by Quil Carter
I nodded. It would be a waste of fuel and resources not to. “I’ll turn it all off and lock it up and tomorrow I’ll get the clean-up crew to bleach everything.” At least I was doing it in quarantine, shooting them in a perfectly good house was always a hassle. We had a hostage situation once that went terribly wrong. Fucking brains everywhere. It was neat at the time since it made a very mosaic-like splatter but Greyson had made me help clean as punishment for laughing. The family had demanded that I be flogged in the square. They died soon after from an acute case of suicide. Serves them right.
I walked into the quarantine and locked the door beside me. In front of me was what used to be the lobby. A horseshoe-shaped desk, the paneling grey and warped, peeling up from the floor in curls. Behind it cubbyholes full of dust and chips of gyprock from the collapsing roof.
Chairs were in the corner too, all of them stripped of their foam innards, dragged off long ago from radrats making nests. Small strings of red fabric clung to the dusty wood like meat on bones. The crumbling plaster had fallen around the chairs as well, coating everything in grey, claiming the red fabric as its prize. Soon it would be grey as well.
The moaning and crying turned my attention. I was here for a reason; I had a job to do.
My feet crunched against the fallen ceiling as I walked down the hallway. A desk standing upright was pressed up against the left-hand side, blocking off the remaining offices. To the right… four doors, two on each side. Reinforced with sheets of rusted metal and welded strips of rebar. The second door to the left was where the crying was coming from.
I took out my pistol and quietly walked to the door. In front of it was a metal box with everything I would need. I quickly put my new costume on. A full body environmental suit, bright yellow, complete with plastic visor, and, as an added precaution, a face mask.
I got out the keys and opened the door.
The boy was only ten and he was scared out of his mind. When he saw the suit he stared for a fraction of a second before he started to cry. He was covered in sweat, and he was shaking from fever. The whites of his eyes had turned yellow, and his lips were tinged black already. The disease had spread fast.
I didn’t mince words; I had nothing to say to him and anything I would say would only scare him more. I held up my gun and finished him off with a quick blow to the head.
His neck snapped back and he died with his eyes open in shock. He was stationary for a second before he slumped forward, a large red crater in the back of his head, filling with shiny blood black under the darkness.
I could hear the father screaming at me in the other room. I closed the door and checked the other rooms for the older son but they were empty. Redmond had put the two into one room, not something I would have chosen but I suppose it might be nice for them to die together.
I opened the door and stepped in. The father was hysterical, the son seemed to be in shock.
I raised my gun and fired it at the father’s head; before he could let out another desperate sob he was quiet. The son got out a single scream before he went silent as well, their blood and brains spraying against the sheet metal like many other quarantined victims Killian’s parents included. Actually this may have been the very room.
I wiped my gun and listened to both of their hearts. Weak thumping, like a low bass, slow, but with an air of desperation. The sons died first and soon after, with one last congested thrum, the father’s followed. There was only my own heartbeat after, a motor compared to theirs, besides that… just silence.
A whole family dead in a day, the gnashing teeth of the greywastes had taken five more victims. Well, at least the meat would still be good, as long as it was cooked thoroughly.
I cut off their heads, before rotating them so they were on an adequate enough angle that their blood would drain. I didn’t want to risk their flesh rotting before the butchers could take them away. This would be great meat for the block.
I sheathed my bloody combat knife into its holder and left.
I took the long way to the Kerry’s house. I was enjoying my quiet time and I was enjoying the darkness and even the cold. The only company I had tonight was the glowing eyes of the cats, watching me walk by with muddled interest. I saw a mother with a bundle of kittens peering at me from underneath a forgotten tank. Two big shining eyes and about a dozen small ones. Now a kitten would have been fun to have, more entertaining than Lord Lardass whose main goal in life was to be able to sleep and eat at the same time.
I walked over to see if I could steal one but the mother gave me a very energetic hiss so I stayed away. Oh well, I tried. Bitch could keep her stupid kittens.
I jumped over the Kerry’s shabby fence and found their shed; the generator still rumbling in the semi-sound proof structure.
The sound was deafening when I slid open the door, and even more deafening once I turned it off. I stuck my finger in my ear and wiggled it before sliding the door closed and walking along the edge of the house.
Well, wait a tick… I looked up and noticed a dim bluelamp still on. I walked along the rubble-covered walkway to the door but paused again.
Voices and noise. Not just normal voices, hushed ones, from people wanting to remain silent. I pulled out my pistol; there were three of them and I knew they were not welcome.
The bodies weren’t even cold and already the house was being robbed.
I pressed my back against the wall and walked to the front of the house. I took a few quick steps and stood by one of the black trees the family had had in their yard. I picked up the radio and whispered into it.
“Do not reply. Kerry house is being robbed, three people inside.”
I wish I had brought my M16, I would have just riddled the place with bullets. I was more concerned with one of these fucks escaping and me not being able to pin who they were. Two I could catch but by the time I had them secure, one of them would disappear in the rubble. I would take it as a personal insult if one of these drooling fucks got away on my watch.
I was too far away to hear their heartbeats but I could hear their whispering voices. I was planning on just waiting for backup but, sure enough, after five minutes someone got desperate. Tired of waiting it out, unsure if the person who had turned off the generator was going to go inside.
I heard rustling and the opening of a window around the back. I didn’t waste time, I sprinted towards the back and was greeted with an amusing sight.
Karl was half hanging out the window, with a short blonde-haired woman behind him trying to get out as well. Both of them were strung out and gaunt from too much meth or something. I pointed my gun at the two of them. As soon as the woman saw me she poked her head back in, then Karl fell to the ground.
Apparently though, he was a moron. He turned and ran from me towards several houses off to the left. I pulled my gun and shot him in the leg, then turned to run back to the front of the house as he screamed and cursed at me.
I ran into the house and heard someone rustling around inside one of the bedrooms. I walked into the now dark house, gun still drawn.
“Come out here now, or else I will kill you,” I said loudly. “I know there are two of you, come out with your hands on your head.”
“This house is forfeit now,” the woman called, her voice was gravelly like she had been screaming at something her entire life. “They’re dead, we’re not breaking laws.”
“I’m the mayor, I get to decide what’s a fucking law,” I said lowly. She wasn’t even right. The house had to be cleaned out, disinfected, and then it became the property of the mayors. “Now get out.”
There was a noise behind me. I turned to see a fat balding man trying to escape through the front door. I casually shot him in the foot too.
The man stumbled and let out a cry. He fell hard down the two steps onto the walkway, his fat body jiggling like the pig-human’s had. Fat ass wasn’t going anywhere. I turned back to the woman who was still hiding out in the kid’s room.
“One last chance.”
“Greyson can come fucking get me.” I heard the woman spit. “You’re not the mayor, you’re his little stooge boy and you know it.”
I walked to the doorway. She was trying to pry the window open but it had been painted shut. She was wearing a faded blue tank top that barely covered her boney, sinewy arms; track marks spelling out their own story along her flesh. She must be one of the Red House whores who only left their house for rations or tricks.
When she saw me, she turned around and pressed her back against the wall. She spat again. “You wanna get your cock sucked, little boy?” She slurred her words like she was drunk. “You step aside, I’ll polish you off good.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Of course, you’re a little gay boy, fucking gay boys.” She spat again, this time it landed on my boot. I looked down and watched the clear spittle drip down my polished leather army boot.
I’d had about enough of this. I drew my combat knife, and as I did she cowered and screamed, throwing her hands over her head.
I ripped her hands away and grabbed her hair. I pulled her head back farther than it was supposed to go then I gave it one last good wrench, making her drop onto the ground.
I reached into my cargo pants pocket and pulled out a set of pliers, and firmly put my boot on her hair pinning her head down.
I kneeled down, and as she tried to scratch my chest and arms I put the pliers into her mouth and grabbed her tongue. Before she could wrench too far away I drew my combat knife and, with a quick slice, I cut out her tongue.
She let out a gurgling desperate cry as the blood started to dribble from between her teeth.
“You talk too much,” I said. I held up the tongue and tossed it behind a toy chest.
She started to choke and gag, the blood flowing rapidly from her mouth and onto the already bloodied floor. She tried to get up but fell back onto her knees, her hands covering her mouth as red ribbons spilled from her fingers.
I patted her head. “I just cut off the heads of the Kerry family with that bloody knife. Rest assured you now have trideath. Don’t tell anyone though, okay?” I wiped my knife on her tank top and left the room. Now if that wasn’t karmic justice I don’t know what was.
Redmond was tying up the fat dude; I could hear a struggle in the backyard.
“You got the third one?” I asked.
Redmond nodded; he looked like he needed another cigarette.
“That’s a woman in there? Did you gag her?” Redmond asked, wiping his hands on his button-down.
“No, I cut her tongue out,” I said glancing behind me. I heard Redmond suck in a breath and brought out a pair of handcuffs.
“Throw her in with the others in the first holding cell. That’s an order.” I let Redmond pass me in the doorway.
“That will be four in that cell, they’ll barely fit…” Redmond shook his head. I watched Hollis walk towards us, also looking tired and pissed off.
“Serves them right, let them suffocate in there,” Hollis growled. “Redmond, we can’t wait for Greyson, the people aren’t seeing justice and it’s just egging them on.”
I glanced at the dark hole that was the doorway, the woman’s sobbing and the groaning of the other criminals in my ears. I turned to the both of them.
“I’ll take care of it,” I said.
Hollis nodded with relief but Redmond was smarter than that. “We can’t hold the trials until Greyson, Leo, and Don come back. I’m afraid our hands are tied.”
“I’m great at undoing knots,” I said, handing both Redmond and Hollis cigarettes. “Throw them into their cells, station a sentry and an officer in front of the holding cells and order that clean-up crew for me tomorrow, Redmond.”
The councillor nodded. I stepped over the fat dude who had given up on pleading and crying. I lit myself a quil and popped a few pills then carried on home undisturbed.
When I got home Killian was trying to stay awake. He was on the couch with a blanket half-reading a book, his golden hair tousled up and his eyes heavy with fatigue.
“Everything go okay?” he asked with a tired smile, but when he saw my blood his eyes widened. He looked at me like I had just brought plague into the house.
“It’s not the Kerry’s blood. Some assholes were breaking into their home and I had to…” How do I say this without having to tell him the whole story. “– make sure they didn’t escape.”
“But you’re okay? They didn’t hurt you?”
I snorted. “Of course not.” I stretched and grabbed the bluelamp he had been reading with. “I’m tired as fuck and so are you. Sleep and I’ll tell you everything tomorrow.”
Killian yawned and nodded. He got up and gave me a kiss and headed towards the bedroom.
I changed and got under the blankets. Killian wiggled himself over but not near enough to touch me. I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep, but I felt a bit uneasy. I opened my eyes and saw Killian staring at me, his blue eyes pale and ghostly in my night vision.
“What?” I said.
He was quiet. I watched him chew on the side of his cheek. “What’s your earliest memory?”
I groaned and pulled the covers over my head but Killian yanked them down. “Please?”
“My father throwing the red ball for me, now go to sleep.”
“Was he nice to you?”
I shrugged. “I remember he held me a lot.”
“You… don’t remember your mom at all?”
I shook my head. “Just my dad.”
He was quiet. I think I was home free.
“What’s your first –” I let out an exasperated breath but he continued, “– memory of Leo and Greyson?”
I leaned over and kissed him and started running my hands down his lower back. He pushed me away. “No! You can’t use sex to get out of this, shame on you!”
“Bah!” I rolled onto my back, he was getting smarter. “Fine… let’s see, my first memory of Leo and Greyson… I remember they made me a canvas tent in the backyard during the summer because I liked watching the moon. Sometimes they camped with me.”
I heard an aww, and soon his arms were over me. “So they were nice to you?”
“They were always nice to me, they just didn’t know what to do with a kid that’s all. I would have done the same thing.” I shrugged. “Better than eating me. Now go to sleep, I’m tired.”
This satisfied him but his arms were still all over me. I’d push him away when he fell asleep.
I slept my four hours and got up at around eight in the morning. It seemed like my mind hadn’t stopped thinking even during my brief rest.
The idea that had been forming in my head was getting more and more appealing. I did my morning routine, and gave myself a quick wash in the bathtub, then filled my nose with drugs and ate a breakfast of canned bosen mixed with canned corn. Killian would be out for another three hours at least since he had stayed up waiting for me.
I buckled up my cargo pants and glanced at the sleeping little blond boy. Every once in a while I just had to stop and shake my head in disbelief that he was mine and fast asleep in my bed. Even with all the ordeals we’d had to face, I had brought him back safely.
I had to make the block safer for him.
In the end, all of this was for him. We’d had enough chaos outside of the walls of Aras, I wasn’t going to deal with that in my town. If Killian was going to need an escort just to walk from Doc’s to my basement it was time to do something.
If Greyson wouldn’t then I would.
I walked past Matt and Mickey who had been stationed in front of the holding cells. Both were standing guard, still as statues in front of the locked metal door. Their uniforms were grey with ash and their faces too. It was a cold day but I could still see discolouration where their sweat had wiped the dirt away from their faces.
“Status?” I asked.
“Dude… they ate her.” Matt wiped the sweat from his head. “Redmond threw the blond one into a cell with three other dudes and th
ey fucked her, killed her, and ate her.”
I stifled a laugh, but eh, it was Matt, he knew my humour. I couldn’t help it, it was too perfect. “I suppose we should have fed them.” I couldn’t hide the grin.
Matt shuddered. Mickey laughed with me but it was a nervous laugh, his heartbeat was rising with his anxiety. He liked me, but he was still unsure of me. I knew his type.
I smiled and motioned for Mickey to unlock the door. As he did I nodded towards Greyson’s office near the square. “Matt, I want a town meeting called in the square at two. And I want you to call Redmond and tell him to meet me in the square as soon as possible for our own meeting.”
Matt gave me a wary look. “What are you planning, bro? I know that look, it means shit is about to go down.”
I gave him a wink. “Make it quick, Matt.” His cheeks puffed as he took in a deep breath and sighed. He made a motion to leave but I stopped him.
“Come here for a moment…”
He stopped and turned around. I pulled him to the side and dropped my voice, telling him exactly what I wanted to do.
When he was gone I walked through the unlocked door and into the holding pens.
My nose curled as the stench of blood, piss, shit, and sweat assaulted my nostrils. It was hot as fuck in there as well.
I walked over to the cells. Each was a room much like the quarantines but a lot messier and disgusting. There were Plexiglas windows on each metal door reinforced with iron bars.
As soon as the door opened there was shouting, and a lot of it.
“Get us the fuck out of here, you fucking faggot!” a man screamed. Oh, what language. That word alone was punishable by death in Skyfall. Someone was extremely upset, how unfortunate.
I walked to the first door, my boots stepping on something liquid. I looked down and saw I was stepping in a slurry of blood, urine, and vomit. My poor boots.
I looked up and smiled at the prisoners.
The three men were huddled in a corner. They were covered in what I had stepped in and they smelled and looked like rats. Only the whites of their eyes distinguished their faces from the stained metal behind them.