Chapter 20

Beast

“Damn,” Beast said, “I’d forgotten about the smell.”

Hot-dogs, popcorn, coffee, soda, candy. All of it made Beast feel almost nostalgic.

He remembered how he liked going to the movies, even if he didn’t go to theaters that often.

“It’s awesome, right?”

He and Mills nodded. An arcade blasted blippy noises to their right, it was a big machine with two big plastic shotguns attached to it, “Zombie Outbreak 4,” the screen read.

“I got them,” Jena said.

“You got what?” Mills asked.

“The tickets, silly. Look.”

She showed them her phone and sure, she bought three tickets for A Death at Sea using the theater’s app. It was a thriller about some people trapped in a yacht. It looked kind of fun, but the real reason they were going to see that particular movie was that it was going to start soon.

“What, you can buy tickets with your phone now?”

“Beast,” she said, rolling her eyes, “this is the twenty-first century, remember?”

Mills laughed, “oh, she got you man.”

“Well, I’m an old school kind of guy.”

“Just kidding,” Jena said, half hugging him, “I like you anyway, flaws included.”

A mix of joy and shock bathed Beast. Then, out of nowhere, he burst out laughing.

“You take that back!”

“Just kidding, dear,” she said, and when she said that word, a shiver ran down his body.

God damn it.

She had him, she had him good. He had to stop denying it.

I’m not denying it. But I can’t let my guard down, she might get hurt.

He was right. He kept over behind his shoulder, ready for the moment they finally found them.

It was a one-in-a-million chance, but still. He had to be ready for anything.

t was hard, though. He loved being around her, she made him forget about all of the bad things he had seen, the bad things he had done.

This was his angel, down from heaven, giving him another chance at life.

That’s why he had to keep her safe. If something happened to her—

Every muscle in his body hardened. The mere thought of it… it was unbearable. He could deal with death day in, day out, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep on living if she got hurt. If his enemies took her out.

That’s when it hit him.

He called his boss an enemy.

Where’s the loyalty?

His only loyalty was to her, and to his friend. He was good at his job, and appreciated what his boss did for him.

He never did it for me, or for anyone. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself.

He trusted them, though, and he respected that.

But if he tried to do anything, anything, to her. That was it. It would be his death sentence.

His heart beat so hard in his chest he could almost hear it. It was the first time in his life he considered going against the boss’s wishes. Against his direct orders. Against him, period.

The electric, fake noise of gunfire reached him again, he turned to the arcade, the zombies were walking to the screen, then got mowed down by the computer.

“Insert Coin.”

It looked fun.

“We still have ten minutes before the movie starts,” Mills said, “I’ll get some popcorn, do you want anything?”

“Diet Coke,” she said, then bit her lower lip, holding back a smile.

“I know!” She blurted out, throwing her hands in the air.

“Don’t worry, you’re perfect,” Beast told her, and a smile finally appeared on her lips.

“Do you want to play?” She asked him.

“No,” he said shrugging, “I—”

“Come on, you haven’t stopped looking at that cabinet since we came in here.”

She trotted to it, taking a few coins out of her pocket.

“Come on, Beast! You think I can take on the Zombie Outbreak on my own? I mean, it’s the fourth, for chrissakes, I need help!”

Beast laughed, she knew him better than he knew himself. Of course he wanted to play, but he’d been holding back on so many things his first response to everything was “no.”

Except with her.

It only took him a second to know: when he saw her, he knew she would change his life. That’s why he wanted to look away, to turn back and run.

But it was too late now.

Thank God.

“Come on!” She yelled at him, the game already starting.

“Just press the trigger,” she said and that was it, he was playing. The instructions on the screen were clear: one, shoot at everything that moves; and two, reload by pumping the shotgun.

The first minute of gameplaywas easy, almost like training.

“Shoot them in the head,” she said, “you take them out faster that way.”

“Okay.”

The next wave was a bit harder. There were a lot of them. Their characters ran into a huge building, “Virex Labs” it read.

“You know things will go wrong when you name your lab like that,” she said, then pumped her shotgun.

She was good at this, mowing the enemies down one after the other. A couple of big butchers came out, still in full costume, as if they died in the middle of work.

The fuckers started throwing meat cleavers at them. She shot at them and saved their asses. Beast was doing his best but this required much more skill than he thought, things on the screen were incredibly chaotic, a million things flying out to them, zombies trying to bite them, even freaking green leeches the size of a dog jumped at the screen.

Damn, she was good at this.

“Come on Beast, I need you to step up your game!”

She was committed. She was going to take out these motherfuckers whatever it took.

Beast started laughing. It was so awesome, he was getting into it, too. The screen was half full of pixelated blood. The things came at them faster than ever, and suddenly, they were done. No more enemies on the corridor they were walking on.

“Are you ready?” She asked, elbowing him.

“For what?”

“I don’t know, this can’t be it, right?”

A giant, one-eyed squid burst out from beneath their feet. Jena was shooting at it and pumping the shotgun so fast she might as well have been using a machine gun.

Beast started laughing again, louder this time, she was so focused and he was the complete opposite, his attention entirely on her.

And the damn squid is fucking immortal!

She kept shooting at it in the eye, the screen flashed red again, were about to die, apparently.

The health bar at the top of the screen was red, too, just a few more shots and they would beat the boss.

“Come on, Beast!” She yelled, her hands moving fast, her aim spotless.

Beast couldn’t go on, it was too freaking funny, everything about it was incredible, this was a side of her he never knew.

“Stop laughing you dork!” She yelled, pushing him to the side.

“I got this!” he said and pressed the trigger. That was it, the last shot. He hit the monster right in the center of its bulging eye. It made a jerking motion, moving left and right, destroying what was left of the lab. Their characters ran away and got into a boat.

“A boat, seriously?” Jena said, “What’s a boat doing there? They don’t make these games like they used to.”

Their score came up on the screen. She got double his points, her grade was “SSS+.”

Beast’s was B.

“Hey, I beat you.”

“What?” She asked, incredulous.

“You got an S, see?”

“Beast, S is better than A+, triple S plus is like, the best.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“It’s a Japanese kind of thing.”

“Oh, really, how do you know?”

“I had to save your ass like a dozen times, and look at the score, mine nearly doubles yours! Come on!”

The game started again, next level. They aimed at the screen. They were in a river, no health.

Something like eight piranhas jumped out at them at the same time. She managed to take out five of them, his aim wasn’t so good, he only killed two.

They died.

“Oh, damn, what a cheap shot!” She said.

“I know!” He yelled, there was no freaking way they could avoid that damage.

She put the shotgun on the holster. The word “Continue?” Flashed on the screen, a countdown timer filled with blood as time ran out.

“Are you guys done?” Mills asked, behind them, he carried a tray full of all kinds of food.

“Yeah, do you want to play?” She asked him.

“No, I’m good. Besides, I couldn’t ever be as good as you are.”

“I’m not good, I just look good next to Beast.”

Mills laughed, “roasted you again, bro.”

Beast smiled, “don’t put yourself down, you’re a pro. Have you played this game before?”

“I’m just good with a shotgun,” she said, winking at them.

This girl will be my end.

He loved everything about her.

“You bought the whole store, Mills!” She said, grabbing a handful of popcorn.

“Just enough to enjoy the film.”

Beast had seen people do this. Back when he was poor, he dreamed about doing this very thing. Go see a movie with your family, eat some popcorn, enjoy the evening.

It dawned on him that he had never felt so good, ever, in his life.

It was true, what they said. It’s the little things that count. Not huge houses, or loads of money in the bank, or even travelling to far away places.

It was going to the movies with the people you care about in a chilly afternoon.

He was grateful for this, all of this.

“Come on, Beast,” she said, taking his hand, “the movie’s about to start.”

He was supposed to be a killer, a gangster, ready to die at any moment. But this made everything different.

He wanted to be with her, forever.

For her sake, you better don’t.

Her warm hand held tight to his own. Just thinking about walking away from her was hard.

God damn it.

For the first time in his life, he was in love.