The Rack & Cue

by Hughes, David Owain

  Even though Max drove with sleepy eyes, he was alert.

  Dawn and Geraint were both eager in the back, as they cocked their weapons.

  This was war.

  The jeep trundled down the road at a slow pace. Johnson didn’t want to dash down the road, just in case the sound of his oncoming convoy alerted Venom, and any other person with him.

  Once close enough, Johnson planned on having Max pull over, so they could walk the rest of the way. But there was no sign of the building.

  “I think we’ve been lied to,” Max said, forever the optimist.

  “Calm down,” Johnson said. “We’ve just about left camp.”

  “That was twelve minutes ago,” Geraint chirped in.

  “Are you keeping time?” Johnson asked.

  “Always, boss,” he said.

  Johnson smiled at this. “Good lad.”

  As they rounded the next corner, nothing but road greeted them.

  “I think we should turn back,” Max said. “We have no idea where we’re going. The Tom-Tom’s even lost!”

  “Don’t be silly, my boy,” Johnson said.

  Max shook his head. “Well, don’t blame…”

  “There!” Geraint exclaimed.

  In the near distance, a faint outline of a massive building could be seen. The sun hadn’t stretched its glow that far, so the pub stood in shadow. Even though they were a fair distance away, the place managed to loom over them. Waiting. Eager to show them what sights is had to offer.

  “I don’t fucking like this one bit,” Max said. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

  “Hold your piss, dear!” Geraint told the driver.

  “Behave,” Johnson said. “Max, get a little closer, then pull over.”

  “What? Why?!” he wanted to know.

  “Because we’ll walk the rest of the distance,” Johnson said.

  “Makes sense,” Geraint said.

  “Yeah, that way we won’t warn anyone of our presence,” Dawn said.

  “Exactly,” Johnson said.

  After driving another half-a-mile or so down the road, the pub became more and more visible. “This has got to be the place,” Johnson said, “Right, Max…”

  A bullet tore through their windshield and hit Max in the throat. He slumped forward. Dead. Blood poured and spurted over the wheel. His foot became leaden and stamped the accelerator. Before Johnson knew what had happened, the four-by-four swerved, and then hit the barrier of the dual carriageway. This sent the vehicle into a violent flip. It smashed through a hedge and came to rest upside down in a field.

  The biker behind also caught a bullet. The slug smashed through his visor and caved his face in. He back-flipped off his bike and crashed to the road. This forced the driver of the jeep behind him to roll over the body. The corpse of the biker tangled in the wheels, as the brakes locked, causing the car following to plough into the jeep’s arse-end. The jeep’s backseat passengers were killed outright. So too was the driver of the car.

  Other bikers skidded and crashed into the pile-up, which couldn’t be stopped. A stray bullet caught the fuel tank of the jeep.

  The whole thing blew, sending thick blankets of choking smog into the air.

  The driver of the jeep exited his cab. His high-pitched screams ripped the morning air, as others scrambled about him. Bullet after bullet flew at the convoy – some connected with targets, others tore the tar up around them.

  ⃰ ⃰ ⃰

  The rifle clicked on empty, causing Diesel to duck behind the chimneystack. He was breathing hard. He wiped the sweat from his brow – some was dripping into his eyes, which was making them sting.

  Removing his cut, he listened with a smile at the sound of roasting metal and flesh. Glass popped. As they tried to get their bearings, Diesel reloaded the ‘metal jacket’, before slamming it home for round two. He was pretty convinced he could kill them all, now that he’d caused so much damage with his first attack.

  He was also sure their leader or leaders would have been in that first vehicle he disposed of. That was an extra bonus. Venom would be pleased.

  Cocking the weapon, he slowly got back to his feet, not wanting to give his position away. He took aim. A man wearing grenades was helping others douse a woman aflame.

  Aiming true, he struck one of the guy’s grenades, which blew him and the others around him, apart. A cloud of red dust scattered and sprayed the ground. Through the scope of the rifle, Diesel could see a fair few running around on fire down there. This pleased him.

  He laughed.

  “Fuck ‘em. Let the bastards burn to death.” He cocked another round into the chamber then took aim. This time he took down a woman who was sat behind the wheel of a car. Her head exploded like a dropped melon.

  Then, just like that, return fire.

  Automatic weapons opened up all about him.

  Bullets chipped away at the roof, as slate, brick and chimneypot erupted. Ducking, he cowered in his little space. “Christ!” he yelled, grabbing for the Brandy bottle.

  Unscrewing the cap, he took down mouthfuls at a time, draining the bottle of all its contents. This gave him renewed vigour.

  Standing, he yelled “Arrrggghh!” then emptied the rifle’s entire magazine. He managed to hit a few who were giving return fire, before ducking to reload.

  Johnson coughed. Considering the spill the jeep had taken, he was surprised to still be alive. Turning to look at Max, having forgotten he’d been shot, Johnson could tell the man was dead.

  “Shit!” he said. “I need to get the fuck out of here,” he uttered. As soon as he moved, his shoulder screamed in pain. “Arrgggh!” he bellowed. “Dawn? Dawn?” Geraint?! Are you okay?”

  No reply.

  “Oh shit! Dawn?!”

  “She’s dead, boss…” Geraint said.

  “Fuck! What about you, lad?”

  “I think my leg’s broken, along with a rib or two.”

  “Right, okay,” Johnson said. “Can you crawl out?”

  “Yes, my window’s broken.”

  “Good, then get free,” Johnson told him. “They must have a sniper posted on that roof. Take him down!”

  “Okay,” Geraint said.

  Johnson heard his man shuffle free from the wreck, as he managed to undo his seatbelt. By the time Johnson had moved himself into a position to open his door, Geraint had gone.

  The passenger’s door groaned open, as Johnson dragged himself out of the ruined jeep. Taking five on the wet grass, he gulped down copious amounts of clean air, before staggering to his feet. He couldn’t believe what he saw.

  One sniper had cut his manpower down to under half. Bodies lay scattered about the old road, as vehicles smouldered. He saw some of his soldiers returning fire, as others fled the scene in either fright or thinking their money man was dead.

  Johnson caught a glimpse of Geraint clambering through the wrecked hedge. He decided to follow, after grabbing his bag from out of the buckled jeep. His shoulder had regained strength.

  Once on the other side of the foliage, Johnson could see the full extent of the damage caused by the lone sniper. “Bloody hell, its carnage!” He then spotted Geraint hobbling over to a flipped car, as he got into his rifle-firing stance. He’d been a crack shot in the army.

  Johnson watched his man take his time. The shot had to be perfect. The rifle bucked in his hands and kicked his shoulder backward.

  “Hold your fire!” Johnson yelled. “Hold. Your. Fire!” he bellowed a second time. Whoever had been firing from the rooftop was no longer a threat.

  “Right, move forward,” Johnson said. Our target must be inside.

  The bullet had caught him in his neck. Blood had ejected from him fast. He kept pressure on the wound as he clawed and struggled to the attic entrance. Diesel knew he was spent – he just didn’t want to die alone.

  Getting to the hatch, he peered through the gap. Using the ladder was out, so he launched himself through the opening, knowing the fall would hurt him fu
rther. What did it matter?

  The impact was hard.

  Waiting for him in the darkness was Venom, Toni and Richard.

  Kneeling at Diesel’s side, Venom held the hand offered to him by Diesel.

  “I thought I had them,” he gargled.

  “You did well,” Venom said.

  All Diesel could do was choke, wheeze and splutter. “I…I…think…I…I…”

  “Shh,” Toni said, wiping Diesel’s brow. She then removed his hand from the bullet wound. This allowed his blood to spurt free, as he slipped into sleep. The last thing he saw before closing his eyes was the bulk of Richard standing over all three of them.

  “I’m scared,” Toni said. “Now what are we going to do?”

  Richard roared, and then beat his chest.

  “No, you can’t go out there alone!” Venom said. “They’ll kill you!”

  But there was no stopping the huge beast, as he sprung through the hatch in the ceiling and disappeared into the day.

  “Nooooo!” Venom called. “Quick, downstairs!” he ordered Toni. “We have to try and help him.”

  “But Venom, its daylight! We’re…powerless, baby!”

  “We have to try.”

  As Johnson and the team got closer to the building, with Geraint hobbling to catch up, they all started lighting Molotov cocktails.

  “I’m giving you one chance to get your arse out here, Venom!” Johnson yelled, “Or we’re going to smoke you out!”

  “You’ll have to come in and fucking get me, you piece of shit!” Venom called.

  “That won’t be necessary,” Johnson said.

  Turing to his right, he gave the nod for one of his men to throw his firebomb. This was followed by a second from a woman wearing punk garb.

  Glass broke and rained down in sheets as the Molotov Cocktails were launched through the lower windows of the Rack and Cue. Johnson waited a while, but soon started to get impatient, when no blaze ensued.

  Frustrated, he lobbed his bomb then ordered the rest to be thrown. Windows all about the pub caved in as the makeshift grenades were hurled through them. Some of the curtains and nets tore and caught from the disturbance.

  “We’ll burn you out, you bastard!” Johnson called. “You…”

  His words were cut short on hearing Geraint screaming from somewhere behind him. Turning, he saw his marksman being held overhead in a power lift, by what could only be described as something inhuman. The ape-like wolf threw Geraint at Johnson and his eight remaining soldiers.

  “Jesus, get inside!” he ordered. “Quick!”

  But Johnson could only watch as the beast tore his unit apart. Arms, legs and heads were ripped from bodies.

  Throwing his bag to the floor, he rummaged around inside for what he was looking for – a barrel of special bullets, designed to stop the toughest of enemies.

  As the beast was kept busy by his remaining troops, Johnson was able to load his revolver with the ammo, and take aim. He emptied the gun’s cylinder into the beast’s chest, which dropped it.

  Standing over it, Johnson looked into the things eyes as it low-growled and slipped away. “What were you?” he muttered. Looking about him, nobody was standing but himself.

  Going to Geraint, he knelt by his side. “Lad, are you okay?” he asked, slapping the fallen man lightly on the face. He didn’t rouse. Johnson now knew he was going the rest of the way alone.

  “I’m coming to get you, Venom!” Johnson said between clenched teeth. Picking up his bag, he headed to the pub’s entrance. Before entering, he reloaded his handgun and removed a shaft of wood with a spiked end from his bag.

  Opening the pub’s door, Johnson peered through the crack he’d created. He wasn’t scared to die. He’d see this job to the end.

  “You killed my nephew!” Venom’s voice boomed from somewhere inside the pub. “You’ll suffer for that.”

  “Where are you?” Johnson called, making circles on the spot inside the bar area. He was damned if he was going to get blindsided. “If you hadn’t noticed, you killed my men. Good men, not like you, you…you…outlaw!”

  Venom laughed, but still didn’t appear. “What would you know about that?” he asked Johnson.

  “Plenty. I’ve dealt with your kind before!”

  “You won’t have seen anything like my kind before. That I can assure you.”

  “Then show yourself!” Johnson said, wiping sweat out of his eyes. “I want to know!”

  “Know what?” Venom asked, laughing.

  “The truth about you.”

  “Is that why you choose to stick with your pathetic mission – to find out the truth – to see if I am some clichéd thing-of-the-night?!” Venom quipped.

  “Yes, if you want to put it like that. I did. I thought Hun was full of shit!” Johnson said.

  “Ah, so it was that crazy bastard who sent you? I thought it may have been.”

  “How did you know?” Johnson asked.

  “Because he has sent others. Others that have failed, just like you’re going to,” Venom said. “I’ll have to deal with Hun once and for all after this encounter is adjourned.”

  “Huh, you’ll have to get by me first,” Johnson said, as he entered the room with the pool table. The sight of the dead Champ made him waver – the smell horrendous. He coughed, and then swallowed back vomit. “Holy shit! What have you been doing here?”

  “I’ll tell you all,” Venom said, stepping into the open. His large frame filling Johnson’s escape route.

  “So there you are,” Johnson said, not intimidate by the slightly bigger man. He cocked his gun. “Ready to die?” he asked.

  “That won’t do you any good,” Venom said, stepping closer.

  Johnson could see that Venom was not an old man. How is that possible? What was his secret? Was he really a…? No. Impossible. Then what was that creature outside? His mind became a derailing train of thoughts.

  “I know you’re scared, Johnson.”

  “How do you know my name?”

  Venom smiled. “I know a lot of things. I see them in my mind.”

  Johnson emptied the contents of his gun into Venom, before swiftly reloading. The biker didn’t move – vapour escaped the six bullet wounds in his chest.

  “Magic!” Venom laughed.

  “No! Not possible. It’s a bullet-proof vest!”

  Venom shook his head.

  “It must be!” Johnson screamed, as he spilled some of his bullets onto the floor. Sweat poured out of him.

  “Afraid not. Also, I have one more surprise for you – you’re going to love this. Came as a shock to me, too,” Venom said, as Toni stepped from behind his back.

  She fixed her eyes on Johnson.

  “T…T…T…Toni?!” Johnson blurted.

  “It’s a small world, isn’t it?” Venom said.

  “Hello, Daddy!” she said. “We’ve been expecting you!”

  “But…but…you’re…”

  “Dead? No. Not quite.”

  “But…but, it can’t be! Where did you go?” he asked, tears in his eyes.

  “Oh, don’t cry, Daddy!” she said, walking up to him.

  “No, stay back,” he yelled, waving his gun in her face.

  “Tut-tut,” she said. “I’m sure you were glad I was out of your life. No harm came to me after you threw me out and had mama killed.

  She got too close for his comfort, resorting in Johnson stabbing his stake through her chest, but just missing her heart. She collapsed to the floor, taking his best weapon with her.

  “Nooooo!” Venom roared, flying across the room. He hit Johnson with an uppercut, which lifted the man off his feet. He crashed down on top of The Champ – a small burst of blood erupted from Johnson’s mouth, as he coughed and caught his breath.

  “Son-of-a-bitch,” he said, rolling off the table and staggering to his feet.

  “Toni?!” Venom said, going to her.

  Johnson fired all the rounds he had left in his gun. The bullets bored into
Venom’s exposed back, sending the biker to ground.

  “I’ll fucking kill you, you filthy pig!” he yelled, running at Venom and kicking him hard and repeatedly in his ribs. The sound of cracking bones brought a smile to Johnson’s face. “You’re only a man, just like the rest of us!”

  Leaving Venom to recover, he yanked the stake out of his daughter’s chest, before turning on the biker. To his shock, Venom was standing. As Johnson made a plunging motion, Venom grabbed his arm mid-air and twisted. Johnson’s elbow blew as his wrist snapped.

  “Aaarrggghhhh!” he cried. Then he watched in shock as Venom’s face twisted and corkscrewed into something disgustingly stomach-churning. His teeth grew to a point as his fingers sprouted hair and talons.

  “What the hell are you?”

  Venom pulled the battered man close to his face – “Something that’ll never be explained,” he told Johnson, who finally cracked and started laughing.

  “I’ll see you in hell!” Johnson said, spitting in Venom’s face. His laughter was cut short as Venom started to bite, claw and tear at his flesh…

  After dusk set in, and all the vehicles had been pushed off the road, Venom and Toni had dragged all the bodies inside the pub. Once their bundles had been repacked and tied to Venom’s motorbike, Venom had set fire to The Rack and Cue.

  As they sat and watched the flames consume the pub, Toni was first to break the silence.

  “Where now?” she asked.

  “Anywhere you want to go, but first I have two things to take care of,” Venom said.

  “They are?”

  “Firstly, we’re going to hunt down those truckers and girl. We have to kill them – not just for killing my family, but because of their link to us.”

  “I suppose you’re right – they need to die,” she said. “And secondly?”

  “I have to send this parcel off to my friend,” he said, laughing and pointing at one of the packages on the bike. This made Toni laugh, too.

  Once the pub began to collapse in on itself, Venom started his motorbike. “Hop on,” he said, before pulling off.

  Chapter 29