Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Resolve

“Sooooo… What’re we gonna do with all this mess?” Hiro asked.

“Pfft. You think we’re gonna clean it up?” Maki laughed. “We’re gettin’ outta here!”

“But won't the police be investigating this? They might trace it back to you.”

“Psh!” She waved her hand dismissively. “You think a great and mighty genius such as I would be that careless? Our fingerprints aren’t registered in any database, and I got my little hornets to disable all the security cameras. What more do you want?”

“I mean, that’s cool and all, but what about all the zombiefied dead bodies lying around?”

“That just makes things better for us. News is gonna say some monster did it. Ain’t no way they’re tracin’ it back to an innocent and sweet-lookin’ girl like Haruka, right?”

“I guess…”

“Let’s go. Before someone comes here.” Haruka marched toward the front door.

“Yes, ma’am.” Maki opened her mouth wide to yawn. “Ugh… Man, I’m pooped. What time is it?”

Hiro checked his phone. “Almost three.”

“Yeah, no. It’s bedtime!”

“What?” Haruka spun around to face her. “We’ve been here too long.”

“Just one more night. Don’t worry about it!”

“You say that all the time and I worry every single time.”

“Listen, a beautiful and charming princess like me needs all the beauty sleep in the world! Though I’ll make an exception for this beauty!” She hugged the pierce rocket tightly.

Haruka sighed. “Fine. But we leave right after.”

“Okie dokie! Hiro, we’re crashin’ at your place!”

“So long as you don’t wake up the people in the other house,” he said.

The three went down the hill and made it to the truck. Maki hopped inside the driver’s seat and hot-wired it. The engine hummed for a few seconds before turning back off.

“Eh?”

She tried again. This time, the vehicle only vibrated for a quick second.

“What the hell, man?”

She banged the steering wheel with her fists. Unfortunately, this barbaric method didn’t work out.

“Uhhh, I think we have a problem.” Hiro bent down and pointed at a pool of gasoline below the truck.

Maki fell to her knees, clutching the sand beneath her. “Guys… We have to walk back.”

“Let’s go.” Haruka started moving down the road.

“Wait, we’re just gonna leave the truck?” Hiro asked.

Maki kicked one of the wheels. “It’s a stupid piece of junk anyway.”

After a grueling hour on foot in the cold night, the exhausted trio were once again back at the farm. Dragging his feet to his home, Hiro unlocked the door. Maki rushed inside and tossed her belongings on the floor. After taking her shoes off, she dropped to the couch.

“Ah, what a long ass day!” She stretched her arms and legs as far as she could. “Gettin’ hungry again. You got some food?”

“I thought you were going to sleep,” Haruka said.

“Hunger pangs. They strike at the weirdest of times.”

Hiro kept his hands in his pockets. “Help yourselves to whatever you want in the fridge.”

“Woo! Don’t mind if I do!” Maki excitedly sprinted to the kitchen.

“I apologize for her rudeness.” Haruka gave a light bow.

“I did say make yourselves at home. Just try not to make too much of a mess.” He turned to the door.

“Understood. Are you going somewhere?”

“Ah, yeah. There’s something I need to do before I leave this place. You don’t have to wait for me. I don’t know how long I’ll take.”

“Understood.”

He stepped out and slowly walked toward Granny Jay’s house. He stood in front of the door, but didn’t do anything. After taking the time to contemplate on what to say, he took a deep breath.

“Here goes…”

No one responded when he knocked on the door.

“Maybe I should come back in the morning.”

He gripped the ruby pendant inside his pocket.

“No. It should be now. I might not get another chance.”

He knocked again. Silence answered him. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to take his leave. Before he could walk away however, he heard a gruff voice yell from inside the shack.

“Hey! Who was that?! Somebody out there?”

Hiro pinched his forehead. “Did it have to be him?”

Footsteps thundered toward him. The door knob turned. Johnny burst through the door with bloodshot eyes and disheveled hair. Drool dribbled down his curly beard. The instant he saw Hiro, he clicked his tongue loudly. 

“You?! Do you have any idea what time it is? Where the heck is the truck?”

“Ah, haha… Funny story. So it ran out of gas and I had to walk back here.”

Johnny rubbed his temples, trying to calm himself down. “So you’re telling me that not only did you take the truck that you were banned from, you left it behind?”

“Y-Yeah. Sorry.”

“Where did you even go?”

Explaining everything to Johnny of all people, especially when it wasn’t even dawn yet, was not something Hiro wanted to do.

“Well, that’s a long story. I can tell you and Granny Jay more about it tomorrow. I just came to return this.” He took out the necklace from his pocket.

Johnny snatched it from his hands. “Hey, isn’t this Mom’s? Why do you have this?”

“Like I said, long story.”

“No! Don’t give me that crap! The guy from Bandito had this, so why in the world is it now with you?”

“Trust me; everything’s alright. Just give her the necklace for me.”

“Yeah, right. Ain’t no way I’m trusting anything out of your damn mouth. What the heck did you do?”

Hiro looked down. “Bandito’s gone. They’re not gonna be a problem anymore.”

Johnny’s eyebrows shot up. “Say what now? Are you drunk?”

“No, we—” He cleared his throat. “They’re all taken care of.”

“And I’m supposed to believe you just magically made it happen?”

“Look, it’s very hard to explain. Just give this to Granny Jay and—”

“You can’t expect me to go along with that. Did you mess with Bandito again? Is that why you took the truck so late into the night?”

He couldn’t find the right words to say.

Johnny jabbed Hiro’s chest with his finger. “Haven’t you had enough? Is Miles being DEAD not a wake up call?!”

Hiro shook his head and took a step back, but Johnny moved forward and grabbed him by the collar.

“You’re gonna get us KILLED! Is that what you want?”

Hiro grabbed Johnny’s hand, but couldn’t get it off of him.

“Are you listening?!” In a fit of rage, Johnny thrust his fist straight into Hiro’s nose.

Hiro fell to the ground; blood poured out of his bruised nose. Gripping his knee, he stood up, still dazed from the sudden blow.

“Tch. That’s what you get. I swear, if Bandito makes our lives a living hell ‘cause of you—”

“Shut up!” Hiro rushed at him haphazardly, almost tripping on a nearby rock. While his footing was unstable, Johnny smacked him in the chin. He then flung his foot upwards, smashing it into his groin.

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It felt as though the air in Hiro’s lungs was forced out of him. “That… hit was cheap, asshole.”

Gritting his teeth, Hiro planted his foot in the sand and grabbed Johnny’s leg. He tried to shake him off-balance, but alas, his leg was too heavy. Johnny stomped repeatedly, causing Hiro to loosen his grip. With his full weight, he tackled him to the ground.

Sand flew into the air as Hiro struggled to get his foe off. He grabbed both of Johnny’s sweaty arms, but it was too slippery for him to keep his hold. In desperation, Hiro headbutted him.

“Ow! Look who’s cheap now!” Johnny rolled off of him, rubbing his forehead.

Hiro’s vision blurred for a few seconds. “Look, man. I did what I came here for. Let me leave. I won’t bother you anymore.”

Yelling at the top of his lungs, Johnny charged at him at full speed. Hiro stepped to the side to dodge. It seemed as though Johnny’s punch would miss, but he suddenly opened his hand, tossing sand that he had secretly hidden directly into Hiro’s face.

He felt a burning sensation in his eyes. While he tried to rub the sand off, Johnny kicked him in the stomach. Hiro hunched forward, holding his hand over his mouth. Johnny then struck his chin with an uppercut, sending him flat on the ground. Before Hiro could recover, he got on top of him and slapped him across the face.

“Stop screwing us over!” Johnny’s voice cracked.

Hiro tried to lift his hands, but Johnny placed his legs over his arms, locking them in place.

He slapped Hiro again. “We were better off never meeting trash like you! You’re a curse!” He balled his hand into a fist.

Before his punch could land, Hiro forced his eyes open, ignoring the intense pain. They flashed green, and he managed to evade the hit in time. Stretching his mouth open, Hiro chomped on his arm.

Johnny screeched in agony. He punched Hiro’s head with his other hand, but this only led Hiro to sink his teeth deeper. Johnny winced back; Hiro pushed against his adversary's weight with all his might until finally, Johnny buckled and rolled off to the side.

Hiro wiped off as much sand as he could with his sleeve. Tears kept flowing down his now inflamed eyes. Johnny arduously stood to his feet, but Hiro kicked him back down.

“Ungrateful scum!” Johnny yelled. “All you do is ruin things for us!”

Hiro spat in his face. “Don’t lump yourself in with Miles and Granny Jay. I don’t give a damn about you, Johnny!”

“You got Uncle Miles killed, asshole! You don’t give a damn about him either!”

Hiro lifted his foot up to stomp on him. “You shut the hell up!”

Johnny blocked him with his arm, leaving a large bruise. “You just can’t handle the truth!”

“Why are you blaming me? This is all Bandito’s fault!”

“None of this would've happened if you just minded your own business!”

Hiro stomped on his arm again. “What do you want me to do?! Just ignore them?”

“YES!”

“Bandito just kills whoever they want and steals whatever they want! You’re okay with that?”

“Of course! So long as we do nothing, nothing bad will happen to us. It’s been that way for years. You think you of all people can make a change?”

Hiro’s fist trembled. “So what? We just sit back and watch?”

Johnny slammed his fist against the ground. “You didn’t, and look what happened! Miles is DEAD, and it’s all because of YOU!”

“Boys!”

The two turned their heads toward Granny Jay. She limped toward them from the front door, nearly dropping her cane in the process. Her hair was disheveled, and her face distraught.

“Boys, what are you doing?!”

“Granny Jay!” Hiro ran toward her. “You’re awake!”

“Anyone would be after hearing all that noise. Now, what are you two doing in the dead of the night? And you, Hiro, where did you go with the truck? I was worried sick!”

Hiro rushed over to Johnny, who was still lying on the ground, and took the necklace that was in his pocket. He put it in her hand. “Here. I was able to get this back.”

She stared at the inscribed words on the back of the pendant. “This is my… but how?”

He held her hand. “Everything’s okay n—”

“Don’t listen to him, Mom!” Johnny stood up, holding his knee for support. “He’s making trouble with Bandito again!”

“I did not!”

Granny Jay looked up at him. “Hiro, is this true?”

His lips quivered. “N-No… I mean, yes, but…”

“Hiro! We just lost Miles! What are you doing?”

“But everything’s alright now! Just look at their—”

He suddenly remembered the large mass of corpses inside Bandito’s hideout. Not knowing how to explain all of that without revealing the two girls in his home, he decided not to continue that sentence.

She held on to his hand firmly. “Look at their what?”

He froze in silence.

Johnny pushed him away. “See, Mom? He’s just a troublemaker! What do you see in him?”

She ignored him. “Hiro, what happened? You can tell me.”

He took a few steps back. “I-It’s okay. It’s really late. Can we just go back and settle this tomorrow?”

“As if!” Johnny yelled. “Explain yourself right now!”

Granny Jay jabbed his toe with her cane. “Johnny, no. Look at you both, all bloodied up. Get yourselves cleaned, and we can talk tomorrow. Okay?”

“But, Mom, we can’t just let him leave!” He grabbed Hiro’s shoulder. “Whatever bull you wanna keep spilling about everything being fine and taken care of, stop it. What’re we gonna do about Bandito, huh? Are they gonna come for me and Mom too?”

Hiro snapped. He knew that Johnny wouldn’t listen to a word he said. Readying his fist, he punched him in the jaw. “SHUT THE HELL UP, JOHNNY!”

Johnny fell backward, hitting Granny Jay in the process. The two plummeted down to the street. He landed on her cane, snapping it in two. Granny Jay clutched her knee, screaming in pain.

Hiro could do nothing but stare in shock. “What have I done?” he muttered under his breath.

Johnny hopped back to his feet and grabbed Hiro’s jacket. A mixture of drool and blood trickled down his mouth; he took deep and heavy breaths as he scowled at him.

“What the hell, man?! Look what you did to Mom!”

Tears dropped down Hiro’s cheeks. “I… I’m s-s—”

He changed his mind mid-sentence. Very soon, he’ll be leaving the village with criminals. Staying attached to Granny Jay would only make things more difficult. If he was to pursue his new goal, he would have to cut ties.

Clutching Johnny’s arms, he pulled them away. “I’m done with you.”

“...Huh?”

Without warning, Hiro struck his nose with another headbutt. Johnny was knocked out cold.

Granny Jay looked at him, visibly terrified. “Hiro…”

His eyes flashed green as he looked back at her coldly. He opened his mouth, but decided he was better off not saying anything. Turning around, he walked back to his home. He could hear her frail voice call out his name over and over again.

But still, he walked on.

He entered his home, and as soon as he stepped in, he heard a loud, guttural snore. To his right, Haruka and Maki were sleeping on the couch. Maki’s arms and legs were all over the place, her mouth wide open. Haruka was curled up into a ball, completely still.

He had completely forgotten to tell them to use Miles’ room.

Dragging his feet to his room, he found that the drawer of his table had been opened. Two picture frames rested on top of his bed.

“Did they look around my stuff?”

He picked up one of the frames, which had fallen on its front. It was a family photo of a young boy and girl with their parents.

CRASH!

The instant he saw the photo, he flung it toward the wall. Shattered glass scattered around the floor.

Hiro’s breathing grew fast and unsteady; his trembling fingers felt numb. Slowly, he turned to the second picture frame. It was an image of Miles and Hiro standing side by side, with Miles’ arm wrapped tightly around Hiro’s shoulder. After a while, his breathing calmed down.

He picked up the second frame and fell onto his bed. Biting his lip didn’t help to stop him from bawling out.

He grasped his blanket.

“Miles… Granny Jay… I’m so sorry.”

He cried himself to sleep.

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