“He’s talking nonsense,” Cook said. “We can only survive together.”
But he didn’t understand. Neither did Fabrini. It was the only way. The only possible way to pacify Saks.
Swallowing, Menhaus went and sat in the seat directly in front of Saks.
“You cheap fuck,” Fabrini spat.
Cook said nothing.
Crycek smiled, then pointed upward… as if that made a lick of sense. Then he nodded, thinking he’d made his point. But like most things with him, it was just too damn abstract.
They think I’m a traitor, Menhaus thought, but they just don’t get it.
“That’s the way,” Saks said happily. “Now we can both watch ‘em.”
Saks and Fabrini engaged in a staring contest. It lasted only a few minutes. The hatred between them was like a pall hanging in the air and it smelled of raw meat and gunpowder.
Saks smiled. “Well, I guess you boys are fucked,” he said.
Cook and Fabrini just stared, waiting for the bullets.
But as usual, Crycek looked like he was waiting for something else entirely.
“Which one of you should I kill first?” Saks said. “Which one?”
“Kill me,” Fabrini rasped, “you fucking pussy.”
“It’s not that simple, Fagbrini. Not that simple at all.” He patted Menhaus on the shoulder. “In fact, I’m going to let my pal here decide.”
“No,” Menhaus said flatly. “I won’t.”
“Yes, you will. If you don’t, I’ll kill you.”
The barrel of the gun was shoved into Menhaus’ spine. It was death and he knew it was death. He’d thought he could join Saks and pacify him. Keep him from killing the others, but it wasn’t that simple. He’d simply underestimated the twisted, sadistic turn of Saks’s madness. The man was so far gone now he just didn’t realize how crazy he was. Right and wrong had become vague concepts. And maybe, just maybe Saks wasn’t so crazy as Menhaus might have thought. Maybe he’d planned it this way all along. He only wanted Menhaus on his side because it fit into his plans. He had an unwilling participant now in murder.
“Well, old buddy, which one?” Saks asked, almost lighthearted.
Menhaus had no saliva left. Yet, he attempted to lick his lips. “This is insane, Saks. We’ll go to prison for this.”
Saks started laughing. “Christ, Menhaus! Look around! You see any fucking cops or jails or judges? No, we do what we want here. Frontier justice, eh?” The gun was pressed deeper into his back. “Now decide.”
Fabrini and Cook maintained their cold, hateful stares. Menhaus admired the both of them like he’d never admired anyone ever in his life. They were men. Real men. Real human beings. Scared shitless inside, but facing death bravely. Neither of them would ever stoop to doing what he did. They’d die first.
But they don’t understand, they just don’t understand. I did this to save them, I really did…
And he was right: they didn’t understand. They thought he was weak and selfish and empty inside. That’s what they thought and Menhaus knew there wasn’t a damn thing he could say to change their minds.
“Well?” Saks said.
“I guess Cook is the one,” Menhaus said in airless voice.
Cook just stared, unblinking.
Crycek started tittering. “All the little puppets in a row,” he said in a dry, ragged voice. “Doing what they’re told to do. You’re all so fucking stupid, every one of you. And especially you, Saks, you’re the dumbest little puppet of all. He’s out there, watching and listening, getting stronger as we get weaker. Only it isn’t a him, it’s a they, a them. Them ones hiding in the fog, they’re the ones that pull your strings and make you dance and you, you silly fucking little man, you let them! You let them! They own your mind, they make you walk and talk and hate and kill… you’re the stupidest one of all! The stupidest!”
“Shut your goddamn hole!” Saks ordered him, pulling the gun out of Menhaus’ back and aiming it right at Crycek’s staring face. Right at that sallow mask with the crooked, lunatic grin.
But Crycek just shook his head. “I don’t have to shut up and I won’t shut up! They already own you, but my mind is my own. They can’t get in my head because I won’t let them in there, won’t let them get fat sitting in their web sucking the juices of my mind dry!” He pressed the tips of his fingers to his temples. “I make my own decisions, do you hear? Not you and not them!”
“You’re goddamn nuts,” Saks told him.
