DeadEarth: Mr. 44 Magnum

by Michael Anthony

  Shade tightened her grip on her gun as sweat mingled with rain, making her palms feel thick with oil. She did not feel comfortable storming the fort through the front door, but Rikka insisted—demanded—that she just shut up and do as she was told. Shade complied for Lou’s sake.

  Both sisters jumped when a crash shook the door. Mr. .44 Magnum screamed a curse as something else was knocked over or thrown. Shade put her ear to the door hoping to make out what he was saying, but his words were swallowed by a groan of thunder and the crack of lightening. The only thing Shade noted was that his voice seemed frantic. Emotional. Completely unlike the man they met only a few hours ago.

  Rikka made eye contact with her sister as she laid a hand on the silver door knob. Shade nodded and held her gun at the ready. On the silent count of three, Rikka threw the door open and stepped back as Shade darted through.

  Chapter 7: “I’ll see you soon.”

  Daniel stood in the middle of the foyer staring at Rikka and Shade, unarmed and with tears in his eyes. His shoulders were slumped as if he suddenly had the weight of the world dropped on him and wasn’t prepared for it. Mr. .44 Magnum sat slumped on the stairs, his large frame resting between a broken guardrail. His eyes were bloodshot, and slid from Shade to Rikka as if he knew he was about to die but didn’t care enough to put up a fight.

  Pieces of a demolished bookshelf lay at his feet while the rest was in a heap a foot from the front door. Scattered around the foyer were shattered angel trinkets that once found home on the shelves. Shade lifted her foot and kicked away the angel wing she was stepping on. It clattered across the floor, coming to rest at Daniel’s feet. He looked down at it, his eyes hooded and his gaze far away.

  “They’re all gone,” he whispered. “We’re the only ones left.” He dropped to his knees and broke down as he lowered his head to the floor. Massive sobs shook his chest as he struggled to breathe through the weight of loneliness and sorrow pressing against his lungs.

  Shade looked to her sister who still had her gun trained on Mr. .44 Magnum. Her eyes were dead and devoid of all emotion. It was a wonder she hadn’t pulled the trigger yet.

  “What are you waiting for?” Mr. .44 Magnum bellowed, his eyes glistening with tears that had yet to fall. “Do it.”

  Shade tucked her weapon in her belt loop and stepped in front of her sister’s line of fire. She knew that wouldn’t do much to sway Rikka from pulling the trigger, but it was the only thing she could think to do to keep the situation from escalating to a point it didn’t need to go. Things had changed. Rikka and Shade were now a bigger threat than the two before them.

  “What happened?” Shade asked, trying to make her voice as soothing and non-threatening as possible.

  “What does it matter? You’re here to kill us right. Just get it over with.”

  “We’re not here to kill you.” Shade turned to her sister. “Rikka, lower your gun.”

  “Not a chance,” she hissed.

  Shade noted Rikka’s weapon was still aimed at her. If Mr. .44 Magnum made a move, there was no doubt that she would shoot through Shade if it meant putting him down.

  “Then how about you go make sure Lou’s all right. Or is shooting him more important than your little sister?”

  Rikka’s jaw tightened as she considered her options. Shade expected the light to rekindle in her sister’s eyes as it always had when she mentioned Lou, but she had no such luck this time. They were still…

  Shade furrowed her brows as she took a step closer. Rikka instantly raised her gun in defense. As a show of good faith, the younger sister lifted her hands out to her side, fingers spread. “Rikka, there’s… There’s something wrong with your eyes.” Shade took another step forward, more slowly this time. After one more step, she could see it clearly. Rikka’s light brown eyes were slowly turning black. The darkness floated through her iris like ink through water, metastasizing and stretching like the twisted arms of the dead trees surrounding the house.

  Shade stepped back just as the blackness blotted out every hint of the old hue. She was tempted to reach for her gun but had to stop herself. Rikka’s gun was still aimed at her chest.

  “I’m going to clear the house, then I’ll check on Lou,” Rikka said, lowering her weapon. She walked over to Mr. .44 Magnum, pulled his weapon from his side holster, and tossed it to her sister. “You hear any shooting, you kill both of them and get to safety. You come after me and I swear I’ll shoot you myself.”

  Shade nodded and turned away from her sister’s gaze. The blackness of her eyes made her feel uneasy.

  “You have any idea what’s going on, or who took your people?” Shade asked Mr. .44 Magnum after Rikka made her way upstairs.

  He huffed, seeming to conquer his depression. “No, we don’t. You think we’d be sitting around moping if we did? Wherever they went, they’re not coming back. Whoever got them…” he shook his head and wiped a tear from his eyes. “I was lying in bed with her. One minute she was wrapped up in my arms, and the next…”

  “I’m sorry,” Shade whispered. She glanced at Daniel before settling her gaze back on Mr. .44 Magnum. “I lost my dad to whatever’s going on, and it may not look like it, but I lost Rikka too. She’s…different.”

  Mr. .44 Magnum looked up suddenly. “How so?”

  “The house is clear,” Rikka said as she made her way downstairs. “Looks like they were telling the truth.”

  With a groan, Mr. .44 Magnum slowly pulled himself to his feet—making sure to keep his hands visible—and walked over to the sobbing Daniel. He knelt down next to the boy and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “We have no reason to lie. We’re the only ones left.”

  Rikka turned right when she got to the bottom of the stairs and flipped up the thermostat on the adjacent wall. A few moments later, the bottom section of the stairs rose revealing the entrance to the underground bunker.

  Mr. .44 Magnum’s lips tightened. He looked from Rikka to Shade and back again. It was clear he understood the situation fully. In showing Daniel and Mr. .44 Magnum the bunker, Rikka was announcing that she had no intentions of letting either one of them live. Despite urging Rikka to pull the trigger only moments before, the look in his eye revealed his desire to live—his primal hunger to find his wife no matter how small of a chance he had.

  “Lou,” Rikka called as she made her way down the steps. “Louise.”

  Shade took the opportunity to maneuver herself so she was between the bunker’s entrance and the captives. She drew both weapons tucked in her waistband and handed the magnum back to its owner. Mr. .44 Magnum didn’t take it immediately. He stared up in Shade’s eyes, waiting for an explanation.

  “I want to help you find the rest of your group. I know you have no reason to trust me, but you don’t have a choice at the moment. Neither of us do. Promise you won’t shoot me in the back, and I’ll do my best to keep both of you alive.”

  Mr. .44 Magnum nodded as he took his weapon. “You have yourself a deal.”

  “Good. Now you need to get him”—she nodded towards Daniel—“to pull himself together.”

  Rikka screamed Lou’s name a few more times, her voice getting more and more frantic. The bunker wasn’t big. If Lou wasn’t visible from the stairs, she wasn’t there. After calling her name once more, Rikka fell silent. A minute passed. Then another. Shade was tempted to see what was going on down there, but she didn’t want to give up her position between the door and her charges. Both Daniel and Mr. .44 Magnum would make it out of that house if that was the last thing she did.

  “This is all your fault.” Rikka growled as she charged up the stairs two at a time. When she emerged she had an unfurled map in one hand and her weapon in the other. Before she had a chance to aim at anyone, Shade had her weapon drawn.

  Rikka paused, her gun at her side.

  “Drop it,” Shade ordered.

  Rikka sneered. “You’re going to shoot me? For what? Them.” Her hand twitched, as if she was testing how fast she could ra
ise and fire her weapon.

  “I won’t ask again,” Shade replied evenly.

  “You pathetic little bitch. This is your fucking fault. If you just stayed in the fucking bunker…”

  Her hand twitched again.

  Shade pulled the trigger.

  The bullet struck Rikka in her shoulder, forcing her to drop her pistol. She fell back against the wall, letting go of the map as she cupped her wound in her left hand. The rage faded from her eyes instantly as she looked from her bullet wound to the smoking gun in her sister’s hand.

  “Shade,” Rikka said, her voice suddenly pleading.

  “I don’t know what your name is, but there is a pair of handcuffs in the bunker, to the left of the stairs. Can you grab them? The one I want has three cuffs instead of two.”

  “Sure thing,” Mr. .44 Magnum said as he stood, gun in hand. “And my name’s Fievel for future reference.”

  Without an ounce of fear, Fievel squeezed past Rikka and headed downstairs. It took a few minutes of shuffling around before he reemerged with cuffs in hand. “Nice little set-up you got down there.”

  “Cuff her to the door knob.” Shade glanced back at Daniel who had managed to get his emotions in check and climb to his feet. “Grab three book bags and meet me in the bunker.”

  “You’re making a mistake, Shade. You’re really going to choose them over me. Over your sister.”

  “I don’t know who you are, but you’re not my sister.”

  Once Rikka was secure, Shade lowered the gun and scooped up the map Rikka dropped. There was a red X in the dead center of New York’s Central Park with a handwritten note from Lou just beneath it. Meet me here on October 8th. Bring an army. Lugia.

  “What does she mean by ‘bring an army’?” Fievel asked as he read over her shoulder.

  Shade shook her head at an utter loss for words. She didn’t believe Lou would run off like that, but no one outside the family knew about her nickname. Moreover, Shade was the only person who called her by it. The note was directed to her, but she had no idea what it meant. Bring an army to Central Park. What she for real? Shade flipped the map around to see if there was any writing on the back. There was none.

  “Watch her,” she said as she folded the map and walked down into the bunker. Everything was as it was when they left. All the supplies and weapons were there, it didn’t look like any clothes or food had been taken, and all the water bottles were accounted for. It was like Lou vanished, just like Fievel’s people. “What the fuck is going on here?”

  “These are the biggest packs we have,” Daniel said from the top of the stairs. He was holding up three massive bags fit for a college student with a full schedule.

  With more pressing matters to deal with, Shade put the mystery behind Lou out of her mind. She really didn’t want to be anywhere near Rikka, especially after her eyes turned black. The faster she got packed and got out of the house, the better. She would have plenty of time to think when she was on the road.

  “Start packing,” Shade said as she grabbed a bottle of water, a medi-pack, and a handcuff key. She made her way upstairs, barking orders with every step. “Grab food, water, medicine, guns, and ammo. And anything else you can think of. Fievel, go down and help him please.”

  “No problem, doll.” He redirected his attention to Daniel who went straight for the gun rack. “9mm, kid. Don’t bother with anything else. And grab of few of them swords. They don’t run out of bullets.”

  Shade smiled inwardly. She was glad she didn’t have to spend time walking them through everything they needed to pack. Fievel seemed to have a pretty good handle on things—

  “Nope,” he said. “I’ll pack those. You’re liable to blow your dick off the way you’re handling ‘em.”

  Shade took a deep breath, turning her full attention to her sister. The rage was present in her eyes once again, but Shade figured it would be. The betrayed sister role was just an act, and when she realized it wouldn’t work, she reverted back to her crueler self.

  Shade pulled her weapon out and aimed it at Rikka’s leg, just above the knee. “I’m going to give you the key and patch up your wound. You try anything and I’ll shoot you again, understood?”

  Rikka nodded.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, Shade hooked the medi-pack over her shoulder and walked over to her sister. She grabbed Rikka by the throat and ordered her to open her mouth. Knowing what was to come, Rikka complied. Shade put the handcuff key on her sister’s tongue the twisted open the bottle of water.

  “Lift your neck up and open your throat,” Shade said.

  Rikka lifted her head, allowing the key to slide to the back of her mouth. Shade shoved the open water bottle in her mouth and squeezed, forcing her sister to chug the water and swallow the key. Only when the bottle was empty did she toss it to the ground.

  With a pair of scissors she retrieved from the med kit, Shade cut the sleeve off Rikka’s shirt to inspect the gunshot wound. It didn’t look too bad, but she hoped it didn’t do too much damage inside. That was unlikely, but she hoped for a miracle. Lightly pressing her fingers around the wound, she looked up at her sister to gauge her reaction. Rikka didn’t so much as blink.

  Shade went back to her pack and rummaged around for a long pair of tweezers and sterile gloves so she could remove the bullet. Both were in sealed containers. She balanced them on Rikka’s shoulder then dug around for a bottle of rubbing alcohol to drench her hands.

  Thud.

  Dropping the pack, Shade stepped back and pulled out her weapon. Rikka looked down at her, wearing a malevolent sneer that made her blood freeze. Looking around, Shade couldn’t find the source of the sound, but her sister soon drew her attention to it with a simple nudge of her toe. A spent, blood-covered bullet tinkered across the hardwood floor, coming to a halt inches from Shade’s feet. She looked down at it, willing her mind to accept what she was seeing. It couldn’t, so she looked up at her sister for an explanation.

  “Like I said, this isn’t over.”

  Shade raised her weapon to her sister as she backed towards the staircase. “Guys,” she said, her voice barely a whisper as fear threatened to strangle the life from her. She swallowed and tried again. “Guys,” her voice was louder, but still tainted by fear. “Hurry up. We’re leaving.”

  Daniel and Fievel came running upstairs. “Everything all right?” Fievel asked, noting the gun.

  “No,” she said, taking the book bag, gun, and sword that was handed to her. “Go out through the back door. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Seeming to sense the urgency in her voice, Fievel guided Daniel through the house and out the back. When Shade heard the screen door slam, she eased towards the exit as well, not taking an eye off her sister for a second.

  “I’ll see you soon,” Rikka said, her dead, black eyes locked on Shade’s.

  Shade was tempted to kill her right then and there. Something told her to just pull the trigger—to end it before it began. But she couldn’t. Despite everything—despite the years of abuse, despite the hate she felt for her—Rikka was still her sister. She couldn’t kill her.

  With one final glance at the bullet on the floor, Shade shrugged her pack higher up on her back and dashed through the house and out the back door. Her sister’s words echoed over and over in her mind.

  Like I said, this isn’t over. I’ll see you soon.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: “Long goodbyes just hurt more.”

  Chapter 2: “The world’s dead. I don’t think it’s coming back.”

  Chapter 3: “Be safe, Rikka.”

  Chapter 4: ‘Use it to your advantage, but never become a victim of it.’

  Chapter 5: “Every three days, someone disappears.”

  Chapter 6: “To the deepest part of me, I truly hate you.”

  Chapter 7: “I’ll see you soon.”

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