Jackson

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Causing a stampede!”

  “It’s a fucking cow. It’s not going to run away unless you piss it off.”

  I kept firing, running lower on bullets the longer she stayed out there and I had to lay down cover fire.

  “How do I piss it off?”

  “Keep talking and I’m sure it’ll run away from you just so it doesn’t have to hear your ridiculous ideas!”

  “Asshole.”

  “Get your ass back over here. A cow isn’t going to protect you.”

  She peeked out from behind the cow and ran back in my direction, pointing the gun toward the sky as she tried to cover her face. I rolled my eyes and prayed I stayed alive long enough to yell at her for being an idiot.

  “Next time, point your weapon at the people that are actually shooting at us.”

  “Can’t you do your kung fu, badass shooting and take these guys out? I’m hungry and tired and I don’t have the patience for this shit any more.”

  I hadn’t wanted to resort to using a grenade unless I had to. There were animals around and we were on someone else’s property, but this standoff would only last so long before either I would run out of bullets or they would overtake us.

  “Enough of this shit.” I pulled out a grenade, pulled the pin, and tossed it at the first truck. I threw Raegan to the ground and covered her body with mine. The ground shook and as soon as the shrapnel was done flying, I pulled out a second grenade and tossed it at the second truck, falling back on top of Raegan as it exploded.

  Silence surrounded us and I slowly got to my feet, my gun at the ready. I motioned for Raegan to stay down and waited for the dust to clear. I didn’t see any movement from where I was and I couldn’t take the chance that someone was waiting for us. I moved forward, slipping quietly around the first burnt up truck, checking for survivors. All I saw were bloody, charred remains. After clearing the second vehicle, I walked back to the SUV and motioned for Raegan to get back inside. She didn’t say anything and neither did I.

  When we were in the middle of escaping, it hadn’t hit me that Raegan was in danger. She had handled it so well, but now that we were out of danger, I was practically shaking internally when I thought of how that could have gone wrong.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Raegan

  Jackson had been quiet since we got back in the SUV. He drove for about an hour and then pulled into a used car lot. He told me to wait for him and then returned twenty minutes later with keys to a pickup truck. He pulled it up along the SUV and quickly transferred everything into the truck. The silence was starting to get to me. I wasn’t used to this side of Jackson, and for the first time, I wasn’t really sure if I should break the silence. After another twenty minutes, I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Did I do something to piss you off?”

  “Why would you think that?” he said, almost angrily.

  “Um, well, you’re being really quiet and I’m not sure why.”

  He huffed out a laugh and drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel.

  “I’m sensing some passive aggressive behavior here. I find that it’s always best to just blurt it out. Just get it off your chest.”

  “If I say what I want to say, I’m just gonna piss you off. And then we’ll be fighting, and of course, I won’t win because there’s no winning when you’re arguing with a woman. Then I’ll be spending the rest of this goddamn trip trying to make you happy again so that I don’t have to worry about you chopping off my dick in the middle of the night.”

  “Okay, so, what I’ve gathered so far is that you’re angry with me.”

  “You gathered that, huh?”

  “Yeah, I used the whole right side of my brain to gather that little nugget of information. What I don’t know is why you’re mad.”

  “Why don’t you use the other half of your brain to think back to what just happened,” he sneered.

  “Well, I remember me driving an SUV to escape a bunch of mad men while you fucked around in the back of the truck. I remember me being the one that tried to come up with some clever ideas to get us out of the predicament we were in.”

  “I couldn’t do anything because you were throwing me around the back of the truck with your crazy driving. And trying to start a stampede with a fucking cow wasn’t a solution. It was just plain idiotic and you could have gotten yourself killed.”

  “If you look on the bright side, you wouldn’t have to watch out for me anymore or worry about getting shot. I’d say you actually could have done better.”

  He jerked the wheel, steering the truck to the side of the road. “You think I’d prefer you not be around?”

  “Well, I’m not sure what to think. You seem pretty pissed at me.”

  “Because you could have gotten yourself killed. You were acting like this was some kind of game. It’s not fucking paintball. If you take a bullet because you’re running around tipping cows, it could be the last thing you ever do. I can’t fucking do anything if you don’t stay right by my fucking side and use some common sense.”

  “I was helping!” I said indignantly.

  “You were a fucking liability. Do you have any sense of danger? I swear to God, you stayed with that fucker even though he was beating the shit out of you and then you dart out into a dark parking lot to try and save me. Then, you go running through a pasture to slap a fucking cow! You’re gonna get yourself killed.”

  I wasn’t trying to be a pain in the ass or get us killed. I just wasn’t going to sit down and take it. Better to die trying than to sit around like I had with Xavier and wait for someone to save me. I opened the door to the truck and hopped out, turning back to face him.

  “I’m not your fucking problem, and I don’t need you to protect me. I was trying to help. I’m sorry if I was wrong.”

  I slammed the door and walked off through the field, not really knowing where I was going. But if I didn’t know where I was going, neither would anyone else. I could just disappear. I could find work and get paid under the table. I’d just lay low for a while, maybe move to some small town in the middle of Montana. Who would look for me there?

  Jackson grabbed my arm and swung me around, crushing his lips to mine. His tongue pushed inside my mouth and his hands roamed the curves of my body. When he jerked back, I was left dizzy from his kiss and craved more.

  “See, this is why men don’t talk to women. I wasn’t fucking saying that you were a problem. I was saying that…that you were in danger. And I didn’t fucking like that. I want to protect you, but I can’t if you’re running around like a fucking lunatic.”

  “You started out so good, and then you crashed and burned.” I turned to go, but he grabbed my arm and spun me back around.

  “I know I’m saying all the wrong shit. Just fucking listen to me for a minute.” I waited for him to say something, but he just kept staring at me, his mouth moving like he was going to say something, but nothing came out.

  “Yeah, I agree. That was a very compelling argument.”

  “Shut up. I like you. A lot. And I…I think over the past year I may have even started…well, you know. It’s just that I always see you as this woman that…hell, I don’t know why I thought that, but…you see what I’m saying?”

  I looked at him in confusion. “Yes, that was crystal clear. Now that you’ve said that, I want nothing more than to fall to my knees and suck your cock.”

  “I’m trying to say that I think I love you!” he shouted.

  “You think you do, or you know you do?”

  “Uh…I’m not sure. Well, I mean, I think I…but it’s confusing because I’m not sure if…and then I don’t know if you’re even…it’s just all very confusing.”

  “So is this conversation,” I muttered. “Look, I don’t need you to tell me you like me or love me, whichever it is. Frankly, I’d rather you not say something like that unless you’re sure that you actually feel that way.”

  “Wouldn’
t you rather know how I’m feeling?” he asked.

  “If you asked me if I like having sex with you and I said, I think I do. Maybe I really like it, but…it’s confusing. I’m not sure. Would that be a good answer for you? Would you be happy to hear that I may or may not like having sex with you, but I just hadn’t decided?”

  “See, this is why I don’t talk to women. I don’t know how to do it and now I see why this is so fucking hard for everyone else. They all help each other out and I never fucking understood it. It can’t be that hard, right? But it fucking is. Talking with a woman is like trying to pull your own fucking teeth. It’s painful and unnecessary.”

  “You know, you’re doing a great job at convincing me that you like me. I’m thinking maybe you should seek advice from those other guys before you say anything else.”

  He pulled at his short hair as he screamed in frustration. “Fuck it, let’s just hit the road. We have a long way to go before we get to safety. Neither of us has slept in a long time and we need some fucking food. Can we please just get on the road and talk about this later?”

  I was hungry and the lack of sleep was really getting to me. I supposed that neither of us was at our best right now. “Fine, but please try your best not to give me any more compliments. Next thing, you’ll be telling me that you want to have kids…sort of, but you’re not sure if my womb is good enough to house your sperm.”

  I got back in the truck as he stood in place, trying to get himself under control. Good, I was glad I wasn’t the only one that was having trouble navigating this odd turn of events.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  “Are you really going to make me stay in a no-tell motel?”

  Jackson put the truck in park and glared at me. “Look, I can’t use my credit card because whoever is after you would be able to track us. I don’t really want to stay in a place that’s seen more venereal diseases than a hooker, but this is our only option if you want to get some sleep.”

  “Ugh, fine. Let’s go.”

  I got out of the truck and grabbed my bag, following him to our motel room door. It was one of those motels that looked like a strip mall. When we got to ours, Jackson put the key in, but it opened before he even turned the knob. That was just fucking peachy.

  “Well, I suppose being murdered in my sleep is preferable to being executed from behind on my knees.”

  “You always see the silver lining,” he said mockingly. “Do you want sleep first or food?”

  “Food. As much as I want to sleep, I don’t think I’d be able to without some food in my stomach.”

  “There’s a diner across the street. We can just walk there. My leg is all cramped up from sitting so long.”

  “Are you sure that you’re okay?” I asked as he limped heavily toward the door. “How did you even run away from those guys, let alone walk fifteen miles?”

  “I just pushed through. We needed to get somewhere, so I just shoved it to the back of my mind. I can rest it when we’re at the safe house.”

  We walked across the street to the diner that had seen better days. There were bikes lined up in front of the restaurant and a few cars toward the back of the lot. Jackson pushed the door open, his eyes taking in everything as we walked through to the counter. I took a hesitant seat on the stool and refused to rest my arms on the counter. There was something sticky on it and I didn’t need to touch the counter to know it was there.

  A woman with her hair pinned up and a pencil shoved through it came up to us, smacking her gum and staring at us with a bored expression. “What can I get for you folks today?”

  “What do you have that won’t give me food poisoning?” I asked before I could think better of it.

  Jackson grabbed my hand quickly and gave me a tight squeeze, telling me to shut the fuck up. “What she’s saying is that she’s very sensitive to foods. She’ll end up in the hospital if everything isn’t cooked thoroughly.”

  The woman raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but didn’t call us out. “I’ll make sure everything is cooked well.”

  “Thank you,” Jackson said before I could tell her to shove it up her ass. He placed an order of burger and fries for both of us and I scowled when she said it would take about ten minutes. I was hangry and dealing with a shitty motel room and bad food wasn’t exactly what I had thought of when Jackson promised me food and a good night’s sleep. As the waitress walked away, Jackson glanced around the diner and then leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Let’s try not to piss off the locals.”

  “I’m not trying to. I’m just very grouchy and I feel like I haven’t bathed in a month.”

  “You look worse than that,” he muttered, obviously not understanding that pointing out the obvious was not something I wanted to hear right now.

  Our food arrived ten minutes later as promised. It actually didn’t look that bad, but when I went to take a bite into my burger, beady eyes stared back at me. I screamed and threw my burger back on my plate, quickly backing away from the counter and tripping over the stool.

  “What the hell’s going on?” Jackson asked me.

  I pointed frantically at my plate from the floor. “There’s…in there and it…eww!”

  Jackson picked up my burger and sighed, throwing some money down on the counter. He held out his hand to help me up and then pulled me toward the door. The bikers sitting around the diner were all looking at us with pissed off expressions and Jackson ushered me faster out the door.

  “You just had to open your mouth,” he grumbled.

  “I’m sorry. I’m starving and tired.”

  “You really pissed her off. I’ve never seen someone actually put a mouse in someone’s burger before.”

  “Who says they put it in there? That place was disgusting. For all you know, the thing was already dead in the kitchen and just got tossed in by accident.” He dragged me by the elbow across the street and back to the motel. “What are we going to do about food? I’m starving.”

  “I think that’s the least of our problems right now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, they’re following us. We need to grab our shit and move out.”

  “So, no bed tonight then.”

  “Like you were actually going to sleep in that bed anyway.”

  He shoved the door in and quickly grabbed his bag while I grabbed mine. We were just getting in the truck when the bikers blocked us in from behind. Some were on their bikes and others were just standing there glaring at us.

  “I suppose this would be the wrong time to apologize to you.”

  “I’m not the one that needs an apology,” Jackson said. “Stay in the truck.”

  He hopped out and I scooted over to his side, rolling down the window so I could hear what was being said.

  “What can I do for you?” Jackson asked genially.

  “You can get the fuck out of our town and never come back,” one biker said.

  “That was the plan. As you can see, we’re packed and ready to get on our way.”

  “Not just yet,” the biker sneered. “You don’t get to walk away so easily. See, that was my sister in there and your woman insulted her. I don’t take too kindly to people treating my family like shit.”

  “Look, I’m very sorry. We’ve been up for two days and we haven’t eaten in a very long time. She’s just hungry.”

  “That doesn’t excuse poor manners,” the biker said, cracking his knuckles. I swallowed hard. There had to be at least ten bikers here and if they came at us, what good would I be?

  “We’re leaving, so if you’ll just move your bikes, we’ll be on our way.”

  “Not just yet.” The biker advanced quickly on Jackson and threw the first punch, but Jackson was ready and quickly ducked out of the way and threw two punches of his own right into the man’s kidneys. I cringed as the man double over and Jackson grabbed the man by the head and kneed him in the face. Two other men ran at him and Jackson did all this kung fu crap, kicking and punching, bobbing and weavin
g. I stood by the truck and moved along with him, as if I was in the fight. He was amazing. He barely took any hits.

  When one man grabbed him from behind, he pushed off the ground, slamming the man into the truck, which I quickly moved out of the way of, and then kicked the other guy in the face.

  “Yeah!” I cheered. “Punch him, kick him!” All of the other bikers were involved now and Jackson was starting to take a few hits here and there. “Don’t take that crap from him, Jackson. Kill him! Break his fucking neck!”

  Jackson threw an elbow at one biker and punched another in the nose. Blood spurted from the man’s nose and Jackson used the opportunity to wrap him in a choke hold. “You want to calm the fuck down, Raegan? Seriously? You want me to kill him?”

  “Sorry,” I said sheepishly. “I was just really getting into the whole fighting thing.”

  “We’re in the middle of town,” Jackson said incredulously as he kicked an approaching man in the stomach. “Not exactly the best place to break someone’s neck.”

  Another biker swung what looked like a tire iron, hitting Jackson in the head before I had the chance to warn him. Jackson slumped to the ground and then they were kicking him in the chest and back. I cringed and tried to figure out what to do when Jackson started fighting back. He grabbed one guy’s foot and twisted it violently. He hit another guy in the nuts and kicked another one in the face with his boot. But still, he was getting the shit kicked out of him.

  I had to do something. This was all my fault. And then it hit me. “I’ll get the grenades!” I ran to the truck and dug through the bag of weapons, yanking out a grenade. I spun around and held the grenade high. “Let him go right the fuck now or I’ll take you all out!”

  One of the bikers smirked at me. “Nice try, bitch. You still have the pin in.”

  I looked at the grenade and yanked the pin out, holding it high in the air once more. Jackson was struggling to stand with a man’s arm wrapped around his neck, using him as cover. “Let him go, or I swear to God, I’ll throw this at you.”