Come Undone: Romance Stories Inspired by the Music of Duran Duran

Author:Kim Carmichael & Solera Winters & Louisa Bacio & Kerry Adrienne & C. Margery Kempe & Alyssa Breck & K. C. Burn & Linnea Alexis & Sabrina Sol [Carmichael, Kim & Winters, Solera & Bacio, Louisa & Adrienne, Kerry & Kempe, C. Margery & Breck, Alyssa & Burn, K. C. & Alexis, Linnea & Sol, Sabrina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies, Anthologies, Anthologies & Literature Collections, Genre Fiction, Collections & Anthologies, Anthology, Romance, Duran Duran, 80s music
Amazon: B011P3OM2W
Publisher: Irksome Rebel Press
Published: 2015-08-07T04:00:00+00:00

iii

“WE CAME UP with a plan,” Johnny said, his voice suddenly taking on a sound of eagerness that it had not had before. “We figured the best way to get you lot to do something was to make it a competition.” The response was less than enthusiastic. They were all still thinking of those bleached bones. Digger found himself curious, especially since Joey and Johnny looked rather pleased with themselves.

“Yeah, we’re going to have teams. We’ll go head-to-head, as they say, trying to come up with the best plan to escape that actually works. No theoretical stuff, Glen.”

Glen laughed, his white teeth looking bright against his brown skin. “Oh, but that’s what I’m best at. I’ve been reading The Count of Monte Cristo. All it takes is a spoon—and lots and lots of time!”

Everyone laughed, but Digger could see the plan was having the effect Joey had hoped for. The guys were turning the idea over in their minds and getting excited for the competition.

“What’s the prize?” Simon asked. “If it’s a competition, there’s gotta be a prize. I’m not working for nothing.” He crossed his arms and gave Joey a challenging stare as he laughed.

Johnny lifted up a cardboard box. “This is the prize. We liberated it from the guard’s hideaway on the roof.”

“What is it?” several boys asked at once.

“A treasure trove to be sure,” Joey said with a wink at Johnny. “I know that most of you have been suffering from a certain affliction. The affliction that palls your imagination and without sufficient input to the brain you are left gormless and bereft.”

“What the fuck you on about?” Sid asked, his brow furrowed.

“Just your premium level box of wank mags,” Johnny said, whipping off the box top and pulling out a shiny publication that lay on the pile. It flipped open to a glossy page of a woman spread eagled, smiling as if there were nowhere she’d rather be. Digger flushed, feeling embarrassed, but the other guys all whistled and hooted and hollered, a couple jumping up from their chairs to get a closer look.

Johnny hastily returned the magazine to the box and slammed the lid shut. “Now, this is primo stuff, largely untouched since we found it—”

“Largely untouched?” Simon said with a frown, still eyeing the box as if he might develop x-ray vision.

“There had to be a certain amount of testing to make sure the contents were as good as they looked,” Joey said with a cool air. “You gotta inspect the merchandise, don’t you?”

The laughter that greeted this suggested it was so, but they were itching for more. No one noticed that Digger hadn’t joined in the slavering hoots, though DD and Glen and a few others didn’t seem to be any more interested than he in the contents.

“What all has it got?” Simon asked again, as if he were being asked to pay for the magazines out of his own pocket.

“It’s a bit of a grab bag, so to speak,” Joey said.

“Yeah,” Johnny agreed, nodding his head.