The Remedy Page 20

  “Open wide,” Bugger said as if addressing a child. “Here comes the airplane!”

  Dale’s mouth parted uncertainly and accepted the ear on his dark green, swollen tongue. The fungus-covered lips closed and the mound of mushrooms on his chin began to bob up and down as he chewed.

  Leigh gagged once. Twice. And then she couldn’t help herself any longer. She violently threw up a rancid, white, semisolid fluid, the only thing left in her stomach. Sam remained frozen.

  “Good Lord, girl,” Clementine said as she shook her head. “Pull yourself together.” She looked over at Dale and saw that he was still chewing. “Bugger, dammit! That piece is too tough. Give him something he can swallow.”

  “Sorry, ma.” Bugger paced back over to Douglas and pulled up the ranger uniform tucked into his pants. Douglas’s stomach and obliques were well toned. But Bugger was still able to pinch a chunk of fat from the man’s stomach, which he immediately began to work slicing off.

  Again, Douglas screamed, slamming the back of his head so hard against the table that Leigh was surprised he didn’t knock himself out. Which was probably what he was trying to do.

  The sliver of flesh, like the ear, didn’t come off with a quick incision. The muscles in Bugger’s forearms and biceps tensed as he sawed away the skin with the blunt edge of the cleaver. This particular hunk of meat didn’t come off with the same dry, snapping noise as before. Instead, upon removal it was wet, like slicing off a bite-sized piece of extra rare steak.

  The flesh finally came free in Bugger’s hand, resting in his palm like a peach-colored slug. Douglas’s screams, while at first loud and furious, turned to weak whimpers as he started to cry.

  Leigh began to weep as well.

  “Stop,” she said between sobs. “For God’s sake, please stop.”

  But Bugger ignored her pleading, too busy removing what was left of Douglas’s ear from Dale’s mouth and replacing it with the slippery morsel from his torso.

  “There ya go,” he said to Dale. “That should slide right down.”

  And indeed it did, with a single, sickening gulp. Leigh retched again, but this time there was nothing left to expel. Douglas, now weak from his struggles, looked to her with beseeching eyes. Through all his pain and suffering, the man couldn’t know that Leigh was as helpless as he. There was nothing she could do for him except pray that these sickos would finish what they started as quickly as possible.

  Unfortunately, that was not the case.

  “Hmm,” Clementine said, studying Dale. “I think we need to speed this up.” She looked to Bugger. “Drench him down. Use a foot.”

  Before Leigh could even begin to figure out what that meant, Bugger was back at Douglas’s side, the cleaver coming down with mighty force. It connected just above the left ankle. Though it appeared Douglas had no fight left in him, the man thrashed against the painful blow, actually prying an arm free from Grizzly’s powerful hold. The giant regained the arm instantly, but the flail managed to loosen the tape covering the ranger’s mouth. With the tape dangling now from the corner of his lower lip, Douglas was able to release a tremendous scream.

  “Nooo!” he wailed as the cleaver slammed into his ankle yet again. “Stop! Please, stop! Don’t!” But his screams did nothing to stop the blade from coming down, and with one final hack his foot was severed clean off. Bugger caught it just before it hit the floor. Grizzly clamped a colossal hand over Douglas’s mouth to muffle his shouts.

  Rob leaned down to his aunt’s ear.

  “Uh, Aunt Clemmy?” he asked. “Does he have to be…alive for all of this?”

  Clementine turned a pair of understanding eyes up toward her nephew. “Oh, I’m sorry, Robbie. I forgot you’re not as used to this sort of thing as we are. But I’m afraid it’s all necessary. You see, with a case as bad as this one here, the meat and blood have to be as fresh as possible.”

  As Clementine calmly explained this reasoning to her nephew, Bugger tilted the amputated foot over Dale’s head so the blood rained down over him. The crimson shower soaked both the man and the chair, leaving red streaks on both flesh and wood. When the last drop of blood had been emptied from the amputated extremity, Bugger tossed it into the corner of the cabin like a discarded beer bottle.

  “Wow, Mama,” Bugger said, stepping back to admire his work. “You were right. That worked fast!”

  Leigh managed to lift her head, which felt like it weighed one hundred pounds, and glanced over at the Tree Man still sitting in his chair.

  Though splotches of fungus still spotted his face and body in a green patchwork of fuzz, the Tree Man had almost completely vanished. Dale Preston had begun to reclaim his body, his distinct features becoming more visible by the second. Not only was the fungus retreating from its all-out attack, Leigh could see sanity and comprehension returning to Dale’s mind. His expression was one of a man who’d just stepped out from a hot, relaxing Jacuzzi bath.

  The expression didn’t last long as Bugger slammed the back of his head with the handle of the cleaver, knocking him unconscious before pointing at the mutilated Douglas, whose muffled screams continued under Grizzly’s palm.

  “Might as well take care of that one, too, Grizz. He’s served his purpose now. Right, Ma?”

  The moment his mother nodded, Grizzly raised a brick-sized fist high above his head. A second later, it came crashing down on Douglas’s skull with a thunderous crack! Douglas’s body twitched three times before lying still.

  Wheeling her chair over so her face was only inches from Sam’s, she asked him, “Now do you believe me?” A cocky grin spread across her face as she gestured toward the unconscious Dale, who was now almost fungus-free.

  Sam merely shrugged. “It truly is remarkable. But you’re still all a bunch of sick, murdering, redneck fucks.”

  Before Clementine could offer a retort, either with her voice or the back of her hand, Bugger sprinted past her and snatched Sam’s face with his blood-slicked hand. His fingers dug into Sam’s cheeks, pushing hips lips apart like those of a fish.

  “Oh, come on now!” Bugger said, furiously shaking Sam’s face. “Have you ever even tried a man’s flesh before? You just don’t know what you’re missing. It’s real tasty. Especially the way Ma makes it.”

  Clementine patted her son on the back. “Why thank you, sonny boy.”

  “Hell,” Bugger continued, “and not only that, but it’s real good for you. Makes you big and strong!” He pulled Sam’s face toward Grizzly. “Just take a look at my sister.”

  Through his fish-shaped lips, Sam slurred the word Leigh was already repeating in silent disbelief.

  “Sister?”

  As carefully as one would handle a beautiful, delicate vase, Grizzly reached for the bottom of the bear mask and pulled it upward. Locks of greasy red hair tumbled out, falling onto Grizzly’s shoulders like dying serpents. The mask rose up over Grizzly’s head until Leigh and Sam could fully see the face beneath.

  Her face.

  Leigh had never been so cruel to make fun of another’s appearance or call attention to someone else’s unfortunate physical flaws, especially another woman. But as she stared at the female juggernaut before her, Leigh couldn’t help herself from thinking:

  That is the ugliest woman I have ever seen in my life.

  One narrow eye was lower than the other, and the thick unibrow resting on her protruding skull towered over both of them like a newspaper stand awning. Her nose was pulled up and pushed in as if it had been hit square on with the business end of a sledgehammer. A severe harelip severed her upper lip, revealing a single, jagged tooth underneath. A strand of drool hung from the corner of her mouth, a strand of saliva that she was seemingly unaware of dripping down her chin.

  “Oh my God.” Leigh said, the words barely able to pass her quivering lips.

  Clementine wheeled over to her daughter who knelt beside her. As the mother spoke, she ran a hand though Grizzly’s clumpy red dreads.

  “Oh, God had nothing to
do with her size. You see, when my daughter was only an infant, she came down with a real bad case of the fuzz. Covered most of her body, in fact. So for a whole year she ate nothing but human flesh until I was sure the illness was gone. But wouldn’t you know it? It’s been years since she was cured, but she still won’t eat anything else.” Clementine wiped away the clinging drool with the hem of her dress. “I guess she’s still scared of catching it again.”

  Bugger released his grip on Sam’s face and pointed a teasing finger at his sister. “You big baby!”

  “Now, let’s not get started,” Clementine yelled at her son. “We’ve still got to deal with these two.”

  The words hit Leigh and bubbled like battery acid on her brain. After seeing one man’s harvested flesh hand fed to another man like party hors d’oeuvres, who knew how these people would deal with them.

  “What…” Her first attempt at forming a sentence failed after the first word. She couldn’t seem to take a full breath. She tried again. “What are you going to do?”

  As if the whole weight of the world had fallen upon her shoulders all at once, Clementine leaned back in her wheelchair like she was about to take an afternoon nap. A look of maudlin sadness came over her.

  “Well, the truth is, honey, I’m getting’ old. And soon not even our remedy is gonna be able to do me any good.” The words came from her with as much gentleness as a grandmother receiving a visit from her grandkids.

  But the illusion did not last any longer than it took the woman to speak her next sentence.

  “So I figure if I’m ever gonna see any grandchildren, now’s the time. And that’s where you all come in.”

  An icy hand squeezed Leigh’s heart, prickling her skin and tightening her buttocks. She darted her eyes over to Bugger, who just hours ago had molested her in the cellar. She could still feel his rough, filthy hands on her skin. His horrid, rancid mouth on her nipples. The idea of going through that again—and worse—

  She couldn’t do it.

  “No,” she whispered. She had never said anything that sounded so pathetic.

  But Sam’s voice was a different matter altogether. He wrenched in his chair, trying desperately to loosen the knots that held him tight. Frothy saliva spat from his mouth like that of a rabid dog.

  “I swear to God, if anyone lays a hand on her, I’ll fucking kill all of you.” He pulled his body forward as hard as it could go, but the ropes did not budge an inch. “I’m gonna fucking kill you!”

  Clementine furrowed her brow in complete awe. “Heavens, child!” she said with an smirk on her face. “What makes you think it’s just her I need?”

  Sam’s frantic struggles stopped as suddenly as they had begun. The words froze him like liquid nitrogen. It took him about five seconds to figure out the meaning behind the old lady’s question, but when he did, he could look nowhere else but at Grizzly’s revolting visage.

  “Oh hell no.”

  It was quite a sight to see someone as intimidating as Grizzly run over to the cabin wall and bury her face in her arms while great big sobs racked her entire body. Her moans scraped at Leigh’s eardrums like a dull fork scratching an aged blackboard. If not for the green flannel shirt and dark wool pants, Grizzly most closely resembled a high school senior stood up by her prom date.

  Clementine called over to her daughter, “Oh don’t you mind him, girl. You’re beautiful. He just hasn’t gotten to know you yet, that’s all.” She looked back to Sam and grinned. “But he will.”

  Grizzly’s sobs quieted, but she remained facing the wall. Satisfied that she’d at least calmed down, Clementine turned her attention toward Leigh. “As for you…”

  Bugger was practically jumping in place. “Can I do it now, Ma?”

  “Do what?” Rob suddenly spoke up and took three long paces so that he stood between Bugger and his mother.

  Clementine removed her glasses and gingerly rubbed her brow. “Yes, I suppose it’s time. But do it in the barn. We’ve already got a big enough mess in here.” She tried to wheel around Rob but he extended a foot to stop her left wheel.

  “Do what in the barn?”

  His aunt looked down at Rob’s sneakered foot blocking her way and then back up to him. “Fair’s fair,” she sighed. “You went off and killed Bugger’s woman, so he’s gotta get his turn now.”

  Clementine turned her chair to navigate around Rob’s foot but her nephew leaped in front of her and grabbed the armrests. “Hold on just a minute.”

  The fire behind the old woman’s eyes became hotter with every passing second.

  “I thought Leigh was gonna be kept alive to keep the family going.”

  Leigh expected the woman to cry out with an order to respect her authority, but instead, she smiled. “Now why would I want to go through all the trouble of keeping an outsider in my home for a whole nine months while we wait for a baby to pop out of her when my Grizzly girl could have the chance to experience motherhood herself? No, the boy will do his job, and this one here goes.”

  “That’s right!” Bugger’s joy had reverted his behavior to that of a seven-year-old. “Ma said it was okay!”

  Before Rob could mutter another word of protest, Bugger was pushing past him, a jackknife in his hand.

  Leigh squirmed at the sight of the blade.

  “No!”

  But after squeezing her eyes shut and bracing for the cold bite of the knife, all she felt was the sudden relief of the ropes around her wrists breaking apart as Bugger cut her free from her chair and hoisted her over his shoulder to carry her away.

  Away from Sam.

  “Sam!” she bellowed, catching the frightened glance of her friend still securely bonded to his seat.

  Again, he tried to break free, but he knew just as well as Leigh did that it would do no good. “Leigh!” he screamed. “Leave her alone!”

  As Bugger fumbled for the knob on the front door, Leigh pounded as hard as she could on his back with her fists.

  “That tickles,” Bugger said between chuckles. “You want me to tickle you?” The point of the jackknife blade just barely touched the exposed skin of Leigh’s lower back. She immediately stopped her attack upon feeling the sharp metal, going limp with defeat.

  Before the front door swung open, Leigh watched as Clementine pointed a bony finger at Sam and said to Grizzly, “Go get your man, sweetheart.” As easily as Bugger had lifted Leigh, Grizzly hoisted Sam over her own shoulder and carried him into the back bedroom. Clementine followed closely behind, wheeling herself into the room.

  Rob tried to follow. “Aunt Clemmy…wait!”

  But when Clementine reached the door, she swiftly pivoted to face him and replied, “Now, little Robbie. You stay out of here. This is not for your eyes.”

  Leigh and Sam exchanged one final glimpse before Clementine slammed the bedroom door shut, leaving Rob shaking the securely locked knob and screaming, “Aunt Clemmy? Aunt Clemmy!”

  Rob’s voice faded as Bugger carried Leigh outside, down the porch steps, and toward a large barn about a hundred feet from the cabin. When Leigh saw the brilliant red light silhouetting the trees to the east, her first thought was that the forest had caught on fire. But then she realized the light dancing like flames was merely the warm, welcoming colors of daybreak—just the sunrise of another beautiful September day in Vermont.

  Chapter 22

  Air rushed in and out of Jake’s nostrils noisily, like a bicycle pump in full use. With a slowly advancing river of blood creeping up on him from behind, Jake had managed to scoot himself halfway across the dusty floor of the ranger outpost. He had struggled greatly, having only the use of his knees to pull not only his own body weight, but that of the chair, still attached to him like a leech. Although his aching muscles begged for reprieve and his exhausted lungs threatened to call it quits at any moment, Jake kept an unwavering focus on the prize ahead: an opened, cardboard box with the word supplies written in black Sharpie across its side.

  Trying to loosen the ropes
with futile squirming wasn’t going to free him anytime soon. Phil had made sure of that before blowing his brains out in a Jackson Pollack splatter across the outpost’s windowpane. Jake knew his only chance of salvation lay waiting inside that box, be it in the form of a knife or anything plastic he could break into a jagged edge. Of course, it could just contain cans of food and bottled water, in which case he wouldn’t be going anywhere until another ranger happened to pass through.

  But he had to try. He had to get free as soon as possible and report everything he had learned. He had to tell the rest of the department. The town of Embry. The world.

  But where to begin?

  Jake released an unexpected chuckle, an obvious sign of the stress chipping away at his composure. He had to get the goddamned giggles out of his system, an unnecessary exertion of energy that halted his progress to the box.

  Christ, what a night.

  A reddish-orange beam of light penetrating the window and crossing directly in his path spread pleasant warmth across his face like a fleece blanket fresh from the clothes dryer. For a moment, Jake forgot all about the unattainable goal ahead and the flow of blood hotly pursuing him from behind. The darkness of night was momentarily trounced by the glory of morning.

  The quick rest didn’t do much for Jake’s body, but his mind felt like it had just come off fresh from God’s assembly line. The morning light had burned away some of Jake’s doubt and hysteria, allowing him to refocus on his plan of attack. If he ever wanted to put the Humpty Dumpty of his life back together again, first things first: free himself and get back on his feet.

  Which means you’ve got to reach that fucking box. So let’s do it.

  Jake groaned and threw his weight forward, crawling another six inches toward the cardboard container. Then another six inches. Then another foot. And just as his lower back seized in cramps, pain like a cobra’s fangs sinking into the tissue on both sides of his spine…