Zen's War: Captivity
Chapter 7: The House on the Hill

Hector continued towards the house. Zen and Aurora did not try to stop him, knowing it would do no good, since he never listened to them anyway. They decided to wait while Hector studied the interior of the house. After walking back through the tall grass, Hector came to the small winding concrete path that led to the front door of the house. As he approached the entrance, his mouth became dry and his pulse quickened.

“Wait for me, I’m coming with you,” Derek yelled, as he ran to keep up with Hector.

Zen seeing this, rolled his eyes, and then looked Aurora in the eye. Aurora shrugged and followed Zen towards the house.

Hector was the first to ascend the three steps to the doorway and to cross the threshold. They all entered after Hector into a small living room. None of the windows in the room had curtains, or any covering, allow me the sunlight to shine through. On the other side of the room directly across from the doorway, Hector noticed a large fireplace. It was a very simple design, extending from the floor three feet from top to bottom. In width it was about three feet across. The exterior edges were made of bricks. Within the fireplace were remnants of wood and ashes. Black soot caked the interior wall of the fireplace.

Hanging on all of the walls were crosses of all types and designs. Some were made of scrap metal and plastic, as well as wood. One Zen noticed was made from old Coke cans that were crushed then nailed together in the shape of a cross. The Coke cans had to be at least twenty-five years old. Shortly after the war when money became obsolete, corporations slowly disappeared.

Covering the entire floor of the room were the remnants of an old shag carpet. The parts that did remain had turned almost black. It was impossible to know what its original color had been, due to its filthiness. On the floor there were many blank patches of concrete where carpet had once been. The few parts of wall that were not covered with crosses were caked with dirt. In other places the stucco that had once covered the walls had crumbled away, exposing the bricks beneath.

To the right of the fireplace was a hallway leading towards the rear of the house. Zen instructed the rest of them to wait while he searched the rest of the house. He then turned and started down the hall. Hector refused to let Zen continue on his own, and followed close behind, while Derek and Aurora waited, keeping watch.

The hallway was quite dark, but there was enough light to see. The hallway was about four feet wide. Beneath their feet there was a rug. Continuing down the hallway to their left were two doors with a four foot gap between them. It became increasingly difficult to see as they continued down the hallway. There were no windows, so the only light remaining flowed from the front room.

Zen grabbed the doorknob of the first door and turned it, but the door would not open. He tried again to open the door putting his weight behind it, but it still would not budge.

“You know the crowbar in your backpack?” Zen asked.

“Yeah,” Hector answered.

“Can I have it please?”

Without answering, Hector took off his backpack and pulled the crowbar out. He then handed it to Zen. Zen then placed the tip of the crowbar between the edge of the door and its frame next to the doorknob. Pushing with all his might against the crowbar, the door gave way and swung open.

They were both immediately blinded by the sun’s brightness. The contrast between the darkness and the sudden light was difficult to become accustomed to; however, their vision finally returned to them. The light shone through the broken window across the room. Like the front living room there was a carpet, but most of it missing or discolored as well. Through the window they could see a side yard with a retaining wall. Directly outside the window was a dying saguaro. The saguaro was missing most of its flesh. Its remaining epidermis lacked much of its original green pigment, instead it now appeared light brown mixed with gray.

On the floor there were four ragged boxspring mattresses. The four mattresses lay adjacent to each other against the wall to their left. Extending from the wall were chains that lay across each bed. The room seemed to be a prison cell. Where had the prisoners and their captors gone to? Could those who had taken Sahara also inhabited this house? There was no way of knowing the answers to these questions.

Meanwhile, Derek and Aurora were becoming concerned about Zen and Hector. They had been gone for only a matter of minutes, but it had seemed like an eternity.

“Don’t you think they’re taking a long time? I’m going to see if they’re all right,” Derek said, becoming more nervous with each passing moment.

“They’re fine, just stay here. If they don’t come back in a few more minutes, we’ll go check,” Aurora said to him. Aurora had always been very protective of Derek. She did not think that he was capable of taking care of himself, having much more confidence in Hector.

Zen and Hector decided to further search the house for Sahara or supplies. They had found nothing useful in this room. They then decided to take a look in some of the other rooms. They turned around and proceeded back to the hallway. There was a chance that some supplies could be stored there. Zen led the way while Hector followed close behind. Turning left as they left the room they continued to the end of the hall. They felt along the walls with their hands, since it was so dark. They could hardly see their own hand in front of them. Reaching out in front of them Hector’s hand fell on a doorknob.

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