Little Dead Monsters by Kieran Song Page A

That’s the way it’s always been for me.”
    Ryker smiled. “I think you’re going to do very well as our champion. You remind me a lot of Tiberius — your confidence and the way you manhandle your opponents. You still have a long way to go to be the champion he was, but I have high hopes for you. Who knows? Maybe one day, you can join him and be at my side as a personal bodyguard. It’s a great reward.”
    “Here’s what I don’t get,” Dog said as he put down the plastic fork. “If Tiberius is such a great warrior and has the capabilities to beat down everyone, why the hell does he stick around? What’s to stop him from breaking your neck and leaving this place? And don’t tell me it’s because of loyalty, because that’s a lie.”
    “I’ll let you in on a little secret,” Ryker said with grin. “Tiberius is afraid of me.”
    “I find that hard to believe. The guy is twice your size. Hell he can probably poke a hole through your head with his pinky finger.”
    “You’re still too young to know about what fear really is,” Ryker said. “It’s not just about physical intimidation. Men like Tiberius, and yourself, are not afraid to die.”
    “So what’s he scared of then?”
    “Like all weak-minded individuals, he’s a slave to someone he loves,” Ryker said. “When Tiberius was first brought to the pits long ago, he had his sister with him. After watching his first fight, I was immediately addicted to his style of fighting. I’ve never seen a man so large move with such quickness and speed. I wanted to see more, so I took his sister and promised to keep her safe and well-treated as long as he kept fighting for me in the pits. He destroyed all his opponents, fuelled with the hopes that one day I’d deliver her back to him.”
    “And is she safe?” Dog asked him.
    Ryker laughed. “That’s a question Tiberius should be asking me. I can see that pathetic look on his face sometimes, when he goes all teary-eyed, wanting to know the truth about his sister but too afraid to ask the question because he’s afraid of the answer. He lives on blind hope.”
    “You didn’t answer my question. Is she safe?”
    “I said she was, didn’t I?” Ryker said. Dog found that hard to believe.
    “And what about your other guards? What prevents them from putting a bullet through your head?”
    Ryker seemed surprised by the question, as if the thought never crossed his mind. “Why would any of my guards wish to harm me? I’m the best thing that has happened to them.”
    Dallas nodded. “It’s true.”
    “I treat everyone of my guards like gold. Whereas the rest of the world turned their collective backs on them, I took them in and gave them a second chance at life,” Ryker explained. “Take Dallas here for example. He came out of prison with a record of manslaughter and armed robbery. No one gave him a chance, so he ended up sleeping on the streets, much like yourself. However I found him, took him in, and gave him work that best suited his qualities. He makes good money now with his fair share of perks. The same goes for all the other guards. They are loyal to me because in return, I treat them as important members of this society I’ve created.”
    “What about the slaves?” Dog asked. “They’re treated like crap.”
    “In every society, someone will always get shit on and it’s usually the weak,” Ryker said. “This great country of ours, we built it by shitting on the natives that originally inhabited our land. We spent the following century shitting on the rest of the world. We build empires on the backs of the weak.”
    Dog had no argument for Ryker, so instead, he went back to eating the delicious food on his plate.
    “I’ve revealed a lot about myself to you Dog. Now, I want to know more about you. Tell me what you want out of life,” Ryker said.
    “I want a metal fork and these chains off,” Dog said.
    Ryker chuckled. “Not yet. I want to know more about you