Chapter 39
Nick froze with Travis’s corpse lying over his shoulder and stared the three men in the face.
His mind raced as he came up with some explanation.
However, the scene Nick presented left very few theories.
Smoke from the guards’ cigarettes wafted into the air.
Some of the men had their helmets off to enjoy their smokebreak.
Others had lifted masks up to reveal only their mouths.
“I knew someone would kill that shitbag one day,” one of the guards said, and the men laughed.
“Ugh, that dude was fucking sick in the head. What happened? Did he fuck with your captive?” another guard asked.
“Yeah,” Nick answered, watching the men’s faces closely. “Yeah, um, he tried to come into the cell while I was in there. He wanted to… join in.”
“Gross.” The men’s faces distorted into different versions of disgust. “Well, he won’t be missed.”
Nick nodded and observed them, unsure of what his next actions should be. The guards stared at him with expectant visages.
“Just go toss him in the burn pile. There’s some fuel in the storage shed. Light that prick’s body on fire. Luke will ask around for him but I ain’t saying shit.” One of the men tossed Nick a lighter that he caught with his free hand.
“Shit, Travis? We don’t know. Haven’t seen him.”
After breathing a deep sigh of relief, Nick walked past them and into a clearing down the hill from the warehouse. The ashes of trash, wood, and what looked like bones darkened the earth in a circle surrounded by logs.
Travis’s body dropped with a thud into the center of the pile. Ashes puffed into the air from the force, and Nick’s arms dropped to his side, throbbing and relieved.
When Nick returned to the warehouse, the guards had dispersed.
He re-entered the metal building, where preoccupied guards directed captives and barked orders.
When Nick opened Avery’s cell door, the floor and the wall appeared spotless at first glance.
The liquid had been sopped up, and ruddy streaks lined the base of the wall.
The concrete had absorbed the fluids quicker than Nick had expected.
Avery sat against the wall she shared with Kate, and Nick assumed they had been communicating while he was gone. Now that Nick was present, Avery eyed him without suspicion, only curiosity.
“Thank you for cleaning up,” Nick said.
“Thank you.” Avery produced the best smile she could manage.
Nick nodded and pulled black leather gloves from his pocket. He slipped his fingers into them before picking the towels up.
“No, seriously.” Avery stood up and took several steps toward Nick. She faced him, and he noticed she was rubbing her fingers back and forth on something small in one of her hands. “I haven’t been here long, but Travis was quick to start spending time in this room with me. I’m glad he’s gone.”
“I wish I could have done it sooner,” Nick replied, his eyes darting to her hand. “What’s that?”
Avery opened her hand and looked into it.
She cradled a tooth in her palm—one of Travis’s.
“I’m keeping this,” Avery announced each word with confidence.
“It’s a token of how the new world has broken people and turned them into monsters.
But it’s also a reminder that there are really good people still in it. ”
Though Avery could not see beneath Nick’s helmet, he smiled. Ready to rid himself of the towels reeking of Travis’s death and fear, Nick turned to leave.
“Wait,” Avery called after him. Nick paused and turned. “Do you think one of the other guards will claim me now?”
“No,” Nick answered with haste.
“How can you be sure?” Avery’s voice shook with doubt and worry.
“Because I won’t let them.”
Nick returned to the burn pile, adjusting the towels beneath Travis’s body. He made a trip to the storage shed around the corner, and returned with a canister of gasoline. He doused Travis’s body and used the lighter to set it all ablaze.
The flames danced in his eyes until the perverse man was nothing more than charred bones and melted flesh.
This place was stealing pieces of Nick he hoped would return once he was gone.
He should have felt victorious. He succeeded in protecting someone and ridding the world of a devastating evil.
Pride and confidence should have been at the forefront of his emotions.
While they were there, somewhere in the mix of things swimming in his brain, exhaustion consumed his thoughts.
Everything was clouded by a hazy fog, as though he were operating on a deadly autopilot.
Nick was never more ready to break Kate free and leave this underworld far behind.