In the seventeenth chapter of Feed, nope. Nope. If you’re intrigued, then it’s time for Mark to read Feed.
Seventeen
He never picked up the call. He didn’t have the time.
Nope. Nope.
Eight shots were fired.
No. Nope, this is not happening.
Two shots were fired at Rick’s little blue armadillo, two more were fired at the van, and the two after that were fired at my bike. The last two shots were fired at the equipment truck at the back of the caravan, the one Chuck was driving, with Buffy riding shotgun.
This is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening.
The first shot fired at my bike punched a hole in my front tire, sending me weaving out of control. I screamed and swore, fighting with the handlebars as I tried to steady my trajectory enough to keep me from becoming a stain on the side of the road.
WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON???
Rick’s car was still at the front of the pack, but now it was lying stranded on its back, wheels spinning in the air.
NOPE. NOPE. RICK CAN’T DIE YET, I JUST STARTED LIKING HIM.
There was no sign of the van.
You have to be fucking kidding me.
“Maybe a bit much,” he said. For once in his life, he sounded like he meant it.
When Shaun Mason has decided things are too exciting for him, that’s about the time I get extremely fucking frightened.
“Has there been any word from Buffy?”
“Not since the truck went down,” Shaun said.
Oh, no. No.
“Buffy?” I called. “Buffy, are you there?”
A piercing scream was the only answer, followed by a pause, a second scream, and silence. Zombies can scream. They just generally don’t.
Ha ha ha OH MY GOD HELP ME WHAT IS HAPPENING.
He was still wearing it now that he was too far gone to remember how to work the clasp, or even what a clasp was. His hands moved against the air in useless clawing motions as his mouth chomped mindlessly, stimulated by the presence of fresh meat.
There was blood around his mouth. Blood around his mouth, and blood on the seat belt, and blood on the seat where Buffy had been sitting.
NOPE NO NO NO NO WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON.
Unconerned, Shaun raised his pistol and fired. The bullet hit the zombie square between the eyes, and it stopped trying to reach us, going limp as the message of its second, final death was transmitted throughout the body.
Chuck is dead. Chuck is dead. Oh my god. Mira Grant didn’t even refer to him as “Chuck” anymore. He was just “the zombie.” THIS IS SO FUCKED UP.
Buffy smiled. It was a small, utterly resigned expression, one that turned wry as she rolled up her right sleeve and turned her arm toward me, showing the place where a chunk had been bitten out of her forearm. Bone showed through the red.
Aw, fuck it. Fuck. FUCK. Buffy’s dead. She can’t survive this. She’s going to die. Oh my god, WHAT THE FUCK.
“Hi, Shaun. Sorry about this.”
OMG YOU PRECIOUS BABY, DON’T BLAME YOURSELF, OH GOD, YOU’RE GOING TO MAKE ME CRY.
“You’re going to be fine,” I said, watching the lights.
Georgia is not one to lie to make someone feel better. She is lying to make someone feel better. Everything is wrong.
“You’re too attached to the truth, Georgia,” she said. Her voice was serene, at peace with itself. “It makes you a crappy liar.” The tears were falling faster now. “I swear I had no idea they were going to do those things. No idea at all. If I’d known, I would have never agreed to it. You have to believe me, I wouldn’t have.”
wh
what
waht
“They said the country was drifting away from God. They said that we were losing sight of His desires for the nation, and that was why things are the way they are now. And I believed them.”
what the
what the fuck
No, this isn’t real. THIS ISN’T HAPPENING.
“They didn’t give me a name. They just said they could make sure things went the way they needed to go. The way they had to go for this country to be great again. All I had to do was let them access our databases and follow the Ryman campaign.”
ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?????
“It gets worse,” said Shaun. His own voice was flat. “She had our databases cued to the senator’s databases. Didn’t you, Buffy?”
“It seemed practical at the time, and Chuck said it wouldn’t hurt anything as long as we stayed out of the more sensitive areas. It made things easier….”
Done. I am done. I am checking out.
“We stopped being useful. So Buffy’s ‘friends’ tried to take us out.”
what the fuck is life anymore. i am done.
“Buffy–”
“That’s not my name,” she said, and opened her eyes. Her pupils had dilated until they were as large as mine. She turned those unnaturally dark eyes toward me, shaking her head. “I don’t remember my name. But that isn’t it.”
Shaun started to swing his pistol into place. I raised my hand, stopping him. “I hired her,” I said, quietly. “It’s my job to fire her.”
is this really happening is this what i signed up for
“Your name is Georgette Marie Meissonier,” I said, and pulled the trigger.
She fell without another sound. Shaun put his arms around my shoulders, and we stood there, frozen in the night.
Nothing would ever be the same.
The fabulous Threeparts commissioned a reading of this chapter, and it coincidentally ended up in three parts. You can commission any chapter of any upcoming book for just $25, regardless of how many videos it takes (unless the chapter is like 50 pages long; then I would probably ask you to buy “two” videos.)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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