[AC] Bush43 Daily Week Eight

Jason Kenney jasonkenney at gmail.com
Fri Jul 28 10:27:31 PDT 2006


Artifice Comics - http://www.artificecomics.com

Week Eight ends but Bush43 Daily has one more issue to go (Monday's the
last day of July and I said this puppy would run through July).  After
yesterday's big to do, where does our hero go from here?

BUSH43 #59
By Jason Kenney

***

I woke to find myself naked and alone on a bed in a room with no other
furnishings.  I slowly sat up, my stomach protesting by sending pain
through my body, but I did my best in ignoring it.

There was a window near the foot of my bed that gave me a view of the
harbor, the night sky on the horizon, as the sun was setting behind me.

So, it was evening, and I was still in Pacific City.  Unless I don't
know the harbor as well as I'd like to think.

But, what evening?  And, who's place is this?

I looked to the floor beside me to see a pile of clothes, jeans,
t-shirt, underwear, socks, and shoes on top.

Nothing else.

I looked around the small room, as I stood up and started getting
dressed.

A stove sat in one corner, a door open near it to reveal the bathroom.
I assumed the other door on the far wall was to the outside.  No
fridge, nothing on the walls, no other furniture in the room.

I groaned, as I bent over to pull the pants on and my body tensed, as I
stood upright; my teeth clenched, as pain raced through me and then
subsided.

Good Lord, that hurt.

I walked to the bathroom, as I pulled the shirt over my head and
stopped, as I got a good view of the place.

It was obvious no one had used that bathroom in a good number of years
and that no one had cleaned it for a good number of years before that.

I could hold it.

After a bit of effort, I had socks and shoes on and stepped out of the
room.

The hallway was in rough shape, holes in the walls, floors, wind
cutting through from the hole at the end that revealed the outside
world.

Whatever this place was, it was long past condemned.

With one hand self consciously on my stomach, I found my way out of the
building and headed downtown.

***

My path took me near Eldritch's first, and I hoped she was home.

I cursed at myself for taking the stairs and had to stop twice on the
way up to catch my breath and ease the pain from my stomach.  But, I
eventually made it and waited after knocking.

"C'mon, Eldritch," I said under my breath, as I knocked again.

Please don't be on the roof.

No answer.

Shit.

I looked down the hall to the stairwell for a moment, sighing and
looking back to Eldritch's apartment door in front of me.

And, I kicked the door open.

I braced myself against the doorframe with one hand, while the other
clutched at my gut; my teeth clenched, as I took deep breaths and
prayed for the pain to stop.

It didn't completely, but it eased enough for me to move, and I walked
in and shut the door behind me, turning the deadbolt to keep it closed
since the doorknob was now pretty useless.

First things first, I used the bathroom and immediately regretted it.
Peeing blood isn't something anyone liked to see.

I made my way back into Eldritch's one room place and started looking
for a phone to no avail.

I did find the remote.  I sat on her futon and turned on the
television, trying to find news, information, something, anything to
tell me what day it was and what had happened since.

My stomach roared, and I leaned my head back, as I closed my eyes and
tensed my jaw again.

Stop.

Good Lord, please stop.

I brought my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs,
sliding over and laying on Eldritch's futon in the fetal position, as
my body burned.

And, I passed out.

***

I sat up quick, as water splashed into my face.  Then, I crumpled up
and fell over and off the futon just as quick, my stomach hating the
fast motion and sending pain through me once more.

"There's my amusement for the day," said Johann Weisz with a snicker.

"Where's Eldritch?" I groaned, as I slowly straightened myself out and
rolled onto my back, hoping the pain would pass well enough for me to
get up and beat the crap out of Weisz.

"No clue," he said, as he turned and walked into the kitchen area of
the apartment.  "You want something to drink?"

"What day is it?"

"Tuesday," Weisz said, as I heard him open the fridge.  "Where have you
been?"

"Weren't you the one that got me out of the way?"

"Sure, but I just left you on some rooftop.  Here."

I rolled my head back to see Weisz holding a bottle of beer out to me.

"C'mon, I'm being nice to you; take advantage."

I pushed myself up into a sitting position and leaned back against the
futon, as I took the beer from him.

"You just left me on a rooftop?"

"I had somewhere to be," Weisz said, as he sat on the futon and drank
from his beer.  "Besides, I figured you'd heal up and be on your way."

"Where'd you have to be that was so important?"

"None of your damn business."  Weisz shot me a glare, as he took
another drink of his beer.

I decided to start on mine.  Man, did it hit the spot.

"Just be thankful I got you out of there," Weisz said, as he leaned
back.

"Why did you?"

"To keep things interesting."

"You sound like Anna."

"You want me to stab you in the gut for the full effect?"

I didn't reply, just drinking my beer.

"So, where have you been?" Weisz asked again.

"I don't know," I said.  "I woke up earlier this evening in some
condemned apartment building out in the Paper District."

Weisz held back a laugh.

"What?"

"Paper District's been scheduled for some major remodeling later this
week," said Weisz.  "How convenient."

"What kind of remodeling?"

"Let's just say Mikey's grown a pair and is looking to put 'em to use."

"Manly?"

Weisz nodded and took another drink.

"Millennium Man's back?"

"More or less," Weisz said, as he pushed himself to his feet and walked
toward the kitchen area again.

"Why are you being nice to me, Weisz?"

"Because I'm outta here," he said, as he tossed his empty bottle in the
trash.

"Leaving town?"

"Yep.  It was a good gig, but you kids are too fucked up for my
liking."

I shook my head and smirked.  Fucked up was right.

"A bit of advice though, Jeffery," Weisz said, as he headed to the
front door.  "Get out while you can."

"I can't leave, Weisz.  Not with what's coming."

He stopped at the door and looked at me.

"What's coming is why you should leave."

"What do you know, Weisz?"

He hesitated and then smirked.

"What have you done?"

"Hopefully, I've saved this city," he said with a shrug.  "But, only
time will tell, I guess."

And, he left.

***

Isiah Rowe looked worn out when he answered the door.

"Jesus Christ," he said, as his eyes widened at the sight of me.

"Same initials," I said with a smirk. "Different name."

"Where the hell have you been, man?" he asked, as he stepped aside and
let me in.  "I've practically had to disconnect the goddamn phone
because of you."

"Folks have been calling?"

"Someone got wind that you lived here, and it was all downhill from
there.  So, where have you been?"

"I don't know," I said, as I sat on the couch with a sigh.  "Last thing
I remember is the Siege Engine.  I woke up earlier this evening in some
condemned apartment building."

"Are you okay?" asked Isiah, as he sat next to me on the couch.

"Still working on that.  So, the world knows I'm Bush43 now?"

"What?  No, no one's said anything."

"No shit?"

"Why would they?"

"Erlend outted me in front of Jordan and Self Thursday," I said.
"Right after he fired me."

"So, you didn't resign?"

"Is that what they're saying?"

"Yeah, you resigned after the Mayor said he would be turning Bush43
over to the Australian authorities."

"Which conveniently explains the fight in front of City Hall."

"That's been the headline," Isiah said, as he got to his feet.  "You
want a drink?"

"I'm fine," I said, as he went to the kitchen.  "What have they said
about that?"

"Well, the big deal is the Siege Engine," Isiah shouted from the
kitchen.  "The Australian government sent it for you, and the Mayor's
pissed about it."

"Shocker."

Isiah came back from the kitchen with a couple beers and held one out
to me.  I took it, despite having said I didn't want it.

"No, I mean real pissed.  The word 'war' has been tossed around by both
sides."

"No shit?"

"Less by the feds, but, just the same, they're now officially calling
Romanov a terrorist and saying he must resign or else."

"How's the city reacting?"

"Wait and see, I guess."

"What's the city saying about Bush43?"

"A lot of folks saw Weisz pull you out, but no one's seen him since.
There's talk of a split within the New Mages.  Some folks think you've
switched sides."

"They think I'm with the federal government?"

"That's the rumor."

"And for me the City Hall guy?"

"Vacation.  At least, that's what I've been telling folks."

"Vacation where?"

"Some retiree nudist colony."

"Thanks."

We both knocked our beers back and then sat in silence for a few
moments.

"Cassandra called for you," he said finally, and I nearly dropped my
drink.

"Is she okay?"

"She sounded it.  Was looking for you, trying to see if you were all
right."

I stood up.

"Is she home?"

"She didn't say," Isiah said.  "You should call her before you go
running over there."

"Yeah," I said, looking to the phone and taking another swig of beer.
"Shit, how did she sound?"

"She sounded fine.  You know Millennium Man's back?"

"Yeah, I heard.  And, he's supposed to be taking down the Paper
District."

"I hadn't heard that."

"I need to get to City Hall."

"But, you resigned," Isiah said with a smirk.

"So, I won't do any work."

"Jeffery, I think the Mayor has made it quite obvious that he doesn't
want your input or you around, to be quite honest."

"All the more reason to go."

"Look," said Isiah, as he stood up, shaking his head. "I can't tell you
what to do, but I think it's time you backed off.  Or went more
discrete.  A lot has happened in the last few days, man, a lot of
things that don't bode well."

"What's he going to do?  Try and kill me again?"

"Do you really want to tempt that?"

I didn't answer that.

"You going to call Cassandra?"

I looked to the phone again, as if it'd just do the work for me and
settle that.

It didn't.

Shit.




More information about the racc mailing list