aaron_the fall of america_chapter_31

Chapter 31

I woke from an early afternoon nap with a start. I had been sweating in my sleep. I felt cold. There was no sound but the dog's breathing and the crackling of the fire. I was alone in the house. I pieced together thoughts about where I was and how things should be. Richard had taken Ashley and Stewart into the city for last minute Christmas shopping but mostly for food to feed their new boarders. The dog, which I was convinced was a wolf, had one eye opened watching me from his spot next to the wood stove. I couldn’t account for Karna. She said she was going for a short walk but that was some time ago.

How long had I slept?

I rolled off the couch and put a log in the stove. I knelt in front of the opened door and gazed into the fire. Even the direct heat didn't want to warm me.

I shut the door and stood.

"Wolf. Where's Karna?"

Wolf responded with a bark. I don't know what I had expected as a response.

I went up to the washroom and splashed some water on my face then stared at the reflection in the mirror. Very odd, I thought. I still sensed danger. I ran down the stairs and put on a jacket and a pair of Richard's boots. I saw trouble like a paper bag full of raw potassium on an ice block floating down a warm river. I grabbed Richard's hunting knife and put it in my boot. On the way out the door I grabbed his hunting bow.

Wolf understood my urgency and followed me outside.

The sun was at it's peak of the day and it's lowest point of the year. I could barely see anything but light. Though Karna could still be enjoying a beautiful walk, my fear was growing quickly out of control.

"Wolf! Find Karna."

Wolf darted up the driveway over the road and down in the direction of the river. It was a short run to the river but when I arrived, Wolf was already ripping flesh. Two military men were fighting with Wolf while another man was tearing at Karna's clothes. Her arms and legs were tied to four stakes in the ground. The man grabbed at her breast like a fat television wrestler grabbing at an opponent.

I let an arrow fly as he jabbed his erection at Karna. The arrow plunged into his bare ass. A gasping grunt escaped his lungs. He turned to see me running toward him with a knife in hand. He struggled to his knees.

"I'll cut your fuckin' nuts off if you don't get your goddam ugly face away from her."

"Blasphemy! Make him stop," one shouted.

He had managed to escape from Wolf while his colleague continued to struggle with gnashing teeth. He had a gum pointed at me but was reluctant to use it. He would have to account for all bullets used in Canada and though he was part of the law, he was well outside of his line of duty. Because he hesitated, I had time to let an arrow fly. It cut along his outstretched arm and lodged into his armpit. His scream stopped everything. Space and time would not change until someone initiated a move.

I put another arrow in my bow but didn't cock it. I hurried over to Karna to cut one of her hands free. I gave her the knife to allow her to finish the task. As I stood, the soldier with an arrow in his ass, jumped. Karna slashed. With one swipe his thighs were opened.

His scream startled everything back into frantic motion. He smashed his elbow into Karna's ribs and then tried to choke her. She managed to stab him in the side of his ribs before I kicked him away from her. I yanked the knife out of his side and quickly cut Karna free.

"Wolf!"

Wolf jumped sideways off one man as the other was swinging an arrow down at him with full force. The arrow grazed Wolf's side. The man drove the arrow through his partners stomach. I ran over to retrieve the gun from the snow.

The man who had just succeeded in stabbing his friend, looked up at me with a blank expression.

I had no response for him.

He provided a lunatic smile and before I could identify whose foot was in motion, I kicked him in the face.

"Sorry, Man."

"Eu ill ee."

"Don't let him move, Wolf," I said. "Can you help me get this guy's clothes off."

"What?"

"I want their clothes."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure yet."

I looked at Karna and wondered what had happened.

"Are you all right?"

She shock her head.

"I'm sorry," I said and put my coat on her and held her for a minute.

"Why were they forcing themselves on me?"

"I don't know. There's something wrong with them."

After we got the clothes off two of the men, I took a vine and tied the two of them together over a river log. At a quick glance, they looked like two boys playing on a summer day. I pushed them into the flow of the river. If they didn't soon die from bleeding, they would soon enough die in the cold water. They would be feed for the fishes.

I washed the arrows and knife in the river before returning to the other military man. I didn't want to play out the rest of my inevitable part in the surprise homicidal incident.

"Would you take your clothes off for me, Shithead?"

He didn't co-operate. He may have been too week. I wondered if there was any way not to kill him but I could think of no solution. He had lost much blood and may have been brain dead for years from his military training. He was merely a tool in a demented death party designed to devour the world and regurgitate it as good Christian Americans. He owned no consciousness. Consciousness is the enemy of obedience.

He bled as I pondered.

I cried as I took off his boots and pants. Karna helped me get his jacket and shirt off. His sitting there caused me painful confusion. He shivered in the snow with Wolf sitting beside him like the grim reaper.

To distract myself, I washed the blood out of the clothes. After the task was completed, I spread out the clothes and articles on the snow. With my hands warming in my armpits, I took account of what we had gathered. There were two good pairs of pants, one shredded pair of pants, one good shirt, one fair shirt, one destroyed shirt, three pairs of boots, three pairs of socks, three pairs of underwear, two good American military jackets and one jacket that Wolf had torn somewhat and three hats. As well as the clothes there were three knives, three guns, three bullet cartridge belts and a considerable amount of American and Canadian money. I felt like a scavenger in a Mad Max film. It was a stiff price to pay but I was certain these things would be very useful.

"Is de preddy gurl yar dauder?"

I looked at Karna. She was staring at him.

"Why are you assholes here?"

"Jus ruedeen nvesagasion."

"Speak clearer, don't you know how to talk?"

"I'm doo gold."

"I can't help you there."

"See didn' haf no ID."

"So you wanted to rape her to see where she was from?"

"Na, 'cause see's preddy."

"What's wrong with your bloody head?"

"Gold, I dink am hurd."

"You're sick."

"Ya gonna rebort us fer des?"

"No, don't worry about that, nobody will ever know."

"Den ma'be I don' haf to gell ya dan," he laughed as hysterically as his condition would facilitate.

"That's awful good of you but I can't be so generous."

"Ma' Gad be vergibin."

I didn't know if God was supposed to be forgiving or we were supposed to forgive God.

With the rope they had used to tie Karna, I tied the man's feet together, tied his arms behind his back, then tied his neck to a log. I floated him out into the river.

"You will die comfortably numb. I'm sorry we had to meet this way."

"God's wid uz. Ave no fear an' we'll meed on dad beadiful shoow," he raved on slowly as he floated down the blood stained river.



read on. book_02 chapter_32



by Joanne B. Washington

© 2001 | the jose wombat project