by Russ Watts
“Jonas, you don’t know what’s happened with Javier. For all you know a big ass zombie took a chunk out of him, and right now he’s in a ditch with a bullet in his head.”
“Or maybe he’s terrorizing my family, having fun tormenting Janey. For all I know he’s killed Quinn and Erik and Freya, and…” Jonas threw his hands up in the air. “Not knowing is killing me. I know that today, whatever happens, we will get to Thunder Bay. I’m going to get us both to Janey’s house.”
“Not just us, remember. We have a couple of strays with us now.”
Jonas turned away for the window and looked at Dakota. “They seem like good people. They certainly don’t pose any threat to us. Are you okay with them? If not, you need to tell me now.”
Dakota pushed her hair behind her ears. “Lukas is fine. More than fine, even. I just…”
Jonas knew Dakota was worried about Julie. “Look, I know she’s a bit of an unknown quantity, but we can’t just leave her, can we? And she said she wants to come along, so what choice do we have? You want to give her a bottle of water and send her off on her own? She’s got nothing. The only person she knew died yesterday.”
“You’re right, I know. I guess I don’t know her well enough to judge.” Dakota shrugged and put her hands on her belly. “But we’ll get to know her. Things will work out, you’ll see.”
Jonas leant in to kiss Dakota, but as he did so, she recoiled.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just…I feel a little off this morning. I think the baby isn’t fond of tuna. Oh, shit…”
Dakota bolted out of the room, and as Jonas contemplated following her, he heard Dakota throwing up in the bathroom.
“Hamsikker, we’re all set,” said Lukas, suddenly reappearing in the doorway. “It looks fine out. You two good to go?”
“Thanks, Lukas. Just give us a moment will you? We’ll see you out front.” Jonas watched Lukas go and then went to find Dakota. He had to make sure she was up to the journey. Sometimes he almost forgot she was pregnant. He hoped the strain wasn’t too much. It wasn’t easy for any of them, but being pregnant was putting Dakota under even more pressure. Until they got to Janey’s there was little he could do for her. Jonas hoped Dakota could just hold it together until they got over the border. Once they reached Thunder Bay, everything would be fine.
It had to be.
CHAPTER NINE
“Pipe down,” said Javier as he tightened the binds around Quinn’s wrists. He yanked them hard, ensuring there was no way out.
“You’re like a loaded gun,” said Quinn. “You’re always on edge, always sleeping with one eye open, just in case someone slits your throat in the middle of the night. How do you live like that? How can you even operate when you’re so tightly wound up? What happened, Mommy didn’t love you enough?”
Javier grinned. Quinn’s hands and feet were tied, but he resisted the urge to gag her. She obviously had something to say, and he was keen to hear it. Erik was quiet to the point of morose. Losing Pippa had hit him hard; not that Javier cared much.
“My Mom didn’t make me who I am. I did. I learnt how to survive the hard way. Being nice gets you nowhere in this world. How can you live the way you do? The way you did?” He looked at Freya, sleeping in the corner. “Playing happy families? Birthday parties where everyone is nice to each other, even though half of the guys are fucking their neighbor’s wife, and the women can’t wait to get home so they can resume drinking and watching some mind-numbingly retarded reality show on TV? Pretending that anyone in power actually cares about you? Pretending that you like brunch, saving up for the family saloon, taking your parents a bunch of Christmas presents that they’re only going to give away as soon as you’ve left? Please.” Javier leant closer to Quinn. He could see she was on edge, itching to smack him in the face. “I’ve got the whole fucking world in the palm of my hand. I can do whatever the hell I want. Now that is freedom. Why would I want to change that? You should try it. Why do you care what happens to Erik? You think if he had to make a choice between you and Freya, he wouldn’t let you die in a heartbeat? There’s only one way to get by now Quinn, and that’s to look out for numero uno. But…” Javier sighed. “Forget it. You don’t get it, do you? I can tell from the look on your face. You’ve been sucked in just like everyone else. Mortgage up, vote Republican, vote Democrat, text in for us to hear your opinion, sign up to a lifetime contract for a free coffee, and let us shit all over you. Until you wake up, you may as well be dead.”
Quinn let a healthy pause build up. She watched Javier sit back triumphantly, as if he had won her over, defeated her like no doubt he had defeated so many other people. He was so used to getting his own way that he never considered that someone else might want to counteract him. “You done?” she asked.
“This the part where you tell me that I’m wrong, Quinn? This is where you tell me how wonderful it is having a nice home, complete with in-home surround sound music system, high-speed broadband, and Egyptian cotton sheets? This is where you tell me I’m wrong, that until you’ve had a child, made a life-long friend, or achieved that promotion giving you an extra five grand a year, even though you have to work sixty hours a week to get it, that I’ve missed out? Come on. I’ve heard it all before. It was bullshit then, and it’s even more bullshit now.”
Quinn burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t…look, Javier, I’m sure you’ve given that speech a few times in your life. Who knows, maybe it impressed a few girls back in the day and got you laid. The whole nihilistic attitude, this anti-hero thing you’ve got going on - you’re wasting your time with me. Don’t misunderstand me. You are wrong, so totally wrong it’s not funny really. Families and friendships, love, having a nice home – actually they are wonderful things. But it’s not something I truly got to experience before all this. I was married to a decent guy, but we got caught up in some trouble. I’ve had my brushes with the law too. I wish I could tell you that BBQ’s with your neighbors and taking your kids to school for the first time is an experience you’ll never forget, but I didn’t get that chance. Roger didn’t want kids. I kept telling myself we would do one last job, and when we got out he would settle down. I think we could’ve made a go of it, too. He was a good man deep down. Unfortunately, our last job was his last job.”
Javier listened to Quinn. He had nothing else to do but wait while Erik checked the place out, and Quinn was proving to be far more interesting than he had given her credit for. She didn’t shy away from him like most women he met. In another time, when he was younger, he had screwed a black girl, on and off, for a few months. She had carried herself with a certain attitude, a bravado that Quinn had too. Still, he had no intention of screwing Quinn. Once they made it to Canada, she was dead meat. Until then, she was a good ride purely in the platonic sense. He let her go on, listening to her speak.
“He murdered both my parents. I had to kill him. I didn’t even fully realize what was happening. I certainly had no idea he was, you know, a zombie. I thought he had freaked out, took some bad shit or something. Anyway, the day it happened, I woke up with a serious hangover. I go downstairs, and I find Roger standing over the bodies of my parents. He’d slaughtered them with his bare hands. When I found him, he had my Mother’s tongue in his hands and her spleen in his mouth. My Father was…unrecognizable. At first I thought it was all pretend. I thought they were all going to burst into laughter and let me in on the joke, but, of course, my parents weren’t getting up anymore.”
“What happened to Roger?” asked Javier.
“He came at me, of course, but I’ve been in situations before when I’ve had to be quick on my feet, so it wasn’t difficult getting past him. I ran into the kitchen, grabbed the first thing I saw. We had a whole drawer full of knives, but no, I grabbed the toaster. I beat him around the head with it. I beat him as hard as I could. He slowed down, but no matter how much I pushed him back, he wouldn’t quit. Finally I got him pinned down beneath me, and I kept on at him. I
think by the end, the toaster had broken up into tiny pieces, and I was just bashing his head in with my own hands. I lost everything that day. I still don’t know if I love my husband or hate him for what he did. I keep telling myself it wasn’t his fault, that he was unlucky to get bitten, that it could’ve been me; yet if it had been me, would things have gone any differently? Perhaps Roger would be sat here now talking to you instead of me. If he was, I’m quite sure he would know what to say to a monster like you. The guys we worked with could be assholes, but they knew where the line was. You don’t even have a line. You should have been locked up in a psych ward a long time ago, but somehow you slipped through the net. Now you have this fucking God complex going on, and you think the whole world is at your beck and call. I used to be confident, so sure that we were invincible, that with Roger I could do anything. That’s what will get you in the end, Javier. That arrogance that you think is so charming, so self-assuring, that one day you’ll forget something. Something so small and insignificant that you won’t even know it until you’re lying dead in a gutter, wondering just how the hell you got there.”
“Oh, I’ll know how I got there. You and Erik. You’re going to help me get to Thunder Bay. The rest is my own business.”
“So what’s the plan, genius? We somehow magically find your brother, and then what? We drive around killing anyone that isn’t Diego?” asked Quinn.
“That’s not bad,” replied Javier. “However, we don’t have an unlimited supply of bullets, so we’ll take it one step at a time. First of all, you’re going to get us to Canada. There’s no need for any more digressions or distractions. After tonight, we carry on up to the border. You don’t need to worry about what comes after that,” said Javier. “We get over the border, and you get me to Thunder Bay. I can take it from there.”
“Oh, you can take it from there. Yes, sir, sorry, I see now. So, what, when we get to Thunder Bay you’re just going to let us go? Maybe me, Erik, and Freya can live in blissful happiness while you go looking for your brother.” Quinn feigned shock and gasped. “Maybe, and this is just me putting it out there, but maybe you can kiss my black ass.”
Javier looked at Quinn. “Funny. You know, I don’t need two drivers, so keep it up. I’m sure Erik has plenty of experience of driving. I guess it’s a bit much to expect the girl to be of much use. Yet.”
Javier looked at Freya who was sitting in the office swivel chair, twirling a key chain around and around.
“You touch her, I’ll cut your balls off and shove them down your throat,” said Quinn.
Javier jammed his gun into Quinn’s side, causing her to wince in pain, and draw in a sharp breath. “Just you remember who’s in charge, Quinn. You’re only breathing because I let you. Remember that. Your smart mouth amuses me, but don’t forget that it’s me who gives out the orders around here.”
“Okay, okay, I got it.” Quinn rubbed her side where Javier had jabbed her. “You know, I can’t wait until Hamsikker catches up with us. He’s going to kill you for what you’ve done.”
“Hamsikker? Please. He’s dead.”
“Really? He’s resilient. You know for a fact he’s dead?” asked Quinn.
“Last I remember he and that cunt of a wife of his were surrounded by a bunch of zombies. I’m quite sure there’s nothing left of them but a pile of bones.”
“Maybe, so.” Quinn knew it was unlikely Hamsikker was still alive, but she held onto a faint belief that somehow he would make it. The thought of him and Dakota being eaten alive was horrifying. If one of them had woken up, there was a chance wasn’t there?
“Say you’re right, Quinn. Say that somehow, miraculously, they survived. So what? They won’t find me. They won’t find you.”
“Maybe,” said Quinn again. She could see she had at least made Javier think about the possibility he wasn’t completely free yet.
“Fine, so what if Hamsikker made it? What if he’s out there still intent on finding his sister? You think I’m going to make it easy for him?” Javier leered at Quinn. “Maybe I should leave him a message just in case he’s right behind us. Hmm? Perhaps we should think of something we can all do together that would slow him down? We could scare him off. Perhaps start by sticking your head on a spike on the road to the border. Think he’d like that?”
Quinn shuddered. “Do what you like. I’m not helping you lay some stupid trap for Hamsikker. He’s probably dead anyway. I’m not doing your dirty work for you. You’re a parasite, Javier. You’re not worth me wasting any more of my time on.”
Quinn reminded Javier of Rose. Sometimes Rose would find some anger in her, too; a fiery hidden piece of her that would rise up out of nowhere. It usually didn’t last long. Javier pointed his gun meaningfully at Quinn.
Quinn’s brown eyes stayed locked with Javier’s. “Shoot me.” Quinn looked at Freya and wondered if she had any concept of how much danger they were in. Erik was doing a check of the building, making sure they were safe and secure for the night, but he was unarmed. She knew the chances of him finding a gun were small, and even if he did, she doubted he would do anything with it. While Javier held his daughter, Erik wouldn’t risk anything. Right now, they had little option but to go along with Javier’s insane plan.
“Not today,” said Javier. He approached Freya who had been spinning a chair around while she waited for Erik to return. Javier put his hand on the chair and stopped it.
Freya ignored him, and looked at Quinn.
“She needs the bathroom,” said Quinn. “Untie me, and I’ll take her.”
“No. She can wait until Erik’s back.”
“I know you think you’re a God, but one thing you can’t control is a little girl’s bladder. So unless you want things to get very messy in here, I suggest…”
“Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it,” sighed Javier. He bent down to Freya. “Honey, close your eyes for a second will you? Just count to five, and then open them again, and you can go to the bathroom.”
Freya closed her eyes, and Javier turned to Quinn. “Sorry about this.” He brought the gun down sharply on the back of her head, and knocked her out. Quinn was sat on the floor, and as she fell into unconsciousness, she slumped against the wall.
“Right, Freya, come with me,” Javier said as Freya opened her eyes. “I’ll take you to the bathroom, and when we get back I expect your Dad will be back. Quinn’s fallen asleep, and then it’s your turn. We have a long way to go in the morning.”
Keeping the gun at his side in case they bumped into Erik, Javier led Freya out of the office. They were to spend the night in a tattoo parlor, and were currently in a small back room that seemed to serve as the shop’s office. Their van was parked up right outside the front door, positioned perfectly in case they had to make a quick getaway.
“In there,” said Javier. Down the hallway from the office was a bathroom. “I’ll wait for you.” He ushered Freya inside, and then turned around. The stairs leading to the upper floor were quiet, but there was noise coming from above him. That was Erik checking they were alone. He was under strict instructions to not come back with anything other than the news they were safe. It was in his daughter’s best interests not to try anything, and Javier was sure he would comply. As long as Erik didn’t come back accompanied by any zombies, they were in the clear. They had been driving for hours since leaving Hamsikker and his wife to die. Javier wanted to put as much distance between them as possible. His goal now was simply to get over the border. As long as he had Freya, he could control the other two and use them to all the shitty jobs he hated doing.
A click behind him caused him to turn back around, and the bathroom door opened. Freya walked out.
“That was quick. You good?” he asked.
Freya looked up at Javier with big, blue innocent eyes.
“What’s that behind your back?” Javier asked her. He could sense something was wrong, that the girl was different somehow. She never spoke a word, but her eyes gave a lot away. She was hiding something.
“Well? You’ve got nothing to show me?” Javier took a step closer to Freya, and then bent down to her level. “I thought you and me were buddies?”
Freya lifted her arm and then swung the hammer at Javier. She had taken it from the floor of the van earlier that day and kept it hidden inside her sweater. She had been waiting for a way to get it out without him noticing, and now was her chance. Freya aimed for Javier’s head, knowing that it was the only way to stop the bad man. He was horrible, and she wanted him to go away.
Javier ducked and easily stopped her, catching Freya’s arm mid-swing. He held it there, looking at the hammer in her hand. “Now, that’s not very nice. You were going to hit me with that. Why?”
Freya shrugged, and tried to pull her arm away, but Javier kept a firm grip on it.
“You want to hurt me? To kill me?” Javier wrestled the hammer free from her, and threw it into the shadows. Freya tried to break free, but the more she struggled, the more he squeezed her arm. “Stop squirming around, you little shit.”
He slapped her across the face, and instantly Freya stopped moving. She froze, rooted to the spot. “That’s more like it. You think you can go around hitting people? Attacking me?” Javier shook his head. “Did your Father put you up to this? Quinn?”
Freya shook her head again, and lowered her eyes. Her blonde hair hung over her forehead.
Javier reached out to Freya’s other arm, and he snatched the key chain from her hand. Instantly she started wriggling again, trying to get it back from him, yet the whole time not uttering a single word. Javier pocketed the key chain and raised his hand to slap her again. “If you don’t stop moving, I’ll hit you again, harder this time.”