seriously planning on going through with this?” The doctor demanded abruptly.
“Pain and fear, doc. The best lessons include both, don’t they bitch?”
Stunned and disoriented for several moments, Lena began struggling again at that, beating her heels against the man’s shins, trying to reach back to grab his hair or claw at his face. A buzzer sounded and the door slid open. Before Lena could do more than scream ‘No!’ she felt herself flying through the air as he pitched her inside. Pain seemed to shoot through her from every direction as she hit the floor and skidded.
For several moments after she’d stopped, it almost seemed as if everyone was holding their breath.
“What’s the matter? You guys forgot what a female smells like?”
Someone uttered a roar that sounded more animal than human. The hairs on the back of Lena’s neck stood up even as she began scrambling toward the door. Someone kneed her. A body fell on top of her, crushing the breath from her lungs. It took Lena several moments to figure out that one huge man stood over her, pulverizing the other men that surged toward them.
She didn’t have much of a view of him from the floor, but she didn’t need one to know she didn’t want to wait around until he’d fought the others off of her. Wrenching free of the legs clamped on either side of her waist, she scrambled on all fours toward the door again.
The guard stuck his foot through the bars as she reached it, planting the sole of his boot on top of her head and giving her a shove backwards.
“You’re in luck, sweetheart,” the guard shouted over the racket of animalistic snarls and growls and the thud of fists, his voice threaded with avid amusement. “Black Stew don’t wanna share you.”
“Are you out of your mind? You idiot! They’re going to tear her apart,” the doctor growled. “I’m sounding the alarm.”
With a growl of rage, the guard took a running step, caught the doctor by his lab coat and lifted him clear of the floor. “If you ain’t got the stomach for it, go!” he snarled.
“But just so’s you know, if you open your mouth, or touch that fucking alarm, it’ll be the last thing you do.”
“Let go of me, you animal,” the doctor said in a strangled voice.
The guard shrugged, allowed the doctor to slide to the floor, and then planted his
31
fist in the middle of the man’s face so hard the doctor’s skull ricocheted off the bars behind him. Blood spurted from his nose and lips. His eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped slowly toward the floor.
Someone grabbed Lena by her hair. She locked her arms around the bars and held on for all she was worth, squeezing her eyes closed against the pain shooting across her scalp.
“I owe this bitch one,” a new, vaguely familiar voice ground out behind her. “Let her go. She’s mine!”
A loud, meaty thud emphasized the demand. The hand that was tangled in her hair was wrenched free, yanking strands from her scalp. Something heavy fell across Lena’s back--an arm or leg, she was certain, because if that huge brute had landed on top of her he would’ve crushed her like a bug.
Ignoring the pain and the scuffle going on just above and behind her, Lena gripped the bars and struggled up again. “Let me out!” she babbled. “I’ll talk. I swear….”
The last word left her as an unintelligible grunt when someone grabbed her around the waist from behind and lifted her from the floor, forcing the air from her lungs in a loud woof. Instinctively, her fingers tightened on the bars, but she lost her grip after the second hard yank.
Darkness closed in around Lena as the man holding her dragged her, kicking and screaming, toward the back of the huge room. The world spun. Flickering, indecipherable images flashed past her vision as he shifted her abruptly and tossed her away from him.
The scream she’d drawn breath to utter came out as a grunt as she landed. She cringed, expecting an explosion of pain,
“Pain and fear, doc. The best lessons include both, don’t they bitch?”
Stunned and disoriented for several moments, Lena began struggling again at that, beating her heels against the man’s shins, trying to reach back to grab his hair or claw at his face. A buzzer sounded and the door slid open. Before Lena could do more than scream ‘No!’ she felt herself flying through the air as he pitched her inside. Pain seemed to shoot through her from every direction as she hit the floor and skidded.
For several moments after she’d stopped, it almost seemed as if everyone was holding their breath.
“What’s the matter? You guys forgot what a female smells like?”
Someone uttered a roar that sounded more animal than human. The hairs on the back of Lena’s neck stood up even as she began scrambling toward the door. Someone kneed her. A body fell on top of her, crushing the breath from her lungs. It took Lena several moments to figure out that one huge man stood over her, pulverizing the other men that surged toward them.
She didn’t have much of a view of him from the floor, but she didn’t need one to know she didn’t want to wait around until he’d fought the others off of her. Wrenching free of the legs clamped on either side of her waist, she scrambled on all fours toward the door again.
The guard stuck his foot through the bars as she reached it, planting the sole of his boot on top of her head and giving her a shove backwards.
“You’re in luck, sweetheart,” the guard shouted over the racket of animalistic snarls and growls and the thud of fists, his voice threaded with avid amusement. “Black Stew don’t wanna share you.”
“Are you out of your mind? You idiot! They’re going to tear her apart,” the doctor growled. “I’m sounding the alarm.”
With a growl of rage, the guard took a running step, caught the doctor by his lab coat and lifted him clear of the floor. “If you ain’t got the stomach for it, go!” he snarled.
“But just so’s you know, if you open your mouth, or touch that fucking alarm, it’ll be the last thing you do.”
“Let go of me, you animal,” the doctor said in a strangled voice.
The guard shrugged, allowed the doctor to slide to the floor, and then planted his
31
fist in the middle of the man’s face so hard the doctor’s skull ricocheted off the bars behind him. Blood spurted from his nose and lips. His eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped slowly toward the floor.
Someone grabbed Lena by her hair. She locked her arms around the bars and held on for all she was worth, squeezing her eyes closed against the pain shooting across her scalp.
“I owe this bitch one,” a new, vaguely familiar voice ground out behind her. “Let her go. She’s mine!”
A loud, meaty thud emphasized the demand. The hand that was tangled in her hair was wrenched free, yanking strands from her scalp. Something heavy fell across Lena’s back--an arm or leg, she was certain, because if that huge brute had landed on top of her he would’ve crushed her like a bug.
Ignoring the pain and the scuffle going on just above and behind her, Lena gripped the bars and struggled up again. “Let me out!” she babbled. “I’ll talk. I swear….”
The last word left her as an unintelligible grunt when someone grabbed her around the waist from behind and lifted her from the floor, forcing the air from her lungs in a loud woof. Instinctively, her fingers tightened on the bars, but she lost her grip after the second hard yank.
Darkness closed in around Lena as the man holding her dragged her, kicking and screaming, toward the back of the huge room. The world spun. Flickering, indecipherable images flashed past her vision as he shifted her abruptly and tossed her away from him.
The scream she’d drawn breath to utter came out as a grunt as she landed. She cringed, expecting an explosion of pain,
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