"Tom, I'm sorry for what I said outside, and I apologize. You were right. We can't sink to the level of animals like those men. I've never experienced that level of anger and hatred, and it's not who I want to be. Thank you for stopping me, or I'd be dealing with what I wanted to do in addition to what Rance did. I'm not sure I could handle all of that at once."
She breathed deeply and blew it out forcefully. "As for how we got free, my husband insisted we be prepared for anything when our society fell apart. He predicted that some people would become vicious animals. I couldn't imagine that. I thought he exaggerated. It seemed reasonable to me that we would pull together, not apart.
"Late this afternoon, I heard raucous celebrating outside our cell and listened intently. I gathered that the truck and trailer were back. The leader of the bunch, Rance, stuck his head in and told us you guys had caved in. He laughed and said their fun with me was going to start as soon as they unloaded the ransom swag. Up to that time, he was the only one who had raped me.
"That's when I took my tools out. Carl cut two five inch pieces of hacksaw blade for each of us. He left one with the teeth on it, and he made the other into a small, thin, knife with three inches sharpened. Both fit inside our belts at the small of our backs. I cut a piece off the tail of my shirt, as Carl said I should, to wrap around the end of the saw or knife for a handle to get a good grip on them."
Kira wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. "The chains securing us were light weight, like what's used in swings sets. It's light but plenty strong to hold anyone by the neck. It took about twenty minutes to saw through both sides of a link in my chain."
She hesitated and looked at the floor, avoiding eye contact with everyone. "I heard Rance tell a man in the other room to stay inside and check on us routinely. But he didn't look in on us at all.
"I'd not heard talking in the other room since the others went outside. I yelled to our guard that Tony was choking and looked like he was dying. I prayed I was right, and the man would be alone. When I heard the padlock on the door being worked, I hid behind the door until it opened fully. The guard, a skinny slimebag they called Snark, stepped inside. I knew by his body movements when he noticed I was missing. Before he could turn or yell for the others, I slammed the door shut and raced forward. I reached over his right shoulder and jabbed the knife into his throat. I dragged him down to his hands and knees and rode his back to the floor. He struggled frantically. I still remember clearly the gurgling sound as he tried to breathe. I continued to cut deeper because I was afraid to stop. Finally, his head dropped forward onto the stone floor and I knew he was dead." She looked up and surveyed the faces before her. We all sat in rapt attention. No one made a sound.
"The keys for the locks on the chains hung outside our cell. I freed Albert and Tony and helped them to the main room. We didn't know if you could find us, and we figured we might die here, but we agreed to die together and die fighting." She pointed across the room. "We each grabbed an AK and extra magazines from that rack against the wall and began shooting at those animals. You know the rest. We're thankful you were able to find us. Thank you for risking your lives to rescue us." Kira's eyes had teared again. Her expression was timid but grim and her lips trembled as she finished her tale of horror, escape, and retribution.
No one spoke as we absorbed the impact of the extreme cruelty she'd been put through and the personal inhibitions she'd had to circumvent to escape further abuse. Then several people stood and clapped softly. The whole group followed. Maria, Andrea, and Shana quickly moved to Kira and hugged her as all four wept. Looking around through blurred vision, I didn't see a dry eye in the bunch.
Several of us stepped outdoors in the dark, careful to stay within several feet of the door. We spoke in subdued tones while engaged in multiple conversations. Everyone stopped when Albert's son, Vince, said, "I wonder why these guys didn't grab a truck with Kira in it on the way in from a scrounging trip instead of when they were going out empty?" The group as a whole waited for someone to reply.
After a few moments of thought, I spoke. "I can think of three reasons. First, the incoming load could be lawn furniture, fertilizer, or cattle feed, which they wouldn't want. Second, with three hostages they could demand a full load of food, weapons, and ammo like they did. And last, judging by the treatment and threats that Rance character inflicted on our people he must have been a cruel, controlling, sadistic bastard. The hostages gave him power over us, and he likely thought he could do it again and we'd comply again. They probably never dreamed we could track them back here.”
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