The Demented Z (Book 2): Desolation (Book 2) by Derek J Thomas

can have some fun
and take our time.”
    “I did two tours in Vietnam.  
I’ve been to this rodeo.”
    Lincoln walked over to one of the tool carts and began
picking up one tool after another until finally keeping a pair of shears.
  Holding them up, he smiled and turned to
Hank. “You know, I thought you old timers
would say something like that...and from Big Mike’s previous experience, this one
over here, Hank I believe, is a tough one to crack.
  So, I have a different plan...maybe save us all
some time.”
    Hank stepped forward and said, “We don’t even know what you
want. How the hell are we supposed to
tell you anything?”
    Turning toward the entryway, Lincoln shouted out to Big
Mike, “Bring her in Mike.”
    A wheelchair came rolling into the room with Rachael sitting
in it, looking pale and in pain.
    “Rachael!”   Hank
said. He started to move toward her, but
Big Mike shook his head and held the barrel of his pistol to the back of her
head.
    Lincoln said, “Look what we found down in the emergency
room. Your friend seems to have taken a
turn for the worse.”   He ran his fingers
along the sharp edge of the shears and added, “My bet is that she has never
been to this rodeo.”
    “Leave her out of this.”  
Hank said.
    “Answer me and I will.”  
Lincoln turned toward Dennis and said, “Don’t screw this up.
  In the basement is a huge safe.
  Give me the combo.”
    Hank was surprised by the question.
  He wasn’t sure what he expected Lincoln to
ask, but this was not it.
    “No.”   Dennis said.
    With alarming speed Lincoln stepped over to Rachael, lifter
her arm, and used the shears to snip off her pinky.
  She immediately screamed in agony.
  Dark blood streamed out of the stump, running
down her arm, and dripping off her elbow to the floor.
    Hank started to rush forward, but Lincoln turned toward him,
anger filling his face. “Don’t even think
about it.”   He growled.
  “I tried to do this the easy way.”
  He pointed the bloody shears at Dennis.
  “You chose this.”
    Dennis tried to remain stoic, but was clearly shaken a bit
by Lincoln’s brutality.
    Hank was pissed. He
started toward Rachael, but Austin grabbed him from behind.
    “Whoa...I think you better stay put old timer.”
  Austin said.
    “I can’t...”   Dennis
started to say.
    Before he could finish Lincoln reached over, grabbed
Rachael’s hand, and used the shears to remove her ring finger.
  She was already screaming, but the pitch
increased a notch and her face went ghost white.
    “Dennis, give him the combo.”
  Hank shouted.
    Looking back at Hank, fear and desperation in his eyes,
Dennis said, “We have everything in there.  
Guns, ammo, food...”   He left the
statement unfinished, clearly in a panic.  
The decision was huge and having the added pressure of someone getting
appendages snipped off was not helping anything.
    “You don’t know what she’s been through.
  Too damn much, she can’t go through more.”
  Hank pleaded.
    Lincoln grabbed Rachael’s hand again, but before he could
begin any dirty work Dennis shouted for him to stop and began rattling off a
set of numbers. He had
broke and was spewing the numbers
out as quickly as possible, spit flying from his mouth.
    Lincoln stopped and looked up at Big Mike.
  “Write this down.”
  He spun back toward Dennis and said, “Now how
hard was that?   I’m going to go give
those numbers a try while Austin and Mike keep an eye
on you clowns.”
    Hank took a step forward, looking at Rachael’s hand.
  “Can we get her something for her hand?”
  He turned back toward Austin, figuring he
might be the best shot. “Gauze, towel,
rag...anything?   She’s losing a lot of
blood.”
    Austin nodded and began digging through the cupboards that
surrounded the room. After looking
behind a few doors he found a stack of pre-packaged sterile wraps.
  After watching Lincoln