Dead Days: Season 8 Part 2

"I won't kill you, though. In fact, killing you is off the table. I need you alive. I need you alive because I need you to tell me where your camp is."

Riley pulled his fist back again.

"Please just..."

He stopped. Held himself, just before he punched. "What was that?"

Bob spat blood out onto the dusty concrete floor beside him. He looked back into Riley's eyes, his eyelids already swollen and bruised. "I said you'll never find Mattius. And you'll never find Kesha."

He smiled again, and that smile was enough to send another shiver of rage down Riley's spine.

"You're right," Bob said. "I was there. I stood there and let Mattius do what he did to those two p.r.i.c.ks. Because they put our people through h.e.l.l. You put our people through h.e.l.l."

Riley punched him again.

"You burned down our home. You acted like you were the f.u.c.king G.o.ds. And when someone gave you a taste of your own medicine, you just couldn't take it."

Another punch. Blood pooling from Bob's mouth.

He looked back, looking barely conscious, and he forced a bloodied smile at Riley.

"But we've taken steps to make sure you'll never find 'em. Even if you get close, we'll crush you. h.e.l.l, we could crush you right now, if we wanted to. But we'd rather leave you to stew. Over your wifey. Over your little gi-"

Riley punched again and again. He was in a frenzy now. He could feel the rage just begging to surface.

The more he punched, the more Bob's face disappeared and was replaced by Mattius'.

He saw Mattius and he saw everything that'd happened and he kept on punching.

Then he stood up and pulled back his foot and booted Bob-Mattius or Bob, he wasn't sure, he didn't care-again and again and again.

It wasn't long before people poured inside this cell. Before he heard the shouting, as light filled the room. Then people were holding on to him, dragging him away.

"You f.u.c.king idiot," Amy shouted, as she pulled Riley away. "One chance and you f.u.c.king half-kill the guy."

But Riley didn't care.

As much as he didn't want to give up, and as much as he didn't want to kill Bob because killing Bob meant losing hope of finding Mattius' camp, he wasn't sure he could control the rage.

"Let me go," he shouted.

"Not a chance," Amy said.

"He won't talk-"

"And do you f.u.c.king blame him?" Amy shouted. "You're acting like a f.u.c.king feral animal."

She pulled Riley out of the cell. And on the way out, Riley caught a glance of someone else in the next room. Another prisoner. He was smiling. Like he was enjoying this whole thing. Like the drama was gratifying him in some way.

Kane.

He nodded at Riley, like he understood his rage, and like he understood the dark forces that drove him.

Then he was gone.

Amy and a few others threw Riley onto the ground. He tried to stand, but they booted him down, then they pointed bows and arrows at him and made sure he stayed put.

"I get it," Amy shouted. "I know how much you want to find Chlo's killers."

"Then you'll let me carry on in there-"

"But you have to be patient. We all have to be patient."

"I don't think I can be patient much longer."

"You have to be. Kesha depends on it."

"How can you talk about Kesha depending on something?"

"Because you've been here a month now," Amy said. "And I haven't seen any planning. I haven't seen any real direction. All I've seen is rage. Do you even want to get Kesha back at all?"

"Of course I-"

"Or is it more important to you to get your revenge on Mattius? Is it more important to you to avenge what happened to Chlo? To Jordanna?"

Riley didn't want to accept that judgement, but he couldn't deny the truth in what Amy said.

Because of course getting Kesha back was important. The most important thing in the world.

But getting Kesha back came with something else.

Getting Kesha back was part of a package.

And a primary part of that package?

Making Mattius and his people suffer for what they'd done.

No planning. No direction. None of that needed, not really.

And especially not patience.

Revenge didn't wait for anyone.

And if he didn't get his revenge fast, he might just self-destruct.

He didn't know where Mattius was. Not now.

But he would find out.

Fast.

He had to, or he'd cave in on himself.

He stood up, then. He let Amy take him away.

And as he walked, he thought he saw her in the corner of his eye.

He thought he saw Chlo standing there, watching him.

He thought he saw Jordanna by her side, also watching.

He even thought he heard them whispering, begging him to get his revenge, get his revenge fast.

And then his vision faded and he saw it happening all over again...

Chapter Three.

"Seriously, Riley. We didn't allow you to live with us on the basis that you'd be exploding every five minutes. That wasn't the agreement here."

Riley sat alongside the archery range and watched as Amy's people fired at targets. It was a nice afternoon, in truth. Frosty. Crisp. In the old days, Riley kind of hated the colder months. Because they meant darkness, and darkness and he had never really got on too well.

But right now, the growing winter felt somewhat calming. That coolness about it was pushing back against the vengeance running through his body.

He knew that vengeance would break out, eventually. He knew it would storm from his body, eager to be released.

But he was keeping it at bay.

For now.

Amy sat beside him. She was restringing her bow. He'd known Amy a month now, and if there's one thing Riley had learned about her, it was that she was tough. Probably one of the toughest people he'd ever met. He didn't know much about her past. He didn't know how she'd got here, or the circ.u.mstances of what led her to lead a group of women surviving in the middle of the woods. He didn't even pry about why there were no men here. He figured it was some kind of empowerment thing, and utmost respect where it was due in that case.

But if there's one thing he didn't like about Amy, it was her apparent lack of urgency where Mattius and Kesha were concerned.

"I just don't know if I can wait this out much longer," Riley said.

Amy sighed and lowered her bow. She looked into Riley's eyes with those big eyes of her own. "Y'know, you weren't the only person who lost Chlo."

"Please, don't-"

"Chlo came to us, with Kesha. She lived with us for a while. And in that time, I saw her strength. I saw what she was capable of. Even though she decided to leave us, even though she walked away in search of something... else. Well, you and I both know why she did it."

"Because she believed in herself," Riley said.

Amy nodded. The sound of arrows peppering against the targets split through Riley's concentration.

"Bob," Amy said. "From Mattius' group."

"Where did you even find him?"

"Hailey and Anisha were out scouting. Found him alone out in the woods just standing there."

"And how'd you know he was one of Mattius'?"

"Huh?"

"I recognised him. But how did you know?"

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Because he admitted it. Right away, he admitted it."

Riley had to concede that was pretty weird. "Why would he just admit he was a part of Mattius' group?"

"What're you thinking?"

Riley looked over at the cabin where Bob was being held. He called it a cabin; it was more like a prison, in truth.

In the room next door to Bob, he knew Kane was in there.

"I'm thinking we were supposed to find Bob. I'm thinking Mattius is just making sure we know he's still around. That he could attack at any time."

Another blast of arrows. .h.i.t the targets. They all looked pretty good shots.

"We're ready for them, if they do," Amy said.

Riley shook his head. "No. No, that's not going to happen. We aren't going to be on the defensive here."

"Riley-"

"You promised you'd help me get Kesha back. You promised you'd help me get revenge on Mattius."

"But I didn't promise I'd get into a war. I didn't promise I'd put the lives of my people at risk."

"Well, you can't have one without the other."

Silence followed. Riley's heart thumped. He didn't like raising his voice at Amy. He was appreciative of her for letting him stay here, against all of their rules and order.

He squeezed his shaking hands together, rubbing them as the cold sneaked around them.

"I just worry about Kesha. I worry about what might happen to her if we don't act fast."

"We can't act if we don't even know where Mattius' camp is."