Dirt Maul by James D. Mabe

Author:James D. Mabe [Mabe, James D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

“Hey there, fucko,” Cooper said. “You ready to provide some backstory? A little context as to why my life has suddenly become a waking nightmare?”

Cooper walked to where Morgan sat, which was atop an overturned crate of potatoes, and pointed the machete at him. The man looked up at him, sneering in the glow of a flashlight, and raised his ruined hand. A black sock was wrapped awkwardly around the wounds, leaving only his thumb and pinky visible. He was sweating, obviously in pain, but the bleeding had slowed.

“Where’re my fingers?” he croaked.

“Oh, sorry, it wanted your digits, and I had to oblige. Even let it borrow my phone.”

“What?” Morgan sneered, uncomprehending.

Cooper rolled his eyes and sighed. “I fed your fingers to the mantipede.”

Morgan stared for a heartbeat. “Why couldn’t you just die?” he said finally and made a bras d’honneur gesture.

Behind him, at the entrance to the produce market, Mark slid the large chain-link gate closed. This booth, like the others along the east wall of aisle A, was much larger than the other booths in the flea market. It was roughly the size of a convenience store and contained an array of locally sourced fruits, vegetables, and other craft items.

“You have plenty of parts.” Cooper raised an eyebrow. “You know that, right?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Morgan scoffed and shook his head. “I already told you. I came here with my bags packed.” He pointed a remaining finger at Cooper. “The only reason I’m still here is because you went and fucked it all up. Which, I imagine, is par for the course in your life.”

“Well, excuse me for not playing along with a doomsday plan I wasn’t privy to.” Cooper held a hand to his chest in a show of mock sincerity. “How exceedingly rude of me.”

“Do you even know what you did?” Mark asked as he walked back from the gate. “Like, was there a plan with that ugly fucking thing in our booth, or…”

“The Furore.” Morgan cut his eyes at him and sighed. “It’s called the Negation Furore.”

“That thing that…”

“Exploded the redneck, yes.”

“Where did it come from?”

“It’s a long, complicated, and contradictory story. Let’s just say a wizard made it.” He looked to the side, shrugging. “Maybe.”

“A wizard.” Mark stared at him, expressionless.

Morgan intoned in a serious, professorial voice, “Supposedly constructed from the chitinous exo-organs of the dimensionless apostates, lacquered in the boiled, tarry blood of the frenzied Adrenomones, and shaped into terrible being by the hundred delicate fingers of the blind sorcerer, Shalabaquithis-Ehl Amaronghus the Ravenous.” He spread his arms and looked back and forth from Mark to Cooper. “There, that’s a version of the story. Is that better? Is there another explanation you’d prefer? Is something other than a wizard going to make more sense?”

“No, I suppose not,” Mark admitted.

Cooper clicked his tongue and glanced at the ceiling. “Great. That’s all… just great. But what is it?” he asked. “And why is it in our booth?”

“It’s my dick.” Morgan smirked at him. “Get up on it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.