When Was? (Book 2): Who Are You Acquainted With?

by Krueger, Allison

  As she left the room, he leaned his head back and stared at the ticking clock. Friendly enough girl.

  • • •

  John grabbed Kesler as she bled out in his arm. “No, no, no, no, no!” Tears ran down his face like rain down a window, watching as the blood spilled from her wound.

  Kesler struggled to keep her eyes open and keep the screams in. She clung onto John, barely able to hold herself up.

  “You can’t do this to me, not you, please, not- n-”

  “I love you- and Rachel-” she said through the pain as blood poured down her stomach.

  She pulled herself closer and held him tight. “I’m so proud of you.” Her grip let go, and she fell back in his arm.

  He cried, snot bubbling in his nose. “Kesler? Kess, Kess?” He watched as the life left her eyes, and her head fell back. “Nooo, Kesler, please! You can’t- not- I-”

  Morgan laughed. “And we haven’t even started yet.”

  “SHE WAS PREGNANT YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

  “She won’t be the only one.” Grabbing his walkie off the bed, Morgan radioed some men. “I want Patrick Shultz, Gordon Bernthal, and Davey Morales to report to my living quarters.”

  Rachel bawled as she watched John hold Kesler’s lifeless body.

  “Maybe that’ll teach you to keep your mouth shut,” Morgan told him.

  “OVER A FUCKING PICTURE?” John screamed. “I HOPE YOUR WIFE AND SON DIED SLOW!”

  Morgan began shaking in anger as he pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Rachel. “YOU! Take your pants off! Do it before your mother comes back from the dead, otherwise she’s eating your daddy!”

  Tears flowed down her face as she slid down her tight black jeans.

  “Now your underwear, show daddy what he’ll be working with!”

  Laying Kesler down, John jumped at Morgan, knocking him onto the bed and attempted to sink his teeth into his neck.

  He ripped a chunk of flesh from Morgan’s collarbone, causing Morgan to throw him to the floor.

  “RACHEL!” Morgan shouted, holding his wound. “YOUR UNDERWEAR! NOW! SHOW DADDY WHAT HE’LL BE STICKING HIS COCK INSIDE!”

  John licked his lips as the blood ran down his neck. “I’m gonna kill you- and I’m gonna kill you slow. It’s gonna be painful, and I’m gonna do it with your son's body in the room!”

  Rachel pulled down her underwear, exposing herself to Morgan.

  “Look at that, John!”

  Walking over, Morgan grabbed John by the back of the head and yanked him over to Rachel. “As smooth as the hand your ex-wife bitch slapped me with!” Morgan laughed. “You did this to yourself... She did it to herself.”

  John, with his face down to Rachel’s crotch, screamed, “I KILLED YOUR SON! Dean, back at the bar in Indiana. I killed him!”

  Furious, Morgan shoved Rachel down and slammed John’s face into the floor, busting the top of his nose open.

  “GORDON PROBABLY FUCKED YOUR SON’S CORPSE!”

  Morgan stomped on John’s ribs and kicked him in the stomach. “Rachel, stand up!”

  Crying her heart out, Rachel stood and walked to Morgan.

  “You see that pretty girl over there?” Morgan asked, aiming his pistol at Billie.

  Rachel nodded as Morgan pulled the trigger and blasted Billie’s knee apart, knocking her to the floor.

  Getting ready to run to her, Morgan aimed at Rachel. “DON’T YOU FUCKING MOVE,” he shouted as Billie screamed in pain.

  John spit out blood and stared at Morgan. “Can I tell you the truth?”

  “WHAT?”

  “When Gordon took me to his bar all those years ago, he asked me to pick one... So I did... And I fucked your son!”

  “JOHN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Rachel cried.

  Morgan wrapped his hands around his throat.

  “I FED HIM TO THE DOGS!” John struggled to get out as his face turned red. “I KILLED DEAN,” he yelled through his teeth.

  Pulling up her pants, Rachel ran over and kneed Morgan in the neck, getting him off John.

  Shoving her down, Morgan shot open Billie’s other knee, making her pass out, and leaving her a bloody mess on the floor.

  “Here’s how this is gonna go, and maybe after today, just maybe, you’ll finally be an obedient bitch!” Morgan grinned, holding his bloody collarbone. “You John, are gonna fuck the shit out of your daughter. And you won’t be allowed to stop until I know she’s having her brother-son!” He laughed.

  “And depending on how long you take, if Mommy No-Baby over there gets back up, she’ll be eating Rachel alive while YOU WATCH! Then for the fun of it, I’ll shoot Billie in the face, and make you drink the blood.”

  “I promise you Morgan, if it’s the last thing I do. I’m gonna kill you. And it’ll be slow, and it’ll be painful. It won’t be today, or tomorrow... But one day, I’ll be the one to end your life... Just as horribly as you’ve ended it for so many of ours. And I’ll be the one gettin' the last laugh.”

  “Clock’s a tickin’, Johnny! I’m not fooling around here, if I don’t see some freaky deaky, father daughter shit by the time mommy gets back up, she IS going to eat her! So go ahead, buddy. Show your daughter that big chunk of man meat you’ll be sliding up inside her.”

  Later that night, after allowing Billie to have her legs tended to, Morgan, along with some of his men, took them back home.

  “So, John,” Morgan said, pulling up to the gate as his box truck pulled up beside him. “What did we learn today?”

  John glared at him in the rear-view mirror for a solid minute. “You’re weak.”

  “STOP,” Rachel yelled.

  “Just someone askin’ about a picture of two dead people is enough for you to lose your mind.”

  “JOHN!”

  “You’re not a man. You’re just a scared little boy, hidin’ behind an army, hopin’ they’ll keep you safe... Children aren’t meant for war, Morgan. And one day, you’re gonna learn that the hard way.”

  Morgan grabbed his walkie off the dashboard. “Boys, wheel No-Knees out of the truck, and Pat, grab mom outta the trunk, I want John to have her.”

  “You killed my friends, maybe Norman, you killed my wife... The next person to die, is gonna be you.”

  Morgan laughed. “Rachel, what did we learn today?”

  Rachel put her head down. “To listen, and to respect you,” she said through her teeth.

  “Damn straight!” He smiled and winked at John in the mirror. “Now let me ask you something else! Was that your first time being with a man?"

  John glared at him. “Can we go now?”

  “I don’t know, John. What’s the magic word?”

  Later that night, after burying Kesler, John and Rachel sat on the couch, while Billie laid on Rachel’s bed.

  John grabbed his cup off the coffee table and stared at the floor. “I’m sorry...”

  “You didn’t do that,” Rachel told him. “You don’t apologize... Morgan’s the one that’s gonna be sorry.”

  “No.” John shook his head. “Someone like Morgan, he’d never be sorry... You don’t murder a bunch of innocent people with a smile on your face then go on feelin’ sorry about it. That isn’t who he is.”

  “What do we do?” Rachel asked as a tear dripped off her face.

  “Norman told me Morgan’ll skin you alive and have you deboned just for breathin’ the same air as him... We know what his next step is gonna be if we don’t listen- For now... We live with it. At least until we come up with somethin’...”

  Later, after Rachel went to bed.

  Getting up from the couch, he walked around it and stared at the end of the hall, at his bedroom door.

  He slowly kicked his boots off and his eye began to water.

  He slid his jacket off and tossed it on a kitchen chair as he shuffled toward the door.

  He grabbed the nob and started to cry.

  After a moment, he took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

  Walking in, he pulled
out his revolver and laid it on the dresser, in front of a photo of Kesler holding Carl the day he was born.

  He sniffled and walked to Kesler’s side of the bed. Sitting down, he stared out the window, at the star filled sky, and waited for the sun to come up.

  Chapter 10:

  Our Last Mistake

  Myer’s held down John’s legs as he kicked, and Davey pinned his arms over his head.

  Morgan laughed. “How’s the carpet? Nice and warm, or nice and sticky?” He spit in Kesler’s blood and smiled.

  Rachel’s hands were tied behind her back, and she stood naked over John.

  Patrick grabbed her shoulders and kicked the back of her knees, dropping her on John.

  John’s jaw trembled, he couldn’t look away from Kesler’s corpse. Rachel’s face was blank and emotionless, and her eyes were watery.

  Morgan smirked. “Damn, John, not even a little hard? Don’t make me have to call Mikaal in here and have him jerk ya off,” he said with a laugh.

  Davey busted out laughing.

  “Those Cascadian mind games are about to get all too real,” he said with a grin. “Fuck yes they are!”

  • • •

  The next morning, John’s home.

  John, dressed in a white shirt and pajama pants, sat at the table across from Janey. Her long blonde hair was tied back. She wore black jeans, a white tank top, and her heavy blue jacket hung on the back of her chair.

  John took a drink of water and stared at her.

  “We’ll just say fuck it, charge the base.”

  • • •

  As Patrick forced Rachel onto John, John’s eye began tearing up. He watched as Kesler’s eyes opened and looked at him.

  “Kess, K-”

  Morgan looked back and laughed. “Well, look who’s awake!”

  Rachel watched Kesler climb up to her feet and began crying.

  Patrick knuckled her in the back and pushed her on top of John. “PAY ATTENTION, BITCH!”

  Morgan slid the machete off his belt and stared at John. “What was it you said you did to that boy?” he asked, shoving Kesler down. “You fed him to the wolves?”

  “Just put her down!”

  He tossed his machete and cracked his knuckles. “Oh I will.”

  • • •

  “We don’t know it well enough to charge it.”

  “I thought he sho-”

  “Not well enough. Besides, if we did that and failed, we could lose everything.”

  “And what if we didn’t? What if we stopped this?”

  He reached over and grabbed a bottle off the counter. After taking a swig of whiskey, he slid the bottle to her. “Do you think we’d be the first people to try?”

  “I don’t know, do you think you were the first person to take on the Harbor?”

  • • •

  Serval hours later, Morgan shoved Rachel off John and laughed. “Surely you blasted your cock snot by now.”

  John glanced at Kesler’s corpse. Her limbs were ripped off and her face was caved in. He turned his head and looked to Rachel who was glaring at Morgan.

  Sliding off his leather glove, Morgan crouched down and ran his hand across John’s hot sweaty face. Holding his finger under his nose, he took a big whiff. “How’s it feel? Knowing you’re gonna be a dad again?” He busted out laughing and slapped him across the face. “Don’t make me do this again, otherwise you’ll be fucking her corpse while it’s being eaten by deadites.”

  • • •

  “I did think of one thing last night.”

  Janey handed him the bottle. “What?”

  “Me, you, Collin, Gav, Toby, and Wyatt. Wyatt, he’d pretend like he caught me tryin’ to run and brought me to him. While Morgan’s distracted with me, you and Toby would sneak in through the parking lot area, and Collin and Gavin would go around through the side entrance. We do it slow, we don’t have the ammo to spare. We take our time, and we do it right.”

  “And where’ll Rachel and Billie be during this?”

  “Here. If I have to, we’ll lock ‘em in the office building. They’re not comin’ with us.” His breathing grew fast. “Rachel’s not- she's stayin’ where I know she’ll be safe- she's the only thing I got left and if she-”

  Janey grabbed his hand. “We’ll kill them.”

  “...Hopefully.”

  • • •

  Morgan looked at John in the rear-view mirror as he drove them home. “Next time I might just have you suck my dick in front of all your people. How would that feel?”

  John grimaced and glanced at Rachel who silently sat with her head against the window.

  “Hell, maybe I’ll have her suck my dick! How would that make you feel, daddy? Huh?”

  John continued glaring.

  “Fuck, lighten up, would you? You know I don’t pull that shit, forcing someone to pleasure you is still rape... And fuck, when you think about it John... You raped your pride and joy!” A grin slowly grew on his face and he laughed, putting his eyes back on the road. “No, whatever I do next time is gonna be way worse than fucking your kid. As a matter of fact, I’ll have you begging to fuck your kid.”

  “Or you’ll be begging for your life.”

  He laughed. “No, I can’t see that happening.”

  • • •

  Walking into her room, he kissed Rachel on the head.

  Opening her eyes, she sat up, fixing the blanket to keep Billie covered. “Are you doing something?”

  “Janey and I gotta go,” he said, zippering his jacket. “But we’ll be back, I promise.”

  “Go where?”

  He stared at her for a moment. He looked around the room and started walking out.

  “Where?”

  He stopped and looked back. “Ohio.”

  “Why?”

  “We’ll be back, I promise. Please just stay here,” he said as Billie woke up. “Everything’ll be okay.”

  Heading out and closing the door, he slicked his hair back and followed Janey out.

  “So what makes you think they won’t be tipped off?”

  “Me and Wyatt’ll be leavin’ out the front in a few,” he said, grabbing his walkie off his belt. “You and the guys’ll be leavin’ in a car out back a little after us.”

  She put her arm around him and rubbed his back as he began radioing his men.

  • • •

  Later, the Ohio Base.

  Gliding the razor up, he tossed it in the sink and walked out into the main room of his living quarters. “Speak to me, Dave,” he said, rubbing his freshly shaven chin.

  “It’s weird, John’s here, but-”

  “Fuck yeah that’s weird! What’s it look like?”

  “Could be an attack, could be nothing. Some big guy’s holding him at gun point.”

  “Someone else is playing with my toys?” Morgan glanced to his machete that hung on a nail by the door. “Well fuck, we can’t be having that.”

  Davey smiled and grabbed the machete. “Here you are, Boss.”

  Taking it, he stared at his reflection in the shimmering blade. “That mother fucker is about to wish he didn’t do whatever the fuck it is he did.”

  Outside the fence, Wyatt stood behind John with a pistol to his back. His long brown hair blew in the wind, and his skin tight shirt revealed his many tattoos. “You sure you don’t just want me to shoot him?” he whispered.

  “No. We got this.”

  The doors swung open, and Morgan strutted out with his thumbs in his belt. “Who, the fuck, is playing with my toy?”

  John glanced back at Wyatt as some men opened the gate, letting them in.

  Morgan rubbed the flat side of the machete against the front of his pants. “You’ve got me all tingly,” he said as John and Wyatt walked up to him. “What in the fuck is going on here?”

  Wyatt spit and shoved John ahead with the pistol. “He was gonna run and leave us all for dead.”

  “And what? You thought you’d bring him here to be punished?
”

  Wyatt shrugged and gulped, staring at Morgan’s grin.

  “Tell you what, big man. I’ll let you all live if you pull that trigger.”

  “What?”

  “Go ahead, put his ass in the ground... You do that, and I’ll personally protect Argentina!”

  John glanced back at him and gave him a little nod.

  Morgan laughed. “What’s it gonna be?”

  Wyatt shook his head. “I can’t kill him. I just thought it’d be best to let you know he was trying to leave.”

  Morgan shrugged and shoved John aside. “Do you wanna kill me? Or are you this loyal to me too?”

  Wyatt’s skin crawled as Morgan got up in his face.

  “How about you tell me the truth about why you’re here?”

  He was silent for a moment. “John was trying to leave and-”

  Morgan swung his machete, slicing Wyatt’s head clean off and dropping his giant body to the ground.

  Morgan wiped the blood from his face and looked at John. “Unless this was your idea of a trick, I think you should be thanking me for killing a traitor.”

  “...Thank you,” he said as his hand rested on the handle of his holstered revolver.

  Morgan laughed. Reaching over, he slid John’s revolver out. “I’ll take this. I think you can understand.”

  John nodded.

  “Maybe this too!” he said, taking John’s walkie and sliding it in his jacket.

  “Now, Johnny boy. Seeing as you’re here, how about we hang out for a bit?” he asked with a smile.

  “Sure thing,” he said, glancing at Wyatt’s corpse, watching the blood pour from his neck.

  He slapped John’s back and put his arm around him. “Let’s go! Let’s talk!”

  Taking John into the base, Morgan brought him to the meeting room. It was long and dark, with a tall dirty glass window at the end, and a long wooden table in the center.

  Morgan sat John at one end and he went to the other. He pulled out his pistol and sat it in front of him before putting his hands behind his head. “Tell me the truth.”

  He silently looked around and shook his head. “Rachel and I were loadin’ the truck, gettin' ready to move-”

  “Let’s say this is true. Let’s just fucking roll with it! Where would you run to?”