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The Devil You Know
He knew from the beginning it was a terrible idea. Possibly the worst he’s ever conceived. Yet he was coming from a position of nothing: no allies, no supplies, not even his freedom. All his months of meticulous planning gone with the wind. Nothing remained except his intentions and every aggravating day he spent locked up took him further away from those too. He needed something to work with. Someone. Anyone. Even her.
Ebony.
She had no reason to trust him. He had tried this route indirectly before and it backfired in his face spectacularly. That had been before he realized she wasn’t just a spoiled rich girl. He could hardly be mistaken for thinking otherwise given what her own sister said about her. She was sharp and unpredictable in ways that made it impossible for him to get any sort of hold over her. When he finally accepted that she was immune to his usual methods it occurred to him there were simpler, more direct ways to go about trying to get her to do what he wants.
If she doesn’t murder him first.
Josh took a deep breath as he approached her room. After her little temper tantrum it had been decided keeping them grouped together in one confined space would no longer work. It was honestly surprising it hadn’t happened sooner. Josh still had a busted lip from the encounter, bruised and tender. While annoying, he was better off than Ram who sported twin black eyes like a raccoon and needed crutches to get around again. He’d be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t a bit impressed how quickly she’d switched from zombie to warrior upon being inadvertently riled up. Then again, she had easily played the guards after the attack, looking so frail and helpless they wouldn’t even consider punishing her despite Ram’s insistence. It was obvious she was more present than she let on. There was so much more going on in that little blonde head than he had anticipated.
Perhaps that is what made it all so frustrating. She was strong, charismatic, intelligent, and her intuitions dead on if her frighteningly accurate read of him was anything to go by. He had given himself every advantage and she was still able to crush him. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he had told her he’d sacrifice anything and everything to have the sort of natural talent and abilities she did. To have been born into the sort of privilege that provided such a fertile training ground. His envy bit at him with resentment. She had everything and the possibilities for her were endless but she chose to do absolutely nothing with it.
It was the most irritating thing imaginable.
He took another breath. He can hear rhythmic thudding coming from behind the door. Ebony had turned her room into a make shift gym and spent most of her time training her body like there was war coming. Their captors had set them up in some sort of side house away from the rest of the complex. It was broken into three bedrooms, a common room, and a bathroom. The entrance was still kept locked and guarded. The three of them were mostly left to themselves since the Mallrats still had their hands full figuring out what their next plan was. They were like headless chickens in their inability to prioritize what to do next. It took them forever to decide because everything had to be a large overly-opinionated discussion. The fact that he was these idiots captive left him with so much rage and contempt it was a miracle he hadn’t gone feral on them, but he prided himself too much on his discipline and control to ever act on such unrewarding impulses. He had better ways to get revenge.
He was about to knock when the front door opens. He pretends he was on his way toward the window. He looks over and rolls his eyes as his brother comes in. Slade looks around, most likely making sure the coast was clear of Ebony, before he turns to him.
“Josh.” He says uneasily with a wave and a half grin. Josh just glares at him and stays silent. His brother knows why he is mad and should know he will not be sociable with him right now. Slade scoffs as Josh turns away from him. “Really? Very mature Joshua.”
“You’re one to talk Ronald.”
Slade gives a disgusted snort, walks pass him, and disappears into Ram’s room. No one else is willing to go near Ram, but for some reason his brother is convinced he just needs a helping hand. He waits a moment to make sure Slade doesn’t come back out. Last thing he needs is more attention from his brother. When he goes back to knock Ebony lets out a grunt and he hesitates. He swears he hears something break behind the door. The rhythmic thudding comes back and before he loses his nerve he knocks. The thudding stops for a few moments and then continues. He knocks once again.
“I heard you the first time. Go away.”
Josh steels himself and opens the door anyway. Ebony’s back is to him as she punches at a makeshift target she has against the wall. She has similar targets everywhere, some more destroyed than others. She has her cot in a corner and any furniture she hasn’t broken and made into targets sits in the opposite corner unused. She connects solidly three times before she does some sort of fancy high kick that rattles the clock she is aiming for. One side of it is already partially broken and he assumes that accounts for the crash he heard. She turns to look at him and tilts her head.
“I was expecting your brother. I thought I heard him.” She tells him as she stretches her shoulders. She’s dispensed with her leather for cotton pants and a sports bra. Her hair is no longer messy and her braids are in a tight bun.
“Ronnie is with Ram again.” He replies as he watches the corner of her mouth twitch in amusement, still unused to hearing his brother’s given name. Good. He can work with that. If nothing else, today he needed her to see him as anything other than a threat or an enemy.
She shakes her head disappointingly. “Well, your brother sure is good at making bad decisions. He thought he could change me for the better too. Went real well for him.”
“My brother only sees what he wants to see.” He replies with a shrug.
She snorts. “Yeah, we are all such beacons of virtue. Not blatantly evil at all.” She says sarcastically. The statement gets his attention. ‘Interesting’ he thinks to himself.
He tries to give a small grin despite his lip and that seems to make her remember who she’s speaking to. Ebony’s eyes narrow at him as she crosses her arms. “So, what do you want Josh?” She asks, dragging out the last bit of his name with an extended hiss that was clearly meant to annoy him. It probably would on any other occasion.
“To talk.”
“About what?” She asks suspiciously. Her mood is already turning, he realizes. ‘Straight to it then’ he decides, before he can work her up any more.
“About getting out of here.” She laughs at him. “What? You really want to spend the next eternity waiting for the Mallrats to slowly decide our fate?”
“Of course not. But what makes you think I would need your help to escape?” She asks haughtily, hands on her hips.
“You don’t.” He answers honestly. “We both know you could force your way out of here if you wanted, but what are you going to do after? Wander around the wasteland alone and hope none of your enemies recognize you?” She stares at him saying nothing. He rolls his eyes and frustration gets the better of him. “See, this is what I was talking about. All that ability and no plan-“
“And I think you should shut up before I bust up more than your lip.” She cuts him off, taking a step towards him threateningly. He stands his ground and braces himself because he has worked too hard to be stopped now. If this is the only way to get through to her so be it. He wills himself to stay collected.
He could deal with the pain if this worked.
“Listen to me.” He states calmly, or at least as calmly as he can manage with Ebony approaching him with such a violent gleam in her eyes.
She grins wickedly. “You have to the count of three to back off before I knock you on your ass again.” She warns him, taking another step forward. “One…”
“Be mature about this.” He whines.
“Two.” She says casually as she comes closer.
“I’m not leaving.”
“Three.” She reaches out towards him and he instinctively puts his arms up to protect himself. True to her word, Ebony grabs his arm with a shocking amount of strength and somehow tosses him roughly behind her. He lets out a groan as he lands painfully on his back, taking his breath away. His glasses fly off to the side and he can only hope they are fine. Ebony sighs and sits on his chest, pining his arms with her knees. “Warned you.”
He attempts to free his arms feebly as she giggles at his attempt. It’s truly embarrassing how little she is moved. “Is there… a point… to… attacking me?” He asks in between gasps as he catches his breath.
Ebony laughs darkly. “I enjoy watching you suffer. I could do this all day.” She says gleefully before leaning forward to nudge the bruise on his lip with her thumb, delighting when he winces. “If you want me to continue just keep talking, smart guy.” He hears her knuckles crack right next to his ear.
“Wait, just listen.”
Ebony shakes her head and begins raising her fist to hit his face.
“Answer one thing for me. One. Then you can do whatever you want.” He bargains.
Ebony puts her fist down slightly and sighs. “Fine. What?”
“Do you really believe we’re evil?”
The question catches her off guard. She looks at him puzzled, head cocked to the side and eyes curious. He can feel her scrutinizing his actions and trying to figure out what his game is. He continues.
“You referred to us as blatantly evil. Do you really think that?”
She glares at him like he’s an idiot. “I killed my sister.” She says darkly. “I’ve killed others before too. I am not a good person.” Her knees dig further into his shoulders painfully as if to prove her point. “And neither are you.”
“The world ended. We have all done a lot of unsavory things to stay alive. Just because we don’t live up to the spoiled Mallrat standard of goodness doesn’t mean we’re evil.”
Ebony laughs bitterly. “Then tell me, smart guy, what are we?” She asks.
“Survivors. It’s what we do. At all costs. We are not evil for having a sense of self preservation. How many people did you kill in cold blood and not because they threatened you first?” Ebony doesn’t answer but she’s lost the mean glint in her eyes. He gives her a moment to reflect and to catch his breath before going on. “Everyone else seems content to ignore the fact we live in a post-apocalyptic mess and we both know it is going to get them killed. I do not feel like dying due to their incompetence. Do you?” Her weight on his chest is starting to affect his breathing, but she’s finally put her fist down completely. Her face has gone from amused to thoughtful and she’s relaxed her stance. “We don’t belong here with them. They are keeping us trapped in an environment that won’t allow us to thrive. We shouldn’t have to live by their ideas of right and wrong.” He winces as her weight is starting to become unbearable. “I can elaborate further if you get off my chest and stop attacking me.”
He feels her knees grind into him harder for a moment before she gets up and releases him. He sits up and locates his glasses in the corner. He gets up to retrieve them as he begins rolling his shoulders, rubbing the sensitive joints Ebony was having so much fun crushing. When he finally turns to her he finds her sitting cross legged on her cot looking up at him. Without her makeup its easier to see she’s not much older than he is.
He talks for a long time, long enough that the sun has begun to set in her window. In fairness he has been planning this particular scheme since before he came to power, since before they had even arrived in the city. He had always known Ram, for all his brilliance, was as unstable as they come. With some patience it had been almost too easy to come into power. All Ram had wanted was a nice place to retire into reality space. The fool. Josh wanted more.
So much more.
Ebony is surprisingly quiet for the long time it takes to explain the basics, what they would need, when to strike, a million other details he already has filed away in his head. He hadn’t meant to tell her that much. Maybe it was his excitement, perhaps it was simply the absolute lack of company while in captivity. She perks up when he gets to what he is offering her in return, which amounts to pretty much whatever her dark little heart desires. He may have gone overboard with his suggestions but his need of her is dire and she ultimately nods in agreement. When he finally finishes she gets up from the bed to stand at her window to watch the sun set as she stretches.
“You have had a lot of time to plan this, haven’t you?”
“What else is there to do? Study for college? Work on a resume?” He asks sarcastically as he bitterly shakes his head. “There is nothing left for us but what we make for ourselves. The world does not need to be a god damn wasteland.” His voice is uncharacteristically passionate.
“You really believe that.” She states, though he can’t make out the tone behind it. She looks over her shoulder at him. “I do have a few questions.”
“Expected.”
“So we follow along down south, regroup with what’s left of your militia at this base you’ve promised them, escape with said army and supplies if they still exist or remain loyal, and then go to another base to train and recoup any losses. And this is all before we even start heading back through the wasteland. Did I get that part right?”
“More or less.”
“So, how are you going to survive all that?”
He frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean? I led an army.”
“Safely behind tanks and guards wielding superior tech.” She turns to face him fully and laughs. “You are literally suggesting leading an army and going to war with no personal physical training or applicable abilities. In the wasteland where every group seems to have access to guns. You are going to die out there.” She crosses her arms. “And it won’t be my job to save you. I can’t do what you need me to while babysitting your-“
“Babysitting? I am almost nineteen and-“ he is cut off by her smacking her hand on the window pane.
“Did I sound finished? Don’t interrupt me.” She chastises. “You cannot handle me. You could barely handle a stupid computer program. You are too used to hiding behind your laser. Let’s also not forget everyone wants to strangle you for having to evacuate the city. Anywhere you go there will be a target on your back. You are going to die out there.” She repeats.
Josh forces his lips into a tight line to keep himself from yelling something cruel in response. Despite her insults, she did have a point, one he hadn’t considered very seriously before. One of the main reasons he had agreed to captivity was the assurance of his physical safety. Now that they were out here and all the recon about the wasteland seemed to be true, he couldn’t do what needed to be done in his current state. He looks over to Ebony.
“You could train me.”
“What?” She asks with a scoff.
“You heard me. Train me. Like you did all your little soldiers. Make me survivable so we can get to north country.”
She looks him up and down. “I don’t know if it’s possible.” She answers truthfully.
“Why?”
“Because it would take forever. We are talking months at least of training very hard. And it wouldn’t stop. You would need to keep it up.”
“Great. Free time is the one resource we have in abundance. You spend most of the day training anyway.”
“I will not go easy on you. At all.” She says precariously.
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a guaranteed promise. I warn all my soldiers before they start. I don’t tolerate disobedience when it comes to surviving. Can you handle that?”
“Yes.” He answers soundly. She gives him a look of disbelief and he glares. “I am not afraid of you.”
The slow smile she gives him in response makes him almost reconsider what he’s agreed to. Her sardonic reply and the saccharine tone she says it in doesn’t help.
“Darling, you should be.”
He rolls his eyes. “Anything else?”
She leans back on the window pane. “I have another question. Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you want to do this?” She asks, her right hand motioning around them.
“What is the alternative? Hoping everyone gets their act together and puts their weapons down?” He shakes his head. “I am tired of running, tired of having to deal with scared, impulsive children, and I am very tired of just surviving. I just want to make a place, just one place, where life can go back to normal. People work, kids go to school, and everyone is taken care of. No one has to suffer unduly. The resources are there and just ripe for the taking. I just cannot do it alone.”
Ebony stares at him for a moment and he can almost hear the cogs in her head turning. “So you want to go to war with the wasteland in an attempt to make some sort of safe haven?”
He looks at her amusingly. “I suppose that is one way of putting it.”
“You really just want to make a nice place for people to live?” She asks as if it’s the most unbelievable thing in the world. He has to stop himself from glaring.
“If they follow my rules, yes.” He says confidently. She snorts at that reply and rolls her eyes.
“Last question.” She tells him. “Do you think you are good? Since you seem convinced that we’re not evil.”
Josh pauses for a moment. He certainly believes himself to be right and that his actions come from good intentions. He would admit that the lengths he was willing to go to achieve his plans some may call extreme, but so many people would benefit by the end. Wasn’t that worth it? His mind reels. Morality was difficult to navigate and hardly unchanging, especially without any semblance of order to guide them.
“It is all a matter of perspective, isn’t it?” He settles on. “I think we could be. Maybe not to the Mallrats, but all those kids living out here would jump at a chance to be somewhere safe. Somewhere with no slavery or forced prostitution. Somewhere they are taken care of instead of ignored. Somewhere to live in peace and not fear.” He nods to himself. “They would probably consider us heroes.”
“That’s something I’ve never been called before.” She says with a grin.
“If this works and we survive, I will literally build a memorial to commemorate your actions. You won’t just be a hero, you will be a legend.” He says solemnly, hoping to play to her ego. “Still remembered a hundred years after you die. The woman who conquered the wasteland and made it paradise.”
The twinkle in her eyes suggests it worked. “I like the sound of that.”
He takes a step towards her. “So, do we have a deal?” He asks, offering his hand out to her.
She looks down at his hand, back up to his face to consider him carefully before nodding. She shakes his hand gingerly. He is about to pull away when she grips his hand tightly, her short undecorated nails digging into him painfully.
“If you try to betray me or screw with my head again, I promise your death will be long and painful.” She says with a sweet smile and venom in her eyes.
“I believe you.”
She lets him go. “I would head to bed if I were you. I plan to wake you at sun up to start training.”
“Is that necessary?” He asks, trying to mask his annoyance. He rubs the painful little crescent marks peppering the back of his hand.
“For you to have a chance at survival? Absolutely.” She puts her hands on her hips. “I told you: I’m not going easy on you.” She turns her back on him and takes her place back at her target, arms up. “Now leave me alone. This is the last time I will get to train for just myself.”
Josh doesn’t tempt raising her ire and just nods and leaves. Ram and his brother are out in the common area exercising his injured leg when he comes out. They both stare at Josh in surprise, waiting on an explanation. He pays them no mind as he goes into his own room to rest. He lays back on his cot and lets out a long sigh of relief. It’s worked; he can have everything he wants as long as he can survive what Ebony throws at him. He smiles triumphantly before the pain in his lip reminds him why he can’t. He puts his hand to his lip, staring at the mean little marks she left on his hand.
If he can survive Ebony.