Emperor of a Dead World (34 page)

“Hello, I’m Brad,” he said as he approached. The other three stood behind him and said nothing.

The two men silently acknowledged Brad and the others.

“Where have you men been living?” Brad asked.

“In the area,” one replied.

Brad shrugged, “Where specifically?”

“I would rather not say.”

“Why not,” Brad pressed with a curious look.

“Do you interrogate everyone like this,” the other man snapped.

Brad smiled then held his face close to the man. “Only those I suspect to be up to no good.”

The man put his hand up to push Brad away but a guard behind him immediately held both his arms tightly.

“What is going on here?” the first man asked.

“I know who you are,” Brad remarked as he glared at the man.

“Who do you think I am?”

Brad looked at something in his hand then turned back to the man. “Why don’t you tell me the truth?”

The man tried to see the item in Brad’s hand. “What do you mean?”

Brad showed him his driver’s license. “We found this here.”

He reflected for a moment then said, “So I bet on horses. What does that prove?”

“Do you remember a pretty girl in Goleta?”

The man shrugged. There was no way he could possibly remember everyone he had ever wronged.

“She remembers you,” Brad said. “She said you killed her brother.”

The man glared back without responding.

“You also attacked us here and tried to kill our friends at the estate.”

“You cannot prove any of that,” the second man snapped.

“Perhaps you did not know the world has changed,” Brad smiled. “I don’t need any proof.”

“You don’t follow the law?”

“He is the law,” Rudy retorted.

“The man looked at Rudy and laughed. “You would not be so brave if we were alone.”

“Would you be so brave alone with me?” Tyrone threatened.

The man looked up at Tyrone but did not reply.

“Don’t worry,” Brad said. “I have proof and you will get a trial.”

“And then you will be executed,” Rudy added.

“Not if you tell me what I want to know,” Brad quickly interjected.

“I have nothing to tell,” the man shrugged.

Brad looked at his watch and said,” If you want to live start talking. In five minutes I will no longer be able to save you.”

“Do you think you can scare us?” the man from Goleta smirked.

“Have you ever seen the creatures kill a man,” Rudy asked. “They tear off his flesh and eat him alive.”

The other man swallowed and fidgeted in his seat.

“Do you have something to say,” Mickey asked.

“I am not one of them,” he shot out. “I am new. They told me you attacked them and destroyed their shelter.”

“Shut up,” the other man threatened.

“They said you fly over the lake and bomb us. They said you kill our people and steal our women and children and eat them.”

“What,” Brad exclaimed.

“We don’t eat anyone,” Tyrone said with disgust.

“Who told you these lies?” Brad demanded.

The man looked to his right.

“Did you make up these stories?” Brad asked the other man.

“I didn’t make it up,” he barked. “You attacked us down the street.”

“We did not attack you until after you attacked us.”

“We caught you trying to break into our shelter and ran you off.”

“That is a lie,” Rudy shouted.

“We tried to be friends,” Brad insisted. “You shot at us then came here and hung two of our men at the front gate.”

The man shook his head. “You burned our fence so the sick people could come in and attack us.”

“You pricks shot me in the neck,” Rudy roared as he showed the man his scar. “That is why we burned you out.”

A knock on the door interrupted them. They turned to see Lisa walk in with a guard.

“You have already admitted to half your crimes,” Brad said to the man. “Now let’s see about the other half.” He turned to Lisa. “Do you know either of these men?”

She looked at the man on the right and shook her head. She then looked at the other man and gasped. Trembling slightly she walked over for a closer look at the man from Goleta. The guard behind him held his arms and Brad could tell this man recognized her by the way he looked at her. The other man picked up on this as well. She stood glaring at him for a moment then slapped him across the face. After striking him, she immediately broke down and wept. Brad took her into his arms.

“This is the man,” she sobbed. “He is the one that killed my brother and the others in cold blood. He would have killed me as well if I had not escaped.”

“I did not know anything about this,” the second man said in shock. “Like I said, I am new to this group.”

“Shut up,” the killer snarled. “Don’t listen to that stupid bitch.”

Brad took a step toward the man.

“She is your girlfriend is she?” the man smirked.

Brad glared at him and the guard backed away.

“I would not have killed her. Not before I had my fun anyway,” he snickered.

Brad punched him in the face and knocked him over in his chair. The other man looked at Brad with fear.

“Take Lisa back to my suite and make sure her girl sits with her,” Brad said to the guard that had brought her.

“I don’t want to leave,” she flared back. “I want to watch you kill him.”

“No you don’t,” Brad ominously replied.

“Take her out,” Tyrone demanded.

Lisa looked at them and felt a chill as she rushed out in tears.

Brad turned to the second man. “What do you have to say?”

“Honestly, I did not know,” he insisted as he glanced at the man on the floor. “I will tell you everything you want to know about these people. Just please do not feed me to those things.”

Brad glared down at him. “Start talking.”

“They took me and my wife in a few weeks ago,” he said. “We were just wandering aimlessly, scrounging for food, fighting for our lives every minute of every day. When we ran across these people, they gave us food and shelter. We would have died on the streets without their help.”

“Why did you attack us?”

“They told me bad things about you. They said you had burned them out of their shelter and you were trying to kill them so you could steal their things. When you kept sending those little airplanes and bombing us, I believed them. Look, I had no choice,” the man insisted. “They said they would turn me and my wife out if I did not help them with the raid.”

Brad turned to the guard behind the man. “Take this one and lock him up. Everyone else get out.”

The guards took the man and left.

Brad turned to his friends. “You guys also need to leave.”

Mickey started out but the other two remained.

“I mean it,” Brad demanded. “You guys need to go.”

Tyrone looked at Rudy. “Go ahead. I need to speak to Brad alone.”

Rudy looked at Brad then walked out as Brad stared up at Tyrone.

“Don’t even think it,” Tyrone warned. “I created the myth but I still know the man. You are no murderer. Remember, you survived to save the world. Besides, you want to be a good emperor don’t you?”

“I thought you said all the greatest emperors have blood on their hands.”

“You are learning,” Tyrone chuckled. He walked over and set the man up in his chair. “You hit him too hard,” he remarked. “He is out cold.” He shook him awake. When the man looked up Tyrone said, “You are going to tell us everything we ask.”

“Or what?” he smirked.

Tyrone backhanded him across the face slitting his lip open. He then turned to Brad. “You see, just like that. He is still awake. This way he feels everything. If you knock him out it is like mercy because he sleeps through the pain. Go ahead. Give it a try.”

Brad glanced at Tyrone then walked over and backhanded the man.

“It stings a little but your hand will numb,” Tyrone laughed.

“What is wrong with you guys?” the man said as he leaned back.

“We want answers,” Tyrone snarled. “You will tell us everything we want to know or we will beat you half to death. Do you understand? We will not kill you. Not even if you beg us to. We might even put you in a cage with one of those things and let it chew on you for a while. Then after you turn into one we will set you free. Have you ever really looked at one up close?”

The man had but he made no response.

“They are in great pain,” Tyrone said. “You can see it in their face.”

“That is true,” Brad agreed. “I have seen these things up very close. There is great torment in their eyes. They almost beg you to put a spike through their brain and put them out of their misery.”

“It is Hell,” Tyrone rejoined. “I am not talking metaphorically. It is truly hell.”

“He is right,” Brad smirked. “This is what happens to people like you after you die.”

“And we are going to give you an express ticket to hell if you don’t start talking,” Tyrone smiled.

The man glared back as he reflected on the things he had seen. He had stared into the eyes of these things and they did seem tormented. Of course, they did not appear any more tormented than he felt deep down in his hollow core. At last, he hissed, “If I tell you everything you want to know, then what?”

Tyrone shrugged, “Mercy.”

“You mean an easy death?”

“Enough bullshit,” Brad interrupted. “Start talking.”

“Can I have a drink of water first?”

“No,” Tyrone said.

The man glanced at him then turned to Brad and began. “When everything started we all got together; friends, family, neighbors, everybody. My whole family lived down the street. I had been in Santa Barbara with my cousin because we worked in the oil fields. When I came here, I brought a lot of friends with me. Together we built the wall and barricaded ourselves in. We were good people in a bad world. At first, we tried to help people but then they started to take what we had. We had to protect the things that were ours, things we needed to survive. After a while, we learned we had to drive people away. We could not afford to help everyone that came along and we certainly could not let people steal our food and weapons. When our supplies ran low, we became desperate. Some of our people went out looking for things and ran into bad people. When you came along, we did not know if we could trust you. We thought you might try to harm us. Then you burned us out and left us homeless. You gave us no choice but to fight back and protect ourselves. We came to this racetrack because we had nowhere else to go. When you ran us off again we went to stay with my uncle at the lake. We thought we were safe but you followed us with your toy plane and bombed us. We came down here to talk and you dropped another bomb on us. We were the victims.”

“Oh shut your lying mouth,” Tyrone blared. “You shot at us for no reason. Then when you found us, you shot one of our men standing at the window. After that you came here and hung two of our men.”

“Only after you burned us out.”

“What about the guys that tried to feed me to the creatures?”

“What guys?”

“The ones with the Eldorado,” Brad demanded.

The man became attentive.

“The night Tyrone attacked this place to get it back two guys captured me and took me to Santa Barbara in the trunk of their Eldorado. When we got there they sat back and watched as the creatures came to kill me.”

“You don’t look dead to me.”

“I got away but your friends were not so fortunate.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was wearing a coat smeared in the blood of those things. Instead of attacking me they walked right past and killed your friends.”

“You bastard,” he shouted. “That was my cousin. I wondered what had become of him.” He jumped up and grabbed at Brad but Tyrone pushed him down. “I wish they had killed you,” he flashed. “Ever since I got out of prison people like you have shit all over me. You think you are so much better than I am. I hated the world the way it was. I would do anything to keep it from becoming like that again. Yeah, we shot at you. Yeah, we killed your men and tried to kill those people at your old estate. Yeah, I would have raped and killed your little girlfriend. Why not, you and she both had things we needed and I will do whatever it takes to survive.” He stopped and glared at Brad. “Don’t look at me like that. You do the same thing. You took what we had and now you stand there and threaten me. You say you are going to send me to hell. Screw you. What difference does it make to me? I am going to hell soon enough anyway. You assholes cannot change that. I killed before the world went crazy and I will keep killing anyone I want. If someone has something I need, I will take it. It sure beats working for a living. Why would I want to work? Working is for losers. You both are losers. Screw you.”

“I’ve heard enough,” Tyrone snapped. “Let’s lock him in with a creature and watch it rip off his flesh.”