The Fall
Back in the hotel, in his suite, Zoot was on his back staring at the ceiling. He had stripped down to a pair of black boxer shorts, his jacket, leather pants and shirt lying in a heap beside the bed. He thought about maybe getting some Loco girl to wash his clothes before he headed out, but then decided against it. The time, according to him glowing wristwatch, was quater to eleven p.m. Bray asked him to be at the mall by midnight.
Damn Bray.
Ever since his rebirth as Zoot he has only seen his older brother twice. First time, about four months ago. Bray showed up at the doors of Locos headquaters, and demanded to see Zoot. When a guard tried to throw him out, Bray tossed him into the pool, causing six more Locos to jump him. Zoot appeared just in time to stop Spike from slitting his older brother's throat.
"I am not interested in what you have to say," he told Bray. "Get out of here. Better yet, get out of the city. And don't let me ever see your mug again or you'll be sorry."
Bray was yelling something behind his back as Zoot walked away, but he wasn't listening. Bray was then thrown out on the street.
The second time was yesterday. Bray have somehow followed them to the railway park and confronted him again.
"This time I'M not interested in what you have to say," he said. "I want you to shut your mouth and open your ears. Understand? Listen to me and be quiet."
Zoot barked a command, telling his men to keep away, then angrily replied, "I can have you killed where you stand, Bray. Don't fucking try to push me around. I'm not your kid brother anymore."
"I don't care. You'll listen to me and then your goons can hack me to pieces, I don't give a damn. Trudy wants to see you."
Bewildered, Zoot stepped back.
"Trudy? She's with you?"
"She wants to see you. It's important."
"What for?"
"Phoenix Mall, tomorrow at midnight. Here are the directions to the place." Bray thrusted a folded sheet of paper in his brother's hand. "You'll know everything when you come."
"And how do I know it's not a trap, huh? I know you Bray. You may just as well try to do me in." said Zoot, his eyes narrowed in suspision.
Bray gave him a long stare.
"You're fucking sick Marty."
"Don't call me that!"
"Whatever. Look at me. I am your brother. How can I possibly do such a thing? And why would I?"
There was silence for a short while.
"Who runs that place?"
"A small tribe called the Mallrats, but you won't have to deal with any of them. It's about Trudy, you and me only.I'll meet you in the sewers. Will you come?"
"Go now Bray."
"Will you?"
"I said go. I'll think about it."
In the dark suite, Zoot sighed and folded his hands behind his head, whispering Trudy's name. He haven't seen the girl since that night they spent together. Going in bed with Trudy he had no illusions or false hopes. She didn't love him and it wasn't going to change. For her, he figured, it was a way of getting back at Bray or maybe an attempt to find a part of him in his younger brother. At one point, when the pleasure reached it's peak, she sunk her nails into his back, her body trembling, eyes shut, and called Bray's name over and over. For Zoot, it was a bittersweet experience, both incredibly pleasurable and unbearably painful, one he still cherished after almost a year. There she was, in his bed but not with him. In his arms, but not his. And when Zoot woke up in the morning and saw Trudy was gone, he sat on the edge of the bed and wept.
As the time passed he kept trying desperately to forget her, to get rid of any feelings towards her. And for a while, it seemed to be working. But now, as Zoot lay in the darkness and recalled their times together, at school, at that party where they waltzed to "Lady In Red", and that night with her, he felt tears forming in his eyes and clenched his teeth, breathing heavily.
---------------------------
Memories consume
Like opening the wound
I'm taking me apart again
You all assume
I'm safe here in my room
Unless I try to start again
----------------------------
The door opened with a slight creak, and standing in the square of light was - who else - Ebony.
"Hey big guy... I'm in a mood to play." she murmured in a low throaty voice and stepped inside, slowly walking over to the bed.
"And I'm in a mood to kick you out on your ass," growled Zoot and wiped his eyes quickly before she would notice the tears. "Your folks never taught you to knock?"
"No, but you and I can do some knocking, or banging, right now."
Ebony slithered into the bed, the fabric of her short silky red nightgown rustling sensualy against the sheets. Zoot ignored her and kept staring at the ceiling. The girl pressed herself to him, resting her head on Zoot's shoulder.
"It was so hot, the way you dealt with the clowns," she whispered. Her long manicured fingernail was traveling on Zoot's chest. "So hot. And when you sliced that little slut's face... I was so horny I barely kept myself from jumping on you right there."
"You're sick." he said, without looking at Ebony.
"No sicker than you. We're two warped and twisted psychos, bent on sex and world domination. In that order."
Her hand slipped downwards,under the waistband of his boxers. Zoot got a hold of her and pushed her away.
"Ebs, I'm not in a mood."
"Come on, don't be a meanie," she pouted. "Give me some action."
"I said no."
She bit him playfuly in the chest. In response Zoot sat up, grabbed the girl by the hair and slapped her face so hard Ebony rolled off the bed onto the floor. Supporting herself with one hand, she raised up, pressing her other hand to her cheek. Ebony's eyes were now burning with rage.
"You son of a bitch!" she screamed. "You can't do this to me! You can't..."
"I can do whatever I damn please," Zoot said, looking at her sprawled at his feet."You've been with me for nine months. I thought you got it by now, you stupid skank."
Ebony hissed at him like an angy cat.
"Come on, get your ass out of here. If you're itchy, go fuck Spike."
"Well maybe I will!" she shot back.
Zoot laughed, "MAYBE you will?"
Ebony gave him a long stare, but didn't say anything. Still pressing her hand to her face, she got up and quietly exited the room
Fifteen minutes later Zoot checked the watch again. It was time to go. He ramaged under the bed, produced a pair of socks and pulled them on, then put on the pants, the shirt, the jacket and the motorbike boots. After a breif thought, Zoot threw on a thin black cloak he took off the hanger in the room's closet and pulled the hood over his face. Finally, from under the matress he pulled a gun and tucked it under the belt. As far as he knew the mall stood in a no man's land so the chances he'd run into a bunch of Demon Dogs or Tribe Circus people were slim, and virtually no one else would dare to attack the notorious Locos leader. Still, Zoot felt he wasn't fully dressed without a gun.
Finished, he closed his eyes for a moment, inhailed deeply and headed for the door.
The night streets were quiet and empty; from time to time the silence was interrupted by distant shouts, laughter and sound of shots fired.Ocassionaly, a small groups of kids, two or three in a pack, would pass by. Once a night fell, one traveling by himself was risking being ripped off, raped, beaten, sometimes murdered. Zoot actually stumbled upon a couple of unfortunate souls on his way - a little blonde boy, crying and clinging to the wall, blood pouring from his nose; the other, in his teens, buck naked except for a pair of underpants was folded in fetal position right in the middle of the street, with a stupid wide smile on his face and drooling from his mouth. The poor bastard, probably wired on coke or LSD, must have been robbed and wasn't even aware of that. Three guys dragging a pleading, whimpering girl into an abandoned car, about to get busy. As Zoot passed by them one of the guys snapped, "What are you lookin' at?" Without slowing down Zoot gave him a finger.
-------------------------
I don't want to be the one
The battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize
I'm the one confused
-------------------------
Then, when the mall was within the reach of his vision, someone jumped Zoot from behind and wraped a hand around his neck.
"You better have some food on you, asshole," the attacker rasped in his ear. "Or I'll fucking kill you."
In a fast, powerful motion Zoot brought the sole of his boot on the thug's light running shoe. When he yelped and lifted his damaged foot, Zoot got hold of the hand still choking him and crouched, leaning forwards. The throw sent the attacker flying over Zoot's back and crashing on the ground with a thud. With all the wind knocked out of him he coughed, clutching his chest and attempting to pull himself up.
"It was the biggest mistake you made in your life," Zoot informed him coldly and kicked the attacker, a thin, short boy around his age, who had half of his face painted in white, the other in black, back to the pavement. Then, stepping on the boy's chest, he removed the hood from his face. "Do you know who I am? And what I can do to you?"
"Oh shit, man, I'm sorry!" the boy begged; there was horror in his eyes and his voice was shaking. "Please, man, if I knew you were Zoot I'd never lay a finger on you! Hell, I wouldn't go near you! Don't kill me, please, I have a kid sister at home! She'll starve to death without me!"
"Should I put a bullet through your head or shoot your balls off?" Zoot said thoughtfuly, glaring down at him.
"Man, don't kill me, I'm begging you!" the boy cried in panic. "Please, I was only trying to get some food for Lacey! She's only one year old and she's starving, she cries all day long, I had to get her some food, please man, no, nooo..." he saw Zoot reaching under his cloak and covered his face, breathing heavily and waiting for a bullet to rip through him.
Zoot hesitated, pulled a small plastic bag half-full of raisins from his jacket's pocket and dropped it on the boy's chest.
"Run like hell before I change my mind."
Bray was waiting for him by the ladder, as he promised.
"Hey,"
Zoot stared him up and down.
"I'm here. Now what?"
"Follow me."
Bray was about to turn to lead the way when Zoot grabbed him by the shoulder.
"I'm warning you, if it's a setup, you'll be the first to go down."
His older brother sighed wearily.
"For God's sake Martin, you're paranoid. This whole Zoot nonsense, this Power and Chaos bullshit, it's driving you insane. Can't you see?"
"I told you not to call me Martin anymore. There is no Martin. I am Zoot. And Power and Chaos is the only way. Power and Chaos shall bring me the glory and greatness. Through them, I will rule the world."
Bray shook his head and put his hands on his brother's shoulders. "Look, I'll break it down for you. Remember how you were before the virus? If you don't, I'll remind you, you were a nice guy. A real nice guy. And there was no beef between us; hell, we were the best of friends. Remember how Mom, Dad and us used to go to the countryside on weekends, picnics and stuff? How we used to ride bikes together?"
Zoot shook his head. "Doesn't matter anymore. Doesn't matter. It is all gone. It's just talk."
"And when the virus hit, those who survived had to deal with the crumbling of society and the loss of their parents in any way they could, and your way to deal with it was to change your name, get a Sideshow Bob hairdo and paint your face with a marker. Martin, I know you too well. A person can't just change like that. You're still my little pup of a brother and you're still a nice guy and I love you."
"Shut up Bray," said Zoot quietly. "You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know about all the things that I have done."
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I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean
I don't know how I got this way
I know it's not alright
So I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit tonight
------------------------------------
"And then there's Trudy, right?" Bray continued. "I..."
"You stole her from me!" in an outburst of fury, Zoot shook his brother's hands off his shoulders and stood up nose to nose with Bray. "You knew I loved her and you stole her from me!"
"It is not true," came a soft, patient response. "She loves me, but for better or worse, it's not mutual. Come on, you know this."
"You're lying." Zoot growled "Back then you didn't love her, but now you said she sent you, so you two must be together!"
"It is not true," repeated Bray."To me, she's a good friend, someone I must take care of and protect, but nothing more than that. And anyway, I know you loved her, but aren't you with Ebony now?"
Zoot, appearently having calmed down a little, spat on the floor.
"Fuck Ebony. She's only with me cause I'm leading the Locos. If anything happens to me, two seconds later she'll hook up with whoever takes my spot. Hell, she already bangs Spike behind my back, thinks I don't know about them. Maybe some other guys too. Well you remember Ebony from school, don't you? She'll fuck anything that breathes, and what doesn't breathe she'll give it a mouth-to-mouth and fuck it too. Truth is, I don't care. I probably should have sent her away with Jaffa..."
"Jaffa?" Bray raised his eyebrows. "That guy from your class, that used to stay a year? He's a Loco too?"
"First-grade Loco, Bray. I mean, he's crazy. Completely off the wall. At first I was glad he's so enthusiastic about Power and Chaos, but then he started telling me about how he has dreams and visions of me being a god and how I should write my own version of Bible or something. I mean, shit. It's not that I don't like the idea of being admired and feared, but I don't want some looney to start a cult around me. Besides, he was spending so much time around me I was beginning to think he was, you know/DC. So I put a couple of guys under his command and sent them to go recruit soldiers for the tribe outside of the city. Just to get rid of him."
Bray nodded, "I see. Yes I do remember Jaffa's always been somewhat out of touch with the world... Well anyway, come on. Trudy's waiting."
"You swear you won't betray me?"
"I swear."
In silence, they walked through the sewers for a couple of minutes before stopping at another ladder leading to the hatch in the ceiling. Bray climbed up and opened it, then turned back to Zoot. "Come on, climb up. And be quiet. You're in the mall now." Reluctancly, he followed.
Waiting for them by the hatch was Trudy. At the sight of her, thin, pale and so vunerable, Zoot's heart ached. Her hair was cut shorter now and dyed in dark lilac, there were circles under her eyes; she looked like she was recovering from an illness. And in her arms was a baby, sleepy and quiet. Zoot's eyes widened.
"Zoot," Trudy said simply. Bray stood beside the girl, his hand lying protectively on her shoulder.
"Wh-what is this?"
"Don't you wanna say hello to your daughter?" said Bray.
He shook his head, absorbing what he just heard and saw.
"My... daughter..." Zoot muttered. "Okay... okay... Hold on..."
"She's five days old," his brother informed him. "I've tried to tell you you got Trudy pregnant back then, remember? You wouldn't listen."
"Why didn't you tell me yesterday?"
"Wasn't sure you would come if you knew," shrugged Bray. Suddenly, Zoot's eyes lit up with suspision.
"And how can you be sure it's my kid?"
Bray opened his mouth to reply, but Trudy , reaching out, touched Zoot's hand and said, "She's your daughter. You are the only one, ever."
Zoot closed his eyes in an attempt to concentrate.
"Okay... Well then Trudy, come on. You're coming with me. You'll be safer with the Locos than here with this bunch of losers."
She shook her head, looking frightened, and clung on to Bray.
"I can't."
"I'll kick Ebony out and you'll be the new queen of the Locos. Think of it, you'll have your own suite, servants, food, clothes, whatever you need. And, you and the baby will be guarded. You'll be safe. Come on, let's go!"
"You heard her, Zoot", said Bray sternly.
"That is my kid we're talking about here," he growled. Trudy shook her head again.
"Right. You want her, you stay with me."
"I can't do that!" he exclaimed in desperation."You don't understand, this is a no man's land! I can tell my guys to keep away, but any day the Demon Dogs, the clowns, the Orphants, any other tribe, they can move in and take over. And then, you'll all be dead meat. Or enslaved, at best!"
"The Mallrats can take care of themselves, don't worry. Besides, the main gates of the mall are protected by a grille which is very hard to break, and I don't think you'll tell anyone about the sewers." said his brother. "And Martin, I told you this whole warring tribes stuff is bad news, be it Demon Dogs, Jackals or your Locos. It has to end."
"Get lost, man. The Locos will wipe them all out. And then, we will rule the city, and the land. We will rule the whole world! Power and Chaos, it's the only way."
Bray smirked.
"It's just two words that you threw together and that your guys like to chant cause they sound catchy."
"You don't get it. Power, which is order, is followed by Chaos of anarchy. Then comes Power, then Chaos again. It's been like this forever. And right now, from Chaos caused by the virus, me and my Locos are building a new empire of Power. Only this time it shall stand for thousands of years before falling to Chaos again."
"You heard of Dalton City?" asked Bray.
"'Course I did. What are you, stupid?"
"I mean of what's been going on there since the virus," Bray corrected himself. When Zoot raised his eyebrows, he continued. "I met a guy here in the city who came from there. Told me there is an army base located just outside Dalton, jeeps, tanks, APCs, stuff like that. During the first days of chaos students of Dalton's military school took control of the base. A couple of local tribes attempted to storm it, but of course unsuccessfuly, so they went back to the city and continued to happily slaughter each other. The Cadets, as they called themselves, just sat there at the base, minded their own business. Then, I believe, one of them, must be a real good leader, took command, and just when the tribal war in Dalton was in a full swing, he visited each and every warlord and proposed a plan. His plan was to stop the bloodshed, form a city councel, with representives from each tribe, and to run the city together, in a civilized and non-violent way. Each of them, of course, told him where to stick his plan. The next morning, the Cadets' troops moved into Dalton. I was told it was a sight to see. Tanks and APCs rolling through the city, jeeps with machine guns on them, armed Cadets riding on the armor,camouflage uniforms and everything. It was just a demonstration. Not a single shot was fired, yet by noon all the tribe leaders were on their backs with their paws in the air and eager to co-operate. Now get this, today Dalton City is thriving. The life there is almost like it was before the virus.Nobody is starving. The Cadets protect nearby farms from raiders and in return the farmers supply the city with food. They have the electricity back, even have their own TV station. And there is no martial law. They have democracy in there. The Cadets sit in the city councel together with other tribes, and if something doesn't go their way, they just eat it up..."
"And your point is?"
"My point is, this is how you run a city. Not with violence, but with peace and co-operation. And, if the Locos decide to attack Dalton on their way to world domination, you guys will be crushed. They have tanks, Marty. You don't want to screw with them."
"There is always a way. They have tanks, but there are air force bases, missles launchers. And some of them planes and launchers are still in good condition. And there are people out there who know what to do with them."
"And there are atomic bombs out there, and people who know how to use them, too. But once one of these guys gets his hands on one of these bombs,the virus will look like a mild flu outbreak. War is not the solution, Martin. I repeat, this whole mess has to stop. Don't you think it's already been too much destruction? We gotta start puting things back together again."
"Why?" asked Zoot with a challenge in his voice.In response, Bray carefuly took the baby from Trudy (she looked alarmed but didn't protest) and put her in Zoot's hands.
"For her, that's why."
Zoot held his daughter with reverence; gently, he caressed her face, looking at her with a mixed look of wonder and tenderness.The baby smiled and tugged at his dreads, he grinned back at her, keeping silent, in a loss of words. Finally, after a minute, Zoot looked at Bray and Trudy, about to say something, when his face suddenly stiffened and eyes narrowed into nearly invisible slits.
"What a pretty picture... real cute."
Behind their backs stood two boys whom Zoot recognized from their failed attempt to join the Locos a few weeks back. One of them, the one who spoke, a lean youth with jet black hair done up in ponytail and face paint that resembled somewhat of The Crow, held a pair of nunchukus folded in his hand. One short gesture in Zoot's direction, and the other boy, hulk and towering over the Nunchakus Kid, with a similar face paint and a crew cut, ran past Trudy and Bray and stood at the stairs leading to the second store, blocking the passage. His round face read determination. Zoot bit his lip.What were they doing here? Did Bray set him up after all?
"The great Zoot. The great Locos' leader!" the Nunchakus Kid meanwhile continued mockingly as he slowly advanced. Bray stepped in front of him.
"Back off Lex."
"Where are the others?"
"There are no others. Just Zoot. And he's unarmed."
"He's on his own?" Lex wondered and grinned at the Locos' leader. He slowly and carefuly handed the baby back to Trudy, without breaking eye contact with the raven-haired boy "Well you don't look so tough now, do you? Now that you don't have your tribe to back you up!"
Lex stepped forward, swinging the nunchakus. And ran right into Bray, who grabbed his arm.
"Don't! Listen to me..."
Before Bray could utter another word, Lex folded him in two with a punch in the stomach.
"Stop it!" cried Trudy, but it was too late; two boys were rolling on the floor fighting. The tall guy whom Lex sent to guard the stairs, was now heading for Zoot. "Ryan, no! Please, stop it!"
"Run!" screamed Bray. "RUN!!"
It was too late to reach for the gun. Zoot ducked under Ryan's punch, landed one of his own in the attacker's kidney, forcing him to grunt and stagger, and ran for the stairs, his long black cloak waving behind his back.
From the shadows, hiding in the niche in the wall, Zoot watched as frightened, sleepy Mallrats were pouring out into the corridor, awaken by the sounds of fighting.
"It's the Locos, they are in here!" someone screamed.
"We're being attacked!"
A tall blonde girl, her hair in buns, seemingly one of the few who managed to stay calm, stormed past his hideaway, nearly stepping on his cloak.
"Where are they?" she demanded. "Is anybody hurt? Where are the Locos?"
"It's alright, it's alright," announced Lex, appearing with Ryan in tow. "There's only one of them."
"Where is he?" a slender, wild-haired and dark skinned boy asked, looking around.
"Hiding somewhere. Just leave it to me and Ryan, we'll find him. And when we do..."
Zoot squeezed the handle of a gun. You better hope you don't. He didn't want to use the it, but he would, if needed be.
--------------------------------
Clutching my cure I tightly lock the door
I'm trying to catch my breath again
I hurt much more than any time before
I have no options left again
I don't want to be the one
The battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize
I'm the one confused
-------------------------------
"Hold it!"
Every head turned to Bray, who came running up the stairs.
"Hold everything!" he was trying to catch his breath. "You don't understand..."
"Oh yeah, I understand!" yelled Lex and stuck a finger in his chest. "It was him! He's the one who brought him in here!"
"Bray?" the blonde girl asked, as if unwilling to believe her ears.
"Yeah, that's right. Your beloved Bray. It was him!"
As the Mallrats stared, appearently shocked, Bray took a step forward and raised his voice.
"Listen to me, will you?!"
"Why?" asked Lex softly. "So you can tell us some more of your lies? Grab him, Ryan."
Eager to oblige, Ryan slipped behind Bray's back and hammerlocked him.
"We'll deal with the Loco lover first," declared Lex. "Then we'll smoke the other one out and deal with him as well."
Zoot stood silent, feeling rage slowly growing inside, replacing fear. His brother meanwhile was making no attempts to resist.
"You don't understand," he repeated."I wasn't going to betray anybody."
"LIAR!!!" hollered Lex and drove folded nunchakus into his abdomen.
Zoot closed his eyes. In his mind, pictures were racing - himself, aged ten, in the schoolyard, trying to pull himself up from hot asphalt, a small bag with his lunch money lying beside him, and Bray sheilding his younger brother from three seven graders, yelling at them to back off and mess with someone their size; a year later, in the Judo dojo, practicing throws and holds, Bray standing in the doorway and smiling with pride; Bray hugging him by Dad's hospital bed, telling him not to cry while crying himself, and the long beep of flatliner sounding somewhere in the back on his mind. Himself standing up in the police car, roaring with triumph, leading the Locos into another battle; pinning someone down and turning his face into a bloody mess with a pair of knuckles; gritting his teeth in pain as a Loco girl bandaged a stab wound in his right arm...
"TRAITOR!!!" Bray groaned and started to go limp in Ryan's arms as Lex was landing shot after shot with the nunchakus.
Zoot removed his hand from the gun. This Lex guy was not going to hurt his brother anymore. And he didn't need a weapon to stop him. He was not worthy of dying from the hands of Zoot.
"LEAVE HIM BE!!!" he thundered, stepping into the light and sending the cloak flying off his shoulders. Just like this morning, he felt all the eyes were on him. He was Zoot, the warrior cheif, leader of the Locos, ready to perform a just punishment. "YOU WANNA FIGHT? FIGHT ME!!!"
-----------------------------------
I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
But now I have some clarity
To show you what I mean
I don't know how I got this way
I'll never be alright
So I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit tonight
----------------------------------
He attacked, rushing at Lex, who threw Bray to the ground and stood, nunchakus in hand and waiting. Then, just as Zoot was about to hit him head on, he ducked and backdropped his advesary over the balcony's rail.
Zoot felt being lifted in the air, everything went upside down. He didn't have time to realize what was happening; someone screamed, and then a terrible force hit him in the back of his head, his neck, his spine, his legs. Everything went black. And the scream suddenly stopped.
-------------------------------
I'll paint it on the walls
'Cause I'm the one at fault
I'll never fight again
And this is how it ends
-------------------------------