Page 55 of Capitol Matters

“Thisis not a good look.” Grimm gestured to my hodgepodge of an outfit. “Did you get dressed in the dark this morning?” His reach for the lapel of the crumpled suit coat caused me to backstep. “Whose jacket is that?”

“It’s my fault,” Donovan said from behind me. “I asked Fitch to come.”

As Grimm turned toward my brother, his lips spread in a smile. “And I don’t fault him for coming to your aid. What are brothers for?”

Ripley cleared his throat to mutter, “Bickering and name-calling, from what I’ve observed.”

“I stood up for you the other night,” I seethed. “Maybe I won’t next time.”

Pulling out the gum again, Ripley unwrapped a fresh stick. “You think too highly of yourself, Farrow. I need no champion.” Baring his teeth, he bit through the gum as though he’d forgotten I could wire his jaw shut with a thought.

Grimm edged between us. “That’s enough,” he said sharply.

The moment of severity passed, and our leader sported a sunny mood once more. He swung an arm in an all-encompassing gesture to the storage units on either side of us. “Since I’m here, I’d like to check on the progress of things. Donnie-boy?” Grimm’s exclamation of Donovan’s name caused him to startle. “Why don’tyou show me around?”

Without waiting for a response, Grimm broke away to approach the open unit.

Donovan’s head swiveled between the older man’s retreating form and me. His eyes went wide in panic as he mouthed a silent plea.

“Help me!”

What could I do? This was part of the gig my brother had so desperately wanted. The storm clouds in which he saw only silver lining. Death was part of our lives. Watching a zombie dismember a guy you babysat for a couple of weeks made for an unusually bad day, but it came with the territory.

When he realized I wouldn’t intervene, Donovan’s face tinged sickly green. He turned and walked stiff legged toward Maggie’s icebox diner. If he puked, I hoped it got on Grimm’s shoes.

With the other two men out of earshot, Ripley spoke. “He’s running the gang into the ground.”

My lips pursed. “I thought you’d like that.”

“I’d like to not be aboard the ship when it sinks.”

“So, jump off,” I replied. And drown for all I cared.

The toxin-breathing traitor wasn’t even worth the effort it took to break him out of prison. He didn’t contribute to the gang besides creating the plague and giving us immunity to it. And, like Holland told me, you don’t get credit for solving a problem you created.

At the mouth of the frozen storage locker, Grimm draped his arm across Donovan’s shoulders, a pose as effective as tying an anchor to a boat. Donovan couldn’t move or even look away without showing damningweakness.

I imagined what he saw inside. Maggie was an enthusiastic eater. Like a dog with a chew toy, she pounced and pulled with sharp teeth and clawed fingers. Doubtless, she’d wasted no time tearing into Yankee Doodle and leaving bloodstains in the snow.

Donovan trembled, prompting Grimm to rub his arm as though putting warmth into him. But I doubted his chill was from the cold.

“Have you thought any more about what I said?” Ripley’s question stirred me from morbid thoughts.

“I’d leave me alone right now, if I were you,” I told him. But I knew which conversation he referred to. The one where he asked if I wanted to take over the Bloody Hex, and I said no.

After a moment’s pause, I added, “And I already told you what I thought about what you said.”

“But now you’re at the Capitol’s heel,” Ripley mused. “Abducting people. Waiting in cars while less capable individuals lead the charge into battle… You’ve traded one master for two.”

Between Grimm, Maximus, and Holland, I was taking orders every time I turned around.

“Make that three,” I muttered.

Grimm and Donovan rejoined us. Ripley traded places with them, wandering over to the unit to check on Maggie’s progress.

Seeing the return of Donovan’s shellshock stirred guilt in me.

In contrast, Grimm maintained an easy smile. “I’m pleased with what you two have accomplished thus far,”he said, then looked at me. “Fitch, you have a ways to go yet—what is it? Four more victims?”

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