Addicted to the Dead

by Shane McKenzie

  “Bear Creek, sir. It’s my dad’s truck…I was just borrowing it.”

  “Bear Creek? What you doing way out here? Where’s yer parents?”

  The officer spun Paco so he was facing the truck, made him put both hands on it as he patted him down. “They’re…we ran away.”

  “Ran away, did you? Took yer daddy’s truck and hit the road. This your baby sister in the truck?”

  He nodded as the officer ran his hands over Paco’s legs.

  “So you brought her way out here, and nobody knows where you are? Don’t you know how dangerous that is?”

  Paco tried to turn and face the officer, but was swung back around.

  “Keep yer fucking hands on that truck, boy.”

  “I’m sorry…I, I know it’s dangerous. Nobody knows we’re here, nobody.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.” And then something hard collided with the back of Paco’s head and everything went black.

  ***

  Paco woke up with the left side of his face smashed against the concrete. The taste of dirt and tire rubber coated his tongue, and as he rolled to his back, a screaming pain filled his head. He reached around, winced when he felt the wet spot on the back of his skull—his hand came away bloody. The flashlight lay just beside him, the glass broken but the beam still shining.

  Then he heard the grunting, the giggling.

  The police car was still parked behind the truck, but the lights had been shut off. The flashlight’s beam reached out underneath the truck, and Paco followed it with his eyes until he saw a pair of shiny boots just on the other side. And Myron, the doll’s sightless blue eyes trained on Paco.

  He almost shouted Sophia’s name, but bit his tongue right before it came out. Just above the grunting and the wet crunching sound, he could hear whimpering. Tiny cries that he knew right away belonged to his sister.

  His head felt like a cracked egg as he sat up and he had to chew back the hiss that wanted to seep from his lips. He crept to the driver’s door, peeked into the window.

  You bastard…you son of a bitch.

  At first, Paco didn’t realize what he was looking at. Sophia sat in the passenger seat, both of her hands covering her eyes. Though she wept, no tears shone from her cheeks. The officer had his face somewhere on the floorboard by Sophia’s feet, and his head moved back and forth, back and forth.

  It wasn’t until he pulled his head back and tore a hunk of stringy meat away from Sophia’s leg that Paco realized he was eating her.

  Paco’s hands turned into hard claws as he watched, and he ducked back under the window as the officer chewed.

  “A little too fresh for my taste but…mmmm…I ain’t complaining,” the officer said as he smacked. “You’re all mine, honey.”

  Sophia squealed and Paco wanted nothing more than to put a bullet in this bastard.

  He propped his foot up onto the rear tire, and softly lifted himself into the bed of the truck. Trying to make sure it didn’t rock, he kept his eyes locked on the officer who had his head lowered back down at Sophia’s legs.

  The rifle felt powerful in Paco’s hands, but as he remembered that it was empty, it felt no more dangerous than a plastic toy.

  Shit!

  “Get away from my s-sister, you asshole!”

  The officer giggled as he backed away from the truck and stared right down the barrel of the rifle into Paco’s eyes.

  “What’s that you got there, boy?” Small bits of meat fell from his mouth as he spoke.

  “I’ll shoot you. I’ll kill you, I swear I will.” No matter how tightly he gripped the rifle, he couldn’t stop it from shaking.

  But the officer only laughed. His eyelids fluttered and he took quick, rapid breaths as he ran his hands over his chest. “You don’t wanna go pulling a gun on an officer of the law, boy.”

  “You were…you were eating her!” The last word came out as a sob and Paco’s vision swam before he wiped his forearm across his eyes. “Sophia, you okay?”

  She crawled over the middle console and out the driver’s door. Her lip pouted but she looked up at Paco with her neck bent to the left and nodded. Her right leg was in tatters, huge chunks of flesh missing with ragged strips of skin hanging down. The moonlight gleamed off her shin bone.

  “Your sister is…something else. Never seen a dead girl act so…so alive. A special one, she is.” The officer licked his lips and stepped toward Paco.

  “You stay back. Get away from us!”

  “It’s not safe in the city for two kids like you. Why don’t you come with me, hmm? Officer Southard will take good care of you.”

  When he took another step forward, Paco swung the rifle like a baseball bat, caught the man on the side of the head. Officer Southard stumbled backward, crashed to his back, but a guttural laughter croaked from his throat.

  Paco didn’t waste any time. He jumped from the truck, rushed to the passenger side. His foot slipped on the puddle of blood on the floorboard, but he caught himself on the seatbelt, pulled himself in.

  The officer rolled around in the dirt, unbuckled his belt, and hissed through clenched teeth. He cackled as he kicked his boots off.

  Paco grabbed the first box of bullets he saw, but his quaking hands broke it open. Ammunition spilled over his lap, rained to the floor.

  “Little girrrrl, where arrrre you?” Officer Southard was on his feet, bare-legged. He licked his fingers, then shoved his left hand down the front of his briefs.

  Paco pulled the bolt back, and when it clicked, the officer’s head spun toward him and a smile that was as bright as the moon shone from the middle of his face.

  “Hey, boy. What the fuck you think yer doing?” And he sprinted toward Paco as he guffawed.

  The bullet pinched between Paco’s forefinger and thumb slipped out and rattled to the floor. Before he had time to grab another, Officer Southard was on him, one hand on the rifle, the other wrapped around Paco’s throat.

  “Nngh…” Paco tried to take in oxygen, but it wouldn’t come. Stars sparkled at the corners of his vision and he felt his grip slipping away from the gun.

  “No no no!” Sophia had apparently climbed onto the truck, and she squealed as she dove onto the officer and dangled from his neck.

  A delicious gust of air filled Paco’s lungs and he gasped as he kicked at the officer. The rifle fell to the dirt.

  “Come to daddy.” Officer Southard spun, reached behind his back. Sophia clung to his neck, kicking her legs and grunting. “Oh, fuck, I can smell you!”

  “Nnnooo!”

  Just hearing the desperation in his baby sister’s voice steadied his hands. With newfound calmness, Paco hopped to the dirt, grabbed the rifle, loaded it, and aimed. The officer spun as he tried to reach for Sophia, and Paco couldn’t get a good shot.

  He squinted one eye, breathed through his nose, waited for the moment when the man turned toward him, and…

  Crack!

  Birds exploded from the trees when he pulled the trigger, burning a hole through Officer Southard’s upper chest. The man fell to his knees, reached up and fingered the wound, that maniacal grin still contorting his face, then fell face-first into the dirt.

  And it was then that Paco saw Sophia lying a few yards behind the officer’s body. She sat up and the moonlight showed the purple tubing spilling from her gut.

  “Paco…help me,” she said as she began stuffing her intestines back in.

  - Chapter 8 -

  The SUV rolled to a stop in the alleyway, the headlights illuminating the garbage and filth that was smeared over everything. A few addicts sat here and there, scratching red lines over their sallow skin, muttering to themselves, burning for their next fix. They were like cockroaches infesting the city. You couldn’t turn any corner without running into one, most willing to do anything for a hit.

  A couple fucked each other up against a dumpster to Calico’s right. They had clearly found what they had been searching for. He could tell by the empty look in their eye
s, the stupid grins on their faces as they fucked like rabbits on ecstasy. The man had the woman lifted in the air, gripping her ass as he pounded into her with enough force to crack concrete. She only smiled, gripped the lip of the dumpster behind her, strands of hair sticking to the black slime coating it.

  As the limousine pulled up and rolled past the couple, they didn’t so much as acknowledge it as they went on about their business, cackling like psychotic hyenas.

  “You boys stay in the car until I tell you to come out,” Calico said from the back seat.

  “We know the drill, man,” Ugh said. “This ain’t our first—”

  Calico yanked his knife free, and the metallic shing that sounded shut the man up quick. “I don’t give a fuck how many deals you boys have been to. Do as you’re told when you’re told, and we’ll be straight. You already forget what happened to the last two?”

  “Dumb ass,” Grunt said to Ugh from behind the wheel.

  “Fuck you, man.”

  When the man across the alleyway stepped out of the limo’s driver’s door, walked along the length of the vehicle and opened the rear passenger door, Calico stepped out of the SUV. He slid his knife back into its sheath, didn’t want to pose a threat to these people if he didn’t have to, though he would love to unzip their flesh with his blade. Images of the young girl in Detox still flashed through his mind, and he had to force his temper down. He had marched straight to Fleet’s office afterward, gave him the address, but the old man sent him on this fucking job immediately after.

  “Your precious daughter will be here waiting for you when you get back,” Fleet had said. “Just a simple drop off, but it’s a big time client. Want you there just in case.”

  The woman stepped from the vehicle, clad in a leopard-print dress that was tight enough to display every inch of her body in high definition. Her obviously fake breasts pressed together and nearly popped free of snug cloth, and as she stood from the vehicle, she gave them a squeeze, adjusted them. The rest of her body was shriveled, emaciated. The tight dress showed ribs beneath the plastic tits—her spine pressed against the cloth, reminded Calico of a stegosaurus. She strolled toward Calico swinging her hips, her snide smirk smothered in crimson, her heels clicking and clacking as she came.

  “You must be the one they all talk about. The great and fearful Calico, yes?”

  “You have nothing to fear as long as you hold your end of the deal, lady.”

  Her driver—short but looked hard as rock—stepped forward. “Lady? Do you know who—”

  Calico stepped to the man, bumped chests and peered into his eyes. “Whoever your cunt boss is doesn’t mean shit to me. You’re all worthless junkies in my eyes.”

  The driver bared his teeth. Crooked red lines bulged in his eyes and he blew hot air from his nostrils.

  “Settle down, Cecil. Get back in the car.”

  “But he disrespected—”

  “Get in the fucking car and shut your trap.”

  “I’d do what the cunt says, Cecil. I haven’t had nearly enough blood on my hands tonight.” Calico was doing his best to keep his cool, but his temper was winning the battle.

  With a look that could have cut a tree down, Cecil the driver disappeared into the limousine.

  “My goodness, you’ve got quite the mouth,” the woman said as she click-clacked toward Calico. “How about we take this meat back to my place and I see how good you can use that mouth?”

  Calico squeezed his fists until his arms shook. “Where’s the money?”

  “Don’t go hurting my feelings, now. Cecil here may look small, but he’s skilled in…getting his hands bloody.”

  In a blur, Calico rushed toward her, grabbed her with both hands by the ass, lifted her into the air, and slammed her against the limo. Cecil hopped out, pulling at a pistol strapped to his waist.

  With a motion as quick as hurricane wind, Calico’s Bowie knife was pulled from its sheath and slicing through the air. It stuck into Cecil’s forearm—his gun arm—and pinned him to the car metal. The gun clattered to the concrete and Cecil’s cries bounced off the walls. The surrounding addicts craned their necks to see what was going on, but most hid their faces when they saw Calico.

  “Please…you don’t have to—”

  Calico silenced her when he reached between her legs, tore her panties away with a violent jerk, and inserted his fore and middle fingers into her. He hooked the fingers and pulled, then licked her ear as she shuddered.

  “I told you to play nice, didn’t I? You play cool, keep your end of the deal, and you didn’t have anything to worry about, right? Now look at you. Cunt.”

  But she didn’t seem to be getting the point, almost looked to be enjoying herself. She swirled her hips, humped Calico’s fingers, licked her lips. Calico shoved in two more fingers and clawed at the moist flesh with his nails. “Where the fuck is the money?”

  “You okay?” Either Ugh’s or Grunt’s voice coming from Calico’s left.

  “Where’s the money?”

  “It’s in the fucking limo…under the seat…eeee!” She tensed up as Calico shoved his whole fist in.

  Calico felt something tear, and he shoved his fist in deeper before yanking it out hard with a wet pop.

  The woman fell back against the limo and giggled lasciviously as she tried to inspect herself. A small trickle of blood ran down her leg.

  “You motherfucker!” Cecil struggled against the knife, his free hand yanking on the hilt, but he was getting nowhere.

  Calico pulled the woman by her wrist, held her close so they were both facing Cecil. He motioned to Ugh with a nod. “Pull my knife out of Cecil here so he can fetch our money.”

  Ugh had to use both hands with one foot propped up on the car to get the knife out. Cecil shrieked as blood splashed over the pavement. He glared at Calico as he clutched his leaking arm.

  “Now get the money like a good little bitch, or I break your cunt’s neck. Got it?”

  The woman quivered and nodded her head at Cecil. She just slightly grinded her boney ass into Calico’s groin.

  With his face twisted into pure hatred, Cecil did as he was told. He backed out of the car with a black duffel bag and tossed it to the ground at Ugh’s feet, then clutched the leaking wound on his arm.

  “We good?” Calico squeezed the woman tighter against himself and she moaned in response.

  Ugh unzipped the bag, rummaged through it, nodded.

  “Good. Thank you, Cecil. Now get back in the fucking limo.” Calico nodded toward Grunt who exited the SUV with a suitcase swinging at his side.

  “No hard feelings,” the woman said. “I don’t want any trouble from you people.”

  Calico released his grip on the woman and shoved her in the back—her spine jabbed his palm. She winced a bit with every step, but eagerly took the suitcase from Grunt, popped it open on the hood of the limo. A writhing slab of aged meat lay inside, along with the DVD of the latest Corpse Snuff she’d ordered. The plastic wrapped around the meat crackled as the slab thrashed from within. The woman ran her fingertips over it, visibly trembled, then plucked out the disc.

  “This got a blonde girl in it? Like I asked for?”

  “Everything you ordered is there.”

  She nodded, adjusted her cleavage again. Blood dripped onto the pavement beneath her, crooked scarlet lines running down her legs. But any sign of pain in her face had become a rictus of anxiousness. “No need to tell your boss about any of this, huh? It’s all business.”

  Calico only shook his head and snickered. He scooped up his knife, used the woman’s dress to wipe off Cecil the driver’s blood, then slid it over his forearm, the metal slicing across the crosshatched pattern of scars there.

  “You ever change your mind, you call me,” the woman said.

  “Have a good night.”

  Calico slid into the back seat of the SUV, grinding his teeth. He buckled his seatbelt, closed his eyes, and quietly enjoyed the pain in his arm.

  “Yo,
man. You’re crazy as hell for not taking her up on that offer,” Ugh said as he plopped into his seat just in front of Calico. “I would’ve tore that ass up. You see the tits on her?”

  “Mmm hmm,” Grunt said as his fingers wrapped around the steering wheel.

  A few of the addicts—their need overpowering their fear—tapped on the windows, begged for meat.

  “Come on, homie. Just a little pinch is all I need,” one man said as he scraped his nails over his neck.

  “You can do anything you want to me for a hit…all three of you. Please, man, please,” an emaciated woman said, a leaking blister on her upper lip.

  Grunt honked the horn. “Get the fuck outta the way!” He revved the engine a few times before driving forward. The side mirror slammed against a man’s shoulder, threw him to the ground. Calico turned his head to watch them chase the SUV like dogs.

  “Can’t wait for tonight,” Ugh said. “Gonna be somethin’ special.” He slapped the dashboard and rubbed his hands together.

  “Mmm hmm,” Grunt said, honked the horn in celebratory bursts.

  “What the fuck are you idiots talking about?” Calico just wanted to be with his daughter, didn’t want to spend another second with these assholes.

  Ugh chuckled. “Guess you didn’t get an invite.”

  “Mmm hmm.”

  “Quit fucking around and spit it out. Invite for what?”

  “For the gang bang.”

  - Chapter 9 -

  Inside of the officer’s pants were the keys to the patrol car. Paco grabbed those, along with the handgun which he stuffed into his pocket. He opened the trunk, rummaged through it as he held back his panic. The rifle blast had been so loud, he checked the road for any oncoming vehicles that may have heard it. Some vehicles passed by, but the pickup and patrol car were hidden well enough that the driver’s didn’t seem to notice and just drove on. But every time Paco heard an approaching engine and the crunching of spinning tires, his stomach nearly dropped into his shoes.

  There was a first aid kit, but when he unzipped and looked through it, he didn’t find anything that could help Sophia.