Moose Chapter 21
Church had been another routine meeting. Maestro still had no leads on Marius or Penn. Carnage and I were growing impatient, even though we knew he was doing everything he could to find them. Until they came up for air and used credit cards or something, his hands were tied.
After we finished the meeting, we went to have dinner. It wasn’t anything exciting, but we all filled our stomachs. I was kinda surprised when the old ladies went to help the bunnies clean up. It had been Zisa and Shantel’s idea, but the other two joined them. I wondered what they might be talking about or if it was as silent as a tomb in there. I almost snuck over to listen at the door, but I didn’t.
There were no screams or noises, so I assumed everything was okay. Later, Lainey and Ryan came out to get their kids and take them home to bed. It was several more minutes before our women rejoined us. I was concerned when Zisa wanted me to stay, but her kiss and expression indicated she wasn’t upset, so I let her go. I hadn’t hung out, just me and my brothers for a while.
I’d just finished half of my second beer when I swore I heard yelling. Sitting up in my chair, where I was kicked back in, I strained my ears. I was about to dismiss it as my imagination when I heard it again.
“Shh, did you hear that? Someone’s screaming outside,” I said as I came to my feet.
The others jumped to theirs. We took off for the door at a run. When we got outside, I saw someone running around the building. I would’ve run after him, but the sight of a couple on the ground caught my attention. It was dark outside, but we always had a few outer lights on, especially around the clubhouse. They shed enough light for me to make out the face of Marius Cooper. And the dark head of curls underneath him had to be Zisa.
“Someone go after the other one,” I shouted as I ran toward Marius. His head snapped up, and his eyes widened when he saw me coming. He tried to lift a limp Zisa. I prayed she was only unconscious.
He gave up and rose, but I was too fast for him. Again, someone underestimated how quick I could be despite my size. I threw myself into a flying tackle, knocking him away from her. He tried to fight back, but I rolled him into the dirt and wrestled him into a submission hold. I’d been on the high school wrestling team. I was a state champion all four years. They’d loved my size. Over the years, I’d expanded my moves to include those from martial arts.
He cried out in pain when I got him in a rear naked choke hold. It was a given move when you were in the rear of someone. I’d rolled us so he was lying on top of me, his back to my front. I circled his neck with my right arm and grabbed the bicep on my left arm with my right hand. I knew it would take no more than nine or ten seconds for him to be out. He tried to get away, but it was no use. I had weight and position on him. He went limp as expected. I tossed him off me and came to my feet. Fender and Pipes were with me. Fender was crouched over Zisa, and Pipes was standing guard between us. I kicked Marius’s body.
“Secure his ass,” I said as I stumbled over to my woman. Fender moved out of the way.
“She’s breathing fine, brother. I think he just knocked her out some way.”
I dropped to my knees next to her, pushed her hair away from her face, and her face crinkled. “Zisa, Bae, can you hear me? It’s Moose. Wake up,” I begged.
She moaned and was moving her head. I jerked when I heard a gunshot. I hoped that was one of ours and not the other guy. I had no idea who he was or why he was with Marius. Or where he ran off to. They had Zisa. Why not just get out?
Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked confused. When her gaze met mine, she gasped and tried to sit up. I held her down.
“Whoa, stay right there. We don’t know if you’re hurt.”
“I’m fine. Where’s Marius? Did you get Penn?” she asked anxiously.
“We have Marius. Did you say Penn?” I asked.
“Yes, they came together. He ran off. I don’t know where he went. Oh, and Heidi, is she okay?”
“Heidi?” Fender asked.
“She tried to stop them. I think they got in when she exited in her car. She was yelling at them, which got my attention. Then she screamed. The next thing I knew, Marius jumped on me, and Penn ran off. You have to find him. Make sure Mama and the girls are safe and that Heidi is alright.” Her anxiety was increasing.
“I’ll go check on Heidi,” Fender offered. He jogged off toward the gate.
“Help me sit up. I’m fine. I just passed out. He held his stupid hand over my mouth and nose, and I couldn’t breathe. Asshole,” she muttered.
I eased my arm under her back and raised her into a seated position. She scanned the area. When she saw him tied on the ground, she glared. “I hope you punched that bastard.”
“I choked his ass out, then kicked him. Does that count?” I asked.
She smirked and nodded. “It does. I need to stand. We’ve got to go to Mama and Carnage’s. I have to know if they’re alright.”
“They’re fine. Carnage sent me to check on you. He’s at the house with Shantel and the girls. They’re all safe,” Rowdy said, coming up to us out of the shadows. He was interrupted by Fender, coming back with Heidi in his arms. She had a bloody forehead, but she was awake.
“Get her inside. I’ll have X-ray check her over. Zisa, you too,” Rowdy ordered.
“I’m not injured. I passed out because Marius covered my nose and mouth until I did. Heidi is the one to worry about. Did anyone else get hurt?”
“All of our people are fine.”
“I heard a gunshot,” I told him as I assisted Zisa to her feet. She was dusting off her clothes.
“You did. Come with me. You’ll see. The rest of you, you know where to take this one’s dumb ass,” Rowdy growled as he pointed to a moaning Marius. More of my brothers had joined us. They hauled him roughly off the ground. I knew where they were taking him. I’d deal with him later.
“Zisa, let me get your car, and I’ll drive you to the house.”
“Moose, I can walk. There’s nothing wrong with my legs. Are you coming with me or not?” She took off charging toward it. Even with my longer legs, I had to hustle to keep up. Jasper had driven Heidi’s car back inside, and Huck was closing the gate.
A crowd gathered outside Carnage’s house not far from his porch. The outside lights were on, including a flood light mounted on the end of the garage. I didn’t see Shantel and the girls, but they were most likely inside. As we got closer, I saw Carnage was part of the group. They were quietly talking and kept bowing their heads like they were looking at something on the ground. Before I could grab her, Zisa took off running.
“Zisa, come back here!” I shouted.
She ignored me. The guys turned toward us, and this created an opening we could see through. There was a body on the ground. As we got up to them, I heard groaning and then swearing. I snagged her before she got right up on whoever it was. Glancing down, I saw Penn lying there. From the looks of him, he’d been shot in the left shoulder. He was clutching it and moaning. Blood was seeping through his fingers.
“You cocksuckers! I need a doctor!” he shouted.
“Is my mama and the girls alright?” Zisa asked Carnage.
“They’re fine. That’s more than I can say for this piece of shit. He thought he’d break in here and take my girls and woman. He learned he was wrong,” he snarled.
She sagged in my arms. “Oh, thank God, I was so worried. Which one of you shot him?”
This made the whole bunch smirk. No one said anything. Carnage broke the silence. He was smiling. “Your Mama did. The bastard got into the house. She thought it was me at first until he started yelling for the girls. When she heard that, she locked them in our bathroom and got her gun. She shot him. When we arrived, we brought him out here because she didn’t want him bleeding all over our house and fucking it up. Those were her exact words. You can go in if you want. She’s been anxious for you.”
Zisa nodded and started for the porch. As she passed Penn, she kicked him in the ribs and spat on him. All of us laughed. I let her go. She seemed okay, and she needed to see her family. Once she was inside, I addressed Carnage.
“Marius was with him. He had Zisa on the ground. I’m not sure when these two hooked up, but the others are taking him out back. X-ray is checking out Heidi. She tried to stop them. It looks like she has a head wound. It seems they tried to get in when the gate opened as she was leaving. I say we take this one to join his comrade.”
“I think that’s a great idea. Why don’t a couple of you do that? I want to check on my family again before I join you,” Carnage said to the others.
They agreed. While they yanked Penn’s protesting ass off the ground, I went with Carnage. I wanted to see for myself they were all good, then tell Zisa I’d be gone for a while. I wasn’t willing to wait to deal with those two fuckers. I didn’t see Carnage waiting, either. Inside, we found all four of them in the living room. The girls were huddled up between Shantel and Zisa on the couch. They appeared scared. Who could blame them? Other than some dirt on her face, Zisa appeared to be okay, and Shantel was calmer than ever. I wondered if anything rattled her.
When Imani and Milan saw us, they jumped up and ran to Carnage. He hugged them and kissed the tops of their heads. When he let go, they came to me. After hugging them, I walked them back to the couch. Shantel was being held and kissed by Carnage. I tugged Zisa into my arms. The girls giggled when we squeezed them between us.
“Oh, wait, I’m sorry. I forgot you were there,” I teased.
“Uncle Moose, you’re silly. Did you take care of him?” Imani asked.
“We’ve got it all under control. We wanted to check in on you. Then, Carnage and I have to leave for a while, but we’ll be back.”
“You’ll have a few of the guys left here in case you need anything. There’s nothing to be scared of. I know it might be hard, but I want you to get in bed and try to sleep,” he told them.
They protested, but Shantel told them to go to their rooms and that she’d be up momentarily. They trudged up the stairs. When they were gone, she addressed us. “Zisa said you got Marius, and I know Penn has been captured. I don’t care what you do to them as long as they don’t pose a threat to my family. Do you hear what I’m saying? I won’t allow either of them to come after anyone I love again. If the bastard hadn’t dove to the side right as I shot, he’d be dead already,” she muttered darkly.
“Don’t worry. They’ll be taken care of,” Carnage assured her.
“Baby, I want you to stay here with your mom until I come back. It may be late, so you should try to get some sleep. If you want to get clean clothes or something from the clubhouse, just have one of the prospects take you. Will you do that for me? You’re safe, but I’d like you to stick together.”
“I can do that. Just make Penn especially suffer. As for Marius, I don’t know what got into him. Why would he team up with a scumbag like Penn?”
I knew now wasn’t the time to fill her in on what we knew about him. It could wait until we dealt with them, but I would be telling her everything. After one more kiss, we left them. Huck and Jasper were done closing up the compound. They were stationed outside Carnage’s house. Howler and Clutch offered to remain behind. They’d help keep an eye on all three houses. Their old ladies and kids had heard the noise and were shaken, too.
Since we were leaving the enclosed part of the compound for the back part of the property, we decided to take cages. On the backside of the fence line, there was another gate. This was kept not only locked but electrified since it wasn’t manned. The electricity had already been shut off, and the gate stood open when we reached it. Not far beyond it, there was a barn. It was a large one that we had built a while back.
It was a sturdy metal barn rather than a wooden one. There was a reason for that. Inside, it had a massive stone hearth in it. One big enough for grown men to stand in and line up at least five or more shoulder-to-shoulder. We’d found it came in handy when we wanted to burn things, especially incriminating evidence or a body.
The rafters were convenient places to have hooks and other things we could use. Sometimes, we’d pull vehicles in here and hoist out engines and stuff. Other times, we’d hoist bodies. We kept huge metal tool chests locked in there. They held our “tools” for either torture or taking someone apart.
The brothers who’d brought Penn and Marius back here had them nicely trussed up for us. They chained their arms above their heads and attached them to two hooks. This position not only stretched their arms, which no doubt hurt like hell for Penn with his gunshot wound, but it also had them on the balls of their feet. They couldn’t rest their feet flat on the cement floor, which caused more strain. Their calves would soon be screaming in agony. Another handy feature of the barn was the drains built into the floor. It made cleanup easy. When they saw us, our brothers moved back, allowing us to approach the two intruders.
When Marius saw us, he started talking. “You can’t do this. I’m a cop. You’ll be arrested if you touch me.”
“You weren’t worried about being a cop when you broke in and tried to kidnap Zisa,” I reminded him.
“I didn’t break in. The gate was open. I wasn’t kidnapping her. I was saving her from you. I don’t know what threats you used to get her to move here, but they stop now. She’s coming back to Salina with me.”
“Over my dead body, she leaves. I didn’t use any kind of threats to get her here. Carnage didn’t use any to get Shantel, Milan, and Imani here. They love us like we love them. And don’t lie about taking her back to Salina. We know all about what’s gonna happen if you show your face in Kansas. There’s an arrest warrant out for you. You’re not a cop anymore,” I told him with glee.
“How do…wait. How do you know that?” he snarled.
“Who do you think gathered all the dirt to send to your chief, the DA, and Detective Silva? Well, I didn’t, but this guy did,” I pointed proudly to Maestro before continuing. “He’s the genius who finds shit out about people. We just go along for the ride. I’m curious, though. How did you find out they were about to arrest your ass?”
“I have a friend in the DA’s office. He knew it was fabricated bullshit created to smear my good name. He called and told me to lie low until it was cleared up.”
“Well, Maestro, I guess you know where to focus your digging. Find the so-called friend and have his ass fired and thrown in jail,” I told him with a grin.
“Fuck you,” Marius spat at me.
“No thanks, I only love the ladies. However, Comet might want to take you up on your offer. He likes both sexes.”
When I glanced over at Comet, he shook his head. “Nah, I have better taste where I stick my cock.”
Marius appeared to be skeptical that Comet was bisexual, but I was telling the truth. We didn’t discriminate in our club. You could fuck whoever you wished, as long as they were consenting adults.
“Shut the fuck up! Tell me where those bitches, Shantel and Zisa, hid Zuri. She’s mine. They had no right to take her away from me. And those other two little whores are mine, too. Rather than sitting on their stupid asses, they need to be out earning. I knew we should’ve never given them over to Shantel. I let Zuri convince me it was only until they were out of diapers and no longer needy brats. Then, we’d get them back,” Penn complained.
Carnage moved to stand in front of him. “You were never getting those girls back. The best thing Zuri could’ve done was give those two to her mama. She protected them from you. Too bad it took her all these years to get free of you. But that’s alright, she’s part of our family now. We’ll take care of her.”
“What’s she doing? Fucking and sucking your whole club as one of those sluts you keep? I mean, she’s good at it. She’ll take it however you want, too. But she’s getting old and used. If you want fresh ones, I can work a deal with you. Just give me Zuri and my daughters, and you can get as many new ones as you want. I’ll resupply you as often as you need.” He said it eagerly as if he thought we’d actually do it.
Disgust filled me. I chuckled, though, when Carnage drew back his fist and slammed it into his mouth. Penn cried out. Blood flew along with teeth. I checked out our president’s fist. Carnage could throw a mean punch, but usually, you keep your teeth. I thought he might have slipped on a pair of knuckle dusters. Nope. It was all him. He was just that furious, not that I blamed him.
“I don’t want to hear another word about Zuri, Shantel, Zisa, Milan, or Imani come out of your disgusting, perverted mouth. Those are your daughters! You make me sick!” Carnage snapped.
“Listen, I’m not really with him. It was purely an accident that I ran into him when I was coming to the gate to ask to see Zisa. He was the one who attacked the other woman leaving to get inside. When I saw Zisa, I took a chance and came inside to get her. I need to talk to her. You say she’s here of her free will. I need her to tell me that,” Marius chimed in.
“You’re an idiot if you think we believe that. Did you forget? We’re the ones who turned in the dirt on you. The bribes and other shit you’ve done. And who is one of your frequent flyers who seems to always get out of things? Why, Penn here, that’s who. We know he pays you. You’ve both been hiding. You came together. And I believe Zisa fighting you was your answer whether she wanted to leave with you or not,” I pointed out. I wanted to punch him, but I was holding back.
Out of the corner of my vision, I saw Maestro walk off. He had his phone in his hand. I hadn’t heard it ring. My attention was brought back to the two scumbags in front of me. “I don’t know what you think you found, but whatever it is, it’s all lies. I serve and protect my community,” Marius lied more.
“It’s not. You’ve paid off or threatened people not to testify. Evidence that disappeared. Looking the other way when it comes to degenerates like this one. Oh, the women you’ve forced to have sex with you to get out of tickets or not arrested,” Rowdy laid out to him.
“Pres, I need to see you guys for a minute,” Maestro called over to us.
Leaving our two captives, we went to Maestro. He was standing where they wouldn’t be able to hear us unless we talked loudly.
“What is it, Maestro?” Carnage asked.
“I know our original plan was to let the police take care of Marius and send his ass to jail. We agreed that while his actions were disgusting, they didn’t merit killing him. I’m not sure if that still stands with him breaking in tonight.”
I was opening my mouth to contradict that, but Maestro stopped me. He held up his hand. “Just hold a minute. I know we might’ve had a vote to take to decide, but I have something that I believe will determine our course without debate.”
“What?” I asked.
I was finding it hard not to say kill him and be done, but his actions weren’t those of someone we’d typically do that to, unlike Penn. Zisa’s man in me wanted him gone for good. The Regulator, with his guiding principles, was saying death wasn’t warranted. I was feeling torn. And if I was, so would my brothers.
“I’ve kept searching for more information on Marius, just in case we needed more to present to the DA. My gut kept telling me he hadn’t stopped at the things we knew about. But I wasn’t finding it, so I asked Phantom if he’d take a look. You know he and Tamysin seem to be able to dig deeper, and the Infidels’ prior military connections can get him into things I can’t. He just messaged me. He’s found more.”
“What did they find?” I asked.
“A video that he thought he’d deleted for good. Seems Phantom got into an email account Marius has. It’s tied to a different name. In it, he found this video. He said it’s disturbing, so be warned.”
Holding up his phone, he tapped a button. He didn’t have the volume on, but we didn’t need it. It became clear rather fast what was occurring. My stomach churned. Angry muttering started spilling from all of us. It was a video of Marius and a woman. The woman started out dressed very skimpily, like you’d see a prostitute dress. They were in a seedy hotel. Marius entered with her.
It didn’t take long for him to have her undressed, but rather than have sex, he began beating her. She tried to fight back, but he was too powerful for her. It was clear that even if it had started out as consensual, it didn’t remain that way. He beat her savagely, then proceeded to rape her viciously. When he was done, he left her lying there on a bloody bed. She was curled up crying. As he walked out, he greeted a man outside the door. It was Penn. They laughed and slapped each other on the back before they closed the door.
Only Carnage’s hold kept me from flying across the barn and beating the hell out of Marius. He didn’t do it out of concern for the fucker. He was practically vibrating with outrage. All of my brothers were breathing hard, had fury written all over them, and had their fists clenched.
“Just rein it in for a couple of minutes. Moose. We’ve got to take a vote, although I’m sure what it’ll be. All in favor of sending both of them on the Devil’s Pilgrimage, raise your hand?” he asked. Everyone’s hands rose in the air without hesitancy.
“Alright, it’s a majority vote without Howler and Clutch, but I’d still like their vote to make it all official. Get them on the phone so I can talk to them,” Carnage told Rowdy. Less than two minutes later, we had everyone’s vote. Both men would go on the Pilgrimage.
I stalked over to them. They were grimacing in pain as they hung there. I saw a mixture of worry and curiosity. They were wondering what we’d been talking about for so long. They were in for a rude awakening if either thought we’d changed our mind. Carnage left it to me to break the news to Marius. I faced him.
“We had a discussion before that based on what we knew you’d done, it was sufficient to let the police handle you. You’d spend some time in prison, hopefully learn valuable lessons, and turn yourself around. This one, however, his deeds earned him only one outcome—the Devil’s Pilgrimage.
“Even with you breaking in and trying to steal my woman tonight, it was a hard sell to jump from prison to the Pilgrimage for you, even though a part of me wanted to. I want to thank you.” I paused.
“Thank me for what?” he asked, frowning.
“You made it easy for us all to decide. Congratulations, you’re as big of a degenerate as this fucker, and you’ll take the Pilgrimage together.”
“What the fuck is the Devil’s Pilgrimage? And what made you change your mind?” Marius asked.
I gestured for Carnage to take this.
“We’re the Devil’s Regulators. There are many reasons for that name, which I won’t go into. But long ago, it was decided by the founding members that there were some acts that would never be tolerated, whether committed by brothers or outsiders. We don’t always walk on the right side of things. We dwell in the gray and even, at times, step into the black. When we do, it’s for good reasons. We don’t tolerate murderers, rapists, pedophiles, traffickers, and those who repeatedly harm the innocent. Penn here has forced countless women and girls into prostitution. He sells drugs. Gets people hooked on them to force them to do his bidding. And he sells them when they become no longer useful to him or too much trouble. Like he planned to do to Zuri, that’s human trafficking. Someone like him earns the Devil’s Pilgrimage, which is just our way of sending vermin like him to meet the Devil. It’s a one-way ticket to the eternal fires of hell.”
“Wait! You can’t do this. I’m not like him,” Marius screamed.
“Like hell, you’re not. We just saw a video that proves you are. And you’ve done it in conjunction with this lowlife bastard,” Maestro growled. He held up his phone and hit play, making sure Marius could see. We watched him break out in a sweat, and horror swept across his face.
“T-That’s not me. He had someone fake it. I swear,” he pleaded.
“Fuck you, Cooper. You always thought you were better than me, but you’re not. Why should you get to live while I die? He’s a sick bastard who loves using his power as a cop, and he’s gotten off beating and raping more than one of the women in my stable,” Penn admitted.
“Liar!” Marius shouted.
“Like hell I am. And he intended to do the same to Zisa when he got her back. He’s pissed that she walked away from him. He’s been waiting and watching. He thought for sure she’d come back to him. When he found out she was with a biker, it made him crazy.”
I didn’t know about anyone else, but I’d heard enough. I wanted to get on with it. Typically, we’d each take a turn, get a few licks in, and then dispatch someone. If more was needed, Crash and Stinger would carry it out. Although, if someone really pissed him off, Carnage would come out to play. He’d earned his name when he was a prospect and solidified it during his early years in the club. He was the enforcer at one time. Anyone thinking, due to his age, he’d grown soft was doomed to be disappointed. With this involving what was our personal family, it was unlikely the others would get much angst out tonight. Carnage and I would handle it.
I saw Carnage whispering to Crash, who was nodding and grinning. Crash grabbed a rolling cart and went to one of the tool chests. Then, he went to a metal cabinet against the wall closest to us. He was putting stuff on the cart. When he made it back to us, we checked out what he had brought.
Neither was anything pleasant. There were four long metal rods with a sharp end. The sharp end looked like what an arrow would have on the tip. Only it was cut in half, and it was much longer. The other toy he brought would light their asses up. I rubbed my hands. We’d see how much pain they could handle.
“You know what to do with those chains,” Carnage hollered.
There were more chains hanging from the rafter connected to pulleys. Stinger and Crash locked the two ends together, forming a long, complete loop. They left those hanging there. Stepping back, they gave us chin lifts. Carnage and I slipped on heavy-duty rubber gloves—the kind that wouldn’t rip. I didn’t want either of those pricks’ blood on me—or the least amount as possible.
I went to Marius. He was eyeing me in fear. Good. Reaching up, I grasped the neck of his shirt and yanked, tearing it down the front to his waist. I heard the same happen to Penn’s. With their chests bare, we could take the next step. I picked up one of the rods. I placed the sharp tip to the outer part of his pectoral muscle. Holding tightly, I slowly shoved, making it pierce his muscle. He screamed as I pushed it until it came out the opposite side of his muscle. I’d made sure it was set deep, under the muscle. Carnage was doing the same to Penn, who was swearing and wailing. Marius kept begging.
“Please, please, don’t do this,” he whined.
“I haven’t even gotten started,” I promised him.
I inserted the other rod. It was worse for him than the first because he knew what to expect. When both rods were in position, horizontal across his chest, I stepped back to admire my handwork. Jesus Christ that had to hurt like a mother. When Carnage indicated he was ready, we looped the chains under the rods. When they were in place, we circled our fingers.
At first, Penn and Marius had no idea what we were doing. Not until the hum of a machine registered and then they felt themselves being lifted. They tried to fight it, which they did by kicking their legs. We could’ve told them it was better to hold still. The more they fought, the worse it would hurt and tear. All we had to do was get their feet clear of contact with the ground. When they were, we let them hang there.
Their whimpers and begging were pathetic, but it didn’t deter us. And like idiots, they kept moving. The flesh was beginning to tear. To help it along, we got the second thing on the cart ready. Crash had placed two batteries on it with the jumper cables. We connected the cables to the terminals and then tapped the clamped ends together, causing them to spark.
To make sure we had good transmission, Stinger doused the guys in cold water. The first shock had Marius dancing on his chain. Over and over, we’d zap them, which made their whole bodies convulse. Each convulsion made the rods tear more. I don’t know how long we went at them until the first rod tore loose. It left my captive hanging by one rod, which made him rip through the muscles worse. When the second one was free, he fell to the cement floor in a heap. He lay there shivering and moaning. Penn, being skinnier with less muscle mass, didn’t last as long.
“I’ve got a thought if you’d like to hear it,” Stinger offered to us.
We huddled with him as he whispered what it was. Both Carnage and I loved the idea. I had to add a step to mine. Carnage waited for me to do it. Stinger handed me his pistol. Mine was back in my room. A few of our brothers were kind enough to hoist them back up by their manacled wrists so they were on the balls of their feet again. As soon as they had them there and everyone was clear, I shot Marius in the shoulder, just like Shantel had Penn.
With matching wounds, we got to work. We used our fingers at first to push into the bullet wounds. They were sobbing. The smell of piss filled the air. Our brothers egged us on and jeered at them. Next, we probed their wounds with the tips of knives. I was impressed they held out until then without passing out, but the knives were too much.
We could keep them going for hours or even days if we wanted, but the reality was we wanted them gone and us back to our families. Not wanting to cheat our brothers out of a little action, we waved them forward. Both men were slapped to consciousness, and then the beatings began. It went on for a while before they let them rest and started again. We’d been at it for a couple of hours or more when Carnage called it to a halt.
“Brothers, I think I speak for all of us that these motherfuckers have kept us long enough. What do you say? Let’s send them on their pilgrimage. Get the fire going,” he hollered.
The hearth was one that you burned wood in, but to add to the intensity, we used logs soaked in gasoline. That way, it didn’t take long to have a roaring one going. The blubbering coming from them was weak. Tired of hearing it, I took Stinger’s gun and shot Marius between the eyes, then handed it off to Carnage to do the same to Penn. We could’ve prolonged it by putting them in the fire alive, but we’d had enough. The flames would be watched and maintained until their bodies were nothing but ash and bones. From there, the bones would be pulverized and scooped up to be scattered. It was an involved process, but it made the chances of us being caught a helluva lot less. Flint and Pipes volunteered to oversee the fire and let us know when it was time to dispose of the ashes.
As the rest of us walked outside, a light drizzle was coming down. I stood there, letting it hit my face. Maybe it made us monsters, too, to torture and kill someone the way we did, but if so, I’d answer for it when my time came. Until then, I had a woman to love, a life to live, and a family to create.