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

by Krueger, Allison

  “I don’t think so.”

  Morgan raised his brows and laughed. “You don’t think so?”

  Morgan pointed at Fiona and her daughter Callie. “Rory! Take the kid.”

  Rory ran into the circle and ripped Callie from her mother’s arms.

  “PLEASE DON’T HURT HER,” Fiona cried.

  Morgan grinned. “Now,” he said, pointing at Fiona. “Kill her.”

  “Morgan, don’t,” Rachel commanded as Rory shot open Fiona’s face, splattering on the screaming crowd.

  Morgan pointed to two Argentinians. “Sexy blonde, spare the kid!”

  Rory, still holding Callie, shot Sophia between the eyes. Her blood splashed her sister Beth.

  Rachel’s eyes started to water, she tried to stay strong but Morgan was erasing her people like they were nothing.

  “Myers! Chop off that big fucker’s head,” Morgan said, pointing at Toby.

  “MOGAN, STOP!” Rachel yelled as Myers sliced off his head.

  “Wait a second! One more!” He laughed. Pulling out his pistol he shot Collin in the face.

  “Myers, hold Norman for me.”

  “Morgan, please, take what you want and leave. You proved your point.”

  “Are you fucking kidding? I haven’t even started yet.”

  He smiled. Taking a deep breath, he crouched down. “Now. Are you gonna start chopping?”

  Rachel looked at Billie and shook her head. “Fuck you.”

  Morgan sighed and stood up. “Alright.” Walking up to Norman, Morgan grabbed Jamie and drug her into the circle.

  “NO!” Norman tossed around in Myer’s arms, attempting to break free as Morgan threw Jamie in the center.

  “You’re the girl Norman liked, aren’t you?”

  “Please, sir, you’ve done so much wrong already, it’s not too late to use your power for good. You can leave, you can show mercy to these people.”

  Morgan laughed as he took off his belt. “You pray, right?”

  “I do.”

  “What other stuff do you do on your knees?”

  She tilted her head, staring up at him. “Excuse me?”

  Morgan grabbed at his crotch and smiled. “You and Norman ever bump fuglies?”

  Jamie’s face turned red.

  His eyes widened and he let out a laugh. “You totally did! It’s okay, I was only teasing you.”

  Morgan wrapped his belt around Jamie’s neck and pulled her up in the air.

  Norman cried like a lost child as he kicked and threw himself around, trying his hardest to escape from Myers.

  Morgan dropped Jamie before she could choke to death. “You have a really pretty face!” He smiled as he slammed his boot into it. Jumping, Morgan landed on Jamie’s head, caving her skull in.

  “I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU,” Norman screamed as Morgan turned to Rachel.

  “What do you say, John? You feel like you’re in the chopping mood yet?”

  Rachel’s lip shook as she shook her head.

  "Rachel, today, I break you. Now pick it up.”

  Rachel shook her head. “No!”

  Morgan grabbed the machete off the ground and walked over to Billie. “Let me get you started,” he said, swinging it down, slicing both legs half off below the knee.

  Billie let out a loud ear-piercing cry.

  “STILL NOTHING? STILL FUCKING NOTHING, RACHEL?” Morgan slammed the machete down through the bone. Standing up, he put his boot down on Billie stomach and yanked her legs, ripping them the rest of the way off. “It would be so fucked to let her live after that, No-Knees already had it hard, now she’s No-Legs!” Morgan stared at Billie, machete in hand, blood dripping from the blade. He rolled his eyes. “Fuck it... BOYS! Get her to the hospital! Wheelie Girl isn’t dying on us yet.”

  Morgan locked eyes with Rachel as Patrick and Davey rushed in and took Billie. “You thought I wouldn’t break you!” He laughed and spit in the pool of Billie’s blood. “If you didn’t try to kill me, your daddy might still be here, and your girlfriend definitely wouldn’t be stand- sitting at death’s door!”

  “I’M GONNA KILL YOU!” Rachel screamed.

  “Not today, not tomorrow, but I will. Kill you. Those were John’s exact fucking words, and we all know what I did to him.

  “I came here today to teach you a lesson,” he yelled, ripping off Rachel’s pants. “I came here today to prove a point!” Morgan ripped Rachel’s top off an unzippered his pants. “You’re lucky I don’t have to shit,” he said as he pulled out his penis and began pissing on her. “Pretty cool, isn’t it,” he asked with a laugh, finishing and putting it away. "Anybody have to take a shit? I think Rachel’s hungry!” Morgan crouched down and licked his lips. “Can you smell it? I can! I don't know who, but somebody’s getting supper ready for you!”

  Rachel punched Morgan across the face, making him grab her by the throat.

  “WHAT DO I WANNA HEAR!”

  “I’m- not your, BITCH,” she struggled to get out. “I’M- NOT- JOHN!”

  Morgan let go and his jaw dropped. “Damn, that is fucking cold! Calling your dead daddy a bitch!” He laughed. “...Oh well, you might not be broke yet, but you’re about to be. Fuck yes you are,” he said, messing her piss drenched hair.

  Morgan stood up, staring at Rachel’s dirty blood covered body as she laid naked in Billie’s blood. “You’re not your father.” He nodded. “I understand that.”

  Rachel threw up a little, getting vomit on her chest and down her neck as she kept eye contact with Morgan, refusing to let her tears out.

  “Are you even related to him? Are you even a woman? Fucking, FUCK! I’m not kidding, kid. You have some rhino fuckin’ a dinosaur fuckin’ a bigfoot sized nuts. I killed your father, I just destroyed your girlfriend right in front of you... What in the fuck am I gonna do with you?”

  “The same thing you had to do to John,” she said, wiping her mouth. “You’ll have to kill me...”

  A big toothy grin spread across Morgan’s face. “That one,” he said pointing to a boy. “And that one,” he said, pointing to another. “We take the kids and we take Norman. Kill the rest of them. ALL OF THEM!”

  Rachel’s eyes shot out of her head as she watched the Acquainted execute all of the Argentinians. The people she grew up with, the people she grew to love like family. All dead.

  Shortly after having the Argentinians wiped out, Morgan headed to the hospital where he planned to have his man Randy re-bandage his leg. While there, he found Emily, the Argentina nurse, hiding in one of the rooms.

  “Who in the fuck are you?”

  Emily jumped and spun around. “I’m a- a nurse, I worked with Zander. The negro man you killed.”

  “And where were you when my boys were rounding you people up?”

  “In there,” she said, pointing at a closet.

  “Ooohhhh, no, no, no... You didn’t?”

  Tears flowed down her face. “I was just so scared!”

  “Sweetie, listen close, okay? I don’t give a fuck if you were scared.”

  Morgan got down in her face. “What’s your name?”

  The nurse cried harder. “Emily.”

  “Emily... Emily, Emily, Emily... That is a really pretty name!”

  He smiled. “Do you like ice cream?”

  “It’s been a long time-”

  “That is not what I asked you! I said. Do. You. Like it.”

  Emily trembled as she nodded. “Yes.”

  “What was your favorite?”

  “I don't know, chocolate?”

  He laughed. “Is that some clever way of saying you were fuckin’ the doctor?”

  She gulped. “What’s yours?”

  “I am so glad you asked! Mine was this flavor they only had around Christmas, it was candy cane! I never was a big fan of ice cream, but that shit was de-fucking-licious!”

  She sniffled. “Can I get back to work?”

  “I guess, but all your people are dead, so... You know what has to happen if you wa
nna keep working on them from beyond the grave, don’t you?”

  Morgan spun her around, grabbed her by the back of the head, and slammed her face first into the wall.

  Roughly twenty minutes later, Morgan went to Rachel’s house and found her sitting naked in the corner of the living room. Still covered in blood and vomit, and stinking of piss.

  “Jesus, you look like shit! What the hell happened to you? You look like your dog died!” Morgan laughed.

  She watched as he sat down on the couch and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. She took a deep breath. “I fucking hate you.”

  “And hate me you should! This isn’t about making friends. And I mean, I fucked you up, GOOD! Throw on some clothes and I’ll let you go see my doctor while they’re here.”

  “How’s Billie?”

  “She’ll make it.”

  She nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Ho-ly-fuck! I actually might’ve believed that one!

  “Now why haven’t you cleaned up? Or hell, at least put a pair of pants on! The next time I visit I expect you to look presentable. Fuck, I don’t think I ever seen your dad without a shirt on- well- besides that one time, you know what I’m talking about.”

  “I wasn’t expecting company.”

  “Shut up, I don’t really care. I’m just gonna cut straight to it like a machete through your mommy’s gut! I came here, to your house, to make you an offer- in private. Morgan Williams, to Rachel Miller. Now you better listen and take this mighty fucking seriously, because just like pussy, offers like the one I’m about to make you, almost never get given out.”

  She sat up straight and brushed the hair out of her face. “What?”

  Morgan put his boots down and looked at her. “You have two shots left. Now we can space them out, do them over the next few months, we could do them both now, and get it over with... Or, you could come and work for me.”

  She raised her brow. “...What would we do?”

  “There’d be no beatings, not sex, this is serious work. This is a serious fucking offer. Now if you wanna go with shots, we’re all out of Argentina people so we’d have to put on the show either in Cascadia, back at the base, or fuck, maybe Woodrow. But if you work for me, you’ll be my own little protégé! Of course since you slit my fucking throat, you’re gonna have a pretty serious set of rules put in place, but as long as you listen and do as I say, you can earn the title of Acquainted.”

  Rachel quickly went to the bathroom and put on a robe.

  “What do you think of Cascadia?” she asked, walking out and standing by the side of the couch.

  His eyes widened. “Is that honestly what you took away from what I just said?”

  “No. But- we have our own issues with those people. I’m curious what the big bad Morgan Williams thinks about them... Plus it’ll give me a minute to think.”

  Morgan nodded. “Okay... Well, to the big bad me, they’re as good as dead. All of them. Since Crimson joined them I can’t tell you how bad shit’s got! Some of my people take jobs from her, and the Cascada-people have grown a backbone! A backbone that I previously ripped the fuck out of them! A backbone that I’m constantly working to rip back out of them. I don’t like that...”

  “You killed everyone.”

  “Done thinking already?” Morgan laughed. “We have Norm and Billie, kids too. Not all of them are dead yet! But do you understand why the ones who died, died?”

  “I understand.”

  “Good girl.” Morgan got up and walked over to her. “What happened to your father, had to happen. You can’t try killing people and think your actions won’t have consequences- especially when that person’s, Morgan. Fucking. Williams.”

  Rachel nodded.

  “...You don’t understand why you’re getting this offer, do you?”

  “Because your people have to be strong. You know I won’t break so you want me to work for you.”

  “Yeah, pretty much... Plus, on the off chance the TB didn’t kill your daddy, it’d be fucked for him to see you working for me! And you got balls. I mean it, you have some serious man fucking a gorilla in the ass sized balls! You come work for me... And we’ll put those balls to good use. We could use a set like yours,” he said with a laugh. “I’m being serious.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Now go put some pants on- not a fucking robe. And you can go see my doctor before we head out.” Morgan held out his hand. “Don’t disrespect me.”

  Rachel took Morgan’s hand.

  Chapter 21:

  Already Dead

  The next morning, Billie woke up in her hospital bed to see Rachel sitting in the chair beside her.

  “Hey, you’re up.”

  “Oh my god my legs hurt.” A tear rolled down Billie’s cheek as she stared at her bloody bandaged stumps. She laid her head back and looked at Rachel. “You smell like shit.”

  She let out a laugh. “Yeah, sorry about that, I came here after I was done talking to Morgan, I didn’t wanna go back home until you woke up.”

  “You talked to him?” she asked with a puzzled look. “What about?”

  “...He wants me to be Acquainted... And right now it’s actually tempting.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah seriously! Right now we don’t have any other options, after he sent you to the hospital he had everybody else killed and took Norman and the kids. We don’t have anyone or anything... It's all gone.”

  “He killed our fathers!”

  “Yeah, weren’t you listening, he killed everybody else too! But what else do we have to lose? Right now?”

  Billie threw her arms up. “Each other?”

  Rachel grabbed Billie’s hand. “I won’t let that happen.”

  “What did he say to you? Exactly!”

  “He talked a lot about balls and how he wants me to be his protégé.”

  “What did he say about me?”

  “Nothing, but if he had anything planned he would’ve told me, he loves fucking with people, he would’ve said something to put us on edge.” Rachel looked across the room to the broken window. “I want you to go back home. You’ll be safe.”

  Billie’s eyes widened. “After everything that just happened you expect me to just leave? I’m not doing that, how do you even know you’d ever come back- for fuck’s sake, Rachel, I don’t have legs anymore and everybody’s dead!”

  “Billie, listen to me-”

  “No! I didn’t leave the day my dad was killed, I didn’t leave the day I got my hand cut off, and I didn’t even think of leaving when everything was happening yesterday! I’m not leaving your side, like it or not, we’re a team- right now we’re all we got.”

  • • •

  The Ohio Base.

  Morgan put his weights down and sat up. He glanced at his buzzing walkie talkie. “Fuck, what now,” he mumbled. He wiped his forehead and grabbed his walkie. “Talk to me.”

  “It’s Harvey. Right now the two you left alive are talking about leaving. The one you want is trying to tell the legless girl to run.”

  “Tell the legless girl to run,” Morgan repeated with a chuckle. “What are they saying?”

  “Main Girl is telling Legless she wants her to go home, Legless is saying no, but Main Girl really wants her to go to so she can be Acquainted.”

  “Alright, so here’s what I want you to do, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “I want you to take a deep breath, a good long one. I mean really take a minute to smell the roses. Then step inside, and introduce yourself.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Yeah, keep the walkie on you.”

  Morgan hung up the call and sat the radio down. “Well well well,” he said with a smile, looking at Davey who was working out at the end of the room.

  He put his weights down and sat up. “Is everything alright, Boss?”

  “You sat there the whole god damn time, don’t ask like you don’t know. By the sound of it, Rachel wants to move Bill- which in
a way, fucks with her shots! So either they both get here, or Rachel’s gonna get those fucking shots, and they won’t be fun, not fucking fun for either of them. Oh no they will not.”

  • • •

  “Hello?” a man hollered from down the hall. “Legless? Other girl?”

  “Who’s there?” Rachel yelled, grabbing her revolver and jumping out of her chair.

  “My name’s Harv,” the man said, poking his head in the room. “Harvey Cudlitz. I was sent here by Morgan Williams.”

  “What’s he want?”

  He walked in with his hands up. “I don’t know, he just told me about some offer he made you, he wanted me to ask if you made a decision.”

  Rachel looked at the walkie on the man’s belt. “I want to talk to him.”

  “Feel free.” Clipping the walkie off, he tossed it on the bed.

  Grabbing it, Rachel turned it on. “Hello? Morgan?” she asked into the walkie, keeping her eyes and revolver locked on Harvey. “Morgan!”

  “Holy fuck, do not raise your voice to me, are you honestly new to all this?” Morgan asked.

  “Who’s this? Harvey guy?”

  “Cuddle Bug,” he said with a laugh. “He’s an animal fucker. Any other questions or am I free to talk now? Shut the fuck up- Now Harv says you’re thinking about moving Bill somewhere?”

  “What? How do y-”

  “You’re upset, I understand. And it just so happens that Harvey is one of my expendables.”