Look who's back! (Again!) I'm still not happy with this chapter but you guys deserved something so I'll probably just redo it at a later date. Sorry for the lesser quality. For full otp angst you might want to re-read chapter 6 (but its not necessary).
-:BTWD:-
And all I see is war path ahead of me
Each and every step I welcome readily
And if my lack of fear bring the death of me
Let the spirits of my ancestors envelop me
Zack Hemsey : Nice To Meet Me
Bless This Wayward Daughter
La Conquista
Welcome to the Party
Ranger Gonzalez's back met the bar with a small crack. The source of the sound, be it his spine or the old wood, wasn't clear.
"You're not a thinking man, are you?" Seth held the machete to the Ranger's throat. His other hand tightly clenched around the shoulder of the jacket, pushing back every time Gonzalez struggled. "If you were, you would've let this go. No, you're one of those junkyard dogs, right? Just can't stay on your leash." Seth sneered at him over his quiet heavy breathing, his glare relentless.
There was a calmness to his cold expression that was drastically different to the wildness of his eyes. His dark gaze just slightly hooded he gave the impression of disgusting disinterest for his welfare, the way one might regard a large bug crawling on their floor. Quick to see and quick to kill.
For all his instance otherwise, at that moment, Ettie could easily see him as the coldblooded killer he had been accused of. Quietly she walked closer, motioning behind her at Kate and Tanner to stay away as she tried to reason with him. She needed that Ranger alive. Based on the coiled rattlesnake-like posture of the bank robber, that might very well not happen.
Gonzalez stared back in equal, less collected, fury. "I came to do what I gotta do, and I ain't leaving till I do it."
Ettie didn't know what personal vendetta was unfolding before her, but she did know time was ticking by faster than their little standoff might imply. "Seth." His name felt strange on her tongue, soft but strict as she ordered his attention. Equally surprised by the use of his name, the thief shifted his stance, casting a hesitant glance her way.
"What?" He asked harshly, snarling like a dog when Freddie tried to use the minor distraction to throw him off.
"I need him." She spoke softly, moseying up beside him all comfy and calm like. Seth blinked quickly, shifting away from the sudden closeness. She had that vulnerable twinkle in her eye, all sweet and innocent like the little one. Ettie quickly shifted her attention to the Ranger. Seth was left reeling.
Gonzalez studied the duo leaning over him in confusion.
"What's your name?" She asked, those doe eyes looking glossy.
"Freddie."
"Ettie." She introduced herself. "Freddie, my brother's down there with those things." She threw her thumb over her shoulder. "And I don't know what happened between you and these assholes-" her finger turned to Seth. He licked his lips and looked away, an annoyed expression at the abrupt return to their regularly scheduled programming. "-but I know my baby brother is innocent and alone, and though he'd never admit it, probably scared shitless." She sure as hell was.
Freddie appeared torn, the anger that burned through him battling against the more natural caring side at the thought of a kid down there alone.
"Xena-"
Odette sharply turned, her eyes colder, her face taken on years of wariness with a single look as she cut him off. "He is the only way to get our brothers back."
The two entered a stare down. So unwilling to budge, Ettie joining Seth and pushing the Ranger back as he tried to struggle once more. She still needed crowd control. They didn't break their gazes, not for a moment, not for a blink. Not even when the shotgun cocked behind his head. His narrowed eyes didn't even wince as the cold barrel tickled the ends of the closely cropped hair behind his ear.
"Let him go," Jacob demanded.
A tendon in Seth's neck jumped as he clenched his jaw. Damn preacher's daughters and their distractions… "This ain't your fight, padre." He glowered at no one in particular, returning his attention to Gonzalez.
"And it ain't your call to kill him." Jacob rebutted. He cast a surveying glance over his daughter, not liking their close proximity at this dangerous moment. "Step away, Odette."
Odette didn't move. "He knows how to get out." She wasn't willing to back away and have shit hit the fan just as they found a glimmer of hope.
"We already saw him get killed, but he lived." Kate reminded her father. She shifted closer despite the tension and toxic masculinity. "He knows something." For once, Kate readily sided with her sister. Though their brother was gone, his voice echoed through Kate.
"They're right." Freddie challenged. "I know a way out. But you're too stupid to listen." He baited, trying again to push Seth and the weapon off him. The Gecko was stronger than he seemed, more muscled than the suit might mislead. He wasn't the taller brother, but he had always been the stronger, his time in prison cementing that.
"Shut up!" He ordered. A scoff escaped him. "This guy thinks he's Dirty Harry." Seth bent forward hovering inches away as he took on a calloused tone of promise. "You out for blood? That's good, 'cause you're gonna die bloody."
"I said, let him go!" Jacob pressured.
"This is Old Testament, padre!" Seth shouts back at the ex-pastor, reminding him of his own misdeeds that day. The things we do for family, he thought. Now, Seth was gonna avenge his. He pressed the sharp edge further into the Ranger's throat, drawing a trickle of blood.
Jacob chose his words carefully. His voice strained in emotion despite the even tone. "My Scott is gone because you kidnapped us. You forced us to come here. Forced us to stay because you went back on your word."
Seth felt like he'd been shot in the gut with how the cutting truth landed on him. Ettie could see it in his face. So could Freddie. A crack of humble humanity in his enraged expression. He had done a lot of bad shit in his life, but inadvertently, this might by far be the worse. From dawn till dusk, this day had been a shit storm of piss-poor timing and one mistake after another, each one sending Seth floundering to try and take back control of a seemingly simple plan.
"By your scripture, you raise that blade, I can splatter that melon of yours all over that wall." Jacob's finger gently shook with the slightest of tremors as it hovered over the trigger.
Seth's head fell forward like a scolded child. He sighed. "You see this?" He glowered at Odette. Readjusting his grip, he fought with Freddie, bringing his head forwards and using his arms to pin his neck as his hand gripped the Ranger's sneering face. Turning it with little compassion, he showed the two puncture marks on Freddie's neck. "Looks like this little piggy's already had a close encounter, huh?"
And in that small revelation, those two marks changed everything.
The rest of the occupants straightened, on edge and ready to fight once more.
Freddie finally got his head free of the dehumanizing grip. "I'm fine! There's nothing wrong with me!"
"Nothing was wrong with those bikers, either, till they got up and they started chomping," Seth argued, using that silver tongue of his to sway the rest of the survivors in rallying with him.
Seeing his support dwindling, Freddie was quick to cut to the chase. "I know a way out." Make yourself invaluable in a hostage situation. It was one of the first things he had been taught by his late mentor. "It's down that trapdoor over there, through a hole." Outside the tight-knit micro-hostage situation, Tanner and Kate both searched the floor around them trying to find the door. So well concealed, they had nearly missed it twice. It would have been easily overlooked if not for the sudden stop of blood that drained from the floor through its cracks.
"Down to where?" Odette asked.
Freddie looked almost hesitant to tell them. "It's a grinder. For flesh." He swallowed thickly, just as disgusted as the rest of them. "Get past and there might be an exit."
Might, being the keyword. It wasn't a promise, but it was the closest thing to hope they had. Most of their scavenged supplies depleted, they had the choice to go or stay sitting ducks as the next wave after wave came after them.
"Thanks for the tip, but it's the end of the line for you." Seth was smug, having believed he'd won the room with his little declaration. He should know better with this family.
"Killing him is a very stupid thing to do." Odette reminded him. She still needed him.
Seth nearly smirked, immediately seeing the loophole appear before him. "Fine." He easily agreed. "He stays here."
"Leaving him behind is like pulling the trigger." The thought was even more ghastly to Jacob, even crueler considering what they'd be leaving him with. "I say we vote on it."
Seth peered over his shoulder at the old man, brows furrowed and voice disbelieving. "Does this look like a parish hall to you?" There was a bit of genuine curiosity in his hollering, wondering just how insane the old man was.
Odette was undeterred, raising her own voice over Seth's to call for a vote under the hope it would finally put this pissing contest to rest. They needed to get on with more important things. Such as saving her brother and escaping almost certain gruesome death.
"All those in favor of leaving the Ranger, raise your hands now or shut the hell up and hold your peace."
Seth fidgeted, raising his hand for a brief moment to show his support before repositioning it to manhandle the hostage once more. Odette cast him an unamused glance.
She and her father scrutinized the rest. They had no intention of raising their hands. It was left to Kate and Tanner to decide. Both standing awkwardly in the back, neither appearing ready to commit to a sentencing.
Seth cast a nervous glance over his shoulder, urging them one more time to speak up.
The next hand raised was a surprise to all; the appendage a little shaky under the weight of their gazes. Jacob's heart dropped in shock. "Kate?"
"I'm sorry, Daddy, but you saw what happened to those bikers. He could turn on us." She had lost so much already, the idea of risking anyone else for a needless mistake was crippling. She looked at her sister and father, begging them to understand. For once, Ettie appeared to be the better Christian, and it had thrown them both.
Odette gave her sister a nod, accepting and understanding. "Two against two. Tanner? Stay or Go?" She put the pressure on him. "And just to remind you, he hasn't turned yet, if he even wi-"
"No, no, princess! No soapboxes during voting!" Seth glared at her.
It wasn't enough to convince the professor.
"Professor?" Gonzalez asked nervously, feeling like he was staring down the barrel of a gun at this point. He could see the muzzle flash.
Tanner looked away. Unable to meet Freddie's searching gaze, he shifted in discomfort. Sighing quietly, he raised the stake in his hand. His vote was cast.
Three to two, the abandonment was approved.
Freddie's head sunk back, hitting the table in defeat. His voice was a near whine as he sighed, "Come on, man. Give me a break."
"I'm sorry, Sheriff. It's purely academic." Tanner defended.
Odette was still, staring the blonde man down before turning on her heel and crossing her arms. She stared at Seth. "His vote doesn't count."
Seth released his hostage, throwing the machete across the room. In the same act, he pulled the gun from his waistband, aiming it at the Ranger before he could move. He leaned forward to gawk at the older Fuller with complete disbelief. "And why the fuck not?!" He challenged. His brows twitched above wide eyes wondering if it was just him she loved to torture this way.
"He has a gun on his crotch and calls himself sex-machine." Odette was level-headed, unmoved by Tanner's cries of defense of Kate's objections. "He's clearly not mentally sound enough for such a decision."
Seth stared at her. His mouth dropped open, lips struggling to form sound as, for once, all words failed him. He walked toe to toe with her, ignoring Jacob's calls to stay away. "Are you fucking kidding me right now?" He asked her quietly, nearly a whisper as he studied her face for any sign of cruel joking. He changed to full volume, bellowing in her face. "You can't change the rules, Sweetheart!"
Odette's eye twitched. "You should have thought about that before keeping those keys and stranding us here." It dug that knife in deeper. Seth took a step back, admiring how she had changed from doe-eyed to cold fury in a snap. She was vicious when she was pissed.
"We voted. We chose." He reminded the group in his deep holler. "I either tie him to that pole or I put a bullet in his brain." He stared Odette down, leaving the choice to her. "You pick, princess."
The snarl that escaped was rife with self-loathing. Freddie wasn't sure what rubbed him worse: the fact the Gecko brothers got the drop on him a third time today or the ties that bound him. Left helpless as his hands were tied behind his back to a broken bar pipe, all attempts to twist out of the chafing red fabric seemed to be in vain.
"Aah!" Freddie hiss when Seth pulled the bondage even tighter. "This ain't over!"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is." Seth finished the final loop, knotting the ripped shirt into a bow. Call it his more sadistic side but the idea of him being ripped into like sharks on chum had a certain appeal to the vengeful robber. As far as Seth was concerned, Freddie Gonzalez might very well be the (human) bane of his existence. From the liquor store to the hotel to this godforsaken shit show, the lawmen had done nothing but pop up at the worst possible time. Let him rot here...
"Unless you actually do turn into one of them. Then you'll be part of the family." He patted the Ranger's arm twice in mock comfort. He walked away. For the first time, he was content with a twist in events. It wouldn't last.
"Like Richie?" Gonzalez shot back. He hear Seth's footsteps slow before coming to a sharp stop. He didn't have to be able to see him to know he had struck a nerve. He could just imagine that arrogant look slapped off the bastard's face. "What do you think she's gonna do to him?" He probed, hoping to get a reaction. Seth didn't take the bait. With a scoff at the Ranger's pathetic attempts, he left him. "You and your brother are gonna dangle from a rope! I swear!" Freddie yelled so loud the group banging on the trap door stopped to witness the commotion.
Seth wiped at his nose, shaking off whatever ideas Ranger Danger tried to put in his head. "How is coming?" He inspected the stone door below them.
"Might come a little faster if someone hadn't wandered off," Tanner complained. "What's she even doing?"
Seth's shoulders rolled back, regarding the woman who was a constant pain in his ass with renewed suspicion. She looked away from them at that moment, continuing to speak in hushed tones with the ranger. Whatever little joy he was feeling had fled, an incredulous annoyance taking hold instead. If Ranger Gonzalez was the bane of his existence, she might as well have been the next runner-up. "Hey, Xena!"
He was ignored.
Across the room, Odette continued to beg one last time for the Ranger's help. Freddie hung his head, slamming himself into the pole behind him in frustration. The answer to her question was one he'd love to know himself.
"I. Don't. Know." He spoke slowly. He was a clueless as them as to why he'd yet to grow fangs and scales. His head raised, body going slack against the pole as he rested for a moment. He'd seen the carnage the brothers could inflict up close. Unwilling to ask her to risk herself to help him further, and unable to help her below, Freddie did the only thing he could.
"Look, the only advice I can give you-" Freddie's voice lowered to a whisper. "- watch him." His brown eyes seemed to darken under a scowl. Restrained, but not defeated, it was clear his vengeance was still coming. "Seth Gecko's just as much a threat as those things. He'll turn on you and leave you to die in a second."He swallowed, remembering the morning that had led him to this morning. She hung onto his every word.
"I've seen what they're capable of." The carnage of the bank job. The pained wheezings of Earl and the clerk as they bled to death. The eyeless body of the bank teller… Perhaps the only thing he truly feared was leaving this family alone with him. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if they, or anyone else, suffered at the brother's hands a moment longer. He'd fulfill his promise to Earl. He'd hunt them to hell and back. Freddie tried to put as much conviction in his voice as possible as he whispered, "The first chance you get, break away and run."
Ettie's eyes turned to the group over Freddie's shoulder. She met Seth's gaze without their usual challenge. Instead, she silently contemplated the roller-coaster between hostage and allies they seemed to be tonight. Until her family was regrouped and walking out those doors, she was sure of only one thing when it came to Seth Gecko, "I need him."
Freddie jerked against the pole trying to shake sense into her. A venom of a different kind seeped into his words. "He will kill you. If Richard doesn't…"
At the mention of the other brother, Odette was reminded of the surety in which Kate had spoke to her, entrusting her life to the skills of a mad man. "I know Richie won't hurt me... he cares." Odette had laughed at the time, but now... what options did she have left?
Odette's eyes returned to focus, meeting Freddie's gaze and matching his whispered tone. "The weird thing is, I don't think he will."
Ranger Gonzalez's frown deepened.
Back across the room, the devil himself had had enough of the secret conversation. "You better be sayin' goodbye, princess." Came his impatient holler.
And just like that the small humanity she saw in him drifted from mind. Ettie's eyes fluttered up, rolling back in her head as she was reminded of just how much he grated on her nerves.
"Don't trust him." Freddie rasped in a sharp whisper.
Odette spared him a last apologetic frown as she left him. She kicked at the debris that littered the floor before her. Wood, nails, and chunks of flesh from the blast moved out of her way. She bent down, picking up a stake that had survived the blast. Her body went rigid, her movement pausing in surprise at the sight of what hid beneath it.
The dark stains in the carved stone were distinct and unforgettable. An eye stared back at her from the handle. Richie's knife...
A glance over her shoulder confirmed that the floor she'd parted was clear of debris, if not slick with blood. Her hazel eyes turned forwards as she stood, her foot resting atop the strange switchblade as she shifted her stance. Seth's eyes narrowed, wondering if this was another of her strange challenges.
Behind him, the trap doors finally relented under the pressure. Releasing their seal, they fell open with a slight rumble and bang. Tanner's overexcited hoot and cackles of joy stole Seth's attention.
Without hesitation, Ettie kicked back, appearing as if she'd slipped as the knife slid straight into Freddie's foot with only a slight soft clatter. The bank robber turned back, catching her stumble as she straightened herself.
Feeling the weighty object hit his bot, Freddie dared an inconspicuous glance down. Ignoring the sudden twist in his throat at the sight of the cursed thing, he placed his foot over it to hide it from view.
"You good?" Seth surveyed her. His usual glare was gone, an eyebrow raised in something akin to concern.
"Peachy," She lied. Seth caught on to the tone. She was throwing his words back at him. Seth watched her closely as she passed behind him.
"Great, now what was that back there." He pointed to Freddie.
Odette had a hell of a poker face as she looked into each of his eyes. Maybe, just the slightest bit, she trusted him more than she'd like to admit. She had the audacity to smile as she threw his words back at him. "Saying goodbye."
A breath of air escaped his mouth in a huff of expected irritation. Seth turned his upper body staring back at the Ranger. Odette's smile dropped along with her body, her knees bending in a squat at the edge of the hole.
Holding the stake loosely in her hands, she rested her elbows on her closed knees. She waited and watched. In the now quiet bar, they could hear the grinding of gears used to tear flesh apart. Aghast, Jacob aimed the shotgun into the dimly lit entrance. The smell alone gave away the hell that awaited them as the metallic tang of blood and rotting meat permeated the air. Seth wiped his nose, squatting beside her as they dared to lean over, searching for a hint of safe passage.
"I need a phone." She blindly extended her hand.
Tanner pulled out an old mobile flip phone from his leather jacket. "I don't think you'll get service, sweetcheeks."
She brought the phone placed in her hand closer, pausing when she saw the basic design. She rolled it in her grip, a thoughtful look bringing her eyebrows down.
She had only met three people under the age of fifty who didn't use touch phones. Her drug dealer, her kidnapper, and now, Tanner. One of those things was not like the others. Two of the three had brought Odette nothing but misery. Odette's eyes raised to Tanner with renewed suspicion. Her dubious inventory mistaken for cold judgment.
"Can't have the ladies getting too clingy." He winker at her, grinning jokingly.
"I'm sure." She droned. Her eyes took one more sweeping gaze over him, sparing a glance Seth's way in a comparison before getting back to work. She'd be keeping a closer eye on the confirmed creep from now on.
Turning the phone onto full brightness, she hoped the plastic would provide a bit more resistance than the thin flat glass and metal of most phones. Without warning, she let it drop into the trap, sliding down the ramp and into the darkness.
Tanner gave an anguished gasp. His hatred for this family only growing.
"Right." Tanner cleared his throat. "Not like I had anything important like precious irreplaceable memories on there."
Below, the phone seemed to stop, giving a faint illumination to the bloody ramp.
"I'm sure you can download your favorite porn again. Besides, you'll get it back. If you behave." She vaguely promised as she stood up. The fact it still glowed the clear indicator that it hadn't gone straight into the grinder. There was an edge or blockage there, something they could use to keep from becoming Culebra lunch meat.
Seth turned, following her with his eyes as she began unbuttoning the plaid overshirt and pulled it off. She tied it around her waist, following her younger sister's lead before twisting her dark locks in a loose braid. Seth's eyes wandered up. The tighter blue tank top below clung to her athletic and curvy frame. Why were the hot ones always crazy? He shook his head in disappointment and refocused his attention to the hole below them.
Tanner made a face, mocking her in a higher, mumbled pitch under his breath. Odette gave her own warning look this time. Tanner was very grateful for the trap door of death between them in that moment. Clearing his throat, he took stock of the room.
"All right, hold on a second. Let me think out loud." Tanner instructed. "There was a chain hanging from the pool table. We can wrap that around a crossbar and use it to cantilever each one of us down. If we double the chain up, should give us about 200 pounds of tensile strength."
Seth rolled his eyes, time was wasting. "Yeah, you keep working on that, MacGyver."
Seth lowered his legs into the hole, gripping the side of the stone floor. Blowing the air out of his lungs, he thought of how much his brother was gonna owe him for this. Not wanting to give it another thought, he pushed off the edge and slid down the steep decline. Keeping a hand on the wall, he used his heels to break at the narrow edge before the slow grinder.
"Or you could do that." Tanner tersely admitted. The Professor bit his tongue, clearly at wits end after continuously being interrupted, outshined, and just plain mocked.
Seth went silent at the most inopportune time. No steps, no 'all-clear', no blood-curdling scream of agonizing death. Silence.
"You dead?" Ettie called into the tunnel. A beat of silence passed, and for a moment they shifted nervously, believing he might just be. "Se-"
"Not yet, sunshine. Come on in, guys! Water's fine!" He called up to them, a smartass as always. "I guess." He quietly added, looking around at mangled body parts and the spray of blood that wet the entire edge. He looked up as Odette used the stake in hand to slow herself. Following Seth's path, she stuck close the wall, her feet stopping just short of the open air, mere inches from disfiguring death.
"Join the party." He grunted, extending a hand to pull her to her feet. The duo observed the cutting gears pulverizing a few strangling limbs, blood spraying up in a red mist every now and then. They glanced at each other, each asking the other to make the choice. If anyone else came down there wouldn't be enough to pull them out if they changed their minds. It was now or never.
Seth wasn't eager to take on that burden.
"Keep to the edge." Odette hollered up. She'd made the choice for all of them, one she may or may not live to regret.
Seth pressed his back against the wall, slowly sidestepping across the thin edge. Above, Tanner was less graceful than his predecessors. Odette heard a curse, peeking up in time to move against the wall when she was nearly sent back into the grinder.
"Whoa! Whoa! Careful! Careful! Watch the grinder." Seth scolded them like children.
Tanner picked himself up, dusting himself off and wiping his hands on his jeans. "Don't worry, I'm good," Tanner assured. He bent down to pick up his phone since the device was no longer needed. The vent-like opening on the other side of the machine provided a dim light, allowing them to see just enough to maneuver around the narrow walkways.
Tanner called for the weapons they had salvaged. Kate lowered the shotgun carefully, Jacob slowly lowering the bag till Tanner caught them both.
Making it over to the other side, Seth let out the breath he'd been holding. He wasted no time in motioning for the bag. On the other side, he was pretty much defenseless to anything that wanted to come out of that narrow corridor. Seth looked over his shoulder nervously. He felt naked without a weapon.
Stepping onto the wide solid ground once more, Odette readjusted the stake in her hand, twirling it and gripping it with renewed purpose as she approached the vent like opening.
The professor swung the bag back and forth in his hand, testing the weight as he tried to gain some velocity. "All right. Coming to you."
"Throw me the bag." Seth pressured. He was wasting time.
"Yeah, yeah. One, two,-" Tanner misstepped, slipping in blood. "Shit!" He dropped the bag mid-swing, watching helplessly as it was consumed into the mulcher. The stakes that protected them turned into woodchips before their eyes. "Oopsie Daisy." Tanner's lower jaw pulled his lips into a tense toothy frown. He looked on embarrassed.
Seth was livid. Covering his face, he screamed obscenities as he wiped the snarl from his mouth. "Oopsie daisy? No. You don't get to say "Oopsie Daisy"." He mocked. "You just friggin' killed us." His arm flung outward, wanting desperately to strike him for his sheer stupidity despite the fact he was hindered by a Culebra blood blender.
"I'm sorry! I slipped! It's not like this place isn't covered in blood or something." He defended bashfully.
Seth clenched his hands, trying to regroup as he motioned him to get move on. Without weapons, they couldn't very well linger about. "Yeah, okay, just-just come on." He bit out.
"Hey, guys?" Kate called from above, reminding them a couple of them were still waiting. She eased herself down. Instead of sliding down and risking it, she eased herself down from the upper edge, her legs dangling like bait.
"Kate, I got you, girl."Tanner wrapped his arms around her legs, helping her down the steep slope as his hands moved up her body under the guise of easing her down. "Oh yeah." He said a little breathily. Not explicitly groping but invasive enough, both girls gave him unamused looks as Kate was finally put on her feet. "See? Chivalry isn't dead." Tanner didn't bother to stick around to help the old man, leaving him to slide down like the rest.
"Come on. Come on, Dad. You got it." Kate encouraged. And he did. At least until he stepped on the same catch of blood and guts Tanner had. He moved into the wall, the ancient stone meeting vulnerable knee with an alarming click. "Dad! Oh, God." Kate covered her mouth at the expression of pain on his face. Jacob rested against the wall, eyes tightly closed in pain as he rubbed the old joint that'd always given him trouble.
"You okay?" Ettie called over to them. The group jumped when the trap door closed above. Now trapped, their only option was to move forward.
"Pick him up and get moving, princess. We gotta go." Seth ordered.
"Don't be an ass." Ettie hissed at him.
Across the way, Kate helped her father to his feet, exchanging quiet reassuring words before beginning her tightrope walk against the wall. Her shorter, thinner frame moved with more ease across the narrow footpath. "Careful." Odette pleaded, holding out her hand for Kate's smaller one.
"I'm coming," Jacob muttered. Already he was slower with his bad knee. He reluctantly looked down in order to gauge his footing. It was impossible for the old pastor to miss the rotting corpse and burgundy covered gears. He winced. "The Humanity," Surely, they had entered Hell.
"So, does the dean of the archeology department approve of that getup?" Seth glanced behind him at the unique weaponry. Having designated himself leader of this little rag-tag and haggard group of survivors, it was left to Seth to lead the way through the tunnels. The shotgun and stake their only surviving defense, Odette and Tanner followed behind, each armed, with Kate playing crutch to her father further behind.
Tanner gave a coarse chuckle. "Not a problem. ... You know how it is. Publish or perish." He cracked.
Seth's brows furrowed. "So, why "Sex Machine"?" He flinched at the answers that may be behind the nickname but he was far to curious not to ask.
"Ain't it obvious?" Tanner nudged him and quietly laughed at his own lewd joke. "That's a pun from my boys'-school-Latin days. Deus Sex Machina, or, uh, the God in the sex machine."
Seth's brows jumped at the revelation, not expecting such an upper-crust background from the crude, middle-class professor. Seth released an amused scoff. "Only boys' school I ever went to didn't teach dead languages." Then again his time in any form of institution leaned more towards correctional then educational. The last time he was really settled anywhere was probably the year and a half he and Richie spent at that boy's behavior farm when they were twelve. Admittedly they did learn more manners than their worthless drunk of a father could ever teach them, but other than that the only thing else they bettered was their lying and poker faces.
"Well, there's plenty of them on the walls in here." Tanner gazed upon the numerous symbols and imagery painted on the walls. As old as the temple itself they stood only slightly faded through the millennia. This was everything he ever dreamed of; the excitement getting the better of him as he bit his lip to stifle a smile. "These stories are just ancient history to most people. But I always believed the power they spoke of was true."
"What power?"
"Their blood sacrifices summoned the Vision Serpent, giving them access to a higher plane of consciousness." Tanner was so lost in thought he missed the looks Ettie and Seth sent him. He could at least pretend to enjoy this a little less. "Yeah, they could see things that don't exist in our temporal reality."
"What? What do you mean, "temporal reality"?" He asked quietly. Visibly shaken by the idea his voice rose. He eyeballed the family behind him seeing them follow after Odette like he knew they would. They seemed quite hunky-dory ignoring the conversation. Seth was pretty sure could live without it as well.
"I mean the past, the future, things you and I can't see. Their ancestors mapped the stars." Tanner tilted his head back, the dim lights above not much to look at in the stone ceiling. "They understood the cosmic movements of the galaxies. Some even say that .. they could communicate with alien races."
"Stop!" Seth sharply demanded. He ducked low, peeking his head around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. "Don't make this any weirder than it already is. Now, I can do "Temple of Doom", man, but "Crystal Skull"? I'm out." It was all far too much to process in one day.
"Never seen it," Odette whispered. She pulled her head back form around the corner above him.
Seth regarded her as if she herself was an alien species. "I swear, every time you open your mouth I hate you a little more."
"Sorry." She rolled her eyes. "Not everyone spent their childhood obsessing over old westerns."
"It came out in 2008," Seth argued. He pressed his hand to her back, ready to push her forward once it was clear. If he let her linger so would the others.
"Who gives a shit!" She harshly hissed back.
"Not to interrupt your little domestic," Tanner forced himself between them. "-but I think the coast is clear."
Ettie and Seth looked at Tanner before continuing on. "And it's not a western." Seth pushed her forwards.
"This place is filled with Chanan markings."
"What do you mean?"
"Chanan. It means "snake", but it also means "guard"."
"What are they guarding?"
"Duh." Tanner became even smarmier than usual. "The underworld."
Odette turned to Seth, their childish fighting not over just yet. "Duh." She mocked.
Seth's eyes returned to their usual narrowed expression. "Oh, great." He cursed under his breath. Surveying the option of tunnels before them, he suddenly turned left.
At the back of the group, Kate and Jacob kept up at a lumbering pace.
Kate took in the dimly lit tunnel behind her. She breathed through her mouth, almost panting as she tried to calm her hammering heart. The dark, enclosed space bringing new fears she didn't know she had. Her eyes darted around. She looked to the others ahead of them, knowing they would be the first line of defense but still feeling overwhelmingly vulnerable. The younger Fuller glanced behind her once more, licking her lips as she felt the hollow act of acceptance in her heart.
"I guess I shouldn't be afraid. If I die, I go to heaven to be with Mama." Innocent eagerness coated her words. A tone reserved for the pure of heart and most devout believers. Though her fear, she saw one benefit. "She'll be standing there right next to Jesus, waiting for me."
Jacob slowed his meandering, his face dropping. Believing he needed a break, Kate released him to lean against the wall. She looked at her father as he called her name. He seemed sad.
"Kate." He had that same look on his face as when he told her her cat Winston had died. The same look when Ettie had left the first time. And been found the second. It was the look of sorrow and pity veiled with the desperation for her to understand what he would say next. Understand what, she wasn't sure.
"What?" She looked him up and down. Her mother's green eyes staring up at him.
His heart felt like it was being ripped apart in a twisting flurry of frantic beats. One he said it, it couldn't be taken back. Just like Ettie said. It was a burden to those who knew it. A burden that shouldn't be placed on the children who still held so much faith. Jacob almost backed down again. Almost.
If there was one thing this night had taught him, it was that his children were more capable than he thought. She needed to know the truth. And if this was indeed the judgment of Christ coming down on them, he owed her an explanation for why he's damned her with him. "There's something I have to tell you about your mother."
"What is it?"
"It will break her." He was warned.
Jacob could remember staring at Odette standing at the end of his hospital bed. Silent tears running down a hard face of unwavering resolve. It had taken only a minute of suffocating silence after his confession that the warning left her. His oldest's voice shook. "Scott, Kate-" She shook her head. "Kate especially." Odette shuddered as she took a breath. Jacob felt his heartbreak, understanding why. Scott and Ettie would be okay. They had each other, a shared broader view of God and all that he was and could be. Kate... Kate was her mama's girl through and through.
"She's strong, like you." It was one of the few similarities he saw in his daughters. They put their mind to something and there was no stopping them. Nothing could daunt them.
Ettie smiled a somber grin filled with pain as she bit her lip between her teeth. "Yeah. I know." Her watched the monitors beeping beside his bed, the steady beeping rather calming. "Stubborn as shit." She whispered. Jacob didn't have the strength to scold her. "Remember when Winston died? And she spent the entire Christmas asking you, asking God, asking Santa Claus... do cats go to people heaven and would she get to see him again?" Jacob closed his eyes, resting his head back on the pillow. He did indeed. "She was so obsessed with finding the answer you and mom had to bring in your friends to help convince her..." Odette's stoic mask was broken, her face crumpling. "I still don't think she fully believes you."
Suicide was a sin. In the bible he preached from, the sermons she had heard, there was only one fate for her mother. "How can you expect her to know that and still be... Kate?"
"Faith."
Jacob wiped at his sweaty brow, looking down at his daughter before him. Even with the odds compiled against them, she stayed by his side unafraid of what lie ahead. His faith in God may be, but his faith in Kate was unwavering. "You got to stay strong." He whispered, nodding his head in encouragement. "That's how we're gonna get through this."
"Daddy, what is it?" she asked again confused.
Jacob tried to force the courage that would make him speak the words. "Ettie and I... We l-"
A ferocious screeching echoed through the corridor behind them.
Kate dared to lean over to peek at the empty hallway behind her father. "What was that?" Any calm she projected was an illusion, her heart hammering once more as she stared at the hallway. It screamed again, growing closer. Was that an echo or were there more?
The group stilled, hoping it would pass. "Something's coming." The words fell from her lip low like a curse. Somewhere in the interconnecting chambers, they could hear the thumping of feet. Whatever was coming, there were many, and they were fast.
Ettie was the first to break. "Run!" She ordered. Seth and Tanner shot forwards, Ettie turning back. She pushed Kate from her father, taking over as a stronger support. "Katie, go!" She screamed. Flustered and scared Kate kept her slower pace. She couldn't leave them here.
"Wait!" She cried weakly, seeing the men turn a corner, gone from sight. Her voice cracked as she tried to scream. "Wait! Don't leave us!" She begged. She ran ahead, stopping and waiting as she kept one eye on the stranglers and one eye on the men continuing down the dim paths. "Hurry!" Kate motioned for her fmaily to followed. She wasn't sure what scared her more, the thing catching them now or being left and lost in the maze.
"Watch him." Freddie's voice was in Ettie's ear. "He'll turn on you and leave you to die."
She couldn't take that risk. "Kate, go!" Odette's voice was deeper, demanding she stop waiting for them and follow the others before she was lost.
"Not without you!" Kate almost cried, pulling them into the next corridor. She was scared, she could admit that. But the idea of being down here without them was too much to bear. "They went this way," Kate directed them, pointing to the end of the hall.
A few turns ahead, the cry echoed in the chambers. Seth grabbed at the wall, stopping at the sound. He paced himself. He wasn't stopping but he sure as hell wasn't gonna just leave them there, either. Seth slapped the cold wall, running forward with renewed gusto. His eyes searched one hall and another. He needed a plan, he needed a plan, plan, plan, plan, plan, pl…
It was all that ran through his head as he searched. The was a feeling he got when a plan fell through. It was the same feeling as when he was a child, scared and overwhelmed by fire and smoke so thick he couldn't breath or think. It was the reason he was so meticulous about planning his jobs. No need to have someone pull your ass from the fire if you've memorized the escape routes and brought an extinguisher.
He entered another turn, this hallway having an end. Creates stacked haphazardly around it, a light shone through the crack of a set of doors. An idea lit his mind, the closest thing to a plan he had. "Door!" Seth called Tanner to him, hoping the others heard.
The two men began slamming their weight into the heavy wood. The planks shimmied and clattered, but would always bounce back. The sporadic hits alone weren't enough to break it open. "Wait-wait-wait." Seth stopped. "On three." He looked to Tanner. Perhaps a uniformed push would do it.
"One. Two. Three." Tanner and Seth rammed the door at the same time. The loose lock gave way at last. They nearly crashed face first into the storage room.
"Come on, Daddy!" Kate cried, the sound growing closer to them. "Come on!" She screamed, taking his other arm and trying to help carry him. She let out a sharp scream at the sight of the first Chanans turn after them.
Seth turned, grabbing the doors to close them. He froze at the sight of the empty hallway and the scream that echoed through it. His face dropped in sickly surprise. He could feel those flames getting closer.
"Close the door!" Tanner huffed and puffed behind him.
"Shut up," Seth ordered. He waited, silent and anxious.
"They're Chanan food. Close the door!" Tanner screamed desperately. If he left those doors open any longer they might as well be out in the open still.
Seth glowered back at him, enraged. "Shut up!" He wasn't gonna leave them to die out there.
"Damn it, man!"
"Wait!" Came a familiar shrill cry. Seth turned, spotting the girls drag their father around the corner. It felt like his lungs were about to burst.
In the safety of the alcove, Ettie dropped Jacob's arm and turned. She brought the stake down into the heart of the Chanan behind them. Kate folded under the sudden weight. She and Jacob stumbling to the ground. Jacob glanced back, seeing her in her fencing costume as she ducked out of the way and swiftly stabbed a second. Odette retreated back out of sight, running to meet another Chanan while she still had the upper hand. The distance she put between them giving Kate time to get their father and run.
"Please!" Kate begged again. New tears had formed as she tried to lift her father, watching as their fate closed in around them. "Ettie!" Kate cried for her.
Tanner, desperate to not go down with them, began screaming over them, "What the hell are you doing?! Close the goddamn do-"
Seth rocked back and forth, coming to a conclusion that surprised them all. Stupid fucking morals. "Shit," He cursed himself, running out of what small safety he had and into the hall of death.
He pulled Kate up roughly, pushing her towards the door. "Come on! Come on!" He urged the old man. His eyes glanced to Odette, killing a third and clearing the hallway for now. At any moment they would be outnumbered. Ettie started retreating back, keeping her guard up for anymore nasty surprised.
Seth picked the old man up, dragging him back into the safer hallway and to the room. "Fuller!" He called for Odette. She better not die on him.
Odette didn't need to be told twice. She sprinted to catch up with them. A hoard of Chanan's gaining on her heels.
"For the love of god! Close the fucking d-" Tanner didn't get to finish as Seth shoved him away from the doors he tried to close. Tanner falling back and sliding on his ass at the force of it.
"Come on, come on, come on-" He quietly chanted. She nearly slid past in her attempt to turn. His hand reached out, rapidly motioning for her to come closer. Like a relay race in the final stretch, his foot stepped out, reaching for her. "Move, Ettie!" He shouted at her. Ettie stretched her hand out, letting him take it. Seth held tight, jerking them back with all his might.
Tanner and Jacob slammed the door shut behind them. They had no time to rest, flinging their bodies against the wood to counter the crowd on the other side. Ettie grit her teeth, leaning her forehead against the wood in desperation as her feet began slipping on the smooth stone under her. They couldn't hold it much longer.
"Kate, find something to block the door!"
Smaller than the rest, even her lighter weight was missed. The group was pushed back, an arm coming through the opening at the sudden leeway. Beside her, Seth eased back and turned, slamming his back into the door, slamming it shut once more.
"Here! Here!" Kate handed Tanner a heavy wooden board from amidst the clutter. Tanner barred the door, inserting the simple but effective lock. Sensing the sudden refortification, the creatures on the other side eased their attack before falling quiet.
Hesitantly, Jacob and Tanner moved away from the doors. They could still hear nails clawing at it from the other side despite the wood's thickness. It was only a temporary fix, but it worked all the same. As Jacob explored the small room, the others caught their breath.
Tanner sighed with an exhaustion he didn't deserve. He turned to Kate and dared a smile. "You can thank me later." There was no shame.
Kate's body went ridged, hackles rising as she stared at the man who had wanted to leave her sister for dead. Leaning up, she grabbed his shoulders. Tanner's smile widened into a grin expecting a polite little thank you kiss for saving the day. He hadn't thought that she'd be as feisty as her sister.
She brought him down without mercy, ramming her knee into the soft underside of his crotch where not even leather could protect him from the blow. Wheezing, the Professor fell to his knees and cupped himself. "Chivalry's dead now."
Ettie managed a laugh through her panting. Seth giving an amused huff beside her. Backs against the door, they looked to each other.
Ettie's smile lingered, slowly fading as she stared at him. Her hazel eyes appraising his face as if searching for something. Though narrowed, there was no malice in her expression. It was something more akin to wonder.
"What?" He felt flustered under the soft gaze, not used to it without its usual bite. Last time she looked at him like that he got talked out of killing the ranger. He'd learn form that mistake...
Her voice was soft. Disbelieving her own two eyes, she continued to study him, as it making sure he was the same person. "You came back."
"Yeah." Seth just as softly, seemingly hurt by the notion she didn't think he would. His eyes lowered to her lips seeing an almost teasing smile start to grow. It pulled at something in him. He cleared his throat, straightening up. "Yeah, well, I told you," He regarded the group of people before him. "I'm a bastard, but I'm not an f-"
"Not a fucking bastard." She finished with him, droning a second behind him. "Yeah." She subtly nodded as she stared at the others. The weird thing was that she already knew that. Seth Gecko may be a lot of things, but perhaps, just maybe, he wasn't as terrible a guy as they'd like to believe. Hell kidnapping and all he was still higher in her books than Tanner. She turned to him once more. "Thanks." There was no sardonic bite to it this time.
"Preacher, check this out! It's cargo." Tanner called from a secondary room hidden by a stack of empty crates. "UPS and Fed-Ex," He whistled. "Saucey."
Seth was the first to break their gaze. Schooling his features he held down a hand for her once more. "Now we're even." He left no room for argument, resuming his bossy attitude.
Despite her disbelieving wide eyes, she took the offer, letting him help her up. "Are you kidding me? I had it." She argued. She could have very well been left alone and handled those last five feet herself, unlike the mob that tried to tear him in two.
"Sure you did, sweetheart."
"Oh lord," Jacob's eyes were as wide as the others as they stared at the rows and rows of shipping crates and packages that seemed to fill the room. Some were left open, rummaged through and left with parts out. Flashlights, coolers, even yard flamingos laid strewn about.
Seth picked up a golden vase feeling its weight in his hands. "Probably from all the truckers and travelers these buzzards have been snacking on for years."
"I'd say centuries." Ettie held up a tarnished morion helmet, the distinct shape and ridge across the center a dead give away. "Conquistadors." She turned it their way.
"Jesus, they got-" Seth put down the vase, poking around the various stages of craft and design of the creates. Both child and thief in him growing giddy at the what laid around them. It was like when uncle Eddy took them to that museum and ditched them for a few hours. Richie preoccupied with snagging trinkets from the gift store to sell later, Seth found himself rather enjoying the solitude as he explored on his own. "they got stuff here that goes back who knows how long."
Entranced by the riches buried amongst the junk, Seth did now as he had then. He wandered off to explore. Distracted by what was stacked above him, the gun came without warning. Seth was cold-cocked with the end of a rife, the force knocking him on his back with a weak grunt. "Shit!"
"Welcome to the party, baby!"
Please Review :)
*chants of kiss, kiss, kiss begin* Reminder that reviews are like much needed charges for writers, please help keep our batteries going, alerts and favorites only go so far, but as always thank you to those who do. The next chapter will probably be shorter but if I kept it on the end of this chapter it made it seem very forced and muddled.