God Hates Us All
16. Readjusment
He thought he could never get away with it. But he did; Zacky was currently in hiding in another state, accompanied by Detective Ramirez... or former Detective Ramirez; she had quit the force partly because of PTSD and partly because she wanted to be with Zacky. It was a nice, arid area... Arizona as a matter of fact. Dusty had suggested it, because he knew that Matt and Syn were likely to look further away from Texas should they ever come back to the United States. Arizona would be among the last places they would look, Dusty said. Which Zacky and Annaliese were fine with.
Zacky, for his part, was contemplating his future. Avenged Sevenfold was dead, gone forever- it had died when Matt had devised the plans for the church bombing. And he really wasn't interested in playing music, full stop. The events of the past year or so had wrought about a massive change in Zacky. He was now more afraid of Matt and Syn then ever, would never again feel safe without a gun in his hand... Then, it hit him. He knew exactly what he wanted to do.
"How ya doin' brother?" Dusty said over the phone. "Good Dusty how are ya? Can we meet in say, 3 hours?" "Your house?" "Yeah, my house." "What's on your mind Zack?" "I need to talk to you about something. Something I'll need your help with"
Dusty sat, wide eyed, as Zacky had finished telling him what he needed. Simultaneously pleased and sceptical. "So let me get this straight" Dusty said, eyes narrowed at Zacky, who had a look of mingled determination and defiance on his face, "you wanna join the Army?" "Yeah, that's exactly what I wanna do" Zacky said. "Look son, I know you handled yourself well in the field, you'd make a great soldier" Dusty said, "but are you joining for the right reasons? Because if it's just for revenge, I suggest you throw that idea down the shitter. You've got a wife to be, for fuck's sake." "Dusty, her and I have talked about it" Zacky said, upset but determined, "and she's more than okay with it. After everything that has happened, I can't just sit here waiting to find out whether me and her get killed or not. Hell, I can't live with that fact that my fellow Americans might get killed at any moment! I can' just sit here anymore, while people are getting blown up, tortured, killed, whatever. I need this, Dusty. If anything else was to happen, I'd rather go to the grave knowing that I fought to stop it all, rather than sat around like a fucking cow in the slaughterhouse just waiting to die!" Dusty could see his point- the kid was determined. "Alright kid, I'll make some calls, get you in" Dusty said. Zacky was relieved, he knew it was going to take years to get into Special Ops, but he was willing to wait... saved being a sitting duck.
Zacky, for his part, was contemplating his future. Avenged Sevenfold was dead, gone forever- it had died when Matt had devised the plans for the church bombing. And he really wasn't interested in playing music, full stop. The events of the past year or so had wrought about a massive change in Zacky. He was now more afraid of Matt and Syn then ever, would never again feel safe without a gun in his hand... Then, it hit him. He knew exactly what he wanted to do.
"How ya doin' brother?" Dusty said over the phone. "Good Dusty how are ya? Can we meet in say, 3 hours?" "Your house?" "Yeah, my house." "What's on your mind Zack?" "I need to talk to you about something. Something I'll need your help with"
Dusty sat, wide eyed, as Zacky had finished telling him what he needed. Simultaneously pleased and sceptical. "So let me get this straight" Dusty said, eyes narrowed at Zacky, who had a look of mingled determination and defiance on his face, "you wanna join the Army?" "Yeah, that's exactly what I wanna do" Zacky said. "Look son, I know you handled yourself well in the field, you'd make a great soldier" Dusty said, "but are you joining for the right reasons? Because if it's just for revenge, I suggest you throw that idea down the shitter. You've got a wife to be, for fuck's sake." "Dusty, her and I have talked about it" Zacky said, upset but determined, "and she's more than okay with it. After everything that has happened, I can't just sit here waiting to find out whether me and her get killed or not. Hell, I can't live with that fact that my fellow Americans might get killed at any moment! I can' just sit here anymore, while people are getting blown up, tortured, killed, whatever. I need this, Dusty. If anything else was to happen, I'd rather go to the grave knowing that I fought to stop it all, rather than sat around like a fucking cow in the slaughterhouse just waiting to die!" Dusty could see his point- the kid was determined. "Alright kid, I'll make some calls, get you in" Dusty said. Zacky was relieved, he knew it was going to take years to get into Special Ops, but he was willing to wait... saved being a sitting duck.
10/8/13