Twisted City (8 page)

Taya’s
place is two floors below her uncle’s floor and one floor above Lathan’s. The floor
on which Lathan is staying and the one below it is reserved for the security
officers of The Pinnacle. Like the walls surrounding the town, the building is
policed 24/7. With six men on post outside the building doors, two sentries at
the underground parking garage, two men at the arsenal on the first floor in
which no one but James and a select few are allowed and two men on James’
floor, it is the most heavily guarded building in The Pinnacle.

In
the beginning James opted to have Taya stay on the same floor as
himself
for safety purposes but after a year she vehemently
asked to be moved on to her own floor.

Like
her uncles place, hers is lavishly decorated but with much more vibrant
coloring.
The furniture full with fluffy pillows.
Frilly drapes on all of the windows.
Scented candles on every
table.
A bachelorette pad.

So
she’s a girlie girl after all.

She
goes to the kitchen counter and brings out a bag filled with several fresh
colorful vegetables. She retrieves two glass bowls from the cabinet, and two
forks and a cutting knife from a drawer, placing them all on the counter. She
starts with the lettuce, cutting it in half and breaking it up.

Lathan
comes around the counter and moves to her side.

“Let
me help you. Got another knife?”

“Yeah,
use this one. I’ll get another one.”

He
grabs a carrot.

“How
do you like them?
Slivers or discs?”

“Slivers.”

“Slivers
it is.”

Once
the lettuce is nicely separated she neatly places some leaves in the two bowls.
She sets to dicing a tomato and starts to giggle.

Lathan
regards her quizzically. “What is it?”

“I
remember watching old episodes of Saturday Night Live when I was a kid and
there was this one skit with John
Belushi
as a
samurai chef. He’d throw a tomato up and in midair he’d slice it in half with
his sword.” She starts to giggle again. “I can imagine you doing the same
thing.”

He
gives her a strange look that makes her laugh.

He
cracks a grin and says, “That’s funny, huh?”

“Little
bit, yeah.”

It
tickles him too. He remembers watching and laughing at that same exact skit at
one time.
A different time and world.
A different life.
He appreciates the laugh and she enjoys
seeing it.

“I
haven’t laughed like that since . .
.I
can’t
remember,” she says.

“Yeah,
me neither.”

As
the moment passes they both realize that they’re lost in the other’s eyes.
Pulsing.
Electric.
He touches her
and it nearly takes her breath away. He carry’s the tips of his fingers across
her jaw line, down her neck and back up to her chin, caressing her lips with
the pad of his thumb. She tilts her head up, offering her mouth to him. He
gives her a soft kiss that gradually grows aggressive. Neither
hold
back, it is everything or nothing at all, right here
and right now.

She
lifts his shirt over his head and pitches it to the floor. She wears an open
front shirt tied beneath her chest; he unties it and strips it off. He allows
himself a moment to visually take in her beautiful breasts with perfectly erect
pink nipples. He cups each one in his hands, testing their weight, and a web of
lightening shoots between her legs. He bends down and takes his time on each
breast, suckling her nipples. She runs her fingers through his dark hair,
crooning softly at how wonderful his mouth feels on her.

A
loud outdoor siren begins screaming, like those used for tornado warnings,
growing louder until it hits its peak then gradually fades before picking back
up again.

Reluctantly
Lathan pulls away from his nursing.

“What
the hell is that?”

Taya
can’t believe it.

“That’s
our danger signal.” She scoops up her shirt off the floor and slips it back on.

“For what?”

“Maddick’s
probably. I don’t know. But whatever it is, it’s bad. That siren does not go
off unless it is bad. Come
on,
let’s go see what it
is.”

Taya
and Lathan step into the hallway and see James and two guards hustling toward
them.

“Maddick’s,”
James says.
“Approaching the front gate.
Everything is
being shut down and sealed off.” He takes Taya by the shoulders. “I want you to
stay here and wait.”

“No,
“ Taya
adamantly objects. “I’m going to, so let’s not
even argue about it.”

James
sighs and relents.
“Fine.
But stay close. I believe
they’ll try to bargain first.” James regards Lathan. “Are you with us today?”

“For
today I will be, but I won’t promise tomorrow.”

“Very well.
Let’s go.”

They
follow James to the arsenal. There are two rooms filled with racks of high
powered rifles and submachine guns, pistols and knives, and an endless supply
of cartridges and clips, with a dozen or so boxes of grenades, RPG’s, and
plastic explosives. Weapons are issued out to a long line of potential
soldiers. James, Taya, and Lathan are each given a rifle.

In
the underground parking garage they load up in a jeep and drive toward the front
gate. Pinnacle citizens scatter out of their way and off to their homes.
Several guards armed to the teeth are lined up along the top of the gates wall
and on the ground next to the gate. Others take their positions as they come up
before and after their jeep.

James
parks and hurries up the steps to the top of the gates wall. Taya and Lathan
follow behind. James is handed a pair of binoculars and is briefed on the
situation by the gates head guard. The sirens are silenced.

“Our
scouts spotted them a couple of miles out. More than a dozen vehicles coming in
slow, all are heavily armed. Bastards got both of our men tied on to the lead
truck. They don’t look too good.”

The
truck-tank stops fifty yards from the gate. The other vehicles pull up around
it.

Moments
pass before something happens. The passenger side door of the truck-tank opens
and out
comes
Vincent Maddick himself. He climbs up
the side of the truck and onto the cab where he stands behind his prisoners.

Vincent
lifts his arms up into a wide V and with a dangerous smile on his face yells
out, “Peace
be
with you!” The smile vanishes and is
replaced with a mad smirk. He lays a hand on his prisoners shoulder and says
aloud, “I believe I have something that belongs to you! I want to talk to
James!”

“I’m
here!”

Vincent
squints
his eyes in the general direction the voice
came from.
“That you, James?
Would you mind gracing us
with your great presence, please? In other words, show yourself a little damn
better!”

James
glances at his sharpshooters and they give him
a thumbs
up. James turns to move but Taya grabs him by the arm in a panic.

“What
are you doing?”

“I’m
not going anywhere,” he assures. “I’m only moving up higher where he is able to
see me. He’s not going to try anything. Just talk for now, that’s all.”

She
releases his arm and he hands over the binoculars and rifle, stepping up higher
on the wall. Once he can be seen he waves a hand.

“Here
I am, Vincent. Now why don’t you tell me what it is that you want.”

Vincent
laughs. “What it is that I want? James, of all people, you should know what I
want. The question is
,
will you be able to stomach
what I am going to do to these two fine young men if you don’t comply. And then
what will follow soon after. After all, it’s not like your precious Pinnacle is
a virgin bitch. It has been penetrated before. And if only a few can do so much
damage you can only imagine what an army like this will do. So ask yourself, is
The Pinnacle worth digging your people’s graves for? We are willing to give you
and your people safe passage so you and yours can go somewhere else and start
over. Just look at what you’ve done here. You’re quite capable of doing it
again. And I give you my word that no matter where you go we will not follow.
We will have no reason to. How say you, good man? Agreed?”

Giving
up The Pinnacle is out of the question. Hundreds of people live here, an entire
community rebuilt this place, are still building, and he will fight and die if
need be defending it, as will many others.

But
two of their own are down there and he has no doubt they will be tortured
further and ultimately killed if he doesn’t do as Vincent says. Then they will
surely invade and it will be a bloodbath. James is positive that The Pinnacle’s
defense is superior to the Maddick’s, but the Maddick’s have something they
don’t – pure madness. There may even be more of them surrounding the place,
laying in the cut and waiting for Vincent’s signal.

James
casts his gaze toward The Pinnacle and
it’s
people.
They in turn look back at him expectantly, ready to follow his lead.

“I
can’t give you an answer right now, Vincent. I need more time.”

Vincent
nods his head in agreement. 
“Of course.
I
understand. How’s an hour sound?”

“Don’t
be ridiculous, Vincent. That isn’t enough time to work up a good piss. Give me
two days. That’ll give me enough time to speak to everyone.”

Vincent’s
indignation at hearing the counter response of “two days” was apparent before
James finished speaking.

“Two
days!
Do you think
I’m a fool? Give you two days so, what, you can prepare and execute better
battle tactics? Let me tell you something James, this is a battle you do not
want! Believe it! I will show mercy on no one! We will kill your men, rape your
women, and slave your children! Those who aren’t killed, that is! But this is
what I will do… I will give you twenty-four hours from this hour and not a
minute more! And James, I’ll be right out here waiting, while keeping your two
boys here company!”

Twenty-four
hours. One day. First, the prisoner on top of the truck-tank’s cab will be
killed, and then Vincent will make the signal and Maddick’s crawling out of the
woodwork will charge The Pinnacle. The truck-tank will ram through the gate
killing the prisoner tied to the front grill in the process and the other
vehicles will follow through. Senseless deaths will occur. There will be so
much blood spilled the town will be painted with it. Life will once again be a
constant cry of hardship and misery.

In
The Pinnacle’s conference room those present are James, the high brass, and
Lathan and Taya. Discussions are accompanied with hot tempers. Some of them
think it’s best to move on and away from all the chaos, like out in the country
where it is peaceful and the land can be cultivated. Others will refuse to
leave. The Pinnacle is their home, they’ve built it and it is rightfully theirs
and they should not give it up just because they are threatened. They will stay
and fight for it.

The
room erupts with noise as everyone argues points at each other.

“Quiet!”
James yells. “Please, everyone quiet down.”

Everyone
goes quiet except for two men arguing with each other, trying to get the last
word in.

“Bill,
David,” James says to the two. “Quiet please. Thank you. We are getting nowhere
arguing with one another. We are a democracy, so if you don’t want to stay,
then you may leave.
Simple as that.
We’ll tell the
people and let them make their own decision. But I’ll say this, if you go, you
will be running, and if you run now then you may have to keep running until you
are forced to either give up or fight. Yes, they have weapons and for the most
part they are crazy. But they bleed just as we do. We
can
defeat them.
We have the numbers as long as we stick together. The choice is yours, but we
need to be ready one way or another by tomorrow.”

They
deliberate, ticking off considerable points. Those who at first were for
leaving now are more for staying, and the few who aren’t swayed are distraught
with little understanding. Why stay to only meet your death tomorrow when you
can leave and start over somewhere else and perhaps somewhere even safer?
Everyone is either under the notion that they will wipe out the Maddick’s or
the Maddick’s will be the one’s doing the wiping out. It is either hot or cold.

As
the meeting continues Lathan discreetly withdraws from the room and goes down
to the underground parking garage. He retrieves two duffle bags from his SUV
and brings them up to his room. He lays out on the table everything inside the
bags and begins assembling this to that.

It
is still daylight. He’ll wait until dark. The night is a better ally.