As the car drifted to a hault, Kathy looked to her left, eyeing the dancer as she peered ahead. There was something in her eyes, something Kathy couldn't register. Some distant thought too painful to hold, or a memory forced down like a swig of spoiled milk. Before long, it was gone, and she stepped out of the car. Before them was the cabin the dancer had mentioned, standing in the space between old and decrepit. The forest surrounding the cabin was remarkably silent, only the chirping of some distant birds and the sway of the leaves above disrupting an otherwise vanishingly quiet scene. Kathy found peace, if for only a moment. Like the marsh before, the serenity of the woods made her forget herself, forget her charge. In the moments blank spaces between thought and action, she only felt the breeze.
One of the two gay men approached the door first, as he spoke, "I'm glad you came to your senses, its best we stay here till this revolution nonsense blows over."
Kathy took note of this recurrent dissonence between the dancer and this man. Adam, that's his name., Kathy reminded herself. She had to remember his name if she was going to make use of this dissonance, she suspected.
"The revolution isn't over." Began the dancer, who was named Darla, she recalled. Kathy knew that this difference in ideology would be her best means of separating the group from each other, making picking them off easier. It would be safer for them to tear each other apart, rather than her need to tear them apart herself. The dancer had continued talking for a time, but Kathy wasn't listening, as she was busy fantasizing about the end.
As the door crept open, Kathy was hit by a wave of sound, like a wind tunnel bursting outward. She couldn't place any single voice, only that there were thousands, and each one spoke of a different failure. The walls were waterlogged, reverberating with the resonance of the voices. It seemed that at any moment the cabin would collapse under its own weight, as Kathy stood dumbfounded that no one else could hear the voices; that they could stand to walk through as though nothing were wrong. That is, all but the other gay man, the man called Jack. Yet even in him was not the reaction of a man who was pushed down by a cacophony of voices crying through that narrow doorway. His was a face of distraction, or absorption in memory, while Kathy's was one of shock. She had never been into this cabin, yet each voice which called to her was familiar, like a recollection of what was or could be. Ian? Billy? No, the voices are female. Who are they? As their screams came to a fever pitch, Kathy realized that each voice was her own, crying out from a different point in her life, begging her to stop. Kathy's heart sank when she realized that none of the voices were older than she was in that moment--she was going to die in this cabin.
No! I'm not ready! I have to finish my work! I have to avenge Ian and Billy! Its not time yet, please just give me more time!
No More time, Mom. Its over. If you step through that door, you will die. I can't save you this time. You've done a lot of awful things, and now its time for you to pay for it. Death is never free, mom.
Billy? Baby? Momma's here, I'm so sorry, please, let me stay just a little while longer, and I can make the world pay for what it did to you! I'll accept my death, but only once I made things right!
Things haven't been right for a very long time, mom. They'll never be right again. Its time. Step through the door.
One of the gay men turned back and looked at Kathy as she stared blankly forward.
Step through the door.
The choir of voices swelled into a chant.
"STEP THROUGH THE DOOR. STEP THROUGH THE DOOR. STEP THROUGH THE DOOR. STEP THROUGH THE DOOR. STEP THROUGH THE DOOR. STEP THROUGH THE DOOR. STEP THROUGH THE DOOR. STEP THROUGH THE DOOR."
"You okay?" Jack's voice cut through the scalpel through flesh.
Focus. You have a task. If you're dying anyway, you can't kill the world. Just these 3. Kill them. Kathy thought, as she shook her head, and smiled at Jack, as she breathed in, and stepped into the cabin.
If she was going to succeed in killing them, she would need to figure out everything she could about them as quickly as she could. As the dancer worked on the fire, Adam went down below to get food. Kathy realized as he left how hungry she was. In this recognition of her own bodily needs, she felt disgust. She should be above the need to sustain her life so close to death. Still, she knew she would need to eat, so she refocused onto the task of learning about her targets.
I should ask that faggot about his husband, that would be a good start
"How long have you and Adam been together?" Kathy asked, mustering all the sweetness she could, as she masked her hate.
"I don't know" Jack replied, "I forget things sometimes. I forgot this place." Jack's voice trailed off as he spoke, looking around. He never seemed to make eye contact when he spoke, Kathy noted. Maybe he's autistic? Kathy thought. It occurred to Kathy, however, that if he forgets things as he says he does, perhaps he didn't remember the mistrust he gave her on the ride over.
"Do you remember much about the ride over here?" She asked him. Too direct. I should have been more subtle. She thought.
"Car ride?" Jack asked, a look of confusion coating his face like a loose blanket.
Good. Its better he doesn't remember. Kathy thought.
"Good!" Kathy said without thinking, slapping Jack on the shoulder with some force. Kathy thought that might have been a mistake, but continued as though it wasn't. There was no time for second guessing her choices, this was her last chance to kill these last representatives of the world that took her Ian and Billy from her.
Kathy then made her way towards the dancer, moving as quickly, but casually. She didn't want to arouse suspicion, not yet, anyway. She was going to plant the seeds of conflict between the dancer and Adam.
"I think you're right by the way. About the revolution." Kathy said, "The other guy doesn't know the real world." She chose her words with precision. She needed to instill the doubt that the dancer could trust her brother's partner, and to do so, she would need to be divided by ideology.
Darla looked to Kathy with a look that told her she knew something was up. Kathy's mind went into a frenzy as she tried to find a way out. How could she have chosen her words so poorly? What combination of words would have convinced this woman to hate her friend? Such a combination must exist. God, Kathy thought, What a fucking idiot I am.
RUNNING OUT OF TIME, MOM; YOU'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME
Please Billy, just be quiet, I need to focus. I need to reassess.
Kathy cleared her throat, and adjusted her face with a smile.
"Like, surely he knows that we can't stay here forever? There's a war, and we're involved even if he wants to hide!" Kathy said, intimately aware of the dancer's exhaustion at her words.
"Look hon," The dancer began, "I don't have time to talk about this right nwo. I need to get a fire going so I don't have to eat cold spam."
You fucking moron. Kathy thought about herself, before raising her hands to the air.
"Fair enough!" She said, "We can talk more about the revolution later. After we get some food."
The room fell silent as the dancer stared at Kathy, her face twisted into a snear, before she turned back tot he task of finding wood for the fire.
God damn it! I need to do better than that if I'm going to succeed. Kathy thought.
Do you really think its worth it, mom? What do these people have to do with me? They don't even know I exist.
The dancer knows. She was there after you died. Kathy thought. She knew Billy could hear her.
She had nothing to do with my death. She had nothing to do with dad's death. Let go of this stupid mission and face reality. We're gone, and killing them or anyone else won't bring them back. Its time for you to face what you've done and accept the consequences.
No, Billy. Momma's not done. She won't be done until each one of these fuckers are lying in a pool of blood.
It will be yours, mom.
Kathy bit her lip and scqueezed her thumb, as she sat down in the living room of the cabin, next to Jack. Jack didn't notice she was there. He was lost in thought again. He would be the easiest to kill. She wouldn't need to worry much about him.
The calm of the woods overtook the cabin, as Kathy allowed herself a moment of repreive. For a moment she recalled sitting on the couch watching Avatar the Last Airbender with Billy. She wished she had stayed and watched instead of losing herself to thoughts of Ian. She wondered how things might have been different if she had just stayed with Billy that night. Maybe the world wouldn't have ended?
Electricity swirled in the air, as something stirred.
Storm's coming." Jack said, finally breaking the silence.
He was right, Kathy could tell. This stillness was that if a world near the edge of collapse, where in its desperation for normalcy, it stills itself for the fall. Then, as suddenly as the stillness took hold, the rain began to fall, and the world joined each drop in a freefall.
This'll have to do." The dancer said, as she piled twigs intot he fireplace. After lighting it, the cold of the storm was forced away gradually.
Before long, Adam came back up from the cellar, carrying cans of spam and corn.
"Most of the food expired years ago, but this stuff is only a year or so out of date, so should be good to eat." He said, foolishly. Still, Kathy was hungry, so she'd eat just about anything. "Kathy, do you have much experience with hunting?"
Ironic. Kathy thought, attempting to mask her disgust every time she was forced to think about Adam and Jack. Unable to force joy in words, she just smiled and nodded.
"Good, we can go out and get some squirrels or somethign once our cans run out. That should last us while we figure out a better means of getting food. I know some deer like to walk throught he back yard, or at least they did when we were younger." Adam said.
Ah, so Jack's not the only faggot who knows the cabin. Kathy thought.
Jack asked some question, but Kathy wasn't listening. He didn't matter as compared to the task of dividing the dancer and Adam.
Adam began to reply, which initially Kathy ignored, but something at the end of his spiel caught her ear. "...spend a few summer vactions out here with you, Darla, your mom, your gradma, and...um, yeah."
Seems like there's more to this story than Adam is letting on. I might be able to use that later.
"I didn't know I knew you that long." Jack replied. Kathy lost interest, and returned to Adam, who rubbed his forehead, barely containing what was obviously quite a bit of stress.
Adam then squeeked out like a field mouse, "We've known each other since we were kids."
Kathy's mind returned to her hunger as her mind forced the recall of the taste of spam.
"Let's cook something, I'm starving." Kathy said, almost involuntarily. She bit her lip after she spoke. She wished shed had contained herself, she was learning good information. Still, she adjusted herself, and turned to the dancer. "You cook, don't you?" She asked.
"Not well, but I can try!" The dancer replied.
"I'll cook if you don't mind! I love you, Dar, but I don't trust your ability to cook in the best of times, and these most certainly are not the best of times." Adam said, pushing past Kathy to reach the fireplace.
The pansy cooks? "Figures." Kathy spoke aloud, mistakenly.
The dancer and Adam set about to cooking, as Kathy watched them carefully. They worked well together, and had an unspoken repor that Kathy knew would be difficult to break. They clearly have known each other long enough to work as though they controled two halves of the same body. As the meal was complete, and the scent of cooked spam and corn filled the air, Kathy was overwhelmed by ravenous hunger, and as the food was placed on the table and plates set, she grabbed for the food without a second thought, burning her fingers in the process.
"I would wait a moment, if I were you." Adam laughed, with that cock sucking grin Kathy knew only of faggots like him.
Kathy seathed with anger, wanting to jump across the table and strangle the fruit. She contained herself, however, her thoughts still too dominated by hunger. Yet in between rage and hunger, Kathy noticed the glances that her 3 tagets gave each other. They were onto her. She began to panic again, as she realized she was running out of time. Calm down. Just eat. Kathy thought, as she shoveled the spam into her mouth. It tasted slightly sour, but the heavy sear Adam had put on the meat made it somewhat more palatable.
As they all began to eat, the dancer interrupted the sound of chewing with a request for water from the cellar.
"Its all clowdy, and was kept in plastic containers." Adam said, as he shook his head, "I wouldn't drink it, personally."
"Might need to collect some rain water. I've got a thermos in my car I can fill up for us after eating."
Kathy wondered how the dancer managed to get a thermos in the car they had found in the rubble of Baltimore, as she hadn't been carrying it when they found it. Maybe it was already in the car when they found it? In any event, Kathy figured that if the dancer left to get water, that would give her a chance to lay the seeds of division in Adam.
"I always have a beverage with my meal." Kathy said, forcing a smile, "Could you get us all something to drink?"
The dancer rolled her eyes, and left to get rainwater. Kathy turned her attention back to Adam.
"Can you believe she's still on that whole reovlution business?" Kathy asked him.
Adam looked up from his plate, "What?" He asked.
"The girl, Darla. She thinks that, after everything we saw, everythign we survived, we should keep fighting. Is she stupid?"
Adam shrugged, "wouldn't you want a better world?"
Kathy frowned, Why is he resisting? He agrees with me!she thought, before refocusing, and smiling, "I can understand that, but what I don't understand is trying to make that world herself! All we should concern ourselves with is survival!" Kathy felt pleased with herself, she felt that these words would surely reach him.
"Ourselves?"
Kathy took the interjection like a knife to the throat. Still, she readjusted. "Well, we all survie better together than apart, right? Besides, I have hunting experience, like you, and no offense to our good Darla, but she doesn't seem like the hunting type."
Adam let out a gutteral laugh, "You'd be surprised! We three used to go hunting with Darla's uncle, he--" Adam stopped, before looking at Jack, and then back to Kathy, "We have experience."
Maybe I could focus on the uncle instead? Kathy thought.
"Rough relationship with this uncle? I've noticed you avoid him twice now."
"Careful where you step, here there be wasps." Adam laughed.
"I insist--what happened wbetwen you and this uncle?"
"He was a dentist." Jack suddenly interjected. Then, without warning, Jack's gaze shifted, as a fire raged behind his eyes, and he shot up from his chair. "She's going to kill us!!!" Jack shouted, pointing at Kathy.
"I-I'm sorry, what?" Kathy said, trying to keep her cool.
"We should have left her in Baltimore. She's a killer. She never stops killing. She's going to kill us next."
"I don't have the slightest fucking idea, what you're--" Kathy began, before being interrupted by Jack lunging at her, grabbing a knife from the table, and pushing it towards her throat.
Adam grabbed Jack and held him back, as Kathy reached towards her gun she had burried in her pants.
"She has to die!!! I have to protect us!!! I can't let her hurt Jack!!! No one else hurts him!!!!" Cried out Jack. Kathy's mind went blank as she struggled to find the thoughts to describe what she was hearing.
"Jacks, baby, its me, calm down, please..." Adam begged.
"Let me go, we have to kill her before she gets us!!! I heard her son!!! She killed her son!!!!"
Kathy's heart sank. "What did you just say?"
"He killed himself because of you. He's told me. So did Ian, didn't he?"
"How the fuck do you know that name?!" Kathy demanded.
"I can hear them. You can, too, can't you? You fucking bitch. You blame the world for your evil."
"Jackie, maybe you need to rest." The dancer said.
"Fuck off, Darla, its your fault this whore is threatening us in the first place. Give me your gun, and let me handle her."
What did you tell him?!?! Kathy thought, knowing Billy would hear.
I told her the truth.
"Just sit, Jacks, just sit for a second."
Jacks face suddenly calmed, as he allowed himself to be seated.
"Didn't tell me he was crazy!" Kathy cried, "would have been useful information." Kathy was stunned by what she heard. How did Jack know about Billy? How could Billy have been talking to him?
"He's not crazy!" The dancer shouted back, "we both went through a lot as kids. I'm like our mom, and I stood and fought." She then laughed, and continued, "I even share my mom's name. Jack's like our dad, and froze. He got the worst of it."
Kathy turned to face the group, as she realized that there was no dividing a group which had gone through so much, and still managed to stay together. She had to kill them all at once.
"Things have gotten a little more interesting, then." Kathy said.
The 3 targets before her gave each other knowing looks. Kathy knew that they were ready for what she was about to do, so she would have to act fast. Still, she couldn't resist reveling in their deaths, even for a moment. Jack especially had to pay for what he said about her, and her Billy. She wasn't a murderer, she wasn't at fault, she knew that. How could Jack say something like that? How could he have said those things? It then occurred to Kathy that Billy had referred to Jack as a "her". Kathy didn't understand why, but this quiery was interrupted when she steeled herself to the task at hand. She was going to kill every single one of them, and she would surivive, and take her war against life outward. They couldn't stop her.
"So, whod o we think is winning this war of goals: Darla or Adam? Its all up to you, Jack. Do we join the revolution and die, or stay in the woods, and die?" Kathy then reached behind her back, grabbing hold of her gun. "And the more important questiuon: who gets to live the longest, and who dies tonight?"
Kathy wiped her gun forward towards Jack. She would kill him first. Then before she could put her finger on the trigger, blackness overtook her, as all time and space shutdown as though the light of consciousness was abruptly ceased, all power to her mind cut in a single moment, too quick for any awareness to take note.
Then she opened her eyes again to an emtpy field of festering skin which bubbled like a million muscle spasms just beneath the surface. Before her stood Billy and Ian, looking down as she struggled to stand, arms from beneath the surface of flesh holding her down.
"Its time, mom. You need to face what you've done."
"Billy! Oh my god, my baby, you're here! And Ian! Oh god I missed you both so badly. Please, help me up and lets get out of here."
"You can't leave, hon." Ian began, "This is where you belong."
"I-I don't understand." Kathy said.
Ian faded away into an invisible mist, leaving only Billy standing before his mother.
"Ian wait!" Kathy cried out, unable to move from the hands which gripped her like a vise.
"Its time to face what you've done, mom. Me and dad are free now, and you have to pay."
"Billy...please...just help me up, get this fucking things off me, let's go away together!"
"Goodbye, mom. Despite everything you've done, I love you."
"Billy, let me up right now!!!"
Billy too faded into the mist.
"B-billy?" Kathy asked, before the hands pulled her down beneath the skin, as she plunged into an abyss she would never return from.