Pushing open a back door, she stepped into the small courtyard between the hotel and the newspaper building. The new wall rose up enclosing the courtyard and blocking her view of the town, but she didn’t care. She was done with this shit town. Johnson ran ahead of them and opened up the doors to the newspaper office. He had picked it open the night before and it swung open on freshly oiled hinges. Blanche strode confidently inside and walked down the long narrow hallway, barely paying attention to the old offices. Again, Johnson ran ahead and opened up the door to the loading dock that was now used as a garage. Her Hummer sat there, beautiful and waiting for them among the rest of the shitkicker vehicles the fort vermin had collected.
Stephen rushed over to the board where all the keys hung and grabbed the ones for the Hummer. At least he was good for that much, Blanche thought bitterly. “Pack the Hummer, get ready to go,” Blanche said tersely. “And do what we planned, okay?”
Stephen nodded and obeyed.
“Hey, once we’re out of here, what are we doing with him,” Brewster whispered to Blanche.
“I’ll take care of him. He’s deadweight in this world.”
Johnson handed Blanche the revolver with the silencer she had specifically requested from her mansion. She took it with a smile.
“Keep to the plan,” she said. The door on the far side of the room opened and Juan walked in with Ray. Ray looked nervous, but Juan looked almost frantic. Blanche wondered what the hell Ray had told him to get him down to the garage.
“What happened? Is she okay?” Juan asked as he drew near. “How did she get hurt?”
Blanche calmly pressed the muzzle of the silencer against the underside of Jenni’s chin. Juan stopped cold, his eyes growing wide. “What the fuck?”
“We’re leaving and you’re opening the gate,” Blanche said coolly.
Juan blinked, taking it all in. He looked sharply at Ray, who backed away, ducking his head. “What the hell is going on, Ray?”
“We’re leaving,” Brewster said in his loud booming voice. “And you’re letting us out.”
“You could have just asked,” Juan hissed at them.
“Oh, like you would have let the Hummer go,” Blanche said mockingly.
“This is about your fucking car? Travis said your husband was all crazy to get it back.”
Blanche just laughed. “It’s about my fucking treatment around here. I am taking my car, my men, and I’m going home.”
“Fine, but you can’t take her!”
“I’ll give her back to you once we’re through the gate. I’ll leave her off on a corner somewhere in town and you can hurry your little ass out there to get her before the zombies do,” Blanche assured him.
Of course, it was a lie. Blanche had come to hate Jenni about as much as she hated anyone. She was going to enjoy making the little bitch her...well...slave. She wasn’t sure why she hated her so much, but it was probably because everyone seemed to adore the fucking crazy spic.
“Bitch,” Juan spat.
Blanche nodded and shrugged. She flipped the safety off. “Now, I have no problem shooting her if you don’t do as I say.”
“You shoot her, I won’t let you out.” “No, no, someone else will let us out because then you’ll be our hostage,” Blanche assured him.
“I don’t believe you,” Juan said after a beat. “You don’t have it in you. You wouldn’t even do guard duty.”
Blanche shrugged, then looked over at Stephen. “Stephen?” “Yes, dear?” he replied softly. He was obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation.
Blanche shot him four times in the chest and watched with some satisfaction as a look of surprise gave way to horror on her husband’s face, then he collapsed.
“I will shoot her,” Blanche said calmly.
Juan backed up a few steps, shaken. Even Ray looked horrified.
“Damn,” Brewster muttered.
“I didn’t sign up for this,” Johnson said unexpectedly.
“What?” Blanche turned toward him, startled. “I didn’t sign up for you killing people. You said we were leaving, that’s all.” He was backing away from her, his hand moving toward his gun.
Blanche fired at him, hitting him twice in the chest. She made a mental count of her rounds and patted her pocket for the other clip. She was uncertain if she had started with a full clip or not.
“You’re fucking crazy,” Juan shouted at her.
“Start the car,” Blanche told Ray. He hesitated, then obeyed, moving to the Hummer and picking up the keys from Stephen’s limp hand.
Well, at least her favorite two were left, Blanche decided.
Brewster still had a good grip on Jenni, but he was looking unsteady, unsure.
Blanche wondered if she had read these men wrong. She had expected them to be more ruthless. She sighed. Stupid Shane. He would have had her back.
Juan took a step forward. “Just take me, okay? Let her go. I’ll tell them to open the gate and you can drop me off somewhere. Okay?”
Blanche considered this. It was tempting but she really needed a maid to upkeep the mansion. Though she was loathe to admit it, she envied Jenni. Juan may be Mexican, but he was rather hot. She shook her head, trying to concentrate on the here and now.
“Now, Juan, don’t go messing up my plans,” Blanche ordered. He stared at her, then shook his head, fear in his eyes. “You’re lying. I can see it. I don’t trust you. Give me Jenni and then just go. Just go.”
Blanche hesitated. It sounded so easy when he said it. But it wasn’t. She had a point to make here. They had not treated her as they should have, plain and simple. They had all treated her like shit. Yet, they weren’t worthy to lick the heels of her $14,000 boots. She had been forced to mop, dust, clean dishes, and put up with stupid people. She and Stephen had to share a room and she wasn’t even given any sort of personal maid.
There was a fucking point to be made here. These stupid people did not realize who she was! She was a shining daughter of the fucking damn state of Texas. She moved in circles with the gawddamn Hiltons and Donald Trump. She was a fucking somebody and they were fucking shitkickers.
“Just, please, put the gun down and let Jenni go,” Juan said softly. “Don’t tell me what to do!” Her infamous temper flared and before she realized what she was doing, she swung the gun around and shot Juan.
He staggered backwards, then collapsed against the wall. “Why the fuck did you do that?” Brewster demanded.
She turned to tell him to shut up.
Jenni’s head came up sharply, snapping back and bursting Brewster nose with a deafening thwack. Blood sprayed everywhere and Blanche ducked away, trying to avoid it. Brewster grunted and went down with a thud.