Dead Last, Vol. 3

by Quaranta, Marc

  “Kurt, Glen, one of the guards came up to me and was making some bold accusations about this place.”

  “What are you talking about?” Glen asked. I didn’t know him at all, but I noticed that he took any comments about District 7-1 defensively.

  “Who?”

  “His name was Ryan,” she said.

  “He was the one who talked to me,” I said. It was a small world, but even now so in District 7-1.

  “Yeah. Look, I don’t know what he’s trying to get at or accomplish, but he is worried about this place. Says Kendrick had a lot of pull and a lot of the other guards follow him blindly. He thinks something’s happening.”

  “That’s impossible. Kendrick is locked up. He is not doing anything.”

  “I’m just telling you what he said. I don’t know if it is a real threat, or if anything is going on at all, but I think if you want to keep things the way they are, you need to let Kurt talk with Kendrick.”

  I expected my request to be impossible to grant. I thought I would have to put up a hell of an argument, but it turns out I didn’t need to do anything. Haylea took care of all of it for me. I thought I’d be arguing with her and Glen, but she backed me up.

  Now that we were on the same page, and in the same location, Haylea and I made a strong team.

  31

  Emily Clark

  H aving my house right across from their house was nice. I closed the front door behind me and had hoped that I’d see Jack on the front porch because for a moment I forgot that he moved down the street.

  I could have gone home. I could have relaxed or checked on some of the other people in the town that had become patients. There was a doctor in District 7-1 before I showed up, but now there were two and I was quickly filling in on some of his rotational visits. He also wasn’t a pediatrician originally like I was, so the young children were now a part of my patient list.

  I should have gone home and tried to talk to Elyse. We had maybe had two conversations with each other over the last twenty days. I confronted her about what Scott had told Jack and me. I wasn’t convinced that my baby girl would ever consider wanting to have somebody killed especially not someone she cared about like Jack. But I wasn’t sure she was my baby girl anymore. I wasn’t sure who she was anymore.

  We fought and screamed at the top of our lungs when I confronted her. She denied it completely and blamed it on Scott being a psychopath, rapist, and insane man. How could I argue with that? Scott wasn’t a reliable person.

  I tried to tell her that she was no longer acting like the daughter I knew, though, too. She denied that as well. She blamed me. She said that I wasn’t paying enough attention to notice whether she was acting like herself or not. I was too busy “hanging out with Jack” was what she said.

  Since then, we only had one other conversation. I wanted to make sure she was okay and that she was feeling better. She told me things were getting better and admitted that she wasn’t feeling like herself. She denied wanting Jack killed, but admitted to other crazy behavior. Unfortunately, it was a hell of an act. I didn’t believe a word she was saying.

  Instead of doing any of that, I followed my heart down the street leading up to Jack’s new house. He was sitting there on the porch alone. He was alone a lot the last couple of weeks. He wasn’t with me, at least I knew that.

  He looked at me, and in my heart, I knew he wanted to smile, but something stopped him from doing so. He at least sat up from a hunched over position when he saw me. I needed to be happy with what he was willing to give me. Being happy when a man sits up straight for me is what my relationship had quickly turned to.

  “Hi,” I said. I tried to sound neutral and that I wasn’t there to pick a fight, but when I saw the three empty beer bottles on the small table next to him, I couldn’t help it. “You’re drinking? Are you kidding me? What time is it?”

  He looked up at the sun’s position in the sky, but something inside of him stopped his mouth from puking out a sarcastic comment. That was probably for the best. For his sake.

  “Jack, what is your damn problem? Why can’t you just stop? Why can’t you get over what happened to Kurt? Why can’t you just move on? Why won’t you stop!” The last one was more of an exclamatory statement than it was a question.

  “Emily, I’m not doing this again. I’m not doing this again.”

  “Don’t you dare fucking drink that in front me of!” I yelled when his hand moved to the bottle. “I’m sick of this! What is your fucking problem? Every single one of us has accepted this place and given in and we are happy. It’s working. Why can’t you do that?!”

  “Because I can’t!” His mouth remained open but the words stopped. There was an imaginary clock behind him that was counting down to zero but started low to begin with. When it hit zero, he turned and grabbed one of the two empty bottles and threw it across the porch. It shattered leaving glass all around our feet.

  “That’s just great.” My eyes began to well up. He was a lost cause.

  “Do you need a list of everything that is wrong?” he asked.

  “No,” I said.

  He ignored me and went down the list anyway.

  “Sam is dead. Scott raped Elyse. He raped your daughter and now he is a guard that we are counting on to protect us, right? Speak of your daughter, umm, she wants to kill me. I shot and almost killed Kurt. Haylea isn’t speaking to me. Dan is dead. Nick is dead. Kylie’s boyfriend…”

  “Bryce,” I said.

  “Bryce. He’s apparently dead, right? He’s missing. He never came back and nobody is saying anything about that. How’s Kylie even doing with that?”

  “She’s okay,” I lied. Hopefully, she was, but I didn’t know for sure and actually doubted it.

  “And with all of that, with everything that we have been through, this fucking place is just up and running. This place exists. That should be a red-fucking-flag right there, but nobody seems to care. It is just a coincidence, right? We’re saved. We’re all so lucky. That’s bullshit.”

  “Yes, things have happened to us, but everyone has been through a tough time. Not just you! But the difference between us and you is that we see that things are getting better. The smoke is clearing and things are better.”

  He scoffed and laughed and groaned all together in one horrifying sound.

  “Elyse is doing better and there’s more wrong with you than there is her if you really think she’d have you killed. She’s a teenage girl that is hurting, Jack. And instead of helping, you ran away. You got scared.”

  “And Kurt is okay!” I yelled. “He’s fine. He’s alive. He’s not mad at you. However, he is lying in a bed with two holes in his chest and still hasn’t heard a single word from the guy who shot him. That’s on you! You ran away!”

  “We should be out there!” Jack cried. “This place isn’t safe. This place is a lie. Something about these people and these houses and all this shit is wrong. Why can’t you see that? We should be out there!”

  “No, we shouldn’t. We are right where we need to be. We are home.”

  He didn’t like that word. Home. It didn’t matter if I was talking about WTIX, District 7-1, or any other place in what the world had become. He didn’t want us to have a home. We shouldn’t have been calling any place home. We were drifters. Survivors. There was no home.

  A golf cart slowly drove down the street and stopped in front of Jack’s house. Kurt slowly stepped out onto the street and walked over to us. Haylea sat in the back and Glen was driving.

  Just more fuel to the fire of Jack’s anger was I’m sure seeing Haylea and Kurt making nice with the boss man. There was no convincing anyone to leave now that Kurt was riding shotgun in Glen’s ride.

  He stepped up onto the porch and I could see how much lifting his leg hurt.

  “What are you doing?” I asked. I was angered to see him not only out of bed but out of his house.

  “I’m okay, Emily. I’m fine.” He smiled at me and then looked at Jack. He was
n’t planning on walking up any more of the stairs. “I do not blame you for anything. I am not angry at you for anything.”

  He reached his hand out. Jack didn’t acknowledge, but he waited. He waited and waited and stared at Jack until he was ready to accept his apology. Jack was not going to admit he was wrong. He was too afraid to. Kurt shouldn’t have been the one giving Jack any kind of explanation. It should have been Jack apologizing to him.

  Finally, Jack stepped forward, right passed me and shook Kurt’s hand. I could see he wanted to apologize, but Kurt spoke again before Jack could find the words.

  “Thank you for protecting Haylea. Thank you for keeping them safe.”

  Jack nodded. They let go and Kurt headed back toward the cart. At the speed he was walking, Jack had an immense amount of time to speak up and apologize to him, Haylea, Glen, or even to me, but still, he said nothing.

  Kurt winced as he got into the car. He leaned back into his seat and breathed out the pain. Haylea rubbed the back of his neck and Glen’s stare lingered Jack’s direction before they drove away.

  I tilted my head to the side and then looked at Jack one last time before walking off the porch. I hoped that look meant more than any actual words could. He didn’t call back to me. He didn’t run after me or grab me and hug me. He didn’t do anything.

  It had been twenty-one days since Jack shot Kurt.

  I missed him dearly.

  32

  Scott Daugherty

  O nce the door was shut, I rested my hands on the hard plastic. I leaned my forehead down and just barely made contact with the cool surface.

  I wanted the lock the doors. I wanted to shut the whole building down, turn the lights, off and sit under my desk. To be completely honest, if I did that, I’d probably cry or at least I knew my eyes would tear up.

  Elyse was going to screw me over. Either I have to kill a man or a woman that I am quickly falling for was going to learn the truth about me.

  Make no mistake about it, I never loved Elyse. I never even cared about her. The guy that was back in WTIX was a cold empty monster that didn’t have any feelings. He lusted after her in such a sick way that it makes me nauseous thinking about it.

  I haven’t loved anybody since my ex-wife. But Sarah was something special. And the greatest thing about it was that we were inside District 7-1. We could start an actual life. There wouldn’t be any vacations or chance at relocation, but there would be a very comfortable like together.

  That’s what Elyse was taking away from me. I thought about it again and came really close to turning the lock and turning the light off, but I heard noise from the back hall.

  I’d completely forgotten that Zach was back there. He was taking a long time delivering that food to Kendrick.

  As my back was to the door, it swung open and clocked me in the back of the hell. I jumped out of the way and Glen walked in. I thought perhaps he was checking in on me, but he hadn’t done that, yet. And in after him followed Kurt.

  “Holy shit. Kurt. You’re up,” I said. I tried to smile at him but instead, kept things emotionless.

  “Wow,” he said. “I almost didn’t believe that you were actually working security. Wow.”

  Glen didn’t give me any vocal support at that moment. He looked down at the ground and waited for more interaction between the two of us.

  “Why was Elyse just leaving here? What was going on?”

  “Nothing. It was nothing.”

  “Stay the hell away from her, Scott.”

  “Kurt, please, it isn’t what you think it is.”

  “Stay away,” he said again quietly.

  He was in bad shape. He walked with a hitch in his step, he was hunched over, his breathing was slow, and his voice was raspy. I could have pushed him over and it might have killed him, but he still spoke to me like he was invincible. That was Kurt.

  Out walked Zach from the back hallway. He was surprised to see the two of Glen and Kurt there.

  “What’s going on?” Zach asked casually.

  “Zach. What are you doing here?” Glen asked.

  “I was just bringing Kendrick his food. I heard a call that there was something going on in section three. I’m going to go check it out.”

  Zach walked by us and patted Kurt gently on the shoulder as he did. He opened the door and before he left, looked back at us.

  “It’s good to see you up and moving, Kurt. Glad to have you back, man.”

  Kurt nodded and Zach was gone after that. Kurt stared at the door for a long few seconds. He was thinking about something, but I wasn’t about to get involved in their relationship.

  “Is there something I can help you guys with?”

  “No, Scott,” Glen spoke. “Kurt is actually going to have a small conversation with Captain Kendrick.”

  “Umm, I don’t know if—”

  “It’s okay. Really. It was my idea.” Glen and Kurt shared a look.

  “I can show him back there,” I said nicely.

  “No, that’s okay. Kurt, it is just down the hall. There are two cells and one of them is filled. You can’t get lost.”

  “Really, I can walk him back.”

  “Scott, what do you say you and I grab a quick lunch. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about. Kurt is fine without us, right, Kurt?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Kurt said. He moved by us and down the long hall to the cells.

  “To the pub?” Glen said.

  When we got there, the place was filling up for lunch. Waiting rooms, waiting lists, reservations. Those were all things I never thought about anymore and didn’t miss. Even when the pub was busy, like it was now, it wasn’t really a chaotic busy.

  Frank was off to a 2-person table with his son Reggie. Glen walked over by them and I followed not knowing what was going on or what Glen was doing.

  “Frank, how are you? Reggie.” Glen leaned down by them. “How’s the food?”

  “It’s great!” Reggie didn’t look up. He was drawing with crayons.

  “I’m so glad. Frank,” Glen spoke softly and moved closer to the dad. “Is everything going okay? How’s he adjusting?”

  “Actually, pretty great, Glen. Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

  So many people were appreciative of Glen. I didn’t know how many of these people Glen knew beforehand and how many had shown up randomly as we had. But Glen saved a lot of lives I was sure. His District was the only thing keeping some of us alive.

  “Let’s sit over here, Scott.”

  There was a small round table in the back corner. Nobody was sitting there. It looked like a small VIP’s only type of table and without asking him, I assumed it was Glen’s table. It was a tad quieter than the rest of the restaurant.

  “First of all, I want to say that I think you’re doing a great job.”

  “Thank you, Glen. And I need to thank you again for giving me the opportunity to earn your trust.”

  “That’s quite alright. I’ve spoken to some of the other guards and they agree that you are doing a great job. You’re a fast learner. You’re getting the hang of things and there haven’t been any problems in getting you up to speed.”

  “Thank you,” I said proudly.

  “I also have heard from some people that you are becoming quite infatuated with Sarah, the bartender.”

  “Oh,” I said. I wasn’t expecting my love life to be the topic of conversation. “Umm, well, yeah. A little. I think it goes both ways, actually.”

  “That’s what I’ve heard.”

  “She told me she was close with your wife.”

  “Is that what she said?” Glen nodded his head and then looked over to Sarah behind the bar.

  I looked over, too and when she looked up at us, I smiled. I looked at Glen and he wasn’t smiling at her. I remembered from the last time we sat at the bar, they didn’t seem too friendly either. Sarah wasn’t smiling either. She just went right back to work and ignored us.

  “Sir, I’m sorry. If
me dating Sarah is an issue,” I said.

  “She’s my sister.”

  If I was surprised, we were even talking about my love life, I was shocked when he told me that. Absolutely floored.

  “Oh.”

  “She’s my sister, Scott.”

  “I’m sorry. She never said anything. Like I said, she just told me that she was friends with your wife.”

  “That’s because she hates my guts. I don’t want to get into it, but she was most definitely friends with my wife. And when my wife died, my relationship with Sarah died, too.”

  “I’m sorry,” was all I could say.

  “It’s fine. We were in bad shape long before I even met my wife. Sarah didn’t agree with some of the business I was doing and I put her in the middle of a lot of stuff. It hasn’t been a strong relationship since we were kids. I understand that.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Glen.”

  “It’s quite alright. Because the truth is that she may not like me, hell, she may not even talk to me, but she is still my sister. I love her all the same.”

  Glen got up and walked over to the bar. He helped himself to a glass and a bottle of whiskey. He poured himself a shot or two worth and then came back over to me. He and Sarah didn’t even acknowledge each other’s presence and they weren’t more than two feet apart.

  “Scott,” he said as he sat back down. He took a small sip and grimaced in delight. “I know why Kurt was a bit appalled to see you and Elyse talking.”

  “Oh, that’s nothing, sir.”

  “Scott, cut the bullshit. Look. I don’t regret giving you this job. You’re doing a great job. The guys like you. It is a good fit for you.” He took the rest of the whiskey in one gulp.

  “But if you think for one second that I’m going to let a psychopathic rapist go anywhere near my sister, you’re out of your God damn mind.”

  He leaned in and pointed his finger right in my face. For the third time in our short conversation, he’d managed to catch me off guard. And this was the worst shock of them all. This one scared me and caused me to swallow my tongue.