MICAH

twenty-one.

The stairs creaked with the weight from the girl. Her footsteps echoed in the hallway as she walked down the stairs. She had on a floral dress that probably belonged to the dead woman in the living room. It was buttoned up to her neck and had long sleeves. She sat at the table across from me as I ate eggs and bacon. I nodded to the counter where I had made a plate for her. She leaned over and reached for it with one hand.

We ate in silence. The chewing was all that crashed on top of the silence. The fork hitting the plates began to annoy me so I looked at her and tried to smile.

"Hey." I nodded at her, "Good?"

"Gormet." She stared at her plate swirling her bacon in her eggs.

I stood and put my plate in the sink turning the water on. I stopped and thought about it and turned the water off. Walking up the stairs, I looked for the bathroom and walked in.

There was blood splattered on my face and the cuffs of my shirt were dark red. The water was cold as I splashed my face trying to clean up best I could. I rummaged through the medicine cabinet and found a razor.

Walking back downstairs clean shaven in a fresh red orange flannel shirt and blue jeans donated by the oldest son, I went back into the kitchen and packed a backpack of food I could take with me. Rushing to leave I burned the bodies in the back of the house and grabbed my duffel ready to leave.

"Wait!" I turned around to see the girl running after me, her green curls bouncing behind her, "I want to come."

I shook my head at her, "No."

"Why not?" She put her hands on her hips. She was short and very thin.

"You'll die." I faced the road again and continued to walk.

"I can take care of myself!" She pouted.

I scoffed, "I saw."

We walked in silence. By the time we had gotten to the next town there was an unspoken agreement that we were together.

Street lights began to turn on as we strolled through town. I began searching for my target, a local snitch known for the in town gossip. Typical hang out was in the alley near the pub.

He stood with his hands deep in his pockets leaning against the brick wall. His leg shook anxiously like he was jonesing for a hit of some drug. He ran both his hands through his long brown hair and looked around worried with his beady brown eyes.

"Sonny." I quickened my pace to him.

"Oh great, it's Death himself." Sonny began to twitch.

"I need information." I reached in my backpack and took out an apple and gave it to Sonny. He began to inhale it quickly, eating everything but the stem. "Micah. Where is she?"

"Micah? She's untouchable."

"I asked you where she was." I restated.

"Look, you're a buff good lookin guy. I get it. Man on a mission. Bond, James Bond. But Micah is untouchable. This is way above your pay grade and most definitely above mine. You think it's just Rebels vs. Royals? Oh heck no!"

Anger seered through me. I grabbed Sonny's collar and threw him against the wall. His feet kicked out into the air, "One more time" I said through my teeth, "Where. Is. She."

Sonny gagged and choked struggling to get loose from my grip, "Okay! Okay!" I dropped him and he bent over gasping for air coughing, "Jeez Hulk." He stood up straightening his disheveled clothing, "Look, word on the street is home girl is starting an army and playing God herself. She's weeding out the imperfect and slaughtering them keeping only the cream of the crop."

"What for?" I asked confused.

"Because she's crazy, psycho, bored, take your pick." Sonny put his hands back in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels.

"Where can I find her?" I asked.

"You don't. Norma Bates is one cooc nobody don't wants to mess with."

I wiped my hand down my face and took in a deep breath letting it out frustrated, "Even Norma had Norman." I stormed off.

The cool breeze felt nice on my face as I tried to cool down. I stopped as I edged towards the end of town. I put my hands on my hips trying to figure out my next move.

"Hey." I turned around to see the girl standing there. She put all her weight onto one foot and was holding her elbow with one hand awkwardly.

"Hey." I nodded at her.

"Can I, uh, join you?"

I was tired. My legs burned from walking all day. My toes were cramped and I was hungry again.

"Motel behind you. We should sleep." I began to walk past her.

"I don't have any slips." She casted her eyes down.

"I raided the home. We're fine."

She followed behind me into the motel room. I let her have the bed and dropped my duffel by the wall and lied down on the floor using the duffle as a pillow.

"What now?" She asked lying on her stomach facing me.

I looked at the ceiling, "I'll figure it out."

She was quiet for a bit before she asked timidly, "Are you a good person?"

I thought about the question. What really defined good anyways? All I did was for a reason. The people I killed were bad and did bad things and would continue to do bad things. Still, I couldn't let go of the thought that what Ekki said was true as well. Maybe we were the same person. Maybe I wasn't as good as I thought I was. Maybe she had it right all along.

I shook my head disturbed at my own thoughts and where they took me. I looked at her and smiled.

"I guess we'll see."

Author's Note:
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