Роберт Уилсон - Days Since... - Jenny - Day 986

“Alright, look.” She threw her rifle across her back. “Gimme a sec to explain before this gets any worse than it already is.”

His face read of impatience.

“We didn’t do anything to them. Nothing. And that’s the truth.” Their eyes locked. Hers felt fragile. His were steadfast. “Those assholes are why we had to come to the Depot in the first place. They’re the reason why we had nowhere else to go. What they did…” She broke her gaze from his.

“What, Jenny?” She felt he wanted to grab hold of her and shake the words loose from inside her. “Tell me.”

Still unsure of how to phrase it, Jenny searched herself.

“If you want me to take anything you’re about to say seriously, then you gotta tell me everything. You can’t keep holding back.” He raised his eyebrows. “I’m trying to be patient. I’m trying to understand what’s going on, but I need you to quit playing this back and forth shit. I need the truth, Jenny. Not your opinion. What happened? What the hell is wrong with these people? Why would Griffin be leading them here if he didn’t trust them?”

“They—” Her voice shattered, vibrating her lips into a violent quiver. “I…” The hesitation in her voice wasn’t purposeful. It took everything she had not to completely fall apart in front of Danny. “I’m sorry. I’m trying.” A tear. A gasp—a deep shudder into her lungs.

“You can tell me. You can tell me anything. You should know that.”

“If what I think is about to happen, if Griffin’s already struck a deal, then… it’s already over. The Depot’s done.”

“I still don’t—”

“The whole thing’s a sham!” she snapped. “They’re murderers. That’s their thing. That’s the whole thing. They come in with these ideas. These— Like everything they say is this amazing… I don’t know. They just fucking show up. Then everything changes. At my home before here, before the Depot, they made promises, all sorts of fucking promises for us to agree to work with them. But Matt told me Larry knew they were trouble. That he’d sent them away—”

“The name Larry means nothing to me.”

“You’re right. That doesn’t matter. I—I’m sorry, I’m just…” She swallowed before continuing, slowing her words. “The point is our leader didn’t trust them. He didn’t take the bait. He sent them away for—”

“Then how’d they take over?”

“It was later when Larry left us to try and find his wife. Then… It was like they knew he’d left, because as soon as he was gone, the Second Alliance began attacking us. But—but not like you’d think. We didn’t know it was them. They made it seem like random people, bandits, whatever you want to call it, but our council felt they had no other choice, so…” Jenny closed her eyes. “They agreed to what the S.A. wanted. We fell for it. Just like Griffin did.”

“We don’t know that he agreed to anything yet.”

“I do! Griffin wants power, and the S.A. has it. Plenty of it. They make you think you’re equals, but bit by bit they take complete control. You don’t even realize it’s happening. A few people here and there. Before you know it, everything is theirs. Even…” She choked back the tears. Danny gripped her shoulders, without a doubt realizing the sincerity in her story. “My friend—My friend found out the truth and they—they killed him. Threw him from the scaffolding with a rope around his neck.” Jenny collapsed into Danny’s arms, sobbing, letting everything go, releasing all her hidden pain from where she’d kept it locked away. Now Danny knew. The three from River’s Edge weren’t fugitives but refugees.

“It’s okay.” Danny clutched her tighter into his chest. “It’s okay. I’ll get this sorted out with Griffin. Trust me.”

Pulling her head from his chest, Jenny scoffed. “Griffin? Really? He’s gonna make it all better?” She pushed him, forcing angry, hysterical outbursts of laughter through her sobbing. “They’ve probably promised Griffin all sorts of nonsense to band together. There’s no way he’s gonna give that up. Not a chance! He’s a power-hungry asshole!”

“What’s your deal with him? Griffin’s on our side. He’s one of the good guys. Look at what he’s done for you. For Matt. For Grant. He took you guys in with open arms even with your guys’ bullshit story.”

“Open arms? Ha! Oh, Griffin, my savior!” She gasped for air between sobs. “You’re so fucking blind, Danny. You’ve never noticed how he makes me feel? How I don’t ever want to be around him?”

“I mean, maybe, but you don’t see him that much.”

“That’s how I want it. You just don’t get it. I don’t want him around me because he’s a monster. This—this monster, he raped me, Danny! Took me. Held me down. Threatened my life. Grant’s and Matt’s too if I told anyone. And that’s your friend. That’s who you trust to make it all better. But I don’t!”

Danny looked away.

“You want to know something else? This baby. It isn’t Matt’s. It’s Griffin’s.”

Danny pressed his palms into his eye sockets. “You’re too much.”

“Too much? Too much for who? You, Danny? Fuck you!” she screamed. “Fuck you!” In a rage, Jenny lunged forward and started beating on his chest uncontrollably until another round of fatigue set in. She collapsed, hands and knees into the snow, weeping. Sherman began nuzzling her face. “I can’t do this anymore,” she groaned. “I can’t keep all this bottled up. It’s too much.”

“How do I know…” He bent down, pushing Sherman away. “Do you have—” Danny stammered through his words. “any—any. Is there any proof? Any at all?”

“Of the Second Alliance, yes,” she sobbed. “With Griffin… I wanted to tell you sooner. But I couldn’t. Griffin would have…”

“I believe you. I do.” He lifted her chin. She offered a weak smile. “Please, Jenny. Show me everything you have.” His eyes were glassy. The usual tough-guy demeanor had softened. “I’m listening. Tell me everything.” Danny untied the kerchief around his neck and dabbed her tears away before helping her back to her feet. “I’m listening now.”

“I need you to believe me. I need help with Griffin.”

“I will.” Danny smiled. “We’ll sort all this out, starting with the Second Alliance. That’ll have to be dealt with first. If what you said is true—”

“It is!”

“I know, but I’ll need time to convince Griffin.”

“Griffin.” Jenny kicked at the snow.

“He’s still in charge. You know I can’t change that. And… I’m sorry if this sounds shitty, but”—He licked across his lips—“I can’t help what happened to you in the past. I’m sorry it happened, believe me, I am, and I’ll do what I can to make it better. If that’s even possible. But first we have to make sure Griffin doesn’t agree to anything with these guys. Gimme a chance to deal with that, then I’ll confront him about… about the other stuff. Deal?”

“Okay…” Not like I really have a choice.

Every step toward the Depot felt like an unprepared march toward the enemy. No plan existed. The men in black were Almawt animated in human form. A second plague among the survivors. An infection with no known cure. Underneath any facade they’d put forward, Jenny knew it wouldn’t be the truth. The truth was contained in Haverty’s letter, in Simon’s journal.

“Just a second.” Jenny reached toward the far side of her bed, feeling for the hidden slit she had sewn into the cushion. Carefully, she took Simon’s journal and the letter Haverty had written from inside. “This is what I have. What my friend found and left for us.” Danny appeared unsure as he took them from her and sat down on the metal folding chair. “You should read the letter first then the journal. It’ll make more sense that way.”