Corn, Cows, and the Apocalypse (Part 1) (16 page)

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It was probably a bad idea to knock on Devin’s door right after I had gotten myself twitter-pated over a man that, up until recently, I hadn’t even considered that good a friend, but I was a glutton for punishment.  More to the point, I was lonely. 

             
I couldn’t say anything for love in regards to the men I’d fraternized with in the last week, but Garrett and Priest reminded me that I was missing some necessary attentions.  When Devin didn’t answer I decided that he was probably spending the remainder of the evening in Haden’s room.  I felt a little twinge of guilt over that thought and headed back to my room. 

             
Strangely enough, my room was the biggest one, but since my ceiling was so slanted, I didn’t have much standing room.  It worked for me since I always needed a place to pile my laundry without causing a traffic jam. 

             
When I found Devin asleep on my bed with a full tub of popcorn and a bottle of soda, I smiled and shut the door quietly behind me.  The remote control to my mini DVD player was clasped in his hand and the blue screen on the television told me all he had to do was press play. 

I slipped off my shoes and crawled in beside him. 

              “Hey,” he roused wiping the sleep from his eyes. 

             
“Movie night, huh?”   

             
“Yeah,” he leaned over and kissed me even before he could focus.  “Where have you been?”

             
“Dropping off Priest.”  I said. 

             
“That took a while,” he grimaced.  “Did he behave?” 

             
“Yes, he apologized for his…aggression.”

             
“They always do.”  He grumbled resituating so I could rest against his shoulder.  “Did you give him the necklace?”

             
“Yeah, he liked it.  Or at least he pretended to.”

             
“I liked it.”  Devin offered flatly like his opinion should be the only viable one.  “Are you going back to see him soon?”

             
“No, supposedly he is going to try to get on the wagon, so he wants me to stay away.”

             
“Do you really believe that?”  Devin said frowning.               

             
I grabbed some of the popcorn and put it on his chest so I could use him as an eating tray.  His gray t-shirt was already full of grease from our previous movie nights.  “No, but it sounds good in my head.  I just don’t want to lose anyone.  It’s a hard wish to fulfill, but I’ll keep wishing for it.”

             
“You know we all love you, right?”

             
“Yes.”  I smiled thinking back to how they risked their lives to save me on the viaduct when I was in my blood thirsty ego trance. 

             
“You know I love you most of all, right?”  He winked.

             
“Of course.”  I reached for some popcorn and he touched my hand.

             
“I love you just like a little sister.”  He looked down at my hand and caressed the back of it.  “But I can be more than that to you, if you need me to be.” 

             
He looked back at me and I smiled at him.  He was a picture perfect image of warmth and kindness to me.  I couldn’t imagine loving him more than I did at that moment.  Given the state I was in, I should have thrown myself at him like a wild banshee in heat, but I didn’t.  His love alone quelled my desires and satisfied my needs. 

             
“I know, and I love you even more for it.”  I leaned up and kissed him chastely on the lips.  He didn’t look disappointed that I didn’t push for more, which was good, since his puppy dog eyes might have broken my heart.  “You were going to tell me about your tournaments.”

             
His eyes brightened.  “Yes, but let’s watch the movie first.”  He squeezed me closer and I settled into his chest to watch the movie, nibble popcorn, and ruminate in the delight of having options.    

-The Tournaments-

             
Since the watch rotation was already messed up, we decided to throw caution to the wind with a game of UNO poker.  Haden, Devin, and I were sitting around the coffee table playing.  August had just come in from her perimeter search and grabbed a beer from the fridge before sitting on the couch behind us.  She wasn’t playing, but she liked to watch. 

             
“Okay, tell me about the tournaments.”  I said frowning at my cards.  I was naturally losing, since betting on myself wasn’t my strong suit.  I tossed in a couple of red chips and quickly realized that I had overplayed my hand.  I reached to the anti.  to take one back and was promptly met with a slap from Haden.  “Ouch!”

             
“No take backs.”  She scowled.  She was, of course, winning because she was as aggressive in board games as she was in life.

             
“Fuck, can you at least wait until I’ve got my ball gag in place, Madam Pagoda.”  I growled.  Haden and Devin exchange looks. 

             
“Who’s Madam Pagoda?”  Haden said as she threw my coin back in my face. 

             
“I have no idea.”  I laughed and they joined.  “Sounds familiar doesn’t it.”  I took a swig of my beer.  It wasn’t my first of the night, and it probably wouldn’t be my last, but I was pacing myself just in case I had to do something remotely heroic or speech oriented.  “So, tournaments!  I can’t take the anticipation.  What is it?  Why are you so happy about it?  And how interested should I pretend to be?”

             
“Pretend,” Devin pinched my toes under the coffee table.  I tried not to squeal for Haden’s sake, but I didn’t do a very good job.  For the most part, she had accepted my new friendlier relationship with Devin, especially since we still weren’t having sex, but I didn’t like to be to flirtatious in front of her.  I wasn’t sure she would see the difference in it the way Devin and I did. 

             
“The metro put together a monthly tournament for regular Joes such as myself…”  Devin started.

             
“Your name’s not Joe.”  I pointed out with my dingy blonde voice.  He winked to let me know he was amused, but didn’t stop talking.

             
“…or Haden or August can compete for the top prize.”

             
“Prize?”  I perked my brow.

             
“Right now it’s just the namesake, but if I win the annual, I get a big plaque.”

             
“Wow back to the days when people actually wanted trophies.  How nostalgic?  What do the competitions involve?”

             
“Every month is different.  I did hand to hand combat.  First, I fought one guy just to get a base ranking.  Next, I fought three grim to get my score and then I fought the guy I tied with and I won.”

             
“You got a lucky hit.”  Haden mumbled. 

             
“You’re just sore because you didn’t even make it past the first round.”

             
“Those women were huge.  I’m doing the sharp shooting tournament next month.  We’ll see if I’m not competing with you in the finale after all.”  Haden tipped her brow at him.  He offered her a wolfish grin that made me blush more than Haden. 

             
“Once a month a different study then?”  I asked trying to break them up before I had to start fanning myself. 

             
“Yes,” Devin started counting them off on his fingers.  “Freestyle hand to hand, martial arts, sharp shooting, swordplay, strength, speed and endurance, creative warfare—that ought to be interesting—balance and agility, mental concentration, staff fighting, spear throwing, and archery.”

             
Devin said the last part with a hint of excitement and finale.  He raised his brow expecting me to mirror his enthusiasm.  I glared at him and looked back at August.  She shrugged. 

             
“Don’t look at me, this is all him.”  She said reaching into my hand to play a card for me.

             
I laughed.  “No.”  I said without any more thought than it might take me to consider going through the last three months again.  Devin’s face cringed with shocked disappointment.  I shook my head to reiterate my point before taking a swig of my beer. 

             
“What?  Oh, come on!  I saw how quick you laid out those grim the other day.  You’re defensive skills aren’t the only skills Garrett improved for you.”

             
A stray thought entered my mind and I choked on my beer.  Sputtering over my misdirected beverage I blushed with embarrassment.  August patted my back in assistance.

             
“What?”  I croaked.

             
“You could win that tournament, and what’s more all four of us could compete in the finale.  We can’t lose.”

             
I looked back at August.  She tipped her head in a
why not
way. 

             
“What are you competing in?”  I asked thinking that she could compete in at least half of those categories. 

             
“Swordplay.”  She smiled.

             
“Are you sure this isn’t something you want me to do?”

             
August’s smile faded.  “Why don’t you come with us to Haden’s event in a few weeks?  If it appeals to you, you can enter.  If not, don’t worry about it.”  I could see she was trying to offer me the option instead of forcing me to do it, but I could also see how important it was to her.  I had already put myself through hell in the name of this woman.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to do anything more for her. 

             
“I’ll think about it.”  I said giving her the only answer I could without disappointing her, or myself. 

-
The Metro-

             
The Metro.  The Big O. 

             
Once the mecca of state commerce, now…still the mecca, but with the added highlight of being a war zone for the fight against the grim.  Though I hadn’t seen it myself, I was told that a northern section of town was fenced, barricaded, and heavily guarded to keep the grim consolidated and under control.  Unlike the rest of the state that shot first and…went for beer later, the people of the raging Metro took a more lawful approach to things. 

             
On the eve of the city being taken over by the silver saints, the current and still acting mayor, dedicated himself to creating a concentration camp to house the overwhelming infestation.  Every crystalline dead—as such inactive—was transported to the quarantined sector where they were barricaded into buildings.  The project only took days to achieve since everyone was more than willing to donate their time and energies to keeping themselves safe.

             
The full on glimmer grim—totally animated—were hunted down by a task force made up of veteran military and police officers.  In just under a month, the streets were cleaned up and the remaining population was safe to roam, as long as they stayed away from that part of the city, which was fine, since they were used to that anyway.

             
When the occasional break out occurred, Jimmy the Card kept everyone up to date.  He reported grim movements like his predecessors might have reported the weather or the traffic.  As the breakouts increased in frequency and severity, the mayor chose to entertain different ways of getting rid of the grim without an all-out execution—which for some reason really bothered people.  Since it took me a good while to get used to killing them, I couldn’t entirely blame them for their prudery. 

             
That was where the tournament idea came from.  It was a classic Caesarian misdirection.  Hate your life?  Hate the grim?  Let’s kill two birds with one stone.  In this case, the competitors get to kill the grim, while the spectators get to enjoy a good show.  Plus there was bound to be hot dogs and beer. 

-
Shot through the Heart…-

             
Devin crushed me in a bear hug after he lifted me out of the truck.  We had arrived at the Qwest center, newly re-renamed out of disgust for the changed name.  The event center was the home of the tournaments, and by the look of the traffic and people in the parking lot, it was a big deal.

             
The sun had just gone down and the cool night air was chilling me, but it was nothing compared to what it should have been for October. 

             
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Devin squeezed.  I couldn’t really breathe and I was pretty sure Haden might explode if she had to wait one more second to get checked in.  She was competing in the gun specialty.  I was there to support, observe, and decide if I wanted to partake myself.  

             
“I haven’t agreed to anything yet.”  I said muffled by his shoulder. 

             
“You will.”  He released me and pulled me along with his arm wrapped around me. 

             
“Come on!”  Haden growled. 

             
Devin wrapped a firm arm around her as he walked by.  I could tell she wanted to squirm away, but just like me, she settled into the bathing attentions of our beautiful second sidekick.  August paused waiting for us to catch up.  She smiled at us linked by our pivotal man. 

             
“Oh, August.”  Devin said as we caught up.  “Why can’t I have three arms?”

             
“I could always sit on your shoulders.”  She offered walking in stride a step ahead of us. 

             
“That you could.”  He smirked.  “I do enjoy having your thighs wrapped around my head.”

             
Haden and I both smacked him.  “TMI.”  Haden hissed. 

             
“Oh, ladies, you know there’s enough of me to...”  Even before he trailed off, Devin released us both and ran ahead to playfully wrestle and noogie some guy he recognized. 

             
Haden and I paused looking at one another like we had both been simultaneously dumped for a better offer, which is kind of what happened. 

             
“Well, that’s just bully.”  Haden griped.  “I’m going to go get checked in.”  She ran off to the entrance where a line was forming for the competitors.

             
Off to my left I could see the border of the northern containment.  The rotating lights, the pacing military men, and the circling helicopters were just about as prison camp as it got.  Even from three blocks away, I could see the grim pressed against the fence reaching out to scratch, mar, or just plain rip the throats out of the passing guards. 

             
“What are you thinking about?”  August stepped up behind me and I had to resist the urge to lean back and rest my head on her shoulder. 

             
“The grim.  Why do they even bother with them?  They could bomb the whole section.”

             
“I couldn’t agree more, but that’s for the mayor to decide.”  She said diplomatically.

             
“Do you suppose the rest of the world is having that same debate?  Desecrate your own dead, or struggle with containment.”

             
“I think so.  Some people still believe they are saints.  They believe the bodies should be bathed in holy water and buried in the earth.”

             
“Do you believe that?”  I turned around to look at her. 

             
She shook her head somberly and pressed on my back as she started walking.  I complied by walking on with her at the casual pace she decided on.  “Do you know why we don’t bury the crystalline dead?”

             
“Because there’s too many of them and they don’t rot anyway so why bother?”

             
August nodded.  “Initially, we didn’t know that though.  We thought that they were just like any other bodies.”  I got the sense that she was speaking for the entire human race when she said
we.
  “After the apocalypse, we did bury many of them.  Do you know what happen?”  I shook my head.  I loved story time with August.  “The ground spit them back out.”  She said with merriment. 

             
I laughed, but she paused to look at me like I was the fool of this conversation.  “Wait, what do you mean?  They…”

             
“A few weeks after we buried them, regardless of how deep, the bodies rose to the surface, expelled from the graves.”

             
I shook my head, and she quirked an eyebrow daring me to question her.  I parted my lips to ask a thousand questions.  Her eyes settled on something behind me, and she smiled.  “Garrett, perhaps you can back me up on this?”

             
My eyes widened and I whipped around.