He drank from several streams where he found them. He had no matches, no pot, no canteen in which to boil the water. Giardia be damned. He was fucking thirsty, so he drank with abandon.
Step after step, the distance narrowed. As the sun slowly waned behind him, the Costco finally came into view.
Or rather, the burned hulk of it.
What remained now was charred and blackened, any windows that hadn’t been broken were now lying in pieces on the parking lot. The huge plastic signage on the front, which hadn’t been lit in years, had melted into something unreadable now.
And that was okay. In fact, it was excellent. The monsters that had been living inside of that building were now burned to a crisp.
Crispy critters, he thought and laughed.
He sounded crazy, even to himself.
No matter.
A crazy man could still dig just fine.
* * *
Gia’s body was gone.
Dave had planned to bury her. Audrey would have wanted that. It seemed right to come back and put Gia to rest; it was the one last piece of unfinished business Audrey had left behind. Dave owed her the favor of finishing it.
But now her body was gone. Only a puddle of dried blood remained.
“I burned the body this morning,” a voice said from behind him.
Dave knew that voice immediately.
But what he heard was impossible.
“Johnny?”
Dave spun on his heels to find Johnny Ratliff standing behind him.
“In the flesh,” Johnny replied.
“I thought you were dead.”
“So did I. Turns out I’m not ready to die just yet.”
Dave found himself staring at Johnny as if he were a ghost. Hell, maybe he was. Or perhaps he was a hallucination.
“Are you real?” Dave asked.
“If I wasn’t, would I tell you?”
Dave chuckled. It was Johnny, all right. He glanced toward the blackened remains of the building. “Did you do this?”
Johnny nodded. “Burned it to the fucking ground, along with the mutants inside it.”
“Good,” Dave said. He paused. “Audrey’s dead.”
Johnny nodded. “That’s too bad.” He paused. “What about Calvin?”
“Dead.”
Johnny nodded again. “Good.”
“Why did you stay?” Dave asked. “I thought you would have moved on by now.”
“Well, me finding you on foot after those pricks drove off with the two of you was gonna be impossible, so I figured I’d stay put and wait until you showed up again.”
“How did you know I’d make it back?”
Johnny shrugged. “You ain’t really the type that gives up easily.”
“I suppose not.”
Silence passed between them before Johnny broke it. “So, Calvin’s dead. Mission accomplished. What’s next?”
Dave thought about it. “I don’t know.”
Johnny shrugged. “That’s good enough for me. What do you say we get the fuck outta here?”
“I think that’s a good idea.”
“I hear California’s nice this time of year,” Johnny said. “Maybe we should check it out. We might even run across your friends along the way.”
Dave mustered a grin. It was slight, but it was there.
“Maybe we should.”
About the Author
Brian J. Jarrett is a computer programmer by day and a horror/thriller writer by night. He grew up in West Virginia and now resides in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife and children.
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Also by Brian J. Jarrett
NOVELS & NOVELLAS
Into the Badlands (Badlands #1)
Beyond the Badlands (Badlands #2)
Out of the Badlands (Badlands #3)
Back to the Badlands (Badlands #4)
Redemption in the Badlands
Vengeance in the Badlands
The Desolate
The Crossover Gene
It Came From the Mountain
The Saint, the Sinner and the Coward
Muster Drill
Yesterday In Black (Tom Miller #1)
I Am the Darkness (Tom Miller #2)
Familiar Lies
Devil Breed
Kryptos
COLLECTIONS & SHORT STORIES
Walking At Night
Wishes and Desires
Dine In
Cycle
The Swingin’ Man
Afterword
I started this book back in 2014, but by year’s end, I’d only made it part-way through writing the manuscript. It sat unfinished for a year before I finally dusted it off and finished it. And then it sat for another two years, finished but unpublished. I kept promising myself I’d get to revising it, but each time I found a reason not to.
Eventually, I realized that I just didn’t like the book as written. It was a meandering mess, unclear in voice and purpose. A failed effort that should never see the light of day. It’s tough to throw away an entire novel, but I feel it’s better to pitch it and start over than it is to publish something subpar.
So, at the end of 2017, I set out to rewrite it from scratch. I ended up keeping a few scenes from the original book, but so much of that got rewritten that it hardly resembled the original text. Six weeks later, I had the manuscript finished.
This time, I got it right.
In the original book, Dave and Johnny both died. Audrey lived. Somehow that felt wrong. But the most significant change in the new version is the contentious interaction between Dave and Calvin. That was something lacking in the original manuscript that I think I got right the second time around. And I feel like I explored the concept of revenge a little better too.
It feels good to close the loop on this story. It’s been nagging at me to finish this for the past few years. But that doesn’t mean Dave’s story is over. I have a feeling you’ll be seeing him again before long.
Until next time, take it easy.
Brian J. Jarrett
October 23, 2017
St. Louis, MO
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank you for your support. Without you, these stories make no sound.
If you enjoyed this book please consider leaving a review at the store where you purchased it. Reviews really help me and other potential readers. Thanks!
The Badlands Trilogy (Novella 2): Vengeance in the Badlands Page 14