They gazed at each other for a moment, and then Leah gently worked her way out of Jin’s arm and stood up.
“Time to go wake Will up I guess,” she said.
Jin nodded and got to his feet as well.
As Leah walked back into their motel room, Jin stretched out as best he could and gazed up at the rising sun, thoughts of the road that lay before him entering his mind, anger mixing with exasperation as thoughts of Leah and Will entered his mind as well.
How many more, Dorigan? Jin thought. How many more lives must you destroy before you’re satisfied?
--<(0)>--
Three hours later, and fifteen miles outside of Pine Lake, Jin pulled the Mustang off the road, parking it right under a large pine tree.
“What’s going on?” Leah asked.
“Can’t take the Mustang into town just yet,” Jin explained.
“Why not?” Will asked from the back seat.
Jin paused for a minute, chewing over his words before he spoke.
“Dorigan is both the most arrogant and the most paranoid person that I’ve ever met, and I don’t know which one is dominating his thoughts right now.”
“What does that mean?” Leah asked curiously.
“If it was arrogance,” Jin began, “then he wouldn’t have any men posted in town looking around for me. But if it’s paranoia…”
“Then the town would be crawling with them,” Leah finished for him.
“Exactly. So until I can determine which it is, the Mustang stays here.”
“But,” Will spoke up, “how are we going to get to town? Are we close enough to walk?”
“No, we’re still a ways away,” Jin replied, looking up and down the road from his window. “I’m not about to park my car where it could be easily spotted by Dorigan’s men.”
“But you just said…” Will started to argue.
Jin cut him off, turning back to look him in the eye.
“I said that he might, and he might not, and with your life and your mother’s life on the line, that’s not a risk I’m willing to take. Are you?”
Will glared with dull anger at Jin and looked away.
“So,” Jin said as he turned back to his window. “All that’s left now is to find a ride. You two stay here.”
At that, Jin unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. He walked up to the road and as luck would have it, an old-fashioned pick-up truck came into view soon after. It wasn’t a pretty thing. Its baby blue paint job was faded, and patches of rust only enhanced its appearance of age. Still, it was a running vehicle, and the best thing was that the driver was alone.
As the truck neared, Jin held up his right arm in an attempt to flag the driver down. Almost at once, the pick-up began to pull over and relief mixed with guilt as Jin noticed that the driver was an elderly man.
If I wasn’t going to hell already… Jin thought with a sigh as the driver pulled his truck next to Jin.
“You got some car trouble?” he asked, leaning toward the open passenger window.
“Yeah,” Jin replied. “I dunno what happened, it just died on us. I think it might be the battery.”
“So all you need is a jump-start?”
“I think so, yeah.”
“Well, today’s your lucky day, mister. I got some jumper cables in the back. Just give me a sec and I’ll get ’em for ya.”
“Thank you,” Jin said, smiling. “Thank you so much.”
“It’s not a problem,” the elderly man said as he got out of his truck to fetch the cables. “You ask me, the biggest problem in the world is that no one takes the time to help out someone who needs it. I’m Herb, by the way. Herbert Walker.”
“Hey, Herb. I’m Martin. Martin James.”
“Pleased to meet you, Mr. James,” Herbert said as he pulled the cables out of the bed of his truck. “What say we get that car of yours started?”
“I’d say it sounds like a welcome relief.”
At that, Jin led Herbert to his car, walking along his right side. He checked the roads to make sure they were clear, and finding that they were, he looked at Leah and gave her an extremely apologetic look.
“What’s he doing?” she thought out loud.
She soon had her answer, for at that moment, Jin shifted his weight ever so slightly and punched Herbert hard in the gut. Leah gasped, Herbert doubled over, and Jin followed with a powerful back fisted strike to the base of Herbert’s skull, knocking him out cold.
“Ulgh,” Jin groaned. “I’m so going to hell for this.”
Shaking his head in disgust, Jin knelt by Herbert’s unconscious form and started fishing through his pockets, looking for the keys.
“Must’ve left them in the ignition,” Jin said to himself when he couldn’t find them.
The telltale pop of a car door being opened drew Jin’s attention and he looked up to see Leah striding toward him.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked with shock in her voice.
“I told you I wasn’t gonna drive my car into Pine Lake,” Jin answered matter-of-factly.
“But did you have to do that?”
Leah gestured at Herbert, and Jin shrugged.
“It was either that or kill him. I didn’t want to do that, and if he’d just given us a ride, he would have asked too many questions. The less he knows and the less he remembers, the better for him.”
Leah gave a somewhat reluctant nod and Jin stood up.
“Will!” he called, gesturing for Will to join him.
Will saw this and got out of the car, walking up to Jin and his mother.
“Alright, help me get this guy in the back. I’m not gonna leave him out here to get run over by some idiot joy rider.”
It took a bit of work, but the three of them did manage to get the unconscious Herbert into the bed of the pick-up. That done, the three of them piled somewhat uncomfortably into the cab of the truck. Jin checked the ignition and found the keys there, so he turned them and the truck’s engine roared to life. Taking a breath to banish his lingering nerves, Jin pressed his foot to the gas and continued the drive to Pine Lake.
--<(0)>--
About fifteen minutes later, Jin brought the truck to a stop in the wide alleyway behind Mark’s store.
“My friend owns this store,” Jin explained. “He can keep us safe.”
“What about him?” Leah asked, looking back at the still unconscious Herbert in the back.
“Well,” Jin answered. “Barring moving the truck so he can’t remember where Mark’s shop is, I was just gonna leave him here. It’s his truck, he’ll be able to find his way home when he wakes up.”
While Leah didn’t particularly like Jin’s plan, she couldn’t deny it was the best solution given present circumstances.
“Alright,” she said. “Let’s go meet this friend of yours.”
Jin nodded, unbuckled his seatbelt, and got out of the truck. Leah and Will followed after him as he walked away from the truck and toward the fire escape on the back of Mark’s building.
“Don’t you think this is a bit intrusive?” Leah asked.
“It’s what Mark would be expecting,” Jin answered before jumping up and grabbing the fire escape.
However, climbing it with one arm in a sling was a bit more difficult than climbing it with both arms free. Thankfully, when Jin tried to throw himself up to grab the next rung, the whole ladder slid down to the ground.
“Well that simplifies things,” Jin said, looking at Leah. “After you.”
Leah nodded and immediately climbed up the ladder. Will followed her and shot Jin a dark glare as he passed before beginning his climb. Jin was taken aback – where had that come from? He stared after Will for a moment, and then decided it didn’t matter. If Jin had been in Will’s shoes, he’d hate the person who’d dragged him into this world as well. Taking a careful look around to make sure no one was watching them, Jin began his own climb. Once up on the roof, Jin was pleasantly surprised to find that Leah and Will w
ere both crouched low against the roof.
“You said these people would be looking for us,” Leah said. “From what you told me, I think they’d find two people standing on a roof in the middle of the day a little suspicious.”
Jin smiled at Leah.
“Smart girl.”
Leah smiled back, and Will fought down a disgusted groan.
“Alright,” Jin said. “Follow me.”
Leah nodded, and Will gave a begrudging shrug. Jin then slid past the two of them and crouched by Mark’s skylight. He popped it open and gently slid himself through the opening. Though he only had one arm to work with, Jin still managed to hang on to the window ledge for a moment before dropping to the floor and landing with cat-like silence. He then pulled Mark’s chair away from his desk and set it under the open window, much like Mark had done for him. Will came down first at the urging of his mother, shrugging off Jin’s arm as he tried to help him down. Leah came through next, stepping gingerly down onto the chair and accepting Jin’s hand to steady herself.
“Alright, guys, I want you to stay here for a minute,” Jin said. “This’ll go over easier with Mark if I show up first to explain things.”
Leah nodded and stepped protectively toward her son, who gave her a look Jin couldn’t quite decipher, equal parts anger and defensiveness it seemed. Jin brushed it off, however, and walked over to the trapdoor that led down into Mark’s living room. Once he opened it, Jin slid swiftly down the ladder and strode quickly to the staircase that led down into the shop itself. Yet just as Jin reached for the doorknob, the door itself opened wide and a startled Mark Donovan jumped backwards.
“Holy shit!” Mark exclaimed. “Jesus, Jin, what the fuck?”
“I’m sorry, Mark,” Jin apologized quickly. “I really am. I know I shouldn’t just barge in on you like this, but I really need your help.”
“It’s alright, Jin, just…damn, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” Mark said.
Jin sighed. “I’m sorry, Mark. Listen, can you come upstairs with me? I’ve got something I need to show you.”
“Okay,” Mark said slowly, suddenly worried.
He followed Jin closely as Jin led him back through his living room and up the stairs to his bedroom.
“Oh no,” he said when he saw Leah and Will. “Oh no…”
“I thought you said he’d help us!” Will said to Jin upon Mark’s less than warm welcome.
Jin threw a hard glare at William, who closed his mouth in response.
“Jin,” Mark began exasperatedly. “Please tell me this isn’t the family that took you in.”
“How did you know about that?”
“Victor,” Mark explained. “He gave a report last night telling us about what happened in Manhattan. That’s why your arm didn’t surprise me.”
“So he knew about them before I regained consciousness?”
“It would seem so.”
“Well, this is what I get for thinking I’d be safe for a day or so.”
Jin sighed. “I guess you already know why we’re here then.”
“Yeah,” Mark sighed. “But I really wish you weren’t.”
“I know.”
“No, Jin, you really don’t.”
Jin looked curiously at Mark, for he hadn’t expected the sudden coldness in Mark’s voice.
Mark saw this and sighed again. “I know I should have expected this, but even so…”
Mark gave his head a slight shake and continued. “Jin, Dorigan’s gone off the deep end. He’s cracked down hard on everyone, and he’s ordered me to inform him the minute you contact me.”
“And he hasn’t put you under surveillance?” Jin asked. “I mean, I didn’t see anyone when we got here, but still…”
“Nope, he hasn’t, and you know I’d notice if he had. Still, I know he’s got a number of his men moving around town, keeping a constant eye out for you, and I wouldn’t put it past him to have my phones tapped.”
“Because even though you couldn’t call me, I could still call you.”
“Mm-hmm,” Mark nodded.
“Huh,” Jin said, losing himself in thought as the beginnings of a plan began to take root.
“Umm, excuse me. What’s going on?” Leah asked after a full minute of total silence.
“I’m just…thinking,” Jin said slowly. “I think…yeah, this’ll work out great.”
“Care to share?” Mark asked.
“We’re gonna pull a little…prank on Dorigan.”
“I don’t follow,” Mark confessed.
“Think about it, Mark,” Jin said. “The orders he gave you, the tap on the phones, his not putting you under surveillance.”
Mark paused for a second, pulling himself out of his emotions to consider the situation and Jin’s words dispassionately. Once he did that, it was only a matter of seconds before he realized what Jin was getting at.
“Ah ha,” he said with a slight smile. “You’re right, this is gonna be easy.”
“Excuse me again,” Leah spoke up. “For those of us who aren’t psychic?”
“We’re gonna be able to stay here,” Jin explained, chuckling at Leah. “We’ve just got a little show to put on for Dorigan beforehand.”
--<(0)>--
About two hours later, Jin, Leah, and Will were all piled into Jin’s Mustang, sitting as low as possible to avoid being spotted.
“How much longer?” Leah asked.
“Shouldn’t be too long now,” Jin answered. “I called Mark about twenty minutes ago so Dorigan’s men should be on their way.”
They were currently located outside a motel on the southern edge of Pine Lake, hiding in Jin’s Mustang. The car was parked a good ways away from the room that the three of them were supposedly staying in. The idea of this little deception was to convince Dorigan that Mark was not a viable channel through which Jin could be tracked or discovered, thereby allowing Jin, Leah, and Will to stay with Mark effectively worry free.
The plan Jin had come up with was very simple. Give Dorigan a false lead, through Mark, to send his men after. When he did, Jin would ambush his men and call Mark, yelling at him about his ‘betrayal’ of their friendship.
The tricky bit had been setting it up. Jin’s car still lay on the side of the main road into Pine Lake, so he’d been forced to use Herbert’s truck. Though he was still unconscious when they’d began the drive back to Jin’s car, Jin had been afraid the whole time that the old man would wake up. He hadn’t though, and after that it was a simple matter of switching the vehicles’ places. He’d then used Leah’s cell phone to call Mark and tell him about what happened in Manhattan, as well as to let him know where he would be staying in Pine Lake. So now, with all the preparation taken care of, all that remained was the tense period of waiting for Dorigan’s men to show up.
As Jin sat in the driver’s seat, which he’d moved back as far as he could, he looked back at Leah and Will, who were both in the back seat, crouched in a fairly awkward position so they couldn’t been seen from outside.
“You guys alright?” he asked.
“I will be when this is over,” Will groused angrily.
“Likewise,” Leah answered honestly, though without the hostility.
Jin nodded and moved back to his original position. As he did so, he stole a quick glance out the windshield and saw a large, violet colored H2 Hummer pull into the parking lot about a hundred feet from where Jin had parked his Mustang.
Oh ho, Jin thought. I didn’t think Vicky would still be here.
“Get ready,” he whispered to Leah and Will, who promptly covered their ears.
As Victor Malakai and his three men piled out of the massive truck and marched over to the room they had been told Jin was in, Jin lowered the passenger door window, pulled his Mac 11 out of his coat, pressed his left knee against the steering wheel to hold it in place, and set his gun in the passenger seat. He slowly reached for the keys, knowing he only had a handful of seconds to pull this off, and do so flawlessly
. Jin took a deep breath to steel himself, and then quickly grabbed the keys and turned the ignition.
His car rumbled to life just as one of Victor’s men kicked in the door to the motel room. With cobra-strike quickness, Jin snatched his Mac 11 from its place on the passenger seat and pressed his foot ever so lightly to the gas pedal.
The Mustang moved forward gently enough that it didn’t immediately draw the attention of Victor and his men. Yet when Jin had lined his car up with the open door, he gave two short blasts of his car horn. Victor and his men snapped around in alarm, and Victor made a split-second’s eye contact with Jin before he saw the gun in his hand.
No, Victor snarled inside his head.
Next second, Jin squeezed the trigger and sent a hailstorm of bullets streaming for the door. Victor immediately hit the floor, dodging them, but his men weren’t so lucky. All three of them caught over half a dozen bullets each in the chest, while the rest peppered the walls and windows. When the Mac 11 finally clicked empty, Jin stomped on the gas pedal and dropped the gun back in the passenger seat, steering his roaring Mustang off into the distance as a startled and shaken Victor got back to his feet and bolted for his truck, determined to escape before the police arrived.
Chronicles of the Apocalypse
--<(0)>--
Part 1: Revenge, Everything is Nothing
Chapter 13: Eyes of Hate
Some hours after the shoot-out at the motel, Jessie, Victor, and Mark sat before Dorigan in the meeting hall of his mansion.
“I told you this would happen, Master Dorigan,” Mark said. “Jin simply knows better that to trust anyone in this situation.”
“It would appear so,” Dorigan said slowly. “It seems that I overestimated Jin’s…capacity for such things. Forgive me, Victor. That error nearly cost you your life.”
Still furious with himself for being so careless, Victor could only nod his acknowledgement to Dorigan.
Chronicles of the Apocalypse: Revenge, Everything is Nothing Page 15
