Chapter 18 - Not a Tank

Maggie looked at Zazurus aka Jack’s game bank with giddy excitement. “Oh, my God! You have the staff of everlasting light! They are like impossible to get,” Maggie squealed when she saw the epic weapon.

“Yeah had it for a while but I doubt I’ll ever use it,” Jack replied with a shrug.

“That’s a shame, such a beautiful item shouldn’t be locked away like that,” Maggie said with sadness. “I’d give my right arm for one,” she added wistfully.

“You want it?” he asked and she looked at him in shock.

“Of course! Who wouldn’t want one,” she replied trying to play it cool.

“Well I can give it to you, if you want,” he stated.

“Seriously?” she asked with awe and he nodded. “Yes I want, I want!” She cried out.

“Then it’s yours, I’ll mail it to you now.”

Maggie watched him do just that and mail it to her character. “Oh my God, oh my God! You’re the best,” she squealed jumping around then doing a victory dance that.

Zazurus started laughing as he watched her. “Damn I wish other women were that easy to please,” he joked earning a happy smile from Maggie.

“What the hell is going on?” Tank asked leaning in the doorway with an exhausted haggard look about him as he stared at them with a strange, confused look on his face.

“Only the best day of my life,” Maggie said with a large smile on her face. “It’s Zazurus Tank, THE Zazurus,” Maggie said running up to Tank excitedly.

He looked at her confused then frowned. “Why are you talking?” Tank whispered in a harsh whisper.

“Tank?” Zazurus asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah he’s Tank because I couldn’t remember his name and he’s kind of been my tank,” Maggie admitted bashfully.

Zazurus started laughing so hard he nearly fell off the chair. “Right. I’ll have to remember that,” he said with an evil smile. “So how you feeling...Tank?” he asked with a mocking tone.

“Don’t call me that,” Tank shot at him.

Maggie cringed, realizing he was angry.

“Alright, alright don’t get your panties in a bunch,” Zazurus said laughing but then turned serious. “Next time you need my help how about you don’t lie to me! I nearly let Larson walk out of here with her.”

“Larson was here?” Tank asked looking surprised.

“Yeah came playing the good cop but when Styrene refused to leave he shown his true colors. I told you that he’d go dirty didn’t I? But you never listen to me and now he left with a nice hole in his side.”

Tank turned to her and Maggie was sure he was going to lecture her about something but instead asked if she was okay and she nodded in reply. Tank marched over to Zazurus and grabbed his shirt roughly with his good arm. “Who have you told about her?” he demanded, looking positively furious.

Zazurus frown, his expression turning dark. “Get your hands off of me Brian,” he said, pushing him back.

Maggie took a worried step back away from them, she had no idea what had gotten into Tank.

“I haven’t told anyone,” Zazurus said fixing his clothes. “Chase and I are on the outs and honestly I prefer it to stay that way. He was bloody before, but now he’s just plain psychotic. A couple of days ago he wiped out like ten of his own men just because they were a little worried about the trial. Plus how can I sell out a fellow gamer and apparently big fan of mine,” he stated, giving Maggie a wink She could help but smile a little at that but Tank frowned even more. “We should get going,” he stated sourly.

“Sure that’s a good idea man? You’re still pretty weak and that arm needs to heal. It’s got to stay immobile or it could start bleeding again and even get infected” Zazurus explained. “You can stay here for a day or two.”

Maggie gasped when Tank pulled her against his chest and held on to her. “Thanks but no, we’ll be leaving,” he said coldly.

“Oh so it’s like that,” Zazurus said with a smirk.

Tank narrowed his eyes at him but said nothing. Zazurus then looked at Maggie. “Well I’ll see you in game Styrene,” he told her and his smirk grew and Tank scoffed at him. Tank took her hand and started to pull her out of the apartment.

“Bye Zazurus,” Maggie replied back and Tank’s grip on her hand tightened. When they reached his car, Tank got in the driver’s seat this time with a cold expression on his face. Maggie sat down in the passenger side of the car, not sure why he was so angry. She cringed when he sped off so quickly that tires squealed and gripped the side of the door for dear life.

They had been driving for an hour before Tank finally started to slow down. “Where are we going?” Maggie finally got up the nerve to ask.

“I don’t know, I’m still trying to figure that one out still,” he snapped causing Maggie to jump which made her irritated.

“What is your problem?” She demanded. She didn’t think she did anything wrong, but he was treating her as if she had done something really bad.

“My problem is that you're too naïve for your own good,” he snapped. “I told you not to talk, but I wake up to find you chatting along with Jack as if you two had been old friends,” he explained harshly.

“Why wouldn’t I talk to him, he saved me from the other guy? Also he not only plays the game but is like the number one player,” she replied.

Tank scoffed as he shook his head. “Wake up Maggie, this is the real world and Jack is a con man. He made a living off of lying, cheating, stealing, and using people for his own profit. He didn’t ‘save you’ because he’s a good guy. He did it because he saw it suited his personal interest at the moment. And your comment about him playing the game is just plain stupid.”

Maggie glared at him and crossed her arms feeling hurt. “Why did you even go there if he such a bad guy?” She asked with a harshness of her own.

“Because he also happens to be an ex-med student too, I knew he could patch me up,” Tank shot back quickly with a large frown on his face.

Maggie scoffed now with a bitter laugh. “You say he is bad for using people for his own profit but it sounds like you just did the same thing to him,” She snapped and then turned to look out the window.

They didn’t speak anymore while he drove, Maggie was stiff and tired. She just wanted to go home and forget all of this mess more than anything. Tank was confusing her all the time and she had just about had enough. She sighed watching the landscape zoom past her as she longed for her life the way it was before. In this new life of hers nothing made sense, she didn’t know who to be wary of or who to trust.

Tank was something like a friend but he was snapping at her as the mad turtle of the sewers of Maxark. Zazurus - Jack was supposed to be a bad guy and honestly he did play a rogue, but he was nice to her and gave her the staff of everlasting light. Maggie walked into the small hotel room giving it a once over. It wasn’t elegant, but it wasn’t sleazy either. Though the sign of free Wi-Fi made her want to cry.

Her poor computer was left behind. Maggie was sure that Chase’s men had left where they were staying before. She had wanted to ask Tank to go back for it, but she knew she’d only make him angrier. She sat at the little table resting her chin on her fist as the still brooding Tank laid down on the one and only bed in the entire room. What did the “cool” and “normal” people do to pass the time? She wondered feeling bored within ten minutes.

Maggie shifted in her seat and started drumming her fingers on the table in a manner that it sounded like a herd of wild horses or at least to her.

“Will you stop,” Tank demanded causing her to jump and then glare at him.

She refused to say anything as she leaned back in her chair thinking about how bored she was. After a moment, she heard Tank groan and get up from the bed.

He sat down in the other chair. “Look, Maggie,” Tank started as he took her hand in his, but she quickly pulled her hand away from his causing a sigh to escape him. “I’m sorry okay, I didn’t mean to snap at you like that, but right now Chase would pay a fortune to get to you, a fortune a lot of people want to have and are willing to give you to Chase for,” Tank explained.

Maggie grew irritated by his tone. It made her feel as if she was a child and he was explaining something that was too far out of her grasp to understand. “That includes you?” She asked bitterly and Tank gave her a look of impatience. “I just want to make sure since I’m so naïve and stupid.”

“Maggie,” Tank groaned and she shook her head crossing her arms under her chest. “Maggie…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call you stupid,” he told her but she didn’t believe him. “I’m just trying to get to you to see how much danger you are in. I just want to keep you safe,” Tank finished, grabbing her hand in his.

“Well grats I’m safe,” Maggie said and started to pull her hand away from him but this time he held on. “Let go of me,” she demanded.

Tank gave her a sly smile. “Not until you forgive me,” he told her with a smug, arrogant look on his face.

“I don’t want to,” Maggie argued trying to free her hand. “And I don’t have to,” she added pointedly.

“No you don’t have to I suppose,” he said releasing her hand only to grab the arm of her chair and pull her closer causing a squeak of surprise to escape her. “But Maggie I know all your weak points and will push all the right buttons until forgiving me seems like the best option you have,” he told her as their chairs were side by side.

“Go away Tank and do whatever it was that you were doing before you came over here,” Maggie demanded but Tank’s sly smile only grew as apparently having their chairs next to each other wasn’t enough. She gasped and shrieked as literally he wormed his good arm under her and started to lift her out of the chair. God what’s this guy got…twenty strength in that arm alone, she thought as she tried to prevent him from lifting her up and onto his lap which she failed.

“You’re going to hurt your arm and get gangrene,” she argued.

Tank he simply laughed at her again. “Well I’m willing to take that risk as long as I have you like this,” he told her with a wink.

Maggie huffed in a complaint. She tried to get up but he held her tightly in place and she crossed her arms like a child. He nuzzled against her shoulder and she leaned away from him. He was making her anger fade and she didn’t want it to fade. He must have a calming spell stuffed away somewhere, she reasoned with herself.

“What will it take you to forgive me, Maggie,” Tank asked.

“Letting me go would be a good start,” she demanded trying to wiggle her way free from his grip.

“Stop moving around like that,” he told her with a groan.

Maggie was just about to give him a witty remark to let her go then paled at the feel of his erection. Warmth bloomed through her. “Let me go, now!” She demanded feeling utterly embarrassed and awkward. Tank finally did as she asked but was laughing loudly. She narrowed her eyes at him and grumbling in a complaint and he shrugged.

“Sorry but that was all your fault,” he told her with another wink.

“You are no tank,” she demanded heatedly. “You’re a rogue without a doubt,” Maggie snapped as she grabbed the chair and dragged it away from him as far as possible.