Chapter 28: Santi; Two Whistles

Slowly, the image of several people wearing jogger pants with worn t-shirts and cigarette smoke filling the room so suffocatingly visible became more straightforward and transparent. I tilt my head while neutralizing the rays of sunlight that may have risen to the top of my head.

The roof of the house without a ceiling makes the holes in the tiles look very pathetic, and puddles of last night's rainwater with the footprints of their shoes and feet dirty every corner of the house.

My lips sizzled, I felt stinging and pain in several cuts on my temples and cheeks, and even my knees were scratched from falling. I'm still guessing what happened to me. Why weren't Kayro and Bayu next to me? Instead, they were strangers who looked scary with their long hair.

I just realized that my legs and arms were tied so tightly. My head suddenly felt dizzy; a flash of what happened two days ago was slowly returning.

One of them saw me, and then he whistled, making the other four men turn to me like prey ready to eat. The man, who was only wearing a T-shirt with knee-length shorts, stepped over and squatted right before me.

The smell of tobacco immediately hit my nose, making my stomach feel nauseous for a moment, not to mention the sweat mixed with the scent of someone's blood, which seemed to add to the feeling of fullness in my stomach.

"You're awake," he said with a heavy intonation.

"Let me go," I whispered, making them suddenly laugh out loud.

One of the hands of this man who smelled of tobacco grabbed my hair, which was so limp. I screamed in pain from the hair roots he was pulling forcefully.

"How many friends do you have?" he asked, glaring.

I shook my head, trying to dismiss the question. However, instead, they slapped him hard until his head hit the floor. I cried and screamed as loud as I could because I was so afraid of what they would do. Just imagine five brown-skinned men who look very shabby facing a girl who is not even twenty years old. There must be only two choices, being gang raped or brutally murdered. It's also possible that after being raped, my body will be mutilated and given to the undead out there.

For a moment, we saw the faces of Banyu, Jarak, and Deka waiting for our arrival. I fell silent with a sob, trying to sit up with difficulty. Now, I'm not sure if I can save Banyu. I felt I was not a group leader the team could rely on.

The green zone, our initial goal, seemed to be slowly moving away. Issues about vaccines and the mission to save people now seem increasingly far away.

One of them threw a glass of bottled mineral water, and automatically, the bottle, which was only made of thin plastic, leaked instantly. Water pooled on the floor, mixed with rainwater puddles and their shoes' footprints.

I crawled, sipping the water with my lips because I was thirsty. Instead, the heartless men burst out laughing; some of them threw cigarette butts at me.

"You're fucking bitch!" cursed one of them. A man with a scar across his face, his hair was long, but his forehead was broad, and his lips were black, typical of a smoker.

"Bro, Maybe we can fucked her. I'm bored with another one," complained another man. This time, his face didn't show that he was a bastard. The curly-haired man was probably five years older than me.

I don't understand; what do they mean by fucking on it? Is Rianita here? Or is there another woman they are holding captive? But where? When I tried to comb this place, no trace of Rianita was left behind.

Oh, Damn! There was no way that girl would have thought of leaving a trace for us if this bastard had smothered her.

"She's more beautiful than this one," the man cursing me. He spat as if comparing me to the woman they held hostage. "Well, if you don't like it, just play your dick. There's still plenty of soap! Hahahaha..."

My ears were so hot hearing the lewd sentences from them. I would love to throw them to the undead, if possible, as bait. They have no right to enjoy this destroyed world; they should die, not the good people who are still trying to survive. I remembered the old saying, God always takes good people into His heaven. Am I included, Lord?

###

The sound of the undead was not much heard in the thugs' territory compared to my base, which had to be on guard every day in case the flesh-eaters heard us. It's quieter here; I can't even hear the sound of crickets that usually appear.

The men, leaving me somewhere, were probably doing something to the other hostages. They just left a packet of moldy bread that was not worth eating. My stomach growled. I needed to eat; my saliva wasn't even enough to wet my parched throat. My irises looked around, armed with the moonlight shining through the house's roof and the open window. An idea came to mind; I shifted my butt with difficulty to see the condition outside.

Those bastards might be called big thugs, but they were stupid to leave a woman alone with the window wide open. Okay, even though I'm on the second floor, I can't possibly jump from here either. Arriving near the rickety wooden window, I propped myself up on my knees; the dark street with wire fences and sharpened bamboo arranged neatly seemed to be the fortress of this house.

My eyes swept from the left end of the road to the right; I closed both eyes, examining the men's voices. Instantly, I got goosebumps; all I could hear was the sound of laughter with dirty words and their sighs. A woman's growling voice is very similar to Rianita's. My teeth chattered, holding back my anger at them. I'll make those bastards regret ever bothering us.

My mouth pursed, whistling over the laughter of the men I was sure were probably downstairs. Then I whistled, imitating the sound of a dove, giving the code. I hope Kayro and Bayu hear this code. For a while, there was no signal back from them. If something happened between Kayro or Bayu, we agreed to use bird whistle signals with fire signals from candles, which we felt were safer than flashlights.

I tried whistling again, but there was still no sign of them. Then I heard the sound of footsteps with a clear throat that made me widen my eyes. I quickly returned to my place, pretending to faint or die didn't matter as long as they didn't know I had sent the code. Unfortunately, my legs don't coordinate well with each other. I stumbled until my chest hit the floor quite hard.

"Wow! What are you fucking doing! Want to run away?" shouted a man I knew was called Feri. The curly-haired man, more concerned with his breath, approached me.

I shook my head, trying to get back up, but it wasn't easy. Feri's right hand grabbed my hair roughly until my face looked up at him. I held my breath; the smell of sweat mixed with semen was so strong it made me nauseous.

Oh, Crap! I don't know how many times he played with Rianita. If I'm free, I'll make sure the genitals become a side dish for the corpses' breakfast. I promise.

Immediately, I vomited my stomach fluid onto his worn shoes. Feri screamed in disgust, hitting my head on the floor.

"Bastard!" He exclaimed then kicked my body and rubbed his dirty shoes on my clothes on my chest. "Bastard!" the more so.

My stomach was sore, and my eyes were dizzy due to the impact. However, Feri seemed to have no mercy in kicking my body.

BANG!

The sound of gunfire sounded deafening outside. Feri stepped closer to the window and then grabbed the binoculars on the table on the left side.

BANG!

Gunshots were heard again.

"Bastard!" Feri cursed and then ran down the second floor, along with the sound of another man who seemed to be preparing to face an attack.

In a weak and helpless condition after being kicked so brutally, I could still smile even though I didn't know whether my life would continue tomorrow or not. I also don't know whether the gunshots came from Kayro, Bayu, or someone else who wanted to be a hero among us. I don't know; I thought about Rianita, but suddenly, everything was dark again before I got up.