Chapter 8 #2
“What brings you out here, Digger?” I asked. Whatever it was, I was glad. I hadn’t seen another human being in… It was hard to remember how many days it’s been. My luck had surely changed if I’d found Digger.
A crow squawked loudly from a nearby treetop, making me jump.
“Just some huntin’. The biggest bucks are out here this time of year.” He looked around for the crow.
How was he going to get a buck back to his truck, seeing that he already struggled to walk? I didn’t ask. Offending Digger would be stupid. He was my only chance at making it out of these woods alive.
It was silent while he added meat and spices to the pot.
“So, no one knows you’re out here, hmm?” he asked, stirring the pot.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. Otherwise, they would have found me already. I think it’s been about two weeks now.” I stared into the fire, trying not to cry. I just wanted to go home.
“You’re lucky to be alive then.” After a while, he asked again, “So you think they’re searching for you right now? The robbers, I mean.”
I thought about it. “I believe so. The man in charge, the one who decided to take me, he’s probably furious right now. He won’t just let me go.” I shuddered.
Digger nodded. “Yeah, I get that. A pretty young thing like you…”
“Sorry?”
“Oh, I just mean if I was them robbers, I would be mad too, that you bested me. My mama always said, Digger, a woman is either pretty or smart, I ain’t never seen one that’s both.
” He mimicked his mother’s thick accent.
“So, I guess they didn’t expect someone like you to be so cunning.
” He smiled at me as if he just gave me a big compliment.
Odd man.
“I guess your mama must have been pretty then,” I said dryly.
He laughed loudly, his belly bouncing up and down. “Yeah, she was. Had red hair just like yours. Had all the men in the county knockin’ on our door.” He looked off into the distance, as if recalling old memories. “Had always wondered what the fuss was about with them redheads.”
The crow squawked again.
Maybe I misunderstood, but it made me feel uncomfortable. So, I said nothing. Just continued to stare into the fire. Digger didn’t speak again either until the food was done. He handed me a bowl, and I thanked him.
“It ain’t restaurant quality, but I reckon it’ll fill your tummy.” He had sat down on the log next to me with his own bowl. It was just meat cubes in soupy water, but I didn’t complain. Any food tasted good when you were starving. Even Digger’s pungent body odour couldn’t deter me.
I took a few bites before asking, “Do you have any family, Digger?” To try and ease the tension in my chest.
He shook his head, while swallowing, “Nah, never knew my daddy and mama passed away eight years back. Only child. And my wife left me a few years ago. Said I loved other women too much.” He laughed soundlessly, his belly shaking. “Can’t disagree with that!”
“Any children?”
“Just one son. But he left with his mama. Not speakin’ to me at the moment.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Oh, that’s all right.” He grunted, then waved his hand dismissively and continued with his dinner.
By the time we were finished eating, the sun was low and the shadows long. Digger took my bowl and placed it on the stump next to the fire that acted as a table.
“I’ll go wash those tomorrow,” he sighed as he placed more wood on the fire.
“Where will I sleep?” I hadn’t thought about it until now. The clouds were gathering thickly, ominous thunder cracking in the distance.
“You can share my tent,” he said as he sat back down next to me.
I eyed his tent. It was too small to fit both of us comfortably. “That’s generous of you, but I would prefer my own sleeping space. There’s an emergency tent in my hiking bag if you could help me set it up?”
“Nah, that won’t be necessary.”
My mind didn’t know how to process what he was saying, but my body shifted uncomfortably.
“Okay, I can put it up myself. It can’t be too hard.” I kept my tone polite and easy-going.
“Don’t bother, girly. Those emergency tents are so flimsy. It’ll be much cosier in my tent.” He placed his hand on my knee.
I stared at it, my body locked in place. What should I do? I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but what would he do if he got angry? I needed to stay calm. Keep the situation under control. I had to set firm boundaries without angering him. He was my only way out of these woods.
Pushing his hand off my knee, I tried again. “No, thank you. I will sleep in my own tent.”
He shook his head. “My camp, girly. My rules.” The way he looked at my body, made me go cold.
My stomach rolled. He wasn’t taking no for an answer. I wanted to scream up at the gods. Why the hell was this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? Just when I thought I was free of the monsters, here was another one.
What exactly was he planning? I had to be sure. “And why can’t I have my own tent?”
He laughed, an evil sound. “Oh, you know why.” His smile looked more like a sneer. All his remaining teeth was a sickly yellow.
My bag was laid against a tree a few feet from me. I had to get to it. Should I take the gun out or just grab the bag and run? I didn’t even really know how to use the gun. It would be better just to run. He wouldn’t be able to catch me with his bad knee. I could outrun him.
I took a deep breath to steady myself. To prepare my body.
With the adrenaline prickling through my limbs, I darted upright and away from Digger, but he must have known I would run.
He was ready. He was also on his feet and grabbed hold of my shirt yanking me backwards.
Screaming, I stumbled into him. I tried to turn to face him, to fight him off, but he had his arms wrapped around me, trapping my arms against my body.
He cursed as a crow swooped down and attacked his head.
My crow, I realised. But it did nothing to stop him.
Digger used his bodyweight to push me to the ground.
I hit the earth hard with him on top of me.
His heavy body pressed against my lungs, so I couldn’t take a good breath.
I tried to fight, tried to get out from under him, but I was trapped.
I screamed and screamed, knowing full well, no one could hear me.
“Stop fighting. You’ll like it, I swear.” Digger grunted with the effort of keeping me down. He tried to pull my pants down.
“No! Stop!” I cried breathlessly. There was blood, mixed with dirt, in my throat from the screaming. It tasted horrid, but I tried to concentrate on it, instead of what was happening.
He had managed to get my pants down over the curve of my buttocks and I could feel him struggling with his belt.
Gods, no! I couldn’t survive this. I couldn’t live with this. I prayed, begged, any of the gods who would listen to take me away from this. To take me home. Or even back to the cabin. Anything was better than what was about to happen to me.
Suddenly, the weight that pressed me into the ground was gone. I rolled over in time to see Digger falling backwards, his eyes wide with surprise. Grayson was standing above me; his face contorted between fury and disgust.
He pulled me off the ground, looking me over. I adjusted my clothes under his stare, crying. He turned slowly towards Digger, who was scampering on the ground, trying to get to his gun. When he saw Grayson glaring at him, he got to his knees and held his hands up.
“Now, hold on. We can sha—” Grayson’s boot connected with his jaw before he could finish his word.
It knocked Digger to the ground. Before he could push off the ground again, Grayson was already on top of him.
He held Digger in place by his collar while punching him in the face.
I watched in utter shock how Grayson delivered blow after blow; each strike just as powerful as the last. Digger had tried to fight back, but his flailing arms had gone limp. Grayson was killing him.
“Stop!” I screamed.
Grayson didn’t listen. I ran to them and tried to push him off Digger.
“You’re killing him!” I screamed again, and this time he listened.
He stood up and took a step back. His chest was heaving, his hands balled into bloody fists at his sides as he looked down at Digger.
The look on his face sent a chill down my spine.
I had never seen him like that. No matter what I did, he had always been eerily calm, I realised.
What I had thought was anger, was mere annoyance, compared to this.
Digger’s face was a bloody mess. He was still breathing, but unconscious. I was frozen in place. Grayson shifted his gaze to me, murder in his eyes. The predatory movement snapped something in me, and I ran. Never had he been so enraged before and it scared the shit out of me.
Grayson had me before I could reach the first trees. He spun me around and I instinctively tried to cover my face, expecting a fist. He grabbed hold of my shoulders and shook me.
“Look at me!” he yelled. I could feel the rage rolling off him in palpable waves. The heaviness of it, slithered into my skin, settling in the pit of my stomach.
I obeyed, trying to control the violent sobs that left my body.
“Are you staying with that piece of shit,” he spat, “or are you coming home with me?”
I couldn’t answer, even if I wanted to.
There was no way I was sticking around for Digger to regain consciousness. I also had no idea how to get to his truck. But going with Grayson? No way. Not when he was like this.
Grayson walked over to my hiking bag and picked it up.
He threw the bag at me with enough force to make me stagger back a few steps.
“Make your decision.” He turned around and stomped towards the trees, clenching and unclenching his fists.
He picked up a backpack I haven’t noticed before and walked on.
“Wait!” I called, but he just kept walking. I threw the bag over my shoulder, strapped it on and followed after him.