Surge (116 page)

I leave them to talk about whatever the fuck point system they’re talking about, in favor of continuing down the hall. There are four more doors down this way, one a women’s rest room, and two that are unmarked, but I’m leaving no stone unturned. I want every one of these bastards dead to eliminate the threat entirely. In this case, I’m not so sure that removing the head will completely kill the snake, as could be seen with the raiders having a little fun on their own time back at the outlets. Plus, I bet a good portion of them have done shit to Olivia at one time or another, so they deserve to die.

Coming up to the first door, which is the women’s lavatory, I push it open without care. This is where I find two dead raiders on the floor. Both of them don’t have any injuries that I can see; no blood or sign indicating the cause of death. It’s when I step closer that I see their heads are twisted at odd angles. That’s when I feel a spark of hope, since I’d seen Olivia snap a guy’s neck with her thighs downstairs just a short time ago.

“That’s Ace’s work alright,” Patsy says from behind me. “Would recognize it anywhere.”

“You sure?” I ask. “‘Cuz Olivia just killed a guy downstairs like that.” I point at the nearest body with his head twisted to the left and up.

“Positive,” Patsy answers. He crouches low and points to the neck. “Ace’s a lefty, that’s why it went this way. If Olivia did it the way he taught her to, it would have went in the other direction.”

“Fuck,” I mumble. “On to the next.”

“At least that’s two more we don’t have to worry about,” Webby points out, as he steps into the hallway.

I shrug, it’s alright, but I care more about finding Olivia than killing raiders, since they could be dealt with after. Webby leads the way down the hallway, so I trail after him with Patsy behind me. Keeping a decent pace, we reach the next door, and Webby kicks it in. I see him pop his head in, before shaking it and coming back out.

“Empty?” Patsy asks.

“Is now,” Webby answers.

When he turns and continues moving on, I crane my neck to check the room out as we pass by. He’s right; it is cleared now, since there’re more bodies strewn about. But these ones have obvious wounds like knives sticking out of them, and gunshots. I count four, before moving on. Jesus Christ, how many followers did this guy have? With the ones Olivia poisoned outside, then the ones we’ve killed out there and in here, it’s gotta be nearing a hundred by now. And these were in addition to the ones we killed back at the condo. He’s got a freaking army at this command. Well, he did. Now, we just have to cut down whatever’s left.

“Two more,” Webby says.

“You already clear the other side?” Patsy asks.

“That’s where we came from,” Webby replies. “Seen a room full of corpses, and a couple of strays, but that was it.”

“Yeah, Patsy cleared house with his AK,” I tell him, before glancing at the red head who’s changing my opinion about people with his unfortunate hair color. “Any idea where that went?”

“Nope,” he says. “Some fucker took it with my other shit.”

“Well that sucks.”

“It’s fine, there were plenty more where that came from,” Patsy says with a grin.

“Later,” I say.

“Of course, we’ll need the van anyway.”

“Last one,” Webby calls out from down the hall. He’s only about ten feet away, but since I paused to check out the empty one, I’ve lagged behind a bit. Picking up my pace, I reach him in time to push open the last door.

“On three,” he says.

Patsy and I nod, before Webby mouths a three count. On three, he kicks the door in, to find that it’s the outer area of an office. You know, where they usually have a secretary greet you and you have to wait six and a half years before her boss gets off his ass to come and get you? Yeah, well it’s one of them. It’s not empty time, seeing as there are three raiders sprawled out on the couches. I hurl two knives at them, and see Patsy sink a third into the last one. This room’s now cleared, but we still have to check the office on the other side.

Cutting through the room, I hear voices on the other side, so I know we’ve found the place. Also coming from the room, is this weird whooshing sound, followed by laughter. So not liking the sound of that, I sprint the rest of the way and pull open the door. My eyes scan the room, finding three chairs in the center with bodies bound to them, belonging to John, Tommy and Cory. They’re lined in a row, with a handful of raiders on either side. It’s set up like a theater, so I look to the front to see what the main attraction is.

Which happens to be Olivia’s bloody back. Her arms are raised above her head and shackled to the ceiling, while her toes barely touch the ground. The nightie she was wearing earlier has been ripped almost entirely in half, and there are lash marks covering every inch of skin exposed. The nightie, which was a pale pink, is now a maroon nightmare. I snap out of my daze, when I see a hand rise above the heads in front, in prep of bringing it down on her back again.

“You swing that whip one more time, and it’ll be the last thing you do,” I announce. Six unfamiliar heads swivel in our direction with confusion evident on their faces, while two familiar one’s glare.

“You again!” Tim shouts.

“Yeah, me again,” I say. “But I ain’t hear for you, Timothy.” I look around Tim to see the whip wielding coward standing in front like he’s a fucking king. “I’m here for your master.”

“Ah, I see we have a few more guests who have come to see the show,” Cole says and turns to face me. He’s front and center, and holding the whip which is responsible for Olivia’s current state. Cole snaps his fingers. “Boys, get them some chairs. I know they don’t want to miss this, we were just getting to the best part.” When he reaches for his belt, and steps toward Olivia, I pull my gun out.

“Most of your boys are gone,” I tell him, pointing my gun at his chest. “And if you make one more move, then you’ll be joining them.” Cole pauses to glance at me, similar to how someone would look at a disgusting bug.

“You dare threaten me?” Cole asks. From his tone and lack of fear, I’m sure that he thinks he’s invincible. Too bad, mother fucker, everything dies at some point. And he’ll be dead before I step out of this goddamned pit of hell.

“Oh, it wasn’t a threat, it’s a promise.”

“As is the promise of your friends’ deaths,” Cole counters. He waves his hand at his lackey’s, and they step behind my bound crew members, while Tim steps in front of Cole like a shield.

“Come now, Timothy, there’s no need for that,” Cole chastises. “I’m sure that we could come to an agreement, civilized individuals that we are.”

“Yeah, you’re civilized alright,” I say and glance at my tied up friends with guns held to their heads, and the love of my life dripping blood on the floor. “I bet you’re on the cover to
Home and Garden
.”

“Was that sarcasm I heard?” Cole asks, aiming a glare at me. “Insults with a smile?”

“One in the same,” I answer with a shrug.

“I do despise sarcasm,” Cole says. “Isn’t that right, Livi?” He glances at her, but she’s facing the other direction. “Isn’t that right, Livi?” When she still doesn’t answer him, he stomps over and pulls her by the roots of her hair to look at him. “I said answer me.”

“And I said to go fuck yourself,” Olivia whispers. Hearing her answer, quiet though it may be, calms me a little. That is, until Cole backhands her.

“I’ll teach you to speak to me that way,” he threatens. “After I deal with your friends, you and I will be having a long discussion.”

“Sounds flipping fantastic,” she says. “Now, are you through? I’m tired.” Cole growls, that’s the only way to describe the noise that comes from his mouth, before he grips Olivia’s chain and spins her body around.

“We’ll see how strong you are when your disobedience pours more blood on your hands,” he hisses in her ear. This time, I see Olivia flinch. That right there tells me that he’s the asshole filling her head with that bull shit. He may be able to hurt her physically, but the only time he gets a reaction, is mentally, and he likes it. As can be seen when he smiles at her flinch.

“Which one first, sweet Livi?” Cole asks and walks over to John. He shoves the raider aside, before reaching into his suit jacket, and coming out with a gun. “This one?” Olivia’s face is completely blank as she stares at the wall to the left. “No, I don’t think he’ll do.” Cole moves on to Tommy. “What about this one?” When Olivia doesn’t so much as take a breath, he continues on to Cory.

“Now this one, I know will get a rise out of you. Isn’t that right, pet?” Olivia’s jaw clenches. “After all, he’s the one who abandoned you.” Cole leans into Cory’s face. “He even looks like the one who thought to challenge me for my property.” I can’t see Cory’s face since he’s facing the opposite direction, but I can see his shoulders lurch forward as far as his bounds allow him to. Cole laughs and pats Cory’s cheek. “Actually, that would be doing him a favor, don’t you think, my sweet? Should I let him drown in his guilt, or should I end his suffering?”

“I think you should shut the fuck up,” I interrupt. “I’ve heard enough of your bull shit, now step over here, and play dead like a good pet.”

“I almost forgot about you,” Cole says, and turns away from Olivia. “Since it seems that these men don’t belong to Olivia, they must belong to you.” He smiles, and it isn’t charming, it’s icy. “Perhaps you’ll give me some answers.”

“Nah, I’m not much of a talker,” I tell him, and hear a smothered chuckle behind me. What the fuck are they doing anyway? Let’s continue to talk to the douchebag, instead of taking them out and getting the fuck out of here? I was hoping to distract king asshole, while they cleared the hostages out, since there’s no way in hell I’m gonna start popping off rounds when we have restrained friendlies in the mix. If they weren’t hit by one of our stray bullets, then they sure as fuck would take some from the douchebag raiders.

“We’ll see about that,” Cole says. Without taking his eyes off me, he talks to Tim. “Timothy, bring me the pliers.”

“Do you honestly think I’m just going to sit here, while you start removing digits?” I ask, when Tim moves to comply with the command. “Tim, you take one more step, and Cole dies.” Tim stops immediately, and steps back toward Cole.

“You have no choice,” Cole replies. “After all, I’m the one with the cards lying at my feet.” He holds his hands out to show me his crew, John, Tommy and Cory.

“You touch them, you die,” I promise. I know I’ve said the wrong thing, when Cole grins.

“Now, that’s what I’m talking about. So, which will it be first?” He places a hand on Cory’s head, and I see Cory’s blond head swivel out of the contact. Taking a page from Olivia, I try to blank my expressions. “No, I’ll save this one. I’m sure that he’ll be more fun alive than dead.” He continues on to Tommy, so I play indifference and glance behind him, trying to catch Olivia’s eye; but hers are closed. “Forget it, I’ve had enough of these games.” When I hear the gun cock, my eyes snap back to Cole, in time to see him place the handgun at John’s head and place his finger on the trigger. I hear glass breaking and gun shots, before I see John’s chair tip sideways.

“NO!” I shout and empty my clip in Cole’s direction.

Running forward, I dive over Tommy’s chair and take the unprotected bastard to the ground, since his shield; aka Tim, took the bullets meant for this fucker. My fist wallops the asshole’s face, but he still manages to catch me with a few. To be honest, more than a few. This fucker can surprisingly hold his own in a fight, but that isn’t gonna stop me from snuffing this best friend murdering bastard. I don’t know or care where the hell the other raiders are at the moment, this prick is mine.

Or he was, until I feel a something sharp sink into my stomach. Inhaling sharply at the stabbing pain, Cole takes advantage of my pause, and flips us over. The knife slides out of me; still locked in Tim’s dead fingers, so the asshole might have taken me with him after all. No matter, I’m taking this prick with me if it’s the last thing I do. When I feel his hands encompass my throat, I almost laugh. I guess I know who taught his followers how to choke people. I’m just about to break the hold like I’ve done every time one of his lackey’s tried a similar move, when I hear a whispered voice.

“Master.”

Cole’s head snaps to Olivia at the same time mine does. She’s holding the knife that Tim’s quickly setting rigor mortis fingers were just holding. How the fuck she got out of her shackles, I don’t know, since my attention was devoted to killing the mother fucker who murdered my best friend. No, not best friend, brother in every way but blood. I shake that thought away, I need to focus on the here and now, I’ll mourn his loss later. Preferably with a bottle of Jack, that way that I can cry outright, and blame it on the booze.

My hands are fisted in Cole’s button up, and my legs are half bent in prep of launching this prick off of me, when I see Olivia lower Tim’s knife and drags it across her wrist. She meets my eyes, and mouths
‘sorry,’
before switching hands and dragging it across her other one. I don’t have to shove Cole off of me, because his hands fall from my neck, and he dives for Olivia’s body as she falls; leaving me frozen with shock.

Her body tumbles to the ground with a loud thump, and twin rivers of blood flow from her wrists, staining the oriental carpeting in a maroon dye. What was the point of all of this? John’s dead, along with who knows else, and she came all the way here, just to kill herself? Just an hour ago, she said she wanted to try with me, what the fuck changed? Was my dad right? I’m not worth the effort, so just give up? I guess so, since she just killed herself to get the fuck away from here.

My vision starts getting a little hazy, so I scrub a hand over my eyes, and pull what little hair I have left with my other hand. The pain from my busted fingers, along with the sting from my scalp, is welcome. She’s pretty much left me in the position that Travis left her, and while I should be pissed, I just feel defeated. My heart has been torn from my chest and set on fire, and I don’t think that it can heal from these burns.

“Livi?” Cole asks as he picks her up off the ground, and cradles her in his arms. When she doesn’t answer him, he shakes her. “Livi!”