Victoria’s head snapped back, way back, impossibly, unnaturally far. There was an ugly sound of bone breaking, a hideous clack of teeth. Blood sprayed from Victoria’s mouth. I saw bits of teeth fly through the air, and part of her tongue. Jeri kicked her again in the chest with her other foot before Victoria could fall, sending her crashing back through the door, then Jeri slammed the door shut with a shoulder and held it.
Outside, Winter’s voice rose in a hellish scream.
“Get a two-by-four!” I yelled. “Block the door!”
Jeri followed my gaze. She didn’t hesitate. She dropped the knife and grabbed a length of two-by-four, wedged it between the door and a leg of the workbench.
Winter rattled the doorknob, then slammed her weight against the door like a hellcat, screaming, “You killed her! She’s dead! You killed her!”
Easily the best news I’d heard all year.
Jeri got the linoleum knife again and ran to me, pure focused energy, no wasted motion. She couldn’t easily cut the ropes around her own wrists, so she cut mine. The knife was razor sharp. In seconds, my right hand was free. Then my left.
My feet were still tied to the wall. I almost fell flat on my face. Jeri caught me and held me up in a crouch while I used the knife to hack frantically at the cords around my ankles, slashing myself as did, drawing blood. I saw it, but didn’t feel a thing.
Winter pounded on the door. Not like before. She was using a tool of some kind, yelling the whole time, sobbing and threatening us with death, with the slow removal of body parts. Single-minded damn kid. Tiresome, but she was an orphan now, so I tried to make allowances.
I got my legs free. I staggered into the middle of the room, then got the blade of the knife under the nylon behind Jeri’s wrists and cut it away. When she was free, she severed the ropes holding Kayla.
The blade of an axe sliced through the door, sending slivers of wood flying into the room.
I looked around for a weapon. My legs didn’t want to obey me. I felt stiff, clumsy, slow. I stumbled over to the workbench hoping to find something that might be useful against a foil, like a crossbow or a hand grenade. No dice. I got the crowbar off the pegboard. Two feet long. With luck I could crush her skull with it, but it was an ungainly weapon and she had the axe.
And, of course, her foil.
I doubted I could out-duel her with the crowbar. If nothing else, I could throw it at her. All three of us could throw things, hammers, screwdrivers. We might be able to hold her off. We might even get lucky and hurt her. Maybe.
Winter missed a beat or two, then the light above us went out. She’d stopped long enough to throw a switch out there. Then she was back at it. Splinters flew. A chunk of the door tore out, then another. She was doing a hell of a job with the axe, working steadily, breathing like a lumberjack, attacking the door with cold fury. I could hear her panting outside, grunting with effort. She’d given up threatening us, at least for the moment.
The room was almost entirely dark, but not quite. Light came through holes in the door that Winter was attacking. I looked around, couldn’t see Jeri in the gloom. The other door I’d seen earlier was standing open, an even deeper darkness in the basement. Kayla was holding it, peering in.
“Jeri in there?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“What’s in there?”
“It’s…like a closet, or something.”
No good.
“You two better grab something, get ready to throw it at this kid,” I said to her. “She’s almost got that door licked.”
Winter slammed the axe into the door, knocking out more wood. I saw her naked belly through a jagged hole, saw her twisting, tensing, swinging the axe. She stopped and peered through the hole at me. Her eyes were glittery with rage. She started up with the axe again, sending shards of wood flying into the room. Another hit and a big piece tore out leaving a gap she could’ve crawled through. I lifted the crowbar, prepared to crush her skull if I got the chance.
Behind me, glass broke. Metal, wood, and a lot of other things I couldn’t identify clattered down onto concrete. I couldn’t figure out what Kayla and Jeri were doing in that closet.
“Mort!” Jeri yelled.
“What?” I yelled back.
No response.
Maybe I could defend the door. I was twice Winter’s weight and then some, and I had the crowbar. She couldn’t come in without me turning her into a pile of bloody mush. If I got her down, I wouldn’t stop pounding till I couldn’t lift the crowbar one more time.
Winter swung the axe again. More splinters flew into the room. She picked a new spot, aiming at the lock. After a few hits the bolt popped free of the strike plate. Another hit and the lock assembly clattered out at my feet. The only thing keeping the door from opening was the two-by-four wedged between it and the workbench.
“What’re you two doing?” I yelled.
No answer. Shit. I couldn’t see Winter. I could have put a big dog through the hole she’d chopped in the door. Before I could react, a broom handle shot through the hole and knocked the two-by-four off to one side. Winter kicked the door. It opened a few inches. I managed to shove it shut. Winter’s foot slammed into it again. The shock of it went through my shoulder right into my head. This wasn’t going to work. Winter could thrust that foil through the hole in the door
