keeping him still, then the rough fabric of the cloth being stretched over his face. The cloth was held tight against his skin. The sharp bristles dug into his cuts and the pressure bearing down on his broken nose felt like an elephant stomping on his face. Matt could see the bucket eclipsing the florescent light above him. Droplets of the frigid water tipped over the edge, splashing on his face.
“Who are you working for?” Garrett asked.
The overwhelming pain of the moment equaled the fear of the struggle to come. Matt tried to think. He tried to give them something that wouldn’t hurt anyone, but each time he got close to revealing something he was silenced by the blinding pain of cartilage and bone crunching in his nose under the pressure of the cloth.
When the first wave of water hit Matt he froze. He gurgled and choked on the icy liquid soaking through the fabric running into his mouth and nose. The frigid water burned into the cuts along his face and down the rest of his body. Just when he thought he was going to drown, they stopped.
“Where’s the hard drive?” Garrett asked.
Matt coughed up water and spit, gasping for breath. He could feel his body convulsing from shock, fear, and cold. His whole body was trying to fold into itself. His hands clinched into fists behind his back. His feet and toes curled up. He tried moving his face in the cloth searching for air, escape, but each movement brought more pain than relief.
Then the familiar icy blast of pain and panic rushed over him once more. Water flooded his nasal cavity burning the inside of his forehead. Matt thrashed his head back and forth. He desperately tried escaping the flow of water, but failed. Wherever he went so did the river trying to drown him.
Matt heard the thump of the bucket hitting the floor. The cloth was ripped from his face. He vomited more water onto his chest and stomach. Matt felt the uncomfortable sloshing of his own blood, sweat, and dirt against the seat and his bare skin.
The three soldiers circled him. Garrett sent a fist barreling into Matt’s stomach. He doubled over and gasped for breath, but couldn’t find any. Garret sent another blow to Matt’s face sending a tooth flying across the floor. Matt’s lower lip stuck out swollen and dripping with blood.
Garrett went and picked up the tooth on the ground. He held the tooth up to the light. Matt’s fresh blood dripping from his hands.
“You should keep this under your pillow tonight,” Garrett said.
“Maybe the tooth fairy will bring you something nice,” Tim added.
Matt’s head swayed in delirium. His thoughts were jumbled. There was a sharp pain in his side whenever he took a breath. The next blows that came were harder, more violent. They hit him again and again, each time sending more blood to the ground in crimson rain. After every blow Matt felt the metallic taste refill his mouth simply waiting to be spilt again.
Brian sent a combination of punches into Matt’s side. Each hit caused Matt to crumple into himself, his insides collapsing. One final blow sent a loud crack echoing through the room. Matt’s weight shifted and the chair holding him crashed to the floor, his shoulder smacking onto the unforgiving concrete.
“There’s the money shot!” Garrett said.
Brian and Tim pulled the chair back up right. Garrett wiped the blood from his knuckles on his shirt.
“Okay, it looks like we’ll have to try something a little different,” Garrett said.
Matt wheezed through his mouth, his body still caved to his left side where his ribs had cracked. He couldn’t remember where he was anymore. All he could see were boots shuffling on the floor.
“It doesn’t seem that I’m going to be able persuade you to tell me what I want to hear,” Garrett said.
A picture landed on Matt’s lap. He couldn’t feel the paper touching his skin. His whole body was numb. The people in
Elizabeth Rolls
Roy Jenkins
Miss KP
Jennifer McCartney, Lisa Maggiore
Sarah Mallory
John Bingham
Rosie Claverton
Matti Joensuu
Emma Wildes
Tim Waggoner