Dead Frontier/Issue 47

This is Issue #47 of Dead Frontier by Walkerbait22, titled Dare. This is the fifth issue of Volume 8.

Issue 47 - Dare
Everything is fuzzy when Hannah finally regains consciousness and opens her eyes. A single light bulb dangles from the ceiling of the basement she’s in, barely illuminating the area. She rubs her throbbing temples; with so many confused thoughts running through her head, she doesn’t know what else to do.

A black cloud invades her memory as she starts to panic. She wipes the dirt from her hands and stands, trying to recollect where she is, or at least, how she got here. Yes, she remembers driving. That’s a start. And running, she remembers running, being carried. She tries to put all these thoughts together, but it just leads to more confusion and frustration.

She realizes the room is bigger than she initially thought. In the far corner, there’s a small desk with a chair. She takes a seat, and the first instinct she has is to cry. She yells for help a few times, bangs on the door, but there's no sign that anyone or anything can hear her. Then the light goes out, and she's left in complete darkness for over an hour, until the door opens and it's the familiar face of Dylan Ackerman.

"How are we even going to find this place?" Adam asks. They've taken two cars to make the journey to Charlie's camp: one seating Adam, who drives, Cole, Robbie, and Chloe, and the one behind them seating Billie, Finn, and Dwight.

If it wasn't for Cole's desperation, Adam doubts he would have even volunteered to go. But he did, and the fact that they're going into, basically, the headquarters of a psychopath makes him feel uneasy. "It's the middle of the night, and we've never been in this area."

"Why the hell did you come, Adam, if you're going to bitch the whole way?" Cole snaps at him.

"I'm not---you know what? Just forget I said anything."

"Adam," Chloe says, "he's just...this whole situation is just stressing him out. Don't take it personally. And to answer your question, Charlie has to be located somewhere near the forest where you guys found the helicopter, right? Then we head it that direction, sleep in the cars tonight, and tomorrow when we're all well rested and less pissy, we get Hannah back. Plus, they can’t be expecting us this early, if they even expected us to come at all. Good plan?"

"Good plan," Adam agrees. "See, you've got a knack for this leadership thing."

"Yeah, not really. But logic and a level head will get you a long way."

Adam eyes her pistol. "How good are you with that, really?"

"...I'm okay. Well, not really but, I can use this." She taps her forehead and Adam laughs. "Unlike someone..." She jokes, gesturing to Robbie sitting in the backseat.

"Psh, whatever. I'll have you know I've got a double digit IQ," Robbie responds, smiling.

Cole sighs lies his head against the window, wondering how they can manage to laugh while heading off to an apparent suicide mission. But he doesn't say anything, and instead slowly dozes off.

"I'm tired of driving," Finn complains from the other car.

"Well, you offered," Billie says. She leans her head against the window, half asleep. She watches in silence as the barren road flies by. She estimates they've been driving for about an hour and a half. The only thing keeping her awake is Dwight's incessant snoring.

"Hey, Billie?"

"...Yes."

"What do you think are chances are of coming back?" The question catches her a bit off guard, and she turns in her seat to look at him.

"Good, I hope."

"It's really weird when you think about it. We're driving toward a psychopath, right into where he lives. I think we're a small group of crazy people."

"We are a small group of crazy people. But it's for Hannah, so I think it's okay."

There's a really long pause, and Billie is about to turn back in her seat and try to fall asleep again, but Finn says her name again. "Sorry. I'm being kind of annoying. I've just been thinking about stuff, and how, whenever we left the airport, whether it be for a run or just patrolling the gates, we're taking such a huge risk. It's really scary when you think about it. How at almost any moment you could be taken out, or someone you really care about could. And then everything you ever wanted to say to them you can't anymore because...you know...they're gone. So, taking all that into account, I think it's weird I haven't said I love you yet. Because I do. And I thought you should know that, since the risk is even bigger now that we've left the airport, and, you know, we might be out on the road for a while." There's a long silence, and Finn feels a little self conscious. "I probably didn't articulate that that well."

"No. No, that was...great. Yeah, I love you too, Finn."

"OhthankGod. Whew. Okay. That went better than I thought it would."

She gives him one last smile, and falls asleep to the sounds of Dwight's snoring and the car's engine.

Dylan pulls out a light bulb and replaces it with the burnt out one. This one is a lot brighter, and Hannah can finally make out the details of the room. There are scratches on the walls, and faded blood stains on the concrete. Her eyes focus on the bandage around his ear. He still hasn't said a word when he takes a seat across from her at the desk.

"Hi," is Dylan's first word after a few seconds. She doesn't respond. "I said 'hi.

"...Hello," she says weakly. "Where am--"

"Nope, nope, nope." He wags his finger in her face. "This is going to go very simply. You're not going to talk unless I directly address you. I'll proceed with whatever actions Charlie wants me to take. Everything will be easier if you follow these few rules. If you decide to take your own initiative and do the opposite of anything I've told you just now, you will not be happy." It sounds as if he's reading from a script. "Okay?" Hannah stares at him blankly as she tries to understand the situation. How did he even get here, as one of this Charlie-guy’s..henchmen? Where the fuck is she? "Yeah, this is the part where I'm addressing you directly."

"Okay," she says.

He gives a wide smile and claps his hands together. "Let's proceed, eh?" He pulls out a crumpled piece of paper from the back pocket of his jeans. He clears his throat and spreads the paper out on the desk. "Before I start, let me explain a few more things. This paper right here was written by Charlie Bodin himself. Now, he would be in here, doing all this, but he thought if he laid eyes on you he wouldn't be able to stop himself from shooting you in the fucking face. And he doesn't want that. He'd prefer a...less humane end for you." She wants to cry; she can feel her eyes filling with tears, but she holds them back. There is a man who, supposedly, wants to kill her, and she has no idea why. And this fuck-face in front of her, whom she thought she got rid of months ago, is pushing his weight around. She clenches her fists under the table until it hurts.

"Good?" Dylan continues. "Good. Okay. Here we go." He begins to read from the hastily scribbled letter. "'My name is Charlie. You probably don't know who I am, but my colleague, Dylan Ackerman, has informed me that your name is Hannah. That's a really beautiful name. Really. I'm not just saying that. You may remember me as the dashingly handsome man from the helicopter a while ago. We locked eyes for a few seconds. I'm sure you remember that. Anyway, you also killed someone on that day. A bright, blue eyed boy. He was sixteen years old. His name was Brady, and he was my only kid. I loved him very much. So much, in fact, I sent three of my men into that airport and had them bring you to me. And right now, you're in there with Dylan as he reads this to you.

“'Dylan is very loyal to me. I've given him specific instructions on how you're to be punished.'" Dylan flips the paper over to read the rest. "'By the end of it, you'll be dead. It might take awhile, but you'll be dead and you'll be violated in so many ways you can't even begin to imagine. But make sure you're paying attention now, because this is the most important part: you will feel the pain I felt when I lost my Brady. He was all I had left, you know. I'll be right upstairs listening, too. Might even come down to have my own fun. We'll see. Yours truly, Charlie Bodin.'" His elegant signature finishes off the letter, contrasting greatly to his scraggly print. Dylan clears his throat once he's finished and folds the paper up.

Hannah stares at him, unflinching, the entire time. This is it then. But she's not going to make this fun for him. She sits there, and her face is emotionless, besides the one tear rolling down her face and her body's uncontrollable shaking.

"I've gotta do what I've gotta do. Sorry. Charlie's orders."

He stands and pulls out his gun. She flinches when she sees the weapon. Maybe he'll just kill her now and get it over with. But he sits on the desk, his lap almost directly in front of her face. He has a sickening grin on his face that he makes no effort to hide. The cold barrel of the gun makes her shiver even more when he presses it to her chin.

Dylan undoes his belt and unzips his pants. He waits. "Ahem. I'm asking you in a rather indirect way to suck my cock. So yeah, do that."

"...No."

He laughs, then leans his face close to hers, too close, so close that she can smell his breath. Mint. "You've got really pretty eyes, you know that? I'm a sucker for green eyes. A real sucker. But it's sad, because if you decide to keep this up, you're not gonna have them by the end of this. So do it."

She clenches her fists harder, trying to control her hands’ shaking, but fails. The rest of her body continues to shiver as well, and the pesky thumping of her heart in her ears won’t fade.

“I said ‘no.’”

Dylan’s smile fades eerily slowly. Hannah can feel his eyes burning into her, though she refuses to look up at him. He grabs her chin roughly and forces her head up, requiring her to stare him in the face. The coldness of his voice makes her wince: “I dare you. To say no again.” She doesn’t respond. “Not going to take that dare? Smart. I can see why Cole likes you so much.”

His smile returns when he feels her flinch at the mention of Cole. “Oh, yeah. I remember him from the lab. Kinda tall, brown hair. Heard he gave one of the guys a problem and we had to sedate him. I wonder how he feels right now...Oh, I have a good question for you. How’d you think he feel if he knew his pretty, innocent girlfriend was gonna get fucked by other dudes? Think he’d be mad?”

Hannah’s stoic facade falters, and her emotionless face collapses into complete anguish and terror. To him, her pleading and cries sound as nice as Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. To her, his devilish smile ignites a fear inside of her she can’t describe. “We should probably get to it soon, right?” Dylan says. “Don’t want Charlie to get angry.” He stands, then gestures for her to do the same. “Don’t even think to say no.”

She complies, sliding the chair away from the desk, and stands. She squeezes her eyes shut as she feels him walk behind her, his body too close. His hot breath on her neck makes her tremble. Dylan grabs her waist with one hand, and uses the other to place the barrel of his gun to her temple.

It seems like it's an eternity she's there pleasuring him, listening to his over-exaggerated moans. He looks at her the whole time, and she's do disgusted with him, with herself, she wishes he'd just pull the the trigger.

By the end of it, she’s ran out of tears.

Trivia

 * This issue was orignially titled Charlie's Orders.