Note: For those of you sticking around... it'll be back to normal, soon enough. Warning on the swearing, it's pretty bad. Just... yeah.
Stupid bitch, she was gonna get them both killed―before they got a chance to get anywhere near that stupid fucking garage she wanted to―and leading them up this stupid fucking rock path, where anyone could come down over the top of the fucking things and attack them―she was fucking insane!
Jericho spun around, aiming his rifle up at the rocks to his left. Fuck this shit! He didn't care about last hurrahs, no more. The bitch was straight-up looking to get her ass killed and he'd been dragged along―
"Jericho," Lillie hissed, from behind him. He turned his head but not his eyes, keeping them on the area where loose rocks had tumbled down.
Goddammit! If those fuckheads at the Mill caught them―he remembered. The least worst things he could imagine were still about five levels of fucked-up worse than he wanted to imagine himself being on the ass-end of―
Who the fuck cared about what happened to her ass, she'd probably survive it but she wouldn't wanna be alive when she did―he took a step forward, his boots crunching on the rocky soil. Fuck―he wasn't ending up on a hook in some asshole's bedroom like a fucking party decoration!
"Jericho," Lillie hissed, a little more angrily.
He tore his eyes away from the rocks and shot her a glare, staring her down. As soon as he'd moved to face her, she whipped out a knife and threw it through the air. The blade caught the side of his cheek, slicing through his skin easily, but his yell of pain was drowned out by a loud noise behind him.
Fucking yao guai! Big bitch bastard bears! Right behind him, too, and fucking pissed because it had a knife sticking out of it's fucking neck―it lifted itself up on two legs and swiped out at him, knocking him to the side. Lillie grunted something out and held up the pissy little pistol she carried around, her hand under the butt of the weapon to steady it.
Fuck, maybe it was better to get eaten by a goddamn bear―at least this fucking thing would kill them first―
She didn't fire, narrowing her eyes as the yao guai barreled across the dirt at her. Jericho pulled his rifle up from his position on the ground and aimed, gritting his teeth and pulling the trigger―
The bullets only drew the bear's attention from Lillie onto him. Fucking shit, knew he'd go out in some stupid-ass way because of the bitch―he lifted a leg and let the yao guai rake it as his back started to bleed onto the ground, fingers on the trigger and firing wildly at it until the clip went dry.
Only pissed it off more. He swore and kicked it under the chin, pushing the massive head backward. "Fire, you fucking bitch!" he yelled at Lillie. Fucking furious now, she was acting crazy again―his blood was splattering everywhere, as he stomped at the bear from his position on the ground―
Lillie finally fired a shot, the sound eerily loud even over the roaring of the yao guai and his own grunting and swearing. It went down abruptly, landing on his legs. Lillie stood over the body in the distance, her eyes locked on the thing and her stance even. She breathed out, as he stared at her without a word, and lowered the pistol.
"Fuck!" Jericho yelled, at the sky. "What the fuck, you cu―" His words stopped as soon as he remembered where they were―
Lillie moved closer, putting a boot onto the spine of the yao guai, and pushed it off of his legs. He was bleeding everywhere―fuck, that shit hurt! All fucked up because she wouldn't―but he wasn't as nearly fucked up as they were gonna be if those―
"The game's going on rather better now," she said calmly, holding a hand out to him.
Jericho spat at her. "The fuck are you―" he snapped. "You got your fuckin' panties in a fuckin' wad and I ain't got time to fuck around with this shit!"
Lillie nodded, but didn't say anything. She had a weird fucking look on her face, like she was thinking real hard about something―
"You need to get your shit together," he snarled, pushing himself upward. Christ, that hit to his back was starting to ache real fucking bad―and here she was, all fucked in the head―he was gonna be dead before fucking sundown, he just―
"We're being followed," she said, in a near-whisper.
"What?!" He struggled to push himself to a stand, but the swipe to his leg made the muscles weak. Fuck!
"What―" he said again, tightening a hand onto his knee.
"They're only a pack of cards," Lillie told him, brightly. "We needn't be afraid of them."
If he'd had any fucking bullets left in his rifle he would've shot the bitch right then and there. He swung out and tried to punch her, but she ducked backward and looked down at him like she was―fuck, she was playing her stupid game again―
"Just..." Lillie smiled at him, one of those pretty fucking ones she used to give him. A sudden chill went down his spine. "Just hang in there, okay?"
"What―fuck―" She was confusing him, with all this shit―
Lillie turned to her right and took one step, then started running―running fast, down the narrow passageway they'd taken through the rocks. The fuck!
A long rope came over the top of the rocks, looping him around the neck and pulling hard―
Fuckfuckfuck―
Woulda wished for Moriarty's fucking water bucket to the face. Woulda wished for Lillie to fucking kill him, even if she didn't like doing that. Woulda wished for anything but―
The fucking shit they were gonna do to him. Jericho couldn't see what they'd already done, but he sure as fuck felt that shit. Dragged him back to the fucking Mills, him fighting like the ungodly bastard he was―one of the fuckheads grabbed his leg and put a foot on his fucking knee and―
"Just hang in there, okay?"
Fuck that fucking delusional fucking stupid fucking cunt bitch―
He wasn't gonna give them the fucking pleasure of hearing him scream. They dumped his ass down into the Mills, thirty feet down the rocks, let him bounce off every fucking one on the way down. Laughing and whooping in fucking delight as they jerked him up by the rope and dropped him, again―
He wasn't no fucking pussy! Wasn't gonna pass the fuck out and waste any opportunity he had to fight back―fuck―pain―fuck!
Spat out blood, opened his eyes. They'd stopped skipping his ass along the rocks and had him suspended over the ground, body hanging against the rocks. Rope around his neck, one hand trapped underneath the shit because he'd managed to grab it before they tightened the fucking noose on him―bad idea, Christ he was so fucking stupid―
"Thought you got away." Someone was talking. He didn't fucking care to talk. Hocked a fat wad of bloody snot at the fuckheads, felt the shit dribbling down his chin. Fucking rope, couldn't breathe―couldn't see―
"The fuckin' legend," the voice was saying. "I can't believe you came back, Jericho."
"What a fucking retard!"
Shrieks of laughter rang out through the rocks. He relaxed for a moment, trying to keep conscious. White spots in his eyes kept circling, that fucking noose around his neck―kicked a leg out and caught something―pain and a sharp cracking noise―
"Nnnnghh!" he choked out. Fucking bastards broke both his kneecaps―
"Hold that hand," someone said. "We're gonna make sure this goes slow."
Fuck him, and he fucking did scream. Nine fingers left―
Something exploded loudly in the distance. Another sharp knife sound―Jericho muffled out another scream, feeling the pain―eight fingers―
Someone shouted out a swear and the air opened in a deafening report of shots, screams and yelling drowned out by the closeness of the gunfire. Something fucking weird bellowed out in the area, breathy and snuffling like the biggest fucking mole rat ever―
The rope went slack, he dropped to the ground. All he could smell was blood. Could taste something electric in the air. All he could feel was pain overcoming him as he hit the rocky ground with both knees and jarred broken bones back together inside smashed muscles. Fuck!
He coughed, spitting up more blood and mucus, loosening the rope from his neck with three fingers. Pulled that shit from his neck, dropped his good hand to the ground, and threw up onto the dirt.
That something weird was hollering in the distance again, sounded bigger than a yao guai. Jericho blinked, but he was too fucking tired and in too much pain to see straight―goddamn―how was he still―
Heavy footsteps, thumping along the ground. Could feel the vibration along the dirt through his hand. He looked down at his right hand, saw the blood pouring from the raw stumps of his small and ring finger. Let the hand fall to the ground, and coughed up more vomit, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Just hang in there, okay?"
He chuckled, staring at the dirt below him, without seeing it. At least the fuckheads wouldn't be able to eat him alive, now―
He toppled onto the ground.
"I don't think they play at all fairly," she was saying.
His eyes cracked a bit to see the interior of a metal shack, yellow light and dust motes flying through the holes in the walls. Pain―all over his fucking body―
Jericho snapped his eyes open and jerked out an arm, grabbing at the stupid bitch as she sat beside him, her head tilted and hands occupied with something she was holding. Lillie let him get a hold on her, turning in a fluid motion as he pulled her toward him. He had one hand drawn back to punch her right in the fucking eyes―
She jammed something into his mouth as she moved forward, slamming her palm flat against his face and damn near choking him with―fuck! He coughed, spat, tried not to taste what she'd tried to feed him―his own fucking fingers―
Fucking bitch was more than just crazy! She'd gone over the fucking edge and back and lost her goddamned mind!
He let her go and dropped back onto the bed, clawing at his mouth and hacking up the taste of his own hands. Lillie hummed to herself, quietly, and when he'd managed to get himself back to rights he glared up at her. Pushed himself up on the mattress―what in the fu―? None of this shit made sense!
"Be what you would seem to be," she said, looking at him pointedly. "As I seem to be insane, thus I am." She looked away, smiling oddly.
"I'll kill you, you fuckin' cunt," he spat, lifting his hand to grab at her again.
"I invite you to try," she said, lifting one hand and calmly placing her pistol to his forehead. "But for now... we're playing the game, Jericho."
"What―" he started, but she pushed the pistol into his head and swiveled hers to look at him. Her head was loose on her shoulders and her eyes darkened in the shack, but she was death brought to reality in that moment. He felt his stomach churn once, felt ashamed of himself.
"I am a puppet," she said, her smile fading. "I was made to please."
Jericho coughed, closing his mouth tightly and keeping his eyes on her. His whole body shook with the shit, knocking his knees together in a pang of pain. Didn't feel like they were broken―she musta used stimpaks―what the fuck was she keeping him alive for?!
Lillie lowered the pistol and nodded at him. "I'm perfectly sane," she said, in a genuine-sounding voice. "This is all part of the game. I am sorry you lost your fingers, though." She lowered her gaze and sighed. "You have to trust me, Jericho. If you were less agitated, you would have seen the rope coming."
She put the pistol away. Turned and grabbed his rifle, and held it out to him. "C'mon," she said, pushing it at him. "You have no reason to be scared of them, anymore."
Jericho grabbed the rifle with the three remaining fingers of his right hand and nodded at her, shaking.
Fuckin' Christ. And he'd thought those assholes were frightening.