Episode 7: Replacement

Episode 7

"Replacement"

(Brad)

I was sitting at the bar, just drinking. Floor nine at the lounge, this is where I spent most of my time now. Just drinking and trying to forget what I had to do to Lindsey. Charlie doesn't have much to do with me anymore, he has hired three new managers to take up Lindsey's place alone. He is really stepping up his defence, it's only a matter of time until he decides he doesn't need me anymore. Then what do I do? I am living on bought time and I don't know what to do. The bartender lady walked up to me.

"You need another one Brad?" she asked.

I looked at her name tag, her name was Jillian.

"Yeah, please." I said, pushing my glass over to her. She grabbed it and poured some whiskey into it, and slid it back my way. Took a sip and rested my head onto the table.

"You okay?" Jillian asked me.

"Yeah, I'm just tired is all." I mumbled.

"Alright, if you need anything just tell me." and with that she walked away.

The lounge was pretty empty today. Not many people drink in the afternoon, except the losers with nothing left to lose like me. Lindsey was my friend, I will never be able to forgive myself for ending her life. There could have been another way, I was scared of Charlie and I acted stupid and killed her. It's not much longer before Charlie sends someone to kill me as well.

As I drank in the lounge, I heard a stool pull up beside me. I turned my head to see Charlie. It caught me off guard, because he rarely ever left the comfort of his own suite. The few people who were in the bar including Jillian looked pretty surprised too. But they kept on doing what they were doing to avoid bugging him. I let out a small sigh when I saw him, I knew his trip here was not going to be good.

"Hello Brad." he said.

"Hi Charlie." I mumbled.

He picked up my glass and drank the last of it in one sip. He placed the cup down and looked me in the eyes. I found it difficult to look at him back.

"So," he started, "I know you may be feeling left out lately, and I totally understand. I've hired a bunch of new managers in replacement of the loss of Lindsey, and I've been teaching them the ropes. Don't worry, I won't replace you if that's what you're thinking. As long as you stay loyal to me of course. We don't want the same situation with Lindsey to happen to you now, do we?"

"N-no." I stuttered.

"Good, I know you understand how much Lockwood means to me. Lindsey and you helped me build this place up from the bottom when this apocalypse first started out. It hurt me tremendously to have to see Lindsey go. But I care about the safety of everyone here too much to let her ruin that."

"I understand." I lied, slightly shivering in fear.

"I'm glad you do. The last thing I need is for my own people to start disliking me. Because that's un loyal, and un loyalty is something that can't go unpunished."

I knew exactly what Charlie was trying to do. He was trying to scare me, he was testing to make sure I would not do the same Lindsey did. He knows he pissed me off in killing Lindsey, and he's trying to make sure I don't do anything about it. I had to go along though, I don't want to end up on Charlie's kill list.

"The managers and I are planning an attack on the mansion in a few days," Charlie stated, "we're going to wipe out Jeff and his group for good this time. We keep putting it off, and it's ridiculous. They all should have been wiped off the face of the earth by now. We'll just send in a small army, no need to go overboard. They're not powerful at all, they're crippled from that conflict they had with Ryder's bandits."

"Sounds like a good plan." I said.

"We're going to take Jeff and Samantha alive. I want Jeff to suffer for what he did, and I want him to look all of the Lockwood residents in the eyes."

"What are you planning on doing with Samantha?" I asked, trying to sound interested.

"I don't know yet. I'll figure it out."

"What do you do after Jeff has suffered enough?" I asked.

"He will never be able to suffer enough, he took my true love away from me. I plan on making the rest of his useless life a living hell."

I was terrified. Charlie is a psychopath, he really is. He needs to be stopped, but I'm afraid he's too powerful to stop now. The only person who is going to stop him now is himself. If he keeps acting like this, he will eventually fall. I just don't know when. Charlie could keep on with his reign of terror for a long time, that's the scary part. I'm afraid I'm going to have to stay by his side until I find an opportunity to get out of this deathtrap.

"Do you want to know all the ways I plan on torturing him?" Charlie looked at me, a devilish smile appeared on his face.

My lip started to quiver, I was trying so hard not to crack, but I wasn't doing a very good job of hiding it.

"I'm sure you'll surprise me, don't want to spoil it, right?" I said with a fake smile.

Charlie nodded and got up from his stool.

"I can't wait until I catch this son of a bitch." he said, he then started walking away, he was a lot slower with that cane though.

As soon as he left, I felt a weight leave my chest. I was so tense around him, I was afraid to even breathe wrong. He knows what I think of him, and his only way to keep me in line now is fear. He can lie to the other people here and make them think he's the good guy, but I can see right through him. Lindsey did too, and that's why she's dead.

"You okay?" Jillian asked me from the other side of the counter.

"Yeah, fine." I smiled at her.

"My shift just ended, you wanna take a walk?" she asked me.

I thought about it for a while, then I decided that I probably need to let some stress off. Maybe hanging out with someone help.

"Sure, thanks." I said, getting up.

We left the bar and went outside to walk around the park. At the back of Lockwood, there was a small park area with a big statue of Charlie in the middle of it all. He was so full of himself, it made me sick.

"You are one of the managers here right?" Jillian asked me.

"Yeah, but I don't know how much of a manager I am anymore." I replied.

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know, Charlie's hired a bunch of new people, he's just moving on I guess."

I couldn't tell Jillian the real reason Charlie was slowly trying to replace me, I can't put her life in danger.

"Don't be too down on yourself, I mean at least you're living in Lockwood. It's the safest place around, once Charlie deals with Jeff and those rebels, we will all be living in peace."

"Yeah," I said, "we're pretty luck here aren't we."

"The only thing I don't like about it is how serious everyone is about their work. It's so hard to get to know people, everyone's all stressed out. I'm glad you took the time to take this walk with me." Jillian said.

"You're welcome, I guess." I said.

After walking for a while, we took a seat on some benches by the big Charlie statue and some water fountains. Jillian brought out her arms and put them behind her head in a relaxed posture. I sat next to her and tried doing the same to look natural. She was a very beautiful woman, I'm surprised she's had such trouble meeting people. She had long blonde hair and green eyes. She had tanned skin, and it she just gave off this friendly aura.

"Do you have any other jobs than just being a manager here?" she asked me.

"Nope, just a manager." I responded.

"You have any kids here?"

I sat there for a moment and stared at the ground, I was trying to forget about Brianna. She was my daughter, and I lost her a while back.

"U-used to."

"Oh my god I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine," I said, "really, don't worry about it. We've all lost someone before."

"I lost my sister," she said, "her name was Miranda. Before I got to Lockwood we were in another group. We didn't fit in at all. We were in a group of a bunch of bikers. The leader was named Clark. He was a real piece of crap. His biker gang was full of pigs, they just treated us like objects. I don't think I was ever called by my name there. One day, Miranda and I tried to escape. We were so close too. We were caught and Miranda took the fall, she told Clark it was her idea, even though it was mine. They killed her right then and there."

Jillian started tearing up, I was getting nervous. I didn't know what to say or do.

"It's okay, you don't need to say anymore. Sometimes it's the people we have to worry about in this world, not the stranglers." I said, looking over at the statue of Charlie.

"I really like you Brad," she said, "I know we just met, but I feel like I can just trust you. Maybe we can hang out another time?"

"Yes of course." I said.

Jillian smiled at me and left, I guess she was embarrassed about crying in front of me. I actually did want to see her again though. I liked her. She took my mind off of things, maybe she was just what I needed to get myself through this tough time. Maybe we could run away someday. I looked at the statue of Charlie again, I wanted to throw up. He was such a liar, he was a horrible person. I can't believe I have to put up with this guy. I stood up and slowly walked right up to the statue. It showed Charlie standing tall and looking off into the distance with a smug look on his face. I clenched my fists and looked around me. There was nobody in the park today, I spit on the statue and walked away.

(Charlie)

I sat at my desk with my old radio playing. It was playing some classical tunes I used to listen to when I was a kid. I was looking at an old map of Kingston. I had a bunch of scouts go out and list where all the outposts were exactly on the map. I also had them sketch exactly where Jeff's base was. Near the middle of Kingston was Lockwood. All throughout the city were small outposts spread out to cover the most ground as possible. We covered most of Kingston, and we had eyes everywhere. There were eight outposts in total, all drawn around the map in different areas. On the side of the map, right next to a highway that leads out of Kingston, was were the mansion was sketched. We weren't far from each other. I should have ordered an attack weeks ago to just trash the place. We should have came roaring in with all the manpower we had and just obliterated the mansion. Not because we need the manpower, but because it would scare the shit out of Jeff and show him just who he was messing with. I didn't do that though. I want to get this attack just right, I can't be too sloppy. I need this attack to go just right. A small army that doesn't attract many stranglers, and just enough to secure the mansion and kill everyone except Jeff and Samantha. We will bring them in and make them walk a walk of shame past all of the residents of Lockwood. It is going to be glorious, I can't wait. I am going to trample all over Jeff's dignity. And for Samantha, I don't know what I'm going to do with her yet.

I rolled up the map and placed it into a drawer in my desk. I stood up and grabbed my cane that was leaning on the wall. I got up and started walking around my suite until I got to my leather couch. I sat down on it and placed my cane beside me. There was a phone on the coffee table, the phone was directed straight to the other managers phones. I picked up the phone and called them.

"Meet me in my suite, we need to make some final preparations for the attack." I said.

With that, I hung up the phone and waited on the couch. Jeff was not going to survive much longer.