Sole Chaos by William Oday

Author:William Oday [Oday, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: William Oday
Published: 2019-02-08T07:00:00+00:00

33

The guard standing outside the door opened it as Red and Marco arrived. He stepped inside ahead of them and announced their presence. “Hey boss, Red got the kid for you.”

Red shoved past and scowled at the man. “I think he can see that for himself, you imbecile.”

The man bit his lips together and the air burned with the heat of their meeting eyes.

“You can go,” Charlie said from the far end of a rectangular table. “Now.”

The man broke the contest of wills and nodded in submission before exiting and closing the door behind him.

Charlie pushed his chair back and stood. He smiled with arms spread wide. “Welcome, Marco, if I remember correctly. Is that right?”

Marco nodded.

“Only a few weeks ago, but it feels like we met in another world. In another age.”

“The end of the world can have that effect.”

Charlie grinned. “A profound truth, no doubt.” He glanced to Red and tilted his head to the door.

“You sure, boss? I don’t trust this one.”

“Alexei, don’t make an enemy of a man who may yet be my friend.”

Red didn’t respond.

“Do you hear me?” Charlie said as he touched a finger to his ear. The dark threat permeating the question couldn’t have been more clear.

“Yes, boss. Of course.” He turned to leave, but was frozen by the sharp slap of the next question.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Uhh, I don’t think so.”

Charlie’s demeanor switched from levity to disappointment in a flash. From disappointment to impatience in another. And from impatience to rage in one more. “Remove the handcuffs, you idiot! Now!”

Red shuddered like his testicles had been tasered. “Sorry, boss.” He scrambled to cut the plastic cables free. So much so that Marco waited for the line of fire that meant the blade had sliced him open.

It didn’t.

The plastic cuffs fell to the floor.

“Wait outside,” Charlie said.

Red nodded and hurried out.

Marco watched the interaction in wonder. He’d seen the behavior before. One of the old ranch owners that used to have adjacent land to his acted like that. He was nice enough to people, but he was cruel as could be to the half-dozen dogs that for some reason never ran away from his property.

He’d never liked that guy. And he was a saint compared to the man standing across the room.

Charlie gestured at the table filled with more food and drink than Marco had seen in weeks. Since the morning that the competition began when he and Emily and Suyin had breakfast at Queen’s Diner. A breakfast fit for a king and one he hadn’t come close to repeating since.

But here.

Now.

This was a breakfast fit for an Emperor.

Especially now that the grocery stores had no more groceries. Now that the convenience stores offered no more conveniences.

A thick slab of grilled salmon with curling wisps of steam rising up set off the waterworks in his mouth. He swallowed a few times to keep his mouth from filling up.

A serving plate piled high with scrambled eggs. The plate next to it with piled equally high with crispy bacon.

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