Redeemer

Chapter 2

The harsh yellow lights flickered on and off as Paxton slowly stepped down the hallway. The glock felt heavy in his hands as did the air inside his lungs. Josh was here somewhere, but where? Ever since he charged back in here Pax hadn’t heard one single scream of Josh’s and dread was slowly starting to creep into his heart.

What if Josh was already dead? He would’ve ran in here for nothing then. He could escape now if he was quick enough...

(No!)

Pax shook his head and tightened his grip on the gun. No, he wasn’t leaving. Josh was in one of these rooms and he’d be damned if he was going to leave his friend to fate worse then death. Josh wouldn’t leave him here if the roles where reversed, at least that’s what he kept telling himself inside his head over and over again.

Josh would do the same for him...

He pasted an open doorway and peaked his head inside. The small torture cell was empty and freshly sprayed clean because the heavy small of blood and vomit still lingered in the air. He continued on his way, looking in all of the open doorways until he heard another pained scream.

This time, there was no mistaking it, it was Josh. He summoned his nerve and sped up his pace, keeping the glock positioned in front of him. The screaming grew louder and louder until he found himself outside of a closed steal door. Judging from the intensity of the noise, Josh was in there.

Not wasting anymore time, Pax straightened himself up and kicked the door open.

The room was dimly lit and the air with thick with the stench of blood and something musky that Pax couldn’t name. A torturer stood at the far end of the room, his back turned towards the door as he used a fifthly, bloodstained rag to clean one of his tools. The sound of the door being jarred open grabbed his attention and Paxton barley had enough time to hide the weapon behind his back before he turned his head.

“Well, well, well, Mr. Big Spender. Did you have fun with your American then?”

Pax’s eyes narrowed. He recognized that voice, it belong to man he ran into in the locker room. He fought the urge to growl and tightened his fingers around the handle gun. He really didn’t like the way this sick fuck was staring at him, his face was twisted in a delighted grin as his fingers gently ran along the bloodied edge of a small scalpel.

A small whimper grabbed Pax’s attention and he slowly moved his eyes towards the source. In the far corner of the room a figure was curled in a tight ball on the floor, nude and shaking. Paxton’s stomach felt like it just dropped to the ground. Pale, blooded skin, thin, wavy blonde hair...

Oh god, it couldn’t be...


(Josh!)

The man finished cleaning his tools and tossed the rag aside. His eyes followed Pax’s gaze towards the corner and a dry chuckle came from his mouth.

“Like him? He’s a damn good fuck. I can see now why that Dutch idiot paid so much for him in the first place. If you want your turn you’re gonna have to wait buddy ‘cause I think I’ll have another go at ‘em.”

Paxton finally tore his gaze away from his wounded friend and glared at the man standing a few short feet away from him. He was smiling, that sick fuck was grinning at him the whole time he was talking about raping his friend and Paxton felt his anger rising.

The man gave him one more stomach turning grin and started walking over towards Josh’s crumbled body. The soft jingle of his belt undoing was more then enough to snap Paxton out of his trance and without a moment’s hesitation, he raised his gun.

The man heard Paxton’s intake of breath and turned around, eyeing the gun nervously.

“What the fuck? If you’re in that much of a hurry to get off go a head. You don’t need to get all defensive like a pussy and–”

Paxton roared obscenities as he squeezed the trigger and felt the gun kick back against his arm, sending three rounds right into the man’s chest cavity. Across the room, Josh screamed from the sounds and curled himself into a tighter ball, shielding his face in the crook of his arm.

The man’s lifeless body slumped towards the ground and Pax stared at it with cold eyes. His fingers were itching for another chance to send more lead points into the fucker’s lifeless body but he resisted the temptation only because he knew he’d probably need every last bullet in the chamber to get out of this hell hole.

When his rage subsided, Paxton started across the room and dropped on the ground next to Josh.

“Josh? Josh can you here me?” He shouted frantically, raising a hand towards his friend’s trembling shoulder.

Josh screamed once again when he felt someone touch him and he disparity tried to squirm away. Paxton’s heart lurched painfully from his friend’s pleas and he reached forward and grabbed Josh’s arm.

“Josh stop it, it’s me, Pax! It’s okay, he’s gone.”

Josh was still struggling to get away from and screaming words like “No” and “Stop” repeatedly. Not knowing what else to do, Pax grabbed both of his arms and forcefully pulled the other man around until they were face to face.

“Josh it’s me. Pax. It’s Paxton!”

He shook the other American a few times and finally Josh stopped wailing and raised his head, his grey eyes slowly opening, revealing blood shot veins and unshed tears in their depths.

“P-P-Pax?”

Paxton nodded. “It’s me buddy. It’s me. It’s okay.”

Another small whimper came from Josh’s mouth as his eyes fully focused on Pax’s face.

“Pax, y-you need to leave...get outa h–here before they f-find you.”

Pax gaped at his best friend and shook his head. “What? No, I’m not leaving you here.”

“J-just go... leave me and s-save yourself.”

“Josh stop it! I’m not leaving you here.” Paxton sternly replied as his slid the long overcoat off his shoulders and gently wrapped it around Josh’s nude body.

He paused when his eyes noticed the collection of scars and gashes that covered Josh’s arms and Paxton felt a growl bubble inside of his throat. Fearfully he moved his eyes down the rest Josh’s body looking for more damage.

A pair of small round holes, each about the size of a penny where cut into Josh’s chest and upon closer inspection Pax found more of them on Josh’s arms, abdomen and upper thighs. There were a few small cuts along Josh’s stomach accompanied by a handful of ugly dark-blue bruises but the most upsetting sight of all was the large stains of dried and fresh blood on the inside of Josh’s thighs, their trail leading behind the curve of Josh’s legs and out of sight.

Swallowing down the dark pool of rage that was clawing away at the inside of his throat, Pax finished buttoning up the jacket’s front. It’s length was barely enough to cover the majority of Josh’s frame, it’s hemline ending near his knees but Pax wasn’t about ready to go scrounging around for something better.

“Can you stand?”

“I-I think s-so.” Josh stuttered and tried to stand on his shaky legs.

Paxton helped him up, his heart flinching when Josh yelped as his hand pulled the skin on his thigh roughly, painfully stretching the hole of one of the round wounds and tearing the scab open. Fresh blood oozed out of the wound but not in a large amount so Paxton tried to ignore it as he held Josh upright.

His friend’s large arms wound around his torso tightly and Paxton, realizing there was no possible way he could pry Josh’s arms off of him, tried to center Josh’s weight in-order for both of them to move quickly. He retrieved the gun from the floor where he left it, his fingers atomically curling around the silver handle and together the two of them stumbled towards the steel door.

Josh’s harsh intake of breath, made Paxton stop and turn towards his friend who was staring at the dead body of the torturer sprawled in the middle of the room. Fear welded up inside of Josh’s eyes and his voice trembled.

“Pax, did you–”

“Don’t look.” Pax said softly and pulled Josh over towards the open doorway.

Josh did as his he was told and tore his eyes away from the sight, burring his face in Paxton’s shoulder with a small whimper. When they reached the door, Pax poked his head in the hallway and waited until he was a hundred percent positive the cost was clear before he lead Josh into the hall.

Faint screams of pain could be heard in the distance, making Josh’s arms grip him tighter but as difficult as it was, Paxton forced himself to block the screams out. He knew there was nothing he could do for those poor souls at the moment, true he could go charging back down the hall and use up the rest of his bullets on a few of the guards but what good would that do? He’d only end up defenseless and faced with even more armed sadists who’d drag him into another one of the torture rooms, only this time he wouldn’t make it out alive.

And Josh... god only knew what would happen to the other American if those demented fucks got a hold of him again.

Pax violently shook his head to force those images away as the two of them neared the storage elevator and he tapped the call button. Josh sagged against him tiredly and Pax didn’t need to look at the other’s face to know his eyelids were dropping.

“Josh.” Pax shook Josh’s shoulder roughly. “Josh you need to stay awake. You need to stay conscious.”

Josh mumbled a few undefinable words and let his head sag against Pax’s shoulder, his eyes sliding closed. Pax cursed and slapped the button a few more times before the elevator dinged and the doors slowly opened. Josh stumbled as he pulled him inside, almost bringing both of them down into the fall but luckily, Paxton kept his footing.

The elevator dinged once on every floor, making Pax nearly jump out of his skin from the noise.

Ding, B3. Ding, B2.

Pax bit his lip and groaned, silently willing the damn thing to hurry. Josh was barley hanging on and Pax’s shoulder was growing sore from the dead weight, not to mention the excruciating pain from his left hand. The elevator beeped as it reached B1 and Paxton held his breath and waited for the ground-floor light to ding, his fingers twisting nervously around the handle of the gun.

The light for the ground-floor didn’t light up however, the light for B1 blinked twice as the elevator came to a complete halt and then the large steel box started drifting back down towards the lower basement levels.

“Fuck!” Paxton yelped and immediately bolted towards the key-panel and started smacking the 1st floor button rapidity.

(Go up you bastard! Go up!)

This couldn’t be happening. They were almost home free!

B2 lit up and Paxton felt his heart drop into his stomach. Not knowing what else to do, he shifted Josh’s weight around until he held the majority of his weight with his left hand – ignoring the sharp pains coming from his severed fingers – and raised the glock with right, aiming it’s barrel right at the center doors.

His breath came in quick pants as the elevator drifted to a stop and dinged. For a moment, time seemed to crawl to a stop as he waited for the large steel doors to open and after what felt like an eternity, they slid open.

At first, Pax couldn’t see anything. The floor the elevator was currently perched on was covered in a thick darkness that made it nearly impossible for him to see anything, that was, until a dark shadow moved into the elevator’s light and froze.

It was another torturer, covered in a bloodstained apron. His head was turned the other way as the doors opened but his head eventually turned and he was met with a puzzling sight.

“What the fuck?”

Quicker then Pax’s eyes could see, the torturer reached for the pistol at his waist and pulled it out.

Paxton was jerked back to reality when his ears heard the click of the gun loading and at that moment, his brain could only process one single thought. Josh.

With in the blink of an eye, Pax threw Josh against the elevator’s side and raised his gun. He wasn’t fast enough though and soon a loud bang echoed inside the elevator’s haul. A flash of white hot, searing pain pulsed though Paxton’s right arm and he felt the gun slip from his fingers, landing on the steel floor moments before his knees did.

A cry tore from deep within his throat as he gripped his right arm and a few short feet away from him he heard Josh scream his name. Blood poured down his fingers and his arm throbbed in pain. Damn that bastard was quick! Heavy boots echoed inside of his ears and quickly realized the man was in the elevator with them.

His head whipped up and spun around, trying to locate his gun. It lay a few feet away and he quickly scrambled over towards it. A gloved hand grabbed the back of his neck just as he grasped it and sent his whole body flying into a nearby wall.

Pax screamed as his wounded right arm slammed harshly against the cold steel but he forced himself to ignore the pain that was making his head swim. He used the wall for support and pushed off of it with his leg, sending his body sliding across the floor towards the discarded gun.

The two remaining fingers on his left hand touched the handle and slid it over towards his trembling right hand. His fingers curled around the handle just as the large gloved hand grasped his shoulder painfully and dragged him upright. The torturer spun him around and when Pax turned to face him, his fingers pulled the trigger.

The man screamed as the hallow rounds tore into his flesh and he was finally silenced when one burst though the side of his head a half-second later. Pax blinked and stayed absolutely still on the ground, his gun still aimed at the torture’s dead body as it fell to the floor. His heart was pounding feverishly against his chest and it felt like a lifetime before he slowly lowered his arms and sat up.

Josh was huddled in the corner where Paxton tossed him, his arms wrapped tightly around himself as he stared at the torture’s crumpled body. Smoke was still wafting upwards from the bullet wounds in his flesh and the harsh smell of gunpowder still hung in the air.

After what felt like a lifetime had past between the two men, Josh shakily pulled himself together enough to crawl towards his friend.

“Pax? A-are you okay?”

Pax’s vision was turning blurry and the overhead light danced in front of his eyes. Bile started working it’s way up his throat again and he quickly rolled onto his knees and emptied his stomach contents once again. Josh tenderly crouched next to him and placed a shaky hand on his shoulder.

“The door.” Paxton grunted out as he wiped his mouth with the back of his gloved hand. “Close the door!”

Josh nodded as he gingerly stood up and stumbled towards the control panel. The door wheezed and slid shut a quick moment later and Pax heaved a small, relieved sigh as he limply slid his body towards the wall and used it to help himself sit up.

His breath was still coming in short, quick bursts and his vision was still blurry. He willed his left arm to move and gently ran his intact fingers across the wound on his right. No hole, that meant the bullet just grazed him. A quick second later he found the gash, it felt deep and it sure stung like hell but it still better then having the bullet go head on into his arm.

Josh’s limping footsteps reached his ears a moment later as the other American knelt down beside him. The blonde’s eyes were starting to water, from fear or from pain Paxton couldn’t tell.

“I’m alright...just grazed me.” Pax whispered softly, his eyes slowly starting to drift closed.

Josh remained silent and slumped against the wall, pain and discomfort clearly written across his features. Paxton stared at him through half-lidded eyes. How could he be that stupid? He could’ve killed that fucker a long time before he got a shot off if he only reacted faster. He couldn’t afford to make that mistake again.

At least he got Josh out of the way in time just in time, that was something to be grateful for. At least, Josh was safe... for the moment.

The elevator dinged once again as it resumed it’s way upwards but he barely heard it.