The Filthy Mattress by Ben Ashland

The Filthy Mattress by Ben Ashland

Author:Ben Ashland
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2014-07-31T14:00:00+00:00


Chapter Six

Pennsylvania –1990

Winter came with a vengeance, limiting Larry’s recruits and putting massive pressure on me when we went out to look for more boys. Sometimes we would drive for hours or days just to pick someone up. We crossed state lines, weaved our way through different counties and pin pointed the smallest towns. Larry would use me to satisfy his own needs while we were in the truck but I never had to do another movie.

My responsibilities morphed over the next few months. I got a key to be able to get into the main part of the house for firewood to keep the small woodstove in the basement humming. My cage was replaced with a two inch thick piece of foam in the corner of the basement that I would lay over the mattress when Larry left to get a decent night of sleep.

Depending on the severity of the cold, I would open all the boy’s cages and cram them all onto the mattress, using our body heat to get through the night. The cameras that were fixed to the poles as surveillance were long ago disproved as being in any working condition. I had more freedom and bargaining power than anyone else that came through Larry’s basement and I used it to keep the boys as comfortable as possible.

When a snowstorm prevented Larry from getting to the farmhouse to refill the wood in the house for over two weeks, one boy died from hypothermia on the bottom of his frozen basement cage. He refused to join us on the bed in our huddle, and as furious as Larry was when he finally carved his way through the mountains of snow to get to the house to see us all free roaming in the basement, I think a part of him was thankful that I was intuitive enough to do what I could to keep everyone alive.

It also prompted Larry to give me a key to the outside door so I could go in and out as I pleased to get wood.

“For emergencies only. If you try and run the security fence I have around the perimeter of the house will alert me and I’ll hunt you down and kill you. You understand?”

I did understand. I understood that if I really wanted to help the boys that Larry kidnapped I would need a bigger plan than just running away. I wouldn’t survive in the cold with my thin clothing and barely lingering health. I needed a way to get out of Larry’s truck and into a store or place surrounded by other people, but I had no idea how to convince Larry to do that without sounding suspicious.

Then, the cold and damp gave all the boys a debilitating cough. One that required medicine.

“Now we’re headed into this pharmacy and you keep your mouth shut the whole time. The whole damn time. You let the guy listen to your cough, we will get what we need and get the hell out of here.



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