Page 159 of Wrench
thought. They were too smart to ever put up with someone like me. What sane woman
would? Like she said, I essentially forced her into a hostage situation.
A large rock sat about a dozen yards away from the Tavern, directly in the center of the
kitchen door at the back and where the sandy desert terrain started. I wasn¡¯t ready to go
back inside, I¡¯d let the guys think I was still with Samantha. Truth was, I wanted to
fucking punch them all out. There was no reason to be so harsh to her, she was doing us a
favor¡
But I hadn¡¯t even stood up for her. I let them threaten her life and I stood there, not
even trying to reason with them. How could she ever feel safe with me?
I could never cry. But staring at the first signs of shadows from the sun peeking onto
the cacti for the first time of the day, I wanted to. I wanted to cry. There was so much
weight on my chest, crushing my heart, I wished I could cry to release any of the pain, but
I couldn¡¯t. Whether I wouldn¡¯t let myself or I physically couldn¡¯t, I wasn¡¯t sure. It just
wouldn¡¯t come, no matter how much it hurt.
I sat there for so long, the sun was half-risen before I heard anyone come look for me.
Quiet footsteps startled me when I heard them only a few feet away. Turning my neck, I
expected to see Tank about to give me some poorly timed pep talk about how everything
had to happen for the brotherhood. Then my skin went cold.
¡°What the fuck are you doing here?¡±
It wasn¡¯t Tank.
It was Slink from the Freeways.
There he was, out of nowhere, with a vicious look in his bruised and swollen eyes. In
his hand was a long, sharp blade that glimmered in the sunrise.
I tried to run away, but it was too late. A wicked laugh escaped his mouth as he
plunged the knife into my back, and I gasped a wretched breath.
With the knife still lodged in my back, he leaned his lips to my ears, and I could smell
his pungent, rotten breath. ¡°That¡¯s for Titan.¡±
When he ripped it out, I did not feel any pain. All I felt was my back growing damp and
the energy inside of my body evaporating. My knees buckled and I slumped off the rock,
crouching on all fours, panting.
