only so much my team could take.
Alexis was well liked and they would look for her until they collapsed, but this wasn’t a world where you could let yourself get fuzzy. Fuzzy led to mistakes and mistakes led to death. Death from another human or a zombie, it didn’t matter. It was the same outcome.
It didn’t matter which way I turned it around, we had to head in. We had to rack out and we had to decompress. I wasn’t admitting defeat. I would find Lex, I just had to find another way.
I didn’t wait for the rest of the team to catch up. I stowed my sensitive equipment and extra clothing in the waterproof pockets of my gear and jumped in the water. I was used to swimming long distances, could do it in my sleep as a Marine, so the ten yards through the marshy water was nothing. The chilly water helped me to refocus my thoughts and stay on track.
There were only a few more options open to us and I didn’t like any of them. Alexis could be anywhere and I didn’t have the slightest inclination of where to start looking. I knew the rednecks had to be holed up in one of the camps that lined Chef Menteur Highway, but there were hundreds of homes in this stretch of Louisiana.
It was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack, bad odds, but then again I wasn’t ever one to bet on a sure thing. The sun’s got to shine on a dog’s ass at some point.
Nine | Mystery Meat & Maniacs
BLAKE
We rolled into the compound quiet and subdued. Everyone was in a bad headspace. Martinez and Romeo parked the vehicles and I went straight for the mess. I wasn’t hungry, but I hadn’t eaten in hours so I knew I had to fuel up.
I wasn’t in the mood to speak to anyone, so I just jumped out of the vehicle, stowed my gear in the entrance hall, and went straight to mess. I smelled like balls and probably looked like a bag of shit, but I didn’t give a fuck. Maybe it would keep the Chatty Cathys away.
Clara’s sister was one of the first ones to notice me and she made like she was going to walk over and chat me up, but something stopped her short. It must have been the positive vibes I was giving off –whatever it was, it made her turn the other way and scurry off. She probably wanted to question me about her fuckwit sister. She didn’t want to do that right now. She wouldn't get a pleasant response from me.
The food was still out, so I slapped a few items on a plate without really looking at what it was and then went to the farthest corner of the room to eat. I just wanted to be alone in my thoughts. I couldn’t wrap my head around our failure. I thought for sure we would go out there and find Alexis and Clara.
The rednecks could have gone anywhere. They could have moved back into Slidell or even pushed into New Orleans. There was no way for us to know. We were blind and had very little resources to locate a missing person in this crappy world.
Someone slapped down something on the table and I looked up with a murderous glare. Did I not make it clear by my actions that I wanted to be alone?
It was Zach. Of course, it was Zach.
He sat down across from me and just glared back at me.
“You need something?” I asked, my mouth was full of whatever crap I had been shoveling into it, but I didn’t care.
“Where the fuck did they take her?”
“If I knew that, do you think I would be sitting here?” I answered, but I knew he wasn’t really asking me a question he expected an answer to.
“Actually, Blake, I have no idea what the fuck you would do. Since Z, you’ve surprised me at every turn. I thought I knew you, brother, but I have no idea what the fuck is going through that brain of yours.”
“You just can’t let this crap drop, can you?”
“Nope, not gonna let this drop.”
“So what, I’ve done a few things off SOP, it isn’t exactly a standard operating world we’re in. For once in my life, I’m not a by-the-books
Alexis was well liked and they would look for her until they collapsed, but this wasn’t a world where you could let yourself get fuzzy. Fuzzy led to mistakes and mistakes led to death. Death from another human or a zombie, it didn’t matter. It was the same outcome.
It didn’t matter which way I turned it around, we had to head in. We had to rack out and we had to decompress. I wasn’t admitting defeat. I would find Lex, I just had to find another way.
I didn’t wait for the rest of the team to catch up. I stowed my sensitive equipment and extra clothing in the waterproof pockets of my gear and jumped in the water. I was used to swimming long distances, could do it in my sleep as a Marine, so the ten yards through the marshy water was nothing. The chilly water helped me to refocus my thoughts and stay on track.
There were only a few more options open to us and I didn’t like any of them. Alexis could be anywhere and I didn’t have the slightest inclination of where to start looking. I knew the rednecks had to be holed up in one of the camps that lined Chef Menteur Highway, but there were hundreds of homes in this stretch of Louisiana.
It was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack, bad odds, but then again I wasn’t ever one to bet on a sure thing. The sun’s got to shine on a dog’s ass at some point.
Nine | Mystery Meat & Maniacs
BLAKE
We rolled into the compound quiet and subdued. Everyone was in a bad headspace. Martinez and Romeo parked the vehicles and I went straight for the mess. I wasn’t hungry, but I hadn’t eaten in hours so I knew I had to fuel up.
I wasn’t in the mood to speak to anyone, so I just jumped out of the vehicle, stowed my gear in the entrance hall, and went straight to mess. I smelled like balls and probably looked like a bag of shit, but I didn’t give a fuck. Maybe it would keep the Chatty Cathys away.
Clara’s sister was one of the first ones to notice me and she made like she was going to walk over and chat me up, but something stopped her short. It must have been the positive vibes I was giving off –whatever it was, it made her turn the other way and scurry off. She probably wanted to question me about her fuckwit sister. She didn’t want to do that right now. She wouldn't get a pleasant response from me.
The food was still out, so I slapped a few items on a plate without really looking at what it was and then went to the farthest corner of the room to eat. I just wanted to be alone in my thoughts. I couldn’t wrap my head around our failure. I thought for sure we would go out there and find Alexis and Clara.
The rednecks could have gone anywhere. They could have moved back into Slidell or even pushed into New Orleans. There was no way for us to know. We were blind and had very little resources to locate a missing person in this crappy world.
Someone slapped down something on the table and I looked up with a murderous glare. Did I not make it clear by my actions that I wanted to be alone?
It was Zach. Of course, it was Zach.
He sat down across from me and just glared back at me.
“You need something?” I asked, my mouth was full of whatever crap I had been shoveling into it, but I didn’t care.
“Where the fuck did they take her?”
“If I knew that, do you think I would be sitting here?” I answered, but I knew he wasn’t really asking me a question he expected an answer to.
“Actually, Blake, I have no idea what the fuck you would do. Since Z, you’ve surprised me at every turn. I thought I knew you, brother, but I have no idea what the fuck is going through that brain of yours.”
“You just can’t let this crap drop, can you?”
“Nope, not gonna let this drop.”
“So what, I’ve done a few things off SOP, it isn’t exactly a standard operating world we’re in. For once in my life, I’m not a by-the-books
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