“I missed this greatly.”
Alex smiled behind her mask, as she set a full glass down in front of Duckie. “Drinking at the Black Lantern? Or being out of the house?”
“Both.” Duckie removed his mask, setting it down gently before taking a sip of his whiskey. “Drinking at home by myself makes me sad. I miss the social interactions, the conversations with friends, and the upbeat atmosphere.”
“It’s Wednesday afternoon, and we’re at half capacity.”
“Relative to my living room, Alex, it’s practically a concert.”
She chuckled as she glanced around the bar, looking at the other customers. It was mostly couples or friends, with a larger gathering of miners in the other room playing a rowdy game of pool. Ryan drifted from table to table, taking orders and clearing dishes. “Fair enough. And it is great to have customers back.”
“I imagine so. Though I do worry that we’re a little too eager to get back to normal,” Duckie confessed. “I’ve been keeping up with the news. Not as much as your girlfriend, perhaps, but that Doctor Fauci fellow seems to think that this pandemic is going to get worse before it gets better.”
“I hope not. It’s been bad enough as it is.”
“Agreed. How has Steph been, by the way? Recovering nicely?”
Alex nodded. “Like it never happened. Though she won’t stop referring to herself as Patient Zero.”
“I’m sure. Did you hear that one of the mechanics at Grimley’s also tested positive?”
“No, I didn’t.” Alex frowned, worried. “It wasn’t Mac, was it?”
“I don’t believe so. But the nurse I was speaking to the other day said it was the city’s third case. Apparently one of SubTerra’s miners also got sick.”
The door opened beside them as he was speaking, Jessie stepping inside and making her way to a bar stool as Duckie finished speaking. “One of our what was what now?” she asked.
“Hey, Jessie.” Alex looked at her. “One of your miners caught COVID?”
She heaved a sigh, pinching her nose through the mask. “Oliver Nabors,” she confirmed. “One of our processing workers. Poor guy already had asthma, so it hit him hard. He’s still in the ICU on oxygen.”
“Oh, my.” Duckie’s brow creased as he adopted a worried expression. “Will he be okay?”
“Ted would know more than me. He’s been talking to the guy’s wife, making sure they have everything they need. But it didn’t sound like he’s in serious danger, more like they’re just being cautious.” Jessie looked back up. “Hopefully he recovers just as well as Steph.”
“She did bounce back pretty quick,” Alex agreed.
“Without any noticeable loss of brain activity.” Ryan appeared beside Jessie, a notepad in his hands. He smoothly tugged down his mask as his girlfriend did the same, the two of them kissing quickly.
Alex smirked as they fixed their masks just as quickly. “Do you guys rehearse that move?”
“Every day before we leave for work,” Ryan answered smugly, as he stepped around the bar and started working the register. “Table eight needs four tall beers. Two Bud Lights, a Rainier, and a Coors.”
“Didn’t we just fill their orders, like, ten minutes ago?”
“They’re all miners, Alex. Going through it like water.”
She rolled her eyes as she grabbed four tall mugs, beginning to fill them from the taps. “You know, at this point, I don’t think we’re going to sell any more of the Corona we’ve got back there.”
Jessie snorted. “Seriously? Nobody’s buying it?”
“I haven’t sold one in months.”
Ryan looked up in thought. “I don’t think I have either. Not since we re-opened, anyway.”
“People must think it’s bad karma.” Alex filled the last beer mug, setting them all on a tray. “I’ll bring it out. Be right back.”
She balanced the tray in both hands as she carried it into the back room, finding the table with two miners watching the pool game. “All right, guys, I got two Buds Lights, a Rainier, and a Coors,” she announced as she picked up the mugs and started setting them down. “You need anything else? Some food, maybe, or-”
“Where’s the other guy?” one of the miners slurred.
“Ryan’s behind the bar. Do you need him?”
“Did you wash your fuckin’ hands before touching my beer?”
Alex was taken aback. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Bringing your kung flu virus and shit over here.” The miner’s aura flashed red as pushed his beer away. “Fucking bat-eatin’ Commie.”
Her face flushed as the man’s aura touched hers. She clamped down on her emotions, but she couldn’t keep the anger and irritation out of her voice. “Are you fucking kidding me? I’ve never even been to China, you moron.”
“All you fuckin’ chinks brought that shit here. Ollie’s gonna die because of you Communist fucks tryin’ to help Biden take over this country.”
“Hey, dude.” One of the other miners appeared beside him, hand out in a calming gesture. “Enough with that shit.”
“Fuck that. And her chinky little Chinese ass.”
“My family’s from Korea, you ignorant fuck,” Alex snapped back. “My parents were born here. Probably more American than your hillbilly redneck ass.”
The miners behind her all sucked in their breath simultaneously. Alex heard at least one moan ‘oooh’ as the guy in front of her grew angrier, his aura flashing a deep red. “Fuck you just call me?!”
“A hillbilly redneck asshole who’s also apparently deaf.”
“Fuck you, bitch, I hope all you short little anti-American cunts die of your Chinavirus.”
Her level of anger kept rising. Alex struggled to get her emotions under control. Stop. I can’t keep engaging this asshole, she thought to herself as he kept speaking.
“You should take your ass back to Ching-Chong with all the other men you whored yourself around with. Probably the one giving it to all them sick people in the country.”
She snorted derisively. “I get more American pussy than you ever will, limp-dick. Maybe you should try breathing out of your mouth less.”
A couple of the other men started choking on laughter as the guy’s face turned bright red. The miner who tried to calm him down before quickly put a hand on his chest as he tried to step forward. “FUCK you, little slit-eyed cunt!”
Alex quickly took a deep breath as she fought through her anger, stepping away from him as she prepared another insult.
No. Enough.
“All right. Fuck this.” She turned her head back towards the bar, where Ryan was already coming around towards the commotion. “This guy’s fucking done, Ryan. Let’s get his racist ass out of-”
She barely saw the quick movement from the corner of her eye as she spoke. And didn’t get a chance to turn her head before she felt the impact, as one of the heavy glass beer mugs hit her in the temple. It felt like her whole body shut off as the sledgehammer-like blow resounded through her brain, and she collapsed into the floor like a puppet with cut strings.
Alex didn’t pass out. But it felt like her brain was turned off and going through a hard reset. Her vision was half-obscured by her eyelids, as the world turned glassy.
She vaguely recognized the yelling in the background. And a scuffle beside her. A moan barely escaped her lips as she slowly blinked, feeling like she was moving through molasses. Her vision didn’t seem to extend much beyond her nose, where she watched a drop of spilled beer trace its way to the tip before dripping off.
“Alex?! Alex, are you okay?!”
It sounded like someone was yelling at her through a broken speaker, as a hand touched her shoulder. She felt someone scramble around her before Jessie appeared in front of her, the blonde girl practically nose-to-nose with an alarmed look on her face.
“Alex?! Can you hear me?!”
She opened her mouth, but her brain seemed to have lost the ability to make words. The sound that left her mouth was more akin to a mumble than anything recognizable.
“Is she okay?!”
“I don’t know!”
“Is she breathing?!”
“Yea, and her eyes are open, but she’s not answering me!”
Alex slowly, almost glacially, turned her eyes to the source of the other voice. She finally focused on Ryan, standing between her and the other miners with his hand up to keep them in place. Beside him, Duckie seemed to have the racist miner in a hold on the floor, with one knee on his back and both hands held tightly.
“Whaaaaaa…” Alex managed to groan as her head throbbed.
Jessie yanked out her phone. “I’m calling nine-one-one!”
