September 17, 2010

Cumming. It was a ridiculous name for a city, and here I was, hunting some ridiculous bounty hunters.

It was just past midnight now, and I was pulling into the Quality Inn that they'd mentioned. Sure enough, mullet guy and goatee guy were outside, leaning against an old Impala, sharing a cigarette in the parking lot, a no smoking sign maybe fifteen feet away from them.

I parked the Corolla close enough to have a clear view of them, but not enough so that they could see me. I wondered if they'd recognize me from the bar. It wasn't impossible, but they seemed as though they were entirely focused on their conversation- too entirely to have noticed me.

I had two options here. The first option- keep following them, keep eavesdropping, and hope they led me to her. But that posed the risk of getting caught. There was another option. An option I was familiar enough with. I could lie. I could play a character, befriend them. They'd probably buy it- they seemed dumb enough.

I had to introduce myself. I had to find a way in which I looked useful to them. I had to get them to trust me, and get all of the information I could out of them.

I couldn't wait for another chance.

I got out of the car and began walking towards them.

"Hey!" I shouted cheerily. "You gentleman got another cigarette?"

Mullet guy began reaching into the pocket of his leather jacket, and the goatee guy shot him an annoyed look.

"Thank you," I said. "Got a light too?"

I didn't smoke. But today I would. Mullet guy handed over a Marlboro black and a silver lighter.

"Been tryin' to quit," I claimed.

"You look about as rough as I did when I tried," mullet guy replied.

I offered a generous little chuckle. "I've been out in these woods a few days."

"Seen any girls out there?" he asked, and goatee guy shot him another warning glance.

"Girls?" I repeated. "I don't know about you, but I usually go out to the bars in Atlanta when I'm lookin' for girls. The backwoods ones don't do it for me. Truth is, I don't much like the people out here, but I do like the woods. I'm sorry, I mean no offense. Y'all ain't from around here, are you?"

"Charleston," goatee guy finally spoke. "Truth is, we ain't the biggest fans of these parts either."

"Why's that?" I asked, knowing an approximation of the answer I might get.

"Lots of roughneck, anarchist, meth head types," he replied.

I laughed, "tell me about it."

These guys looked the type, but bounty hunters were a bit more sympathetic to cops than Northern Georgia hillbillies.

"You know these woods pretty well then?" goatee guy asked.

"Like the back of my hand," there was no truth in that.

"Maybe we could use your help," he replied.

"How's that?" I asked.

"We're lookin' for someone who might be out there," mullet guy said. "A girl. A criminal."

"Are you guys cops?"

"No," goatee guy cut in quick.

"What do you want with her?"

"We might not be cops, but the cops want to see her captured alive," goatee guy said

"What'd she do?"

I took a puff from the marlboro.

"Killed somebody. Then escaped," he replied.

"Sounds dangerous."

"Just a twenty-year-old girl," mullet guy scoffed.

"You in or not?" goatee guy asked.

"What do I get out of it?"

"How's 10k sound?" goatee guy proposed.

Wasn't much considering how much they mentioned they were getting for her back at the bar, but I wasn't here for the money after all.

"You've got yourself a deal."

I held my hand out, and goatee guy accepted it.

"James," goatee guy introduced. "And that's Rob."

"Arthur," I said.

It was my name, but just my middle one.

James, Rob, and I had agreed to reconvene early in the morning at 8AM. We'd gone off to our separate motel rooms, and I'd managed to get some good sleep.

I was nervous, but also excited if I was honest. I didn't know what to expect. I wasn't certain I'd find her, but it was the closest I'd gotten to her in so long, I couldn't help but anticipate it.

My alarm had gone off at 7AM, and I was enjoying making use of the hotel shower, lathering myself in soap. I was exhausted after all of the hiking I had done the day before, and I knew today wasn't going to be any different.

I was just about to shut the water off when my phone began ringing again.

I got out and slung the white towel over me, glancing at my phone, seeing that it was once again my mom calling me.

I was considering not answering, but I had told her to call me if anything happened with Dad, and the idea that that might be why she was calling me prompted me to pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Shane said he talked to you last night."

"Yeah, he called me," I confirmed.

"So, why didn't you just tell me this was about a girl?"

I really didn't want to explain the details of my love life to my mom- especially considering that the woman I loved was apparently a convicted murderer.

"It's messy."

She scoffed, "Of course it's messy, son, it's always messy."

"You don't know," I said, but I wanted her to. I really did. I didn't want to be alone in this like I had been for so long, and I felt the emotions well up in me. "It ain't like you and Dad."

She paused before speaking, and I knew she could tell that I was coming close to crying. She always could.

"Well, I'd hope not. She's not in a coma, is she?"

I let out a pathetic laugh.

"No, she's not in a coma. Maybe it's worse."

"Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm your mom. I have the right to know."

"I don't know where to start."

"From the beginning."

"I met her at school. She was… I don't know, there's just something special about her. She's smart, and capable, and witty. I love her. I never stopped. I don't know what happened. Well, I didn't know. She just disappeared. I never let it go. But the other day, I- when I was visiting Dad, the news was on, and she was there."

"Is she in some kind of trouble?"

"Yeah," I nodded, not thinking about how she couldn't see me. "She is. They said she was on a prison bus. And she escaped."

I waited for a reply, but my mom didn't speak.

"She ain't- she's not a bad person, Mom. Something happened. I have to find her. With everything goin' on, I have to know."

"I know when you make up your mind about somethin', there ain't no arguin' with you. It's one of your worst traits, and it's one of your best traits. I'm here, Jack, and I'm terrified that your father isn't. I'd be doin' the same thing if I were you, I can't say I blame you, but this sounds dangerous. Do you even know where to look? Can't you let Shane or someone come help y-"

"You cannot tell Shane, Mom. Don't do that, God, please don't do that."

"Shane hasn't been to work with everythin' goin' on, he's about to come out and look for you. I can see on Dad's card that you're in Cummin'."

"Don't let him do that. You know how he is. Everythin' is so black and white with him. A convicted criminal? He's not goin' to understand what I'm doin'. Tell him you need him there, do not let him come after me, and don't let him know anythin' about what I just told you."

"Fine. Okay. Come home soon. Please. It's dangerous right now."

"Are you talkin' about the disease? On the news? That's not-no, that's nothin'. Just people talkin'. Ain't that what you and Shane said?"

"If you saw what King County was like right now, you'd say differently. There's people lootin' stores, shootin' each other in the streets. We're terrified."

Knowing my family was down there with that sunk a black pit into the base of my stomach.

"Just stay inside," I advised. "I might find her today, and I'll be back as soon as I can. I'm close, I got a lead. I just need you to trust me. Besides, you know how people are. They're sheep. They'll believe anythin' on the news, and they're all just freakin' out. I love you. I'll talk to you tonight."

"I love you too."

I ended the call. She was exaggerating, wasn't she? She had to be. One robbery and one homicide, and suddenly King County had gone to shit? Just trying to get me to come back home, but it wasn't time for that. Not yet.

I met James and Rob out at their Impala, taking the same gear that I'd lugged along yesterday with me today.

It was time to put on a show for these two idiots.

I wasn't an outdoorsman- I liked the outdoors, sure. My family would go camping once a summer. Sometimes in Georgia, but we'd go out of state too- Texas, Washington, California, Arizona, Kentucky. I learned a bit, but I was no tracker or hunter, and I especially knew nothing about these woods up here.

I made myself home in the back seat, James in the driver's seat and Rob in the passenger seat.

"We asked around town a bit yesterday," Rob began, his white mullet blew in the wind as James drove down the road. "Sounds like our girly here has made herself a camp at Van Pugh, just a little deeper off the beaten path. We were hopin' you could track her."

"Sure thing," I nodded my head, having to yell over the loud wind of Rob's window. "Can't be that hard to find."

"She's a wild one, I'll warn you in advance," Rob continued.

"Oh, I'm sure of it," I said.

I laughed to myself.

They had no idea.

It took about forty minutes of driving to get to the campgrounds. Rob hadn't shut up the entire time. Unfortunately, none of the information he spit out pertained to Magna or was helpful in any way. He talked about the disease on the news, he talked about his eight older siblings, and he talked about fond boyhood memories.

I wondered how quiet James and loudmouth Rob got in on this business together, but I didn't ask, as I didn't want to provoke Rob into speaking anymore than he already was.

The campsite was beautiful.

If she really was here, she sure did pick the place to be.

It was hot as hell today, and humid too as it always was close to water. The campgrounds were a nice forested area, overlooking the lake. The trees were spread far out- making it clear that whoever was managing the grounds made sure to not let the brush overgrow. I'd seen prettier nature, but this had its own beauty.

I couldn't help but notice how empty it was as we drove through, and I suspected the bounty hunters did too, as even Rob was quiet today.

I wasn't familiar with this area, but I'd imagined it was usually busier than this. It was a Friday in September after all though, so I figured kids were just in school, and they hadn't set out for their weekend camping trips yet.

"It's your move, Arthur," James spoke, his voice hoarse.

I remembered that he was referring to me.

This was the part where I had to pretend that I knew what I was doing.

"Just keep drivin'," I said, rolling down my window, and looking out as if I was studying my environment carefully. "We're lookin' for any sign that anyone has rolled through here, a campfire still smokin', trash on the ground."

James drove at about five miles per hour, the gravel under his tires spitting out.

Maybe I didn't need these guys anymore, but I didn't want to ditch them entirely yet- just in case she wasn't here. As dumb as they seemed- Rob especially- they had been doing this for a while it seemed, and if I lost my lead, I'd need another one.

"Stop!" I shouted.

James hit the brakes.

"What is it?" Rob asked.

"See that tent back there?"

He rubbernecked his head out the window.

"I ain't seein' nothin'."

Deep through the trees- some 100 yards or so- was a dirt brown tent. I would have missed it blending in with the ground if it hadn't been for the black poles holding it up. It sure looked like someone who didn't want to be found, as the brush over there had not been trimmed down, and it was up on a small incline.

"Y'all stay here, let me go check this out, then," I said.

"No way, you just want the money for yourself!" Rob accused.

"You're forgettin' y'all are the ones who're payin' me," I retorted.

"Listen to the man," James commanded, his voice even more hollow and hoarse.

An instinct told me to look back at him as I got out of the car, and I could see that he didn't look well. A bandage was patched over his arm- most notably- I could only see it because his leather jacket had been hiked up a bit. His skin was deathly pale, and I could make out red rings around his eyes.

He wasn't well, but this was no worry of mine right now.

Rob slunked back in his seat at his partner's command, pouting like a kid, but not arguing.

I walked deep into the woods towards the tent, sneaking a look back every twenty-five yards or so to make sure that Rob wasn't following me or that James hadn't changed his mind.

Eventually, I arrived at the tent, and I could see a whole little campsite had been made up. A small fire blazed in a makeshift pit, and some fish had been hung up to dry on a rack made of foraged wood.

"Hello?" I called out.

The tent was zipped up, so I didn't know if someone was in there or not. I didn't think this was her- she wasn't a fisherman, but I thought maybe whoever was here had seen her.

I crept up towards the tent, calling out again but getting no response.

As much as I didn't want to barge into a stranger's tent, I had to know for sure.

I approached the tent and put my hand on the zipper.

"Who the hell are you?" a voice called out from behind me.

A woman's voice. A sultry voice. I knew that voice anywhere, but actually hearing it again sent so many emotions through my body. It was her. God, it was her.

I turned around slowly. I had no idea what her reaction was going to be to seeing me, and I suddenly felt naked. No. I had to own this. I had gone looking for her, and I'd found what I was looking for.

I'd made a whole one-hundred-eighty degree turn and I saw her there. She had a pile of firewood in her arms. Her hair was dyed black now, and she'd cut the sleeves off of a gray prison shirt, but it seemed that she'd managed to find herself some jeans. There were tattoos covering her arms- those were new- but it was the same her.

I saw the recognition on her face, and the firewood fell from her arms shortly afterwards.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, but she kept her distance.

I took a step forward, attempting to close that distance, but then I remembered that she left me, and I didn't know what happened or why. I didn't know if she wanted me to close the distance or if she even cared about me at all.

"I saw you on the news," I said, though I could barely find the words to speak.

"Then you know what I did?" she asked, her dark eyes looked down at the ground, then back up at me.

A million feelings ran through my body at once.

"What they say you did?" I corrected. "You didn't do it, I know you."

My body forced another step forward.

She shook her head, avoiding my eyes, "I did it."

"What? What happen-"

A scream broke out, back in the direction of where I'd left the bounty hunters.

"Arthur!"

That was Rob's voice undoubtedly.

"Why did you come here?" she stepped forward this time. "You didn't come alone?"

She knew that was my middle name.

"They knew where you were, I had to follow them?"

"Arthur! Arthur!" Rob continued to shout out in the distance, his voice getting closer.

It was making me nervous, but all I could focus on right now was Magna right in front of me. I had to know what happened. I had to know the truth.

"Who is they?" she shot, and I could see the look in her eyes she got when she was angry.

"Bounty hunters," I confessed. "They're idiots. I was trying to lose them. But I had to know where you were first."

"Why did you need to find me?" she yelled, and began walking past me.

As she moved out of the way, I could see that Rob was running up on us now.

"Arthur!" he yelled again! "Somethin's wrong with James, we need to go, we need to get to-"

His eyes landed on Magna, and he reached for what seemed to be some cuffs on his belt.

"No!" I shouted and broke the distance between he and I, shoving him into the dirt.

"You're with her?!" he looked up at me from the dirt, confusion veiling his blue eyes.

"Take your friend, and get the hell out of here, don't make me ask you twice," I warned, lifting my foot and weighing it down on his chest, right between his collar bones.

"I knew it, you bastard! You wanted the money for yourself!"

He grabbed onto my ankle and pushed, sending me to the ground.

I put my hands out, bracing myself for the impact.

Faster than I knew, the old bastard was on top of me. I lifted my arms to block the punches that he was trying to send into my face, catching them with my forearms.

He was bigger than me in every way- taller, stronger, fatter, and I wasn't getting this bastard off of me on my own.

I looked over to see James stumbling from the car, getting closer and closer as I took punch after punch, my face squishing into the dirt.

Shit. There was no way, I was taking on both of these bastards. As long as Magna got away.

"Run!" I shouted. "Run, Magna, run!"

James was close now, and I could see that he looked even worse than he did in the car. He was dragging his feet and his arms hung at his sides, his jaw slacked.

"Like hell I will!" Magna's voice suddenly appeared above me, and I felt a force shove Rob off of me into the arms of approaching James.

James grabbed onto him as I scrambled back up to my feet, starting to notice the pains in my forearms from the countless punches he sent into me.

I looked to Magna first, making sure that she was okay, but she looked past me back at the bounty hunters, a look of horror and disgust on her face that I had never seen before.

That was when I noticed Rob's screams. I looked back to see James biting into his neck.

"What the fuck?" I said.

Magna didn't have an answer, and I realized this was our chance to get out of here.

"Come on!" I dared to grab her by the arm and run back towards the Impala, Rob screaming in the background as James tore him to shreds.

She didn't resist my grasp as we ran through the trees, the Impala getting closer and closer.

I guided her into the passenger seat, then ran around the hood to the driver's seat, grateful to see that the keys were still in the ignition. I started up the car and backed up, turning around to get the hell off of these campgrounds as fast as I could.

"Jack," Magna spoke between heavy breaths.

"We need to get the hell out of here," I said.

"Jack, what the hell is going on?" she said. "Where are we going, I can't go out into the world."

"We can't stay there! Don't you understand that? Whatever the fuck that was, if they know that you were here, that I was here, that will be on us. On top of whatever the hell it is that you already did!"

"I killed a man for raping my cousin," she admitted finally. "You remember Alison."

"Of course I remember Alison," I said.

I'd never met her, she was two years younger than us, but Magna had talked about her all the time.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I spoke again.

She responded with a scoff. "I'm a killer. Your dad's a cop. You and I, Jack," she gestured back and forth between us with her pointer finger, "we were never going to work. We're not from the same world."

I fought the urge to stop the car.

"I ain't my dad," I said.

"You're not a killer either," she said.

"You think I wouldn't have done it?" I asked.

"Of course you wouldn't have done it. You're not like me."

"If it was my cousin, my brother, my mom, someone I love. You. You think I wouldn't have killed someone for hurting them? You think I wouldn't understand why you did what you did?"

"You would've talked me out of it," she said. "It doesn't matter anymore. Let me drive, I don't want you crashing again."

"Don't change the subject, Magna. You're right though, it doesn't matter anymore. What's done is done. You did what you did. I ain't judgin' you for that."

"So, what you came back for me because you love me?" she asked with a scoff at the end.

I said nothing, just looked over at her for longer than I should have while driving.

She looked back and said nothing.

It wasn't the time. It wasn't the place. I knew why she was in prison now. But I still didn't know why she left me.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"This is a stolen vehicle. Only a matter of time before the cops go lookin' for it. We need to get back to my car and back to my house."

"Your parents house?" she said. "Your dad's a cop, I can't go there."

"My dad's in a coma," I stated.

She was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry."

"He's goin' to be fine."

"You can't put yourself in this position," she said.

"I'm already in it."

"You will go to prison, Jack, don't you understand that?" she said. "God, what do you want from me?"

I didn't have an answer because the truth was- I wanted everything and nothing. So many things I had nothing to say right now.

"I'm not lettin' you do this on your own. Whatever it takes, Magna. It doesn't have to be like it was before, but you're not takin' this on by yourself."

"I always have," she snapped.

"No, you haven't!" I matched her tone. "You don't get that, do you?"

She scoffed again, but said nothing.

So I said nothing the rest of the way back to the motel.

I stopped the Impala next to my Corolla and looked over at her, seeing tears in her eyes.

I'd never seen her cry before, and the sight broke my heart into pieces. I wanted to hold her to tell her to let it all out, but I didn't know if that was okay, so I settled for placing my hand on her arm.

"It's gonna be okay," I said.

She didn't respond or react, so I got out of the car, leaving the keys in the ignition.

I jogged over to her door and opened it.

"Come on, now," I asked her to get out, but she just sat there, failing to hold back tears. "Magna, we have to go."

I took another chance in grabbing her by the arm and pulling her upwards, moving my body out of the way for her to get out, but to my surprise, she just crashed right into me, wrapping her arms around my neck and burying her head in my chest.

My heart broke a million times at hearing her sobs and I held her tightly.

This was what I wanted, to have her back in my arms, but not like this. Not with her so broken.

"I didn't want to ruin your life," she said, her voice muffled against my jacket. "You could do so much better, I always knew that. I had to let you go. I had to let you live your life."

I grabbed her face and with some resistance, I got her brown eyes to look into my blue ones.

"You have done nothin' but make my life better since I met you," I told her, then held her close again.

My heart shattered once again at knowing what she thought. This whole time? I had no idea. I always thought she could do better than me. She acted like it enough. She wasn't easy to get, and clearly harder to hold onto. She was everything to me.

"Come on," I said, grabbing her hand again, and ushering her into the passenger's seat of my Corolla as I got back around to the driver's.

I started the car and took off back towards King County. I was bringing her home.

The sun had set by the time we entered King County, and I realized I was an asshole for thinking that my mom had been over exaggerating. Cars were abandoned on the sides of the roads, houses were boarded up and shop windows were busted through.

It was quiet though.

"I thought you said you grew up in the suburbs, not the projects," Magna said.

"It doesn't usually look like this," I said as I drove through my neighborhood. "My mom said somethin' had been goin' on, people been goin' crazy, lootin' stores and whatnot."

"Christ," she said.

We pulled into my driveway, and I took a deep breath. It felt weird having her here at my childhood home. What was once a fantasy began to feel like a delusion, but was now a reality under the strangest circumstances.

"I got a lot of family here right now due to my dad's… condition," I warned her. "But you're safe here. I swear."

She looked skeptical, and I understood why.

"No one is going to turn you in," I specified, doing my best to read her mind.

I stepped out of the car, and she didn't make me go over to her door this time. She took a step out of the car and looked around nervously, following me up the porch steps.

I inserted the key my mom had given me which was now placed on the same ring as the key to my Corolla and entered, surprised to see a shotgun in my face.

For a moment, I thought someone was in my house- an intruder, but the gun lowered to reveal Shane standing there.

"Jesus!" I said.

"Keep it down!" he warned, looking over at Magna as she entered through the foyer.

Carl ran up and hugged me, Uncle Jeff's kids eying me and Magna.

"Thank God you're here," my mom said, she came up and hugged me after Carl, then stepped over to Magna, hugging her too.

I almost laughed at how shocked Magna looked at this, but the mood was somber, and I didn't want to seem out of place.

"I'm glad to see you here, honey," my mom said to her. "My name's Lori. You let me know if you need anything."

"Did you run into any of 'em?" Uncle Jeff asked.

"Who?" I asked.

"Not in front of the kids, come on," Aunt Melody scolded him.

"The sick people," Jeff continued anyway. "The ones eatin' each other's faces?"

"Jeffrey!" Melody warned, covering Lana's ears.

I exchanged a glance with Magna.

"Oh, you didn't did you?" Shane read our shared look. "Are sick?"

"Sick?" I repeated. "No, we're not sick."

I looked over at Magna to confirm she was okay too, and she shook her head.

"They've been through a lot, let's give them some space," Mom suggested, and gestured back towards my room.

I walked back towards it, and Magna followed me. I closed the door behind.

"Sorry about all that," I said.

She shook her head.

"Who's the guy with the shotgun?"

"My dad's friend. He's helpin' us out while my dad's comatose."

I began stripping my jacket off. I went over to my dresser and grabbed out a t shirt and a pair of basketball shorts that would fit Magna well enough, throwing them to her without turning around while she got changed.

"Any reason why he pointed a shotgun in your face?" she asked.

"The aforementioned looters and cannibals," I shrugged, taking my shirt off and changing into a white t-shirt. "You need anything?"

"Just to sleep in an actual bed," she answered.

"I'll take the floor," I said.

"You don't have to."

I turned around to see her already in my bed, holding the blanket up as an invitation for me to join her.

I would have been giddy if this day hadn't already worn me out.

I walked over and crawled under the blankets with her, wrapping my arm around her waist as she nuzzled into my neck.

"Wherever you go, I'll never stop looking for you. I'll always find you," I promised her.

She replied by grabbing onto me tighter, squeezing against my chest.

I stayed awake, shocked at the fact that she was here again with me until I felt her fall asleep in my arms.

I knew I would.