Reintegration

by Eden S. French

  “The pleasure was unexpectedly mutual,” said Amity. “You may be an amoral gangster, but you have a very civil manner.”

  “And you may be a sanctimonious Open Hand stiff, but you have very persuasive friends.” Raffo inserted the key in the lock. “Damn thing always sticks. Give me a second to get the door open.”

  The man waiting behind the garage door held a shotgun. “Hi,” he said, pointing the gun at Lexi. “Don’t move.”

  Two more figures emerged from the darkened garage. One was a leather-clad, motorcycle-booted, shaven-headed ugly bastard wielding a semi-automatic. The other…

  Well, how about that. It was that oily fucker the Viper, his face twisted in what he probably believed was a tough-guy smirk.

  “How long were you waiting in there?” said Raffo.

  “Too fucking long.” The Viper flourished a chipped samurai sword. “You want to keep out of this, Raff. Ooze back into your hole.”

  He whistled. Four more armed gangsters emerged into the alley behind them. One loomed above the others—that hulking moron, the Squid.

  Raffo stared at the approaching thugs. “Is the Zookeeper really so desperate that he’d make war on Vassago?”

  “Well, his name is the Zookeeper,” said Zeke. “Not the mark of a guy with good judgement.”

  The Viper scowled. “Watch your mouth. You’re the Zeke who runs the body-modder lounge, aren’t you?”

  “Nah, that’s some other Zeke. I’m the Zeke that fucks your mother.”

  Lexi snickered. “Take the Taipan seriously. He’s a real bad man.”

  “It’s the fucking Viper!” The Viper growled. “You know that. Don’t fuck around.” He paced while tapping the blade against his palm. “You’re coming with us, Lexi. We need you for a trade.”

  “You loser.” Callie sneered at the Viper, who sneered right back. “Working for the shut-ins. How pathetic can you get?”

  “Fuck off, Roux. We’ve got to pay up to some guy called Reed. Otherwise, the boss says, our ass is mincemeat.”

  “Your collective ass?” said Lexi. “Or your ass, singular?”

  “I ain’t fucking singular. Who the fuck told you that? I got a girlfriend. You saw her.”

  The gangsters in the alley menaced their way closer, the Squid lumbering at their head, while the Viper continued to pace. Raffo and Riva seemed terrified, Callie looked pissed, Amity remained calm, and Zeke…well, like Lexi, he was having trouble keeping a straight face.

  “Do you know who we are?” said Amity, toneless.

  “Uh, let’s see. Callie Roux. That Zeke guy. Raffo the Mutant. Lexi Vale. Pink-Hair Girl. Trench-Coat Bitch. Is that right? Did I get that right?”

  “I’m Amity White.”

  “Oh,” a gangster said, very softly.

  The Viper glanced at the Squid. “That mean anything to you?”

  “I think she’s the psycho Open Hand enforcer.” The Squid eyed Amity with evident respect. “Their best heavy. She’s the one who took out the Inferno last fall.”

  “Shit, you were the one who iced Inferno?” said Lexi. “He was over four hundred pounds of muscle. I always assumed he overdosed on roids.”

  “Fine, whatever,” said the Viper. “If she’s going to cause trouble, just shoot her now. Jesus. We’re not some fucking supervillains that’ve got to talk this shit to death first.” He stopped pacing and leaned against the van.

  “Hey!” The way Callie exploded, the Viper might as well have taken out a photo of Mineko and pissed on it. “Don’t touch my fucking wheels.”

  “They’re nice, aren’t they? Can’t wait to get the keys off you.”

  Callie stormed into the garage and shoved the Viper hard against the van. The gunmen switched their aim, but if Callie noticed, she didn’t seem to care. “Like hell you’ll get my fucking keys.”

  “Don’t touch me, you fucking dyke.” The Viper pushed Callie back. “Was your ass always so fucking big, or have you been comfort eating?”

  “You dumb fuck. Your name isn’t even the Viper. It’s Ralph Jackson, and you once got so drunk at a bar you shit yourself in front of everyone.”

  “Back the fuck off, Roux. I don’t want to have to kill you. It’d be bad for my reputation.”

  “What reputation?” said Zeke. “You mean the one you have for shitting your pants?”

  The Viper snarled. “That’s enough. Next person says anything, they’re dead, okay? You’re all disposable. Even Lexi fucking Vale.”

  “Idiot,” said Amity. “Kill her, and the Codists will come for you next.”

  The Squid cracked his knuckles. “Let me take a shot at White. Everyone knows she’s a bad motherfucker. If I take her clean, it’ll be good for my rep.”

  The Viper nodded. “If you want. But don’t take too long about it.”

  The Squid’s stupid face contorted into an even stupider grin. “I heard they call her the Bloody Hand, because when she kills a man, she puts her hand in his blood and leaves a palm print on the nearest wall.”

  “I don’t remember ever doing that,” Amity said. “But it’s a compelling idea, so perhaps I should adopt it. I’ll start with you.”

  “Please, stop,” Riva said. “There has to be a better resolution to this.”

  “I agree,” said Raffo. “Vassago will know it was you boys behind this. The only way you can come out alive is to tell your boss Lexi wasn’t here.”

  “Shut your ugly mouth.” The Viper smirked. “Worst thing your gang could do is breathe on us. Squid, hurry the fuck up.”

  The Squid shambled over to Amity, looked her up and down, and grinned. “Just hand-to-hand, okay? No guns.” He patted the pistol on his hip. “That means I won’t use this.”

  Amity stared at him with contempt. “I understood what you meant, you troglodyte.”

  The gangsters formed a curious semi-circle, jostling for the best view. “Get the bastard,” said Zeke, as enthusiastic as if he were Amity’s hype man. “Fuck him up, Ammie!”

  The Squid closed in, his fist shaped into a wrecking hammer. He might as well have tried to punch a waterfall. Amity slipped the blow and, with a violent burst of speed, drove her elbow into the Squid’s solar plexus.

  The gangsters released a sympathetic groan. “Jesus,” said Zeke.

  The Squid wheezed and pawed the air. Amity’s right hook burst open his left eyelid. He roared, only to be silenced by an elbow strike to the face—a sickening crack. Then a wet moan as blood gushed into his mouth, pouring down his chin like scarlet vomit.

  “Fuck!” said the Viper. “Squid, are you okay?”

  The Squid growled, lurched, and grappled Amity in a bear hug. She reached for his hip and took the handle of his pistol.

  “Riva, Zeke, get down,” said Lexi. “Get—”

  Amity drew the gun and fired.

  The gangster holding the shotgun dropped, his face a bloody hole. A second later, the semi-automatic rattled. Amity turned her living shield, and the Squid’s jacket wept blood while his body convulsed beneath the impact of countless bullets.

  Callie pounced like a wildcat. Her snap kick knocked the sword clean from the Viper’s grip. He fumbled for his pistol. Before he could free it from its holster, Callie swept his feet out from under him. He yelped. Tumbled to the cement.

  Gangsters scrambled. Gunfire popped. Zeke leapt at Riva, covering her as he brought them both to the ground. Somebody shouted. A knife flashed. The Squid fell, still twitching.

  Amity snarled. Whirled on a second opponent. The Viper tried to stand. Callie smacked him in the face, sending him back onto his ass. A gangster trained a pistol on her.

  Shit. Callie’s back was turned. She hadn’t seen it.

  “Callie!” Lexi rushed at the gunman, who spun and fired. Her torso twisted, an unconscious reflex. Something whistled by her cheek.

  Lexi charged onward, caught the gangster’s face in her palm, drove him hard against the wall of the alley, and smashed his head into the bricks as she gouged out the contents of
his mind.

  The hollowed gangster went limp. His gun smoked in his hand. Shit, she’d dodged a fucking bullet…

  “Riva!” Callie. Screaming.

  Lexi spun. A weedy, machete-waving gangster loomed over Riva. She huddled, hands over her head. Callie was struggling to reach her, but the Viper had seized her by the ankle.

  The gangster raised the machete. Lexi’s next heartbeat drove through her like a rail spike. Callie shrieked again. Amity shouted. Lexi moved, but she was too far away…

  A long piece of metal in hand, Zeke stepped up to the gangster and, to the sound of iron striking bone, drove the teeth from his head. The man landed face down amid a spatter of blood.

  “Shit.” Zeke stared at the gore-soaked clump of hair clinging to the metal bar. “That’s sick.”

  Callie limped over to Riva. Helped her up. Which was nice, but it meant nobody was watching that son of a bitch behind them…

  “Hey, you fucks.” To put it poetically, the Viper looked like shit. Crimson trickled from one nostril, his chin was smeared with blood, and a purple bruise puffed his temple. Callie had really worked the bastard over.

  If only she’d killed him. The Viper held Raffo at gunpoint, the pistol pushing so deep it indented his cheek. “Give up or I shoot the mutant.”

  “Ignore the little bastard,” Raffo said. “Do what you have to.”

  Besides the Viper, there were three gangsters still standing: the asshole with the semi-automatic and two of the thugs who had come into the alley with the Squid. One held a knife, the other a pistol.

  “This sucks.” Zeke adjusted his grip on the bloody iron rod. “You assholes made me kill someone. I never killed anyone before.”

  “Don’t worry,” said the Viper. “Your pangs of conscience will ease once I fucking add you to the body count. You bunch of fucking queers. Two dykes and a faggot. The shut-ins have the right idea about you people.”

  Lexi opened her mouth, but Callie was quicker. “You shut the hell up.”

  “Callie Roux, you stupid fucking whore. Everyone laughed when they heard that Lexi screwed your girl. She was pretty, that one. I bet she looked even prettier with her face buried in Lexi’s pussy.” The Viper leered. “Or maybe the rumors are true, and she was choking down Lexi’s dick. Is that how it is, Lexi? Are you a fucking tranny? Do you have to tuck when you get into those tight jeans of yours?”

  “Yeah, I do,” said Lexi. “You have a problem with that?”

  “Problem?” The Viper wiped the blood from his chin. “Nah. I already knew you were a sick freak. This just clinches it.”

  “Don’t you dare talk to her like that,” Callie said. “The only freaks around here are you and your chickenshit friends.”

  “Ignore him,” said Lexi. “He’s dead already. His boss sent him because he’s a natural fuck-up, a perfect scapegoat.”

  “Bullshit.” The Viper wore a spasmodic grin, but he was sweating anxiety. The other gangsters were just as nervous, their emotions bare as they struggled to comprehend the dead friends at their feet. “I’m in for a promotion.”

  “Nah, you’re fucked. If you kill me, your boss gives you to the shut-ins by way of an apology. If you take me alive, he gives you to Vassago as a peace offering. Like I said. Scapegoat. At least it fits your dumb animal theme.”

  “Fuck you! You killed Squid. You killed Tarantula. You even took out Yellowjacket, and he was just a newbie. You’re dead, Vale. Reprisal. Even Prince Vassago can’t say shit when it’s about reprisal.”

  Lexi probed the remaining gangsters. The nearest was a wreck, his mind a churning cauldron of fear and anger. The young thug beside him could barely keep a grip on his pistol. And the third wasn’t even listening to any of this—he was staring at the blood…

  “Reprisal?” Lexi smiled. “You really want to play that game, Anaconda?”

  “Don’t fucking smile. I’m this close to blowing Raff’s head off.”

  “I’m a sick freak. Why would I care?”

  “I’m serious.” The Viper’s face glistened beneath a sudden outbreak of sweat. “I’m done being laughed at, you fucking queer.”

  Lexi closed her eyes. “So am I.”

  She reached out. The hum of their minds returned. Memories tarnished and seedy, yet sometimes startlingly pure. Fighting, fucking, taking drugs that ran wild through the bloodstream, broken glass on rain-slicked asphalt, lights pulsing in the hearts of clubs, women screaming and begging. Slamming cartridges into guns, oiling knives, making deals in alleys. Soft bags of powder. Money, beautiful fucking money. A mouth wrapped around a dick. The rewards of power.

  A guttural drone of thoughts. I know this bar where you can’t even move for pussy… The bitch cheated on me… Cut his fucking throat… We’re going tonight so bring your sawn-off… Hotwire that bitch, it’s on… We got the junk, we got all the shit…

  Heads like hives, teeming with impulses. He’s dead, she killed him, he owed me twenty fucking dollars. Bodies clammy with sweat. Nostrils choked with the stench of blood. We’re supposed to take this bitch back alive, who the hell put Viper in charge…

  Her vision darkened. Their minds receded into single points. Candles of dumb meat with fragile wicks. Three screaming flames.

  Lexi puffed them out.

  In the same instant, the gangsters dropped. Sprawled limbs, blank faces. Even Amity looked horrified, while Raffo swallowed air like a goldfish.

  “This is my district. I grew up on these streets.” Lexi swaggered toward the trembling Viper. Her head was clear. Her heart felt still. “I’d give anyone a beating, no matter how big they were, no matter how mean their gang was. Over time, people learned not to fuck with me and mine. Now, dumb prick that you are, you come here and threaten five of my friends all at once.”

  “I’m sorry.” The Viper released Raffo, who scrambled to the cover of a garbage skip. “I didn’t mean any of the things I just said. I was only trash-talking. You know how it is…”

  “Snakes slither on their bellies. They’re cold-blooded, creepy fuckers. Why the hell would you pick the name of a fucking snake?”

  “You know why. Vipers are lethal. One bite and you’re dead.” The Viper was sweating fear, rivulets of mortal dread.

  “No, they’re weak. They hunt little things. Rodents. Other snakes. Even the meanest serpent is prey for something bigger, and you’re about to learn where you rank on the food chain.”

  “Please, Lexi. I’ll tell you anything. I’ll sell out the boss, anything, just don’t hurt me. I couldn’t tell him no. Don’t hurt me…”

  “I’m not going to hurt you. I need you to take a message home.” Lexi leaned closer still. With a bit of luck, in this gloom, the Viper would be able to see the ghostly light deep in her irises. “Tell the Zookeeper that if he fucks with my friends again, I’ll introduce him to the principle of natural selection.”

  The Viper fled more like a rabbit than a snake, cowering as if expecting Lexi to suck out his soul at any second. Zeke spat in the direction he’d ran.

  “Well, shit,” said Raffo. “So this is what you were hiding from Vassago.”

  Amity strode through the carnage. “How did you do that? You said you had to look into their eyes. You certainly didn’t tell me you could reach multiple people at once.”

  “I never tried it before.” With her boot, Lexi prodded one of the limp gangsters. “They came here expecting to kick ass. Instead, they watched their friends die. It made them vulnerable. The rest was just me pushing where I hadn’t yet dared to go.”

  “I saw it, but I still can’t believe it.” Callie had one arm around Riva, who still seemed dazed. “To be honest, it scares me a little.”

  “You and me both, babe. Raff, you need to clear out. Get your gang somewhere safe.”

  “I’m staying put until I see you drive out,” said Raffo. “But I will call some of my boys to come up. For one thing, free guns.”

  “Hey, Lex.” Zeke was crouched by a fallen, bloodied gangster. The man’s
chest was moving, but in a feeble way that suggested it wouldn’t keep doing so for much longer. “Can we take this guy back with us? I might be able to save him.”

  Lexi nodded. “Let’s get going. Riva, front seat, and stay close to Callie. Amity, you help Zeke with the patient.”

  “Why?” Amity grimaced. “We don’t have time for this.”

  “Because we’re all comrades. Lesson of the day.”

  On her way to the van, Lexi stepped over a body and hesitated. She’d seen a lot of grisly scenes, but this one had the unique distinction of being mostly her own handiwork. The city’s gang lords valued her negotiating skills, but things would change the moment they understood how powerful she truly was. Vassago didn’t enjoy having rivals.

  She touched Callie on the forearm. “Take me far from here, okay?”

  Callie smiled back. “You got it.”

  CHAPTER 26

  At seven a.m, the last paragraph clattered into place. Kade sent the file to the printer. It howled a garbled electronic screech. Paper jam.

  As he fumbled inside the machine, yanking torn strips from a hungry roller mouth that resisted all attempts at paper liberation, it struck him as absurd that despite astounding human inventions—Project Sky, for Christ’s sake—printer technology hadn’t changed in over a hundred years. In fact, printers were at risk of extinction. The Gazette had once owned two, but the other had perished while jetting precious ink like arterial fluid. Sarabelle had wept as if it were her own child.

  “Damn it.” Kade pulled again on the trapped page. “Come on.”

  Goldie sat upright, ears quivering, and released an immense bark. Tensed for trouble, Kade opened his desk drawer and took out his revolver. It was either that or the stapler, and at least the revolver was loaded.

  “Hey!” Callie bounded into view, taking the stairs two at a time. Riva descended with more decorum behind her.

  His tail thrashing, Goldie hurtled across the room and buried his nose in Callie’s groin. She laughed as she patted his flanks. “Look at you, you giant silly thing! What’s your name, friendly fellow?”