Zombie

“Where the hell is Thor? “ hisses Sif.

Most of the gang is already at the meeting, in their places around the table: Odin, with Heimdall at his one side and Hela at another. Tyr, Frey, Mimir -the elders of council. Sif, Hogun, Fandral, Volstagg, while they're only honorary members without a vote, they're still allowed here, as are some others of the younger generation, that are supposed to take over the council seats in a few years’ time.

Thor's chair, though, the one next to Heimdall’s remains stubbornly empty.

“He's not answering the phone,” Volstagg hangs up, worried.

“He couldn't have forgotten the meeting. It's not possible.” Sif growled, tapping her foot. “This is not good.” 

Hogun nods silently. 

“I think he went into Jotun territory,” Fandral whispers in confidence, covering his mouth.

“What?” if and Volstagg asked in unison. Hogun only frowns.

“That's absurd. He'd never do that. Why would you even think that?”

“He’s got a lead or something, I think.”

“A lead? What lead?”

“On the rat.” 

“You're not supposed to know about the rat.” Hogun says.

Sif looks between them in confusion.

“What the hell are you two on about?” 

“Why didn't you tell us Fan?” Sif says. “Why didn't you stop him?” 

Fandral chuckles humorlessly.

“Yeah you try and stop Thor when he has his mind set on something.”

“I don't buy it. “ Sif scoffs, looking around as if challenging anyone to disagree. “We have a treaty with Jotunheim. It's been peaceful for around a decade. Thor would not..” 

Odin bangs his cane on the floor making everyone fall silent. 

“Let's begin. “ He declares. 

Sif dials Thor's number one last time. 

It goes straight to voicemail. “Hi it's Thor. Leave me a message or tell me to my face. “

Helas pierces her with an icy stare, motioning to put the phone away.

“Vikings,” Odin starts. “Friends and family. Advisers and warriors. We have much to discuss this day. Let's begin. I am aware that some of you have risked your lives and the lives of those you hold dear, to bring us the information you are about to share with us. For that, I am grateful to you. We will listen to Frey at first: he has traveled to the Vanir to seek an alliance. Stand, Frey. We will hear you.” 

“Should not we wait for Thor?” One of the younger men says. Sif leans forward in anticipation. As do some others.

Odin frowns. 

“Yes, where is he?” Tyr asks.

“If he wanted to be here he'd be here. I don't see why we should wait.” Says Mimir. 

In the midst of the bickering, the realization dawns on Sif: the one that makes her anxiety increase tenfold: Odin doesn’t know where Thor is either.

“Friends,” Hela cuts in. “I believe I might have an idea.” 

Odin casts his only blue eye at his daughter in disapproval. 

“I have a reason to suspect he went to Jotunheim.” 

The declaration causes quite the outrage.

“That's bullshit!”

“You don’t know that!”

“He'd never!” shouts come from everyone left and right.

“Silence!” Roars Odin, standing up. The noises die down right away. “This is of no importance!”

“But, Father!” Hela protests. “If my brother has done something stupid, we should take action immediately!”

Odin narrows his only eye at her.

“And what action would you suggest we take?” He asks, voice cold and deadly.

“At least investigate or send a search party! “ Hela replies, “We can't just abandon him to die!”

Couple of people draw sharp breaths at that.

“Allfather, I'll go!” Fandral jumps to his feet. 

Several other men stand up to volunteer for the mission too.

“Sit the fuck down, idiot!” Sif hisses at him. She's smart enough to realize there's something else going on and they probably shouldn't stick their noses in it. Hogun mutters something in approval too. 

“I'm grateful Fandral for your loyalty to my son.” Odin says, toneless. “But this is the council's decision to make, not yours.”:

“Do you care nothing for your son!” Says Tyr. “He's risked his life for us ever since he was a boy and you'll just abandon him?” 

“I will not start a war for actions of a stupid boy!” booms Odin. The murmuring of disapproval grow louder. “None will take any action until I decide so!” He looks at each person in the room in turn, forcing them to lower their eyes. “Now, leave, I will speak with my daughter alone!”

The sound of chairs pulled and boots dragging over the wooden floor fills the room. People retreat to door one by one, frustration and confusion written clearly over their faces.

“We need to go  after him!” Fandral whispers urgently, as soon as they're outside, out of other people's earshot.

“That's treason!” Sif says. “We cannot defy the Allfather!”

‘’Thor Would do the same for us!’’ Fandral argues.

Sif bits her lip: the guy’s got the point, she has to admit. 

‘’Do you even have any idea where he might be?’’ She says. ‘’We can’t just waltz across the border and wait for the Giants to come collect us.’’

‘’Well, we could wait at the border and ask whoever arrives if they have Thor.’’ Fandral suggest.

‘’And you think they’d just tell?’’ Sif mocks him. ‘’How naive are you? The Giants can’t be trusted!’’

‘’I’m not suggesting we trust them!’’ 

‘’That might not be that bad an idea.’’ Hogun says all of sudden.

All three, the arguing Sif and Fandral, with the silent and thoughtful Volstagg stare at the guy, open-mouthed.

‘’Hugs you can’t be serious!’’ Says Volstagg.

‘’See? The smartest man here agrees!’’

‘’I thought you considered yourself the smartest.’’ Sif says.

Fandarl smiles at her sweetly. 

There’s a silence, while the four of them stare at each other expectantly: none of them willing to take the first step.

At last, it’s Sif to sigh and grab her keys and jacket.

‘’If the Allfather finds out, we’re fucked.’’ She says, as she throws the jacket on and pulls the hood over her head. ‘’Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you off this when that happens.’’

It’s dark.  Thor groans and waves a hand in front of his eyes. He’s dizzy. His head is cloudy. Where the fuck is he anyway? 

As his eyes adjust to the light (or, rather the absence of it) he starts to remember everything: The unexpected escort, the talk, Hela, a gun fired at his head (tranquilizer?)... and then, darkness.

How long ago was that, he wonders. With total silence and the only light coming from a small line on the floor beside the door, it’s hard to tell. He browses his pockets for his phone, only to find it gone. Thor chuckles, bitter: of course they’d take it. Hela’s wardogs might be a bit on the dumb side, but even they aren’t that stupid: leaving him with means to communicate would be too big of a mistake. 

Thor searches for his pockets. No knife. No gun. Even his car keys are gone. He crawls over to the door and tries to shake it: to no avail of course. Not that he was expecting anything different. 

He slumps with his back to the door and closes his eyes.

How much time has passed? Gods only know what Loki must be thinking. Would he think Thor got what he wanted and just run for the hills? Thor sure hopes not. Maybe he thinks Thor forgot? Or maybe he doesn’t think about him at all. After all, he didn’t seem all the interested in him after the deed was done. He couldn’t wait to chuck him, even. 

The time passes slowly. Thor has no idea how long he’s been there: hours? days? Can’t be days, he tries to reason with himself: he’s kinda thirsty and kinda hungry too, but not too much. I couldn’t have been more than a couple hours. 

He wonders what Hela is planning: It’s unlike his sister to strike so… directly. If she wanted to lock him up here anyway, why bother having heart-to-heart with him? Could’ve just knocked him out cold before even getting here and he wouldn’t even know where he was. 

Speaking of which, why here of all places? Does she plan to hand him over to the Giants? But what could she gain from that? His head hurts from trying to puzzle all of this shit out. 

Then, he hears footsteps. He jumps to his feet, blindly reaching for the door to figure out which side it opens from and trips over something in the boxes. That’s when he realizes what exactly he’s been locked up with all this time: the boxes! The shipments! If he remembers correctly, there should be some weapons in those and even if they’re all disassembled and there are no bullets, he could still pack a punch with them, only using his own strength. 

Luckily, he manages to get his hand on one of the heavier rifles. It doesn’t seem to have the clip on, but he’ll manage. It’s better than nothing. Thor stands with his back on the wall, next to the door, tense as a bowstring. 

The footsteps approach fast: it doesn’t seem to be Hela; or so Thor thinks: it’s a heavy sound of combat boots, not clicking of heels. One of her dumb wardogs then. Even better. This should be easy.

The door opens, right in his face too, as Thor realizes he’s been standing on the wrong side of it all along, as he is now face to face with a tall, broad man. Thor doesn’t waste any time, ducks down and swings his makeshift weapon. The other guy, avoids it easily, to Thor’s surprise. He blocks Thor punch with his arm and elbows the blonde in his ribs.

Thor howls in frustration and jumps right at his opponent, both of them falling backwards: Thor landing on top of the other. He wastes no time for the next punch. Or the next. The guy, damn him, keeps blocking him, although he does manage to land a fist or two. 

Suddenly, a kick in his back sends him flying: Thor crashes face first into the dirt and feels the weight of a body on his back half a second afterwards. Oh, and an unmistakable touch of cold steel at the base of his skull.

‘’So is that it?’’ He growls: his voice is muffled by dirt and dust in his face. ‘’She’s not even gonna talk to me or something?’’

‘’Who the fuck are you?’’ Asks the guy.

Thor laughs. 

‘’Didn't know my sister hired a bunch of numb nut apes to get rid of me.’’

The man doesn't answer. But nor does he shoot him, which is something. He does get off of him for a second, just enough so Thor can turn over and face him. 

Not like he can see shit in this darkness.

‘’What the fuck are you waiting for?’’ Thor spits and gets a punch in the face for his troubles. Damn, whatever his bitch of a sister shot him with, it left him dizzy and disoriented even after a couple hours’ time. 

‘’I’m waiting for an answer,’’ The other man says. ‘’Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in our warehouse? How did you even get in?’’

Thur frowns. This doesn’t make sense. 

‘’Your warehouse?’’ He spits back. ‘’Y'all idiots brought me here this morning and now you act like you don’t remember!’’

The man looks at him silently for a minute, then lowers his weapon and extends his hand instead. ‘’Come on.’’ He says when Thor’s slow on the uptake. ‘’Are you injured or something?’’

‘’Not really.’’

‘’Let’s go up and talk, ok?’’ The stranger offers, helping him get back on his feet. ‘’Feels like there’s something off here.’’

‘’Yeah, no kidding. I’m not going anywhere with you.’’ Thor says with an edge in his voice. ‘’Who the fuck are you anyway?’’

‘’Helblindi Laufeyson of the Giants.`` The stranger says extending the hand one more time. This time, though, Thor takes it. ‘’And you?’’

‘’Thor Odinson of the Vikings.’’ Says Thor. 

The other chuckles.

‘’You sure pack a punch, Thor, I’ll give you that.’’

Thor, can’t help himself: he too, smiles a bit.

‘’Yeah, you too, man.’’

‘’Come on then. I feel like there’s a story here worth telling.’’

‘’I don’t think we should be focusing on conversations, Father.’’ Hela says, tapping her foot impatiently. ‘’There is really no time to waste.’’

Odin levels his daughter with a strange look that Hela can’t decipher: Who knows what the old man is thinking anyway.

‘’So what do you suggest we do?’’ He says.

Hela shrugs like she’s been asked a question like what two times two is.

‘’Why, we should go after him of course!’’

‘’After him?’’ Odin repeats, considering. ‘’Do you know where and why he went exactly?’’

‘’Well..’’ Hela hesitates. ‘’Not exactly but I have a good guess.’’

She stops, looking at her father. But Odin stays silent, so she has to go on unprompted.

‘’You know someone’s been taking our shipments, right?’’

Odin gives a silent nod.

‘’Well, I have a reason to suspect they have been passing them over on Jotun territory.’’

Odin frowns. He doesn’t look all that powerful, Hela observes with glee: His father is an old man. If she plays her game well, it should not take much to break his will. 

‘’Father,’’ She says, approaching him and going down on her knees in front of the man, reaching for his hands. ‘’I know this is painful to hear. It brings me no joy either, trust me. I’ve been hoping to find proof that i was wrong. So I didn’t have to burden you with it.’’

‘’I appreciate the thought, Hela.’’ Odin sighs. ‘’But that was not for you to decide.’’

‘’I know,’’ She says, earnestly. ‘’I shouldn’t have gone behind your back with my own people. But the one you sent in didn’t bring us much.’’

‘’No I guess not.’’ Odin says. ‘’So, what did you find out?’’

‘’I’m not sure if Thor is involved in that, but Laufey  and his sons definitely were’’ Hela says, biting her lip: playing on  uncertainty. ‘’Maybe he had the same feeling I did. I don’t understand why he went in alone though,’’ she sighs. ‘’I wish… I wish he trusted me with it. If he did we wouldn’t be in this mess right now.’’

‘’I wish that too, yes. The two of you need to work around your issues. Whatever they are.’’

‘’I don’t have any issues with my brother, father, you know that I…’’

‘’Let me finish, Hela,’’ Odin says, rising his hand. ‘’I want you two to work together. It is essential for our family. You should be able to conduct this business as well as expected from my heirs, when I step down.’’

‘’I know father,’’ Hela says, barely holding in the smirk. Yes, she has succeeded! Odin will name her the heir after all! For a second there, she even thinks that maybe, all of the struggle was for nothing: if Odin had intended to pass the mantle down to her all along, there was really no need for all her plans. But better be prepared for the worst I guess. ‘’I will do my best.’’

‘’See that you do. You two should be able to work together as equals.’’ 

Hela flinches. Just barely, but the shock on her face must be visible as her father levels him with a surprised look.

‘’Is this a news to you, daughter?’’ He asks nonchalantly. ‘’That I intended to name both of you?’’

Yes, of course it is, you stupid old man! She wants to spit, but she can’t. She can’t throw a tantrum like that. This is not the time for scandals. It’s a time for actions: quiet, efficient little cuts here and there. Now that’s Thor is out of the picture, every second is too precious to waste. 

She gets back on her feet, bowing to her father. 

‘’Thank you for telling me, Father.’’ Hela says. ‘’I’m honored to be considered.’’

Odin smiles. Is that a tear in his only eye, or does her eyes betray Her?

‘’I was worried you would not understand. But you have made me proud this day.’’ The old man says. ‘’Go now, Hela, and send Frey in. I would have words with him regarding Thor’s rescue mission. Don’t speak a word to anyone yet. And see that no one leaves and gets themselves in trouble until I say so. Am I understood?’’

‘’Yes, father.’’ Says Hela and walks away.

She closes the door behind and smirks. 

So that’s what the old fool think he’ll do: split the inheritance between them both?  Hah. That’s not going to happen. Not if she has any say.

She pulls out her phone and sends a quick text out.

Well… In truth, she was planning to toy with her stupid brother a bit first. His brother and his new toy. But guess there is no time for that.