Generation Dead - 07 (19 page)

I shook my head.  This was really out there, even for Jake.  Everything I thought I knew about him was going sideways. 
Contribution?
  Not my brother. 
Permanent?
 
Yeah, sure.
 

“Any ideas?”
  Truth be known, I was a little scared.  I didn’t know what else to do, and I didn’t have any skills that would make any kind of contribution he was talking about. 

“Not yet.  But it’s not like we don’t’ have time and we certainly don’t need the money.”

That was very true.  With what we had from all of our collecting lately, and the money my father left me, we were very comfortable right where we were.  If we were to move to
town,
we’d be one of the richest people here.  The thought of it was kind of enticing.

“Tell you what.  Let’s get a drink to celebrate and we’ll head home in the morning.  We won’t even look at messages for a week, just take a break and enjoy the summer days for a
change,
”  I
said, hoping to sidetrack Jake’s mental process and delay any action that might have me looking for another line of work.

Jake laughed.
“Deal.”

We walked together across the street, and down the hill towards the riverfront, where there were a number of establishments
serving
decent home-brewed beer and found liquor.  People had been making the stuff for years, but a bottle of pre-zombie booze was
a luxury
several people were willing to pay big
coin,
even for a glass. 
Something to do with helping their memories or something.

As we were walking, the sun finally slipped behind the trees of the hills to the west, and the valley began to darken quickly.  Many homes were dark, yet several had lights still on as people finished daily chores or did their reading.  I knew
this,
because
I had a bad habit of looking into house windows as I went past.  I guess it was just my curious nature.  Jake and Julia always said I was just nosey.

We went into a small place called The Letter after Z, which was some reference to the zombie wars.  Jake knew the
owner;
he was a friend of our father’s back in the old days when people were fighting for their lives on a daily basis.

The place was decently populated, and there was a fair mix of people inside.  Several men at the bar looked like tradesmen, while a couple others looked like craftsmen.  At a couple of tables in the corner, a group of merchants quietly argued over the price of something, and in another corner a very drunk man tried desperately to pick up a local prostitute and
was
failing miserably. 

At another
table,
several rough-looking individuals were speaking in low tones, and they all turned to stare at Julia as we walked in.  I thought a couple of them looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure enough to bring it to the attention of the others.

We moved to the bar and ordered drinks,
and
Jake
exchanged
pleasantries with Jason, the owner.  Jason had been with our father when they had struck out on their own and made it here, and had stayed ever since.  Jason was probably approaching his fifties now, but his eyes were still as sharp as ever.  He leaned close to Jake and whispered something quick, then went off to tend to another customer.

Jake leaned on the bar, his beer in one hand and the other near his belt.  Julia smiled warmly as she worked on her glass of wine, and snuggled in between Jake and myself.  I looked over her head at my brother, who looked at Julia and then shrugged at me.

Worked on my own beer and let my thoughts drift.  I was still wondering what I might do if I wasn’t collecting
anymore
and I tried to come up with some possibilities.  I was still only twenty-one, so I had a lot of time to figure things out. 

In the middle of my thoughts, some low voices reached me, and I realized that I was overhearing parts of the conversation at the corner table. 

“That’s the guy that faced off
Casey not too long ago…”

“Big fella has some shoulders on him…”

“…but that’s almost too fine an ass to waste on the boss.”

“Forget the ass, did you check out her…”

“How you want to play it?”

“Let them drink, then we’ll take them.”

I was fully alert at this point and wasn’t too sure what to do.  I was getting angry, and knew Jake would probably lose it and kill someone, and we’d all be in trouble if he did that. I decided to let it go and see
where they wanted to take this
.  Just to be on the safe side, though, I did unsnap the holster at my belt and on the knife at my waist.

I drank a little more when I felt a touch on my shoulder.  I looked over and down into Julia’s very blue eyes.

“
Hi,
” She said. 

“Hey.” I replied.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Just wondering if I was going to have
another,
” I lied.

Julia smiled very sweetly,
and then
got up
on her tiptoes to whisper in my
ear.

“Bullshit.  Why are you getting your weapons ready?”

I smiled back and leaned over to whisper in
her
ear.  I told her about what I had
overheard,
and when I finished, I gave her a kiss on the cheek to complete the ruse that we were a couple sharing an intimate moment. 

Julia smiled and put a small hand on her cheek, then put another one on the small of my back.  On the
surface,
it was
an
affectionate gesture, but the hilt of one of my knives was back there and she’d be able to get it out faster than her own weapon.

Jake looked over at me and cocked an eyebrow at Julia’s intimacy, but got serious when I winked at him and flashed my teeth.  It was a signal we had worked out years ago in case we ever ran into trouble involving living people.  On the
surface,
it looked like we were sharing an inside joke, but he knew something was up.

We didn’t have long to wait.  Jake decided to go to the bathroom, leaving an open space next to Julia.  One of the men got up from the table and walked over, leaning on the bar and facing Julia and myself.  He was a big man, easily my size, but with a much bigger gut. 
The fat didn’t fool me
, though.  He had heavy arms, and his forearms were corded with muscle.  This was a
guy,
who could not only take punishment,
but
could
also
dish it out with equal enthusiasm.

“Hey, little lady, you from around here?”
  The man asked while signaling Jason for service.

Julia didn’t even glance at the man, she just ducked under my arm, coming up underneath my chin and leaning back into me.  She ran a hand up and down my arm, and I was almost surprised enough to forget it was an act.

The man seemed put out. “Huh.  Some fuckers have all the luck.”  The man looked me up and down,
and then
ordered a round of drinks for his table.  While he waited, he leaned over and stared hard at Julia, trying to look down her shirt and sizing her up like a piece of meat.  If she
were
my woman, I’d have cut his throat for his insulting gaze.  As it was, we were just pretending to keep up the notion we were oblivious.

Julia wasn’t helping at all.  She brought her hands up, stretching as she did so, and put her hands behind my neck, turning her head into my chest and humming c
ontentedly.  She wiggled her butt
against my legs, and it was hard to remember where the hell I
was,
let alone what I was doing there.

Big man got his drinks and walked back to the table, sitting heavily and muttering to his friends.  “
Ain’t
nothing
. 
Won’t even face a challenge in his face.”

“Largo will pay a lot for the hot blonde, I guarantee it. 
Least forty silver.”

“You think? He’s never paid that much before…”

I didn’t hear the rest, because Julia had turned around, and had slipped her hands in between my vest and my shirt, stroking my sides and back.

I swallowed before I spoke. “I think they’re planning a jump after we leave.  You can come out from there.”

Julia looked up at me and smiled slightly.  “I like where I am, Aaron.” She hugged me tightly, resting her head on my chest. “I feel safe with you.”

I was stunned.  Julia had never expressed any kind of feeling for me before, even with all we had been through.  I always thought she had feelings for Jake, seeing as she knew him longer and was closer to his age.  I didn’t know what to do, so I brought my arms together around her and hugged her back.  Julia sighed and melted against me, and I suddenly felt better than I had for months.

Chapter 30

“Get a damn room!” A harsh voice barked across the room and I turned slightly to see it came from the table with the troublemakers. 

I turned back to holding Julia, and the voice came again.  “Shit, boy, you want a piece of that ass?  Crack it open so we all can have a turn!” 

Rough laughter broke out from the table and the entire bar went silent.  Jason looked hard at the men at the table, but he wasn’t in a position to interfere.  Jake was nowhere to be seen, and I had Julia to worry about.

I don’t know why I decided to push the issue.  I guess I really was my father’s son.  I pulled away from Julia and turned towards the men at the table.  They were still laughing, but they were a little more cautious, as I was still large, and still
well armed
.

I walked up to the table and stopped at the edge.  The men looked me up and down with contempt, and the one who had originally went up to the bar spoke first.  “Tell you
what,
boy, I’ll be generous.  I’ll give you a copper a screw, and you can keep the change!” 

The rest of the bar took a breath.  That wasn’t even the rate for the worst of whores and to suggest giving change for a copper was enough to get you killed in most parts of the country these days.
 
No
jury would convict you for dealing with the insult.

I chuckled slightly, and shook my head.  I put two hands on the table and shoved downward, the far edge lifted up and when it was even with a very surprised big man’s mouth, I shoved it forward, jamming it into his face and removing a couple of his teeth.  I didn’t stop there.  As the two men closest to me stood up, I swung
my fists outwards, smacking both
men in the nose and dropping them to the floor.  I grabbed the edge of the table and twisted it sideways, knocking it into a fourth man, and spilling the two of them to the floor. The final man charged from the side, but went down in a heap when I kicked him in the crotch.

In a matter of seconds, I had cleaned out the table and men were slowly picking themselves up off the floor, several leaving blood behind from busted noses and teeth. I stepped back to see if anyone wanted any more, when I stopped
dead
.

Something cold was pressed against my neck, just below my ear, and it didn’t take much imagination to realize someone was jamming a gun against me.  I put my hands up about chest high and held them out slightly from me.

“Nice moves, boy, but knowing who your father was
,
I’m not surprised.  Before you think you’re fast enough to take me, understand I’ve been killing zombies and men years before you were born, and I know how to kill.”  The voice sounded old and raspy, like someone who had been gargling with gravel every morning for twenty years.

“Now then, let’s talk about what you’ve done here.  You’ve interrupted my business, and whetted my appetite for some
different
business, so how might we work this out?” The voice came from about my shoulder, so I figured
that
if he had his arm fully extended, I could get him if moved right.  But I had to get it perfect the first time. 

“Motherfucker!
  I’ll kill you for this!”  The big guy I had hit in the face with the table rushed forward and I couldn’t do anything as he brought his fist back and slammed it into my gut.  I tried to tense against it, but I still wound up doubling over.  I recovered quickly enough, only to find the gun pressed against my head again.

“Aaron!” Julia started forward, but stopped when the voice spoke again.

“Stay there, missy.  You’ll be coming with us soon enough, don’t worry.  Your boyfriend is getting a lesson, that’s all.”  The man cackled and I felt the cold fire building in me again.  I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, the man who hit me took a step back.  He recovered quickly
enough
and this time he shifted his aim, looking to land a punch square in my face.