A rifle inside the building fired three quick rounds, and a man inside the pole-barn screamed, "I'm hit. Rance, that bitch shot me. Help me. I'm gut shot." A man staggered around the doorway of the pole-barn. He'd bent over holding his stomach and yelled, "Don't shoot, don't shoot." Blood drenched his shirt and ran through his fingers and down his pants. I aimed, but before I could squeeze the trigger the injured man’s head slammed backward and blood splattered the side of the barn.
A lone man yelled, "Surrender, surrender," as he walked from the pole-barn and dropped an assault rifle. A woman's voice from inside the stone building yelled, "Don't shoot him, He's my prisoner." The kidnapper put both hands above his head and knelt. Three kidnappers were still missing. Shane and two others from his crew approached the pole-barn. One stood watch behind the man on his knees while Shane and Andrea Michaels slipped inside the pole-barn.
Minutes later, Shane's voice came over the radio, "Two bodies are in the barn. That accounts for all but one."
At the sight of people they knew, the prisoners threw the solid main door of the stone building open. Kira helped Albert hobble through the doorway, and Tony struggled to walk using a rifle like a cane. We ran to them, and I asked, "Where's the last kidnapper?"
Without looking at me, Kira said, "He's in the back room. He's dead." I glanced at her and saw remnants of dried blood on her right hand and up her forearm.
A woman and a man from Shane's team advanced and searched the lone kidnapper. When they were satisfied he was unarmed, they pulled his arms behind him and tightened a stout plastic tie on his wrists.
As we relaxed and took time to look closer, it was evident all three of our kidnapped people had been abused and beaten. Kira turned Albert over to his wife, Maria. She opened the door on a truck and helped Albert sit inside. As she and Kira spoke, Maria gave her handgun to Kira. Kira walked to the prisoner, and I met her there.
"Are you okay? You look like you've been through hell."
"This pervert raped me," she said bluntly with deep loathing in her tone. Kira turned on her heel to look directly at me, "And he's going to die slowly for that. He's going to remember the last piece of ass he ever had right up until I blow his perverted brains out." Our guards by the prisoner read the hate in Kira's expression and stepped away. She faced her tormentor. "I told you I'd live to see you pay for raping me, and I meant it. Now it's my time to play with you, you filthy bastard."
The man was tall and heavy. His beard was brown with scatterings of gray, and his brown hair was greasy. He looked over to me. He smirked, but his eyes showed fear. "You ain't gonna let her do anything to me, are you. I'm your prisoner, and I've got rights, man. There're rules of war you gotta follow. Even with this zombie shit, we've gotta stick to what's right when the cards are down, right?"
"Wrong, Rance," Kira said, "and it's not his choice. It's mine. I'm the one you raped and beat, remember?" Everything in the surrounding area went quiet when the .40 caliber shot blasted out.
Rance screamed as blood flowed from his left knee. He keeled over onto his side. "Stop, you bitch. God damn it! You can't do this, I'm tied up and unarmed." He looked to me. "Please make her stop. Man, you all need to stop her."
Another shot rang out and blood flowed from his right knee cap. Rance screamed and cried out louder, but his bravado had vanished. "This bitch is killing me, make her stop, please, I'm begging you. You can't do this, man"
Kira slowly walked around Rance deciding where to inflict pain next.
I moved closer to the rapist, pulled my Glock and shot him in the forehead. Kira stared; hate billow through her expression in waves. "I can guess what these animals have done to you, but I'm not going to stand here and let you extract vengeance, even on this piece of shit, just so it will make you feel better. It's about justice and who we are. Our group's rules call for justice. But justice that's carried out swiftly and fairly. We're not going to turn into animals like this one. I told the group there would be no prisoners and I mean it."
"Damn you! God Damn you, Tom Jacobs," Kira yelled. Her expression was hard, and her hand quivered as she raised the gun in her hand toward me. She hesitated, lowered her arm, turned, and sullenly handed the gun back to Maria butt first before stalking toward the stone building shuddering with tears streaming. As Kira turned, I noticed Shane lowering his sidearm back to his holster. Kira would likely never know how close her temper brought her to being executed.
Several people exhaled sharply after our encounter. Doc Sparrow took advantage of the lull and motioned for help to get Albert and Tony inside the building. He examined all three kidnap victims, stitched multiple cuts, applied bandages, set Albert's broken leg, and gave all three pain pills. They'd all be sore for a while, but the cuts and bruises would heal in a few weeks. He said Kira had bruises all over
