Breaking Creed

43

There wasn’t a day that went by that Jason didn’t think about — or have nightmares about — those 164 seconds that changed his life forever.

Without prompting, he could taste that dust in his mouth and feel the rock against his cheek as he lay helpless, not realizing at that moment that his arm had been severed and blown completely off his body. All he could see was his sergeant, no more than ten feet away. Jason hadn’t been able to take his eyes off the bloody pulp that used to be the man’s face. But he was still alive. Somehow they put him back together again, just like they did with Jason.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

Some days — most days — Jason wished they had let him die.

Then there were days he contemplated rectifying their decision. It’d be so easy. Some of his friends had done just that.

So now, sitting here trapped in a vehicle with a poisonous snake at his feet, he actually thought, How bad could it be? Why not just let the snake bite him? How much could it hurt? It’d probably be a few minutes of intense pain. He’d already been there, done that. Piece of cake.

He toyed with the idea. Hell, Creed’s idea might get him bitten anyway. Rather than try that, he could grab the thing.

He watched the tail slink farther out of the sack and was surprised by the panic in his gut. Was that a good sign? Had today — tracking through the woods, finding death — given him some strange purpose? What was he waiting for? He had the perfect opportunity. A poisonous snake. No gun, no blood, no mess for his mom.

No, with his luck he wouldn’t die, again.

“What are you waiting for?”

The voice startled Jason. He’d forgotten that he had put the cell phone in his pocket but hadn’t disconnected. Creed wanted him to stay on the line to make sure he was okay. He’d clicked on the speaker option.

“Can snakes hear?” Jason asked with his chin on his chest to get his mouth close to the phone.

“I think they feel vibration. So they might be able to feel your voice.”

“Then shut up.”

He was waiting for a comeback, but Creed was actually listening, which made Jason more nervous that the snake could probably hear him even breathing.

He slowly lifted his hand while getting ready to lift his left leg. It took him too long to find the door handle, making him more anxious. He gripped the lever, squeezed, and raised it almost in slow motion. The door clicked and he started raising his foot when he noticed movement in the burlap bag. A second tail poked out.

“Holy crap! There’s more than one.”

“Easy, you can do this.” He heard Creed’s whisper in his pocket.

Jason swung open the door and jerked his foot up. With his other boot he swept at the burlap bag. It was instinctive, like kicking out a live grenade. He watched the bag tumble out the door as snakes started twisting and falling out. Both his feet were on the car seat and he was standing, his back against the roof as he watched them hit the ground.

“What the hell’s happening?”

Jason climbed over the console, knocking his knee and scraping his ear on the overhead light. Somehow he managed to get out the other door. His boots hit the ground, and he ran up the steps to the front porch. From there he could see the snakes getting untangled and winding out. His fingers were shaking when he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“I’m okay. Looks like there were three sons of bitches in the bag.”

“Sheriff Holt is sending someone to get you,” Creed told him. “You did good.”

He breathed a deep sigh of relief, and it surprised him how good it felt to still be alive.