THE ONLY EASY DAY IS YESTERDAY
"The Journey of Jeremy Keller"
Part 21
Jeremy and Mandy followed the biker until he turned off the
main road and headed down an overgrown dirt road into thick woods.
They took careful note of the location then continued by. What they
needed to do was best done at night and that was a few hours away.
Several miles west they found an old diner and stopped in for coffee and
to wait for darkness.
In the late evening, the two immortals found the dirt road they
had watched the biker take. They parked the truck in the weeds and
prepared to go in. Mandy had produced some black face paint and
proceeded to paint thick sharp designs down both cheeks and across her
face. At first Jeremy thought it was camouflage but soon realized it was
ritual war paint.
When she was done she turned her icy stare towards him. The
war paint together with her chopped hair and the look in her eyes sent a
chill down Jeremy's back.
"Are you ready to get bloody, soldier?" she whispered.
Jeremy dropped the chamber of his revolver open and checked
his rounds. "I'm never 'ready' to kill," he said "but some things have to
be done." He then took her black face paint and smeared it across his
forehead and face to darken his complexion.
"If your going to survive the game." Mandy said "You'd better
get used to killing."
Jeremy looked at the woman suddenly he could see the years in
her eyes. "That's the problem I'm too used to killing." he then gestured
towards the woods. "And these people aren't part of the Game."
"They're not part of our game." Mandy agreed, "But they are
players in their own right and when they destroyed my family and raped
me they brought me into their game."
Jeremy opened his door "They brought both of us in, now its time
to play."
The two walked the dirt road into the woods, keeping to either
side and staying close to the brush. They were both just half a step away
from total concealment in the undergrowth. Jeremy carried his shot gun
with his .357 tucked securely in the front of his belt. Mandy carried only
her father's sword, her two knives and a length of rope she wouldn't
explain to Jeremy.
A couple of hundred yards down the road they heard loud music
and drunken laughter. The noise came from a glow in the woods no
more then 50 yards off the dirt road. Jeremy and Mandy faded quietly
into the woods and approached the gathering without saying a word or
making a sound.
As they approached the camp they split up and headed to
opposite sides. On the outer edge of the clearing, Jeremy came upon a
drunken biker trying to act as a look out. With little effort Jeremy was
able to sneak up behind him and apply a silent choke hold until he
passed out.
Mandy also found a look out, but he wasn't as lucky. He didn't
see her until she stood up in front of him and buried her knife deep into
his gut then up into his chest. She clamped her hand across his mouth
muffling his scream until the knife found his heart and ended his life.
Kneeling over the body, Mandy shook the blood from her hand
then wiped it on the man's greasy shirt. Any minute now, Jeremy would
start the attack and she had to be in place to get the most out of it. She
worked her way close to the camp fire and center of the gathering. Let
him take care of the distraction, she would take care of the animals, she
could handle that.
The first one she recognized was the creature they called Rita.
Her bandaged hand and loud, foul mouth made her stand out in the
crowd. Mandy checked the rope she carried, she was prepared for Rita
and that animal Lynx.
Mandy had gotten in place a few feet away from the group.
Crouching in the bushes she watched the flames dance across the faces
of her prey and waited. The sound of a shot gun blast and an exploding
bike caused pandemonium in the drunken group.
Nobody saw where she came from, she was just suddenly in the
middle of the group. Her sword flashed in the firelight and people
started screaming and falling to the ground. In the commotion, Jeremy
stepped from the shadows and started pumping rounds into the bikes
and other equipment. The clearing was soon ablaze with burning bikes.
People started breaking from the group, staggering or running for
their weapons. Jeremy quickly cut them down then headed toward
Mandy. Before he could make it to the girl, he stopped and looked
around, everyone was down. Mandy stood in a mess of bodies many
still writhing in pain from their wounds. She was splattered in blood
with her face a mess from where she had wiped her bloody hands across
it distorting her war paint.
Mandy looked around "Where is she?"
"Who?" Jeremy asked as he continued to take in the carnage.
"That bitch Rita." Mandy had started rolling bodies over with her
feet looking for the woman. She found her hiding behind some bikes,
Jeremy could see the shock and terror in the woman's eyes.
"Why her?" Jeremy asked as Mandy dragged the woman toward
a large tree.
"Her and her boyfriend, Lynx, were the ones who did most of
what you saw in my bedroom." Mandy hissed.
Suddenly a flood of recognition brought Rita out of her shock.
"It...its not possible." she stammered "I slit your throat, you should be
dead."
"You and your boyfriend had a good old time with me didn't
you." Mandy whispered as she tied Rita's hands behind her back. "By
the way, where is he?"
"This isn't possible" Rita repeated "Your dead, all that glorious
blood..."
Mandy threw the rope over a low branch and pulled Rita up.
The woman screamed as her arms twisted up over her head then lifted
her off the ground. Rita was soon suspended so that her toes barely
touched the ground.
"Where is he?" Mandy asked again after securing the rope.
"Fuck you, bitch." Rita snarled and spat in her tormentor's face.
Mandy produced her eight inch knife, still covered in blood from
the fight, and ran the tip up the side of the woman's face opening a long
thin cut. "We can do this easy or hard." Mandy said "It's up to you."
Rita cried out from the new pain. "The son of a bitch went to
Seattle."
"Why?"
"He said he had to meet Lance."
"Who's Lance?"
Rita turned toward Jeremy "A friend of Lynx's, your man over
there killed. Stupid shit thinks he's still alive."
Mandy looked at Jeremy questioningly.
"He's one of us."
Mandy smiled at Rita "You thought we were dead too, didn't
you?"
"I never meant to hurt anybody," Rita pleaded "it just got carried
away."
"Let's finish this." Jeremy said "Its over with these people."
A strange look came over Mandy's face and she cut away Rita's
shirt exposing her abdomen. "I'm just getting started. If you can't handle
it, it's okay." she said to Jeremy "I'll meet you back at the truck." With
that she opened a cut across Rita's mid section.
Jeremy turned and walked out of the clearing listening to Rita's
screams. He could hear Mandy talking to Rita over her screams as he
walked away "Don't waste too much of your energy, we've got a long
night ahead of us."
Jeremy hadn't made it back to the dirt road before a new round of
even more intense screams rose from the clearing. He couldn't stand it
anymore and ran back to the clearing pulling the .357. A single round
ended the woman's misery.
Mandy turned to Jeremy furious. She grabbed her sword and
charged him. "How dare you interfere!" she yelled at him. "You don't
know what those two did to me."
"It doesn't matter." Jeremy said trying to maintain his revulsion
"nobody deserves what you were doing to her."
Mandy raised her sword "Your not the judge of my tormentors, I
am."
Jeremy leveled the magnum at the woman. "Its over, lets get out
of here."
The woman settled down and lowered her sword. "Will you go
with me to Seattle?"
Jeremy uncocked his gun "I was headed there anyway."
She looked at Rita's body hanging from the tree. "I'll cut her
down." On her way to Rita, she slid her sword into a couple of the bikers
who had started coming around.
Looking at the carnage about him and the monster carrying her
father's sword, Jeremy shook his head. "My God." he thought to himself
"What have I become?"
to be continued.........
"The Journey of Jeremy Keller"
Part 21
Jeremy and Mandy followed the biker until he turned off the
main road and headed down an overgrown dirt road into thick woods.
They took careful note of the location then continued by. What they
needed to do was best done at night and that was a few hours away.
Several miles west they found an old diner and stopped in for coffee and
to wait for darkness.
In the late evening, the two immortals found the dirt road they
had watched the biker take. They parked the truck in the weeds and
prepared to go in. Mandy had produced some black face paint and
proceeded to paint thick sharp designs down both cheeks and across her
face. At first Jeremy thought it was camouflage but soon realized it was
ritual war paint.
When she was done she turned her icy stare towards him. The
war paint together with her chopped hair and the look in her eyes sent a
chill down Jeremy's back.
"Are you ready to get bloody, soldier?" she whispered.
Jeremy dropped the chamber of his revolver open and checked
his rounds. "I'm never 'ready' to kill," he said "but some things have to
be done." He then took her black face paint and smeared it across his
forehead and face to darken his complexion.
"If your going to survive the game." Mandy said "You'd better
get used to killing."
Jeremy looked at the woman suddenly he could see the years in
her eyes. "That's the problem I'm too used to killing." he then gestured
towards the woods. "And these people aren't part of the Game."
"They're not part of our game." Mandy agreed, "But they are
players in their own right and when they destroyed my family and raped
me they brought me into their game."
Jeremy opened his door "They brought both of us in, now its time
to play."
The two walked the dirt road into the woods, keeping to either
side and staying close to the brush. They were both just half a step away
from total concealment in the undergrowth. Jeremy carried his shot gun
with his .357 tucked securely in the front of his belt. Mandy carried only
her father's sword, her two knives and a length of rope she wouldn't
explain to Jeremy.
A couple of hundred yards down the road they heard loud music
and drunken laughter. The noise came from a glow in the woods no
more then 50 yards off the dirt road. Jeremy and Mandy faded quietly
into the woods and approached the gathering without saying a word or
making a sound.
As they approached the camp they split up and headed to
opposite sides. On the outer edge of the clearing, Jeremy came upon a
drunken biker trying to act as a look out. With little effort Jeremy was
able to sneak up behind him and apply a silent choke hold until he
passed out.
Mandy also found a look out, but he wasn't as lucky. He didn't
see her until she stood up in front of him and buried her knife deep into
his gut then up into his chest. She clamped her hand across his mouth
muffling his scream until the knife found his heart and ended his life.
Kneeling over the body, Mandy shook the blood from her hand
then wiped it on the man's greasy shirt. Any minute now, Jeremy would
start the attack and she had to be in place to get the most out of it. She
worked her way close to the camp fire and center of the gathering. Let
him take care of the distraction, she would take care of the animals, she
could handle that.
The first one she recognized was the creature they called Rita.
Her bandaged hand and loud, foul mouth made her stand out in the
crowd. Mandy checked the rope she carried, she was prepared for Rita
and that animal Lynx.
Mandy had gotten in place a few feet away from the group.
Crouching in the bushes she watched the flames dance across the faces
of her prey and waited. The sound of a shot gun blast and an exploding
bike caused pandemonium in the drunken group.
Nobody saw where she came from, she was just suddenly in the
middle of the group. Her sword flashed in the firelight and people
started screaming and falling to the ground. In the commotion, Jeremy
stepped from the shadows and started pumping rounds into the bikes
and other equipment. The clearing was soon ablaze with burning bikes.
People started breaking from the group, staggering or running for
their weapons. Jeremy quickly cut them down then headed toward
Mandy. Before he could make it to the girl, he stopped and looked
around, everyone was down. Mandy stood in a mess of bodies many
still writhing in pain from their wounds. She was splattered in blood
with her face a mess from where she had wiped her bloody hands across
it distorting her war paint.
Mandy looked around "Where is she?"
"Who?" Jeremy asked as he continued to take in the carnage.
"That bitch Rita." Mandy had started rolling bodies over with her
feet looking for the woman. She found her hiding behind some bikes,
Jeremy could see the shock and terror in the woman's eyes.
"Why her?" Jeremy asked as Mandy dragged the woman toward
a large tree.
"Her and her boyfriend, Lynx, were the ones who did most of
what you saw in my bedroom." Mandy hissed.
Suddenly a flood of recognition brought Rita out of her shock.
"It...its not possible." she stammered "I slit your throat, you should be
dead."
"You and your boyfriend had a good old time with me didn't
you." Mandy whispered as she tied Rita's hands behind her back. "By
the way, where is he?"
"This isn't possible" Rita repeated "Your dead, all that glorious
blood..."
Mandy threw the rope over a low branch and pulled Rita up.
The woman screamed as her arms twisted up over her head then lifted
her off the ground. Rita was soon suspended so that her toes barely
touched the ground.
"Where is he?" Mandy asked again after securing the rope.
"Fuck you, bitch." Rita snarled and spat in her tormentor's face.
Mandy produced her eight inch knife, still covered in blood from
the fight, and ran the tip up the side of the woman's face opening a long
thin cut. "We can do this easy or hard." Mandy said "It's up to you."
Rita cried out from the new pain. "The son of a bitch went to
Seattle."
"Why?"
"He said he had to meet Lance."
"Who's Lance?"
Rita turned toward Jeremy "A friend of Lynx's, your man over
there killed. Stupid shit thinks he's still alive."
Mandy looked at Jeremy questioningly.
"He's one of us."
Mandy smiled at Rita "You thought we were dead too, didn't
you?"
"I never meant to hurt anybody," Rita pleaded "it just got carried
away."
"Let's finish this." Jeremy said "Its over with these people."
A strange look came over Mandy's face and she cut away Rita's
shirt exposing her abdomen. "I'm just getting started. If you can't handle
it, it's okay." she said to Jeremy "I'll meet you back at the truck." With
that she opened a cut across Rita's mid section.
Jeremy turned and walked out of the clearing listening to Rita's
screams. He could hear Mandy talking to Rita over her screams as he
walked away "Don't waste too much of your energy, we've got a long
night ahead of us."
Jeremy hadn't made it back to the dirt road before a new round of
even more intense screams rose from the clearing. He couldn't stand it
anymore and ran back to the clearing pulling the .357. A single round
ended the woman's misery.
Mandy turned to Jeremy furious. She grabbed her sword and
charged him. "How dare you interfere!" she yelled at him. "You don't
know what those two did to me."
"It doesn't matter." Jeremy said trying to maintain his revulsion
"nobody deserves what you were doing to her."
Mandy raised her sword "Your not the judge of my tormentors, I
am."
Jeremy leveled the magnum at the woman. "Its over, lets get out
of here."
The woman settled down and lowered her sword. "Will you go
with me to Seattle?"
Jeremy uncocked his gun "I was headed there anyway."
She looked at Rita's body hanging from the tree. "I'll cut her
down." On her way to Rita, she slid her sword into a couple of the bikers
who had started coming around.
Looking at the carnage about him and the monster carrying her
father's sword, Jeremy shook his head. "My God." he thought to himself
"What have I become?"
to be continued.........