Page 43 of You Weren't Meant to Be Human
Levi snaps up. Stands tall, forever a military man.
The end of our patience has been reached. Something must be done.
Levi says, “I’ll handle it.”
Seventeen
Get up.” Levi grabs Crane by the back of the shirt and drags him onto his feet. “Start walking.” He nudges the shotgun toward Stagger. “And you too.”
Outside, Levi waits impatiently while Crane locks up the gas station—“Jesus,” he mutters because Crane can’t find the right key with his hands shaking so bad, his vision so blurred with tears—then pushes him toward the truck. Crane stumbles.
Stagger growls.
“You want to fucking start?” Levi yanks the pump action. TheMossberg makes an animalisticchuck-chuckas it cycles a round into the chamber. “We can do this right here.”
Crane catches Stagger’s gaze. Shakes his head ever so slightly.
Don’t. Not now.
Stagger’s nostrils flare, but he acquiesces. Ducks his head in understanding.
“S’what I thought.” He yanks open the F-150’s passenger door and shoves Crane against the seat, standing to block the only way out. In the dim light from the gas station pumps, sweat gleams across his flushed throat. Muscles stand out hard on the side of his neck. “Give me your phone.”
His phone? His phone. That has all the texts from Aspen and Birdie on it.
Levi snaps twice. “Phone.”
It’s fine, Crane tells himself. Levi doesn’t know the passcode. There’s no reason for Levi to think there’s anyone else involved.
He fumbles it out of his pocket and hands it over.
“Good.” Levi nudges Crane into the seat, slams the door, and comes around to the driver’s side. Stagger takes the back. Crane turns to see him, resists the urge to reach between the seats to hold his wrist and feel the worms, the closest thing Stagger has to a pulse. Or, actually, he doesn’t know if Stagger has a pulse. He’s never felt it. He should have checked on the floor of the office, should have pressed his ear to his chest to see if that heart is still beating under there. If he is a puppeteered corpse or something else entirely.
The apartment is too dark and too warm. Nothing’s been cleaned in weeks because Crane is the only one who bothers and he’s barely beenable to put food in the microwave these days, let alone do dishes or wash the sink or pick up literally anything. The upstairs neighbors, the only neighbors they have since the family in 202 got an eviction notice last month, play music loud enough that Crane can make out the lyrics.
Levi bolts the front door.
“Sit,” he says.
Sitting makes Crane nervous. His limbs don’t want to work. He makes it to the couch anyway and his knees give out.
Stagger stands beside him, a big gloved hand opening, closing, opening, closing.
“New ground rules,” Levi says, twisting a combination into the big black gun safe next to the door. “These have already been discussed and approved, so there will be no debate. Show me you understand.”
Through the haze, Crane nods.
“First one is for you.” Levi juts his chin at Stagger as he puts the shotgun up and bangs the safe closed. “Your job is to enforce these rules. If at any point I decide you’re not useful enough, I have full clearance to let the hive know, and then I’ll be able to domyjob.”
Stagger does not respond. His hand just keeps opening, closing. Crane tries not to think about the muzzle of the gun touching the side of Harry’s head, the half second of silence as Harry realized what was happening, the deafening boom and the hiss of blood and brain matter hitting the ground before the body did. Crane spent enough time cleaning that up. He’s not sure he could handle it if it was Stagger all over the floor, all the severed worm pieces he’d have to scrape out of the pits in the concrete.
“Then,” Levi continues, “you.” Looking at Crane now. “You are no longer allowed to leave the apartment without explicit permission from me, and you must be under direct supervision twenty-four seven. This includes the gas station. You’re being relieved of all shifts.”
Crane can’t feel his hands. What? No. Levi can’t trap him here like this, he can’t—
“We’ll be reducing hours, day shift only. The girls can handle it. No more difficult than what you’ve been doing for the past few months.” Levi sniffs. “You need anything, I’ll get it for you. You feel anything change with the baby, you let me know immediately. Tammy will be coming down twice a week now. Again, show me you understand.”
Another nod.
