Murder Genes (27 page)

Xiaos locked the door and knocked on it three times.
 
Three meant "do not enter no matter what unless you hear my voice fucking tell you to."

Bitch knew what it meant, too.
 
His eyes got really big.
 
"I screwed up and I shouldn't have snuck out.
 
I get it.
 
But this is overkill don't you think?"

"Gamer's dead," Jay said

Bitch nodded.
 
"I know, I heard.
 
High-five."
 
He held a hand up and then switched hands with a glance at Jay's arm.

"I spoke to him," Jay continued.
 
"He said some interesting things."

"Yeah?" Bitch answered warily.
 
"I'm not going to run, you know.
 
You'll think I'm lying if I do."

"He said you've been working for him from the inside.
 
Our
inside."

"He'd say that," Bitch nodded.

"He knew I was coming."

Bitch paused, then shook his head.
 
"Not likely.
 
But he might say that too, just to mess with your head."

Jay began to doubt himself.
 
He wanted to believe Bitch, but if Gamer had been telling the truth, Bitch was a much better liar than he could read.
 
Could he really risk Esperanza on trust?

"Damn." Jay said.

Bitch nodded with a thoughtful expression.
 
"You thought you'd torture it out of me, huh?
 
Thought you'd get some answers if you broke me.
 
Now you're realizing it'll never work because I wouldn't break even if I
was
betraying you, and if you tried torture anyway you might make me hate your ass for not trusting me.
 
Not to mention your own funny conscience."
 
Bitch shrugged.
 
"Hate to break it to you buddy, but you'll never know for sure."
 
He gave Jay an ironical smile.
 
"Gamer was like that.
 
He messed with people bad.
 
He kept everyone paranoid and doggy-style under his bum."
 
Bitch had a faraway look.
 
"Even after I heard what you were doing--breaking all the Rules and rubbing shit in the Gamers' faces--it took time for me to squirm out and only because I made sure I was on your to-do list."

Jay felt his blood pressure drop and fatigue moving back in.
 
"Where'd you go these last days?"

Bitch smiled.
 
"Close to heart's home, I thought you might need help.
 
I followed you, helped your distraction work.
 
Pure cowinkadink that when you yelled in Korean,
my
distraction went into play."
 
Bitch grinned.
 
"I led them on a merry man-chase.
 
Just got back from vacation today."

True, the reaction to Kim Cho-sung's name had been bigger than he'd expected.
 
But, did he really trust Bitch that much?
 
"Goddammit," he said, sighing.

"Yeah Jay, you can't really keep me inside forever anyway," Bitch said.
 
"I'll find an out, I always do.
 
Not unless you tie me S&M style and post guards who hate being bored around me.
 
Or, who’d just kill me."

Jay gave in.
 
"I need your help, Bitch."

"That is it?
 
What just happened?" Xiaos broke in.

"Yeah.
 
That's it," Jay said.
 
"He's right, what else am I going to do?
 
We knew we never had Bitch squared in.
 
We just said it to make ourselves feel safe."

"We should hold him for at least today and tomorrow," Xiaos answered.

"I'm too shaky to do it alone," Jay admitted.

Jay could see Bitch’s mind putting together the dots.
 
"You didn't get the girl, did you?" Bitch said.
 
"And now you're planning on meeting her somewhere."

"I cannot trust Bitch alone, Jay.
 
She will not either, from how you've described her," Xiaos warned.

Jay sighed.
 
"You're right."
 
Bitch and Jay would have to go together to meet Karah.
 
Bitch was the only one who knew the pathways as well as--better--than Jay did.
 
If something went wrong Jay would need him.

"It's a gamble to trust me," Bitch said.
 
"But if it makes you feel better, I'd never betray you."

"It does," Jay answered.
 
Sortof.
 
"We meet Karah tomorrow at dawn.
 
Pope's Hat.
 
Xiaos?" Jay looked at the door.

"She'd better be worth it," Xiaos frowned.
 
"I'm putting up guards though, we're prepping for a fight."

"I wouldn't have it any other way.
 
Open the door, Xiaos," Jay said.
 
"I've got to get my nap in."

The fever only got worse.
 
Jay felt that if he laid down too long he'd become a puddle of sweat.
 
But they were halfway there and it wouldn't make any sense to turn back now, no matter how badly he gasped and shook and stumbled near collapse.
 
"Bitch," he called.

Bitch looked behind himself.
 
"Yeah Jay?"

Jay used his half-arm to prop himself up on the wall.
 
He'd wrapped the end the best he could but it still hurt like hell--more of a slow coal burn with occasional sparks and flares.
 
"What's your real name?" he asked.

Bitch snorted.
 
"I don't remember."

Liar.
 
Even from the back of the kid's head, Jay could tell.
 
"You remember fine," Jay said.
 
Either Bitch was good at pretending to be a bad liar or Jay should have a lot more confidence in his decision to trust Bitch.

"Why do you want to know?" Bitch asked.

"As much as I enjoy saying your name, I deserved to know your real name by now.
 
Maybe start calling you something less dog-ish."

"Probably," Bitch answered.
 
"I prefer Bitch though."

"Just tell me."

Bitch nodded.
 
"It's Chris."

...Chris.
 
A common name, common and normal.

It didn't fit.

"Bitch is better," Jay agreed.

"Yup."

The world spun around him.
 
Jay fell to his ass.
 
"Hold up again," Jay said, rubbing his eyes.
 
Traversing darkness hadn't helped the disorientation and nausea.

"As much as I'd like to, we won't make it if you take any more of these breaks.
 
If you want, I'll go ahead and convince her to wait, but it might not work." Bitch offered.

"No.
 
You're right, we'll keep going.
 
I'll be there to meet her."

"You really like her," Bitch said.
 
"I mean, I know she's hellish hot, but you hardly know her."

Jay got up and waved Bitch to keep moving.
 
He supported himself on the rocky walls as he walked.
 
"There's a lot more to her than people see.
 
I might only have spoken once or twice to her, but a troll could see that she cares about people.
 
She doesn't deserve to be here."

"And we do?"
 
Bitch asked it like he was offended.

Jay looked at his bells.
 
"Has she killed anyone in Morir yet?"

Bitch shrugged.

"Even if subconsciously, she's figured out the only way to preserve her humanity in Morir." Jay took a gulp of a breath.
 
He continued.
 
"She's the only person here that I know that will be able to walk out someday, conscience squeaky clean.
 
Not even Xiaos can claim that."

"Walk out?
 
You planning an escape?"
 
Jay heard the skepticism in Bitch's voice.

"Always have been," Jay answered.
 
"I, for certain, don't have the smarts to get out of here.
 
So I figure that if I can get enough people together with a common goal not trying to kill each other every chance they get, I have a much better chance jail breaking."

"Damn Jay, that's actually pretty smart," Bitch said admiringly.
 
"You planned this from the start?"

"I planned to survive, first.
 
But that fact alone makes me no better than anyone else here."

Bitch led them to a path Jay recognized.
 
They were close.
 
"I think you're genius," Bitch said.
 
"Day one you refused to play the game, day two you kept it that way, so on so fucking forth--I've never seen that before.
 
That's what gave me the balls to join you.
 
I figured that if I could grow peanuts compared of yours..."

"You didn't have a choice," Jay said.

"I did.
 
Fuck Jay, you've seen only a fraction of what I've done."

"It's Gamer that made you do it."

"I made my choices.
 
My own damn fault.
 
I helped Gamer take down thousands."

"Shit, thousands?"

Bitch gave him a wry smile.
 
"Still a bit proud of it too.
 
How messed up am I?"
 
He kept talking.
 
"See, the thing is, you trusted me even after seeing what I'd been doing.
 
You gave me a chance like some king's pardon.
 
It's fucking noble.
 
Altruistic.
 
Suicidal."
 
He sighed.
 
"But you're here and your plan's working.
 
I know it doesn't mean much, but I'm on your side even if it kills me.
 
You're what Morir really needs.
 
Fuck!" Bitch snapped his fingers.
 
"You're Jesus!"

"If I'm Jesus, you're definitely going to hell," Jay answered.
 
"Can't have someone who's killed thousands going to heaven, now can I?"

"Hell no.
 
Just keep it warm down there for me and I'll have no regrets," Bitch grinned at him.
 
When he did, it struck Jay again how young Bitch was.
 
Bitch hadn't any choice until Jay came into the picture, and the kid switched teams right away.
 
Heaven wasn't good enough for a kid like him, not if Jay were Jesus.

They were getting close to Pope's Hat.
 
Pope's Hat was a ravine without water with a giant rock in its middle that looked a lot like it's namesake.
 
Jay had chosen it because it'd be easy to scout the place out.
 
Jay hadn't planned on feeling so weak though.
 
That was why Bitch was here.

"Go on ahead," Jay said.

Bitch nodded and disappeared.

Jay crawled to the edge of the exit that would look down on Pope's Hat.
 
They were late and it was well past dawn.
 
When Jay peeked his head out, he saw Karah waiting.
 
"Good girl," he murmured to himself.

She was standing by the rock, nervously scanning the ravine.
 
She had a grey bag clutched to her chest and was wearing her red-tape-cross T-shirt.
 
Jay wanted to go out there now, but he'd be patient.
 
All he needed was for Bitch to get back from his scouting...

"No no no," Jay whispered.
 
Karah began to fidget.
 
She back pedaled a few steps, then stopped and kept searching with her eyes.
 
"Just wait a little longer.
 
I'll be there.
 
Just a little longer," he murmured.

But she wasn't listening to him.
 
She was panicking.
 
She began to back pedal quicker, pause, back pedal.
 
Karah turned and walked, jogged, ran from the big pointy rock in the middle.
 
Damn Survivor instincts.
 
Straight back to safety and what she was familiar with.
 
Fuck.
 
"Karah!" Jay called, and then dipped his head down.
 
It'd been stupid, but if she left Pope's Hat he'd likely never see her again.

Karah froze, looking around wildly.
 
She called out softly, "Jay?" then louder, "Jay?
 
Where are you?"

Jay didn't answer, praying and hoping that she wouldn't leave.
 
Just wait,
he willed.

Oh, she waited.
 
Long enough for Jay to know how stupid he was.