight back! Now open your fucking mouth!" he screamed, while gargling the spit in his mouth. He pressed the knife up against my throat and I knew one wrong move would be my last. His hand squeezed harder across my mouth and I had no choice but to give in and open it. He spit the contents into the back of my throat and I gagged. He then put his hand firmly across my mouth, the knife never leaving my neck.

"Now! Fucking swallow!" he yelled. I choked it down and felt like I was going to die.

"That's good. I feel better now. Okay, now that we have established who the fucking boss is here, I'm going to tie you up, if you fucking try anything, I swear I'll make you a second pussy right above the one you already have. Do we have a fucking understanding?" Lucky asked with authority. I just nodded and let him tie me to the hooks over my head. Then he moved on to Layla, who's eyes were now filled with tears.

"Aww, its okay," he told her. "I'm really a nice guy once you get to know me. So, am I going to have any problems?" Layla shook her head and Lucky proceeded to tie her to the rings next to mine.

"See that wasn't so bad," Lucky said. "And since you were so good, I'll give you a reward." Lucky grabbed Layla by the cheeks and shoved his tongue into her throat. Her legs thrashed and she cried even harder. The forced make out session was cut short though when I felt the phone in the back of my pants vibrating. Lucky let go of Layla and turned his attention towards me, I knew I was in trouble.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Lucky asked. "Is that a fucking cell phone? Ha! I didn't even think those still worked to be honest. I figured the whole system would have went down by now. I guess I was wrong. Well, let's see who's calling shall we?" Lucky reached into my pants and pulled out the phone. It was still ringing, and he read the name.

"Roxy is calling you," he said. "Oh, is she that hot little number with the tats? She was my original reason for following you guys. I wanted to get her instead of either of you. She was a fighter." He got so close to my face I could tell he had onions for lunch. "I love it when they fight. So, lets see what was going on in you're lives before all of this. Shall we?"

He started to go through Layla's phone and I knew it wouldn't be long before he saw the texts. This was one time I didn't want to be right. His eyes got wide and to my surprise he started to laugh at his discovery. I was hoping it was a picture of Bob sleeping or something.

"So, they're on their way? And you even gave them the names of the roads? You smart little cunt," he said laughing. Then he gave me a backhand across the jaw that made my brain rattle. I tried my best not to give him any negative response. I wouldn't let him break me. That's what he wanted. That's what he was waiting for, and there was no way I'd give him that. He liked fighters, so maybe if I kept fighting, he'd keep me around longer. As sick as it was, I was catching on to this game quick.

"I think you need to learn another little lesson," he said. "You need to learn that stunts like this are not to be tolerated. How you sent those texts I'll never know, and honestly I'm impressed. Wouldn't it have been easier to just call? That's the problem with this generation, nobody uses verbal communication these days, but I digress. This is a problem, and I'm going to deal with it right now."

He left the room and we were all left alone. For the first time we could communicate. Layla broke down, not long after he left. The tears were rolling down her face. I knew she was scared, and I was scared too. I didn't know what was going to happen.

"Layla! Listen, you've got to be strong here! I know you're scared, we all are! But you've got to stay strong. If you cry he'll just pick on you more," Gabe said. "I'm going to try and get more of his attention when he comes back. Hopefully if I piss him off enough, he'll leave the both of you alone for at least a little while."

"No Gabe! Don't risk it! We just have to stay alive until Dalton and Bob come!" I yelled. I heard Lucky pounding down the stairs and we all got quiet immediately. He opened another door in the hall and I heard what sounded like a zombie scream. The drugs must still have a hold on me I thought to myself. No way that's what I heard. Then the door swung open and a girl drooling blood came running at me. I closed my eyes and feared the worst, but something stopped her. She fell to the ground in front of me, and I noticed she was wearing a metal collar attached to a chain which Lucky was on the other end of.

"Pretty cool huh? I learned you can train these fuckers to be like pets. She used to try and attack me all the time after this whole disease kicked in. I caught her a few days before it all went to shit, and didn't get the time to really... get to know her. But then she turned, and I kicked her ass a few times. She learned not to fuck with me I guess, and now she's like a dog. She obeys my every command. Now I have a new mission, and that's to keep her alive for as long as possible," Lucky explained. "Oh and her name is Veronica by the way. I named her after the Archie character. Betty's still in her room." I didn't want to meet Betty, and I never really read Archie. If this was his way of teaching me a lesson, I wasn't exactly scared.

"Oh, and as far as you're punishment goes, it will be just one moment," Lucky said. He dragged "Veronica" out of the room by her neck. A few moments passed and I heard the door outside slam shut, then I heard a sound like something was being wheeled towards us. When Lucky reappeared, he had a portable work bench, with what appeared to be a blow torch attached to it.

"I like to consider myself a farmer," Lucky said. "And you all, are my cattle. After all, zombies need to eat too right? So, like any good farmer, I have to leave my mark on you. To let the world know that you belong to me."

Lucky started up the torch and pulled out a long rod with a metal four leaf clover attached to the end of it. He moved the flame over the clover and kept it there until it started to glow red. He looked around the room at each of us.

"Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe, Catch a tiger by its toe. If he hollers let him go. Eenie Meenie, Miney... Moe," he finished with his finger pointed at Layla. "I always loved the part in Pulp Fiction where the guy does that to figure out which one he's going to rape in the ass first. It built such tension, and tension is fun," he continued.

He slowly made his way towards Layla, and lifted her skirt. With every move he made Layla quivered with fear. She was trying to be strong, but it wasn't easy. He moved her underwear out of the way with his hand, and put the hot iron on the bare skin he had cleared. Layla screamed in pain, and couldn't hold back crying anymore.

"There, now everyone will know where you belong, and when they see that mark, they'll bring you back if they know what's good for them," Lucky said.

"You fucking son of a bitch! Leave them alone! If you want to play your sick fucking games play them with me! Leave them out of this!" Gabe screamed. Lucky just started to laugh at Gabe's outburst.

"So this was your plan huh? This is what you spent your time alone talking about? I've been doing this sort of thing long enough that I know all the tricks. You want me to focus on you and be the big brave hero who saves the girlies. Well, not today," Lucky said. "All I can tell you is, I don't think meat needs branding."

I tried not to think about what Lucky meant by that statement, but deep down I knew. He was going to kill Gabe for what he just tried to do, and it was all because of us. This was not good at all. Lucky went back over to the workbench and started to heat up the iron once more. I knew I was next, and I tried to mentally prepare for it. Now would be a great time for one of those out of body experiences. The iron was red hot again and he made his way towards me. He undid my pants and they dropped to my ankles. He then repeated the same process he had done with Layla. I felt as my skin melted off and I did my best to not let anything escape from my mouth, but the pain was unreal, and I couldn't help but cry out.

"Its okay girls, its all over now, and in fact, its time for another reward for all the things you've learned today. Think of this like its the first day of school," Lucky said. He then moved the workbench back into the hall and got his knife back out. He walked over and cut the tape off of my feet. Then he went to Layla and did the same.

"See, you're a little bit more free. Eventually I'll be able to trust you, and we can live as one big happy family for a while. At least until I have to feed Veronica and Betty again, but I think the cow in the corner of the room will last for a little while. We will have one last test this evening, and unfortunately, our friend in the corner won't be joining us. It's too bad too, because its sort of a fun test," Lucky explained. I knew his idea of fun meant some sort of torture for me and Layla, which isn't exactly what I'd call fun.

"Now watch ladies, this is what happens when you don't do what I say," Lucky informed us. He then took his knife and stabbed Gabe through the chest. Layla cried out in horror as he did it over and over. I watched Gabe's eyes go blank and then Lucky cut him down.

"I'm going to leave him there for a while. I'll come and cut him up into meal sized pieces a little later, and if you girls are nice you'll get to watch," Lucky said with a sadistic grin. "Now! For the test! I'll have to go get a few things, I'll be right back. Don't you ladies miss me too much now." He finally left and I knew this was my chance to try and calm Layla. It wouldn't be easy, but I had to try. At this rate, she would be next. I had to get her on the same page as me.

"Layla, listen, I'm scarred too, but we don't want to end up like him. Let's just do what he says until Bob and Dalton get here. I know they'll find us, we just have to give in. Don't cry, please. That's what he wants," I told her. Layla didn't say a word, she just tried her best to choke back the tears. This was not where I wanted to die, not by a long shot, and if I had anything to do with it, Layla and I both were going to make it. Lucky came back into the room carrying a sprinkler, a shotgun and a lawn chair.

"Well ladies, its time for your test. I hope you both studied. Now, this here, is a shotgun. I'm sure you're not stupid though, and I'm sure you know what its capable of. So, with that said, I'm going to cut you down. If you're good girls, I'll let you live for tonight. That sounds fair right?" After his speech, Lucky made his way over to each of us and cut us down. I didn't really want to know what was coming next. He unfolded the lawn chair and sat it down over Gabe's corpse. Then he unzipped his pants and stuck his hand in them. The shotgun aimed at us the entire time.

"Well, I want to see a show girls. Lose the shirts and pants. Lets see a nice little make out session right now. I'll let you keep the underwear for tonight, only because its your first day," Lucky told us like he was doing us a favor. We both stripped down to our undies. It was degrading to say the least, but I knew that was the point. Layla didn't hesitate, she came right over and gave me a big peck on the lips. I knew it was going to take more than that though, and I put my arms around her and did my best Katie Perry impression.

"Nice! Now, don't stop until I tell you to," Lucky said. I didn't want to know what he was doing. All I could think of is that if I was forced to do this with another girl, I was glad it was Layla. That thought helped me through it just a little bit. After about three minutes, Lucky told us we could stop.

"Great job ladies. I'm satisfied, and I'm going to sleep, but we'll have to tie you back up. Just because I'm going to bed, doesn't mean you girls can too. You'll have to earn that tomorrow." Lucky zip tied us back to the loops. He kinked the hose so the water would stop and hooked the sprinkler up to it.

"Now, just in case you decide to dose off," he said. "This should keep you up all night, since I can't. Pretty soon, I'll be making a trip to an old heroin dealer friend of mine's house. Then we can just keep you girls drugged up, and we won't have to worry about this whole zip tying nonsense anymore."

Lucky left the room and Layla and I were left by ourselves again. The water from the sprinkler hit me every time I felt like I could sleep. I was cold, half naked and wet. This by far was the worst night of my life. Dalton... Please... Hurry.