AN: More apologies for the time between updates. I no longer have a phone
line at home and have to go to an internet café or my grandmother's to
upload stuff. For anyone interested, all my fic 'babbles' including the
first few chapters of Piss Off 2 can be found at
I hope you enjoy this chapter.
--- August 16th 2015 ---
Bad things come in threes. Zack knows this but he deals with bad things every day and lost count somewhere along the line. If he had been with Brin, Brin would've reminded Zack that karma will come back and bite him on the ass. If he had been with Tinga, she'd be worrying about him not wearing a seatbelt or crossing the road when the traffic lights were red.
Jondy's not like that. She lets things flow over her with that sweet smile and those blue eyes that he remembers from when he was small; not matter how hard he tries, Zack cannot get the image of Jondy's eyes out of his head.
He drags her out of bed before the sun rises. She's asleep then; when Jondy does sleep, she sleeps deeply. She doesn't want to flee Boston before the sun, before Lydecker can find them.
He found her clothes before they left. She wears them now, a thick red sweater, jeans two sizes two big and a black baseball cap. The clothes she was wearing when he found her, terrified in that alley, are soaking in the hotel bathtub, so that no dogs can sniff them out, so that no DNA can be found and so that Zack doesn't have any reminders of Jondy wearing that top.
She's playing with the CD player in Zack's car, flipping switches and pressing buttons. Can't sit still.
There aren't any word spoken between them until they're half a day away, and sitting together in a cheap diner, drinking luke warm cups of coffee.
"Where to next?" Jondy asks slowly, twisting her coffee mug around slowly.
Zack picks up a sachet of sugar, flipping it back and forth. He hasn't thought that far ahead, really. She's been to New York, Chicago and Boston. Zack drops the unopened sachet of sugar and studies Jondy carefully, for the first time since New York.
She's slim and tall, with the wavy brown hair in a ponytail and fading freckles on her nose. Long black eyelashes and golden skin with those damn blue eyes that remind him of her and make him forget Max for a second or two.
And there's a vague shock when his eyes slide below her neck. Zack remembers how well Jondy filled out that top, how the fabric of the sweater pulls tighter around her chest. Jondy's going to be beautiful when she grows up, Zack knows this. Tinga was awkward and gangly as a teenager and she grew up to be beautiful. And Tinga went and got married, and had the baby. Case.
Zack can't imagine that for Jondy. He can't picture her in the elaborate white dress, promising to stand by a normal man and having children. Zack knows it's a bitter thought, but Jondy couldn't even stand by Max during the escape. It's all about that deeply ingrained fear; fear made Jondy leave Max behind and fear will keep Jondy from knowing what Tinga refers to jokingly as 'domestic bliss'.
"Las Vegas," Zack says finally. Plenty of work in Vegas. It's not cold or wet and maybe Jondy can try to go to school there.
"Vegas," Jondy says with a grin, sipping her coffee.
Zane liked Las Vegas when he was there. Zack pulled Zane out of Vegas before his gambling and call girl habits got out of hand. Zack blinks and looks at Jondy again, noting the similarities between Jondy and Zane; their hair, their noses, their builds. Zane's got grey eyes. Grey eyes and Ben's grin.
They eat their greasy meals silently, Jondy watching Zack carefully. He eats his burger and drinks two cups of black coffee, fiddling with sugar sachets but not opening them. He's lost in thought himself, and it's not until Jondy has slipped off to the bathroom, he comes back down to earth.
It's a long drive to Vegas, and it's punctuated by the static of the radio; no one can afford to keep something as mundane as a country radio station running; the cities and big towns have half decent radio stations, but they don't transmit very far. Post Pulse, everything is about money.
It gets dark quickly, and it begins to rain. Jondy leans lazily back in her seat, twisting a lock of hair around her fingers.
"I used to hate the rain," she says slowly, looking at him. Zack takes his eyes off the road long enough to look at Jondy's face, the shadows playing across her face, her eyes almost glowing as some light catches them. "We used to have to train in the rain. Remember the mud?"
Zack surprises them both by laughing. "I remember the first time we trained in the rain. Twenty five of us - you were three and I was seven. And you and Max. you came in, looking like you'd been swimming in mud."
Jondy laughs, reaching forward to change the radio station. "I ."
Zack doesn't hear what Jondy was saying. He could look back days later and he couldn't really remember what happened. Two lights flashed in front of him and there were cars behind him and in front of him. Zack remembers hearing Jondy scream, and turning to face her. Seeing her hands in front of her, shielding herself against whatever was coming.
Lights explode in front of his eyes and there's nothing for awhile. Just his siblings voices echoing and guns shots and Manticore alarms. Slowly, his siblings voices turn into the voices of strangers, the alarms are the paramedics and police in the distance. No one else would hear them yet.
As Zack sits up, at least a dozen strangers descend on him. "Are you okay? Are you okay?" Their voices sound like they're coming from a distance, and he shoves them away, looking for Jondy, only barely registering the accident. A drunken truck driver. Twelve cars involved in the accident.
There's a woman in front of him. She's middle aged and there's a cut oozing blood over her eye. "Sir, you should sit down. You've been in a very serious accident."
Zack keeps walking, looking around for his car. For Jondy.
"Sir, please," the woman grabs Zack's arm. "We had to pull you out of your car. you're injuries are very serious. The paramedics will be here soon."
"Where's my car?" Zack demands. "Where's my god-damned sister?"
The woman nods, looking behind her. Zack hasn't got the time for the likes of her. In this woman's cookie cutter world, this will be the worst day of her life, requiring hours and hours of counselling to recover from. For Zack, it's just another long night.
The woman says nothing and slips away. Leaving Zack staring at his car.
It's makes him stop cold. It was once a blue Jeep. Now, it's sitting a short distance from the over turned truck. It's scraped up so badly, there's more chrome visible than blue paint. The windows are broken and two of the doors are missing. The front is dented in and the roof is one long, deep, curved dent. It's more what's inside that bothers him.
Jondy's slumped forwards, through what should've been the windscreen. Her head is on it's side, eyes closed and hair falling in her face. Her head is leaning against an out stretched arm, which is covered with a crisscross of scratches.
He's by her side in a second, attempting to pull her free of the car, cradling her body in arms. They've never had this much bodily contact, ever, and for a second Zack looks into Jondy's pale, blood stained face.
Zack lies her on the road beside the car, kneeling over her, stroking her hair gently. He's never come this close to losing one of his siblings like this before. There's been scares of capture almost every day before this, but he's never had to look at one of his sisters like this.
Zack peels off her sweater, finding a wound on the left side of Jondy's torso. Shards of glass are embedded in it, glinting up at Zack, almost mocking him. And the sirens are coming closer.
Zack knows that he can't let the paramedics take Jondy. Lydecker is less than a day behind them and hospital is like a death wish. Zack's patched up his siblings before and he's not letting Jondy go.
He pushes her hair off her face and manages to get Jondy sitting up. He repeats her name over and over again, trying to get a reaction out of her. Time crawls, every second pounding in Zack's mind.
His mind is playing tricks on him. are her lips really turning blue?
Finally, after time has lost all meaning to Zack and the lights of the paramedics are coming closer, Jondy lets out a shuddering sigh and her eyes flicker before opening. And she's awake. Pale, barely conscious, but back with him.
"We've got to get out of here," Zack says softly, helping Jondy stand. She nods slowly, grasping his arm as she regains her balance. And within seconds, Zack has hotwired a car and Jondy slides into the passenger seat, holding her head gingerly.
It's hours later, when the adrenaline stops pumping and they're curled up next to each other in a dusty hotel bed, that Zack lets himself grieve for what could've happened, what almost happened. They're both banged up; Zack's shoulder is swollen a plum colour; Jondy had to dig out the glass shards before they went to bed. Jondy's torso wound is patched up and she's sleeping heavily.
And Zack wraps his arm around Jondy's shoulders before closing his eyes. Jondy's here. Alive. And as Zack dozes off to sleep for a few hours, he realises tonight wasn't a long night - it was the longest night.
I hope you enjoy this chapter.
--- August 16th 2015 ---
Bad things come in threes. Zack knows this but he deals with bad things every day and lost count somewhere along the line. If he had been with Brin, Brin would've reminded Zack that karma will come back and bite him on the ass. If he had been with Tinga, she'd be worrying about him not wearing a seatbelt or crossing the road when the traffic lights were red.
Jondy's not like that. She lets things flow over her with that sweet smile and those blue eyes that he remembers from when he was small; not matter how hard he tries, Zack cannot get the image of Jondy's eyes out of his head.
He drags her out of bed before the sun rises. She's asleep then; when Jondy does sleep, she sleeps deeply. She doesn't want to flee Boston before the sun, before Lydecker can find them.
He found her clothes before they left. She wears them now, a thick red sweater, jeans two sizes two big and a black baseball cap. The clothes she was wearing when he found her, terrified in that alley, are soaking in the hotel bathtub, so that no dogs can sniff them out, so that no DNA can be found and so that Zack doesn't have any reminders of Jondy wearing that top.
She's playing with the CD player in Zack's car, flipping switches and pressing buttons. Can't sit still.
There aren't any word spoken between them until they're half a day away, and sitting together in a cheap diner, drinking luke warm cups of coffee.
"Where to next?" Jondy asks slowly, twisting her coffee mug around slowly.
Zack picks up a sachet of sugar, flipping it back and forth. He hasn't thought that far ahead, really. She's been to New York, Chicago and Boston. Zack drops the unopened sachet of sugar and studies Jondy carefully, for the first time since New York.
She's slim and tall, with the wavy brown hair in a ponytail and fading freckles on her nose. Long black eyelashes and golden skin with those damn blue eyes that remind him of her and make him forget Max for a second or two.
And there's a vague shock when his eyes slide below her neck. Zack remembers how well Jondy filled out that top, how the fabric of the sweater pulls tighter around her chest. Jondy's going to be beautiful when she grows up, Zack knows this. Tinga was awkward and gangly as a teenager and she grew up to be beautiful. And Tinga went and got married, and had the baby. Case.
Zack can't imagine that for Jondy. He can't picture her in the elaborate white dress, promising to stand by a normal man and having children. Zack knows it's a bitter thought, but Jondy couldn't even stand by Max during the escape. It's all about that deeply ingrained fear; fear made Jondy leave Max behind and fear will keep Jondy from knowing what Tinga refers to jokingly as 'domestic bliss'.
"Las Vegas," Zack says finally. Plenty of work in Vegas. It's not cold or wet and maybe Jondy can try to go to school there.
"Vegas," Jondy says with a grin, sipping her coffee.
Zane liked Las Vegas when he was there. Zack pulled Zane out of Vegas before his gambling and call girl habits got out of hand. Zack blinks and looks at Jondy again, noting the similarities between Jondy and Zane; their hair, their noses, their builds. Zane's got grey eyes. Grey eyes and Ben's grin.
They eat their greasy meals silently, Jondy watching Zack carefully. He eats his burger and drinks two cups of black coffee, fiddling with sugar sachets but not opening them. He's lost in thought himself, and it's not until Jondy has slipped off to the bathroom, he comes back down to earth.
It's a long drive to Vegas, and it's punctuated by the static of the radio; no one can afford to keep something as mundane as a country radio station running; the cities and big towns have half decent radio stations, but they don't transmit very far. Post Pulse, everything is about money.
It gets dark quickly, and it begins to rain. Jondy leans lazily back in her seat, twisting a lock of hair around her fingers.
"I used to hate the rain," she says slowly, looking at him. Zack takes his eyes off the road long enough to look at Jondy's face, the shadows playing across her face, her eyes almost glowing as some light catches them. "We used to have to train in the rain. Remember the mud?"
Zack surprises them both by laughing. "I remember the first time we trained in the rain. Twenty five of us - you were three and I was seven. And you and Max. you came in, looking like you'd been swimming in mud."
Jondy laughs, reaching forward to change the radio station. "I ."
Zack doesn't hear what Jondy was saying. He could look back days later and he couldn't really remember what happened. Two lights flashed in front of him and there were cars behind him and in front of him. Zack remembers hearing Jondy scream, and turning to face her. Seeing her hands in front of her, shielding herself against whatever was coming.
Lights explode in front of his eyes and there's nothing for awhile. Just his siblings voices echoing and guns shots and Manticore alarms. Slowly, his siblings voices turn into the voices of strangers, the alarms are the paramedics and police in the distance. No one else would hear them yet.
As Zack sits up, at least a dozen strangers descend on him. "Are you okay? Are you okay?" Their voices sound like they're coming from a distance, and he shoves them away, looking for Jondy, only barely registering the accident. A drunken truck driver. Twelve cars involved in the accident.
There's a woman in front of him. She's middle aged and there's a cut oozing blood over her eye. "Sir, you should sit down. You've been in a very serious accident."
Zack keeps walking, looking around for his car. For Jondy.
"Sir, please," the woman grabs Zack's arm. "We had to pull you out of your car. you're injuries are very serious. The paramedics will be here soon."
"Where's my car?" Zack demands. "Where's my god-damned sister?"
The woman nods, looking behind her. Zack hasn't got the time for the likes of her. In this woman's cookie cutter world, this will be the worst day of her life, requiring hours and hours of counselling to recover from. For Zack, it's just another long night.
The woman says nothing and slips away. Leaving Zack staring at his car.
It's makes him stop cold. It was once a blue Jeep. Now, it's sitting a short distance from the over turned truck. It's scraped up so badly, there's more chrome visible than blue paint. The windows are broken and two of the doors are missing. The front is dented in and the roof is one long, deep, curved dent. It's more what's inside that bothers him.
Jondy's slumped forwards, through what should've been the windscreen. Her head is on it's side, eyes closed and hair falling in her face. Her head is leaning against an out stretched arm, which is covered with a crisscross of scratches.
He's by her side in a second, attempting to pull her free of the car, cradling her body in arms. They've never had this much bodily contact, ever, and for a second Zack looks into Jondy's pale, blood stained face.
Zack lies her on the road beside the car, kneeling over her, stroking her hair gently. He's never come this close to losing one of his siblings like this before. There's been scares of capture almost every day before this, but he's never had to look at one of his sisters like this.
Zack peels off her sweater, finding a wound on the left side of Jondy's torso. Shards of glass are embedded in it, glinting up at Zack, almost mocking him. And the sirens are coming closer.
Zack knows that he can't let the paramedics take Jondy. Lydecker is less than a day behind them and hospital is like a death wish. Zack's patched up his siblings before and he's not letting Jondy go.
He pushes her hair off her face and manages to get Jondy sitting up. He repeats her name over and over again, trying to get a reaction out of her. Time crawls, every second pounding in Zack's mind.
His mind is playing tricks on him. are her lips really turning blue?
Finally, after time has lost all meaning to Zack and the lights of the paramedics are coming closer, Jondy lets out a shuddering sigh and her eyes flicker before opening. And she's awake. Pale, barely conscious, but back with him.
"We've got to get out of here," Zack says softly, helping Jondy stand. She nods slowly, grasping his arm as she regains her balance. And within seconds, Zack has hotwired a car and Jondy slides into the passenger seat, holding her head gingerly.
It's hours later, when the adrenaline stops pumping and they're curled up next to each other in a dusty hotel bed, that Zack lets himself grieve for what could've happened, what almost happened. They're both banged up; Zack's shoulder is swollen a plum colour; Jondy had to dig out the glass shards before they went to bed. Jondy's torso wound is patched up and she's sleeping heavily.
And Zack wraps his arm around Jondy's shoulders before closing his eyes. Jondy's here. Alive. And as Zack dozes off to sleep for a few hours, he realises tonight wasn't a long night - it was the longest night.