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“Right, but I’m the good-looking guy, and we all know he dies first in the movies.”
“This isn’t a movie,” Cap snapped. “This is reality, and you are more trained than her. You can take her.”
I frowned, feeling a little unsure about that one. “I don’t know. I’d like to think that the military prepared me for all kinds of insurgents, but honestly…she scares me.”
“Me too,” Hunter nodded. “That kid is one hundred percent crazy.”
“She’s. A. Child,” Cap continued.
“Right, a killer child,” I pointed out. “And you know what happens when kids get together.”
“Peer pressure,” Hunter nodded. “Except, when I was in school, they warned us about drugs. Remember, do you want some drugs? Everyone’s doing it.”
“Exactly!” I snapped, pointing at Hunter. “Everyone’s doing it, so I should do it too. That’s what happens when kids get together. They go along with the crowd. Hell, we could have a new Manson family on our hands. Except, they’ll name it after us. The Reed Family.”
“Why does it get named after me?” Cap exclaimed.
“Yeah, he may be the leader, but if anyone’s gonna get to claim this family, I really think it should be someone that holds a little more sway.”
“Yeah, like Knight,” I agreed.
“No,” Hunter argued. “I meant me. I’m the one they should name the family after.”
That was an interesting turn of events. “Why do you think you have the chops to be the leader of the family?”
“Uh, hello? It’s in my name. Hunter,” he said slowly, enunciating every syllable.
“Hunter is your first name. We can’t name a family after your first name. And Papacosta just doesn’t work.”
“Fine, then, Pappy,” he snapped.
“Right,” I snorted. “The Pappy Family. That sounds too chipper. You need something that brings terror to the name.”
“Well, we can’t name it after you. The Sin Family. We’re not trying to start a religious organization.”
“We’re not trying to start anything,” Cap pointed out.
“Which is why I said it should be named after Knight. Face it, out of all of us, he’s the only one with the chops to go on a killing spree. Look at what he did when he thought Kate was dead.”
“Oh, so anyone who loses their mind in grief can now run an organization of killers,” Hunter said mockingly.
“Well, that and the fact that he actually was an assassin,” I pointed out.
“Look, if anyone’s gonna run the family, it’s obviously gonna be Maggie,” Cap spoke up. “Not that I’m recommending we start a family of murderers. Or that our kids will join. I’m just saying, Maggie’s the most unhinged.”
“And yet you keep procreating with her,” Hunter pointed out.
“Hey, you have no idea what it’s like to have a grenade under your mattress,” Cap snapped, his voice cracking slightly. “But this is all nonsense because no one is starting a killing family, nor are our kids about to turn into murderers. We’ve trained them to become the best of the best.”
“Right, and when they join the military, how the hell do you think that’s gonna turn out for us? They won’t respect their leaders and then they’ll get tossed out. In anger, they’ll turn to us, ready to teach us a lesson. I’m telling you, this can only go south,” I argued.
“Okay, let’s say you’re right,” Cap rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Let’s say that we’ve done this all wrong. Maybe we should start socializing them.”
“Right, send them out into the public and unleash them on unwitting citizens,” Hunter laughed.
“No, we do this right,” I jumped in. “We slowly take them out with shock collars on.”
“Like dogs?” Cap laughed.