Zombie Guys

Mom and I board a flight to Fangoria to visit Alicia Carter, my wife. She's a special forces soldier who's here on a peacekeeping mission in this foreign country. But the moment we walk out of the airport, we're ambushed by a group of kidnappers. One of them holds a gun to Mom's head and says, "If you don't give us the ransom in three days, we'll blow her head off!" In a panic, I make a video call to Alicia, my hands shaking as I beg her to help me. "Calm down, honey. I'll put in a request to lead a rescue mission. We'll save her within 24 hours!" But the next day, I keep failing to get in touch with Alicia. After I blow up her phone with multiple calls, one finally connects. Amid her rushed panting, she tells me, "Sorry, honey. I just got assigned to an urgent escort mission. You guys just hang in there. I've arranged for the local authorities to—" Her voice is abruptly cut off by a familiar male voice. "Alicia! Thank goodness you came over just to pick me up. I didn't have to spend 100 dollars on a cab after all! That cab driver didn't even have a license, and I can't believe he tried to ask for more money…" The three-day deadline passes, and the kidnappers keep their word, letting me hear the gunshot myself. As I clutch Mom's cold, dead body, Alicia calls me out of nowhere. "Hey, honey. I just completed the escort mission. How are things on your end? Have the kidnappers released her?" I look down at Mom. Her eyes will never open again. I gently wipe the blood off her face as I reply to Alicia in an eerily calm voice, "Yeah. They have."

Shortly after we said "I do," the Family sent my husband, Dario, down to the Mexican border. He told me it was a meat grinder down there—cartel territory. where guys were zipped into body bags every day. He said he had to go—to expand the territory, for the glory of the Family. He claimed it was too dangerous and that his enemies would paint a target on my back, so he wouldn't take me with him. I believed him. I stayed behind in his old, rot-infested house in New Jersey, taking care of his bitter, spiteful parents. I spent my days and nights in the Family's moldy laundromat, washing bills stained with blood. He told me he sent every dime he made down there to the widow of a brother who took a bullet for him. He asked me to be understanding. I never complained. Day after day, I pressed expensive suits in that humid laundromat, waiting for him to come home. It wasn't until the eighth year that a mobster came back drunk. When I asked about Dario, he froze, then sneered at me through a haze of alcohol. "Dario? Are you kidding? He’s been a King in Manhattan for years. He’s the youngest Underboss of the Corleone family." I stood frozen, the iron in my hand burning a hole right through a shirt. "And he got married seven years ago. Biggest cathedral in New Jersey. Half the mob was there to toast the groom..." He pulled a crumpled photo from his leather jacket. Snuggled up against my husband was a woman in a high-end couture gown—the very same "poor, widowed sister-in-law" he had told me about. The next day, I contacted a fixer who specialized in fake IDs. On the application for a one-way ticket to Europe—a ticket to vanish off the face of the earth—I filled in the fake name I had prepared long ago. He trapped me for seven years with a sham marriage. From now on, I’d be done with this damn loyalty.

“Bakit sumunod kayo rito?" tanong n'ya sa mga kaibigan n'ya. “Nandito ang bagong misyon natin kaya pinapunta kami ni Boss dito." sagot ni Via sa kan'ya. "Sino?" tanong ko kay Via. “Ang pamilya Lazardo." sagot naman ni Fritzie. “The hell! Ang pamilya ni Franz,?" gulat kong tanong sa kanila. “Kilala mo ang mga Lazardo?" tanong naman ni Mau. “Guys, naalala ninyo iyong lalake na nakabangga ko sa Hongkong?" tanong ko sa kanila. “Anong kinalaman ng lalake na 'yon sa misyon natin?" tanong ulit ni Mau. “Puta naman oh! Ano question and answer portion ba ito ha Pia?" naiinip na tanong ni Cassy. “Ang nakabangga ko sa Hongkong na lalake at ang tinutukoy ninyo na pamilya Lazardo ay related sa isa't-isa. Siya lang naman ang panganay na anak nina tita Victoria at tito Mauro." mahabang paliwanag ko sa kanila. “So iyong lalake na tinutukoy mo ang mas dilikado ang buhay dahil s'ya ang tagapagmana ng isang Mafia Boss." sabat ni Via sa usapan. “What the hell!? Ibig sabihin si tito Mauro ay isang Mafia Boss! Kaya pala no'ng kaarawan ni tita Vicky ay may nagtangka sa buhay nila, mabuti nalang at matalas ang pakiramdam ko kaya nakita ko 'agad ang tatlong lalake na balak sanang maglagay ng lason sa mga baso ng mga Lazardo," mahaba kong paliwanag sa kanila. “Pero ang pinaka punterya nila ay iyong lalake dahil s'ya ang tagapagmana sa lahat kaya mas dilikado ang buhay n'ya." saad ni Mau. “Kaya lumapit ang mag-asawa kay Boss upang humingi ng tulong para maproteksyonan ang mga anak nila." sabi naman ni Via. "At nabalitaan namin na may mga ibang grupo na ang 'andito sa probinsya kaya kami napasugod 'agad." dagdag pa ni Via. Paano pagnalaman ni Franz na ang babaeng nasa likod ng maskara at ang babaeng pinakamamahal n'ya ay iisa?