by Mark Ayre
Trey was next into the hatch, followed by Dwight. The former circled, releasing a low whistle.
“Impressive, huh?” said Dwight.
“Pretty much,” said Trey. “You ever deal with Harvey Michaels?”
Dwight gave Trey a curious look. “You knew Harvey?”
“My dad.”
“No way? Never would have guessed it.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“If you like.” Dwight chuckled. “Nah, never dealt with Harvey. I was too small-time for him. Did once meet with one of his lieutenants. Nothing came of it though.”
“Victor?” Asked Trey.
“That’s the one.”
Trey smiled. Vicious Victor had tormented Trey for years. Mercury wondered if Trey was reliving their most recent encounter, during which Victor had tried to murder Trey with a vat of boiling water and had instead found his head plunged into said vat by the intervening Liz.
Pluto was the last to drop through the hatch. After doing his own circle, he looked to Mercury.
“Amira knew some interesting people.”
“Investigative journalist,” said Mercury. “And able to switch off her morals when it suited, obviously.”
“I ain’t never hurt anyone,” said Dwight.
“Yeah? And you sell exclusively to people looking to defend their kitten sanctuaries do you?”
Dwight reddened. “You got a problem, maybe you don’t want to do business.”
Mercury glanced around. Tried to imagine where all this weaponry might end up. The damage such an armoury could do. It was hard not to speak up.
Trey laid a hand on Mercury’s arm. Though he didn’t speak the touch conveyed his message. Something like, Bigger fish to fry. He was right.
“We’re all good,” she said. “I believe Amira told you what we wanted?”
A nod. As well as the armoury to be found on the shelves around the walls, there were two huge crates and three smaller ones positioned on the floor. More stock ready to catalogue and add to the shelves perhaps. Or items that wouldn’t fit on the racking.
Dwight moved to one of these crates. The lid already lay at its side. From within, he grabbed a sack and presented it to Mercury.
“Standard stuff in there. Couple of handguns, couple of grenades, one snub-nosed shotgun, load of bullets. I’ll run you through it all in a minute but let’s face it, that’s not why you’re here, is it?”
Mercury shook her head. Her palms were sweaty.
“I liked Amira,” Dwight said. “When I first saw her, I just thought “fine piece of ass”, you know?”
“Oh yeah, she had a great behind,” said Mercury. “Wouldn’t you say so, Trey?”
Trey looked flustered, blushed. Said nothing.
“But she weren’t just smoking hot. She knew what she was doing. Smart, switched on. Didn’t take no shit. She was like a guy.”
“Intelligent go getter, like a guy” said Mercury. “My thoughts exactly.”
She glanced at Trey with raised eyebrows and he tried not to laugh.
“I’m sorry she’s gone.”
“Thank you.”
“Whatever she wanted this for,” he said, pointing into the box. “I hope you put it to good use.”
“We intend to.”
Smiling, Dwight turned back. From the case, he heaved the showpiece and spun to present it to Mercury. His smile and eyes said, What do you think about this beauty?
“Oh yeah,” said Mercury in answer to the unasked question. “That’ll do nicely.”
Trey led the line outside. Mercury knew something was wrong when he stopped short. Anticipating trouble, she swung the stack of smaller weaponry over her shoulder and moved to Trey’s side.
The car was gone.
So was Sam.
Behind them exited Dwight, still holding his handgun, and Pluto, carrying the glorious item they had come to collect.
“Uh, Pluto,” said Mercury. “You got a thing about working exclusively with car thieves or what?”
“Did you leave the keys in the ignition?” Asked Trey.
“Is now the time for recriminations, Trey?”
Mercury turned to Pluto, who looked embarrassed and upset that Sam might have abandoned them and taken the car, along with three of their four remaining demon-killing knives.
Mercury planned to shout at the possessed. As she turned, she saw Heidi flash from the side of the house.
“Watch out,” said Mercury.
Too late. Having stopped an inch behind Dwight, Heidi grabbed his head and snapped his neck. As the arms dealer dropped, Heidi stepped forward, spread her hands, and smiled.
“Look I killed a bad guy. Can I be part of the team now?”
She smiled at them all, ending on Trey.
“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be dead?”
Forty
Mercury went for the knife. Heidi shot forward, grabbed her wrist, punched her stomach, then tossed her into the dirt. The smiling monster turned to Trey. Before she could attack, Pluto appeared, blocking her path.
“You’re new,” she said. “Don’t look very dangerous. Let me guess, martial arts expert?”
Pluto punched Heidi in the face. The force of the blow threw her backwards, through the open front door and crashing along the corridor. Pluto dumped their new weapon to the ground with less care than Trey would have considered prudent, then followed.
Rising from the dirt, staring at her ruined jeans and top, Mercury fumed.
“This is the worst thing she’s ever done.”
Though Trey wasn’t sure ruined clothes should feature at the top of a list which included multiple counts of murder and the raising of a monster who could destroy the world, he chose not to mention anything. It was nice that something seemed to have distracted Mercury, if only temporarily, from the loss of her mother and boyfriend.
As Mercury fell in line with Trey, Pluto smashed through the living room window and rolled across the gravel drive. Following him out, Heidi turned to Mercury and Trey.
“You got one of my kind on your side. Congratulations.”
Pluto was up again.
“What did you do with Sam?”
“What did you do with our car?” said Mercury.
Pluto swung. Heidi ducked and lashed out. They began to fight. Both possessing more speed than any human, it quickly became difficult to keep track of their tussle.
Mercury had her knife again. To Trey, she said, “Get a gun,” then she was rushing off to join the melee, chucking the canvas bag from her shoulder as she went.
Trey caught it. From within he grabbed the snub-nose shotgun and two heavy bullets. Luckily, Dwight had given them a demonstration before his untimely death. Trey made quick work of loading and preparing to fire.
As he rushed across the gravel, Pluto chucked Heidi into a wall. She landed on her feet, came forward and slid around the back of her attacker before kicking him into Mercury.
The duo went down.
Heidi said, “Will you two listen?”
Trey shot her in the chest.
The bullet wouldn’t kill the monster. It still packed plenty of power, throwing Heidi from her feet.
Within seconds, she was up.
“Oi, dead boy, how dare you treat your mother that way.”
Pluto punched her in the face. She spun, hit the gravel, pushing her hands into it as she fell to stop from smashing her nose. Pluto kicked her in the stomach, spinning her away from him. As she landed again, he followed up and this time kicked her head before grabbing her top and hauling her from the ground.
“Where’s that knife?” He shouted.
Mercury was up and making for Pluto. Trey hesitated. More than anything, he wanted Heidi gone. He still wasn’t sure how he would feel watching someone plunge a knife into the heart of his mother’s former body, however cold and distant she had been his entire life.
“Wait, wait, wait,” said Heidi. “You don’t want to do this.”
&nb
sp; “Oh, you’re so wrong,” said Mercury.
Pluto turned to collect the knife. Heidi raised her legs and kicked him in the chest. The move wrenched his hand from her neck, and she back-flipped; landing on her feet. When Mercury approached with the knife, Heidi retreated, her hands up, crouching a little. She looked as though she were trying to calm an approaching tiger.
“You go against Cleo, you’re going to lose,” she said.
“Maybe, but I’ll die with a smile on my face knowing I killed the bitch who destroyed my life first.”
Heidi smiled. “That would be fair. Super fair. It isn’t true, though, is it? You’re not petty. You’re way above doing things for the sake of revenge—more than anything, you want to stop Cleo and save the world. Tell me I’m wrong? No, don’t bother. I know I’m not.”
Pluto was edging forward again. Trey came with the gun raised, pointing at Heidi. From the last shot, blood poured down his mother’s chest. In the same way that Pluto seemed happy to continue with one eye and a bullet in his heart, Heidi paid the injury no heed.
“I want to help you,” she said.
Mercury laughed.
“Yeah, I know, I know, sounds dumb, doesn’t it? I spend all this time trying to kill you so I could raise my master in peace. Now Cleo’s here, and I want her dead and you alive to do it. Must be hard to believe.”
“Try impossible.”
“Right, but it’s not. It shouldn’t be. Look at the facts. Talk to Trey.”
No one glanced back, but somehow the attention switched to Trey. He was still coming up behind Mercury and Pluto, but edging to the side, hoping to reach a position from which he could blow Heidi away if she tried to attack.
“Remember in the tent,” Heidi pressed. “Remember what I said? You must remember.”
Trey was surprised to hear a touch of desperation in Heidi’s voice. Though he could see why. If her claims were on the level, and she wanted to help, she would have arrived thinking she could knock Mercury and Trey down and take her time explaining the situation. That they had Pluto onside changed the dynamic. Put her on the back foot.
“Trey,” she hissed.
“I remember,” he said.
“See,” said Heidi.
“Oh, you’re right,” said Mercury. “We won’t kill you.”
“Trey,” said Heidi. “Tell them. You’ll let him tell me, yeah?”
“Go on,” said Mercury.
Trey found himself sitting back in that tent, an infected doctor across the way. Wistful, Heidi had risen from opposite Trey and moved to the tent flap, looking out.
“She talked about the beauty of our world,” said Trey. “How she was angry because we, humanity, had ruined it. She hated her own world because it was hellish. She believed her master wanted to bring more of her kind through, so they could take the Earth, restore it to its beauty.”
“Spot on,” said Heidi, then looked at Pluto. “That’s what Cleo told us, isn’t it? That’s what we believed.”
“Cleo spouted her lies,” said Pluto. “Many of those too young to have experienced a break down of walls are stupid enough to believe they will one day live in beauty.”
Ignoring the jibe, Heidi said, “All I want is to escape the torment.” She focused on Mercury. “Cleo wants to destroy this universe and fold it into ours, and what then? I hate this body. Human flesh is repulsive. But I’m happier than I’ve ever been. I’m free. If Cleo succeeds, I’ll once more be a tormented spirit in a barren land, waiting, hoping, praying, I’ll again be pulled into a being from a better place. If I am, I wouldn’t repeat my mistakes. I would leave Cleo where she belongs. In hell.”
Mercury still had the knife up. Trey knew every part of her was screaming to kill the monster. But Pluto had backed off a little. Trey had lowered his gun. Not right to the ground but dipped so it pointed at Heidi’s legs, rather than at her stomach. Mercury noted her allies’ moves but did not seem ready to replicate.
“How could I ever trust you?” She asked.
“Easily, because I’m not asking you to trust much. I’m not saying I’ve changed, that I’m a human lover. I’m not. You make me sick. I’m not professing to feel guilty for trying to kill you. I still wish you dead. All I’m asking is that, for the moment, you believe our desires align. I want Earth to remain beautiful. I don’t want to go home. What is it you humans say? The enemy of my enemy is my friend? So call a temporary truce. Make use of my support. Let me be Switzerland.”
This stumped the crowd.
“Switzerland?”
“You know,” said Heidi. “Like off of your World Wars. Changing sides.”
“Russia,” said Trey.
Heidi said, “What?”
“Switzerland were neutral in the wars. Russia changed sides.”
“No one likes a smart arse, Trey.”
“How would you help us?” said Mercury. “Why do we need you? Do you know what we have over there?”
She pointed at the outline of the bag in which lay the beauty.
“If it’s not a nuke I don’t care because it won’t help.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. Let me tell you what happens if you storm into the mansion, just the three of you, regardless of what weapons you’ve brought.”
“Go on,” said Mercury.
“Cleo will immediately know your new friend here is possessed, even if I didn’t. She’ll send your old friend Amira, who is now Aurora, plus ten or more infected, to subdue him. He might well defeat Aurora and the infected. Even if he does, he’ll be weakened. In ten seconds, Cleo would have killed you and Trey, and she’ll make quick work of your remaining member I can tell you, and I think he agrees with me.”
Mercury and Trey looked to Pluto. He didn’t speak, nor shake or nod his head. His silence was as telling as any statement.
“Without me, you don’t stand a chance.”
Mercury looked again at Pluto. She wanted him to speak up, to say it wasn’t necessary. Instead, he looked at Heidi and said, “Where’s Sam?”
“Who is Sam?”
“She was out here with our car.”
Heidi looked to the space at which he was pointing. A baffled expression crossed his face.
“And what? You think I killed Sam and then… buried the car? Or carried it around the back of the house? Maybe piled a stack of hay on top of it? To what end? If I was attacking to kill you, I’d want the element of surprise. How would concealing your car, a clear sign something’s wrong, help with that?”
Trey looked at Pluto who looked at Mercury.
“It’s not just humans who are big on sarcasm, eh?” said Mercury.
“You pick it up fast,” said Heidi. “And if it wasn’t clear, there was no Sam when I arrived. My car’s around back.”
Pluto looked at Mercury. He was worried about Sam. Now was not the time to explore that issue.
“Our chances are bleak, even with your weapon,” he said. “Any help we can get would tip the scales slightly more our way. Though they’ll never be in our favour.”
Mercury looked at Heidi. “I take it you have a plan?”
“Oh that’s simplicity itself. But it does involve some acting.”
Mercury raised her eyebrows. Heidi smiled.
“How well can you play dead?”
Forty-One
Driving as though chased by her guilt, Sam sped along the motorway, returning the way she had come.
Chased by her guilt. What a ridiculous notion. No chasing was needed. Her guilt sat at her side. It leaned over and draped its arms around her. Her guilt was all-consuming. Nothing she said or did could shake it free.
That she had left didn’t make her guilty. What use would she be in the final battle? Some pathetic teenager who had spent the last few years trapped indoors, serving at the pleasure of her brother?
Oh good, another flash of guilt. She hadn’t meant, Serving at the pleasure of her brother. It hadn’t been like that. He wasn’t some master of the house
and she his servant. Yes, she did the cooking and the cleaning, and she took out the bins and massaged his shoulders. But she still had her education. She went to school, and she did her homework. She was working towards something. A something Benny might have had if her parents hadn’t died. If Sam hadn’t been a stupid kid who needed looking after. She did those things for Benny because he deserved them.
Didn’t he?
He could have been someone. He said it time and again. Of course, he had repeatedly been suspended from school. Had never done his homework. Before mum and dad died, he was already involved with some dodgy people. Their parents whispered. Sam had heard them talking. They were worried he would end up in prison. Or in a gang. Worst of all, dead.
That didn’t change anything. He could have turned himself around. Even if he was already at the end of his school career when mum and dad died.
Right at the end, in fact. Sam had never considered that, whenever Benny had spoken about giving up school to look after her. She never considered there was no school to give up. He had finished anyway. And he had failed everything.
Why now? Why now did these thoughts have to crop up? Her brother had been on the verge of death. He wasn’t well. Now more than ever, he needed her, and she had the chance to step up. So why were these thoughts polluting her mind?
It was Stephanie and Trey. Both had spoken of their families. Stephanie’s had been perfect; Trey’s awful. Both had mentioned abuse. But Benny didn’t abuse her. He wasn’t the brightest. He struggled to express himself. At times the only way he knew how to communicate was with his fists or similar. He had a short temper. She knew that. Had always known that. It was up to her to be more careful.
