Mister Arsene and the city of Pedra Branca, Part 2 and Last
By: realvinie
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The radio played the classic song “Country Road”. While Arsene drove the huge cart at high speed, the open windows made the wind blow in his long, embarrassed beard, which danced in a rhythm of pure chaos.
In one hand, the steering wheel was in a strong grip and in the other, a bottle of vodka, something Arsene believed, was a terrible substitute for whiskey, but it was just what he had after countless hours of travel.
Still, he felt alive. It had been a long time since he had performed the function he was born to perform and that, for him, was living. First, deceive the suckers of Invictos and buy a piece of land, then take Alex’s truck and fill the crap with those pests to finally release them in strategic places in that fluff-free “paradise”, and when they need it most, offer it his wonderful services as an exterminator.
Sure, it was a little difficult to get the itineraries of the border guards between the island and the mainland, but with the connections he had, it was relatively quick. So all you had to do was speed up that huge wagon during the changing of the guards’ shifts in order to smuggle the worms. Something he was an expert on.
And now everything was coming together perfectly, and he could enjoy the wind and freedom, in addition to the smell of the forest he was going through, or at least that was the intention, but the smell of shitty fluffies on the body was getting problematic; which combined with the noise of mumbling and crying, noises that were louder than the radio itself … made the whole experience hell.
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Shirley was sitting in the dark, thinking about everything that had happened in the past six months, months that the old man had turned into hell. Since he “adopted” her against her will and forced her to leave her family’s home, the routine was always the same.
Forced labor for food, beatings when he drank too much and got angry, and when he felt she was annoying, imprisonment in an iron cage made for dogs.
And it was in that cold cage that she found herself, deep in the body of that big truck that he rented, or stole, and by the vibration he felt, he was sure that they were going fast; very fast.
Shirley knew it was a horrible idea, but there was no use talking or complaining because no one there would listen. And even if there were someone to listen to, that person would have their ears saturated with moans and screams from the hundred fluffies who, like her, were trapped in cages in that dark body.
Still, she sympathized with the little creatures, especially since she was in a similar situation, but most of this so-called sympathy was gone because of the terrible smell of shit and urine combined with the irritating mutters.
But if there was a god somewhere, she thought, that only he could save her.
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Arsene was driving the truck at high speed. In his mind, paranoia increased with each kilometer traveled, while he imagined the guards noticing the marks of the wagon wheels and running after him. He didn’t want to be arrested again. He COULD NOT be arrested.
He didn’t know why, but with the end of the vodka he started to feel more and more paranoid, maybe he could relax a little if he stopped to “teach a lesson” to that ungrateful girl, but he felt he didn’t have time. And he accelerated more, pressing the accelerator pedal as far as possible, releasing it only when he saw the curve ahead.
But the truck continued to accelerate, and he realized that the accelerator pedal was locked.
There was no time to brake.
There was no way around it.
The only thing he could do was to raise his arms in a vain attempt at protection.
And so, the truck left the road and entered at full speed through the branches and trees of the forest; initially separating from its load and then abruptly rotating continuously.
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Shirley woke up with the touch of something on her forehead, and, when she opened her eyes, saw that a cute girl was poking her forehead, trying to wake her up.
She didn’t understand what was going on with all the chaos around her.
She felt a lot of pain and, according to the previous experience of several “educational classes” that Arsene taught , it was broken.
The clothes she wore were completely soiled with excrement, as well as torn in several places, and her body was full of cuts and scrapes. Undoubtedly, because she hit the cage so badly that it trapped her during the accident.
But the cage was now open due to some impact, and not just hers, but all the cages that contained the fluffies appeared to have been opened; as well as the entrance doors of the truck body, which showed the vast vegetation outside.
The strangest of all was that, even among all the fluffies who were still desperately running out, it was that she saw no bodies. They all seemed to have survived; and even one of them, a small unicorn with dark brown fur and bluish mane, stayed behind and decided to wake her up and help her, even trying, in vain, to drag her with his little jaw.
Doubts grew in her mind, but she knew that time was the essence of everything, so she grabbed the fluffy who was trying to help her, even though there was some protest, and ran out, in the best possible way, just to see the destruction caused by accident.
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Arsene regained consciousness in the middle of the twisted metal. Pain was the only thing on his mind. Still, he tried to analyze the situation “coldly”, something hampered by the consumption of the vodka bottle, but he still tried.
The lower part of his body was stuck in the cabin’s fittings, while his torso, arms and head were free after he crossed the vehicle’s windshield.
He really believed that a miracle happened as he should already be dead.
Feeling a hot liquid seeping down his forehead, he realized he was bleeding, and felt an edge of despair; but it was then that he saw hope.
Coming out of the truck body, a part of the truck that was actually less damaged, was Shirley. Wounds covered her body, just like shit and urine as she carried a brownish fluffy on her left arm.
“You are finally in your environment, huh!” she said with a bitter smile, but as she showed no emotion at the comment, he continued “Come on, brat, help me out of here!”
The black-haired girl looked around as if analyzing the situation and smiled innocently.
“No” — she replied simply, commenting without emotion — “look… It seemed that there were sparks near the fuel tank…”
“WAIT? WHAT!” — Arsene was startled…she wouldn’t… She COULDN’T! I took you out of your shitty family, I gave you a house and food, you HAVE to get me out of here FAST, SO STOP THIS SHIT AND HELP ME!”
“No”. The short answer came again, and she, still holding the brownish fluffy, turned and started walking towards the road as hundreds of fluffies spilled out, fleeing the scene of the accident towards the various corners of the forest.
“Shirley, why? Why don’t you help me, I gave you EVERYTHING!”
The girl stopped and looked sideways at the old man stuck in the hardware.
"Why? Because, fuck you.” And She continued to walk.
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Brady was arriving for his shift when he was ringing signals from a truck passing the island’s border, and he was already texting for support in his investigation when he saw in the distance a great glow and black smoke covering the sky.
Something had just exploded.
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