Chapter 18
The next day Todd showed Jason the chores, which he was required to perform. These included harvesting and cleaning vegetables as well as gathering and chopping firewood from a nearby forest. After Jason had spent half his day performing these duties, Todd taught him how to use a pistol.
Just as Todd began teaching Jason the proper use of a rifle, Andrew came and interrupted.
“He shouldn't be handling firearms yet,” said Andrew. “Wait until he's eighteen.”
Todd nodded.
The interruption annoyed Jason. Learning about firearms had been the most enjoyable thing he'd done since coming to the farm. “It's only a couple months away.”
“I know,” said Andrew, “But there are more important things for you to do right now.”
Jason assumed it was more farm work and he took the disappointment in stride. “What do you need done?”
“Come with me to the tech center.”
Jason followed Andrew into a small building and entered a room full of about a dozen computers. Marvel and a heavy set female with glasses were sitting at two of the computers, typing away.
“I've brought a helper,” said Andrew.
Marvel and the heavy set female turned to look at them. “Do you know anything about computers?” asked Marvel.
“Enough to surf the internet,” replied Jason.
“We've got some books you can study, but for now we need help going through some files we've found.”
“Sure.”
Marvel motioned toward the computer, next to himself, and Jason took a seat.
“This is Wendy by the way.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Jason.
“Likewise,” said Wendy.
“Wendy's an expert hacker. You have any questions, just ask her.”
“You trying to save yourself some time or something?” asked Wendy.
“Goddamn right I am.”
Marvel explained how to access the directories and he told Jason to begin with the image files, because they would go a lot quicker. Jason was to make a log of each file, including the file name and a brief description.
The first few files were nothing more than interracial pornography involving Caucasian men and Asian females. “Why are you interested in having this filth in a log?”
“The owners of that server have been trying to hack into our system.”
Jason continued going through file after file of pornography. The first directory contained Asian females. The second contained Indian females. It was all typical pornography. After going through a directory of red haired females, he saw a directory labeled BDSM_1. The first file he opened showed a naked Asian female spread eagle on her back with over a dozen electrodes connected to various parts of her body, including two hooked up to her labia.
“Holy shit!” exclaimed Jason.
“What is it?” asked Marvel.
“It's a woman being electrocuted.”
Marvel looked over at his computer. “That's not an electrocution. She'll live.”
“That's torture.”
“I know.”
“We should go to the authorities with this.”
“It's nothing special. There's photos like that all over the internet.”
“You serious?”
“Yeah. It's very easy to find that type of stuff.”
“How can they keep it up?”
“Law enforcement just dismiss the victims as masochists. They'd resent you wasting their time.”
“I thought that's what they're there for.”
“So did I.”
Jason went back to writing logs. The rest of the directory contained electroshock torture photos of Asian women. The second BDSM directory contained bondage photos of Asian women. When he came across a photo of a young Asian female with a rubber ball in her mouth, laying supine in a bath tub, he gasped and said, “I need to take a break.”
“Sure.”
Feeling light headed and dazed, Jason went outside for a cigarette. With quivering fingers he lifted the cigarette to his mouth and lit it. It wasn't just the detoxing that was messing with his nerves. He couldn't get used to the idea of what was occurring over and over again in those pictures. Right now, while he was smoking his cigarette, some girl was suffering those types of tortures as part of her daily life.
“You know you like it,” said a shrill pixy.
Jason heard such taunts routinely throughout the day. The comment was typical.
He called it quits for the day and went back to the barracks, feeling exhausted.
The next day, Jason was logging more image files, when Marvel exclaimed, “Found it!”
“Found what?” asked Jason.
“Their address,” said Marvel.
“Are you sure it's their actual address?” asked Wendy.
“I can't be completely certain until I have a picture to match up with the blue prints.”
“What blue prints?” asked Jason.
“Blue prints of the compound. They're among the files we downloaded.”
“Can I see them?”
“Sure.”
Marvel grabbed the mouse and keyboard on Jason's computer and he opened a folder entitled buildingPlans. There were many files prefixed with the word sector. Marvel opened the file called groundFloor. The blueprint looked like it was of a community center.
“Where are they keeping the girls?” asked Jason.
“Beneath it.” Marvel opened the file entitled sectorOne. The file contained a much larger series of passages resembling a labyrinth with rooms of the same size grouped together at regular intervals.
“That looks like a cell system.”
“I've suspected as much.”
“We should hand this over to the authorities.”
Marvel scoffed at the idea and said, “You think they wouldn't know about it already? That would be an awful lot of water and electricity.”
“What can we do about it?”
“I want to know if it's an actual place. A picture of the compound would help to prove it.”
“Then what?”
“Then we run a smear campaign on the members.”
“Have you had any luck with that passage yet?” asked Wendy.
“No.”
“What passage?” asked Jason.
“There's one passage that leads outside of the blue prints.”
“Where to?”
“We're still trying to find out. We've got some leads, but they're pretty tough to crack.”
“Where is the compound located?” asked Wendy.
“Southern Alabama. Bayou country.”
“I'd like to go,” said Jason.
“If you're up early tomorrow morning maybe we'll take you along,” said Marvel.
Jason did get up early the next morning, eager to see bayou country. He'd never been into that part of Alabama before. It also slaked his thirst for vengeance to act out against them. He could never view the world the same again after having seen those pictures.
Jason got into the back seat of the Sedan with Todd and Wendy sat in the front with Marvel, who was driving. “You all got cameras?” asked Marvel.
Jason, Todd, and Wendy all affirmed they did.
“Good. When we get there we'll each go to different vantage points around the building. I'll get the front. Wendy, you get the right. Jason, you get left. Todd, you get the back. Take a few pictures and leave. Be quick about it.”
Marvel started up the car and they departed from the farm.
The trip into Alabama was exhilarating. They traveled past the citified areas into the rural country, where brush and swampland spread out around them. After several hours of driving, they came to a gravel road, filled with pot holes, which caused the car to bump up and down.
When the road turned to dirt, Wendy asked, “Are you sure you're not lost?”
“This is the way,” replied Marvel.
“I'd hate to get stuck out here.”
“We'
re just going to take the pictures and leave. Real quick.”
The trees blocked most of the sunlight from view for quite a while, until they entered a clearing with an old SUV and empty makeshift parking spaces marked out by logs.
Marvel parked the car near the entrance to the clearing with its front pointed back the way they had come. “Everybody ready?” he asked.
Jason and the others nodded. Then the four of them exited the vehicle. The compound was shaped like the building in the blue prints he'd seen. The idea of being so close to those horrendous activities filled Jason with intense hatred. He wished he could do more than just take a picture, but he took his position, snapped half a dozen pictures and left back to the car, where Marvel was already waiting behind the wheel. Wendy wasn't far behind, but Todd was nowhere to be seen.
Just as Jason was getting into the car, a man yelled, “Stop right there!”
Jason's head jerked back toward the compound. Todd soon came into view sprinting. The sound of a gunshot pierced the air.
“Get in!” shouted Marvel.
Wendy and Jason entered the car.
An ugly old man was chasing after Todd. He stopped and fired a couple more shots from his pistol, before reloading.
Todd slammed the car door shut and shouted, “Get us the fuck out of here!”
Jason looked back toward the compound as Marvel started the car. The old man had the reloaded gun pointed directly at them. He fired another round. A pang of adrenaline shot through Jason's body as the bullet grazed the car.
“Hit the gas!” shouted Wendy.
Two more bullets struck the car before they were out of the clearing.
“Damn. That was a close one,” said Todd.
“Did you get the pictures?” asked Marvel.
Jason and the others affirmed that they had.
“What took you so long?” asked Marvel.
Todd sneered and said, “I got back as fast as I could.”
“I said to be quick about it.”
“Next time you take the picture from the furthest end.”
“Next time?” exclaimed Wendy. “Who said there's going to be a next time?”
“There isn't going to be a next time with that compound,” said Marvel. “We'll settle for what we've got.”
The tension Jason had felt over the gunshots was now transforming into a mind blowing rush. “That was intense,” he said.
Todd chuckled. “What did you make of that compound?” asked Todd.
“I'm certain that's the one in the blue prints,” replied Marvel.
Not long after getting back onto paved roads, Marvel stopped at a gas station to fill up. Jason and Todd went inside the mini mart for snacks, while Wendy waited in the car and Marvel filled the tank.
When Jason left the mini mart, Marvel was being accosted by two large rednecks.
“You better erase those pictures!” demanded one of the rednecks.
“I don't know what you're talking about,” said Marvel.
“You had no business trespassing on private property.”
“I'm just trying to get some gas.”
“You know what you did. Now cough em up.”
“Is there a problem here?” asked Todd.
“You need to erase those pictures you all took,” replied one of the rednecks.
Jason waited outside of the vehicle with Todd, expecting trouble. Marvel finished filling up the tank and he put the gas pump back. When he turned to enter the driver's seat, the two red necks blocked him.
“You wanna leave here you erase the pictures.”
Jason and Todd approached the two harassers as Marvel said, “I don't want any trouble.”
“You got trouble nigger!” The redneck punched Marvel in the gut.
Jason jumped the assailant from behind, directing the blade of his foot against the back of the redneck's kneecap, causing his leg to wobble. Marvel immediately took the chance to counter and threw a right cross against his foe's jaw line, sending him into a daze.
The other redneck stopped and stared at Jason for a moment with a dumbfounded expression, before Todd pummeled his midsection from behind.
The two fled as quickly as they could without another word.
Wendy got out of the car and held Marvel. “Are you all right, honey.”
“Yeah. But could you drive us home?”
“Sure.”
“Let's get outta here before anybody else shows up,” said Todd.
The four of them got into the sedan and returned back to the farm.