by Michael Todd
Gabrielle had been in a chase before. That was when one of her guys had pulled a plant. This time was different. She couldn’t focus. All she could see was the path in front of her overlaid with horrific images of Trinidad’s body being torn open over and over again. Her heart was beating too quickly, and her HUD was flashing eight kinds of warnings. She ignored them and pushed through. Sagging vines slapped and grabbed at her legs as she ran.
What seemed like hours had passed before Marcus put his hand up, slowing the group. Trout and Alvarez caught their breath and let Trinidad’s canvas coffin sink to the ground. The sun was starting to dip lower overhead. Normally, they would be setting up camp about now. Gabrielle took a deep breath and cleared her mind. She was listening to the Zoo. The constant insect buzzing had stopped; the jungle was preternaturally quiet.
Marcus looked at her for guidance. “What do you think, Sarge?”
“We make camp, but we keep it simple. Put up the motion detectors and put Trinidad in my tent. I’ll stand guard. We don’t want his body…”
She couldn’t even finish the sentence. The team went to work setting up the campsite and ringing it with lights and motion sensors. They paused often and stared into the darkening jungle, searching for anything that could hunt them. The jungle had stopped chasing them for some reason. Gabrielle didn’t want to think about why.
Trout walked to Alvarez after placing the last detector. He couldn’t keep his eyes off the deadly green surrounding them. “You think they let us go because of our dead?”
Alvarez wiped his hands. “If only the Zoo were that forgiving.”
“Still. Maybe it lets us walk out of here.”
Alvarez gave him a look. They had carried Trinidad’s body for miles. They knew better.
Chapter Five
Dan let out a deep breath and leaned back, shaking his head. “Shit man. That’s tough.”
Holly’s fingers were clenching her thigh, digging into the meat of her leg without her realizing it. When she became aware of the pain in her leg, she relaxed her hand. She released the tension in her shoulders and took a long gulp of her drink. “They made it out okay? I mean without getting any more injuries?”
JB glanced at a picture on the wall. A woman’s picture. He was lost for a second, then he turned back to Holly. “Oh, yeah. They made it out the next day. They buried Trinidad up on the hill. He was the one and only death inside the Zoo that was brought out for burial. The whole of the town went to the funeral. No one entered the Zoo for several days after that. It was an act of mourning for Trinidad. He had been well respected in the community. I remember him right well, too. Good guy.”
Holly shook her head sadly. “I can’t believe people have lived like this for decades now. I don’t know how you guys do it.”
Dan shrugged. “You’ve never been in. Once you go, the beauty, the majesty, the adrenaline of the whole thing just kind of sucks you in. You start by saying, ‘one more time.’ Before you know it, you are a lifer. That is, if you’re lucky to live that long.”
JB chuckled. “Damn right. There are more dead than have made it, that’s for sure. The Zoo has swallowed up so many men and women over the years that I often wonder what it does with all the bodies. Back to nature, I suppose. That’s the only bit of solace the Zoo offers.”
Holly blinked. “I feel like this place is going to turn into a literal ghost town. I don’t know how you could be at peace in a jungle that brought your death.”
JB looked at his strong, weathered hands. “The Zoo doesn’t bring the death, greed does. The need for more and more. That need for just two more petals, just one more bag of goop. Just one more trip out to see if you can get that last big payday. You always go in knowing it could be your last but the thing is, even when you barely make it out, you are already thinking of going back in. I fought that feeling at first. After years of going in over and over again, I eventually gave in to the idea. I’m dancing with the Zoo, now. I couldn’t stop if I wanted to.”
“I guess it’s like any other addiction.”
“Now you’re getting it. You want to stop. Hell, you know it’ll kill you. But what if you went just one more time? That would okay, wouldn’t it? No harm there.”
“Shit. I think I might take up a drug or something. Better that than going in the jungle and being terrified for days on end. Take me in my sleep.”
One of the waitresses ran to the bar, panting. “JB, we got a fight. Over there!”
There were shouts from the back of the room where two guys were squaring off. One had a tattoo of a Death Dog on his arm, and the other looked tired and worn down, like so many of the mercenaries Holly had seen. JB jumped into action. He ran around the bar with that familiar click, clink, clink sounding out. Holly turned her chair around and crossed her legs, watching as if the fight were on television. The larger of the two men towered over the other, but the smaller one wasn’t going to stand down. He swung hard, clocking the big guy across the chin. The two men slammed together, but the big man had the little guy. He picked up his smaller foe and slammed him onto a table top.
Holly half-expected to see the table collapse beneath him, but it didn’t. Instead, every drink fell to the floor and small guy’s head smashed into a plate of food. Before he could get up, the larger man had him by the shirt and was yanking him up. JB came to a sliding stop in the slurry of food and beer.
“Hold the hell on!”
The two guys glared at each other, but JB clapped his hands to get their attention. “Joe! I know you want to kick this weasel’s ass, but if you throw a punch, I gots to throw both of you out. I ain’t playing favorites here. You know the rules.”
The larger guy, Joe, gritted his teeth. “This little weasel thinks he can shit on the memory of the Dogs. He thinks he is so tough and righteous. Someone needs to teach him a lesson.”
JB sighed. “I would agree with you, but for right now, why don’t you let me toss him out in the sand? He threw the punch, he goes. He can spend his evening covered in beef and beer in the streets. Meanwhile, me and you can get a new drink and let all this shit go. You can come listen to the story I’m telling about your fearless leader.”
Joe glanced at JB, taken off-guard. “You talkin’ about Sarge?”
JB nodded. “I am. I’m about halfway through. About to tell the story of her fourteenth trip out into the thick of it, in fact.”
Joe deflated somewhat. He sneered at the little guy but handed him off to JB. “Take care of this slimeball. Figure the Zoo will take care of the rest, in due time. Ain’t nobody with that kind of ego able to make it through unscathed.”
JB took the kid and escorted him to the door. He called over his shoulder, “Order up anything you want from the waitress. You’re on me the rest of the night.”
Holly grabbed a handful of peanuts from the dish on the bar. She was drunk enough not to care whose hands had been in them. “I know it’s childish, but I really thought I’d see some action. Maybe a little gun-slingin’ or something.”
Dan laughed. “You do realize this isn’t the Old West, right?”
“Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be cool as shit. And the fact that ever since I pulled in here, that’s all I could think about. This place is old-timey as hell. Like, there should be a piano in the corner, and I should be wearing a satin garter.”
Dan lifted an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t be opposed to the garter thing.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t be. But I’m sorry, all you’ll get is a flash of my black pressed pants and maybe a little ankle.”
Dan laughed. “Man, this story hasn’t been told in a really long time. I remember Sarge. She was a pistol, that’s for sure.”
Holly lifted an eyebrow. “Were you a Death Dog?”
Dan chuckled. “No, not me. I was military, then freelance. But we all knew her. We all heard about her crazy stories from out there in the Zoo. Just when you thought she was done, she would dive back into it again.”
H
olly lifted her drink to her lips. “Until she wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, she sounds awesome. I guess I don’t think we need to make heroes out of everyone that goes rushing into the Zoo.”
Dan looked at the woman’s picture on the wall. “Like JB said, she was no hero and no hooligan. I would describe her more as a fool than anything else. But damn if she wasn’t an absolutely kickass fool.”
Dan raised his drink in the air and took a sip. Holly thought he was interesting. Not JB interesting, but obviously someone with a story in them. Unlike JB, who Holly could still imagine donning a suit and heading out to the Zoo, Dan was definitely past his prime. She was pretty sure she noticed a limp when he was pulling up the chair. Nevertheless, she was sure he had a story in him. Maybe more than one. Most of the older folks seemed to have seen a thing or two. They were relatively truthful, too. The glitz and glamor of overdramatizing a story wore down as they aged. She was pretty sure that whatever JB said happened, pretty much happened just the way he told it.
Still, they seemed to be secondhand stories. She wondered how he knew so many of the more intimate details. Guess in the end, it didn’t matter. The Zoo held its secrets close, and so far, it didn’t really look like the kind of place she was itching to run into. The front door slammed shut and a clink, clink, clink moved back across the bar until JB reappeared in front of her.
He grabbed the bottle, poured himself a shot and knocked it back. He tapped the glass on the counter and replaced the bottle. “I swear to fucking God, these young morons don’t know their asses from their elbows. Why would you even fuck with someone as big as that guy? And, unless you literally just stepped off the bus, plane, or camel, you know who the fucking Death Dogs are.”
Dan chuckled. “Ah, come on now, JB. You remember what it was like to be young, don’t you? Trying to prove yourself in this town, up against these maniacs. One day, he will look back and have reverence for big Joe over there. Not today. Today, he goes home covered in beef and beer.”
JB laughed. “Maybe you’re right. And yes, I remember what it was like to have to prove myself, but I never disrespected someone that could rip my fucking head off.” JB pointed at Holly. “Be glad you’re a chick.”
Holly scoffed. “Are you fucking kidding me? I have been in these types of situations all my adult life. If you want to talk about it being hard to prove yourself, walk a mile in my shoes. I have to prove I’m tough. I don’t dare show any emotions. No matter what the situation, I’m still expected to be the caretaker. It’s an exhausting job and makes me want to nut-punch a few of your kind. I have to practically wrangle the biggest motherfucker in the building, then I have to hug him to make him feel better for losing to a girl.”
Dan smiled. “And she can’t piss standing up.”
Holly took a sip, giggling. “I will sure as hell try if it gets all those eyes off me. I gotta protect my pride, my reputation, and my body all at the same time. It’s fucking exhausting. And heaven forbid I smell fucking nice. It’s over, then.”
JB eyed at her curiously. “I suppose you have a point. There haven’t been many demure ladies in these parts. Ever. All the woman have come in headstrong and stayed that way. I suppose they have to be tough, not only to deal with these fucktards but to deal with the stress of the Zoo as well. I guess I’m the one who made assumptions.”
Holly grinned. “We all have our moments. I’m sure this is not the first time, and I know it’s not the last time that will happen to you.”
JB and Dan both laughed. Dan took a sip of his whiskey. “So, this story, where does the story go from here?”
JB cracked his fingers. “Ah yes. Where were we? Of course. The rest of the team survived, as I mentioned before. After the funeral, Gabrielle didn’t go back out for nearly six months. No one saw her very often, and she left several of the older guys in charge of her Death Dogs. When she did come back out, it was for quiet shots at the bar. Anytime they ran out of her whiskey, she called off whatever mission was coming up until they got it back in stock. She was hardened, but over time she began to loosen up a bit. Still, she kept her feelings pushed back.”
Holly narrowed her eyes. “But obviously she went out again.”
“Oh yeah, she went out again. Those missions were spread out, but after the twelfth time, she started coming back around. They welcomed a new teammate to the group, Eliza. Gabrielle had a bit of a twinkle in her eye for Eliza, if you know what I mean. It was rumored they were lovers early on, especially when Eliza’s trips to the Zoo dwindled. She seemed to disappear about the same time as Gabrielle.”
Holly leaned in. “So, she didn’t discriminate.”
JB laughed loudly. “No. Not Gabrielle. Lovers were lovers, and they came in all shapes and sizes. She accepted what life threw at her, is what she told me once. She talked about her time with Eliza as being wild and free. There was emotion, sure, but Gabrielle didn’t give herself as freely. Not since Trinidad. She had learned a lesson. It would turn out to be a valuable one, even if she did eventually forget it.”
“Eliza was her next lost lover?”
JB breathed in through his nose. “You want me to tell the story, or you want to just make up your own? I don’t mind having myself a drink and listening to you fumble around for an hour or so.”
Holly sat back and waved her hand. “Sorry. I tend to get ahead of myself.”
JB cleared his throat. He pulled a bottle of whiskey and rolled it back and forth in his hand. “It was on the eve of her fourteenth trip that she listened to reason instead of intuition. It was like any other night before a mission, with Alvarez sitting in the corner of the bar, Trout telling wild, mostly untrue stories, and Marcus flirting with one of the few women in town he had yet to sleep. Gabrielle was, of course, posted in the corner of the bar drinking her whiskey.”
The people at the bar quieted and he stood there a moment in silence, staring at the bottle of whiskey.
He set the bottle on the bar. “The night the whiskey ran dry.”
Chapter Six
Gabrielle sipped her whiskey in the same corner of the bar she always did. The corner she had claimed after Trinidad’s death. She liked it there in the shadows. No one saw her sitting in the dark unless they knew to look for her. Those that knew her tended to leave her alone when she had a whiskey in her hand. She was one sleep away from beginning her fourteenth trip into the Zoo. Just the thought of it brought a knot to her stomach.
She slung back the rest of her drink just as Eliza slid onto the stool next to her. “Hey there, sweet tits. You lonely over here?”
Gabrielle smiled at Eliza. Her long black hair fell around her shoulders, and her white T-shirt hung loosely on her tall, thin body. One edge of it was tucked into her sand fatigues. Gabrielle leaned her head on her hand. “You are always so spunky.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Why should I be mopey? Life is too cool for that shit. You live and you die, that’s the name of the game. I’m going to live it. That’s my choice.”
Gabrielle smirked. “Death would be a fool to try to take it from you.”
“Yeah, he would. He’d earn a good punch right in the old dusty balls.”
Gabrielle chuckled. “You come to take a girl home?”
Eliza grabbed a cherry from the tray and winked at the bartender. “Yes, but no. I have to talk to you about something. I just wanted you to know that with the missions slowed, we are starting to get a little weak in the Death Dog account. We desperately need some new tires for the HMMWV, and we need to start looking into updated suits, at least for the leaders.”
Gabrielle sighed. “You’re saying we better bring back one hell of a haul.” Gabrielle signaled to the bartender for another round without looking at him.
“That would be correct. No pressure. We have two spots mapped out on this trip, and they’re close together. We should only have to spend two nights inside. We just gotta be careful at the first spot, and the second should be a walk in the park.”
T
he bartender walked up with an empty bottle in his hand. “Sorry, Sarge, we are all out.”
Eliza immediately stood up and pointed her finger at Gabrielle. “Don’t. Don’t even let the thought cross your mind. That doesn’t mean anything.”
Gabrielle looked at the empty grimly. “You know it does. You know we can’t.”
Eliza shook her head and took Gabrielle’s face in her hands. “It doesn’t mean anything. These assholes need to start ordering more than one bottle of whiskey at a time. You need to stop this. We need this trip. We will start losing Dogs if we don’t keep up with shit.” She lowered her voice. “You know people are already starting to say you’re losing it. I love it. Hell, I’m still waiting for the tribal dance and chicken sacrifice. It makes for a hell of a time in the sack, but it’s not good for the Death Dogs.”
Eliza made a face at the bartender, trying to signal that he should leave them alone, but Gabrielle took the bottle from his hands. “Okay. I’ll go. But if something crazy happens, you have to admit it. I am not crazy.”
Eliza giggled. “You are crazy, but that’s part of your charm. Now, why don’t you put down that old bottle and come back to my place? It’s nice. Four tiny walls, a bed so small we have to basically sleep on top of each other. Sometimes the hot water works.”
“You really know how to chat a girl up. Okay. Let me see the guys before I go.”
Eliza jumped down and bowed low, ushering Gabrielle into the rowdy din of the bar. As soon as she saw them, she started laughing. Trout was wearing the patchwork leather coat he had saved up for. His goggles were perched crookedly on top of his head. He put his arms out as Gabrielle walked in. “Our fearless leader.”
Everyone cheered and Gabrielle waved a hand to quiet them. “Yeah, and you should be the fearful merc that sets a half a dozen alarms tomorrow. Pick us up on time. Eliza’s. Come to Eliza’s.”