13.6

‘Don’t hurt her,’ Josie said, staring out everyone who had a gun aimed at her mother. ‘Put your fucking guns down. You too, mom.’

Josie drew within ten feet of her mother.

‘Don’t hurt him, mom,’ she said, staring at Monique. ‘No one’s going to shoot.’

Everyone watched in confusion.

Monique let go of the kid’s neck and told him to run back to his father.

‘This vest is still armed, so don’t get any clever ideas,’ Monique said, eyeballing the awestruck crowd.

She turned back to Josie.

‘Is it really you?’ Monique asked, running disbelieving eyes over a face that was familiar but much older and harder than the one she recalled.

‘It’s me, mom,’ Josie said.

Monique went to hug her, but Josie pushed her away. ‘But you have no business here. If you’d killed Solomon you would have fucked us right over. And Kieron there is shitting in his pants.’

Monique looked over to the kid, who was trembling and sobbing in his father’s arms.

‘It’s nice to see that you’re still alive, mom, but to be honest, I assumed you’d died in the explosion at the mall. It’s a bit fucked up seeing you again.’

‘I’ve searched for you this whole time…’ tears poured down Monique’s face.

‘You should have just forgotten me. The old me is dead anyway. I’m not the same.’

‘No one’s the same, Josie.’

‘You don’t know the things I’ve had to do.’ Josie pointed to a series of scars arranged into five bar gates on her forearm. Her face was one of disgust. ‘The things I’ve come to enjoy doing.’

‘They can’t be any worse than the things I’ve had to do. And it was all to find you. You were the only one I didn’t see die at the mall, so I clung to the hope that you were still alive. That’s the only thing that’s kept me going.’

Josie, in spite of her pessimistic assumption of her family’s fate, still reacted as if slapped when she heard her dad and siblings were dead.

‘We’re the only two left, sweetie.’

Monique moved in, throwing her arms around Josie as she sobbed. It seemed the world had crashed down on her again.

‘It’s ok, sweetie. Mama’s here,’ she said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

*

Josie let her mother hold her and comfort her, but shrank away from her.

‘I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here,’ she said. ‘It would just dredge up too much shit from the past.’

‘I’ll wait for you,’ Monique said. ‘As long as it fucking takes. I’ll be standing by the ruins every night at midnight.’

She pulled her in again and planted a massive kiss on her left cheek.

She held her hand tight, stared into her eyes. ‘I love you. And nothing in the whole wide world – before or after – is ever going to change that.’

Monique pulled something from one of the inside pockets of her long leather trenchcoat.

Everyone took a step back, thinking it was going to be a detonator.

Instead it was Benny the bear.

Josie’s jaw dropped when she saw it.

‘I’ll just leave this with you. Y’know, for old times’ sake,’ Monique said, tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘And remember what I said.’

She looked back and saw that Josie was staring at the bear, dumbstruck, much the same as she had been.

She smiled sadly, waved her goodbye and backed out of the village.

The guns remained raised until she’d disappeared.

‘Put your guns down,’ Josie said. ‘Or I’ll fucking gut you.’ Her right hand strayed towards the machete on her right hip.

Monique disappeared into the woods.

Josie watched her go, clutching Benny the bear to her chest.

As Monique glanced over her shoulder Josie looked for all the world like a lost little child.

*

When Monique had gotten to a safe distance, she broke down and sobbed hard.

The relief of seeing Josie alive and well was something that she’d thought she’d never have seen, but it was a double-edged sword when she’d rejected her.

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‘What did you think was going to happen?’ she muttered, furious at herself for getting her hopes up in the few minutes she’d spent with her daughter.

The world had changed.

Everyone had changed.

Five years was a long time in any teenager’s life, even more so with the chaos and devastation that had taken place in that time.

‘You’ve lived on your own all this time,’ she muttered. ‘What’s the fucking difference?’

But in her heart everything had changed.

Bennett had been right; Josie had been out here, safe and sound.

It broke her heart to think of what she may have had to endure to get to this point, and she wished for all the world that she’d been here to hold her hand through it all.

She dried her eyes and set off back to the cover of the trees.

She’d wait as long as it took.

*

‘So what’s your play, King Solomon?’ Papa Grim said, seemingly taking great pleasure at roughly shaking the King awake.

Davey had heard his approach and had his gun drawn under the covers.

He didn’t trust Papa Grim as far as he could throw him.

‘I say you let me get the fuck back to sleep,’ Solomon grinned, casually flipping him the bird.

‘That smug grin is going to look spectacular on the back of my jacket,’ Papa Grim smiled, letting out a truly sinister chuckle.

‘Not as spectacular as it looked on your momma.’

Solomon roared laughter at his own joke.

Papa Grim seethed but didn’t react.

Davey could see that his fist was clenching and unclenching, but also knew that Papa Grim needed Solomon.

The King’s laughter eventually subsided into a frenzied bout of coughing.

‘In all seriousness, I’m keeping my cards close to my chest,’ Solomon said when he’d regained his breath. ‘Cos you’d happily leave me for dead if I told you.’

‘I didn’t say I wanted to kill you, Solomon. I just want to cut your fucking face off.’

Papa Grim’s hissed threats chilled Davey’s blood.

The guy was bad news. Davey wanted to blow his brains out of the back of his head before he had chance to hurt the King, but he knew that Solomon had a plan and he would not do anything to disrupt that.

Solomon hadn’t even told Davey the plan, that was how secretive he had been.

Davey had a feeling that the King was probably just winging it anyway.

He had a tendency to do this and land on his feet every time.

‘When the time is right you’ll all find out, Davey lad included,’ he smiled. ‘But I think we should head over there today and scout it out.’

Papa Grim smiled, pleased to finally be getting some sense out of the King.

‘What do we do?’

‘Davey, me and a couple of your guys go over there. See what we can see.’

‘That’s it?’ Papa Grim scowled. ‘That’s your great plan? I could have fucking thought of that!’

Solomon cocked his head to one side. ‘The best way to start a long journey is to take the first step. This is our first step.’

Papa Grim shook his head, muttering obscenities.

‘Meet here in an hour,’ Solomon said. ‘And fix us something nice to eat. Pretty please.’

Papa Grim glared at him for a second then stomped off.

‘You’re a real piss-taker,’ Davey said.

‘He shouldn’t take his fucking self so seriously, Davey lad. Life’s worth living, even nowadays. Find fun where you can.’

Davey smiled. ‘They broke the mould when they made you.’

‘Just as fucking well,’ the King chuckled. ‘Wouldn’t want two of me running round, wouldya?’

Davey laughed too, but the grin was wiped off his face when Solomon again began coughing.

Papa Grim, not quite out of earshot, turned and scowled at them again.

Solomon smiled and gave him a thumbs up, much to Papa Grim’s annoyance.

‘You ok?’ Davey said, concern hewn into his brow.

Solomon nodded, waved away Davey’s worry. ‘Never better, Davey lad. Never better.’

Solomon showered and dressed. Davey did the same.

While they were there, they looked at one of Papa Grim’s jackets and saw a patchwork of mutilated faces crudely stitched together with thick black thread.

‘Always was a bit of a nutjob,’ Solomon said, shaking his head and smiling.

‘He terrifies me.’

‘Ah, he’s just a fucking idiot, Davey lad. Goes charging in with no planning or thought.’

‘Pot and kettle much?’

‘Aye, you might have a point, lad, but he can’t think on his feet like I can. And that’s why we’re going to hang him out to dry.’