Page 11 of Runt's Haunted Ride
"They were terrifying," Leaper told the room.
"You said they were connected," Tank's interest clearly piqued. "How?"
"Like they shared one brain," Bulldog explained. "Same movements, finishing each other's sentences. But here's the kicker—they were switching between talking like little kids and propositioning grown men."
"Yeah, screaming for their mommy one second and talking about an orgy the next. If you run into them, don't let them near you. This place is beyond fucked up."
"No way," Diesel said, sitting up straighter.
Swinger said with a confused face, "All the customers think they're having the time of their lives."
"Every single carnival worker is in on it," Swinger continued. "The game operators, the food vendors, even the ticket sellers. They're all working together to drug, rob, and fuck every person who walks through those gates."
"And you're telling me you three saw all this in one night?" Tank asked, envy clear in his voice.
Bulldog confirmed. "Non-stop. Those clowns and carnies were working the crowd like it was their personal playground."
Leaper looked at Fang with hungry eyes. "VP, I want to switch assignments tomorrow night."
"What?"
"I want midway patrol. If there's that much action happening, I want in on it."
"Same here," Diesel said. "Watching empty trailers was boring as shit. I want to see what these freaks are really up to."
Heavy stood up from his chair. "Count me in too. Sounds like the midway is where the real entertainment is."
"Lucky bastards," Crusher muttered. "All I got was college chicks trying to flash me for discounts. I want to switch too."
"Hold on," Fang said, raising a hand. "I'm not just shuffling assignments because you guys are jealous."
"Come on, Fang," Heavy started, but Fang held up a warning finger.
"Don't 'come on' me. We got a job to do, and I'm not shuffling people around because you think the grass is greener somewhere else."
"But" Diesel tried, "if there's really that much action—"
"If there's action, then these three can handle it," Fang snapped. "They did fine tonight, didn't they? Nobody died, nobody got arrested, and we all got paid. That's what matters."
The room fell silent, but I could see the frustration and envy simmering in the other guys' faces. They wanted what we'ddescribed, and Fang shutting them down wasn't going to make that desire go away.
"Look," Fang continued, his tone slightly less harsh, "assignments are assignments for a reason. We don't know this place yet, and I'm not making changes based on one night. Everyone stays where they are. Besides, we need the carnies to let their guard down so we can find what we're looking for. Sure, as shit, the best way to get them antsy is to keep changing people. No. We stay."
Tank nodded in agreement. "Fang's right. We stick with what's working. You three," he pointed at me, Swinger, and Bulldog, "keep documenting everything you see. If this place is as fucked up as you say, we need details."
As the meeting broke up and guys began drifting off to their rooms or back out to the bars, I could hear the muttered complaints and jealous comments. Fang might have shut down the assignment talk for tonight, but I had a feeling this wasn't over.
I finished my beer and headed to my room, knowing that the other guys' jealousy was only going to grow. And eventually, Fang was going to have to deal with it one way or another.
As I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, I could still hear that haunting carnival music drifting on the wind. My human side found it almost soothing now, but my gorilla was restless, pacing inside my mind like a caged animal. I pulled the pillow over my face. How I was going to deal with another night of this, I had no idea.
Chapter 4
The next evening, I found myself standing in the same parking lot, listening to the same pre-shift briefing, but everything felt different. The other guys kept shooting envious glances at me, Swinger, and Bulldog, their jealousy from last night's debriefing still simmering under the surface. Truth be told, after what we encountered last night, I would gladly have given up my spot. And I'm pretty sure Bulldog and Swinger felt the same.
"If you asses ask me one more time about switching assignments, I'm going to clean your clocks!" Fang barked, his patience clearly at an end. "I'm not changing people around. Deal with it."
Heavy opened his mouth to protest, but Fang's glare shut him down fast.
