Jamie’s mom vomited inside the bottom of the oven and had no choice but to bask in it.
The bile bubbled and burned, filling the air with a stench that might have been bothersome if we hadn’t dealt with worse.
Not long after, an onset of hypertension had blood spilling from her nose. In the end, she looked like a giant, roll of warm, pink flesh, dying slowly from asphyxiation. That didn’t seem too bad of a way to go to me.
When Ace emerged from the bedroom, silence followed. After coming loud enough for all of us—including her parents to hear—I could imagine Jamie felt ashamed right now.
Sweat dotted his brow; the hammer was clutched tightly in his left hand. I grinned at the predatory look on his face. This was one of my favorite parts, watching what was left of a person’s humanity wither and die as something heinous took its place.
Going right up to Jamie’s dad, Ace flipped the hammer around so that the claw would be doing the damage.
“This is for, Tucker,” he rasped.
The man mumbled something that sounded a lot like, “fuck you,” Which was a valid rebuttal, also stupid as fuck.
He’d gone despondent about twenty minutes ago. I couldn’t blame him; he knew he was going to die.
I had yet to move out of the way when Ace delivered the first blow, and he swung a fuck of a lot harder than I was expecting. There was an immediate crack and bellow of pain. The second blow split the skull.
The tenth hit had the man losing consciousness. Now that he’d gotten started, I let him go until he decided it was enough.
Jamie shuffled out of the bedroom on the fifteenth, screaming like a wounded animal, launching herself in a sad rescue attempt.
Tobias caught her around the middle, hushing her softly as she sunk to the floor much like her mother had, yelling some bullshit to her father.
“I don’t think he can hear you anymore, sweetheart,” Maliki told her, readjusting his mask.
I blocked her out entirely, focusing on the hammer currently obliterating a man’s head. I counted a total of thirty-two blows, all to the top and back of the skull. The force and severity of them caused numerous fractures—blood went everywhere.
The result was something that scarcely looked human. It was definitely a sight I’d remember. Ace’s look of sheer devotion to his task only cemented the fact I’d made the right choice with this one. Chest heaving, shirt drenched in blood, sweat, and bits of something fatty, he walked backward, dropping the hammer into the duffel bag.
“I’m done,” he rasped looking over at me.
“I see that,” I mused, standing from the couch I’d gone to sit on.
“What are you going to do with her?” Trix gestured to where Jamie was huddled on the floor in a puddle of piss.
My lip curled at the sight of it.
It was fucking pathetic.
This whole ‘family’ was a waste of Badlands resources and oxygen. We’d come in and torn it apart with very little force, clearly doing everyone a favor.
“Leave her alive, now she can feel how I do,” Ace replied.
Trix, Maliki, and Tobias all looked to me for the final decision.
“Works for me,” I said with a shrug. “Matter of fact…” Going to where she was huddled, I lifted her and started dragging her towards the back door.
Tobias wordlessly opened it for me, moving to the side so I could get through.
“Pleas—.”
“Shut up.”
I damn near tossed her from the porch. She looked at me, a mixture of terror and confusion as to why I took her outside.
“Run,” I harshly demanded.