Chapter 11: Principle of Uncertainty (Part 3)

Two Months Earlier

"Hey Chuck!" Mickey called over, oblivious to his wrong doings as he marched Bob over to him.

Bob could see Chuck cringe at the volume of his voice. The fact that this was all starting off on such a bumpy note made him wonder if this was all a mistake. The way that Mickey had explained everything made it seem less illegal, less risky than it was. Now that he was here it was finally setting in just what it was that he had signed up for.

"This is Bob," he cheerfully introduced.

He could see Chuck give him a once over, judge him a little. "Chuck," he flatly replied.

Bob offered his hand, but it was refused, leaving him to awkwardly retract his hand. The older man was rough looking, as though he had been a criminal most of his life. There was something nerve wracking about being in the same area as him. It felt as though he had already made his decision about Bob - that he didn't like him.

Mickey looked between the two, finally sensing some tension. "I'm gonna let you two bond while I go over here and catch up with Roger."

Bob watched as Mickey left before turning his attention back to Chuck. "I just…" He awkwardly started.

"You have a family," Chuck quickly cut him off. "You're a liability."

He wasn't sure what to say to that. He knew that this was all very risky and that they couldn't afford to have anyone accidently reveal their secret. Then again, he hadn't given any of this much thought. To him, this was nothing more than a way to earn some extra money.

"They don't even know," he assured him.

Chuck sighed, rolling his eyes. "You have a family. Do you know what that means? It means you have a weak spot, something that an enemy could go after. If anything happens they're going to go after the weakest person because they don't have time to waste on men with nothing to lose. Apparently a gun to someone's child's head works better than any torture device out there. And as soon as that child ends up being that little girl of yours, you're gonna tell everyone everything just to keep that bullet from entering her skull."

A chill crept down his spine as he listened to the older man speak. Every bad scenario that he could have imagined played through his head all at once. For a second, he was paralyzed, trying to process the complications that could occur.

"That's not very likely to happen, is it?" He squeaked a little as he asked.

"Just don't do anything stupid and no one has to worry."

Present Day

Bob sat in the passenger seat, his arm bandaged and in a sling. He was bruised and battered, his wife still healing from a similar condition. He had been shot a week ago and was now starting to worry more and more about the family.

There was something in Linda's eyes when she came to see him right after he woke up. She looked tired, more so than ever. It was the same kind of defeat that he had seen when Danny had died, the same despair that lingered. It was evidence that her sanity was slowly slipping away from her. He needed to do something before he completely lost her.

"This is my fault," he muttered, aimlessly staring out the window.

"What are you talking about?" Linda asked, glancing over at him, her brow knitted in confusion.

"I should have been more careful about all of this and I should have told you everything," he answered, not even able to turn and look at her. He was ashamed and guilty, he couldn't stand to see the pain he had caused her any longer.

After everything that had happened with Marie, and Danny, and then all the stuff that Chuck told him, he should have known. None of this was ever going to work, because of him they were all doomed from the start.

"This is all because someone is mad at Chuck, alright? We're gonna take care of this man and everything's gonna be fine," Linda tried to assure him.

"So it was my fault." That was all he had gathered from the situation - this was partially Chuck's doing, and the only reason they were involved was because he was dumb enough to become a criminal.

Maybe it wasn't. Maybe he was over thinking everything right now. He sure didn't feel as though he was, but it was still in the realm of possibility. Death had a way of stalking him, peeking around the corners in the dark. He could feel its eyes upon him, but he never knew quite where it was or when it would strike. Then out of nowhere, it would pounce on him, suffocate him with its own two hands and force him to witness the others around him fall. Yet, the entire time others were dying, he was the one with the hands clasped around his throat. Death always wanted him, always had a taste for him, but never got to take him. It almost felt as though a great being was settling for the lives of those he loved, allowing his suffering to take the place of his departure from this world.

Normally a rational man, he found the whole thing concerning. Bob knew that it was an ailment that took everyone, a blood ailment. This wasn't a curse of some type. But sometimes when he was alone, when the room got quiet enough to hear his own thoughts, he had to wonder. Could this be his penance for staying on this earth too long? For having all of the things that Marie should have by now? The second that she died for him, everything was different.

Bob had never told Linda, it was the one big secret he'd kept from her this entire time. When Marie died, he had this feeling of doom. Something was wrong, his living wasn't right and he was going to have to pay for the extra time he had bought and this was his bill - his family.

"No Bob, if it's anyone's fault it's mine. I was the one who went out with Adrian, I started everything," she protested.

"You shouldn't have had to sink to that."

That statement, he knew for a fact was true. If he were a better provider she wouldn't have had to sell herself. She wouldn't have had to do anything to earn the extra money. Linda could have taken more care of Gene and kept an eye on Tina and Louise. Things wouldn't be as out of hand as they were now.

"Alright, that's it," Linda announced as she pulled off to the side of the road.

"You sir, are putting way too much blame on yourself," she began, turning off the ignition and facing him. "You are so quick to tell me that it's your fault everything happened, yet I never hear you say anything about the man you killed to protect us, or the way that you gave up sleep so that Gene doesn't get kicked out of his bed. Now stop trying to make yourself out to be the bad guy in all of this and let me take you home to rest," she told him.

Bob just watched her for a second knowing that there was no way that she could truly understand what it was that he was feeling guilty about, but he didn't want to explain it to her either.

"Fine, let's just go home."

"No Bob! It's not fine!"

Her cry of despair caught his attention, ripping his heart from his chest. It was such a sudden snap that it brought him out of his thoughts and back into the current situation, reminding him that he did in fact have to react to the most recent threat.

"You've been different ever since you got shot. When I would come to visit, and now. All you do is stare and talk about how it's all your fault. Well you can't do this anymore, Bob! I need you to snap out of this!"

Her reaction had taken him by surprise. He knew that this was all taking a toll on her, that much was obvious, but he never thought that his guilt would bring her down with him.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

Linda sighed, calming herself as she stared down to the steering wheel. She was broken, and it was his fault. Not only that, but he couldn't seem to manage to be able to put the pieces back together. He couldn't fix what he had broke. During his stay in the hospital, that little bit of information had become abundantly clear to him and it devastated him. He gave her the children she couldn't keep. He caused her the pain he couldn't erase. He set her up for failure without warning.

"Let's just focus on making sure that whoever it is that's after me, that he gets taken care of," he told her. He didn't receive the reaction the reaction she gave him however.

"I've already gotten it taken care of," she flatly informed him.

"What do you mean?" He asked, growing nervous.

"I mean that I got it taken care of. I know what I'm going to do," she explained, agitated.

"Are we sure we're both talking about the same thing?"

"Killing him, Bob! I'm going to kill him!" She snapped, looking to him with both an intensity and a vulnerability that terrified him. She was like a wounded animal, cornered and ready to bite mercilessly. "I'm not going to lose another member of this family because some asshole wants you dead! He can't take you away from me! Maybe I couldn't save Danny, and maybe I can't save Gene, but I'm not losing you too."

"I guess we are," Bob replied, awkwardly looking out through the windshield. "Do you, you have a plan already?"

Linda relaxed a little, sitting back in her seat. "I do actually," she told him.

Bob just nodded, staring blankly ahead. "Alright then, looks like we're going to kill another man."

Linda looked down, almost in shame. "I just need you to promise me one thing," she started before looking back up to him.

"What is it?"

"Don't be mad at me for what I'm about to do," she firmly told him, fresh tears beginning to fall.

Stunned, Bob looked to her for a second, searching for something to say. He wish he could have known what the plan was so he could reassure her that everything would be fine, but he honestly had no idea. She could be getting ready to sacrifice him for all he knew.

"I won't," he promised.

Oooooo

Tina sat at her desk writing as Zeke laid on her bed, flipping through a random notebook he found, some of her Equestinauts fan fiction.

"Uh, Tina?" He started to ask, looking up to her.

Tina could hear the puzzlement in his tone and didn't even bother to look back over her shoulder. "It's fan fiction, Zeke, you wouldn't understand."

"I'm not sure I want to," he replied, holding the notebook sideways and examining the set of pages.

Tina sighed, setting her pen onto the desk and turning around to face him. While she did enjoy his presence, she wasn't sure that this was the best time to have him around. She was pretty well aware of what was going to happen in a few hours, she had overheard her parents talking, planning - they were going out to kill someone tonight and things might go bad.

"What do you do when you're stressed?" She questioned.

Zeke shrugged, still eyeing the notebook. "I don't think I've been stressed," he answered, preoccupied.

"Oh," she simply answered, not sure how to react.

For some reason, she had gone this whole time thinking that maybe they had some sort of connection. Perhaps it had all been in her head, his understanding nothing more than a lie told to humor her.

She turned back to the desk and pretended to continue writing. All she had been doing was mindlessly scribbling, but she needed to look busy, anything to avoid speaking for the next few moments as she scrambled to figure out what it was that she was doing with this boy.

"Hey, I didn't mean to upset ya," he told her.

Zeke walked up behind her and turned the office chair so that they were facing each other. Tina really didn't want to talk to him right now, but at the same time, she couldn't be mad. He was there for her when no one else was, and he was trying to understand.

"How about we go for a walk?"

Tina nodded, even if she didn't feel like doing much of anything, it might be nice to get out of the house.

"Okay," she replied.

She stood and grabbed her coat. They both headed down the stairs together, hand and hand. Part of her wondered if the next time she took these stairs if she would still have parents. Louise herself had left earlier, and wasn't planning on coming back until the morning, when someone picked her up and brought her back. She was over at Jessica's, probably pacing the floor while her friend slept.

"Maybe we could go to your place after," she suggested.

"Sure thing," he replied, a little to happy for her liking.

As they exited the building though, Tina noticed a parked car across the street. It was one that she hadn't seen before, and normally there weren't too many cars down here. Besides that, there was a man sitting inside, just staring. He was waiting for something. There was a sudden feeling of dread that crept down her spine. She had to get away as soon as she could, her pace hastened.

"You okay, girl? You're gripping awfully tight there," Zeke questioned, softly laughing as he tugged at his hand.

"No. I'm not," Tina nearly snapped, her grip getting tighter as she lead him away. "We just need to get out of here, okay?"

"Okay! Fine!" He quickly obliged.

oooooo

Linda took a deep breathe as she strolled into the old warehouse. She knew what was before her, and part of her craved it - the revenge, the satisfaction of knowing that she prove herself a worthy opponent and show the others to not mess with her. It was like when she was a child and had started throwing rocks at the cars that passed by, the ones that did not belong in her neighborhood.

"Hookers, the only women that can handle having sex in these places, am I right?" she asked, forcing a small laugh as she examined the room.

There was some tension, but she wasn't nearly as nervous as she should have been. It felt too perfectly planned for anything to go wrong. Bob was right out in the hall with Chuck, the rest scattered throughout the building and the parking lot. She herself had a gun in her purse, loaded and ready to go. Besides that, the man didn't seem to notice anything off about the whole scenario.

"You ready to stop blabbering and get on with this?" Hank questioned as he stepped over to an old, torn bed and began removing his pants. "My wife's expecting me in twenty minutes."

Linda thickly swallowed, gripping her purse strap as she took a few more cautious steps towards him. All she had to do was get him distracted, pull the gun out and shoot him. It sounded simple enough a few moments ago. Now though, something about it seemed complicated. In what event would he just turn around? She was a half dressed, pretty attractive woman, getting paid to do whatever he wants. Clearly he's going to want to look at her. He's going to want to pay attention to what she's doing.

"What did you want first?" She questioned.

"The option that leaves your mouth too full for talking," he snapped. "Now come on. I got things to get to today."

She just nodded as she hastened towards him. Carelessly, she tossed the purse onto the mattress and knelt down on the ground. It took her a second to lean in, but once she did, she began on him just like she would Bob. A little teasing, a little blowing, and eventually taking the tip into her mouth.

Under most circumstances, she would be worried about the hygiene habits of this man. She would want to know where this thing had been in the past twenty four hours. Now though, as her family's lives all depended on what happened tonight, she didn't care. She could receive all the illnesses in the world and it would be okay. If that was what it took to fix this mess, then so be it. She was just so tired of hiding and fighting.

Her eyes shut tightly as she wrapped her lips around his shaft. His moans filled the room, making her cringe. She had to keep focused though, she had to get him to such a point where the world could be ending outside and he would have no clue.

Once she felt him starting to tense, his moans growing louder, she grasped onto his back with one hand and started reaching for her purse with the other. He didn't react as she clumsily dragged the gun out onto the mattress. He was beginning to climax as she began readying her weapon. And as soon he let out a scream of pleasure, she fired off her weapon.

Then there was nothing but silence.

Linda could hear herself breathing, a slight buzzing in the background. Everything was suddenly blurry. She could feel the body slouching over on her, pushing her down. As the body fell over, so did she, her head smacking against the cement floor. The body still lay on top of her. As she weakly attempted to move him, she could see blood dripping down her hand. Little red snakes making their way towards her down her forearm. She wanted to laugh, to scream, to cry, but nothing happened. Blackness started to form at the edges of her vision. Her arm fell, landing in a puddle of warm, sticky blood. And all too soon, her vision was gone, and so was her consciousness.