Tom pulled into the driveway of the Miller house and he was still frowning.
Jamison didn’t care, but he was worried about the others’ reaction to Indigo, who was still listening to music along with the boy.
“So, boy, what are you going to do about that thing once the others see it? Convince them that they can play dressup with a godless monster too? Hold little tea parties and wave your gun around when someone tells you how terrible of an idea what your doing is?”
The boy’s jaw clenched and he opened his mouth to retort- but Paris interjected before Jamison could even say something.
“Tom, shut up.”
“Why?” Tom growled, shifting the car into park.
“Because you’re giving a kid a hard time for making a moral choice. And should I remind you that he was the one to go out and kill those things. Not you. You sat around like you always do, acting imperiously while someone else did your dirty work… How does that sit with you, Tom? That you’re practically useless the moment the shit hits the fan. You’ve got a gun, and you’ve got a pair of balls. So why don’t you use them?”
Paris’ words were biting and caused Tom to go ramrod straight as the man pulled the door handle, opening the door and leaving Jamison, Paris and Indigo alone.
“You can get your hand off your gun kid…” Paris said, casting a glance to the boy’s hand on his gun, “Duke is the more reasonable than Tommy, I’ll vouch for the two of you. I promise,” He reassured.
Jamison relaxed slightly as he looked to Indigo.
‘He is promising Jams… You should listen.’
With a small exhale the boy finally took his hand off of his revolver, “Aight… C’mon Indigo, I trust him…”
Did he really?
‘Trust… I like that word.’ Indigo echoed in the far reaches of Jamison’s mind. The boy couldn’t quite get used to how Indigo ‘spoke’.
With a final nod Paris left the car, Jamison and Indigo followed a moment later. Stepping into the evening sun which hung lazily above the clouds. Once they were on the grass Jamison could see Miller, Poppy, Tom, Valentine, Ceres, and even Eris standing on the front porch. All in various states of conversation.
Poppy was clinging to the hip of Valentine as Ceres and Eris stood defensively in front of the two- All the while Miller started to scream at Tom. Leaving Paris standing back dumbfounded as Jamison and Indigo approached.
The boy’s hand quickly fell back to his revolver as he ushered Indigo behind him. He couldn’t quite make out what Miller was saying to Tom because both men were shouting loudly. But he could tell that it wasn’t good, as the girls were all sheltering the shaking poppy.
“Hey… Hey…” He called out but only Paris looked back to him, so the boy got louder, “HEY. HEY. HEY.”
Tom’s head snapped back for a moment, giving just enough time for Miller to sneak a gut punch on his brother, causing the man to double over. After that the fight was on. Causing Miller to grab his own brother by the head and violently shove the man’s head into his knee repeatedly. Blood began to weep as a series of wet crunches erupted from Tom’s nose. But eventually Miller shoved his brother back off of the porch.
Tom stumbled, flailing his arms around for a moment, trying to regain his balance. There was a pregnant pause as Tom fumbled around, eventually slinging his shotgun around. Leveling the barrel parallel to Miller’s chest.
Ash continued to fall from the sky as the three brothers and the girls stood still as a stone. But Jamison Magnolia had enough of it all and drew his revolver, pointing it upwards and behind him. With a quick squeeze of the trigger and a colossal bang everything went silent, seven heads all snapped back to where the shot had originated from.
“Okay…” Jamison seethed as Indigo cowered behind him, “Now that I have your attention, why don’t one of you explain to me why the hell this is even happening?”
Another pregnant pause reigned for a solid minute before Valentine piped up, “Tom was… Tom was uhh- umm… He was doing things to Poppy…”
“Bull. Shit. The little brat’s lying!” Tom barked, lowering his shotgun slightly.
“And the proof,” The boy drawled, bringing his revolver back around, finger still on the trigger.
A third pause broke out but it was Eris who spat out a response, “Poor thing’s bleeding, got fresh cuts all across her back and legs. Said Tom was doing it to her.”
“How long has he had her?” Jamison asked, fury building in his chest.
It was Miller turn to answer, “Four years. Some of those seem like they were inflicted recently. So please understand my fury here Jamison…” The man was positively brimming with a sheer and unbridled rage.
“Again! Do you seriously believe that little shit? I’m the one who took her in, fed and clothed her, taught her how to read and write. Why would I-”
Tom’s rebuttal was silenced with an ear-piercing CRACK of Jamison’s pistol. Leaving a hole right between the man’s very own eyes. Causing Tom’s head to jerk back as a spray of red coated the porch… and Miller. Tom stumbled forward a half step before collapsing on the ground in a pool of his own crimson lifeblood.
“Well there. I’ve solved it.” Jamison declared, flicking out the cylinder of his revolver and letting go of Indigo’s hand long enough to slot six fresh rounds in.
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Slowly Miller withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket, wiping his brother's blood from his face with a dour look… “That did solve things…”
No one could move, blink, or say a single word.
‘Jams… You- You killed him…’ Indigo observed.
“So are we going to ignore the thing standing behind Dirty Harry? Or the fact that he just blew out Tom’s brains without a second thought?” Eris said, incredulously staring at the still smoking gun in Jamison’s hands.
“Would you have done any different if you had a gun, sister?” Ceres said.
“No. I’m just saying that he did it a little too easily is all, plus he’s got that weird thing behind him,” Eris huffed.
Ceres ignored her sister and turned to poppy “Why don’t you go inside honey… We all need to have a grown up talk okay?”
The girl dully nodded before scampering off, not giving even a passing glance to the corpse of her ‘father’ which lay cooling on the ground. Valentine turned to follow the girl, but she was stopped by Ceres who placed a gentle hand on the girl’s shoulder.
Jamison did not regret killing Tom, in fact he was still furious. Absolutely seething in savage, unadulterated rage. Indigo seemed to sense that and pressed himself against the boy’s leg.
“What do you want me to say Eris? Sorry that I killed a scumbag that hurt a kid so bad that she was unaffected by his death? Because I’m not sorry I’ve left the fucker cooling on the ground, the only thing that I am sorry about is that I didn’t wise up sooner so I could’ve done it sooner.” Jamison seethed as he looked between the five people who were left on the balcony.
“That’s enough son… Why don’t you go on inside with your new friend, it’s clear today has been more than a little stressful for you… And I’m sure that little Poppy could use someone to be with her right now… I’m going to get changed, the rest of you get shovels and start digging a hole around the back. Actually- Eris, grab Tom’s shotgun and set it on my bed before you dig… But when you do make it deep… Paris, help them if you would, its best to get things like this handled quickly.” Miller said, quickly regaining more composure as he wiped the last of the blood from his face and hair.
Valentine and Ceres nodded and scrambled to the shed around the side of the house while Eris grabbed Tom’s shotgun from the ground before going inside.Which left Jamison, Indigo, Paris, and Miller standing around.
“Kid… Why don’t you…” Paris began but found himself without words for the boy who just killed his brother right before his very eyes. In that moment he had the same hollow look in his eyes that Miller typically wore.
“I’ll dig too, c’mon Indigo.” Jamison said, tucking his revolver back into his pocket as he trudged over to the shed. His legs felt like lead and the only thing keeping him going was anger. Exhaustion was creeping up on him faster and faster.
‘Are you okay, Jams?’ Concern seeped into that little voice in the back of his mind.
Miller took a shaking step forwards, then another, and another, and another until he burst into a loping run. Eventually getting to the still trudging Jamison and grabbing him by the shoulder.
“Inside… Please… I- I need a moment…” Miller pleaded, showing an as of yet unseen amount of vulnerability.
“Yes sir…” Jamison rasped, feeling bile well up in his throat.
‘It’s for the best.’
Slowly, with legs of lead the boy turned around and began his trudge to the house with Indigo in tow. And by the time Jamison reached the dull red door his legs were about to give out. He was shaking, Indigo was saying something but he couldn’t tell as he slowly opened the door, nearly falling inside. He took another step forward and another breath in before giving out. The ground got closer and closer until a pair of firm hands caught him.
“Easy there shooter, we don’t need you kicking it before nightfall.” Eris said, throwing Jamison’s arm over her shoulder… “Who’s your friend anyway- and on that note, how did you get it… Reminds me of that thing from the cafeteria.
“Indigo… Found’em after I took care of a problem for Paris… And you saw that thing in the cafeteria too?” Jamison asked, dumbfounded.
“Neat- And yeah. Just saw the end of it really. Made me suspicious of you and all that, you gotta understand man. You’re not an easy person to trust… Even for Valentine.”
Jamison attempted to tense at the words but he was just so exhausted so instead he let out a dull, raspy chuckle, “Yeah… Not really the most personable of folks… Why’re you telling me this now- What’s your angle.”
Eris grinned, “I wanna blow this place, take Poppy with us and hit the road. It’s a bit half-cocked but just being here makes me angry… Can’t help but think of Tom and what he was doing to the poor girl, I bet she has a hard time here too.”
Carefully Eris and Jamison made their way to the living room where the boy was set down. Indigo immediately took a seat beside Jamison, curling up next to him. Sitting down felt like the most wonderful thing in existence. It was blissful in ways Jamison simply did not have the words to describe.
“I’ve got twelve bullets and a knife. We don’t have food or equipment really. We wouldn’t make it very far… There are things out there, monsters really. They’d get us the moment we ran out of ammo. I can’t protect you all.” Jamison admitted, but it felt wrong to admit such weakness.
“Well. We’re getting kicked out at the end of the month regardless. Miller said he’d give us basic supplies but he wants us out. And you’re little Dirty Harry moment with Tom only cements that. We’re not welcomed here, and the sooner we’re gone the better…” Eris said, her smile flipping into a broad frown.
Jamison sighed, “Well… Shit… How many days does that give us?”
“Fifteen days. That’s when our hospitality runs out… I think our best bet is Dallas, the city will probably have some sort of refugee centers or sumn’ like that. You got any ideas?” Eris seemed open for suggestions but Jamison was drawing blanks on all possible fronts.
“Nope… You should probably go outside… I need some time to think about things for a bit. I did just kill a man in cold blood.” Jamison wheezed, rocking his head back onto the plush backdrop of the couch.
“Aight… Meet me in my room after supper, we’ll discuss shit there where Miller can’t hear us.”
“You make it sound like you’re about to do something that he wouldn’t like.”
“We are.”
Shit.
Jamison could only kick back as he watched Eris turn and leave the room, slipping the shotgun’s sling over her shoulder. He supposed that having it on hand would be for the best, in case any of those weird dog creatures or something worse appeared… Though Jamison doubted exactly how useful buckshot would be in the face of something worse. The dogs were faster than the average human and Jamison knew that he was just lucky…
Lucky… That was one hell of a thought.
Never in a million years would have Jamison Magnolia considered himself to be lucky in the slightest. Always moving around, bouncing between schools, falling into the worst types of crowds. Dealing with shit from his mother’s boyfriends. It wasn’t the life of someone who would be considered ‘lucky’. It was the life of a soon to be drifter, which Jamison supposed he would become month’s end. But the voice in the back of his mind broke him from that train of thought.
‘Jams… Are we the good guys?’
Jamison turned to Indigo and gave the best smile he could, “Yeah bud, we’re the good guys… But sometimes we have to do hard things to protect people we care about.”
‘Is that why you killed Tom? Was he going to hurt someone that you cared about a whole lot?’
“Yeah. I wish I didn’t have to, but that’s how it has to be.”
‘I see…’
There was a long pause as Jamison assumed that Indigo was thinking things over. But after a few minutes of sitting in comfortable silence Indigo piped up once more. Concern seeped back into his voice.
‘Do you think Miller doesn’t- I don’t know the word- strongly dislike? Is that it?’
“Hate me? … I think he does and I don’t blame him. No matter how evil he was- he was still Miller and Paris’ brother. And while I don’t have brothers I have a mom, and if someone hurt her I’d hate them until I died… Probably after I died too.” The words were hard to say- The concept was hard to grasp.
‘Hate? … I don’t really like that word.’
“Neither do I. But sometimes we have to use words we don’t like.” The boy’s smile tightened.
‘Like how you have to hurt… Have to kill bad people to protect the ones you care about?’
Jamison sighed, his smile faltered and his expression turned even more downcast.
‘I see… I think I’d like to sleep- Will you… Will you stay with me?’
“Yeah, I’ll stay with you. I’ll never leave you, I promise.” Jamison said with a small nod as Indigo curled further into the boy’s side.
And there the two sat, letting time pass by and ash fall from the sky. But Jamison couldn’t help but frown the very moment that he thought Indigo wasn’t looking at him. A deep, mournful frown because the revolver in his pocket felt heavy and his eyes felt even heavier- If that was even possible.