Chapter 33

Time: Wednesday, January 23, 2019 2:57 PM

Segundo and Geraldo were less than fifty meters from the sky-bridge, with Ernesto’s position at the door clearly visible to them. Suddenly there was a flash of light and very loud bang, much louder than a simple pistol shot, and Ernesto started screaming in anguish. His two teammates ran the remaining distance and saw that another tragedy had been heaped upon them.

Ernesto’s left hand was half blown off. His wrist looked broken and three of his five fingers were sliced open. The worst was his thumb. It was almost sliced in two. And the grove between his middle and ring fingers extended three centimeters further than it should have. The hand was losing blood all over the floor, and his palm looked like raw hamburger meat. Segundo screamed at Ernesto’s stupidity and for a moment Segundo was at a loss for what to do. They had neither the equipment nor knowledge to treat Ernesto’s injuries.

Geraldo took off his shirt and wrapped the ruined hand in it while Segundo turned and stared into the Art Gallery. The last of the women were in a line and walking up the stairs, their heads turned away. Their message of final and utter rejection was unmistakable, and Geraldo felt a chill to his bone. It was just as if the women were a jury, and they were filing out after delivering a death verdict. And without their help, Ernesto couldn’t possibly survive.

Geraldo picked up the exploded pistol and examined it. It wasn’t hard to see what had happened. The barrel was broken in half, with the middle it severely pinched down. Hot gases from Ernesto’s shot had been forced to backflow into the magazine below the breech, causing several other bullets to explode and rupture the magazine. The effect was similar to having a hand wrapped around a small grenade that went off.

“Fuck you, bitches!” Segundo screamed at the now empty store. “You stupid, stupid whores! You think they’re so fucking smart! I swear, each one of you is going to get what Cassidy got, and more! I swear it! I’ll make it back to Uno. I will! And someday you fucking asshole bitches will pay!”

But the righteous anger and bravado could not hold. Segundo’s thoughts turned inward, the anger turning into fear. Ernesto might be done for, but what about Geraldo and himself? Could the two of them survive? Could they walk forty kilometers without water? Yes, he was very confident they could. But could they walk a hundred kilometers? What if the water they had left by Bambino’s body wasn’t there? Could they walk a hundred kilometers? Visions of dehydrated Marathon runners collapsing to the ground began to play in Segundo’s mind. There would be no one to help him, and hell, he was badly in need of water now. Segundo had to work to keep himself from shaking.

Later that evening, 6:30 PM, at the mini-hospital complex of Red Mall

Brandi, Emily, and Allison were a three-person team watching over a still unconscious Cassidy who was plugged into the autodoc at Red Mall’s hospital suite. After several hours of operations, the strange machine was now quiet. Cassidy had an IV and was catheterized, plus there were numerous probes attached to her body, on her fingers, chest, and groin. Brandi and Allison had been taking turns petting Cassie’s head or holding her hand.

Jada walked into the medical suite from the library, having just arrived at Red Mall through the first floor elevator. “How is she doing?” she asked in a concerned voice.

Emily took a second to glance at the bewildering diagnostic displays above the autodoc. “You just missed seeing Paige here. I told her Cassidy might be coming along okay. These display numbers here, I’m certain it’s her blood pressure. It’s up to 115 over 68, the best yet. And all these indicators here,” she added, pointing with her hand, “None of them are orange any more. If the autodoc is following the same color conventions as the janitor codes, I’m hoping that means Cassidy is out of danger.”

“Orange is the color for danger?” Allison asked as she looked over the display. She had just relieved Paige at the hospital about ten minutes ago.

Emily nodded. “I’m guessing so, yeah. Maybe white is a less serious problem, green is marginal but sort of okay, and the purplish blue is what it’s happy with. I’m guessing but I think I’m right.” As Emily watched, one of the few remaining white diagnostics switched to green. Cassidy’s abdominal muscles moved slightly and a small amount of clear yellow liquid drained along the catheter tube.

Jada walked close and stared at their patient, resting her head on her forehead and feeling it was cool and dry. “God, I hope she’s all right. I thought we lost her when she stopped breathing.”

“It was less than a minute,” Emily whispered. “I’m hoping she’s okay too. Chico was very impressive. Running up the stairwell and across the rooms, the man was flying, and he was so gentle with her, no bobbing at all.”

Jada nodded and looked at the watch team. “So, you guys okay with missing the meeting?”

Allison spoke for them all. “Of course. Just fill us in afterwards. When’s it starting?”

“About twenty minutes I guess, whenever I get there.” Jada then turned to Brandi. “Brandi, we think Ernesto might die if his wound isn’t treated soon. We’ll be discussing this at the meeting. Brandi, could you help me? I didn’t want to interrogate you so quickly, but...”

“Sure Jada, anything I can do to help. What would you like to know?”

“I need ... We need to know what we’re up against. The men of Black Mall, why did they throw away their decency? What are we working with here?”

Brandi was still for a long moment and trembled before replying. “You’re being too kind. It wasn’t just the men. I threw away my decency too.”

Allison surprised Brandi by reaching over and giving her a brief hug around the waist. “Brandi, there’s really not much to forgive. The other three taskmistresses were in another league entirely. We all used to hope for you to be in charge of us.”

Brandi grimaced. “And what about Britney?”

“Brandi, you had no part in that, other than deciding not to walk in front of Uno’s gunmen. I didn’t either, none of us did.”

“How did Britney die?” Jada asked in a whisper.

Allison gave a tearful sigh. “At the end, Ricardo caned her throat. He crushed her larynx. Britney suffocated to death.”

Jada grimaced and returned to Brandi. “Why?! Why such monstrosity? The drug didn’t affect us this way!”

“I know, I know,” Brandi wailed. “It wasn’t the drug, at least not directly! This has been going on for months, not the murders maybe, but the cruelty. Beta Sigma Rho was turning into a really disgusting frat house. It wasn’t like this last year, the school year I mean, before the fall term.”

Brandi took a deep breath and tried to answer Jada’s original question. “Last school year the frat seniors were a bunch of great guys, a little wild maybe, and gun enthusiasts too, but at their core they were good people. They were my friends. This year everything changed. Uno, Chico, Santos, and Gilberto were the four senior officers, and Chico was the only one I thought was worth anything. The other three really changed the character of the house. Their four pledges this year, the muchachos, were absolutely horrible, all four of them. And Ricardo is the worst, a real nut case and a martial arts fanatic too. It gave me the creeps just to be in the same room with him.”

Jada shook her head. “Couldn’t Chico move out?”

“Ah, we talked about that some. But Chico and I were both graduating in June. It would be a hassle to find hew housing, and besides Chico really loved his fraternity. He hated to see the place falling apart. So he stuck around and tried to make a difference.”

Allison interrupted. “Brandi, do you know that Chico raped me?”

Brandi turned to her and grimaced. “No. I knew about Mandy, not you. I’m so sorry.” She gave an emotional grimace. “And I didn’t even try to talk him out of it. I don’t know why. It’s like a nightmare where you keep making one wrong decision after another.” She paused and whispered, “Allison?”

“Hmm?”

“How badly did he ... Was he cruel?”

Allison paused for a moment. “He raped me ... but he wasn’t interested in causing pain, not like the others...” Allison sighed and reluctantly let her mind relive the memory. “It was Mandy’s turn for night shift work. She was feeling very depressed and looking awful. I ... I asked Chico to take me instead. Mandy started crying...”

Allison sniffled and went on. “Chico took me to his bedroom. I let him undress me. And then I let him pet me. Maybe it was technical rape only, but it was still rape. Chico had me naked on his bed. He was petting me. I was listless, trying to take my mind elsewhere. He had lube, and I had just gone through this nonsense with Jessica less than an hour ago. When I felt his finger enter my vagina, all the way up inside me, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I just lost it and flipped out! I screamed at him and told him to shoot me instead!”

Another sigh. “I think I was really expecting to die. But Chico looked embarrassed, more than embarrassed, ashamed of himself. I was surprised. And he did stop, I’ll give him credit for that, and his cock deflated like a punctured balloon. He did not try to touch me again. Still, he penetrated me, and he knew I was being coerced. I still think of him as someone who raped me. I guess that’s all I have to say.”

After a moment, Jada tried to pick up her conversation with Brandi. “So Chico decided to stay with the frat?”

Brandi nodded and frowned, trying to remember her earlier conversation. “Yes. Toro and Diego stuck around too. A lot of other people moved out though...”

“Ah. How well do you know Toro?”

“Toro is a very old friend of both Chico and me. He’s a couple of years younger. He’s a ... He was a sophomore. He’s okay, more than okay. Just try to get to know him Jada. You’ll like him. And Diego, yeah, maybe Diego has some goodness in him too. He reminds me of Bambino a bit, a quiet guy but without the nervousness.”

Brandi sighed and concluded. “All the others though, the frat men that are still alive, they’re old friends of Uno and Gilberto. They’re one nasty bunch of hombres. Alfredo and Alfonso were juniors. Hernando and Jenaro were sophomores.”

Allison added, “I agree with your opinion about the last four. They were four gleeful rapists...”

Jada sighed. “I’m sorry to hear it. There are so few men left. I don’t see how we can afford to lose so many.”

Brandi shook her head. “Jada, the true loss comes with having them around.”

Allison piped up again. “It’s true, Jada. I hate condemning people, but from my experience as a slave, I have to agree.”

Jada shrugged. “Okay, you know these men and I don’t. I’ll accept your opinion. And what about the three women still at Black Mall?”

Brandi thought for a second. “Oh, Amber and Whitney are okay I guess, much better people that Neto and Pancho were, that’s for sure. I’ll never understand why they hung on to those two. They seemed to me to be tough survivors, and I’m hoping they’re doing okay. And as for Jessica... “ Brandi shuddered. “Wow. Jessica is one sick puppy. Allison, why don’t you take this one?”

Allison looked pale but nodded to her old taskmistress. “Brandi, I don’t blame you for not stopping her. There was nothing you could do.”

Allison then turned and spoke to Jada. “Jessica is the one that started the contraband inspections, full inspections with latex gloves. I have nightmares about it, and it’s almost a week since she had her fingers inside me. It was all a sick joke. Jessica would use ten times the amount of lube needed, and then just slide around forever, vagina and rectum, back and forth, pretending to search for something she knew wasn’t there. I think she just wanted to see how far she could dilate me, that and get me to cry. She wouldn’t leave my butt until she had broken me.”

Allison paused and gave a soft whimper. “And Nadine! Nadine had her fingers up Britney’s butt moments before Ricardo caned her throat. That horror is going to stay with me forever. The image of Britney choking with Nadine dancing around in gleeful laughs, her awful maniacal laughs, still wearing her slimy latex gloves...”

Allison shook and said nothing more. She just sat there looking miserable. Brandi came over and hugged Allison and then turned to Emily and Jada. “I’ll say this in defense of Jessica, not defending her actions but her motives. Nadine and Tiffany, this past month, they were the closest thing to pure evil as I can imagine. They relished their power to dominate. Jessica though, sometimes...”

Brandi paused to collect her thoughts for a moment before continuing. “I got the impression Jessica was terrified by the evil around her, and she joined it as an escape, so the evil wouldn’t prey on her and make her a victim too. She’s a woman of quick, nervous jumps. I get this feeling of barely controlled panic when I’m around her. Deep down, she’s terrified.”

“Terrified about what?” asked Emily. “The evil around her, or by what she’s allowed herself to become?”

Brandi shrugged. “I don’t know. She doesn’t talk much. Maybe both.”

Simultaneously in the terminal store of Green Mall...

Chico sat back in a very plush chair at the Hilton Executive Conference Center, waiting for the meeting to start. It was a few minutes before 7 PM, and besides Toro and himself there were a dozen women in the room, and they were all waiting for Jada. His understanding was that their acting leader was with the three women who were staying with Cassidy.

What a feeling of relief. Cassidy was going to be okay, as least that’s what Paige said, provided the woman named Emily was reading that fantastic gizmo table correctly, the one the women were calling an autodoc. Cassidy was going to be okay, as least physically. But what she would think when she woke up? Did she even know that her boyfriend Bambino was dead? Probably, but there was much they still didn’t know.

Chico looked at the huge monitors on the wall opposite the magical elevator. They spanned almost the entire length of their large room. And there was so much they did know. Lynn and Akiko plus another woman whose name Chico couldn’t quite remember were making rapid process connecting their mall monitoring system to this central facility. Currently this room had push-button access to the entire surveillance systems of Green and Black Malls, with more soon to follow.

Chico looked around the room sheepishly. A few of the women from his old group would give him stiff nods of recognition and then turn away. They were obviously still unsettled by the idea of giving Chico amnesty. And Chico didn’t blame them a bit. He had spent a torturous time alone with himself while the others had an evening meal. He finally forced himself to see what a monster he had become, clearly raping two women, Mandy multiple times and Allison once. And he had almost raped three.

He had intended to rape Toshi. He had brought her to his room fully intending to have sex with her, perhaps being friendly with her at first, chatting for a while before petting her and hoping she would be a willing partner, but in the end having sex with her regardless of her feelings.

She had not resisted holding hands with him as he checked her out of the pussy barn, and Chico had taken that as an encouraging sign. And he gave admiring glances to her required state of dress, a skimpy bra and thong panties. But when he got her to his bedroom and sat down beside her, he noticed she was staring listlessly at the floor as he petted her breasts through the bra. Before he undressed her, he tried to smile at her. With his massive hand, he tilted her chin to look at him as gently as he could.

Her eyes! The sadness and despair! Her eyes touched his mind and then his heart, reminding him of Allison. Chico suddenly felt humiliated by what he was about to do. He looked away in shame, and after the moment it took to recover, he was surprised to see his erection had completely disappeared. Chico got up and got the shivering Toshi a couple of blankets and allowed her to curl up and take a nap on his bed while he sat nearby and read a book, unknowingly practicing the ritual Toro had been doing night after night.