James raced around the final side of the house. The only thing he saw other than the kitchen with its tempting assortment of knives in a block, was a large wooden barrel at the bottom of the downspout that collected rainwater. A bucket sat tucked behind it for carrying the water to the plants.

"Why can't they be normal and keep their fucking tools in a workshop or something?" If there was a toolshed hidden in the trees, he'd missed it.

He clenched his teeth together. Tears squeezed from his eyes. His face hurt. His shoulder was screaming in agony. Yet all of that was dwarfed by the pain in his heart of possibly not being able to save Petra from Billy's lechery.

"Ow! You fucking bitch!" Billy shouted.

James nearly tripped and fell in the grass in his effort to get to the front door faster.

Billy had his right arm straight out. The gun pointed at Petra's face. He was cradling his left foot in his left hand. "You just bought yourself a whole other level of pain, you fucking bitch! I'm of two minds to just fucking end you right now."

Conrad Pierce gave a fresh set of moans, alerting Billy to James' presence.

Billy put his foot down and grinned nastily at James. "But if I blow you away, then I can't watch James fucking Brown tear his hair out because he can't get to you while I'm screwing you. Have you given it up to him yet? You are a whore's daughter, after all."

James quickly but cautiously approached the front door, examining the ropes that held Conrad. First to make sure they were holding. Second to look for ideas on how to get around the behemoth.

"Or are you a tight little virgin?" Billy closed his eyes and shook his head slightly, humming as he remembered something. "Like that sweet little Eloise. God, me, JJ and Neil could not get enough of her. The only reason I let her go was my dad got back from a business trip. He always cut short the time I had with every girl I brought home to play with."

Billy smirked at Petra who was shaking with silent sobs.

"Were you friends with Eloise? I figured she told you all it was me because you all started clumping up after she moved, and I couldn't catch any more of you. I had to go all the way to North Bay or Barrie for a stupid bitch."

Billy tsked. "Stupid girls. Always leaving their drinks unattended. Or trusting the strange guy who offers to buy them a drink that he won't spike it. Tsk, tsk. Rufies worked just as well on dear old dad there so I could get him tied up."

James stood on the threshold to the anteroom. He took a deep breath to calm himself down because seeing Petra cry like that was fogging his mind with panic. As long as Billy was talking it gave him time to find a solution.

"You know, I'm kind of excited now with all of the possibilities. I always had to threaten the girl with not only killing her if she squawked, but her family and friends, too. Now if I take someone, everyone will just assume she's been eaten by zombies!"

He half-closed his eyes and shivered. He cupped himself with his free hand then began to stroke his erection through his tracksuit pants. "God! It's making me so fucking hard just thinking about it. I can't wait to see who's still alive. I'll call JJ and Neil over and we'll make a list of who to start with."

"JJ's dead," Petra said flatly.

"What?" Billy's eyes opened wide in surprised.

"I fed him to a pack of zombies on Onion Seed Road last night."

"You-" Stormclouds lowered over Billy's face. He shrieked, "You fucking bitch!"

His gun hand whipped forward in an arc. It caught Petra on the side of her face with a loud crack. Her long ponytail flew out as her head snapped to the side. She cried out in pain and fell.

"Petra!" James screamed. He ducked down to look between Conrad's legs. She was half laying on the floor, cradling her cheek. When she took her hand away, there was no blood but the area where the gun connected was already bright red and slightly swollen.

Billy shook the gun at her and shouted. "How dare you! How fucking dare you! He was my best friend!"

"He was a sicko, and a rapist, just like you," she replied. "He deserved to die."

"Don't make him angry, Petra! Please!" James called. She met his gaze and her lips trembled violently.

He didn't know if she was trying to goad Billy into shooting her or what, but if she made him angry, he was going to hurt her that much worse.

Billy slanted his eyes at James and bared his teeth. He pressed one hand to his forehead and half-closed his eyes while he took in a few breaths. "Okay, okay," he soothed himself.

A stillness washed over Billy. When he lowered his hand, James gulped at the eerie coldness in his eyes.

"Alright, fuckers. We're going to have a slight change of plans. James Brown, you just hold tight right there. It's time to get this party started. So, we're going to begin with what JJ liked the best."

James was out of time. He took a couple of steps into the room. He had to test the limits of Conrad's ropes. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance he could climb between the side of the coatrack and the wall without the zombie reaching him.

If he managed to get by Conrad but got bitten in the process, he'd still lose Petra. But he if it meant he could save her from Billy he would do it.

His heart was already racing, but now it thundered so hard he barely heard Billy's next words. "On your knees."

"Wh-what?" she asked.

"Get on your knees! Here! In front of me!" Billy screamed. He jerked the gun at a spot directly in front of him.

She slid her body over the polished wood floor to the placed he'd indicated.

James took a few steps closer to Conrad. The giant strained towards him, but James was safe.

"Now untie my shoes," Billy commanded.

"What?" Petra repeated, confused.

Billy whacked her on the side of the head with the gun, knocking her to the ground. She lay whimpering and holding the spot.

"Petra!" James called, reaching out to her. Conrad lurched forward in an attempt to bite his hand, but he was still feet away.

"When I give you an order, I expect you to just do it. So, stop fucking asking questions and untie my fucking shoes!" Billy shouted.

Petra winced when she sat up, her legs tucked beneath her, feet to the side. She covered her mouth with one hand while her body spasmed briefly with a retch. After a few seconds, she placed her hands flat on the floor and pinched her eyes shut, hanging her head. Slowly her eyes opened. The shiny floor squeaked as she pulled on it with her hands to help shuffle her bum closer to Billy's feet.

Her hands shook as she undid the laces on his basketball shoes. While she was focused on that task, Billy whipped off his t-shirt and threw it away carelessly.

James inched closer to the right coatrack holding Conrad. In an effort to reduce any movement that might catch Billy's eye, he slid his feet over the marble floor on the diagonal towards his goal instead of taking proper steps.

Conrad was tracking his movements carefully however. James looked at the growing slack in the rope on the zombie's right hand. There was still quite a bit of play left in the other side's rope.

Billy might be an asshole, but he wasn't stupid. He just hoped he wasn't good at measuring.

"Now take them off," Billy said. Petra slid the shoes off and placed them neatly beside her. "Socks too. Then my pants."

That got James' full attention.

Petra twitched on the pant legs and they pooled around Billy's feet. He stepped out, kicking them away like his shirt. His erection strained against the grey boxer-briefs he wore.

James had never seen Billy unclothed before, only felt the impact of the punch from the powerful muscles that rippled over his frame. He had the body of a serious athlete with powerful legs, six-pack abs and a well-defined chest and arms.

His hope plummeted. He might have to fight Billy to save Petra, but now it was clear how seriously unmatched they were.

Billy only slightly turned his head in James' direction when he said, "You'll want to pay close attention now, champ. You, my Pet, you stay right there in front of me."

He pressed the gun against Petra's forehead. She closed her eyes and began shaking slightly with whimpers and barely contained sobs.

Billy slipped his hand into his waistband and began fondling himself. As he stroked, Billy talked. "We're going to start off this way because JJ always talked about you sucking him off. Plus, the thought of spreading those virgin white thighs just makes me so fucking hot.

"Because you are a virgin, aren't you? You're momma didn't try to get you involved in the family business? But that's good. The girls from the college and university campuses usually weren't virgins. Not like Eloise was. God, so fucking tight! Unh!" Billy gave a little jerk forward.

"I better not think of her too much, or I'm going to come all over your face. And I don't want to do that right now. That's for later." Billy slowed his hand and got himself back under control. "Now, tell me, my Pet, do you want me to fuck you?"

Petra's eyes snapped open. James saw the confusion in them when he caught a glimpse of her when Conrad swerved slightly away while trying to reach him

What was Billy after?

Hesitantly, she said, "Yes?"

Quick as a snakebite, Billy smacked her on the side of the head with the gun again then caught her forehead with the tip once more. He pressed the metal in hard, bringing her back to centre. Petra's eyes were closed with pain, her lips quivered, and increased tears flowed down her face.

"I doubt that." Billy's hand kept slowly moving up and down. "You realise you just asked me to rape you? Because, as you said, I'm a rapist. Let's try that again. Do you want me to fuck you? To spread those thighs and ram my cock home?"

"No," Petra barely whispered. James' heart broke at the word.

"Please, Billy, don't do this!" James yelled. He didn't care if Billy realised he was attempting to circumvent his father.

"Ahhh," Billy moaned in pleasure. "That's even better! God, I didn't know how much I would enjoy having your boyfriend watch. I can't wait to tie him up too and hear him beg me to stop." He pushed down his underwear a bit to free himself.

Billy began panting and his hand twitched up and down faster. "Fuck, this is going to be the best godddamned orgasm I've ever had! Get ready for me, Petra!"

James was out of time. He had to stop Billy before he got any farther.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thanks for reading!

WORD COUNT: 1917

NANO WORD COUNT: 42, 905

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 44, 730