Power of the Omega

Chapter 2 - Welcome to Hell

    I lost all track of time as my mind raced through memories of my life. My parents' faces, my friends' faces, laughter and crying, joy and sorrow, all the memorable events of my life - both good and bad - raced through my mind as I awaited Death's touch. I knew he had to be busy with all of us in here right now, but you'd think he could hurry it up a bit and let me join my friend and leave this pain behind.

    The sharp scent of gasoline made my eyes fly open. What now? I could hear the glug of liquid being poured out and the smell of gas grew even stronger as splashing sounds added to the mix. Why would someone being pouring gas? My brain slowly churned over the information before it finally clicked. I couldn't die fast enough so now I would have to burn to death? I managed to turn my head slightly, looking past Jess' still body, her eyes still gazing past me. I blinked to clear the tears from my eyes at seeing my dead friend beside me.

    The scene that met my eyes was something out of a horror movie. Bodies were scattered all along the floor and even draped over the chairs and tables. Basically, they were everywhere. And the blood! I felt a surge of nausea at the sight and took a deep breath to supress it, then stopped. Wait, I could breath easier. Sure, it still hurt like hell but I could actually breath without gasping. I slowly moved my hand clutching my throat. Wasn't it worse earlier? Had I mistaken how badly I'd been injured? I pulled my hand away slowly, cautiously taking deep breaths and wincing with the pain. But it seemed my throat was fine. I glanced at my hand in confusion. So much blood! And this time it was mine!

    I couldn't stop myself this time from puking. I managed to roll onto my side enough to puke beside me. Then there were feet next to me, avoiding my pile of vomit as the owner leaned down to roll me onto my back and look me over. I raised my bloody hand for help.

    "We got another over here!" My rescuer stated and he was joined by none other than Blue Eyes. s**t!

    Blue Eyes glanced down at me and smiled. "Put her with the others and finish up here."

    The first guy nodded and reached down toward me. In one quick motion, he had me in a fireman's carry over his shoulder. He started to walk away, but my grip on Jess' hand was still strong. Suddenly my wrist was grabbed tightly and he squeezed until I cried out and let go. Tears streamed anew down my face as I was torn away from my dead friend's body and carried off.

    Fresh air hit my face in a glorious wave and I realized I'd been carried outside. "Found another," rumbled the voice of the man carrying me. I heard a van door sliding open and I was dropped onto the floor of the vehicle, letting out a small cry of pain and shock as the door slid shut once again. It was almost pitch black inside. No windows to let in any light. I could hear voices, male voices, talking outside of the van but I couldn't make out what was being said.

    What I could hear was soft crying coming from around me. Slowly, I shifted my body to sit up and reached out. "H-hello?"

    What greeted me was a bunch of shushing. I could feel something next to me and nearly jumped when a hand touched my shoulder. "Shhh, shh," a nearby voice whispered to me, huddling closer. "They hit us earlier for talking," the voice continued, barely audible. "And for crying too loud," it added.

    I reached up to take my mysterious new friend's hand and gave a gentle squeeze. As much as I wanted to open the door and run, my body was just too weak to do more than sit here. A sudden loud slamming of the front doors startled me and I wondered if I'd dozed off or just zoned out. The engine rumbled and several of my fellow abductees cried harder. The hand I'd been holding reached around me and hugged me close. I hugged back and nearly fell over as the van started to move.

    What followed next was a scary, tumbling, pitch black ride over what had to be every pothole in the state. I know I dozed off several times and completely lost track of all time before a stop in motion and silence as the engine shut off alerted me that something was going to happen. I could hear voices again and suddenly the van door slid open, blinding us all. I could feel hands grabbing me and dragging me out before a rag was thrust over my face and everything went black once more.

    Groaning, I woke again, feeling stiff and sore. And cold. I was lying on a concrete floor. Sobs surrounded me once more as well as shouting and the sounds of flesh meeting flesh. I sat up and what I saw terrified me once again. Rows and rows of what could only be called kennels in a dark basement. And each kennel held a prisoner. I looked at the pens around my own. One side was empty, the one behind me held a huddled naked form, and the other side held a girl in a ragged simple dress. She glanced at me briefly, her eyes dull and bored and without hope.

    "Wh-where am I?" I croaked, my throat still sore and now dry. How long had I been out?

    My neighbor looked scared and put a finger to her mouth to shush me. She shook her head slightly to warn me not to talk and looked terrified. I wanted to ask her all sorts of questions, but held my tongue. My neighbor's terror eased slightly as I stayed silent. I turned my attention back to the rest of the large room. I tried counting how many fellow prisoners there were, but it was hard. The room wasn't well lit and there were men walking between the rows of cages and blocking my view as they yelled at my fellow newbies to shut up and stop crying.

    Before too long, one of the guards walked near my cage and grinned. "Ah, awake are we? I can't wait for tomorrow." He laughed at the confusion on my face and probably the fear there as well. What was going to happen tomorrow? But, remembering my neighbor's panic and fear, I didn't ask and the guard frowned at me for a moment before moving on. I looked over at my neighbor and she gave a slight nod.

    Just then I hear a loud scream and whipped my head around further down my own row of cages. The guard was laughing at a girl I thought I recognized from the nightclub. She was sobbing, her hands cradled in close to her chest. What had happened?

    "The cages are wired," came a soft whisper from behind me. I turned and my clothed neighbor quickly shook her head so I turned back, pretending we weren't talking. I could see she had scooted closer to my cage to talk a bit. "Don't touch the metal. And don't get caught talking."

    I spared a quick glance back to her again and she caught my eye before adding one more thing. "Welcome to Hell."