by Stevie Kopas
Jack knew Evans was up ahead waiting for him. Even though the man was shrouded in shadow, Jack could smell the tobacco smoke from all the way down the street. As he grew nearer he was able to see the glowing tip of the cigarette in Evans’ hand.
“Abbot.” Evans mumbled a greeting, smoke creeping from his nostrils.
Jack nodded a greeting and discreetly checked that the bowie knife was securely tucked into his waistband. Evans didn’t react and so Jack was confident that the knife was well-hidden.
“This is the last time, Abbot,” Evans said, dropping the finished cigarette to the ground. “People are starting to talk.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. He was ready to tell Evans not to worry, that he’d decided that it was in his best interest that tonight be the last night he visited Miguel’s, but curiosity got the better of him.
“Aside from you and me, they don’t know what you’re really doing in there, man. They think you’re a mort-fucker, and because I’m always comin’ and goin’ with you, they’re starting to think I’m like that too. I can’t have that.”
Jack almost chuckled. Almost. He held the laughter in and just smirked. “And here I was thinking you were concerned about my well-being.”
Evans smirked. “I am, man. I am. This shit ain’t good for you, it’s gonna start messin’ with your head. But I have to think of myself. I can’t have Miguel or any of his people thinkin’ I’m some freak.”
“I hear ya’. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. You were right.” Jack lied. “That’s not my sister anymore. I just… I just need to say goodbye.”
Evans nodded, his face solemn. “I understand.”
He motioned for Jack to follow him and they walked in silence. Jack’s heart began to thump in his chest and he was worried it would give him away. He hadn’t been this nervous going to Miguel’s since the very first time. He was confident enough that, by the time he’d taken care of Maya, he’d be able to slip away before anyone noticed anything had happened. But there was that tiny inkling that everything could blow up in his face at any moment, and it was driving him to nausea. He swallowed hard, his saliva thick in his mouth, and repeatedly reassured himself that everything would be fine as they approached the rusty metal door.
Evans handed his poker chip over and they were let in without a hitch. As soon as he’d cleared the first guard a wave of relief washed over Jack and he thanked his lucky stars that he wasn’t checked for any weapons. Things were going smoothly. He just hoped they continued that way.
A big grin appeared on Miguel’s face as soon as Evans and Jack walked into the room. The women looked away, disgusted, as usual, and the other men either ignored them or snickered to one another. Miguel waddled over to them, his ill-fitting suit riding up between his large legs.
“Gentlemen, good to see the two of you again.” He patted Jack and Evans on their shoulders and offered them a drink. Jack, not wanting to seem suspicious, accepted with a forced smile and the three men took a seat. Miguel raised a hand and motioned for some drinks to be brought over. “Layla is waiting for you, my friend,” he said to Evans.
Evans handed Miguel a wad of bills. “I’ll be back soon,” he said to Jack before heading off to find his purchased companion, snatching a drink from the cocktail waitress as he went.
Jack sat nervously at the table, his legs bouncing up and down like pistons in an engine. He gulped down his drink and looked at Miguel expectantly, but the big man was distracted by a curvy blonde grinding herself on a client across the room.
“That one has got some serious hips,” Miguel said to Jack, chuckling. “You should try one of my real girls sometime.”
Jack looked away and nodded. “Yeah, sometime.”
“Ah, but I wouldn’t make nearly as much money then, would I?” Miguel cackled and wheezed. “Speaking of money…” he held out a pudgy hand.
“Right.” Jack fished the bills from his front pocket and placed them in Miguel’s hand.
Miguel suddenly grasped Jack’s hand and squeezed, his face serious. He looked him dead in the eye, but said nothing. Jack went into panic mode and began to sweat; he held his breath and hoped his thumping heart wouldn’t leap from his chest.
“Have fun in there,” Miguel said and let go of Jack’s hand, doubling over in laughter and going into another coughing fit.
Jack laughed nervously, looking around. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary and he exhaled with relief. Miguel had a strange sense of humor. He got up from the table and began to walk away, spying one last look at Miguel who still sat laughing at the table.
“You are one sick motherfucker, you know that?” Miguel waved him off and returned his attention to the blonde in the far corner of the room.
Jack wished he could just pull the bowie knife out and slit Miguel’s throat right then and there. How he could sit there and call Jack the sick one? Regardless of what Miguel thought he might be doing in that room with Maya, Miguel was the sick one. Jack would never know how it was exactly that his sister had come to be infected, but Miguel and every single person in that establishment were far more scandalous for keeping a mort as a sex slave than he could ever be in a lifetime.
Jack avoided the guard’s stare as he entered the red-lit hallway, slowly making his way to his sister’s prison cell. When he entered the reeking room, that sick feeling came creeping back into his gut. There she was, in all her infected glory, perched on her knees on that mattress, cursed to be subjected to the abominable until she finally rotted away into the lifeless corpse she’d inevitably become.
A whisper left Jack’s quivering lips. “Maya.” The tears always came. They always would until he knew she was free of this place.
As he walked toward her, she sensed his presence and began her ritual of thrashing against her tethers like a wild beast. He removed the burlap sack and her black eyes widened when he came into view. She pulled even harder, putrid liquid oozing around the shackles as her skin further peeled away. Jack wondered, if he had never found her, how long it would have been until the bone was exposed. He was snapped from his morbid thoughts when Maya let out a low growl and lunged again. He dropped to his knees before her, as he’d done many times before.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you,” he choked out. “I’m so sorry that any of this happened at all. If I could go back and change it, put the world back to what it was, I’d do it every day for the rest of my life.” As he spoke, his eyes burned from the emotional onslaught of tears while his infected sister wailed and thrashed.
“I’m so glad that mom went quickly. I never told you that. You know I never saw it. You protected me from it, but I knew it in my heart. I always knew she’d been devoured by that pack of morts. She didn’t have to suffer, she didn’t become one of them. I’m so glad she never had to see you this way.” He dried his eyes with the bottom of his t-shirt and pulled the bowie knife from his waistband. “I promised you I’d make things right. I couldn’t be there for you before, but I’m here for you now.” He stood up, and for the first time ever, his sister made no sound and sat perfectly still… almost as if she were listening. “I just want you to know I never gave up on surviving. I never will. I have someone new to protect now. I just wish you could have been there to meet her.”
For the first time in a very long time, Jack made physical contact with his sister. He stroked her blood-stained, stringy hair and gripped the back of her head. It was then that Maya began to react again, struggling harder than ever before against her restraints, jaws snapping fruitlessly against her gag. He drove the bowie knife through her temple and tried to ignore the sick sound it made. He watched as her black eyes rolled off to the side and felt her body go limp. He removed the knife and let her go, her body hanging lifelessly from the restraints on the ceiling.
“I love you, Maya,” Jack said before turning away, walking to the near-useless sink.
He cleaned the bowie knife as best he could and replaced it in his waistband. He didn’t dare take anot
her look at Maya’s lifeless body. He had finally come to accept that Maya had long been dead, but he felt better knowing that he’d done something to make things right. Even a mort deserved a better fate.
Jack exited that room for the last time and felt like a boulder had been lifted off his chest. He passed the guard and spotted Evans with Layla, his arms around her, his nose nuzzling her neck. Jack couldn’t help but smile; he might have been paying for it, but Jack was happy that Evans didn’t have to feel so alone when he was with her. Miguel was off in one of the other rooms, probably relishing in his profits from the evening.
Evans spotted Jack and bid Layla farewell.
“Good to go?” Evans asked and Jack nodded.
The two men exited the establishment without any further conversation. Jack kept his cool all the way to the street corner where he parted ways with Evans. He’d kept his head free and clear since he’d left Maya’s room, thinking only of Scarlet; keeping his eye on the prize and reminding himself that he wasn’t out of the woods until they were on that boat and out of the city.
“Hey Evans,” Jack called out to his coworker.
Evans stopped and turned back.
“Thanks.”
“For what?” Evans asked, lighting a cigarette.
“Just thanks.” Jack said, waving him off.
Evans turned and continued walking as Jack sprinted off into the night. It was only a matter of time before what he’d done had been discovered, and he had no intentions of sticking around to learn of the repercussions.
***
Scarlet shifted her weight from one foot to the other and back again, a nervous habit she’d always had. She stood on the docks with her arms crossed, an overstuffed bag at her feet. Her and Jack had packed all the necessities they’d need on the road. They were sure they’d manage out there on what they had until they were able to come across other unscavenged resources. It would be a miracle that after all this time there’d still be anything out there, but there had been more morts than people for a long time, and morts had no use for any human goods aside from flesh.
Her contact at the dock had already warned her several times that they were cutting it close. He let her know that when the time came, he was leaving, with or without her. There were quite a few others who’d already boarded; Scarlet didn’t interact with them, she had no business knowing why they wanted to leave the city and vice versa. She looked back at her contact. He stood there waiting and gave a two minute warning. Scarlet began to get emotional — she hadn’t prepared herself for if Jack didn’t show up. She had just believed he would.
She tensed up when she heard fast-approaching footsteps, boots slamming the ground and heading toward her. A figure finally appeared and she almost retreated to the boat. If it was a member of the New Alliance, they were all done for. You didn’t leave the city unless the New Alliance said you could leave the city; those were the rules.
When her eyes adjusted and she saw that it was Jack, she sprinted for him and leapt into his arms. He squeezed her tightly and covered her face in a blanket of kisses.
“We gotta go,” she said, pulling him back toward the dock.
They ran hand in hand; Jack scooped up their heavy bag on the way, and the couple boarded the boat just in the nick of time.
The captain and his crew worked at readying the boat for departure when Scarlet spotted the unmistakable light of a flashlight approaching the docks. The captain quieted his crew and told everyone to stay put, warning them that he wasn’t responsible for their safety if they’d been discovered trying to leave. Scarlet and Jack watched as the captain approached the lone figure who now stood on the dock. They spoke in hushed voices, and the figure shone the light onto the boat. The light scanned each passenger, and Jack pulled Scarlet into him and kissed her on her forehead.
“Something isn’t right,” she whispered to him.
Jack squeezed her tighter. “It’ll be fine.”
The other passengers shielded their eyes from the bright light as it moved from face to face.
Jack could hear the captain having an argument with the stranger and a sick feeling worked its way into his gut. Scarlet buried her face into his chest and he squeezed her tightly. No matter what happened, even if they’d been found trying to escape, he would make sure she was safe.
They finally heard the captain tell the stranger that he didn’t give free rides and watched as the stranger was shoved backward. Jack and Scarlet exchanged relieved glances and the captain came back aboard, instructing his men to disembark immediately.
The medium-sized craft started its short journey in the dead of night, shrouded in darkness and secrecy. The other passengers remained silent, as did Jack and Scarlet, and they watched the docks grow smaller and smaller until they could see nothing but blackness behind them. There was no moon in the sky, making the night that much more unsettling. Jack smiled at his wife; they were on their way to making their own life. Whether that was in New Mexico or someplace else, he didn’t care. He had finally put the demons of his past behind him and set his sister free. He was leaving NoLa behind him too; he’d made it through the Dark Years, and with Scarlet by his side, he knew he could make it through anything.
It was another hour before they’d arrived at their destination. The captain informed everyone as they went their separate ways that if they ever wanted back into the city, it was double. Jack and Scarlet didn’t stick around to watch the boat disappear back into the night. Jack knew the area surrounding the city was free of any infected, but he didn’t want to take his chances on being spotted by one of the New Alliance patrols. He knew where they could go — he’d spent more than a few nights there before he’d paid to be smuggled into the city over a year ago — he just hoped the old safe house was still standing.
They made it almost ten miles before Scarlet wanted to rest. Jack kept pushing her on; he wanted to put as much distance between them and the city as possible, but Scarlet ignored him and took a seat on the side of the overgrown road.
“We did it,” she said to him, throwing her arms up. “We’re out and we have nothing more to worry about but ourselves. Okay? Let’s just relax for a minute, please.” She leaned forward and massaged her calves, looking up at him with pleading eyes.
He looked back at her and smiled. Even with no light he could still make out her beautiful face. He didn’t know what he’d do without her. They giggled in the darkness like children and continued to smile at one another.
“Alright,” he gave in. “We’ll take a break.”
Jack fished a rolled cigarette from his pocket and when he looked back up, Scarlet’s terrified expression was the last thing he saw before his whole world went black.
***
Jack drifted in and out of consciousness. He could barely open his swollen eyes. He knew he’d been badly beaten; his whole body hurt. He could hear voices, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He ran his tongue through his mouth and felt one of his front teeth were chipped. All he tasted was blood. When he tried to roll over, he cried out in pain.
“He’s waking up again,” a man said.
“Put him back to sleep,” was all Jack heard before he was knocked out again.
When he finally came to, Jack could tell he was being dragged inside of a building. He could tell from the change in terrain and the way the air felt different. He couldn’t recall how many times he’d been knocked out or for how many hours, but when Jack realized the sun was beginning to rise, he knew it had been far too long. Scarlet’s terrified face popped back into his mind and his body tensed with dread, sending a white-hot wave of pain rushing through him. He tried to piece things back together, but he had no recollection of what had happened. He knew he was attacked from behind, and he would bet a million bucks that it had been the New Alliance, but that was all. He just prayed to whatever God would listen that Scarlet hadn’t been hurt, or worse, killed.
Once he was inside, someone sat him up against a wall, but he bar
ely had the strength to keep himself upright and began to fall over onto his side. The stranger grabbed him and propped him back up, patting him on the shoulder gently.
“You’ll be fine in a couple of days,” the familiar voice said.
“Evans…” Jack tried to speak, but his jaw was swollen and the pain was too overwhelming to finish a sentence.
“I’m sorry about this, Abbot,” Evans sighed. “I really am, but you put me in a bad place. It was this or my own ass.”
Jack was exhausted and felt himself slipping back into unconsciousness, but Evans shook him.
“Here, you need to drink something.”
Evans put something to his lips and Jack was able to sip. He swallowed the water down, and while it was painful, it was the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted in his life. He looked up and peered through the swollen slits that were both of his eyes. He could make out Evans standing over him and another large figure stood beside him. It finally registered in Jack’s brain who it was.
“Your little stunt cost was gonna cost me a lot of money, Jackie boy,” Miguel said.
Jack groaned, he knew he was done for.
“Please…” he said, spittle trickling down his chin. “Don’t… hurt… Scarlet…”
Miguel laughed so loud that Jack thought his head might explode. He watched Evans cross his arms and look away, an expression of shame coming over his face.
“Don’t you worry, my friend. I’m gonna take real good care of her.” Miguel bent over and set a jug of water down. “Here, this drink’s on the house. But just this once…” he laughed and wheezed. “I took what you owed me. Quid pro quo. I think that’s how that phrase goes. There’s no need to kill ya now, but don’t ever show your face in my city again. Or I will change my mind.”