Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Chapter 7b: Almost Free

The third key opened the door and within minutes the guards, except for the ones holding Sharky, stood outside their cells. The man thrashed and slammed his head against the bars, silently biting at the freed prisoners. With the prisoners free, he fought and raged worse than ever, struggling to get to the men behind him; the ones not protected by the iron bars.


Stiles tried to reason with him, standing a safe distance away. “Come on, Sharky. It’s us. We want to help.”


He snapped at Stiles, biting his tongue in half. The bloody mass bounced off his shoulder and fell to the floor. Without a tongue to pad his bites, Sharky’s teeth snapped together with loud clicks. Blood ran over his bottom lip and speckled his mouth with every bite.


“STOP IT! Quit or you’re gonna bleed to death.”


The madman kept biting and fighting, battling to free his arms.


Stiles grabbed Horn’s shoulder. “Get another sheet off a cot and stuff it in his mouth. It might slow down the bleeding. Use what’s left to cover him up so we don’t have to touch him.”


Horn ran to a cell and came back with the linen. He wadded a handful and shoved it into Sharky’s mouth between bites. He threw the rest of the sheet over the man’s head and shoulders. Horn grabbed his arms, pinning them to his sides.


Stiles turned to the four men, still trapped in the cell. “Blade, help Gorney up and get ready to run out of the cell. Arolyn, get ready to let him go.”


A frown curled Arolyn’s lips. He didn’t look happy about the order, but he nodded and grabbed the end of the sheet.


Owl and Blare helped Horn hold Sharky while Stiles unlocked the cell, “Arolyn, let him go.”


Arolyn pulled the sheet away from Sharky’s arms. The moment his arms became free he reached back and tried to grasp the men holding him against the cell. Owl and Blare grunted as they pinned his flailing arms to his side. Horn pulled the struggling man backward.


With the doorway cleared, the four prisoners ran from the cell. Once they were out Horn moved to the door and pushed Sharky in. Stiles slammed the door closed and locked it.


Sharky stumbled, blindly making his way back to the door. He looked like a drunken ghost as he stumbled around the cell with the sheet covering him from head to waist. He slammed into the bars and stuck his arms through; his hands clasped and grabbed for the guards again. The bloody, puckered sheet around his mouth moved and squirmed, but didn’t fall out.


Horn spoke first. “Look at that. He ain’t even bothering with the sheet. It’s like he don’t notice it.”


Stiles looked at Gorney. “We’ll worry about him when we get out of here. Royd, bandage Gorney up, then we’ll get some help for Sharky.”


When a tourniquet and bandage had been put on Gorney’s arm, they walked up the stairs to the front room of the dungeon. A wooden door stood between two large windows, facing the training yard. The windows let in a drab light that painted the room in deep shadows. A table sat against one wall with a deck of cards strewn over its surface and a half empty mug of ale. Their weapons and armor hung on the opposite wall.


Stiles walked to the door and stopped as a woman passed by one of the windows. She wasn’t a soldier. The chin and the front of her pale blue dress glistened in the midday sunlight. Both were coated in blood.


He ducked below the window and motioned the other guards to do the same. As they squatted down he crawled to the window and peeked over its edge. The woman’s back faced him as she shuffled to the walls of the training yard. A dozen other people aimlessly shambled back and forth around her. Most of them were soldiers, but none looked like they knew where they were. A distant scream broke the silence.


“What da hell was dat?” Oswald’s blurted from his prone position near the stairs.


Stiles glared over his shoulders at the man. Between clenched teeth he hissed, “Shhhhh”


Stiles peeked over the windowsill again. The woman had stopped with her head cocked to the side as if listening. Moments later, she continued her ambling gait toward the wall.


Blade crawled next to Stiles and looked through the window for himself, then gasped, “What’s going on? Is the whole city infected?”


Stiles turned and sat with his back against the wall while Blade took in the scene. The other men crawled toward the windows for a look while Oswald stayed near the stairs, keeping to himself.


A decision needed to be made, but it couldn’t be made lightly. Stiles had no idea how much of the city might be infected, and he didn’t want to enter the training yard to be swamped in crazy people. Not only that, but did they have the right to hurt those people? They were sick and needed help. If there was a chance for them to get well he could ruin that by taking their lives. On the other hand, he couldn’t let them attack him or his men. He didn’t even want them touching him or his men.


Even if they did get through the training yard, what then? He hadn’t seen any of the city watch dealing with these people. He had to assume, within the few hours they had been incarcerated, the entire city had fallen prey to the strange illness. If that was the case, then the best thing for him and his men to do would be to get away from the city and into the sparsely populated countryside.


He peeked over the window once more, looking toward Castle Renier. The castle stood a little way off, but it sat higher than the other structures and was easy to spot. He didn’t see any movement and almost gave up, but a flash caught his eye. Someone leaned out of one of the tower windows, looking down into the city. He couldn’t see much from where he crouched, but the person seemed to be in control and actively looking at the carnage that Renier had become.


Stiles sat down and leaned against the wall. “There are still people at the castle.”


“So?” Gorney muttered. Sweat coated his face causing his pale skin to glisten in the dim light. Stiles didn’t reprimand him for his outburst, thinking it was the pain talking.


“We’ve got to get to the castle. The Duke may need us.”

Labels: install auto cad 2000 install auto cad 2000

2 Comments:

At October 19, 2007 9:56 AM , Blogger Jeff Parish said...

Caged zombie, anyone? Hope he likes the taste of old bedsheets. ;)

Nice work, Bret!install auto cad 2000  

At October 19, 2007 10:29 AM , Blogger Bret Jordan said...

Thanks, Jeff!install auto cad 2000  

Post a Comment install auto cad 2000

install auto cad 2000

<< Home install auto cad 2000