Taking Back Fun Day

Coffin drew the car to a gentle halt in the underground parking garage. Despite the series of strip lights, the vast space remained relatively dark. So much so that the far corners seemed indistinct.

Checking the rear view mirror as he entered the garage, he could see that he didn’t appear to have been followed, and he nodded to himself with satisfaction. Still locked in the trunk, he guessed that Red would now be unconscious. It made little difference to him, it wasn’t as if she was in any position to fight him, but it made life so much easier if she wasn’t aware of her surroundings. However, he was very much aware that the air in the trunk must certainly be very stale by now, if not dangerously so. Whatever happened, whatever condition she was in, he needed to open the trunk, let air in, heat out and hopefully get her to drink something. Stepping from the car, he stretched his neck and back hearing a few vertebrae crackle as the air between them popped at the motion. It had been a very long drive back to Battery City and all he really wanted was to lie down and maybe have a beer or two. Alcohol had long since been made illegal in Battery City, along with smoking, art, music and... well, most types of fun, actually. If it even looked as though it may elicit an emotion, or even a smile, it was banned. Thankfully, he knew a lot of wealthy and influential people. In fact he had become quite wealthy himself through the subtle manipulation of some of those people. He could live comfortably in obscurity for the rest of his life if he wanted to - but where was the fun in that? Heading to the trunk, he rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles for good measure.

Opening up the cramped space, he was surprised to see that not only was Red awake, but she was coherent. In truth, it had been a coincidence. She had been unconscious since they had reached Zone 3 but had in the last few minutes woken, possibly due to the change in motion of the car. Coffin looked down sympathetically at the young woman; she was pale and her eyes were barely open. She looked parched and physically drained; he guessed it would take a couple of hours at least for her to fully recover. Helping her to sit, he pulled a bottle of water from a small box at the back of the trunk and flipping the top open, held it to her lips, encouraging her to drink. After only a few sips he lowered the bottle, but in her thirst, she found herself leaning forward, trying to follow the bottle with her lips, almost begging for more.

“Hang on,” he chided with surprising compassion. “Swallow that first, then I’ll give you some more.”

Swallowing what seemed to her a small amount of water before realising that it was a real effort due to her weakness, she was glad he had stopped her taking more in her first drink. Not that she would show any gratitude. If she had her way, she would floor him with a solid kick, just for starters.

“How are you feeling?” He asked gently.
“Still gonna kill you,” her rasping voice spat with venom.
“For his sister, you’re not much like Jet, are you?” Coffin laughed.
“You don’t know him then,” she sniped, raising an unpleasant laugh from the blond man.
“You know, I think you’re right,” he nodded. “I thought I knew them all and I thought they knew me, but suddenly they turn on me. That’s completely out of the blue.”
“Well, you’re not exactly giving them reason to trust you, are you?” Red snapped with an irritable edge to her tone.

Coffin rolled his eyes and shook his head, sighing as he held the bottle closer to allow her to take another drink.

“I am so under-appreciated, it’s not even funny,” his pitch rising as he spoke. “The number of times I’ve helped them. Never steered them wrong. Diverted Korse...”
“What about the android Party?” Red cut in with an icy and disparaging edge to her voice before closing her lips against the lip of the bottle again.

Coffin sighed once more and shook his head.

“I told you already, I didn’t know anything about that. I mean, one thing goes wrong and suddenly everything I’ve ever done is questioned! Does that sound fair to you?”
“Yeah, it does!” She growled angrily.
“Oh really?” He asked, lowering the bottle, distracted by the comment. “So, the Killjoys do all these great things for the Zones, but say one day, it looks like - looks like, mind you, not even true, just looks like, from one perspective, that you’ve say... taken supplies from needy people for yourselves, or stolen money or killed someone, or whatever. So that happens and everyone starts saying - ‘Those Killjoys, they’ve been ripping us off all along, we just never realised it before.’ Is that fair?”

Red looked up at the blond, blue-eyed man; he appeared genuinely aggrieved and, as much as she hated to, she could see why.

“Okay,” she finally nodded. “Maybe that wouldn’t be fair, but I don’t know you.”
“Well, isn’t that even more reason to not accuse me of stuff?”
“Well seeing as I’m chained up in the trunk of your car, I’d say you’ve pretty much blown that particular benefit!”

Coffin shrugged and nodded.

“Yeah, fair enough,” he admitted. “But I still haven’t done the things you think I’ve done.”
“Well, how do I know that? All I know is where I am and that they didn’t want me to meet you so you couldn’t give my details to BLI...”
“Oh, great!” Coffin shook his head, now starting to appear more angry than upset.

Red frowned; was telling him exactly how she viewed things a good idea? She had no answer to that important question but she was committed now. If she stopped now, it would be obvious she was scared and she would certainly not give him that pleasure.

“So I’m already suspicious,” she continued; her jaw muscles tightening as she tried not to show her concern. “Then you turn up with an extermination flyer for me, you drug everyone, lock me up in your car and you’re handing me over to Korse! Where in that am I supposed to trust you?”

Coffin frowned, narrowing his eyes.

“You know, I should hand you over to Korse!” He snapped in a grumbling reply, looking away with an angry, yet clearly disappointed pout on his lips.
“You’re not?” Red asked, her brow creasing, confused by the unexpected comment.
“No, I’m not,” he looked back, his tone clipped and clearly still irritable. Presumably they’ve told you that I work both sides?”
“Yeah, another big reason I don’t trust you!”
“Yeah,” he snapped, flapping his arms out to the side. “You don’t trust me, I get it. I really do! You’ve made it quite plain. Now will you shut the fuck up while I explain this, please?!”

Red looked up, wide-eyed at the clearly frustrated man who was bordering on losing his temper, if he hadn’t already. She considered her position - unable to defend herself, no one knew where she was, he seemed at best extremely angry or at worst somewhat derailed. She grew silent, quickly realising that for her personal safety, doing that one simple thing may in fact save her life.

Nodding her agreement, Coffin drew a long deep breath and regained his composure.

“I’m going to get you out of the trunk and take you to a seat, okay? Don’t fight me. I don’t want to drop you.”

Once again, Red silently nodded. It was odd; in some circumstances his words may have sounded like a threat, but the sincerity in his tone suggested that he was genuinely concerned about the possibility of dropping her. Hesitantly scooping her out of the trunk, Coffin glanced at her face looking for signs of discomfort or pain only to get a surprising response.

“I won’t fight you, I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need to be sorry. From your perspective I doubt I come off well. Hopefully when I’ve explained everything you’ll understand.”

Red nodded, not knowing quite what else to do. Perhaps what he was about to say would explain everything? If not, she was in no worse a situation.

Gently carrying the slight young woman to a high-backed leather office chair with deep, supportive cushioning and well padded arm-rests, Coffin settled her into the welcome comfort before standing back.

“More water?” He asked.
“Please,” Red nodded.
“Okay, look,” Coffin sighed. “If I unlock you, will you just sit there, drink water and listen?”

Red looked at the man; he appeared deflated as if all his previous anger had drained all his energy and now he was left saddened. It could have been an act, but somehow she didn’t believe it. He didn’t need to remove the cuffs at her wrists and ankles, he didn’t need to let her have more water. If he was as bad as he had originally seemed, he didn’t even need to let her out of the car. If nothing else, she was intrigued. Even in her weakened condition she would probably be able to get the better of him in a fight. She noticed that he wore a gun strapped to his thigh but it remained there as he walked closer. Fishing the key from his pocket before she had even answered him, he waved it meaningfully.

“I’m going to trust you, okay?” He stated. “If you don’t like what you hear, you can leave. You can even take my car if you like, I’m not going to stop you. All I want you to do is listen, okay?”

Red nodded; she didn’t know if he was telling the truth or lying, but either way it seemed reasonable that she had a better than average chance of escaping. Leaning forward so that he could remove the cuffs from her wrists, Red gratefully accepted the bottle of water as he removed the chains from her ankles. He wasn’t even looking at her. She could have knocked him out cold as he knelt by her. But there was something about the way he was talking that made her know want to hear him out. She very much hoped it wasn’t a decision she would regret.

Coffin pulled a much simpler chair away from a nearby wall and sitting close enough to have a reasonable conversation but without her feeling crowded, he began.

“Before I start, do you have any questions?”
“Where are we?” She asked immediately.
“In my employer’s private parking garage,” he replied simply.
“I’m at BLI?” She asked, astonished at the possibility.
“I don’t work for BLI,” he replied; his tone once again taking on a clipped edge to it.
“Sorry!” Red held her hands up, palms out, in an apologetic gesture.

Coffin offered a cursory nod and what approximated to a grunting noise accepting the apology.

“Any more questions?” He asked.
“I think it’s best if I leave my questions to the end, don’t you?”
“Probably best,” he nodded in agreement.
“Except one.”

Holding in the exasperated sigh, Coffin nodded again.

“Why do you have a big office chair in a parking garage?”
“I knew you were coming,” he shrugged, offering a slight smile with the words.

Red offered a knowing smirk at the response. It was perhaps unexpected, yet it made perfect sense at the same time.

“Fair enough,” she chuckled lightly.

At the sound, Coffin appeared to relax in front of her. She hadn’t noticed how tense he had seemed until now that his shoulders had dropped and his expression softened.

“Okay, I’ll tell you what’s going on. Some of this may sound a bit far-fetched but go with it - my whole life is far-fetched!”

*

Fun Ghoul had been awake for some time. He had managed to eat something light and had drunk quite a lot of water. He was starting to feel better, even the pain had lessened although he knew the medication he was given included painkillers. The remaining four tablets were a mystery to him, but a doctor had now entered the room - a different one to the man who had quizzed him as he woke - he was going to get some answers.

“Doctor?” Ghoul spoke tentatively.
“Yes?” Harrison looked up from the chart he was studying.
“What pills am I taking?”

Harrison looked down at the chart once more before replying. He knew some of the medication that Ghoul was prescribed but not all - Dr Carmichael had made some adjustments.

“Painkillers, a mild sedative and, of course, Kanslokal.”
“Huh,” Ghoul pondered the reply. “Why the sedative?”
“Has Dr Carmichael not explained things to you?” He asked, lowering the chart.
“No one’s explained anything to me,” Ghoul replied.
“What do you remember?” Harrison asked, a grim expression on his face.
“My name and precious little else.” Ghoul shrugged. “Oh, but I like coffee. A good strong, hot coffee.”

Harrison smiled; Ghoul’s reply seemed to brighten his mood.

“There’s nothing to be worried about,” Harrison continued. “You’ve had a difficult episode and your memory has been affected.”
“What about me being in the Zones? Carmichael mentioned that.”
“Yes, you were taken by rebels, no doubt to help them in some way.”
“Twenty years, he said,” Ghoul frowned.
“Ah,” Harrison laughed lightly, “a misunderstanding.”
“Who misunderstood what?” Ghoul frowned.
“You mentioned the addresses you remembered, but they were from some twenty years ago. He thought it meant you were in the Zones for that long.”
“How come you know different?” Ghoul pressed.
“Chief Exterminator Korse has explained what happened to us.”
“So, who’s going to explain it to me?” Ghoul’s frown deepened.
“I’m sure Chief Exterminator Korse will visit you in time. He’s giving you an opportunity to recover.”

Ghoul chewed his lip thoughtfully.

“What about that coffee?” He asked, tipping his head and staring meaningfully at Harrison.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Harrison replied after a brief pause.
“I really could use a coffee,” Ghoul pressed. “More than anything, right now.”
“Yes,” Harrison pulled his lips into a thin line. “I’ll sort that out for you. I could use one myself.”
“Maybe put a pot on? I can’t see it lasting long,” Ghoul smiled.
“You might be right.” Harrison nodded. “Anyway, just so you know, Chief Exterminator Korse will be here within an hour to discuss your time in the Zones. Perhaps I could sort out your coffee after that?”

Ghoul appeared thoughtful for a moment before nodding.

Notes

Hello lovely readers!

I hope you’re still enjoying this. Life’s been hectic here and, having graduated now, I’ve been busy setting up my own business which is so scary, expensive and time consuming! Will be worth it though, hopefully.

Anyhoo, thanks for staying with me and I hope you enjoy the update!

Take care
Sas xx