Surge (19 page)

This time, dinner goes on without a hitch. No one blatantly stares at Olivia; they’re more like casual glances trying to understand what to make of her. Well, good luck with that. I’ve known her for longer than anyone here, besides John, and I still haven’t a clue as to who she really is.

Like right now. She’s quietly conversing with Sarah, as if she isn’t the shiny new toy that everyone wants to play with. Especially the men, meaning Carlos, Oscar, and the now with us, Tommy. Well, step the fuck in line, because I’ve already called dibs. That, and I have a new opening for my provider of physical relief.

Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Red since our talk earlier. She’s most likely disregarded everything I’ve said, and is hiding out in my room again. Damn, I forgot my tools and crow bar. Maybe I can sic Olivia on her? Nah, she wouldn’t go for it unless it benefited her in some way.

I turn my attention back to the now smiling beauty to my left. Furious, Olivia’s gorgeous, but when she smiles, it steals your breath straight from your lungs. Her full red lips turn up slightly, like they aren’t quite sure what to do, and reveal straight white teeth that must have cost her parents a fortune in orthodontist work. I’m still staring at her like a newly pubescent boy with his first nudie magazine, when John elbows me in the ribs. I’m about to retaliate in kind, when I see him point at Akio in the hallway, waving me over. I get up from the table and go to meet him. Seeing as he looks a little worried, I quicken my pace. Following him outside the condo and into the hallway, I shut the door behind me before he speaks.

“We might have a problem,” Akio states calmly. Only a doctor can utter such a sentence, without a single trace of inflection.

“What kind of problem?” I inquire. “Is it Leonard, because he was flirting away like there was no tomorrow, so that has to be a good sign, right?”

“No, no it’s not Leonard,” he rejects. “He seems fine, just a scare. It could have been something as simple as a pulled muscle, or a little constipation.” Thank you very much for that delightful visual, Doc.

“So, if it isn’t Lenny,” I begin. “What is it?”

“Why don’t you have a look for yourself?” Akio offers and leads the way to the window he was watching. Looking outside to the now setting sun, later in the day since it’s the tail end of summer, I see what he’s pointing at. Outside, there are cars. Cars that weren’t there a few hours ago. Cars that weren’t there a few hours ago, means people.

“How is that a problem?” I ask starting to get a little excited. “That means more survivors. More survivors, means stronger defenses. Or it could finally be the help we’ve been waiting for.”

“Or it could be hostiles,” Olivia counters from behind me. Turning, I see Miss Buzzkill with her arms crossed, and her body tight with tension. “Have you seen any people or groups recently?”

“No,” I answer, somewhat peeved that she’s raining on my parade. “You’re the first person that we’ve seen in months.”

“That’s not true,” John denies. “You just picked up the red head a few days before we left.” Olivia freezes, her eyes widening as wide as saucers before replying.

“Take me to her,” she says with a voice as cold as ice.

Not knowing where she’s going with this, but knowing better than to deny her, I lead Olivia to my room. Stepping inside, I see that Victoria is indeed lounging on
my
bed, fiddling with
my
watch. I’ve had it with this bitch, and am about to order her to get the fuck out, when I hear Olivia beat me to it with a shout of her own.

“You!” Olivia snarls and rushes past me.

I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t have sicced Olivia on my burden, because before Victoria has a chance to react, Olivia knocks her off the bed in a tackle that would make any lineman proud; trust me, I would know with seventeen years of experience in the sport. When John and I run over to try and separate them, we find Olivia pinning Victoria’s struggling arms with her knees, and a knife pointed at the red head’s throat.

“Olivia, what the fuck?” I ask and go to pull her off. Olivia doesn’t move her body any more than to pull a second knife out, and point it in my direction.

“I’m handling this,” Olivia growls at me. She punctuates her next words with thrusts of her second knife like she’s fencing. “So,
back
the
fuck
off.”

“Handling doesn’t mean attacking her,” I retort.

“Jared, help me,” Victoria pleads with scared eyes. “You promised you’d watch out for me.”

“Everything’s fine,” I tell her as I ease my way toward Olivia. Raven hair swishes in my direction, accompanied by ice cold glaciers for irises.

“Everything is not
‘fine,’
” Olivia snarls at me.

No it fucking isn’t, I mentally agree. That’s because this chick is bat shit crazy, and I have to remove her from the helpless red head; that she still has pinned to the rug, before she inflicts any further damage. See, this is what happens when you let your dick rule you.

“Olivia, drop the knife,” I demand calmly.

“Fuck off!” Olivia shouts at me and tightens her hold on Victoria. “You have no fucking clue what you’re dealing with.” No shit, Sherlock.

“Jared, get this crazy bitch off of me!” Victoria shouts in a trembling voice.

“I’ll show you crazy.” With that, Olivia chops off one of Victoria’s fingers. Victoria starts screaming and thrashing to try and dislodge five feet of surgeon imposter from her body. “How’s that, bitch? How do you like it?”

Holy fuck! This chick is legit crazy. I’ve brought a certifiable psycho into our midst, and released her on the unsuspecting red head; whose only crimes are being a lousy fuck, and a lazy bed hog. What the fuck was I thinking? John’s watching the pair avidly with an inscrutable expression, while I manage to shake off my shock and step forward. I’m just about to rip Olivia off of Victoria, but freeze mid step when I hear her next words.

“Are you honestly trying to pretend you don’t recognize me? Because I know you fucking do, since I sure as hell remember you.” Leaning forward, Olivia snarls something so low that only Victoria hears it, and I know that this isn’t a case of mistaken identity, when Victoria smiles in response.

“But I thought we had fun,” says the red headed taunter, without so much as a tremble in her voice.

“I’m going to fucking end you,” Olivia promises. “But before I do, you’re going to answer some questions.”

“Fuck you,” she retorts. Victoria spits in Olivia’s face, and earns a wallop from the handle of the knife. Victoria, sick bitch that she is, doesn’t even utter a sound, when we hear the wet crunch of her nose breaking.

“How about we try this again?” Olivia proposes with a deadly tone, as she swipes her sleeve across her spit covered cheek. “You can either willingly tell me what I want to know, and you die quickly, or I can drag it out nice and slow?”

“Although I like it slow, as you well know,” is the response. “Hey, I made a funny!” Crazed laughter emerges from Red’s throat, to be cut off by Olivia putting pressure on it with the bloody knife. “I think I’ll choose neither.”

“That’s not an option,” the raven haired knife wielder says in a voice promising that death will definitely not be coming quickly, regardless of the option chosen.

“He’ll come for me, and you know it.”

“I’m planning on it,” Olivia says as she slices another finger off with a surgeon’s precision.

“I cannot in good conscience sit here, and condone this line of torture a moment longer,” Akio interrupts. I glance over at the Doc, before he continues. “I took an oath.”

“Then get the fuck out,” Olivia barks. “Because I’m just getting started.” Akio leaves before Olivia lines her knife up with another of Victoria’s fingers. “When are they coming?” Victoria doesn’t answer, so Olivia starts putting pressure on it without cutting through completely. Victoria starts struggling again, but Olivia manages to contain her; even with Red having a severe height advantage, and outweighing Olivia by at least ten pounds.

“Answer me, you fucking bitch!”

“Day after tomorrow,” Victoria spits out. Olivia lets up a little on the third finger.

“Good girl,” Olivia pats Victoria’s hair like a behaving pet. “See, that wasn’t so hard. Now, let’s try for another, shall we?” Without waiting for a response, she continues. “What time?”

“Two o’clock,” Red answers. Olivia nods before she continues.

“A.M. or P.M.?”

“A.M.,” Victoria says easily.

“How many?” When Victoria doesn’t answer, Olivia returns to the third finger.

“Twelve,” barks the deceitful bitch. Again lessening up on the third finger, Olivia asks the next question with a deadly calm.

“Where is he?”

“Dead,” is the immediate answer from Victoria.

“You lying cunt,” Olivia accuses and Victoria loses a third finger. “Let’s try this again. Where the
fuck
is he?”

“Somewhere you’ll never find him,” Victoria answers. She then closes her eyes with a cruel smile. “So, why don’t you just finish me off already?”

“No, I’m not done playing yet,” Olivia replies. Jumping quickly to her feet, Olivia stomps a booted foot onto Victoria’s throat. “She knows more, but for now, get some rope and tie this bitch up. Shove her in a closet, and put a guard on it.”

“Oh goody,” comes a choked response from the witch on the floor. “She’s kinky like you, Jared.” Thoroughly disgusted with myself for not only falling for her tricks, but for touching her body intimately on several occasions, I turn to a pissed off John.

“Grab some rope and duct tape,” I order and he nods before leaving the room. I rub a hand over my face, because I have no clue what the fuck is going on; it’s like I’m at the circus and Olivia is the ringleader. Relinquishing any attempt of rein holding, I naively thought I had, over completely to my master, I ask for my instructions.

“What do we do?”

“Hide the women,” she answers in a detached voice. “I don’t care if they can handle a weapon or not, hide them somewhere, and have them lock the door. Order them to not make any noise and don’t come out for anyone but you, and only then if you say the password.” I nod to say I’m following, before she continues. “Split your best shooters in half, and place them at both entrances.”

“And then what?” I inquire because she doesn’t say any more.

“We wait.”

<~~~<~~~
~~~>~~~>

After John came back with the supplies, we tied up the spy. With enough rope to hog tie a horse, a sock shoved in her mouth and duct tape holding it all as a double barrier; she isn’t going anywhere soon. Once she was bound, we shoved her in the game room’s closet, locked it, and posted an armed-to-the-teeth Leonard at the door, with an order to shoot without asking questions. The former postman, and Vietnam veteran, didn’t batt a lash at such an order.

Olivia supervised me while I hid the girls. She rejected both mine and Sarah’s rooms as options, saying that Victoria knew the areas too well. Finally, she approved of locking the girls in my dad’s former office, also known as the hospital. After locking the door, the girls barricaded it with anything and everything they could find, just as Olivia ordered them to do. With the girls secure, Olivia turned to address the protection put in place.

The twins were split, since they were both cops, and can handle guns with ease; so Carlos is on one end, and Oscar on the other. Everyone was given knives, along with a gun if they can handle it, or a bat if they can’t. With Carlos are John, Mike, Akio and Tommy to cover the back entrance. On the front entrance with Oscar are Danny, me and Olivia. When I asked her if she was going to be able to fight with her injuries, Olivia shrugged as she answered that,
‘she’s had worse.’
But when asked by Danny,
‘why she wasn’t with the women,’
Olivia said,
‘she’s not human, but machine’
with a pointed look at me. I guess Sarah told her about that, fucking PITA.

So, that’s how we ended up here; sitting in the hallway waiting at ten o’clock on a Wednesday night, for a raid supposed to take place around two o’clock in the morning, the day after tomorrow. The hallway is dimly lit with only a few candles in the corners, along with the moonlight streaming through the window, to light our way.

Oscar’s got his sniper trained on the street, searching for any sign of movement, Danny’s leaning against the wall twirling a knife around in his hands, Olivia’s back in her leather gear with her helmet on standby and sharpening her machete, while I’m checking the rigging for the front stair’s booby trap. Once I come back in the room, I hear Danny speak.

“Why are we waiting now, if they aren’t coming ‘til Friday?” Danny asks. “We leave before then anyway.”

“Because the bitch was lying,” Olivia answers without stopping her sharpening.

“And you’re sure that they’re really coming?” Danny questions.

“I’m positive,” she says.

“But how do you know?” Danny presses. I’m expecting Olivia to snap at him, but she just meets his eyes and replies with three simple words.

“I’ve seen it.”

Danny’s about to pester her more, but a stern look from me stops his inquisition. Obviously, Olivia knows what she’s talking about a lot more than we do, so we shouldn’t piss off the expert. I know there’s a story to tell, but since there is no time, I make note to ask later. If we’re still alive that is.