Free Life Among The Dead (Book 2): A Castle Made of Sand by Daniel Cotton

she’s concerned, they are through and he is just
wasting his breath.
    Randy attempts a new tactic. He speaks to her
like a parent trying to tell a child about the birds and the bees,
“When a man and a woman love each other very much, one of the pair
is often unfaithful. The terrible infidelity can actually lead to a
beautiful thing--forgiveness. The mistrust and betrayal can
inadvertently strengthen the bond between them.”
    Kelly doesn’t speak, she just drives the car.
She is worrying she may not have enough fuel after all as she is
forced to backtrack occasionally due to obstructions.
    “I’m in no way excusing my actions when I ask
you to look at it from my perspective, but we were, and still are,
newlyweds. This brings a certain urge for us to have sex all the
time. Where I would have preferred it to be with you, with your
hectic schedule, you were not always available. Please do not blame
yourself for my transgressions. I take a full 85 percent of the
accountability.” Randy draws a line in the air between them with
his hand. “I think the buck stops here. Or, maybe about here.”
    He can’t be serious , Kelly fumes. The gnat in her ear has become a fat
bumblebee that is trying to squeeze its way into her brain. The man
beside her crosses his arms in a pout over being ignored, then he
falls into silence. Shot nerves make it difficult to enjoy the
hiatus from his droning, but she also knows it won’t last. Randy is
unable to go too long without making his thoughts known to all.
    “Where’s Leatherface?” he asks in a snit.
    “Dead.”
    The delivery of the news is so blunt and
softly spoken he can’t think of what to say. The curse of needing
everyone within earshot to know exactly what is on his mind has a
tendency of getting him into trouble. He miraculously filters his
first impulse. Good .
    He watches his wife steer the car, seeing her
sorrow over the man she had only met that day. He’s jealous of him,
and he has to wonder if she’d be as sad if he passed on. He buries
the thought and slips into a rant about Griffin, because he needs
to discredit the man to make himself feel better. Such deflections
are also his curse. “He was a complete nutter. Not keeping a
completely kosher house, if you catch my meaning…”
    Usually, his berating of others and his mean
nature affects Kelly like water off a duck’s back. She lets his
unkind words slide, but now she is getting mad. What she once found
charming, just a part of his act, she now finds infuriating.
    “He’s like Nyquil. Keep out of the reach of
children…”
    A sudden application of the brakes tosses
Randy forward as Kelly chops his throat with the edge of her hand.
He gasps for air while holding his bruised windpipe, silent once
more.
    She points her index finger straight at his
eyes. “Not one more fucking word!”

 
     
13
     
    After he watches the semi cut a path of
destruction, Dustin sees a large military helicopter cruising
overhead. It makes him think how much he’s looking forward to
getting out of the city and heading north to the big gig, even if
it’s not there. It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll .
    The light at the end of the tunnel approaches
when he nears the final intersection, but an olive colored obstacle
rolls into his path. He screeches to a halt, looking up at a
massive military truck that he almost collided with.
    The soldier behind the wheel shouts down at
him while pointing to the corner of the road. “That’s a stop
sign!”
    A second figure in camouflage rounds the
front of the troop carrier. A rifle, like the one he was promised
earlier today, is aimed at him, and the man pointing it looks to be
about Dustin’s age. He exudes confidence when he speaks. “Sir,
you’ll have to follow us.”
    “I’m on my way north…”
    “I’m not asking, sir.”
    Dustin nods, willing to comply, for now at least . The first opportunity he gets,
he plans to make a break for it, wanting nothing to do