WAITING (6)
"It's not looking good, Rick," Jerry told the executive as they rode the evening train back to Williamsburg. "Sales are going down again. At this rate, we're going to..."
"At this rate, we're gonna fall flat on our asses." Rick finished. "And when that happens Chugusa's gonna have us right where he wants us," Rick replied as he took out a pack of cigarettes and lit up.
"Somebody needs to go up to the man and tell him if he doesn't do something, Chugusa's gonna take the company."
"Ya don't think I haven't tried that, Jerry," Rick scoffed, "Talkin' ta Joe is like talkin' to a brick wall. Guy never listens to a word ya say. I'm surprised tha old fart is still hangin' on to what he's got now."
"He won't be holding on, for much longer, and neither will we if this keeps going," Jerry remarked, "God only knows what Chugusa'll do to us when he gets his hands on us. Don't know what we're gonna do."
"I'll tell ya what I'm doin', man. I'm a jumpin' ship," Rick said as he dropped his cigarette and stepped on it.
"Get real, Rick. You're not jumping crap."
"Who says?"
"Listen to yourself-."
"I'll tell you a tall tale, man. I used ta work for that piece o' crap, Chugusa. Worked for him for ova six years before I started working at Clintmark. Shit was the worst fuckin' thing I ever did. I ain't goin' back, man. No way."
"Yeah, well. Either we start buying stock, increasing production, or we're gonna be selling it out to Chugusa."
"Ya make it sound so easy, don't ya?" Richard laughed as he pulled another coffin nail out. "I'll give ya credit Jer', ya got balls stickin' around, especially with somethin' like this, but if ya think I'm gonna let Chugusa push me around again, you can kiss my-."
The rear car door burst open abruptly bringing laughter and hissing - Pit Vipers. They began harassing everyone in the car as they got in. Rick and Jerry could see where this was headed. Rick dropped his lighter and slowly reached for his weapon.
"Ey, what da fuck ya doin' on oua turf, man?" came a voice on the other side of the car - Jamaicans.
"Wha'?" one of the vipers laughed.
"Dis oua turf! Whacha doin' here?" the Jamaican repeated
"Your turf. Bro, do you know where you at? This our turf." the viper retorted.
"No, oua turf!" another Jamaican protested.
"Look man, your gang and ours, we ain't fighting. Why don't we solve this calmly and diplomatically," another viper laughed.
"You fight oua Serviteur broddas! You steal, and you kill oua family!" the leader of the Jamaicans exclaimed. "And now you take our turf!"
"Bro, I don't think you guys know who you dealin' with right now, eh." the viper hissed.
"You do not undastand who you are dealin' with!" the Jamaican roared as he and his posse drew their guns. The vipers drew their firearms at the same time. The two rival gangs continued roaring at each other, encouraging the other to take the first shot. Rick and Jerry were sweating as the heat and tension inside the car rose.
Just it was about to reach the boiling point, there was a loud thud on top of the car. Everyone paused as they looked skyward.
"What the hell was that?" Jerry asked.
"Ey, shut up, fool,..." Before the viper could finish his threat, the pounding returned. The factions listened in quiet terror.
The silence was broken when a flash of orange light tore through the top of the car nailing a viper in the chest. The shot tore straight through him, leaving a smouldering hole in his torso. Another shot hit a Jamaican, taking his head off. The two gangs roared as they shot at the roof of the car with everything they had.
Suddenly a hand broke through the roof of the car grabbing Jerry by the head. The invisible claws dug into his eyes, he tried to fight back, but he couldn't see. The thing was too strong. Everyone, including Rick, reacted, shooting at the thing, but they couldn't see it. Jerry was caught in the crossfire. The thing dropped his lifeless body. Rick stood there shocked by what he saw.
Suddenly, a form burst through the roof. The thing came down on Rick, crushing him under its weight. The last thing Rick saw before being overtaken by darkness was a black, clawed hand.
/
"What have we got?" Walker asked Hollingsworth as they entered the subway tunnel.
"We've got twenty-two bodies, sir. At least that's as many as we can find anyway. The cars were like this when they arrived. At least two dozen people found it like this, so as far as I can tell the secret may already be out." Hollingsworth replied.
"I can take care of them if need be, sir." Walker's right-hand man, Dallas said.
"That won't be necessary," Walker told him. "If anyone saw it when it happened, I want them silent. The rest can be left alone." Walker ordered.
"On it, sir," Dallas replied before walking off.
"Hollingsworth, I want IDs on all the victims." Walker continued.
"Right on it, sir," Hollingsworth answered.
Hollingsworth stepped inside the car. The heat of the car was stifling, and a coppery odour filled his nostrils. The lights were out, but there was enough light coming in for him to see, although he still felt it was necessary to turn his flashlight on. When he did, he wished he hadn't. Hollingsworth saw five skinned bodies hanging from their wrists, and another four were on the ground.
"Shit," Hollingsworth whispered nervously as he saw one of the dead faces staring up at him.
"Creepy shit, isn't it?" a feminine voice said in the darkness.
"What the..." Hollingsworth blurted as he turned his light towards the sound.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," the voice reassured him.
"Walker!" Hollingsworth called. "Sir, someone's in here!" He told his superior as he and Dallas came in.
"Evening, Walker," the figure greeted him as she stood up. Walker saw a tall figure in a scarlet jacket and black jeans.
"Ishikawa?" Walker recognized her.
"Don't miss a beat, do you guys?" She replied as she examined one of the bodies.
"For fuck sake!" Walker growled.
"I'm sorry, Mr Walker, sir. I - I gave everyone the order not to..." Hollingsworth stuttered.
"It's not your fault, Hollingsworth," Walker excused his junior. "What the hell are you doing here, Ishikawa?" Walker asked.
"Got here before you did," she told him. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone," she assured him "Most of them are gang members. Pit Vipers and Jamaicans from the looks of it. The rest of them are executives and stockbrokers. Regular working joes who were at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"This is a restricted area! You're not...!" Hollingsworth protested before Walker hushed him.
"I saw the news on the murder at the hotel. You said it was the Jamaicans that did that," Lucy said.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Walker asked.
"Ruben Pueblo was the Serviteur gang leader. The Jamaicans aren't at war with the Serviteurs. As a matter of fact they're believe they're related. They see each other as brothers," Lucy explained. "Why would the Jamaicans cut up one of their brothers? Kingi is understandable, but Pueblo - it doesn't make any sense," Lucy paused. "Also, a lot of these guys are Jamaicans. How're you going to explain this one to the press?"
"That's none of your damn business, Ishikawa," Walker hissed. "You have no idea what is going on. Get out!"
"Oh, I have a pretty good idea what's doing this. And it's got nothing to do with drug gangs." Lucy began. "Also, I found something else out too, some of the bodies that have been skinned look half eaten. Just like the bodies at the hotel. Seems like whatever got them was pretty hungry."
"Ishikawa...,"
"Oh yeah, thanks for ratting me out to the chief. I really appreciate that."
"You're still after Snake, aren't you?" Walker shook his head.
"What the hell else do you think I'm doing?" Lucy responded.
"Son-of-a-bitch!" Walker cursed.
"Yeah, he is," Lucy commented. "You said something about Snake the other day..."
"So?"
"I want to know what you meant when you said he was dead." Lucy said, "I want to know what the hell this thing is and what it wants."
"You should've let this one go."
"Should have. That doesn't mean I had to," She replied, "That doesn't answer my question."
"Listen to me Ishikawa and listen..." Walker said as he reached out to grab her shoulder.
Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his and threw him over her. She followed up by twisting his arm. Dallas pulled his pistol and aimed it at her.
"Answer the question!" Lucy sneered.
"Let him go, Ishikawa," Dallas said calmly as he pulled the slide back on his weapon. Lucy ignored him.
"You need to listen to me, Ishikawa," Walker choked. Lucy left enough room for him to talk.
"No, you listen to me. I don't know who the hell you are, and I don't care. I want to know what this thing is, and I want to know what it has to do with Snake. I don't care if I'm getting in the way of your little investigation, I want answers, and I want them now!"
"Let him go, now," Dallas commanded.
"Don't shoot!" Walker exclaimed.
"This thing is hunting human beings. I don't care what it is or what it wants. I'm going after it, and I'm going to get Snake too," Lucy said before letting him go. She knew she wasn't going to get anything out of him.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with," Walker repeated as he got up.
"I don't care," Lucy growled, "Stay out of my way."
"Stupid girl," Walker said as he held his arm.
"I'll make it quick, sir," Dallas said to Walker, as the man reached for his pistol.
"No, let her go," Walker held him back. He thought for a moment as she saw the woman walk away. "Let her go. But keep a close eye on her."
/
Baka Ko nashi! Lucy thought as she drove away. Walker had told Anderson what she'd been up to after she'd walked in on the crime scene at the Tiller Hotel. Walker wasn't angry about it though, Lucy would have known if he was. He could have done something much worse to her, but he turned her over to the chief instead. Lucy was bothering him sure, but she wasn't that big a nuisance to him. He just wanted her out of the way. Like that was going to happen.
Once Anderson found out, he had her suspended and had her hand over her equipment. It pissed her off to have to do that, although, considering the severity of what she was doing, Anderson could've done worse. Lucy was just happy he hadn't. When she thought about it though, it wasn't much of an inconvenience. Lucy had all the information she needed. She knew where Snake would be, and when he'd be there. And when he was, she'd be ready.
She needed some people to help back her up. She needed some guys whom she knew she could trust, who didn't mind breaking the rules. She thought about some of the officers in the precinct. McLinn, Abernathy, and Cassidy. They were good, but she wasn't sure. They had their own problems, and she didn't know if she could trust them. That was the problem. She didn't trust anyone. The only person she trusted was Amy... but...
"Dammit!" Lucy cussed to herself. Lucy didn't want to do this alone, but it looked like she was on her own. Lucy could've waited, but at the same time, she just didn't want to. She wanted to see Snake's carcass on a slab in the worst way, but she had to be smart about this. She needed to be careful. Lucy couldn't just go in all guns blazing like some muscle-bound hero from an 80s action movie, that was stupid. She'd be up against a whole damn army.
"Think, Lucy, think," Lucy told herself. She knew she was going about this too quickly, she needed to relax and concentrate, despite how hard that was for her to do. But at the time though she couldn't. She was also focused on that thing. The Nightmare... Lucy still had so many questions about it, but Walker hadn't given her any answers. She couldn't figure out what it was or what it wanted.
As she thought, she saw a vague form fly by. It wasn't like a shadow, it was night, and she wouldn't have seen it if it was. It was like a shimmer of heat. She saw the thing leap over the street, coming from the right and landing on a building over to the left. Lucy stuck her head out of her car window to get a better look. When she did though, the thing wasn't there.
How could it do that? Lucy thought to herself. She was in the middle of a busy New York City street, the distance was a solid 50 to 60 feet in length. She'd never seen anything like it before. No human could have made that jump, but this thing cleared it as if it was nothing.
Lucy frowned. She felt the feeling return to her. There was something off about it this time, but she recognized it. The sense of paranoia she felt every summer since she first saw it.
She wondered why the thing hadn't attacked her yet. Maybe it was just biding its time? Maybe it was waiting for her to do something? Lucy didn't know what it wanted. If Lucy knew anything though, she knew that it had something to do with her.
"Anata wa asobitai, mazāfakkā?" Lucy whispered angrily, as she rubbed her magatama with her fingers. She thought of her parents as she did that. "Watashi wa anata o matteimasu." She said.
She couldn't tell if it could hear her, but she knew it was watching.
Lucy still couldn't understand why it hadn't attacked yet. But at the moment she didn't care to know. Right now, she was too preoccupied with Snake. But she knew it was only a matter of time until she met her Nightmare again. Until that happened, she'd be waiting.