"What changed?" Grey asked.
"Gunner arrived all in a huff, talking how this crazy man had half an army and was on his way to carve me up." The River King's smile widened and he began chuckling. "Sorry, it's funny, because he meant you, Neil."
Neil wasn't amused. "And then what happened?" he asked, dryly.
"I let Sadie go," he answered, simply. "However she decided to stay, especially when I told her that I would welcome the man who had kept my daughter safe all these months." Surprisingly, the River King laid a hand on Neil's shoulder and looked him in square in the eye and said, "Thank you."
After all the snide remarks and the half-sinister smiles, Neil couldn't believe what he was hearing and when he spoke next it came out as a confused question, "You're welcome?"
Chapter 26
Deanna Russell
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Neil looked taken in by an apology that Deanna thought was fishy as hell. If the River King had been at all sincere, why had had he gone to such lengths to freak them out before hand? It didn't seem to fit.
By his flinty eyes it looked like Captain Grey agreed with her assessment. Fred Trigg was his complete opposite; his relief was so obvious it was a little embarrassing. Jillybean reacted to the apology…well the little girl was her usual unnerving self. She was as placid as a duck on a calm lake and yet there was absolutely no telling what was going on beneath the surface in that head of hers.
Deanna didn't know what to think of the little girl. There had been more incredible rumors about her circulating throughout the camp than anyone and a couple of them were clearly believed to be true by the River King. Dee, turned her head slightly to look at Jillybean, thinking: had she really created an army of zombies? And if so, how?
Just then Sadie walked in. Deanna had never seen her before, however her resemblance to the River King was uncanny: short dark hair, spiked in all direction, dark eyes that hid more than they showed, and a smile that was equal parts mocking and mirth.
"It took you long enough to get here, Neil," she said. "Did you get lost? Or were you and Jillybean off having adventures without me?"
Neil didn't answer; he crushed her in an embrace. Jillybean, dancing next to them answered for him, "Mister Neil didn't do nothing…oh, right Ipes, I mean Mister Neil didn't do anything. It was all me and Mister Captain Grey, though mostly it was me. I got to drive a truck and I smashed it into this store…"
"Not now, Jillybean," Grey said, covering her running mouth. "Go give Sadie a hug."
Instead of hugging her, the little girl put out her right hand with her pinky sticking out. Sadie hooked it with her own pinky and smiled down at her. "You have to be my sister if you're still getting in trouble."
"Yes, I'm your sister, but I'm not getting in so much trouble. It's Ipes who's always going to time out. You wanna know what he said about the River King?"
"Not right now," Sadie said, quickly, and she too covered the little girl's mouth. She turned to her father with a quick explanation. "Ipes is her zebra. It's nothing."
There was just the slightest hint of fear in her voice. Deanna was sure that if she spoke the same fear would be heard in her words as well. Being around so many men set her nerves on edge. They intimidated her. Other than Neil they were all so big and most of them had an air of violence surrounding them. In other words they were just like the men who had held her captive as a sex slave for the last six months.
Suddenly, she missed her shotgun. It was her great equalizer.
After explaining about Ipes, Sadie moved on and hugged Grey, who returned it in a formal manner, his eyes and vigilance never wavering from the men around him. "Glad to see you're doing so well," he told her.
The River King watched all this wearing a blank expression—unsurprised and certainly unmoved. "Now that the ersatz reunion is out of the way, we should probably talk business," he intoned, going to a large desk and seating himself behind it. You wish to cross my bridge?"
Neil nodded. "Straight forward. I like that. Yes, we have a large group…"
"Heading to Colorado," the River King stated as fact.
"Yes, we're going to Colorado. There are about sixty three of us and I was hoping we could work out a deal for the crossing."
When Neil mentioned the number sixty three the River King's eyes flicked to Deanna. Now, he said, casually, "You've picked up a few more strays I see." He smirked at Neil's puzzlement. "Don't be so surprised. It's my job to know everything that happens on or near the shores of my river. I knew how many slaves Gunner was keeping for himself and I knew how many people were in this guy's group," he said, gesturing to Fred.
"And I knew that the Colonel had a bit of a jail break a few days ago. He lost thirty something of his finest women," he said eyeing Deanna closer now. She shivered but managed to keep her jaw from shaking by pressing her lips hard together. Would the River King send her back to The Island? Would he buy her from Neil to keep for himself? Suddenly her chest grew tight with the idea that the River King could see through the dark glasses on her face; she averted her gaze, putting a hand to her glasses and pushing them further up her slim nose.
"Yes…," the River King said in a long breath and looking to Neil again. "It's quite a pack of fugitives you've managed to codge together, Neil. I don't know if 'impressive' is the right word, but it is what it is."
Neil bristled, "Meaning what?"
"Meaning I have a wonderful deal for you. I will let you all cross for free but only if you make Sadie stay here with me."
"Make?" Sadie practically shouted. "He can't make me do anything and neither can you."
The River King scoffed at this. "Actually I can make you do anything I want, given enough leverage. You just showed me how much you care for these people. I could threaten them and make you stay, but I want you to see reason. And you too, Neil. From here to the Rockies is nine hundred miles of insane danger. Remember the old stories about the buffalo covering the Great Plains like locust? That's how it is with the stiffs. They are everywhere!"
"We can take care of ourselves," Neil shot back. He was trying to appear tough however a little color had slipped from his cheeks.
"Based on what evidence?" the River King asked. "According to my daughter you go from danger to danger, putting yourself in idiotic positions and barely getting out of each alive." He held up his hand and began ticking off fingers: "Julia was murdered a hundred miles from here. You go to New York where Ram gets turned into a zombie. You go all the way back down south only to lose Sarah and Nico. And now you can't go two hundred miles without the need to be rescued from that idiot Gunner by a kindergartner!"
His argument was so compelling that Neil sheepishly said, "You should let Sadie decide for herself."
"I would but she has a terrible habit of making poor decisions in her choice of friends and once she makes a friend she then is instantly loyal to them. She can't see straight in this, Neil. That's why I'm counting on you to help me."
"Don't talk like I'm not right here!" she shouted. "And maybe if you had ever been there for me in my life I might have turned out different."
"Yes, I know I was an ass," the River King said. "But right now I'm just trying to help you see what a mistake this is. You have a great place here. We are nearly a thousand strong. It's safe and it has a future."
"A future selling slaves?" Sadie demanded. Her tongue was like acid and her dark eyes flashed. "And the Arena? You deal in death! I want no part of it."
The River King smiled sadly and acknowledged, "I do deal in death…for now. Once the country stabilizes the bridge will not only make us rich, it will keep us rich. But in the meantime we have to survive somehow. If I took away these, er, other forms of revenue, people would leave and I would be left trying to defend this bridge with just a handful. I'd be no safer than any of you."
"It would be better than the alternative," Grey said. "You know, just because the country has fallen, it doesn't mean heaven as fallen as well, or hell for t
hat matter."
The River King gave him a tepid smile. "Thanks for the sermon, Father. I will worry about heaven later. For now, I have my hands full trying to keep my daughter from running off again."
They had hit an impasse and silence descended on them. Deanna didn't think much of Sadie's chances of finishing the trip to Colorado. The River King looked like a man who got what he wanted no matter the expense.
Jillybean raised her hand and her native intelligence was held in such high esteem that everyone, including the armed guards, leaned in to listen as she piped out the question: "If you're the River King, wouldn't that make Sadie the River Princess? How come she doesn't have a crown or a dress? She should have the big type of dress that's all poofy on the underneath."
This made the River King smile. "This is also my fault. I used to think I was such a tough guy back when I was younger. I'd dress all in black and swagger about trying to be cool. Sadie picked it up."
Jillybean held up her zebra and said "Ipes thinks you should wear a dress, maybe just for a day or two and then maybe Sadie would wear one, too."
The River King was about to respond when Sadie said, "I'm going to Colorado, one way or the other. A real father wouldn't want his daughter part of any of this you have going on. A real father would help me get to Colorado if he thought the trip was so dangerous."
He bowed his head in thought while everyone remained quiet; Captain Grey put his large rough hand over Jillybean's mouth. Eventually, the River King looked up. "You can go," he said. "But I have to charge you all the full bridge fare."
"What?" Sadie cried in outrage.
Neil put his hand out to her and then addressed the River King, "You know this will just make crossing the country that much harder."
"Yes. And I also know that I just paid ten thousand to buy her safety, something you couldn't manage, Neil. And now you want me to throw away another three-thousand on top of that? Hell no. I need to make some of that back somehow." He leaned back, thinking for a moment, with a frown on his face. It brightened suddenly. "But I'm not all bad. I can at least feed you a meal before you go. Let's have some brunch. Boys clear the room and have some food brought up."
The armed men left and as soon as they did, the River King ran his fingers through his raven hair, giving the fugitives a tired look. "You guys put me in a ridiculous position in front of my men. Don't you know my reputation? I don't haggle over my fee. Ever. If it got out that I did it will lead to trouble."
"What are you saying?" Neil asked.
"I'm saying I will help you if you promise not to mention this to anyone. Here's the deal. You'll pay the full fee so that everyone sees and then I'll have the equivalent set out on the road in a Rider truck a couple of miles west of here. Nothing could be simpler unless you don't have the fee. Please, tell me you have the fee."
"Yes," Neil said. "We do. But I can't believe you're just going to…"
"Give it back? Yes. I can't believe it either, but I find myself caring more for my little girl now than I have since she was born. I would do anything for her."
This surprising admission turned Deanna's head. One moment she was hating the man and feeling vulnerable right down to her core and the next she was feeling a sudden pang of despair and it was a shock for to realize the source: the memory of her own father. This was the sort of thing Mike Russell would've done for her.
"Thank you," Neil said. "We really appreciate this." His words were slow and filled with emotion. They seemed to twist the River King's mind back to square and he smiled like a pirate.
"Don't thank me yet. You might piss me off during brunch and then I'll have to have you killed."
No one died during brunch though the River King had his patience tested by Captain Grey who quizzed him on every subject concerning his petty kingdom. From the arena, to slavery in general, to what pacts, if any, he had made with the other little groups of humans scattered about the country.
Deanna said nothing at all, not trusting herself to speak. Frankly she didn't know how to act around men now that she was a free person. Somehow she had been seated next to the River King with Fred Trigg on her other side. They spoke right across her as if she wasn't even there.
She could tell Trigg disliked her although they hadn't spoken more than a few words to each other. He knew what she had been, so for him nothing else mattered. The same was true with the River King who, though never actually speaking to her, included her in the conversation in a physical way, touching her constantly both above and below the table. She was on the verge of screaming at him but was afraid to make a scene and ruin any chance they had of getting across the river. Like her old pathetic self she sat there and took his wandering hands submissively.
With all her heart she wished she was sitting across the table where Jillybean was as animated and happy as any little girl had a right to be. She was in a four way discussion with Sadie, Neal, and Ipes and spoke not only for the zebra but frequently for the others as well. They didn't seem to mind, they were a family again, needing only Eve to complete the unit. Deanna was horribly jealous and was happy when the meal ended.
"We don't open the gates at night, so don't be slow getting back," the River King said as he walked them to their truck. The activity on the campus had picked up with people steadily coming through a gate that lead in from the rest of the city. The River King wasn't exaggerating about having a thousand people; the small campus was becoming crowded and strangely loud. None in Neil's group was used to it.
"That's why we lock the gates," the River King remarked. "The stiffs start to get amped up later in the day. Oh...I forgot. I do have one stipulation to our deal. I want Sadie to stay with me until you get back. She'll meet you on this side of the bridge." Sadie started to argue, but he was firm. "Something could happen. Besides you're leaving again. I want to spend some more time with you."
Reluctantly, it was agreed that Sadie would wait for them on the west side of the bridge. There was a quick goodbye and then the group was heading back east as fast as Neil dared. No one spoke even after they cleared the bridge, only Deanna made any sound: she breathed a sigh of relief.
The news that the River King would help them gave the afternoon a celebratory feel as though they had made the hardest part of the journey already and all that was left was a quick dash across the country. Neil used their excitement to his advantage. They were a few hundred gallons of fuel short of their goal and he sent them out in teams of five to knock holes in every gas tank they could find.
Deanna worked as hard as any of them. More than anything she wanted to put the Mississippi River behind her. For her it would be a virtual cleansing of her past. She vowed that from the moment she set foot on the far bank she would never cower before any man, no matter what the circumstances.
By four in the afternoon the teams started returning and there was a general feel of excitement as the trucks were loaded up. Deanna climbed into the cab of the five-ton and was taken back to find Captain Grey sitting behind the wheel.
"Hope you don't mind," he said. "But if Kay keeps driving this thing, she'll grind the gears down to dust."
How quick her vow to be strong wavered! Just like that, her hands shook as she reached for her seatbelt and her lips trembled. She didn't know if she was angry or afraid or both. Her insides felt like they were churning out competing emotions, each striving against the other, none victorious. Worried that this would show on her pale features, she dug out the sun glasses again.
Grey smiled, seeing them, not realizing how she took the simple gesture. Did the smile mean he was laughing at her on the inside? Was it contempt on his lips? Or was the smile his way of showing his superiority? Showing that as a man he had nothing to fear in this terrible world.
His smile faltered. "I was going to mention Julia Roberts again, but you don't look up for it. What's wrong? Did I do something to offend you?"
"No. Just drive."
He made a sound that was somewhere between a scoffing grunt and
huff of apathy. She thought for sure it was going to be a long ride, but then her door opened and there was little Jillybean. She didn't wait for an invitation. She commenced to climb in, and then without pause crawled over Deanna.
"Can I ride up here with you two?" she asked once she was settled between the two adults. "The ladies in the back all want to fix my hair or something. Also driving was harder than it looked and I wanted to know what I was doing wrong."
"To start with you had sticks tied to your legs," Grey told her. "And secondly, you're too young to drive."
"Naw, that's not it. I think I'm too short to drive."
"You're too something," Grey replied, sounding cranky. Jillybean didn't seem to either notice or care what the soldier's mood was. She simply gave him a disarming smile and began to ask questions: "Why's there an extra pedal? What's all those numbers mean? How do you turn on the wiper-thingies?" And so on.
Deanna was glad for the buffer and even more glad that Jillybean wouldn't shut up. It meant she wasn't going to be forced into small talk, something she wasn't prepared to do. Ever since joining the larger group she had kept to the women, finding men unbearable to be around. She saw in their every move and every word some trick to expose any weakness, any little tell that she was inferior.
A part of her knew she was being paranoid, however the larger part didn't care and had given in to the paranoia. She watched from the corner of her eye and listened to the little girl and the gruff soldier talk, looking for the subtle put downs she was sure he would voice or the thinly veiled insinuations of his superiority, but they never came.
All through the sixteen mile ride Jillybean chirped hers and Ipes' questions and Grey replied: cranky at first because he wasn't one to talk much, but gradually more tolerant and as he grew used to the interrogation he expounded on the entire process of driving. Deanna was amazed to see that the two of them respected each other, going so far as to view the other as an equal. And if that wasn't incredible enough it was Grey who proved the more vulnerable.
The Apocalypse Fugitives Page 25