Chapter Eighteen
752 Words
"The deal was that Otto's men would serve as guards for me, in return for certain perks I'm willing to grant them," Joey growled.
His senior guard squirmed on the spot, choosing his words carefully, "Some of the Brotherhood are starting to doubt your ability to provide these...perks."
"Do I not provide them with a roof over their heads?" Joey boomed.
"Yes, sir!"
"A f*****g castle, no less! Do I not share with them our rations?"
"Yes, you do, sir!"
"Then what is it that they doubt I can deliver?" Joey seethed.
His guard paused, unwilling to be the one to take the full brunt of Joey's anger on behalf of the Brotherhood. After all, he wasn't infected himself, why should he speak for them.
"Speak up Richard! Are you not my head guard?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Then please, inform me of these...issues," Joey insisted, his tongue flicking like a snake on the last word.
"There has been chatter, sir, that you are unable to provide the cure you promised them."
"Is that so? And who is partaking in such...chattering?"
"Well...all of them, sir. Most of them are slightly unwilling to follow a leader who isn't 'one of them'."
"Not bat-s**t crazy, you mean?"
"Yes, sir," Richard confirmed, despite not believing it.
"Well, Richard, please gladly inform them that they will be able to witness this cure in all its glory extremely soon. My chief Doctor assures me that he isn't far away. And, please gently remind them that anyone thinking of deserting, or having mutinous thoughts will be dealt with, slowly and painfully."
"Slowly and painfully," Richard repeated, his words trembling out his mouth. "Yes, sir."
Joey couldn't risk losing the support of his guards, not now that he was so close. If Saunders was as near to a cure as he assured he was, Joey was so close to the infinite power he craved.
Once he cured the Brotherhood and proved his worth as a leader, he would surely be unstoppable in the new world order. He would have the numbers, he would have a cure, and he would be sat behind castle walls, he would have the strategic, political, and military upper hand.
"Oh, and Richard, please open up cell three, would you?" Joey asked.
"Cell three...you mean Dwayne's cell?"
"Indeed. As a gesture of good will to the Brotherhood, and as a short-term guarantee on my promise, please urge them to accept him as a little gift."
"What...what are you saying?" Richard tremored.
"Well, it's fairly simple, Dicky Boy. He's a deserter, they have a certain taste for flesh..."
"You want me to...feed him to them?"
"I'm told it's very moreish, it should smother those rumblings and grumblings for a little while longer."
Richard's eyes were wide with horror. He had long since abandoned any hope of morality, sacrificing this luxury in order to stay alive. He'd often dreamt of fleeing from this place, but he knew that escaping the clutches of a man like Joey wasn't so simple. Dwayne was living proof of that.
"Problem?" Joey asked, daring him to answer.
"No...sir."
"Jolly good, do run along then."
Joey inhaled deeply, breathing in that fluttering sense of power he got from such orders. He had just forced a man to feed someone he once considered a friend to a group of cannibals, and he hadn't even attempted to argue. Joey's very core tingled with excitement as he turned on his heels and skipped back towards the lab.
***
"And how is my darling guest getting on here?" Joey chimed as he hopped through the lab door.
Doctor Saunders was fiddling with the incubator as Lizzie inspected the mark on her arm.
"All good to go, boss," Doctor Saunders replied.
"And the blood, do you have enough?" Joey questioned, pushing the Doctor for some kind of result.
"As I've explained, Sir, it isn't a question of quantity. A steady supply is important, but the thing I need most is time."
Joey cursed under his breath, by the sounds of what Richard was saying, the time he thought he had an abundance of was potentially fleeting.
"I need results, Saunders," he urged.
"Don't worry sir, I can feel a breakthrough coming any day now," the doctor smiled.
"Good," Joey nodded. "Good."
Absolutely everything hinged on Doctor Saunders and his research. Without that, he was just a man in a castle.
"Let's get you back to your cell, if he's really as close as he says, you have a big few days ahead of you," Joey beamed at Lizzie, who didn't so much as glance at him.
As Joey led her out of the room, back towards those four walls she knew so well, Saunders shot her a look, a look that said 'be ready'.
- Writer
