The Farmer and the Monster

Chapter 3

City of Lost Souls

It had been about a week since our drunken escapade at the bar, and since then I decided that’s where I’d go normally whenever I needed a break. That meant every couple of days, although it wasn’t as though I got drunk every time I went. Last time we went was a fun.

***

“That’s a ringer,” she bragged.

I sat there with a dumb look on my face. “You got a ringer on the first shot?” I said in complete disbelief, “Oh shit, what did I get myself into?”

***

I lost that bet, so yeah, she ended up with her massage after all. To be fair playing a farm girl in horseshoes spelt bad idea to begin with, and the drunken rule did not apply this time around. On the upside I got to feel her up, so I’m calling that win-win.

She’d even gotten used to riding my bike too. Said she wasn’t the biggest fan of the motor, but she did like the speed and wind in her face.

For the last week what we did mostly outside of the bar was either ride around town for no reason, watch movies on the flatscreen, or even spotting each other on the bench press. I did that for the exercise, but she did it to keep up her routine. Guess she felt she needed to stay active. She wasn’t a little girl that was for sure, but she was such a looker too. I still can’t keep my eyes off her ass half the time.

“Headin’ off to the bar again,” I told her, “You comin’?”

“You know it.”

***

“A couple years back Big Macintosh broke a couple ribs during harvesting time, and Ah had to do it all mahself,” she told me, “The orchard goes farther than ya can see from on top of the barn! Finally I got mah friends to help after bein’ stubborn all week. Ah couldn’t even stand up straight after that.”

“Jeez cowgirl, what are you, a bull?” I laughed

“Alright, what’s something stupid you did once?”

I thought that one over, and I settled on one I just despised talking about. With Applejack though it was just for fun. “Well, I told you I used to have really long hair when I was a kid. About sixteen/seventeen years old?” I counted the dates in my head quickly. “Seventeen is when this happened.

“So I get in another fight with one of the kids—you’d think orphans would be nicer to one another, but teenagers are the same everywhere. Finally we settle on a little bet. Nevermind the terms—I can’t remember anymore, but if I won he had to walk into the girls bathroom at school butt-ass naked—“

“Oh good lord.”

“—If he won I had to get a perm and dye my hair pink, and I wasn’t aloud to do anything about it until it came undone naturally. I lost.” Applejack fell out of her chair laughing on that one. “I’m pretty sure one of them still has pictures too.”

“By the harvest moon that’s a good one,” she said as she picked herself back up, “Ah wasn’t askin’ fer embarrassing y’know.”

“Ah know, but I needed that one in a humorous light so I could finally get over it. The image of me with a head of cotton candy has been stuck in my brain for years.”

It was a slow day at the bar. Not many people had arrived yet, and the ones who had weren’t drinking much if anything. The music wasn’t even going yet. It was pretty quiet outside of us two chatting. Since I’d met her I think I’d loosened up a lot. I still didn’t like strangers though.

“Hey Masters,” I heard a voice say. I turned around to see a guy standing twice my size at around seven and a half feet. Give or take an inch or two. “You Greg Masters?”

“Yeah. What’s it to you? Another message from the boss?” I asked sarcastically, “Oh wait, let me get my pen and notepad out.” I held an imaginary one just to mock him.

“Don’t play around you sack of shit you know what you’ve done,” the gargantuan growled.

“Greg what’s goin’ on?” AJ asked me.

“Stay out of it, trust me on this,” I warned her with a very stern look.

“What happened, happened, Greg,” he told me, “It’s not going to change with revenge. All that awaits you at the end of this road is your own grave.”

I stood up and yanked him down by the color of his shirt. “You listen to me you cock sucker. You tell your boss that he can beg and plead and run and hide and cower all he wants, but I’m comin’ for him. When I find him, when I find him, I won’t be nice enough to just rip his head off and be done with it. I will watch him SUFFER!” I shoved the giant back hard enough for him to fall backwards and smash through a table. I threw enough money on the bar to pay for it and walked out the door.

Applejack ran after me. “Now what the hay was that all about?”

“This city is corrupt beyond what you can imagine,” I told her as I got on my bike, “I’m goin’ home. You comin’?”

She looked ready to fire another question, but she just got on the bike instead. We rode home in complete silence. I was in a bad mood, and I think she knew better than to push an issue with me.

***

When we got back I needed to calm down, so I went out back and started playing again. Applejack came out to listen again and sat waiting for me to finish. When I did she said something that surprised me.

“This hat was an anniversary gift from mah daddy to mah ma,” she told me, “Mah granny put it on mah head the day they died, and Ah ain’t never let it go since then. Ah never tell anyone that.”

I listened thoughtfully. It explained why it was so important to her, but I did make a deal I suppose. “…My father was a rebel,” I told her, “He did a lot of thing a lot of people wanted him dead for. Eventually my mother set him straight, and some time after that they got married. He kept his old bike and his guitar when they got married. Only things he kept from his old life. When he died he left them both to me.

“The bike was just a hand-me-down, but the guitar…that meant the world to him. I won’t back down was his favorite song to play. He even used it as a lullaby for me when I was a baby I remember him saying.

“He told me it was about standing up and standing firm in the name of what you believe in, never giving up, never running away, and always pursuing justice. That’s what he wanted for me, and I tried…lord how I keep trying.”

“Wow…I never would’ve guessed…”

“Eventually I just would up here…in the City of Lost Souls,” I told her, “That’s what we all call it here, and there’s a reason for that. It’s about as pretty as most of the attitudes in it.”

“…So what about that guy?”

“In the bar? He was a messenger…that’s another story that I can’t tell you.”

I knew the look she was giving me without seeing it. “Can’t or won’t?”

“Won’t,” I snapped, “I’m stuck in the middle of something you don’t want to see, and I’m not about to drag you into this.”

“What if Ah wanna know what Ah’d be gettin’ into first?”

I set my guitar down and walked up to, glaring daggers into her eyes. She didn’t move an inch. “I’d say ‘no you don’t’.”

I walked past her and out the front door. I didn’t know where I was going, but I couldn’t just wait for her to try and badger the facts out of me. I kept walking through the streets for a few hours. It was a clear and sunny, the kind of weather I hate.

***

I finally circled back home a few hours later. The sun had set a long time ago. It had to be well past midnight. I looked at the house with the lights still on and sighed. As I walked up to the front door I stopped when I saw something move in the shadows. I jumped back and grabbed a loaded pistol from my jacket.

“Now that won’t do you any good you know,” the voice told me.

“I guess not,” I said as I tossed it aside. I skidded to a stop along the driveway pavement. I looked as the shape came into the light. It was the same messenger from the bar, and he looked pretty pissed. “You plan on goin’ renegade?” I asked.

“I’m still under orders actually,” he told me to my genuine surprise, “You see, I’m under orders to kill you if you don’t back off. The boss is done playing your little game Greg.”

“He started this war. I’m just the guy that’s gonna finish it.”

The big lummox practically pulled an owl checking to see if anyone was around. “Completely off the record: why are you doing this?” he asked me, “The Holder doesn’t like telling us much about you. I’m starting to think even he doesn’t know much himself.”

“I’ve sent him more than enough death threats through messengers like you for him to know,” I said coldly, “This is for revenge. It’s not for the people he screws over, it’s not to protect the people, it’s all for me. Anymore questions you wanna ask?”

“No. I don’t really care enough to hear about your life story,” he said simply. He didn’t really come off as the normal kind of messenger. I think he just managed to get himself mixed up in something he didn’t fully understand. If that was the case than I could tell he just accepted it a long time ago.

“Fine, now let’s get this over with so I can go to bed.”

I raised my fist and readied myself for him to come at me. He rushed me trying to bring his fist down right on top of me. I spun to the right to avoid him and threw my fist into his jaw. He reeled back and tried to backhand me with his giant left hand. I swung myself back and it sailed just over my face. I rose back up and jabbed him in the stomach a few times. He swung his leg out to knock me down and I jumped up and kicked him in the face.

Finally he landed a blow by punching me square in the chest. At his size it hurt like hell, but I didn’t even get a fracture. The force of the blow knocked me all the way back into the street though. I flipped back onto my feet and dodged his fist again, I also countered by punching him in the jaw. He threw another punch straight for me and I jumped back out of his reach.

“Y’know you’re pretty fast for your size I’ll give ya that,” I told him as I dodged and jumped around a few more swings.

“And you’re a slippery little bastard is what you are,” he told me, “In that leather jacket I don’t imagine that’s easy. I’ll give you that, that’s impressive.” I slid under his strikes and knocked him off his feet. I jumped up and tried to stomp on him, but he batted me aside.

He jumped up to his feet and threw another punch at me as I landed. I didn’t have time to dodge to I tried to stop the blow. I caught his fist and ended up skidding along the pavement for ten feet. I flipped backwards and managed to jump on top of his head as he tried to pulverize me into the street. I dropped behind him and gave a hard jab to his lower spine, and I knew he felt that one.

He dropped to his knees with a pained yell. He reached behind himself and managed to grab my leg. He stood up, spun around, and threw me as hard as he could. I crashed through the window of my own house. The glass cut into my hands and face a little, but my jacket and pants kept me mostly unharmed.

“What the buck?!” AJ yelled, “Ah was waitin’ for ya, but I didn’t think ya’d come in like that!”

“Shut up I’m busy,” I snapped at her. “Mother fucking son of a bitch!” I roared, “Now you’ve gone too far!” I rushed back out the window and punched him as hard as I could in the face. He’d been coming to fight me inside the house, but I wasn’t gonna have that. I’ve got too much cool stuff in my house. Another thing: he did not expect me to come at him that quickly or hit that hard.

He fucking flew to the sidewalk. I jumped on his chest and started bashing him in the face and hard as I could. I knocked out several teeth, broke his nose, broke his jaw, and gave him a black eye.

He grabbed me by the back of the neck and threw me off of himself. He stumbled trying to stand up

“Greg what’s goin’ on?!” Applejack half demanded half screamed in panic.

“The messenger from the bar came back to kill me,” I explained, “Ya wanna help? Then help me kick his ass before he kicks mine!”

“Ah—but—why?” she stammered.

“Do you ever stop talking?!” I snapped at her.

“Ah expect an explanation after this!”

“Not fucking likely.”

She ran at the messenger, punching him in that one part of the gut with no muscle. He tensed up in pain and AJ punched his lowered face square in the bloodied nose. I ran at him as he reeled back and I ran up him. I kicked him in the face and he stumbled back barely keeping his balance. He must have learned from the last time he was on the ground.

Applejack ran at the messenger and jumped, kicking him in the gut a few times while he was still disoriented. I followed up with a few jabs to his chest. He gained his balance and swiped at us. We both ducked, barely avoiding the strike, and jumped up, both of us hitting him square in the jaw with a strong kick. He stumbled back and I rushed him, hitting him with my shoulder, which knocked him the ground again.

“Think ya can throw me into the air?” I asked Applejack.

“Yeah.”

“Then do it.” I ran towards her and jumped. She caught my foot with both hands interlocked and threw me skyward with a little difficulty. I angled my launch so I’d land on my attacker’s chest. Square hit, which knocked the air out of his lungs, leaving him winded.

I walked off him thinking he was done for the moment, until he got pissed anyways. I walked over to Applejack saying, “Okay now that that’s over you should leave before this gets ugly…er.”

“Ah ain’t going anywhere ‘till ya explain why he’s tryin’ to kill ya!”

“He was ordered to do it if I didn’t back off after his little threat. Happy?”

“No. Ah want the whole story!”

“Well you’re not gettin’ it!”

“Ah have a right to—watch out!” She pointed behind me with a panicked scream. I turned and saw the messenger had already recovered, and his fists were about to come down on both our head. AJ stumbled and fell to the ground. If I dodged she’d be hurt, so I didn’t dodge. I put up a hand and stopped the blow like it was fucking nothing.

“What in?” Applejack muttered.

“No more games,” I growled fiercely, “Time to die.” I held his left fist under my right and brought my wrist up on his elbow, effortlessly breaking his arm. He howled in pain and I grabbed the broken arm with both hands. I ran past him and dragged him with me, popping his shoulder out of its socket as I went. I spun and gave a strong jerk, throwing him down the street.

He struggled to stand and I rushed him again, pummeling his face and chest like a boss. I felt his skull starting to collapse and his ribs breaking like toothpicks. I leaned back and gave a strong kick to his right kneecap, which completely shattered it. He fell to the ground, presumably unconscious.

I turned around breathing steadily, and I saw Applejack looking at me in a mix of shock and awe. “That’s the other reason I didn’t hold you to the arm wrestling bet,” I told her flatly.

She didn’t miss a beat. “Remind me not to make that bet again. Now that King Kong is down for the count, ya mind explainin’ everythin’?”

“Down for the count?” I parroted sarcastically, “Oh no. Now we just pissed him off.”