The location for the unopened Kelvin Automotive dealership was on the east side of the Husks. Not far from actually inhabited residential streets, it was still in the abandoned blight of warehouses and parking lots on the way out to the airport. As the cab turned the corner, I had a better view of the place. A tall sign would have said KELVIN, but either it had never gotten finished or the letters were torn down. There was just a K and nothing else. The lot had chain link fence and razor wire at the front, the sides having a brick wall with razor wire. The lot was surprisingly filled with a bunch of cars that were aging toward ruin. It was like seeing a car dealership after the apocalypse. I would have expected the cars to be sold off, but if Honest Joe was playing a shell game, maybe nobody had gotten a hold of their titles. Near the back I saw a line of truck trailers and also the dealership building, which went as unnamed as the sign.
At first it seemed pretty dead, but then a figure appeared at the closed fence gate, standing close to look out at the cab. Then another. More followed. Since this was a pretty dead street, the sound of the cab must have been pretty noticeable. It took only a second before I noticed that the men at the gate were all Kelvins. I now had no doubt that this was one of their bases of operations, if not their headquarters. I slid down in my seat, hiding my face from the window so they didn't recognize it.
"This is where you wanted off, right?" said the cab driver. "Don't look too friendly here." I'm pretty sure he couldn't see that they were all the same person, but he could see how angry a welcome it appeared to be.
"Keep driving," I said, putting up a hand to hide my face. Ace had no qualms and instead stared out the window at the assembled Kelvins.
"Anywhere in particular?"
"Just past here," I said. "I guess take me to the train station."
"Got it," said the driver. "I wouldn't get out here."
I'm not sure what the Kelvins were actually doing, but I was pretty sure they were getting a long eyeful of the dog who had hired a cab driver to drive him past their headquarters.
I added this new information to my thoughts as we drove to the Husks train station. I had found their headquarters now. So what? I didn't know how many there were inside there. At least the half dozen I saw at the gate, but probably many more than that. Unknown amount of enemies that are hostile and tied to one location? This was the sort of thing you call in an army for. Minerva Technics probably had the army for that. But I really didn't want to call them, despite how much they would pay me. So what were my other options? Let this go? Walk away and let the Kelvins do whatever it was they were doing? Avoid the Night Market so they couldn't find me?
"Here we are," said the cab driver, jarring me out of my thoughts. I had said the Husks station because I could grab the train home. The cab bill was high - I have no idea how people could afford to take a cab regularly. Mass transit was so much cheaper.
I reached into my pocket to grab my wallet, and while doing so I looked out the window. My eyes fell upon someone sitting on a bench looking at the stairs for the train platform. He sat off from the other passengers to keep from being touched. He had a newspaper in his lap, but was clearly not using it to cover up his continual look at the platform stairs. It was another Kelvin, one of the bald ones. And it was clear what he was doing. This was where I had gotten on the train last night, the last place they had seen me. His intention was obvious. He was watching the train. For me.
I froze and made a quick decision. "Hey, change of plan," I said. "Can you take me over to South Egan?"
"I don't like that area," said the driver.
"It's just a drop off, you don't have to pick up," I said.
He thought for a moment and then nodded. The cab pulled out into traffic.
That was disconcerting. I had already figured the Kelvins were going to watch out for me. Ace and I had killed three and caused a few of the bald ones' heads to explode. They already wanted to kill me. But I didn't think they'd be watching the trains for me. I figured I was an enemy of opportunity to be attacked on sight, but I didn't think I was a big threat to them, not one to spend manpower watching for. But perhaps I had been a bigger problem for them than I thought. I wasn't sure. I did know they were becoming a problem for me.
When we were over the bridge, I had a thought.
"Hey, on the way to my place, can you just drive by the South Egan subway entrance? Don't stop, just drive by?"
"You involved in some shit, dude?"
"Something like that," I said. "I'm just learning how deep the shit is. But it shouldn't involve you."
The cab driver shrugged. He knew I'd be paying for any increase in the fare the detour made, but it was only a block, so probably not much.
As we passed the subway station entrance, I scanned the crowd. Rush hour was about to hit, so there were more people on the street. I looked over all their faces and body shapes, looking for that familiar Kelvin form. At first, I didn't see one, so I wondered if I was just paranoid, searching for someone who wasn't there. But then I found him. This time it was an angry Kelvin, trying to hide his facial scarring with a hooded sweatshirt. It didn't fool me as I saw him leaning against the wall, keeping an easy view of the stairs.
That confirmed it. They were actively trying to find me. Did they know I lived in Egan? Probably not. I bet if I went around town, I would find them standing guard over most of the likely stations. That meant they were expending a lot of resources on me. It also meant that the chances of me bumping into them in my normal course of living was high.
I was in a poor mood as I paid the cab bill, which was far too high for comfort. I went up to my apartment, Ace following at my heels, realizing things were worse than I thought. The Kelvins were after me.
As I settled onto the couch in my apartment, the full gravity of the situation fell upon me. I was trapped. My options were closing, leaving me with very little in the way of reasonable moves. I had somehow gotten myself stuck in this messed up situation. The Family and the search for Kolchak were very low on my list of problems. The Kelvins had become a bigger threat.
If they were watching every train station entrance, they were going to find me. It was hard to do anything within New Avalon without walking past one. I could lay low for a while, but eventually I'd need to go out. And based on the creepy single-mindedness of the Kelvins, I was not convinced that they'd stop looking for me. Not in a week, not in two weeks, not in a month. They seemed to have an endless supply of themselves, so what was a few in key places looking for me?
There was no walking away from this. I had to deal with this problem; I couldn't ignore it. I could skip town, but I had no place to go and no money to travel. I had no friends in high or low places - I felt like I didn't have any friends at all. So running was not an option that appealed to me.
Of course, a deal with the Devil could make it all go away, simply and easily. I could call Minerva Technics. I'd talk to Jessica, give her the Kelvins' location and then hope to not get screwed over. They would get together their posse of jackbooted commandos in black kevlar, raid Kelvin Automotive, and probably round up all the Kelvins. There was some appeal to this, except I just didn't trust MT. Did I want to give them... whatever the Kelvins were? Could I trust them to not use the Kelvins for evil? I'm not sure I could. I really wanted to pick this option, since I'd probably get paid and this would become someone else's problem. But I just couldn't. Not if I ever wanted to sleep well at night again. I had no confidence in the motivation or results of anything MT did. My conscience said No.
Then what were my options? Fighting back seemed the only one, and it was appealing. When backed into a corner, I lash out, for better or for worse. And I still had the dark memories of the beating the Kelvins gave me in the alley. I did want them to pay. I did want to fight them. But how? It was just me and someone else's dog. None of my allies were returning my calls and my brother had disowned me. Most of the weapons I normally used were in a van I couldn't access. I had never had any ability to get things
like explosives and nobody would trust me with a decent gun - even if I had somehow convinced Meat this would have been a righteous rampage to go on, he'd probably still not arm me. It would be me and Ace against the world. I did not like those odds.
Except that was my only choice.
It was such as depressing set of circumstances that even the last remaining shot of my whiskey that had stayed in the bottle couldn't dispel it. I was stuck in a war, ill prepared, poorly geared, and all alone. My only allies were hatred and a dog. I tried to pet Ace for solace, but even the miraculous powers of dogs couldn't help.
I pulled out my phone and brought up my brother's contact info. All I had to do was press the button to call him. I could just apologize - for everything. Everything and anything I'd done or he thought I'd done. I'd say it was all my fault, that I would change however he wanted me to, as long as he would let me be his brother again and would help me with this mess I had made for myself.
I should have called.
But I couldn't. As much as I knew I had fucked everything up, as much as I realized that I was down to my last achingly terrible choice, I just couldn't do that. I couldn't surrender. I'd been a fighter all my life, for good or for ill - but mostly for ill. I had fought my mom, my brother, Yasmin, Dickie, Carly, and anyone else who happened to cross my path and make themselves an inviting target. I'd never had much love to give, but plenty of fight whenever challenged. I was well-suited to hunt monsters and poorly suited for anything else. I knew who I was, and that's why I couldn't give up and surrender, not even now when that would be the best possible action. I had to fight this war. I was going to carry this fight to my grave, even if that meant the grave was coming way sooner than I had hoped.
Cowboy shit aside, I was scared. As much as Gary Cooper was a badass in High Noon[12], he was scared too. And he was a made-up person, so how much scarier would it be for me?
I called Dickie instead. This act of cowardice I allowed myself. Dickie and I had only had a fight. We had been in fights before and we'd have them again. Generally we didn't talk for a week, then everything was cool. We didn't even ever really apologize, we just started hanging out again and ignored that we fought. Though I felt like we were still in that not talking period, I really needed to talk. I needed to hear someone friendly. I needed to feel like someone had my back, even if Dickie wouldn't be coming with me to fight. I'd even put up with his annoying ego and stupid jokes.
But despite my boldness of calling him and despite the uncertain place in our relationship, I got his voice mail. Was he ducking my call, or was he actually busy? It didn't matter. He wasn't there and so the dark cloud over me got even darker.
That had been my last chance to be weak, my last chance to consider backing out. My last chance to pretend I wasn't doing this or that my life wasn't going to hell. That voice mail let the hatred and dark purpose rise in me. Time to be a warrior, a fighter. The only version of me that ever was any good at anything.
I gathered together the few weapons I had at home. Still nothing spectacular, but I found I had a better loadout than I had thought once I scraped it all together. I pulled on a jacket more suited for fighting - leather for movement and protection. I pulled on my boots. I put what I had in a backpack, carrying in my hands the biggest, most awkward weapon. I was ready, but there was one last thing to do. One more prayer for the dying.
My Matreon site let me post multiple videos for backers, rather than the single campaign video for FundstarterGoGo. Matreon encouraged weekly videos, shout-outs to fans, and work in progress updates. It was here that I recorded and posted a video. It seemed fitting. It was an audience of basically none, so it was not a communication, but an epitaph if I failed to return.
I put the camera on my desk and stood in front of it, standing in front of it awkwardly with all my gear. I must have looked like some vision of an apocalyptic future or a crazy person ready for the end. I took a deep breath and gave the camera my most committed stare.
"My name is Szandor Nowak. If you're seeing this, know that this might be the last thing you ever hear from me. I may be gone already. I'm dealing with a fucked up set of guys - monsters. But not a monster I've ever met before, not anything I had ever heard of. Not revenants, not ghouls, not anything else. This is new, something bizarre. Some type of group of clones... I don't know. But they're David Kelvin. They're all David Kelvin. I don't know how, I don't know why... But somehow I've made them mad. Really mad. And they now they want me dead. They're watching the trains and the streets. They want to know where I live because I've found where they live. Kelvin Automotive.
"I don't know how it got to this, but I'm in a war. There's no chance for diplomacy. They want me dead and I don't think I can run from this. Not after what they've done to me. So if this is a war, then I'm going to take the fight to them. I'll raid their lair and I'll kill as many as I can. There seem to be endless numbers of them, but they've got to have a limit. Tonight we'll find out if there are more of them than there is fight in me."
I paused, and Ace walked into the frame to nuzzle my hand. I ran my other hand through my hair nervously.
"Look, for all my tough talk, there's a large chance I won't survive this," I continued. "I've probably bitten off more than I can chew. But I have no choice. I have nowhere to turn and there's no help coming. I've been a goddamn asshole my whole life and I've left myself without any friends. Nobody has my back... except maybe this dog." I looked down at Ace, who probably was so large he was half out of frame. "He's a good dog, but he's probably only with me because we haven't found his owner yet."
As if understanding, Ace gave a bark. I guess to tell me that what I had said wasn't the only reason.
This made me smile, but it was a strained smile that disappeared as quickly as it came. "I have to do this. I can't hide out and wait for the inevitable. If this is it, if this is my end, then I'll go out fighting, as I've done for everything that mattered and against everyone that ever mattered throughout my whole life."
I took a deep breath. "My name is Szandor Nowak, and this is my last stand."
A Warrior's Call
Ace and I walked out to the Husks, just the two of us, a man and his borrowed dog, heading east, the setting sun at our backs. I used this time to psych myself up. We kept our pace light, knowing it would be nearly two hours to walk to Kelvin Automotive. I had no more money for a cab and that seemed a bad idea. I was carrying a bunch of weapons and had a dog as big as I. Few cabs would stop, and even if we got the same driver, I couldn't put up with hearing Dancing Queen one more time. The subways were being watched, so they weren't an option unless I was starting my fight way sooner than expected. I assumed there was a bus that went out to that end of the Husks but I didn't know it and I didn't know if they'd let Ace on. I'd also stick out with my gear. My backpack was full, but I had to carry my hooked pipe. I called it that, but it wasn't actually a hook. It was a long pipe, maybe three feet in length and thicker than most of the ones I used. At the end of it, the pipe curved around where it would connect to another pipe, almost turning back a full 180 degrees. I called that a hook and I liked how it had some extra mass at the end. I had set this one aside long ago and never gotten to use it. It had enough length I could use it one or two handed, but it was still long and most places underground just didn't have enough room to swing it. I had decided that I might get my chance at Kelvin Automotive. I rested that pipe on my shoulder as I walked across the bridge and on through the Husks.
As I was crossing the bridge, my phone rang. I looked down and saw it was Dickie. Half an hour, an hour ago, I would have loved to have spoken to him. On some level, I had needed to - then. But now it was too late. My game face was already on, the dark purpose already in me, the warrior ready. I had no time for Dickie's easy smiles or any type of reconciliation. I let the call go to voice mail.
Darkness had long since fallen by the time I reached the eastern side of the Husks. I had kept close to the highway for the light and the noise,
as well as to keep away from the Night Market and crime. I had no worries about harm coming to me from a mugger, but neither did I want to deal with any. I was saving my strength for Kelvin Automotive.
Ace was in good spirits. I had tried to explain to him what was happening, but when you talk to a dog, there's always this vague feeling in the back of your head that the dog is putting you on. Like they not only understand, but that they're secretly sarcastic and laughing at you. I know this is unlikely, as they're probably nodding furiously in their heads, agreeing with your every word because they trust you to tell them like it is. I said he didn't have to do this, since I wasn't his master and it wouldn't help us find Kolchak, but Ace seemed content to follow my lead, even if it was onto the gates of danger. Then again, I think since Ace was some sort of attack dog, he might have been better adapted to danger than me. Hell, he might actually have had more training than me in fighting. Kolchak seemed the type of train his dog well.
It was when we were within sight of Kelvin Automotive that I started feeling my nerves. I was one man with one dog, against who knew how many Kelvins. I knew my odds were poor when I made the decision, but was I really going through with it? Did I have any hope for survival?
Then I thought of the faces of David Kelvin, burned and exploding, and my doubt turned to hate. They had been beaten me in an alley, kicking and laughing at my pain. They were trying to hunt me down. Their tendency to explode had gotten me arrested by the cops and made a suspect in a murder investigation. It was one of them that had been driving the truck I fell off of. That gave me a concussion that had resulted in me being abandoned by all my friends. I doubt they had planned it that way, but they had been the cause of everything wrong in my life for the past week - perhaps the worst week of my life[13]. I wasn't going to let that go. I wasn't going to hide and let them hunt me down. If this was my war, I was going to take the fight to them and die in a blaze of glory.
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