“Really? You’re not the least bit nervous about being on Lucid’s bad side? I’m sure he took note of everyone at that meeting.”
“Whatever. I’ll just get all the details from Root when I get to work in the morning.”
Chapter 9
Zero showed up to the loading docks a few minutes early again. He wanted to spend a few minutes practicing his driving skills before he began work for the day. He retrieved the keys from the office and took a seat behind the steering wheel of the forklift. After a deep breath, he turned the key and looked around trying to remember how to make it move in reverse. He found the gear shifter, moved it into the “R” position, and felt a jerk when the forklift suddenly raced backward. He panicked and was about to jump off when he remembered the brake. He stomped on the pedal and left a six-inch skid on the concrete dock.
“Slow and steady, stupid,” Zero said to himself. He moved the gear shifter into first gear and slowly maneuvered the forklift back where he found it, turned off the key, and shoved his keys back into his pocket.
“By all means,” Lemon said. “Don’t stop driving just because I’m here. You obviously need the practice, judging by the way you nearly knocked down that stack of boxes.”
Zero spun around, wide-eyed. “No, I didn’t.”
“Yeah. You did. You just didn’t realize I was here because you weren’t looking around you. So maybe you should keep at it for a while. Keep practicing while I get everything organized and ready to go this morning.”
Zero studied him for a moment. “You’re not an easy guy to read, Lemon. I can’t tell if you’re just giving me a hard time or if you really want me to keep practicing my driving right now.”
“A little of both.” Lemon smiled. “I do actually want you to practice driving right now, but I also reserve the right to harass you about it the whole time you’re doing it.”
Zero laughed and walked back to the forklift. “Fair enough.” He took four laps around the loading docks at idle speed before he braved the accelerator. His eyes widened and he gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. He hit the gas and took a trip down the road and back. The pedal was only down a quarter of the way, and although he knew he could run faster than this machine was moving, his heart pounded with adrenaline.
He was about to try depressing the pedal down halfway when Lemon stepped out of the office. His eyes were fixed on something in the distance, which made Zero turn to see what he was looking at. Flea and Captain were walking together down the road toward them. Even from a distance he could see the smug expression on Flea’s face, which was never a good sign.
“What’s going on?” Zero asked.
Lemon shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe this has something to do with what happened yesterday, do you think? When your friend choked him until he fell unconscious at the dinner table.”
“Beats me. You don’t think Captain is making him come apologize or something, do you?”
“No. I don’t think so. Judging by the looks on their faces, Flea looks pretty giddy about something and Captain’s the one who’s upset.”
Lemon walked out to the edge of the loading dock and sat down. Zero stepped off the forklift and sat next to him.
“Captain,” Lemon said once they were close. “I put out an order for a box of flea collars. We’ve had trouble with fleas showing up here at the loading docks. They just won’t leave us alone. Looks like I should have ordered one for you too since you’ve got one of those nasty buggers following you around.”
Captain tried unsuccessfully to hide his grin. He turned to look at Zero. He held out his hand, palm up. “Let me see your keys, please.”
Confused and nervous, Zero pulled the keys out of his pocket and placed them in Captain’s hand. Captain fingered through them, and then handed them back.
“Is there a problem, sir?” Zero asked.
“I already told you. Call me Captain, not sir. I’m not one of your school professors.”
“Someone opened the gate last night,” Flea said. “I think it was you.”
Lemon and Zero looked at him, confused.
“Why?” Lemon asked.
“Because that’s exactly the kind of stuff they used to do at school,” Flea said, grinning.
Lemon looked Flea up and down before speaking again. “I was talking to Captain, Flea-Flea. Let the big boys handle this one.”
Flea was about to argue back, but Captain held up his hand and Flea shut up.
“Security checked the gates an hour after sundown last night. Everything was fine. When Flea inspected them again this morning during his routine check the lock wasn’t properly fastened.”
“Please, Captain,” Flea said. “I want my name to be Watchman. I don’t want to be called Flea anymore.”
Captain stared at him for a moment before responding. He placed his hand on Flea’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “That’s not going to happen.”
Flea grunted.
“Anyway,” Captain continued. “Flea noticed that the gate wasn’t locked properly. That could only mean one thing: Someone opened it last night in the dark—someone who’s not very familiar with the lock.”
“And you think Zero did it?” Lemon asked. “Why would he do something stupid like that?”
Flea folded his arms and puffed out his chest. “Because that’s exactly the kind of idiotic thing Zero and Lefty used to do at school. That’s what they do for fun.”
“It wasn’t me,” Zero said.
“There are only a few people in Quirigua who have keys to the front gate,” Captain said. “The delivery truck guys, security, and you two.” He pointed back and forth between Zero and Lemon.
“Captain, I know Zero and I have only known each other for one day, but he really doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would go on a suicidal adventure out the front gate,” Lemon said. “It couldn’t have been him.”
“But that’s exactly the kind of thing Lefty would do for fun,” Flea said. “And Zero goes along with everything Lefty wants to do.”
Captain turned to Zero. “So, I guess that leaves us with one more question. Did Lefty get hold of your keys last night?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. They were in my pocket the whole night until I went to bed. I put them on the nightstand next to me, and that’s exactly where they were when I woke up this morning. He didn’t touch them.” Zero was about to say that Lefty wouldn’t do something like that, but he knew that was a lie. In fact, he had deliberately avoided telling Lefty he had a key to the gate because Flea was right. That was exactly the kind of thing Lefty would want to do.
“That’s good enough for me,” Captain said. “Have a good day, guys.”
“But—” Flea began to say.
“Yes?” Captain shot Flea an unmistakable look that said Don’t you dare go against me.
“Nothing,” Flea said.
***
After work, Zero didn’t even bother to check the cafeteria or Lefty’s room to see if he was there. He knew right where to find him.
Zero waded through the knee-high grass of the banana orchard on his way to the feline rendezvous point. He had expected to see Lefty standing by the fence, trying to coax one of the cats over to him with a piece of meat. He thought there was a good chance Lefty would be reaching his whole arm through the fence with hopes of touching one of them. What he didn’t expect was to find Lefty standing ten feet beyond the fence with a large piece of chicken in one hand.
“Lefty!” Zero half whispered and half yelled. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
Lefty turned his head slightly toward Zero, but kept his eyes on the shadows at the edge of the jungle tree line. He slowly lifted a finger to his lips to hush him. He dropped his hand back down to his side and remained perfectly still for a ver
y long time.
Zero’s eyes gravitated to the hole in the fence. Yesterday it had been just big enough to slip his arm through. Now it started two feet off the ground. Two feet of the chain link was clipped horizontally, and then took a ninety degree turn and rose to about shoulder height.
Lefty’s gaze was fixed on something Zero couldn’t see at first, but then a slight movement of the grass drew his attention to a pair of eyes and ears at the same level as the tall grass. They were so close to each other that the jaguar could be on top of Lefty in one pounce if it chose to. Zero wondered if he was about to watch his best friend get eaten by a monster. He didn’t dare try to go through the fence to retrieve him, though. That would be stupid. He couldn’t even call out to him because that might startle the jaguar into attacking.
The cat inched forward, its paws so soft on the ground that it didn’t make a sound, and it stopped one step away from Lefty. The jaguar’s nostrils flared as it reached its nose forward a few inches for a better smell before pulling its head back.
Lefty dropped the meat by his feet, but he didn’t turn or step away. He waited. After another long while, the cat’s head disappeared as it bent its neck down to retrieve the snack. When Lefty stretched for his good hand to touch the jaguar’s back, its head bounced back up so quickly that Lefty stumbled backward, falling to his back and disappearing from sight into the tall grass.
“Don’t make any sudden moves, Lefty,” Zero mumbled to himself. “Don’t run or startle him. He’ll chase you.”
Zero heard a low growl from the cat. He was relieved to see that Lefty was heeding the cat’s warning and was slowly crawling his way back toward the opening of the fence. The low growl turned into a slightly louder hiss, which made Lefty pick up the pace.
He got to his feet and half-walked, half-ran back to the large opening of the fence. The jaguar trotted behind him, not really chasing after him, but escorting him from the premises. It growled again, which made it clear that Lefty’s time was completely up. He was no longer welcome on that side of the fence.
Lefty didn’t bother to push open the fence. He crossed his arms in front of his face and dove into it. The fence shook mightily, but it gave way, allowing him to tumble into the grass at Zero’s feet.
“You fool,” was all that Zero managed to say. He kicked Lefty in the ribs before he could get up.
“What?” Lefty was laughing now. He jumped to his feet, hurried to the fence, and began twisting wires closed.
“I—I—I—”
“Relax, Zero. Nothing happened. Nothing’s going to happen. The first time through is always the scariest. Now that the jaguar knows me, it won’t be quite so intense next time. It’ll eat the piece of chicken and then... you know.”
“Yes, I do know. I know it’s going to start thinking you’re the source of its food. And one day it’s going to decide you might be a little tastier than chicken, and I won’t be going in there to save you.”
“You worry too much.”
“And you never worry about anything.”
“Yeah, but at least I learned a little bit more about jungle cats today than I knew yesterday.” He smiled. “And I was able to have a bit of fun while I was at it.”
“Really? Who’s going to have more fun in his life? The guy who lives to a ripe old age, or the guy who gets eaten alive before he even turns nineteen?”
“Seriously, you’re worse than Lucid. You think you have to babysit me.”
“Someone does.”
“No, someone doesn’t. Just relax.” Lefty finished twisting the last wires to the fence and stood back to admire his handiwork. “See? Good as new.”
“Yeah, except for one thing.” He pointed at the nearest banana tree. “Someday these bananas are going to be ready to harvest, and someone’s going to spend the afternoon right here next to your little spot in the fence. It won’t be hard to figure out someone has cut a hole in it.”
“Hmmm. I hadn’t thought of that.”
Zero felt a small amount of satisfaction in knowing that something finally made sense to Lefty. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“Go where?” Lefty bent down so he could once again be at eye level with his feline friend. The cat was now pacing back and forth near the fence, guarding it from any more intruders.
“We should go to the clinic to get your forearm looked at,” Zero said. “You got cut when you dove through the fence.”
That was the first time Lefty looked at his arm. There was a four-inch gash in it. “Look at that. I didn’t even feel it through all the excitement. Yeah. That looks like it might need a stitch or two.”
They began to walk back toward town. Zero looked up at the sky as they walked, soaking in the damp air. He had only known what it was like to breathe the air at the school, which was always thick with the smell of swamp and decay. He had been used to it, but now that he was away from it and was surrounded by the smell of banana groves and jungle, he wondered if he would be able to tolerate the swampy smell of the school grounds again.
“Wanna hear something weird? Root didn’t show up to work today,” Lefty said, breaking a long silence.
“Oh yeah?”
“Nobody knows where he is.”
“Did anyone check his room?”
“Yeah. I did. I went inside, but nobody was there.”
“Maybe we’ll see him at the clinic. Maybe he’s sick today.”
“Nnnnnnnope. I checked there too. I asked everyone I could think of, but couldn’t find him anywhere. It’s got me a little creeped out.”
“Why? I’m sure he’s around somewhere. He’ll probably show up for dinner.”
Lefty shrugged. “When I went into his room, his keys were sitting right in the middle of the floor. It just felt weird. The guy’s room was spotless. He’s kind of a neat freak, except that his bed wasn’t made and his keys were on the floor.”
They heard some footsteps coming toward them. They looked up to see Flea walking along the trail they had been blazing through the grass the last few days.
“He found our path,” Zero said.
“He can’t go any farther down this path—ever,” Lefty whispered. “In fact, from now on we have to go different ways so we don’t leave a trail like this.”
“Or we could just stop going altogether.”
Lefty shot Zero a look.
“Well, well, well. Look who I found,” Flea said.
“Flea Bag, I know you’re having a hard time finding friends in this new town,” Lefty said. “And you keep trying to follow us everywhere we go. I’m sorry, buddy, but you’re really misunderstanding our relationship. I hate to be so blunt, but we like you even less than everyone else does.”
“What are you guys up to?” Flea asked.
“Why? Is it illegal to go for a walk now? Are you going to bust us for enjoying today’s nice weather?” Lefty gave him a slight pat on the cheek. “You’re not even on duty, my friend.”
Flea peeked around Lefty to look farther down the trail. “I’m just getting familiar with my city. Going the extra mile with my job, so to speak. Seeing what’s around. So if you wouldn’t mind stepping out of my way, I’ll just continue on this little trail I found.”
“I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t you go this way with us? We can chat along the way.” Lefty grabbed Flea’s shoulders and gave him a little twist, attempting to face him in the opposite direction, but Flea resisted and gave Lefty a shove in the chest.
“Don’t touch me,” Flea said.
Zero was very familiar with the childish game Lefty and Flea played. They would battle it out to see who could come up with the better insult. Then they would bump chests a few times, calling each other a few more names. By the look on Lefty’s face, though, Zero knew he was going to skip all of that today. He went straight to the good stuff—his left hook to the nose, followed by a righ
t to the stomach.
The punches were successful; he caught Flea off guard. He staggered for a moment, doubling over. Instead of standing straight up and putting up his fists like he would typically do, Flea bull-rushed him, wrapping his arms around Lefty’s middle, and took him straight to the ground. In no time at all Flea had Lefty on his back on the ground and was sitting on his stomach with his knees on his shoulders. He rained three punches down—right, left, right—before he stood up. Lefty remained on his back in the grass—unconscious.
Then there was a deafening boom, and a flash of light lit up the sky.
Flea looked up. First there was a sprinkle of rain but that turned into a torrential downpour as if someone had opened an enormous valve.
Flea smiled broadly as he looked down at Lefty’s limp body. He took one step back toward town as if he was going to walk away, but then changed his mind and returned to give Lefty one last kick to the ribs.
Zero hadn’t moved a muscle during the whole ordeal. He knelt over Lefty, shielding his face from the rain and waiting for him to regain consciousness. When he had, they sat under one of the banana trees for a few minutes to ensure Lefty was ready to walk again before he tried to stand. That, and to make sure they didn’t abandon their primary goal: To make sure Flea didn’t travel any farther down their path.
“He’s gone,” Zero said.
“Looks like I’m going to have to be a little extra nice to Flea from here on out.”
“So he’ll stop beating you up?”
Lefty shot Zero another look. “What’s that supposed to mean? You think I’m scared of him? No. I just want him to leave us alone. He needs to stop following us around or it’s just a matter of time before he finds my hole in the fence and I’m done for.”
Chapter 10
Zero stood next to Lefty as he leaned against a tree to gather himself. He was quick to wrap his arm around him, offering to help him walk, but Lefty swatted his arm away. It wasn’t common for him to black out from a few of Flea’s punches, but it wasn’t the first time, either. It was obvious Flea had beaten him, but accepting Zero’s help would be for Lefty admitting to its severity, Zero knew.
The Inner Fence: a dystopian post-apocalyptic young adult novella series (Remnants of Zone Four Chronicles Book 2) Page 6