“Oh, wow. I didn’t know that.”
“Well, it is my job,” Eddie laughed and climbed up on a chair to get behind the wall-mounted TV. “Yeah, it appears that the HDMI cable is a bit loose,” he pulled it out, wiped the cable with his gloved fingers, and pushed it back into its port. “Try the TV now,” Eddie said, hopping down off the chair.
“The picture is perfect. Man, maybe the gloves thing really does work,” Heck laughed and turned back to the TV. Eddie went for the opportunity and punched straight for his jaw. The punch was expertly placed and exceptionally rapid—Heck went down and hit the ground hard. Eddie moved behind him and removed a thin metal cord from his jacket pocket, looping it around Heck’s neck. Eddie twisted the wooden handle that was connected to the cord, and he placed his knee into Heck’s back as he leaned backward. The metal cord tore into Heck’s flesh, and his shirt was quickly becoming soaked with blood. The more Heck fought, the deeper the cord cut. Eddie continued to pull on the cord until Heck’s arms and shoulders went limp. Eddie removed the cord from around Heck’s throat, and his body fell forward with a loud thump as it hit the carpet. Eddie walked to the bathroom and washed the cord before returning it to his pocket. He pulled out a black pawn and left it on the dresser. Eddie then wiped the remote down for any fingerprints he left behind, and he opened the door slightly. Once the coast was clear, he exited the room and locked the door. He took his gloves off and hid them in his pocket as he walked past the reception desk and back into this car. The dog was still snoring on the backseat when Eddie returned.
“It's good that you’re sleeping now, because tonight is going to be really fun for the both of us.”
27
Eddie pulled into a motel off the interstate just outside of North Utica, and he knew that he needed some time to get some rest in. He was up for the whole night, and now he’d already killed two people. He got the key for his motel room and requested one on the ground floor so he could easily sneak the dog into the room with him—he was more than aware that dogs weren’t allowed in this motel, but he was too tired to care.
He looked around to ensure that no one was looking, and he walked into the motel room with his new canine friend at his side. “Well, this is disgusting,” Eddie commented as he made a face. “It seems that the interior decorator decided to go for 50 shades of poop.” He shook his head, closed the room door, and sat down on the edge of the bed. The German Shepherd decided to find a spot to lay down.
“Good boy,” he petted the dog’s head. “I wonder what your name would be. Well, you were owned by a simpleton, so it was probably something with a single syllable,” He shifted on the bed and looked at the dog. “Hmmmm . . . Max?” The German Shepherd’s ears perked up, and he tilted his head. “Well that was easy enough. Alright, Max, I’m going to get some shut-eye. Wake me if someone comes,” Eddie giggled and fell asleep.
A couple of hours later, Eddie woke up and was slightly confused to where he was. He looked around and then remembered: Oh yeah, the shitty motel room. He sat up and peered at Max lying on the floor next to him, who was panting away with his ears perked up. Eddie stretched and stood up from the bed.
“Are you hungry, boy?” Eddie asked, and immediately, Max got excited. “Alright, let’s go find a place to grab some food.” They left the hotel room, and Eddie turned in the key. Even though he paid for a whole day, he had to keep moving.
They drove along the interstate until Eddie saw a sign for the world’s best roadhouse.
“We’re almost there, boy,” Eddie pulled off the interstate and drove toward the roadhouse. He parked the car and opened the door for Max to go and pee. He ordered two large cheeseburgers and large bottles of water with an extra-large bowl. He didn’t tell the attendant why he required the bowl, but they brought one to him anyway.
“Thank you very much,” Eddie said as he opened one of the bottles of water and poured it into the bowl. He called for Max, who came charging back and then lapped up all of the water in the bowl. About 15 minutes later, the burgers came, and Eddie gave one to Max while he ate the other. While Eddie was busy eating, he saw that there was an outdoor shop around the corner: “We should probably get some supplies if we’re heading into the woods.” Max looked at him when he was finished with his burger. Eddie said, “You know, it’s much nicer talking to dogs than it is talking to people.” Max tilted his head like he understood what Eddie was saying.
Once the burgers were eaten, Eddie walked with a slight limp with Max toward the outdoor store, and he wondered if he would be able to take Max inside with him. He got to the entrance and one of the employees immediately tried to stop him from entering.
“He’s my therapy dog. He needs to go with me wherever I do in case I become suicidal,” Eddie said with a very serious expression. The shop employee didn’t know what to say and chose to let them in. Eddie smiled and wished that Max could understand how funny that was. He walked around the store with Max closely behind, and he
