pepsi

Short sharp breath. Frantic running. Flashes of light pierce the darkness. Bursts of gunfire break the silence. Peps turns to return the fire before ducking into an alley. Panic. Peps pelts to the end of the alley and dives into the street. Gunfire still blasting behind him. Sirens blare in the distance. Reinforcements. He takes a split second to consider, “left or right.” Both ends are brightly lit. Left he goes scrambling as fast as he can. Car-tires screeching. A land rover turns into the street ahead of him. He stops, curses, turns back running. Gunfire. His flung forward to his right. He spins to return fire mid flight. More gunfire. Peps hit the ground hard, sending searing pain through him.

            Silence. He touches his chest with his left hand, and then lifts it to his face to look at the blood. He gasps. The pain grows in intensity. He feels wet, uncertain if it’s the puddle of water he lies in, or the blood, or both. Two pairs of steps move towards him. Pepsi tries to raise his head but cannot. Two blurry figures stop at his sides. Admiring their work.

            “Finish him, the pest deserves it any way,” the potbellied one says.

            “That would be extra….,”the younger one starts but his voice trails of when his superior looks at him. “My apologies,” he adds before raising his pistol level to his head…

            BANG! BANG! BANG! Came the noise that stirred peps from his sleep. Beast was laughing hysterically while pounding at the table. Baba sat opposite him cleaning his gun with a grin on his face. He never really laughed.

            “What is so damn hilarious?” peps demanded, a little startled though visibly furious.

            “You mate. That’s what’s funny. You’ve screaming and squealing like a little whore,” beast replied. “Having another vision,” he teased 

            Peps rubbed his eyes and face with both hands. Now fully awake he mould over the tease. He was superstitious and never let such dream go lightly. This was the third time he had died the same way in a dream. The idea was haunting. He didn’t want to dwell on it any longer but he was sure it would weigh heavily on his mind.

            “So oh great one what did you see this time,” beast went on with the tease. This time trying to posture his large frame and enormous arms into a bow. “Did the gods show you the future of our next lootings?”

            Peps looked up and laughed with him this time. “They said you ought to get me a drink and a whore. Can you manage that?” He stood up to reach for the bottle but sat back down when he noticed it was empty. “Do we have anymore or did you just drain everything?” Baba looked up and replied “We didn’t have much, we need to get more.”

            “lets  go for a walk then,” peps responded almost immediately. he was eager to avoid revisiting the dream. He grabbed his guns and tucked them into his belt. Threw on his jacket and headed for the door. Beyond the door they were the whispers. No one dared speak their names aloud. No one dared mention their deeds. They reigned brutality wherever they went. They spilt blood with every chance they had. For peps, this was his comfort. Whispers were their entourage. Their actions were worse than those of demons.

Now they were on their way to reign more violence and terror.

            Baba and beast walked on either flank of peps. Peps dreaded the dream he had and wanted to inflict pain on any living thing he saw. Beast was not human. He lacked an element that made him qualify. Baba on the other hand was broken in more ways than one could count. Their slum life had hardened them. They reveled in causing pain. Beast used to be the instigator but this night peps would start the cycle.

            They walked into the pub starting a brawl with those who tried to walk out. Peps, repeatedly, kicking one of the clients in the face and ribs. Beast  was punching another for sitting when they came in. baba laughed hysterically as though the brutality was comical. The owner tried to intervene  but was silence by a blow to the jaw. He staggered falling backwards while baba grinned on.

            When the carnage was over peps made his demands through winded breathes. “ old man… you owe me… or else wouldn’t be here.”

            “But I paid for this month, I gave you everything,” he replied

            “ Rates went up again we want more plus double the supply of liquor.”......