Page 44 of Claymore
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“Tell me something, can you swim?” asked Claymore.
“W-what? No. I can’t,” he spat, his eyes averting to the water. The biker tried to fight back, but he wasn’t as strong as his buddies it seemed.
“Good. That means you’re gonna tell me what I need to know or you’re gonna be swimming with those dead bugs over there, got it?”
“Look, man. I don’t know anything.”
“You expect me to believe that? You rolled up on Crystal’s with the rest of your fucking buddies, shooting up the place. Who put you up to that?”
“I don’t know! I was just following orders, I—”
“Wrong answer.”
Claymore dunked the biker’s head in the water, lifting it up, and dunking it again. The man’s body squirmed, and he tried to fight back, but Claymore’s hold was too strong.
My heart was racing, my palms were sweaty, and to see him like this scared me a little, but I couldn’t seem to look away.
He pulled the biker’s head out of the water, and he coughed, groaning, glancing over at me like I’d do anything to help him. His eyes twitched slightly, locking with mine like he knew who I was.
“Did Ray put you up to this? Huh? You’re going to have to say something or he’s definitely going to kill you,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.
“Y-you two like Bonnie and Clyde or some shit?” he asked with a soft chuckle.
“We can be. Thing is, you’re gonna have a long, slow death if you don’t tell me why the fuck you just tried to kill us,” Claymore threatened.
“I was following orders.”
“Whose orders?” I spat.
“Shouldn’t you know that by now? I heard you picked up one of us recently. Haven’t seen him since.”
“He didn’t last the night. Said some shit about the Kings trying to bargain with the Lions to rebuild their empire. That true?” asked Claymore.
“Yeah, it’s true.”
“Is Ray still alive?” I asked, and he grinned.
It was eerie, sending a chill down the back of my spine. Before I could ask again, Claymore lowered his head back into the water. He held him down forcefully and when he brought him back up, he gasped for air. It was like he couldn’t fill his lungs, like the panic was finally starting to set in.
“The lady asked you a fucking question.”
He spit out a mouthful of water, coughing, shaking violently. It was cold out tonight, the desert heat replaced by a cool chill that would only make his situation that much worse. Claymore had him pinned, and he wasn’t going anywhere until he gave us something.
“I don’t know a damn thing,” he said, gritting his teeth.
Claymore laid him flat, digging his fingers into his wound, and he cried out so loud it hurt to listen. He started dragging the biker near the pool water, ready to fully submerge him, when he shook his head, begging for mercy.
“Wait. Wait, wait! Okay. I’ll tell you. I can’t swim, man. Please! My fucking leg.”
“Unless you want to drown you better start talking. Now.”
“We received orders from our president, she’s joining forces with the Kings. You know all that shit already. You’re with Ray’s fucking sister after all. We were told to shoot you dead, but leave the girl alive.”
“How’d you know we were there?”
“Two of us hung around waiting for you guys to come back. Had a feeling you’d want to check out the place when the cops left. Sad to see you still alive, Claymore,” he said.
