Malfunction
We made excellent time. Of course, when you disregard all speed limits, you do tend to make pretty good time. We were in Montana even sooner than I expected.
And although I loved Zack's bike, almost more than I loved Zack (oh, come on, the bike doesn't talk back!), I was still glad to get off the bike and stretch my legs.
We pulled up in front of a building that must be where Krit, Ty and Syl were staying. I assumed Krit had given Zack an address. Zack still looked angry when he took off his helmet. I decided to simply follow him silently as he trooped in the building, him wheeling his bike with him. Of course, he wouldn't leave the bike outside. Neither of us wanted it to get stolen.
I smiled slightly as I watched Zack struggle to get the bike up the stairs. Luckily, we had only one flight of stairs to climb. Zack stopped in front of a door on the first floor we reached. He knocked loudly. No answer. He knocked again, even his knock sounding annoyed. Again no answer. He didn't bother knocking a third time, but instead kicked the door in. I winced as it banged against the wall loudly.
It was immediately obvious that no one was home. Oh, they really were gonna be dead.
"Do you think they're okay?" I asked.
"No signs of struggle." Zack said.
"So where could they be?"
"Well, I guess we're going to have to think like Krit." Zack said.
"They're at a bar." we both said together.
Zack wheeled his bike into the apartment and parked it. Obviously we would be walking. Hopefully, Krit, Syl and Ty had walked as well and they hadn't gone very far. I could see already that the longer it took to find them the less of a chance there was that they would make it out of that bar in one piece.
***
We were starting to become regulars at the bar. Krit and Syl had picked it out the first night we had gotten to Montana and we'd come back ever since.
Krit returned from the bar and handed me a drink. I looked at it skeptically. Krit laughed.
"I know you don't like beer." he reminded me.
"So what is it?" I asked suspiciously.
"Root beer, of course."
"You sure it's not spiked." I pressed.
"Oh ye of little faith." Krit replied.
I frowned at him and cautiously took a drink. I knew that Krit wouldn't have spiked it, but we'd kept up this little argument for some time now. I took another drink and headed over to the pool table to see if Syl was going to get anyone to fall for her hustling tonight.
"How's it coming, Syl?" Krit asked from behind me.
"They're not buying it tonight." Syl pouted.
She threw a pool cue at me which I caught.
"You play me, Ty." she said.
I shook my head.
"I don't know how."
Syl and Krit both looked at me, astonished.
"We have to fix this, right now." Syl said.
"I'll coach you." Krit said with a grin.
I rolled my eyes. Krit took my drink from me and set it down with his nearby. Then he wrapped his arms around me from behind so that he could position my hands.
"You hold it like this." he said into my ear, "You hit the white ball and try to hit the other balls into the pocket."
"Okay." I said, "I think I can figure it out."
I already knew that much. I had watched Syl play enough times to have figured out some of the basics.
"You sure?" Krit asked.
I grinned over my shoulder at him. I had managed to stop myself from blushing every time he touched me. Something I was rather glad for at the moment.
"I'm sure I can handle it."
Krit smiled and retreated.
"We'll see." he said, crossing his arms.
I lost to Syl, of course, but by the end of the game I had figured out how to play rather well. I was a Manticore, after all. We figure out that sort of thing rather quickly.
And watching two girls play boosted the guys' confidence enough to fall for Syl's hustling scam. She managed to make a few bucks.
And then the hard drunks started showing up. I noticed that Syl had caught the attention of one of them. She was obviously being hit on and she obviously was not enjoying it. I cocked my head to hear what was going on.
"Someone outta teach you a lesson, lil' girly." the drunk slurred at Syl.
Syl's lip curled in disgust and she took a slight step back. Probably to get away from the guy's breath more than anything else.
"I doubt that someone's you, buddy." Syl said.
"Don't be so sure." the guy replied, stumbling forward towards her.
Syl pushed him back roughly with the pool cue. I knew she could take care of herself, but I didn't feel right about standing around and watching Syl handle this herself. So I joined her.
"Got a problem, Syl?" I asked, stepping up next to her.
"Nothing I can't handle." Syl replied.
"Two girlies that need to be taught a lesson." the drunk said, recovering and coming back.
The guy made the mistake of laying a hand on Syl. Syl shoved the pool cue into the man's stomach and pushed him away. He hit the floor, hard. Two guys immediately came to his aid, not looking too happy about what Syl had just done. They advanced on us.
Krit appeared in front of us suddenly. He had obviously seen what had happened and was not happy about anyone messing with his sister.
"I suggest you back away." Krit said to the two guys.
These guys looked a lot more dangerous than the last one, although just as drunk. They also looked a lot more dangerous than Krit. But I knew better.
The first one took a swing at Krit which he ducked. All eyes were on Krit as he ran up the wall and flipped over the guy, landing a hard punch to the guys jaw just as his feet his the ground. I almost smiled as I heard one of the guys in the bar throw down his drink declaring he was drunker than he thought. Chaos broke out after that. Soon we had an all-out bar brawl on our hands.
***
"This is the fifth bar we've been in." Zack growled, "They had better be here."
I was starting to agree with him.
I followed Zack into the bar and almost ran into him, he stopped so suddenly. I peeked around him and saw utter chaos.
"I'd say we found them." I commented.
Zack nodded in agreement. He began to push and shove his way through the mess of drunken fighters. I followed in his wake. I was forced to deliver a swift kick to someone's temple when they tried to touch me somewhere I would only let Zack touch me. I was tempted to break the guy's hand while I was at it, but decided that would attract Zack's attention and then the guy wouldn't even be alive to feel it.
Zack stopped suddenly again and I placed my hands on his back to brace myself from running into him. I could feel how tense his muscles were even threw his jacket. Again, I peeked around him and immediately spotted Krit. It wasn't difficult. He was surrounded by unconscious and bleeding people. He looked as tense as Zack felt.
"Krit!" Zack growled in his most dangerous voice.
"Zack." Krit said coolly.
"Where is my sister?" Zack demanded.
"I'm right here." Ty said from behind Krit.
Obviously Krit had forced both Ty and Syl behind him to shield them from the fight. I just didn't see either of them willingly hiding behind him.
"What are you doing in a bar?" Zack practically hissed at them, "I thought I told you to stay put."
"Yeah, you might have mentioned it." Krit said.
Zack glared at him. Krit ignored the look he was getting.
"But, you know me." he shrugged.
"Why is my sister at a bar?" Zack continued.
Ty was getting pretty angry at being talked about like she wasn't there. Not to mention talked about like she was a helpless little girl. I caught the subtle movement of Krit's hand as he reached back to touch her arm and calm her down. I didn't doubt that Zack had caught it, too. I also didn't doubt that it made him even angrier.
"Because she wanted to come. Got a problem with that, Zack?" Krit challenged.
Oh, this was not going to end well.
"Yes, Krit. I have a problem with that. And I'm starting to have a problem with you!" Zack snarled, shoving Krit roughly.
Ty and Syl had to jump to the side to get out of Krit's way as he back-peddled to keep from falling. Krit rebounded and shoved Zack back. Oh, the boy was a goner. He shouldn't have done that. He really shouldn't have done that.
Almost as if we had the exact same thought, Ty and I both jumped in between them. She pushed Krit away from Zack. I had the more difficult task of pushing Zack away from Krit.
"Boys!" I yelled loudly, "Knock it off before the girls have to kick both your asses!"
Zack and Krit both made annoyed noises at this, but they also both stopped trying to get at each other. Maybe Krit's brain malfunction would fix itself and he wouldn't try anything like this again.
"Zack, honey, don't kill him." I said, trying to cool Zack's temper, "Blood stains are horrible."
Zack's gaze locked on me and he slowly nodded, forcing himself to calm down. I took a step back from him, glancing over my shoulder to make sure Krit didn't try anything. I caught the appreciative look Ty sent me. I gave her an almost imperceptible nod and turned back to Zack.
"Now, can we please talk about this matter like calm, rational adults?" I put strong emphasis on the last word, then gave a look around at our current surroundings, "In private. It smells."
Zack just grunted and Krit muttered something.
"Well, then that's settled."
Zack did an about-face and we all marched out of the bar, dodging the unconscious bodies that littered the floor. Well, all but Mr. Grabby Hands who I purposefully used as a rug.
It was dead silent as we marched back to the apartment. No one dared to talk, I guess. The first to break the silence was Ty.
"Zack..." she started.
She stopped when Zack held up his hand, indicating silence, then stomped out the front door. The door slammed.
"Great." I muttered to myself as I heard the revving of a motorcycle, "Krit, what the hell were you thinking?"
"I was thinking I am sick of him running my life, sick of him being the boss, the C.O." Krit snapped.
"Well, you obviously needed him for something. You needed him to break out of Manticore, and I seem to recall waking up to a ringing phone. A call from you, if I remember correctly." I was beginning to lose patience with Krit, "Look, I know he can be a pain in the ass. God, you think I don't know that? Try living with him. But I think he deserves a little respect, don't you?"
Krit remained silent whereas the girls' heads dropped to stare at the floor. I gave them each a disapproving look.
"Same goes for you two. Look, I don't want to be the bad guy and I'm not taking sides, but..." I trailed off, not sure what else to say.
The three seemed to be taking my words in.
"Now you three think about that while I find Zack." I started towards the door, then stopped and turned back to the group, "And you three sure as hell better be here when I get back."
I made my way out the door and turned my attention to Zack.
Also, reviews are accepted happily and often shared with Captain Happy Pants and Colonel Boxer Shorts (Krit loved all the nice stuff you said about him in the last story!).
