Read Online Republic of the Living (Novella): Vengeance by Taz Gallaher - Free Book Online Page B

he
flopped back onto the cot.  “You and that goddam horse.  Oughta get
married.”
    Pearly grinned and staggered into the room where
they cooked and ate.  A fat green apple perched on the windowsill above
the sink.  He grabbed it and headed toward the feeble blush of light in
the windows of the door.
    The cool, night air swirled around his bare legs
as he strode to the security gate.  The booze dulled the clammy chill of
the plaza’s concrete floor.  He stopped.  He heard movement beyond
the pickup truck.  The quiet stir of shoes on gravel.  He rubbed his
eyes and peered through the security gate.  Goddam Parker was missing from
the top of the truck.
    “ Punk,” he muttered out loud.
 Have to rip him a new one.
    A dark shape fluttered against the far end of the
gate.  He stopped again and narrowed his eyes.
    “ Parker?  That you,
asshole?”
    The shadowy outline froze and then whipped into a
flurry of motion.
    “ What the hell?”
    He walked closer to the gate.  The apple
dropped from his hand onto the hard concrete with a tiny thud.
    “ Hey,” he sputtered.
 “What the fuck?”
    A tiny Asian girl stared up at him from the gate.
 Their eyes met and he rushed toward her. She took a step backward as he
grasped the bars of the gate in his hands and shook it.
    “ Motherfucker,” he growled,
yanking hard on the gate.
    It wouldn’t move.  He glanced back to the
girl.  She stood there silently, studying him without emotion.  A
dark figure loomed up over her shoulder.  Parker.  He shifted his
eyes to watch the boy stumble toward the girl.  He was bent over, clutching
his stomach.  He tripped and staggered closer to the silent girl.
    The crack of a rifle thundered across the still
air and something pinged off the gate to his right.  Pearly collapsed onto
his stomach, his eyes still fixed on the girl.  She turned slowly and a
long blade glinted in the lamplight.  Parker was close enough to grab her
and he lifted his hands from his belly.  The girl stepped to the side.
    “ Nooooo . . ..“ Pearly
screamed as the door behind him clattered open.  He twisted around.
 “Get the fuck down,” he shouted.  “They got guns.”
    Hanrahan dove to the floor and crawled toward him.
    He turned back to the girl.  Her machete hung
in the air, high over her head.  She glanced directly at Pearly before she
swung downward.  The blade whisked through the air and Parker’s outstretched
hand bounced onto the pavement.
    “ Jesus Christ,” he screamed.
 “Don’t.”
    She ignored him and spun around slowly,
accelerating as her momentum whipped the blade upward in both hands.  A
gurgling sound bubbled out of Parker’s throat.  The blade flashed once and
the front of his face disappeared. The rest of him collapsed at the girl’s
feet.
    She leaned down over the dead boy and carefully
wiped her blade across his shirt.  She stood for a moment, contemplating
the body at her feet.  Glancing again at Pearly, she spat on Parker’s
body.
    “ What’s happening?”
 Hanrahan gasped next to him.  “What’s going on?”
    Pearly felt something boil up his throat and he
rose to his knees.  Another shot rang out and a bullet ricocheted off the
concrete to his right, sending a spray of sharp dust against his face.  He
ducked down.
    Somebody shouted from the other side of the truck.
 When he raised his eyes, the girl was gone and the horses were snorting
and neighing in panic.
    “ Aw, fuck no,” Hanrahan
muttered next to him.
    Hanrahan twirled around and rose to a crouch.
 He dashed away from Pearly, bowling Tilt to the ground as he disappeared
into the door to their quarters.
    “ Jesus,” Tilt whined as he
climbed back to his feet.  “What the hell?”
    The sound of shouting and horse hooves against
pavement faded down the street, echoing away from the station.  Pearly
swore and launched himself to his feet, lunging toward the gate.  A thick
black cord wrapped itself around the last bar, binding it