Chapter 21:
After Randy Marsh barged in and made a scene no one was in the party mood anymore. They still had the dinner since her mother and the other women put a lot of effort into preparing it so they could have a lavish feast.
She was sitting in the girl's bunkrooms with Shelly, Bebe, Wendy, Stan, Kenny, Henrietta, Karen and her cousin Pete when they noticed Sharon Marsh standing in the doorway.
"Mom?" Stan and Shelly were shocked to see her since everyone knew they ran away from camp when Stan's dad suggested using the pets as food. She understood why Stan wouldn't want to eat his dog Sparky since she had no intention of letting Mr. Marsh eat any of her cats.
"Why?" Mrs. Marsh looked like she didn't know whether to be angry or relieved. "Why would you kids run away like that? You scared me to death! Anything could've happened."
"Dad wanted to eat Sparky." The dog whimpered and hid behind Stan as he explained to his mother why they decided to run away. "Everyone was fighting and we didn't like the camp anymore."
"What's up dad's ass?" Shelly asked. She could tell both Stan and Shelley were tired of their dad's embarrassing behaviour.
"T-there's a lot up his ass right now." Mrs. Marsh sat on the bed between Shelly and Stan. "No one is going to eat the dog. I won't let your father hurt the pets around here."
"He'll wish the dead got him if he hurts any of my cats Mrs. Marsh." She meant what she said. The cats meant everything to her and they trusted her to keep them safe. If Randy or anyone else tried to eat them they would be walker bait.
"What are they going to do with dad?" Stan asked. No one knew for sure what the adults were going to do with Stan's dad.
"Will they execute him?" She asked since she was recently busted for eavesdropping and her mother's aide Bob Johnson had suggested it among many other options.
"I don't know kids." Mrs. Marsh looked worn but tried to explain things as best she could. "There might even be a trial. I really don't know what they have in mind. I guess it's up to your mother Katherine."
She knew Mrs. Marsh was right. Eventually her adoptive mother would decide Mr. Marsh's fate.
XXXX
"Where's your mother Wonderboy?" He seethed with rage and held onto intense loathing for the first son of South Park. He believed it was Officer Alexander McDaniels who turned Mayor McDaniels against him during the PC Movement.
"Leave her alone Marsh." Alexander warned him. Even though there were no empty threats on Alexander's part he still didn't take any of what was being said to him seriously.
"I need to see Mary." He wasn't going to cooperate with anyone until he had the chance to speak to Mary himself. "Fucking bitch betrayed me!"
"She doesn't want anything to do with you asshole!" Alexander growled through gritted teeth.
He knew he'd lock horns with Alexander soon. It was only a matter of time. He didn't care. If it meant he could get rid of both Alexander McDaniels and the bumbling idiot police chief he'd gladly fight them. He smirked as he realised he would have to give Mary no choice but to consider him a leader. He wished he'd thought of it when Officer Barbrady showed up at his camp and took over everything he'd built while he lay comatose in an abandoned hospital.
"What's so funny Marsh?" Alexander asked with obvious agitation.
"There's a trial right?" He knew it was true due to the dumbfounded expression on Alexander's face. "I need to talk to Mary. It's about my defence."
XXXX
She just wanted time alone. Randy had ruined her good mood. She even tried to eat some of the food she'd cooked for the feast but she only threw it up again as morning sickness overwhelmed her.
"Who is that?"She could hear footsteps and she just hoped that Randy was locked away and restrained because in that moment she didn't want to deal with him.
"Mary?"She knew who it was and she didn't want to talk to Sharon either. Not after everything she'd said and done when she tried to tell her she wanted nothing to do with her ex husband.
"Get out!"She didn't care if she was being hostile. She just wanted to be left alone. The only people she would see if they asked for her were her blood relatives and her children.
"I just wanted to apologise."She could sense Sharon feeling guilty but she was too hurt to care.
"I don't want to talk about this now just leave me alone!"She snapped bitterly. She didn't even look at Sharon when she crawled back into bed.
"I'm sorry."Sharon meekly apologised and she knew she was sincere. She just didn't want to deal with it or even think about it.
"I tried to tell you I didn't want to do that."Sharon's disdain for her back in camp hurt her feelings. She wanted Randy to stop, but she was too overwhelmed with grief and she couldn't make him stop. "You know I don't even like him anymore. Your ex husband is the last person I would ever want to be with. He used me!"Tears streamed down her face as she allowed herself to cry. She didn't care if Sharon saw.
"I thought I was getting back with him for the kids. If I'd known I wouldn't have tried to get back together with Randy. I'm sorry Mary. I should've believed you. He lied to me."Randy had used them both. She still didn't know if she could ever be friends with Sharon again.
She pulled the blankets over her head and coiled in a tight ball clutching her stomach as it churned and twisted into knots. "Please just leave me alone. I don't want to deal with this shit right now."
She heard receding footsteps and the door closing behind Sharon as she left. She sobbed uncontrollably as the guilt of what she'd done gnawed at her.
XXXX
There was nothing she liked about the town. There was nothing she liked about Government Guy. While she could see it for what it really was Liane Cartman remained oblivious to the façade.
"That's nasty!"She shuddered with disgust as she saw Liane flirting shamelessly with Government Guy during a small party they were hosting for their group of survivors. The town's people were weak and many of them hadn't faced life in the wilderness.
"Are you staying for the party?"Yates and Mackey were carrying trays of drinks and appetizers meant for party guests.
"I'd rather puke."She feigned feeling sick in order to get away from them. She noticed Mr. Mackey was a lot meeker than he had been even in the presence of PC Principal.
Something wasn't right about this town or Government Guy and she had to get to the bottom of it. She didn't know what it was but something told her that it was better if they didn't stay here despite it looking safe on the inside.
Looking around to see if the coast was clear she decided to slip away from the party and see for herself what this town really was. South Park before the apocalypse might have had its problems but it didn't give her a sinking feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.
"I know something ain't right."It was like a mirage in a desert and she had to prove it to Liane in order to make her see sense. Looking around she noticed all their military vehicles were riddled with bullet holes and she even found blood stains. To get more evidence she would have to dig deeper. She was mainly suspicious because they didn't have access to their own weapons and survival gear despite hiding behind a large well constructed wall and they were denied the right to leave the town whenever she asked. She sneaked into one of the other apartments. She would prove it to Liane one way or another. There was nothing safe about Westwood.
XXXX
"Please leave me alone." She turned away from the person shaking her. She didn't want to deal with anyone. She was so sick she didn't even want to get out of bed.
"I'm sorry mom." It was only Alexander. She could tell he didn't want to wake her up.
"What is it now?!" She sat up in bed knowing it was something important.
"Marsh." Alexander said with disgust. "He wants to see you and no he won't drop the subject. I told him countless times to leave you alone and he won't listen to me."
Her face turned pale and nausea overwhelmed her. She couldn't even stand the fact that Randy Marsh was on her property.
"What does he even want?" She reluctantly dragged herself out of bed. She needed to throw up and clean her teeth first. She didn't care if she was making Randy wait.
"He said something about a trial and his defence." Alexander explained. "I didn't even think there was going to be a trial. I thought we were just going to get rid of him."
"I'd rather just drop him off a cliff and let the dead have him." She grumbled without disguising her hatred for him. Randy Marsh had almost cost her the relationships with her family during the PC movement. She'd never forgive him after he nearly beat Alexander to death and for forcing her to fire Barbrady even though she had to hand him over to the newsmen for his own protection. It took a lot of effort for her to get through her depression and for the kids to even want to talk to her again.
"You and me both mom." Alexander had his own reasons for his hatred towards her former friend. Not only had he and his pc thugs almost beaten him to death, Randy had spearheaded the Fuck the Police movement and thrown pigs blood on her young granddaughters. There was a lot of hostility between them as a result.
It was cold when she stepped outside. Barbrady said Randy was restrained in the barn under guard. PC Principal and Blake were on guard duty with Blake waiting for Mitch to take over his shift.
"What do you want Marsh?" She glowered at him and kept her distance from him. He might be restrained but she didn't want to get too close.
He smirked and spoke coldly. "We need to talk."