LIFERS Chapter Thirty Seven

‘What the fuck was that hunk-a-junk doin’ blockin’ the fuckin’ road, anyways?’ Dane said; as he watched the white van vanish behind the crest of a hill.

‘Probably waitin’ for that pussy Billy to come get when the rain stops,’ replied Sam. ‘And why are we out here two and three days at a time when he gets all the simple jobs, huh?’

‘Well, Sam, he gets all the simple jobs because he ain’t as smart as you are.’

Sam pulled down the sides of his mouth, nodded. ‘Hum, well, I s’pose that’s true.’

Dane smiled, shook his head, and depressed the pedal for Martinsville.

Two minutes later he swung the 4x4 onto Main Street but slammed the brakes on just outside the open shutter.This time Sam didn’t complain as both of them looked through Danes side of the car at what they thought might have been Sheldon.

‘What the fuck’s that all about?’ said Sam.

Dane shook his head. ‘If it weren’t for the bullet holes in his chest I’d say Ella wheeled him out here‘cause she was mighty pissed at him always skulkin’ off to the cinema when he should be in there. But something else has been hapnin’ here, Sam, don’t know what, but somethin’.’

‘Look at his face, there ain’t no skin on it.’

‘Yeah I see it.’

‘That ain’t no way to go, Dane.’

‘No it ain’t, Sam, and we sure as hell won’t be goin’ out like that, not when our little water problem becomes a thing of the past, anyways.’

‘What’s that s’posed to mean?’ Sam said, still staring at Sheldon.

‘Have you got absolutely no fuckin’ idea as to who we got in back?’

‘No, you done told me fuck-all Dane. Ever since you took over the drivin’ y’ain’t told me shit. And before you took over the drivin’, y’even told me less shit.’

‘Well that’s a fair comment I s’pose, but ya gotta promise me, Sam, ya not gonna tell nothin’ to nobody, no matter what, ya hear?’

‘How the hell can I be tellin’ somethin’ to somebody when I don’t have somethin’ to be a tellin’ ‘em anyways, Dane? And no one here for me to tell it to even if I did have somethin’ to tell ‘em, huh?’

Dane frowned. ‘I can honestly say I did not understand a fuckin’ word you just said, Sam.’

‘I ain’t gonna tell no one is what I’m sayin’, Dane.’

‘Promise me, Sam.’

‘Okay, I promise.’

‘Right,’ Dane said, then turned in the seat to face him. He spoke soft, as though revealing a secret he didn’t want overheard. ‘Remember when we got all those bags o’ blood delivered to us, and after a while Ella warned us not to use ‘em no more 'cause they was taminated with somethin’?’

Sam nodded. ‘Uh huh.’

‘And you remember that fire at the town hall that kilt those three breeders, way back?’

‘Course I do, I helped put the fuckin’ thing out. Done burned myself on the water doin’ it, too.’

‘Well one o’ them girls who was s’posed to have died that night was Hal’s sister, Alice. Only she weren’t kilt see, somehow she got away. And nigh on seventy years later she comes back, makes some kind o’ deal with Ella regardin’ the blood and almost wipes us all out.’

‘So what’s that gotta do with who we got in the back then?’

‘Because when Alice disappeared she was with child, and the girl we got in the back is her daughter, and, accordin’ to Ella, she’s one of us. Only she can touch water, drink water, hell, she can go for a fuckin’ swim if she wants to and it don’t affect her none.’

‘Well forgive me for soundin’ a little, shit-fir-brains here, Dane, but how the fuck does that help us make our “little water problem” a thing of the past, huh?’

‘From how I understand it, old-timer Martins makes this new batch of stuff from her blood and we all get a dose.’

‘And we end up like she is?’

‘S’what Ella says. But keep ya fuckin’ big mouth shut, Sam, ‘cause if she ever finds out I told you ‘bout it we’ll both be takin’ an early bath.’

‘My lips are sealed,’ he said, and emphasised his pledge by pretending to fasten a button on them.

After they entered the garage, Dane took the keys from the ignition and climbed out to unlock the hatched-back of the 4x4 and Sam climbed out to push the down button on the shutter. As he did, he saw a camera, a photograph, and a clear plastic bag that contained more photographs on the oil drum. He was about to pick them up when a shout from Dane made him twist on the spot to see the girl they’d taken from Lynchburg spring to life and start to kick and punch Dane.

‘Get the fuckin’ chloroform, Sam, and hurry,’ he shouted.

Sam left his find and rushed to the 4x4 where he climbed in and soaked a rag with chloroform before he joined Dane in the struggle with the girl.

‘Fuck me,’ Sam said. ‘She’s scrappin’ like a wild boar with young’uns.’

‘Stop ya fuckin’ yakin’, Sam, and get that damn rag over her mouth, would ya?’

‘That’s what I’m tryin’ to do, but the bitch won’t keep her fuckin’ head still long enough.’

Dane dropped his weight to the floor and dragged the girl down with him and Sam knelt and forced her head between his knees then rammed the chloroform-soaked rag over her nose and mouth, a few seconds later she lay quiet and still, and Dane and Sam slouched against the 4x4.

‘Whoo,’ Dane said. ‘Damn near tuckered me out she did.’

‘Feisty little fucker that one,’ Sam said. ‘And no messin’.’

After a short rest, and with Sam’s help, Dane hooked the young blonde over his shoulder and made his way to the shaft whilst Sam picked up a flashlight from inside the confined space under the trunk lid that the girl had spent the whole journey in and followed him.

‘Whoa, hold the fuck up there,’ Dane said, when he reached the bottom of the shaft. ‘Sam, get down here with that flashlight, right now.’

Sam left the hatch open to join Dane at the bottom. ‘What is it, ya scared o’ the fuckin’ dark now?’ he said, but soon realised what the problem was when he shone the flashlight by his feet.

‘Fuck, that’s Brett, what the hell’s been going on here, Dane?’

‘I got no fuckin’ idea, Sam. But I’m fucked if I’m gonna stand around here and discuss it with you if the shooter’s still hangin’ round.’

‘Shit, right,’ Sam said, then disappeared into the tunnel after him.

As they made their way to the town hall, Sam continually talked about what he would do once he could touch water again. The dead Brett and Sheldon had soon slipped from his mind.