Jeurridam Ch. 12: The Hoover Dam

"I'm a thief? You steal the women we work hard to take care of! I could see if you were prostituting them as well but no, you slaughter them like their common cabras and sell their meat! That's so disrespectful, so brutal, so wicked! You have your goons running around like clients only to kidnap and slaughter our women! These women don't deserve to be in some sick bastard's belly..." Rion responded.

"Either way, they wound up as meat...whether it be some meat someone fucked the hell out of or some meat someone ate! MEAT!!!!" The Lord countered. Rion just looked at him, coldly...

"You know," He began to respond, "One of those girl you killed, cut up and sold... was my sister... Another, was my aunt...!!! Before that, her DAUGHTERS!!!"

"Big deal... Countless mothers, sisters, daughters, cousins and nieces die here." The Lord shrugged. Rion began to smile. I knew this smile! It meant he was going to do something terrible!

"Kinda like what I intend on doing to the women in your family..." Rion said. The Lord's eyes lit up in horror.

"You wouldn't..." He said, surely believing the boy had some sense of appeal.

"But I would!" Rion laughed as Da Lagon goons brought in his entire family. The Lord cried, hard, seeing his family being brought in. His daughters, his wife and sisters all sat on the blood soaked floor, trembling and crying.

"Please don't..." The Lord pleaded.

"I wonder how it felt when my sister, my innocent sister, got butchered by those blades," Rion said, taking one of them from the cleaving men. He walked over to the nearest girl. The goons held her arms out as Rion brutally sliced the girl from her abdomen to her neck, "Did it feel like this?" The girl squealed in pain, as shock began to set in.

"NOOOOO MIAAAAAA!!!!!" A woman screamed as she watched Rion hack her daughter to bits. Rion looked at the woman then back to the Lord. He just sat there eyes wide, frozen in disbeleif.

"That's your wife?" Rion asked.

"NOOOO!!!!!" The Lord begged, extending out his hands in a futile effort. Rion hacked the woman to bits!

"NOW YOU FUCKING KNOW HOW IT FEELS WHEN THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE, ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT ARE ROBBED FROM YOU!!!!!" Rion screamed, hacking all the women up with that evil blade. The Lord fell back on the blood covered floor, just crying! Rion walked over to him, tears in his eyes as well, "You know what? You deserve to know their pain as well!!!!"

Rion lifted the blade up, slamming it and it's jagged serrations into the man. He hacked him up repeatedly until he was severed in half. Rion was just in such a blind rage! He dropped the blade, falling back into the blood, crying hard! It was obvious the revenge didn't gratify him at all! His family was still gone!

Rion quickly composed himself, releasing me from the butchering table. I couldn't look at him the same after this. I finally saw what he was capable of and all I could think was that he was a monster. He could see the horror in my eyes! That monster he became, quickly disappeared, becoming that warm and nurturing Rion that had me fooled for so damn long...

"I wasn't going to let these demons brutalize you." He said, handing me the blade. I looked at him, quite confused, wondering what was running through this boy's head, "Now kill these men..."

"I can't..." I said, handing him back the blade.

"These people are scum of the earth, preying upon the weak like they do! They deserve death!" He said firmly.

"But how does this make us better than thesescum?" I asked, just unable to understand. He gently caressed my face, looking at me eye to eye.

"Because," He said softly, "Da Lagon believes in an eye for an eye for those who commit crimes against them. Killing them the same way they've killed countless others is the only justifiable death! It won't even begin to heal those who've lost someone because of them but this is the right thing! We're ridding the earth of scum... Scum that was going to kill you! Think if this was Beth rather than you...?" His words got to me. I gripped the blade hard as he stepped back.

I closed my eyes, hacking the first man to bits with the blade. Just as I was about to hack the other cleaving man, Rion stopped me.

"You're going to skin him alive like those who he skinned alive! Like the girl he had on this table before you who he butchered up before she even shed her last breath..." Rion said.

His goons hoisted the man up on the table, strapping him down. The cleaving man looked around, utterly terrified as Rion viciously cut him out of his clothes. They all stood back, watching as the slow suffering began. That was the day I learned how to gut a human and consequently a mer. At the time I was beyond impressionable and easily brain washed. That night, Rion made me feel loved, feel like I was his forever and he was mine... He didn't even have to touch me, have sex with me or anything! The way he nurtured me was something I never had... but no! It was Rion's way of controlling me! I was the only thing in his life that he had left and he did anything to keep me wrapped around his finger including getting me hooked on drugs.

From that day forth up until a few months ago, Rion had me doing all of Da Lagon's dirty work, building their empire up so that it would one day rival the mass that was the Logatti. I couldn't believe I was so stupid. But to this day, I still don't know if Rion ever loved me or was he only using me. It was something I'd never know because Zanir brutalized Rion...

It got me to thinking! Zanir had been this thing that just erased all my problems away whether he knew it or not. It made me wonder could he erase my one last problem. I wanted him to know that I wanted be with him so bad! It was clear his heart was still aching and in a way, it was all my fault! I just wished his heart was aching for me instead of someone else. Sure it was selfish, wrong, but if it was one thing I was certain about was that I was in love with Zanir! Maybe someday in the future we could be together, be happy and not have to worry about this treacherous world. It was something that didn't need rushing. If it happened, it'd happen on its own. However, there was a chance that we just didn't belong together and if so... that was fine. I still was grateful to have someone as wonderful as Zanir in my life!

I arrived back at Area 51, parking the truck in the lake bed. Many of the natives were out, maintaining the vast network of buggies. It seemed like quite the undertaking. I got out the buggy, running to the cooler to look at the body parts. My dumbass put the mer's head in the the bottom of the cooler. Daunted by the dense ice, I began digging to the bottom of the cooler. I found the head, placing it on top to gag Zanir when he opened it. I wondered what his reaction would be when he saw it. Considering how loose a cannon Zanir was, there was no telling!

It was now time to find the boy. Fortunately, he was sitting in the lobby of the main campus facility. Heaven was beside them, the boys talking about shit I really didn't care about...

"ZANIIIIIIIRRRRRRR!" I yelled, wafting into the facility. He looked at me, quite puzzled.

"What?" He asked, blinking repeatedly.

"Just come to the truck!" I said, waving him over. He and Heaven came over, walking through the lake bed to the truck. I hopped onto the bed of the truck opening the cooler. The shock on their face was priceless.

"OH MY GAWD!!!!!" Heaven screamed, squirming in disgust. I looked at Zanir who was forever unimpressed, unmoved and indifferent.
"Happy Birthday bruh..." I smiled. Zanir rolled his eyes, laughing to himself. Heaven looked on confused.

"Wait today's your birthday?" He asked.

"Yeah," Zanir said, quick to change the subject, "Zeek, you went back to Dredge valley?"

"Yeah, thought it'd be fun to kill one of those dredge beasts and bring you a head." I said back, laughing. He looked at me with a mix of horror yet expectancy.

"That's just sick! I thought that was a person!" Heaven said. I looked at the boy as if he were dumb.

"What person do you know is a dark-blueish grey?" I asked him.

"Hell I don't know." He laughed.

"Well it's kind of funny, but since you brought it, I'm gonna get some samples from this thing and see what it really is." Zanir said, coming to inspect the mer's head, "Did you kill it?"

"Yeah, sniffed one from up the valley, cut off some of the body parts and brought them in the cooler." I said back, "The head's just on top."

"They have a chemical lab with just what I need to understand these creatures. I'm not much of a geneticist but, I should be able to get this creature's genome and cross-reference it." Zanir sighed, slowly closing the cooler.

"Well, let's take it up in there then..." I said back, grabbing a handle, "Come on, Heaven..."

"Gross, I got to carry that thing?" He asked, squirming.

"Boy come on!" I demanded. He sighed, grabbing the other handle, as we carried it off the truck and into the facility, "I can't believe you thought this was a person!"

"Man, that thing's on ice! I thought it was a black man or something, turned blue because of the blood rushing away from his face." Heaven responded, warranting a displeased look from both Zanir and I.

"You're just racist!" Zanir teased, however his face didn't buckle. It had Heaven believing he was quite serious!

"Bruh, I'm not! I swear! It's what I initially thought!" Heaven pleaded.

"Nope still racist." Zanir chuckled.

"Oh..." Heaven responded, relieved to no know Zanir was only kidding.

We carried the cooler up the stairs to the nearest chem lab. Unfortunately, Basil and the agricultural team were in there. Upon seeing us, the boy rushed over. I didn't like Basil very much. Maybe it was just me, but he seemed to be one of those aggravating idiots that did a lot of sweet talking to get what he wanted. Yes, I felt he was manipulating us all!

"Hey," He said, looking down at the cooler, "What do you have here?"

"My friend brought me a little gift." Zanir smiled, reaching for some glass dishes from overhead.

"That's nice of him," Basil said looking confused just as I opened the cooler, "Whoa..." The boy quickly scooted back, wanting to distance himself from the head as quick as possible. Zanir looked at the boy, unpleased.

"Relax. It isn't human..." Zanir sighed, shaking his head.

"Is it real?" Basil asked, curiosity pooling in his eyes. I held up my hand, smiling childishly.

"I killed it..." I said. Zanir laughed, rolling his eyes at me.

"What exactly is it?" Basil asked, leaning over the cooler, trying to figure out what it is.

"That's exactly what I plan on finding out." Zanir said as he began rigorous testing on the creature. The wait was quite tense, everyone wanting to know. Zanir stepped back, looking at the isolated samples. We all looked at him, trying to figure out what was bothering him.

"Wow... They share ninety nine point one percent of human DNA." Zanir finally said.

"That's awfully similar." Basil said.

"Alarmingly so..." Zanir said, cross referencing the genetic sequences against all other known animals on his watch.

"What does this mean?" I asked.

"I don't quite know. I'm not sure what to say about these creatures. All I know is that it made me wonder what's in that vault..." He said, scratching his head.

"Wait, you're actually thinking about going inside the vault?" I asked.

"Not if I can help it. Something I couldn't ignore would have to happen for me to want to go down into the vault." He quickly shot down.

"Good... because I'm scared of the dark." I said, brushing against his shoulder. He smiled blushing. It warranted a strange look of surprise from Basil, one that I knew all too well. He was crushing on one of us and all I had to say for it was eeew! I knew he was like old enough for me not to feel guilty about banging him but his face was just toddler-ish and I couldn't take him seriously.

"Of all things you're not afraid of, the dark makes you a sissy?" Zanir asked.

"Shit... bruh. That just reminded me. We need to talk."

"About what?" Basil asked, curiously.

"Nothing! It's between Zanir and I." I said, warranting a look of shock from all. "Very well..." Basil said, raising both hands in surrender. Maybe what I said came across as harsh. Hell, it didn't matter if it did because Basil was just plain aggravating.

"Okay...?" Zanir responded, unsure what we needed to talk about.

"Let's um, let's talk in the hall." I said back, leading him out of the laboratory. We walked down the stairs to to the vaults, entering his.

"What?" Zanir asked.

"Something happened today." I began, "A family friend told me that people are looking for us, people she thinks are Revivalists. She thinks it'd be wise for us to get out the desert! She told me to quit and go home!"

"Okay," Zanir replies back, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because it's real out there, something wants us and people in Henderson have been pointing fingers at me! I'm asking you what to do! I'm at my wits end here..." I asked, having no where else to turn. Zanir sat on his bed, deliberating.

"This is not my field of expertise. You want me to ask Beth? I really don't know what to say." He shrugged.

"No," I refused, "She's the last person I want to be worried right now."

"But she needs to know!" Zanir insisted.

"No I need to figure this out! That's why I came to you for help... Zanir don't leave me hanging." I begged.

"I won't," He reassured, "Does Beth even know you were involved with getting rid of Da Lagon?"

"No. I don't want her to know either." I responded.

"Bruh, you need to quit! You need to stay out of Jeurridam! Tomorrow might be an entirely different day. We have what we need here! Don't risk it, Zeek." Zanir advised.

"I don't want to! Do you know what it feels like to be free, to have no one dictating your every move? I don't want to let that go or have that robbed from me again." I countered.

"I can't fight this battle like I fought Da Lagon! The Revivalists are more than a mere faction, more than just a militant group. They are a Nation! I can't face of with a nation because of you, Zeek." Zanir said, his words bearing a thudding amount of weight. I couldn't bear to be around him right now. I just wanted his help!

"Okay..." I nodded, heading out of the room.

"Zeek," Zanir said, pleading with me, "Don't go tomorrow. If the Revivalists do come, I can't help you, Zeek."

"I get it..." I said firmly. He looked at me apprehensively, my words carrying a singe to them. It didn't stop me from continuing toward the exit.

"I'll lose!" Zanir said, pausing me in my tracks. It just felt like he was tired of helping me. If he was then I'd continue on my own. He's helped enough as is and I knew there'd be a time when the help would run out. Viewing Zanir as my hero who could help anytime I needed was just foolish and hopeless. This was my fault.

Came the next day, things started off as regular as I could have wished. I worked out, bathed, ate before leaving. Before leaving though, I went to Zanir's room, waking him up. He crawled out of his bed like some lumbering beast that had been asleep for centuries!

"Is this going to be a regular occurrence?" He asked, rubbing his face as he swayed back and forth.

"You are so not a morning person!" I smiled. Zanir looked at me with penetrating lividness.

"GET THE FUCK OUT!!!!!" He screamed.

"Fine." I laughed leaving! I headed down the hall to Beth's room. Upon entering, I was horrified to see her and June lying naked across each other, dried pasty white stains covering their bodies, "EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW" I screamed, closing the door as they woke up. It was only to piss them off! It was then time to annoy Heaven.

Upon entering his room, it was surprising to see the boy awoke and well. He looked at me, surprised by the visit.

"Yeah?" He asked, wondering why I was here.

"Nothing... just... What are you doing up?" I asked back. He shook his head.

"Couldn't sleep. Just wondering bout some shit. No big deal bruh..." He said, dismissing me.

"Fine!!! Don't become an insomniac! If I check on you tomorrow and you're not sleep, we're fighting..." I teased.

"Okay..." He shrugged with a chuckle.

It was now time to get on the road! The ride to work was long and eerie, something I was swiftly becoming numb to. Upon arriving to Henderson, I didn't bother to head to the depot. It'd be exhausting having to hear more people tell me the same shit, that it was foolish to be alone out in Jeurridam! No, I entered the rear of the Justice Hall, everyone acting... quite... strange! Everyone was silent, performing like a well oiled machine! I mean, everything was awfully efficient here but never this silent, especially in the back. Not to mention, it was incredibly crowded in the rear offices! Everyone who worked up stairs were down stairs! Something wasn't right...

"Okay...?" I said to myself.

As I trudged forth through the ominous silence, eyes fell upon me one at a time, alerting me that something was terribly wrong. Just as I geared to head up the stairs, the maestro came down, looking at me intently.

"Ezekiel! I'm glad you're here! Um, sorry," He began, causing me to grow concerned, "But we're going to have to let you go," A nervous smile came across his face, "We learned that you're not who you say you are! You're Logatti... We can't let Logatti work under these conditions...!"

"What?" I asked, taken aback.

"Seriously... We can't." The maestro said, looking at me intently.

"So I'm fired? I've been doing my job right, have never been late, been the fucking MVP FOR THIS DAMN PLACE!!!!! Please let me keep the job! You don't know! I need it!" I begged.

"Ezekiel..." He said, through the grit of his teeth, placing a gentle hand on mine, "Let's try to be professional and get you out of here peacefully... andquietly..."

"Let me get my stuff..." I sighed, hating all the curveballs this desert seemed to throw. I walked towards the stairs, the maestro grabbing my hand firmly, "The fuck?" He shook his head, worry written deep in his eyes.

"Come back and get your stuff... in a few days! Please, just stay calm andquiet! We need you to leave in an expedient manner... go home..." He said, his voice getting quieter, and quieter. Something definitely was up. His emphasis on being quiet was bothersome.

"Did Martha come here?" I asked, getting rather upset.

"No...but." The maestro began.

"But WHAT?" I asked. The maestro but a finger over his lips, gesturing for me to keep this conversation hushed.

"Shhhhhhh... Just come back for your stuff in a few days!" He insisted.

"No, you're not holding my stuff if I'm terminated!" I quickly refuted, yanking away from the man, "If I'm not working here anymore, I'm getting all my shit! And I better be getting my last paycheck too!"

"Oh my God, Ezekiel no!!!!" The maestro whispered in a panic. He followed me up the stairs trying to get me to stop.

He was too late because I had already stopped. The entire upper levels of the justice hall was vacant! The inkling that something fowl at play here was going on became very strong. The Maestro pinned me to the wall, sweating profusely!

"You fucking idiot," He whispered, "I'm trying to keep your ass safe! They're here! They're inside your office! They have this place surrounded! They saw your truck roll in! They have us all on strings! If I wasn't part of the Logatti's network, I would have let you walk right into this shit but I owe allegiance to your father! This is a setup! They want you! I don't know why but they do, and it's too late now!!!"

"What? Who's here?" I asked, back starting to panic.

"Who else? The Revivalists! When your shift was over yesterday, they came here asking about you! I didn't fucking know who you were until they said your last name! You're my fucking boss's son!" He snarled.