Mad Sweeney ran a hand through his thick orange hair, his cheek twitched as he took a long drag on his cigarette. He cast a side glance at the dead wife, his slowly rotting travel companion, who was leant against their car, staring out at a field of Oxeye daisies. Travelling with her wasn't so bad, if he rolled the windows down. He made those macabre jokes, but they masked what was growing, something had come alive inside of him. It had started with a look, not a particularly meaningful look, he had said something greatly insulting, she had glared at him. But it was different somehow, her eyes were softer, there was less malice being directed at him. That one look stirred a heat in him that was getting harder to ignore, he was getting hot for the cold, walking corpse.
"Pfft," he spat, flicking his spent cigarette to the side of the road.
Laura Moon turned her head in his direction, "What's wrong?"
"Mind your own fucking business, nosy cunt," he winced at his own words, dragging her down so she didn't get a whiff of his growing feelings.
"You stink, Dead Wife," he said, with an exaggerated wave of his hand.
"So do you, Ginger Minge," she retorted, quick and with the hint of a smile on her pale lips.
She wasn't wrong, he could smell the stale alcohol and cigarettes on himself, mixed in with the strong musky scent of sweat. Neither of them had had much time for personal grooming, Laura had only been focused on reaching her beloved Shadow, Sweeney just wanted his coin back, or so he had told himself. Retrieving the coin would be a bonus, but he wasn't in it for just that anymore. He was drawn to her now, for reasons unknown, a pull that he couldn't fight anymore. Not even her mottled flesh and greying eyes could disguise what he saw in her, a secret radiance that she buried deep within herself, nestled somewhere in her breast along with his lucky coin.
He started up the car as she lit a cigarette, her arm resting against the frame of the window, a breeze blowing in that tousled her dark hair, she made no attempt to brush it out of the way.
"You made me pull over so you could stare at a field for ten minutes? What the fuck was that about?" he asked, partly out of a genuine curiosity and partly to break the silence.
"Maybe you should be minding your own business," she answered.
"Hey, I was just asking, no need for hostility."
Laura let a few more minutes of silence pass by before she spoke again, "I just needed a moment, a peaceful one, no death, no Gods and no fucking Leprechauns!"
"Point taken," he mocked saluted.
He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white, his nails digging into the foam. He felt hot, an unpleasant stickiness around his face and neck. Trying to avoid looking at her was hopeless, even when his gaze wasn't upon her, his mind was, an image etched into the back of his eyes.
"God damn it!" he perforated the bubble of silence, "Why do you get to sit there and mope about how unfair everything is?"
"Excuse me?" she gave him that look, the one that was supposed to create a fear in him, but all it did was tie his gut up in knots.
"You heard me, whining away about your lot in life, or in your case, death. You're not the only one who's suffering you know, but you're too fucking concerned with yourself to see it."
Given her tendency to violence towards him, Sweeney did brace himself for her physical retaliation, but it didn't come. She just reached into her pocket and retrieved two cigarettes, lit them both and passed him one, which he took with caution.
"You think I don't care about you?" she asked him, exhaling a large cloud of smoke.
"Now, I didn't say that I was talking about me."
"It's not hard to figure out that's what you meant, you only whine about your stupid fucking coin. Do you think I really enjoy depriving you of what's yours? I have no choice, twice I've found Shadow and twice he's been ripped from me again, I need what's yours until I can find him and get my life back. So, I'd appreciate it if you were a little more patient with me."
"Okay, calm down, dead wife," he wished he'd let the silence continue.
"Look, just drive, okay? Shadow is getting further away."
Fucking Shadow, he thought to himself.
Sweeney knew she didn't love him, she just thought that she did, but she had to realise that for herself, no amount of him telling her would convince her.
"How about some music?" he reached for the radio as she did, her cold fingers grazing his. They both retracted their hands as if the radio was aflame, he nodded and gestured for her to choose the station. Sweeney yawned and widened his eyes; sleep had been a luxury lately.
"Shall I drive for a bit?" Laura offered.
"Aye, a nap can't hurt."
He pulled the car over and they switched seats, Sweeney opted to rest in the front seat instead of in the back. He closed his eyes as Laura pulled away from the side of the road, it didn't take long for the motion of the car to lull him to sleep. His head rolled to the side and he slid sideways until it rested on Laura's shoulder, she left him there, mumbling incoherently in his sleep. She watched his brow furrow and relax, his lips twitched as nonsense words escaped them.
One word was clear as day to her, spoken softly on exhale, "Laura."