by Kip Nelson
“He was my best friend, and don't you ever say anything about him! It wasn't my fault. It was Nick! It was all Nick!”
“I don't care who this Nick is, but he's not responsible for everything you do. You killed my brother. You have done all of this, and for what? Some sense of revenge? You're pitiful. You really are. You can do whatever you like to me, but I'll know the truth. Whenever you look into my eyes you'll see it as well. Eventually, they'll see it too.” She jerked her head toward the bridge.
“They'll see that you're just a weak man. The only reason we feared you was because you had the guns. Without them you're nothing. So, you might as well kill me now, because I will wait until I get a chance to get a gun, then I'm going to blow your head off just like you did with Max.”
David's hand trembled. For a moment she thought he was going to hit her again, but then he pulled away. His head twitched, and he muttered to himself. He was truly mad. Tori had to get out of there while she had this chance. She had no idea when such a chance was going to come again. Spinning on her heels she ran toward the nearest opening she could find, but before she got more than a few steps away she heard David telling her to stop.
“You don't get to talk to me like that. You don't ever talk to me like that,” he said.
Tori turned to look at him. He was pointing the gun at her. This time he was not laughing. He wasn't going to tell her that it was a joke. “I'll talk to you anyway I want. I'm not scared of you anymore, David. What's the worst you can do, kill me? You think that compares to what those monsters have done? You've had to sit there and watch and listen to everything. What can you do?”
She knew she was taunting the monster, but it was the only play she had. At least if he killed her the pain would be over and she could be free of all of this. David still was talking to himself under his breath, so she couldn't hear what he was saying but it was clear the man truly was unhinged. She hated how her life had become swept up in his, and this certainly wasn't how she saw things ending for herself. But maybe it was for the best.
“I can do this,” David said. Tori closed her eyes. A gunshot rang through the air, cracking the silence for an instant. Then everything was quiet.
Chapter Twenty
“I had to kill the bitch. She got too mouthy and put me off my game. You know how it is. Sometimes you just have to teach them a lesson. Wanted to just wound her but then she insulted me, and I just saw red,” David said as he trudged back underneath the bridge. He placed the pistol in the small of his back and went to warm his hands by a fire. The men groaned with disappointment.
“Did you really have to?” Donny asked.
The leader of the men intimidated David, and David tried to have as few dealings with him as possible. Donny had a magnetic aura and commanded instant respect. In many ways he was like Nick. David was jealous of him.
“I couldn't help it, I'm sorry. You should have heard some of the things she was saying. She needed to be taught a lesson.”
“Well, maybe she still can have her uses,” one of the other men said, a hungry look in his eyes. Something gnawed inside David.
“I threw her body in the river. Figured it was the best place for her. She was so dirty she needed a good bath.”
Some of the men laughed at this, but others looked disappointed. David tried to put thoughts of Tori out of his mind. It was easier not to think about her. He had done so many bad things since the world had ended and he didn't know where this fit in. Maybe it all would come out in the wash, but he just wished that Mikey would stop talking to him. It was getting harder and harder to tune out the voice in his head, especially when he was around others.
The last thing he wanted them to do was think he was crazy. He wasn't crazy, he just had been through a lot. It was stress. That was the natural explanation. Stress caused by Nick. Unfortunately, others had been caught in the wake of it. Yet, it all came back to Nick, and David had to move things along so he finally could make Nick pay. At least he wouldn't have to look at Tori anymore. Seeing her the way she was just had depressed him. He knew the men were vicious, but he had no idea they were like that...but they would be perfect partners in crime to take Nick down.
“Ah well, we'll find somebody else. It's kinda nice to have someone there ready and waiting for us, isn't it? Even though we have to feed them,” one of the men said.
“Frankly, I preferred the dog. At least that hound didn't cry. There's nothing worse in the world than hearing a woman crying,” another said. David stayed mute.
“Well then, men,” Donny said, “seems we have a few things to discuss. Thanks to our new friend over here we have a bit of an arsenal at our disposal, and I'm quite looking forward to trying them out. But where shall we go? Since we cleaned out the hospital I don't think there are many other places filled with all those people who think they can be happy in this world. Does anyone have any suggestions for our next target? It's getting to the point where we're running out of things close to home. I know we all like it under this bridge, but part of me is wondering if we all should mosey on down the line and find some new hunting grounds, somewhere where the women are delicious. I do like a bit of variety in my diet.”
“You thinking about Mexico, boss?” one of his loyal followers said.
“Maybe eventually. Might be nice to walk a posse across the country. Maybe we could find some horses somewhere and be like cowboys, causing trouble in the frontier towns. I used to love those movies. Clint Eastwood was the man. We could have a lot of fun along the way, a whirlwind of trouble,” Donny said, teeth gleaming as he smiled.
His idea was met with a lot of enthusiasm, but it wasn't right. It wasn't what David wanted at all. Part of the agreement he'd had with these men was that they would help him get revenge on Nick. That's why he had killed Max and given them Tori in the first place. Well, that wasn't strictly true. Max had been a little more personal. He did wish somebody would do something about the body, though. The flesh was decomposing, and the stench was almost unbearable.
“Don't forget we do have to go after Nick as well. The last I knew he was heading into the woods. I doubt he's gone very far. He seemed to want to stick around and come back to you eventually. He seemed to have quite a personal grudge against you,” David said.
“As well he should after what we did to him and his friend! Yeah, you're right. We probably should take care of business before we leave. I do hate leaving loose ends, and I would like to see his face one last time as he realizes who runs the world, and who has the power. People like him just make my skin crawl, they really do. Always trying to do the right thing. Why would anyone want to do the right thing when you can do the fun thing!
“Can you believe that he actually wanted to save the city? That's what he and his friend were doing at the fire station when my nephew found them. They thought they could be heroes. Well, the joke is on them. He made us look like fools, so it's about time we make him pay. Yeah, alright, we'll go on a little quest. We'll take out Nick and cause some mayhem along the way, and then it's off to Mexico and we'll each have a little senorita of our own!”
This proclamation was met with much cheering from everyone except David. He didn't much like the idea of going down to Mexico. This was the only home he had ever known, and he wasn't going to leave it any time soon. His destiny was not tied to these men, though. They were only a means to an end to get him back to Nick. After that they could do whatever they wanted as far as he was concerned. Although perhaps he would try making sure that the man who had attacked Mikey met with an unfortunate accident.
“Don't forget there's also the girl who stole that dog. I think she's with Nick as well. I'll let anyone else have first crack at her to make up for what I just did with Tori,” David said. Again, there was more cheering, and the men got ready to move out.
David was standing under the bridge, waiting, looking out at the river flowing by around him. Alone with his thoughts he let them drift for a few moments into melancholy. He thought ba
ck to his life before this. He never would have been found under a bridge with men like these. They were the unsavory characters; people David never would have crossed paths with. He knew Mikey never would have approved of this alliance, but then that was the whole point, wasn't it? Mikey wasn't there to approve. Still, there was something in David's mind that wanted to live up to Mikey's ideal. The longer this anger went on, the more difficult it was to hold onto it. Sometimes it seemed easier to let it go and watch it run past him like the water of the river. The world was big, there still was a city to explore...but no. If he didn't get revenge for Mikey's death, then the world just didn't make sense.
“You've got a real hardon for this Nick, haven't you?” Donny asked. David had been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed Donny sidling up to him.
“Personally, I'm all for it. Although I'd prefer to be enjoying the delights that Mexico has to offer, but it doesn't seem like much else matters to you. I noticed you weren't cheering like the others.”
“It's the only thing I have left,” David said.
“That, my friend, makes you a very dangerous man.”
Soon enough the men were ready. Some were staying behind in the city to make sure that nobody took their lair and because they didn't want to trek all the way into the woods. There was a very loose command structure. It certainly wasn't what David had been used to when he worked at the bank. He needed everyone to be ready for everything. Donny led by charisma more than skill. David was sure that if he was given the chance, he could whip these men into a formidable force, relying on tactics and strategy more than brute force and chaos.
Not that any of that mattered. Soon enough he would have his revenge on Nick and then after that...after that? After that he didn't know what he would do. He had spent so much time and energy on thinking about his revenge that he hadn't left room for anything else. There was a vague idea of him leading the city through these troubled times, but the government still was taking its sweet time reclaiming order. He hoped they would do it soon, though, and he would have to think of an explanation for why he had thrown his lot in with these undesirables. Still, that was far away into the future and he always could think about those things later. First things first, David had to make sure to get back to Nick and make him pay for what he had done. The woods were vast, but David was sure he'd be able to track Nick. The hunt was back on, and the fact that his prey had this head start only made the challenge more exciting.
The walk through the city was peppered with incidents where they terrorized straggling survivors. It had been fun when David had done it but seeing Donny and the others do it...he wasn't sure...it seemed more heartless. No matter. It wasn't as those people were going to amount to anything anyway. They were lost souls waiting to die. They didn't mean anything to David.
The throng of men made their way through the outskirts of the city and beyond. The people they encountered grew few and far between until they were none. They walked along the freeway. David was filled with nausea as he saw the place where everything had happened. The asphalt still was stained with blood. Mikey's body still was by the side of the road. In his furious haste David hadn't managed to bury the body like he had intended. He had half a mind to do it then, but didn't think it would go down well with Donny's crew. He stealthily wiped the tears from his eyes as he passed Mikey's body, which had been picked clean by animals. It only made the fire burn more brightly in David's heart. His fury was reignited, and nothing was going to stop him from exacting his vengeance.
They passed by that place and saw a watermill in the distance. It was a mere shell now, blackened and charred by a fire. They turned off the road into the woods. The camp where he and Mikey had settled at the beginning of all this was nearby. It all had seemed so simple. They would just have a little adventure and wait for it all to blow over before returning to the city. It was perfect, with just the two of them. They hunted and laughed and just enjoyed each other’s company. It was like being young again.
There was no pressure and no stress. Not until Nick had arrived anyway. Since then David's life had been nothing but hell, and it all could be traced back to that first moment when Nick and Cosmo had found their camp. For a moment David wondered what his life would have been like had he never encountered Nick. Mikey almost certainly would be alive. Maybe they would have ventured back into the city eventually to find somewhere safe. His heart certainly wouldn't be burning with vengeance.
That was a life never lived and David knew he never would discover the answers. There was only one life for him and he had to make it the best he possibly could. There were no second chances and it all could be over so quickly. He knew that from Mikey and Max. There was a secret he had, though, one he was keeping from Donny and the others. He hoped they never would find out because if they did they'd see him for who he truly was. But they were away from the city. There was no way they were going to find out. Everything was going to be alright. He could live with himself. He could cope.
The voice in his head had subsided, which was a relief, and he didn't have to worry about appearing crazy. Maybe it was the fact that he had seen Mikey's body again. It had given him some sense of closure.
The group walked through the woods. David led the pack, looking at the ground and the trees for any signs of where people had walked. It didn't necessarily mean it was Nick, of course, but David was willing to try anything. He would scour the woods and the city for as long as it took until he found that man. But there was something else he was looking for first, and then he found it, a paw print next to a tree. It was difficult to make out the tracks given that there had been a storm, but the remnants still were visible. They walked past a foreboding farmhouse, although they did not go in. The men were getting restless and all said they hoped they could find some people soon, so they could have a little fun. David ignored them.
Eventually, they came to a river and heard people around. The men were excited. David peered out and saw a number of men and women, although none of them appeared to be anyone he recognized. They looked happy and free, unaware of the grisly fate that awaited them. He was sure Donny and his men were going to have their fun. It didn't matter to him, though. They were just more means to an end. As long as he got some information from them first, he would be satisfied. Maybe they had come across Nick.
David emerged from the forest and announced himself. The people turned to look at him, then a red-haired woman came up to him and introduced herself as Gillian.
“I'm David. This is going to seem a little random, but I'm wondering if you can help me. I'm looking for a man named Nick. He's with another man and a girl, and a dog.”
Gillian's lips twisted into a smile. “Oh yes, I think we might be able to help you out.”
Find out what happens next in book three here: http://amzn.to/2pfl9JV
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