Anaideia 22

Everything that was the Candyland Saloon, everything that Randy had worked for, was a pile of ash on a dry lake basin. Only Karl could muster a tear for the wretched place. He sat dumbfounded on his ass and glared at his bleeding and festering leg wound. “Just leave me here to die,” he told me.

“That’s too good of an ending for you Karl,” I said.

Vic admired the stars in the sky and then looked towards the mountain pass. “We need to get moving,” he said. “The town is 10 miles away.”

Dale removed the sucker from his mouth and signaled to his brown 95 Chevy Astro. “Van’s ready,” he said. “Sorry if it’s a mess in there. Been living in it since I burned my trailer down. I only got a quarter of a tank but it should get us there.”

I kick Karl on his leg and he groans. “Get up,” I ordered.

“I can’t,” he cried. “You done shot my leg!”

“Get up goddamn you!”

Vic pulls me by the arm. “Maybe we should leave him out here,” he suggested.

“Fuck him!” I shouted. “That’s exactly what he wants!”

“Oy, mate,” Vic said trying to calm me. “If you want to seek vengeance, you should go after Randy.”

I took a couple of deep breaths and nodded. “Perhaps you’re right,” I said then looked at Karl. “Perhaps bleeding out alone in the desert is a fitting end for you.”

I turn around and approach Old Jim who in his demented oblivion stood motionless gazing at the desert floor. “Well Jim,” I said, “are you ready to return to the civilized world?”

The breeze swayed his snow white beard as he gazed up to the sky. “The old folks used to say that god created the heaven and the earth in seven days,” he spoke. “But the deceiver dwells in the lake of fire with mouth agape waiting for the fall. I spent half my life in this dead lake. The Bible says that man shall not lay with man and that all homosexuals…”

“Okay, let’s get you to the van,” I interrupted.

I take his arm and slowly escort Jim to the beatup Astro. I roll open the sliding door and lift the old man into a passenger seat. The inside was littered with porno mags and tissue paper and I warn Old Jim to use hand sanitizer after touching anything. After I get him buckled I looked down to see two flat tires on the passenger side. I walk to the driver’s side and noticed the same.

“Fuck,” I said aloud.

“What?” shrugged Dale.

“How did you not notice they slashed your tires Dale?” I asked.

“What’s the big deal?”

“We’re in the middle of the goddamn desert! We kinda need tires to get out of this hellhole!”

“Sorry! I was inside the van all day catching up on some reading! I didn’t have time to notice…”

But before I could strangle Dale, Vic intervened. “Look, it’s nightfall,” he said. “I have enough supplies on me to get us to town. Of course we can’t travel fast because we got the old man but at least we’re not under the blistering hot sun.”

“You don’t understand,” I said. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“Why not?”

“There’s something out there guarding that pass. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me mate,” Vic said.

I stammer around a bit trying to find the right words. “There’s a demon,” I said. “A castoff from hell.”

“A demon?”

“Her name is Penelope.”

Vic swallowed hard. “Penelope?”

“Yes.”

I march over to Karl, grabbed him by the lapels, and lifted him to his feet. “Is there another way out of this basin?” I interrogated.

Karl spat and laughed. “Looks like we’re all hell bound,” he cackled.

I drop him to his ass and throw off my hat. “We have little choice but to post up here,” I said to Vic. “We’ll set up a perimeter and stand guard in shifts throughout the night.”

Vic shook his head. “Mate, in the daylight heat, there’s no way we’ll make it through the pass.”

In a fit of rage, I kicked the dirt and pound my fist on Dale’s Astro. “Hey!” he yelled.

Vic calmly took me by the arm and lowered his voice. “Are you serious about Penelope?” he asks. But before I could respond, a galloping torrent rushed through the basin. A swoosh sound was heard a meter away and the gurgling screams of Karl echoed into the night.

“Into the van!” I ordered. And we all piled into Dale’s cum-stained Astro. Inside, I frantically go from window to window looking for any signs of Penelope. “Did anyone see anything?!” I said.

“I didn’t see shit!” said Dale.

But Old Jim sat contemplatively in his passenger seat as cool as the night air and chewed on his half bent pipe. “The Devil is in the details,” he ominously spoke.

TO BE CONTINUED…