PRINCE OF THE WASTELAND (The Book of Thrice Dead 1) by Joseph Sale

Author:Joseph Sale [Sale, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Writing Collective
Published: 2022-08-21T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

The Black Hat

They stood in the common room, empty cans and bottles strewn across the floor from the earlier celebration. The mood was muted, and it was growing darker outside. Stormy too, the Man in the Black Hat thought. A blizzard would make my job a lot harder. Michael stood before them, his face twitching slightly, as if there were snakes writhing inside his skull, stirred by the unusual currents in the air and the anger boiling inside him. I’ve never seen him this out of control. He’s losing it. The thought made Brian’s hands shake inside his pockets. He balled them into fists, but they still trembled. The air was electrical, hair-raising. If he loses it, what does that mean for us?

“Bleak Heart, Razor, Lethe, I want you to go out and find Splice. Kill him.” The others nodded. Bleak Heart’s brow was furrowed, but he said nothing. He started rolling a jay in his thick, grubby fingers, but he couldn’t get it right. Lethe’s lip curled in a triumphant snarl. The effect on her jigsaw face was not pleasant. Her cuts were still fresh, sore, and bleeding in places, but Brian knew there was no way to stop her from going.

So Michael was never really exiling Splice. It was just to avoid a fight there and then when he was ready. They’ll take him unawares now. It chilled Brian how calculating Michael could be. He turned sharply to Brian without giving the others another word, and as his dark, voided socket moved from them, they moved off silently.

“I’m changing your assignment. Before I wanted you to see what was down there. Now I want you to kill Joel. I won’t have any pretenders to this throne. Can you do that?”

The Man in the Black Hat found himself nodding, but his heart was hammering away. Can you? a voice queried in his head. He wasn’t sure he could. Joel was dangerous, mad, and unpredictable. If there was one person he doubted he could hide from, it was him. He did a double take. You’re not afraid of Michael in the same way. He used to terrify you, too. But now you’ve seen he’s human.

“I’ll get it done,” Brian said, hoarsely. Michael nodded.

His attention fell away, almost as if the eye emitted rays of paralyzing energy, and Brian felt suddenly limp and giddy. He started to walk away. There was a pitter-patter noise of a thousand tiny droplets touching the glass panes. A storm is coming. Brian quickened his pace. He didn’t want to be caught in it when it hit. What if the sewers flood? But Joel had been going down there for years now, and he told of multitudes living there, afraid of radiation and accustomed to the darkness. There was now a whole generation bred in the darkness and filth according to him. They must have ways of getting round it, and it is underground, which must shelter them in some way. Brian would find out soon enough.

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