by Hamill, Ike
The waves would build with the same low thunder that Robby heard now. He knew what was coming. It was a stampede of deer, gathered in an unnaturally large group. Just as he figured it out, he saw the first bobbing heads emerge from the trees.
They were headed up the hill towards the barn.
Robby clicked the key over and checked the fuel level. The siphon through the narrow hose was slow. They only had half a tank. It would take more than that to get back home, but there would be other places to refuel.
Robby debated for a second as the deer trampled the hillside and jumped the fences.
One of the lead animals caught a leg on the wire and flipped over the fence. The deer behind her didn’t slow or veer. They jumped and she was knocked free and then rolled by the others. Robby lost sight of her. She didn’t appear to get up.
Captivated by the river of animals, Robby realized that he had waited too long. They were fanning out to run around either side of the barn. If he tried now, the animals might crash into him like they had that doe.
Robby sunk in his seat and put his arm around Gordie’s neck. They watched the panicked animals split into two rivers—one passed to the north of the barn and the other south. Some of them were close enough to see the sweat matting their fur. Salt was crystallized around their mouths and noses.
One confused buck came straight at them. He slowed and stamped, turning one way and the other, trying to decide which faction to join. Robby practically pressed his forehead to the glass as he stared at the buck.
“Three toes?” he asked Gordie. “Its hooves are split into three toes?”
The buck tilted back his head and let out a scream towards the sky. It was the weird horn sound that Robby had heard earlier. The buck didn’t settle on one note—his call jumped between melodic intervals and then plummeted down to a groan.
The buck ran off.
Robby watched closely, trying to see if any of the others had three toes.
“Was it a mutant, or all they all like that?”
Gordie was engrossed in the show. He didn’t hear Robby.
When it seemed that the parade of animals would never end, they finally started to thin out down at the bottom of the hill. The trees shook down there. Another roar vibrated through the air.
Robby didn’t waste any time. The tank was almost three-quarters full. He jumped out, ran to the fill spout and pulled his siphon. He tossed the whole thing, dripping with fuel, through the rear window and then put the cap back on the Hummer. Robby was out of breath by the time he flopped back into his seat and closed the door.
The engine started right up.
Robby rolled forward.
The deer didn’t care. They didn’t change their path at all to avoid the Hummer. Whatever was shaking the trees was more frightening than the vehicle.
There was a gap coming. Robby gripped the wheel and told Gordie to get on the floor.
Two does and some young bucks were still on the gravel drive leading to the barn when the predator burst from the trees below. Robby gunned the engine anyway.
✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪
The Hummer plowed right through a young buck, but Robby didn’t even see it. His eyes were locked on the thing that had emerged from the woods. From the thick mane of hair, he would have said it was related to an African lion. This animal was dark brown with light spots and streaks. It came up the hill at a gallop, easily running right past some of the smaller deer.
The cat appeared to be smiling. As it drew closer, Robby realized that the smile was actually horizontal tusks that protruded from its cheeks. As the cat caught up to one of the does, it tossed its head to the side, impaling the animal and letting it fall to the ground.
The Hummer bounced over another deer and Robby tore his attention from the cat so he could steer. He straightened the wheel, pointing the vehicle at the road.
With a glance, he confirmed his worst fear—the cat was still coming towards him.
Most of the deer were enormous—each the size of a small horse—but the cat made them look like dogs. It was taller and thicker. This was a predator that looked capable of taking down an elephant, or maybe even a Hummer.
Ahead, Robby had a right turn to get to the road and then it was a straight shot to the highway. He could take the turn at thirty-five or forty. There was no way the giant cat could keep up that kind of a sprint for long.
Robby pulled the steering wheel, dragging the Hummer off the drive and onto the grass. They would keep more speed if he didn’t have to slow for the turn.
The tires churned at the soil. Weeds and tall grass thumped at the frame.
The big cat was gaining on them.
It let out its roar mid-stride. Robby didn’t know the exact purpose of the vocalization, but he could guess. The sound was so loud that it shook the air inside the Hummer and seemed to rattle the bones in Robby’s head. His balance was skewed and he had to grip the wheel tight so he wouldn’t fall over. The roar was an assault through vibration.
On the floor, Gordie moaned.
They bounced up onto the pavement and the tires caught.
The Hummer accelerated rapidly.
The giant cat matched their pace. Robby’s foot was already to the floor. He couldn’t make the Hummer move any faster, but the cat was coming alongside. Robby saw the blood and gore streaming back from the tusk. He knew what would happen next—the cat would toss its head and send that massive tusk through one of windows or maybe even the rear tire.
Robby anticipated the strike and veered left. The Hummer’s tires squealed as the tusk missed. The cat angled left to close the distance and Robby jammed the brakes. The nose of the Hummer dipped and the anti-lock brakes buzzed as they prevented the wheels from skidding. The cat was right in front of them. Robby jerked the wheel to the right and floored the accelerator again.
The big cat was fast, but it didn’t try to avoid the collision. It didn’t expect the mass of the Hummer as it clipped the cat’s hips. The cat screamed and rolled as the Hummer knocked it aside.
Robby leaned forward with a death grip on the steering wheel as he willed the Hummer to go faster.
The ramp to the highway was coming, with its signs warning Robby to keep his speed under thirty-five for the turn. The cat was easily matching them at forty-five. Robby had no intention of slowing.
The Hummer was wide, but it began to lean as soon as Robby forced it into the turn. The tires hummed. All he could think about was the rubber PONG sound when the coyote-thing had chewed on the tire. That sidewall would blow and the Hummer would roll—Robby knew it.
The cat was gaining on them again.
They were leaning so far that a tusk strike on the right side would likely flip the Hummer. To be fair, a stiff breeze might flip the Hummer.
Still, Robby kept his foot to the floor.
The turn began to straighten out. The singing tires quieted and they gained speed. The cat was growing smaller in the rearview mirror.
Robby took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He settled back into his seat a little. The red-stained road in front of him made him jolt back up. In the center of the highway was where the cat had made one of its kills. The deer had skidded to a stop right in the middle of the road. It was lying there in a pool of its own blood. Robby angled into the other lane, praying that he could keep traction on the bloody pavement.
The Hummer obliged. He straightened back out and checked his mirror. The bloody tire tracks led back to the scene of the crime. The giant cat stopped at its kill and roared again. This time, Robby barely heard it.
The Hummer sped north.
“How you doing?” Robby asked Gordie.
The dog raised his head.
“I want to check on your wounds, but I’m afraid to stop again. Things are a messed up around here.”
The dog settled his head back down on his paws. Robby drove on.
CHAPTER 42: LONG ISLAND
THE FARTHER HE GOT away from the others, the easier it was to t
hink. Brad wasn’t sure if it was just his perception or fact. It was working. That’s all that mattered. The past was a minefield. Those thoughts pulled him in with unnatural gravity. His attention needed to be completely focused on the future.
On the narrow streets of some old neighborhood, Brad was reminded of their tiny community in Gladstone. The four of them were essentially loners who just happened to live pretty close to each other. Lisa and Romie lived together. Robby had his dog. It crossed Brad’s mind for the first time that maybe he was the only true loner of the group. He was the only one who had lived alone before the calamity, and he was the only one who still lived alone.
Brad slowed to a walk to rest his legs and catch his breath.
It was fun to socialize with the others, and he really enjoyed working on projects with Robby. Given even the most complex problem, Robby could break it down into simple steps. He didn’t have that much experience executing his ideas, but that was where Brad came in. Brad had studied engineering in school before turning to programming as a career. He had hands that were accustomed to tools and dirt. He could assemble and build.
Brad stopped.
A dark green house with white trim had its garage wide open. There was a set of tools on the floor of the garage. Someone had been working right before they wandered outside to be snatched into the sky.
Brad took another step.
The person had been working on a bicycle. Based on the contents of the garage, it was probably nearly all that person did. There were dozens of bikes hanging from hooks and leaning up against every wall. Brad pulled down a sturdy-looking mountain bike. The frame was thick but the whole thing was light as a feather. He pushed down on the seat and handlebars, testing the tires. They were soft. Brad plucked a hand pump from a bracket and inflated the tires until they were firm.
He swung his leg over the bike.
Romie loved to bike. Brad had gone out with her several times. She wasn’t particularly fast, but she could bike forever. The street was flat. In no time, the bike was flying along at a good speed. Brad’s head felt perfectly clear and something occurred to him—he could reminisce about Gladstone without feeling that strange pull. As long as he didn’t go too far back, his memories didn’t feel magnetic and dangerous.
Just to test his theory, Brad let his thoughts return to the skirmish at Donnelly High. That was the last day he had seen the vines. Together with Romie and Lisa, he had hiked through woods infested with the killer vines, wearing headphones to escape the auditory traps. Ever since, the things had haunted his dreams. If his sheets were tucked in too tightly, Brad would dream about being pinned down by the green monsters. They were going to hold him still so he could be used to germinate some extraterrestrial invader.
Brad turned left so he could head east.
The memory of the skirmish was vivid. It didn’t suck him into a deep black hole like the thoughts of his ex-wife did. He would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit that there was some amount of pull. It was easy enough to resist, but there was some amount of pull.
To test the phenomenon, he went back a little farther.
He remembered the short span of time he had lived in Portland at a house he called the Dead Ferret. Brad’s feet turned in circles, adding to the bike’s momentum with very little effort. His brain was sliding backwards, taking him back to his brief life in Portland while the citizens organized.
When he shook his head to clear away the thoughts, Brad nearly fell over.
“Too far,” he said to himself. “Somewhere between Gladstone and the Dead Ferret, my memories became toxic.”
Everything clicked. For the second time, Brad was so consumed with thought that he nearly spilled from the bicycle.
“It’s our memories.”
A moment later, he knew exactly where Robby had gone.
CHAPTER 43: NEW YORK CITY
CORINNA FORGOT ABOUT THE light and the other voice she had heard. She reached forward, grabbed Liam’s arm, and pulled. She gave a tiny whistle to Prince and started into the darkness. It was best to go without a light. If Frank or anyone else tried to follow her, they would be at a disadvantage.
Liam was moving too slowly. She picked him up and carried him to the bottom of the escalator.
“Climb,” she whispered as she started up.
“It’s okay,” Liam said as she pulled his arm.
“Shut it,” she whispered.
Liam obeyed until they reached the ground level.
“It’s really okay. You’ll be back with him soon.”
“Hush,” she said. Their best hiding place was down in the camping store, and that’s where they had just left. They had a pretty good spot behind the changing room of Bishop’s. There was a hidden door at the back that led through a store room and then connected to a janitor’s hall. The confusing turns would be perfect for evading pursuit. Those doors were all locked and Corinna carried a master key.
Ideally, she would get out of the building entirely, but Liam would never stand for that. He would pitch a fit if she even brought him too close to any of the windows.
“We’re going to the back of Bishop’s,” she whispered. “Can you keep up?”
“It’s okay,” he said.
“Shhh!”
Prince was sticking close to Corinna. Usually, he walked right alongside Liam. He was acting strange.
“We’re going to be pretty high. Can you handle that?” she whispered to Liam. Bishop’s was on the top floor. Liam preferred to keep to the lower levels.
“It’s okay. Papa will come back to you soon.”
She spoke louder than she intended.
“Liam, shut your trap. Shut it.”
“No, Corinna,” Liam said. He stopped. She pulled on his arm. He resisted. “You’re back and Prince is back. Soon, Mom will be back from Burbank and we’ll all live together in the place where that bathtub looks over the park.”
Her mouth fell open. There was no way that Liam could know about the place with the bathtub. That was her secret.
When she spoke, her whole mouth was numb.
“What do you mean I’m back?”
“You came back, just like Prince and just like Mom is going to.”
“Your mom is gone, Liam. Remember you told me how she got out of the cab and she was gone?”
“She probably went to Burbank again. She’ll be back.”
“Who told you that?”
“The Origin. He’s the center. He needs to unwind the tether balls so he can go back to his real life.”
Suddenly, it was all too much for Corinna. Sometimes Liam was strange. He was a little kid who had suffered unimaginable loss. Corinna could hardly deal with reality from day to day. It was impossible to know how difficult it was for Liam. So, he had an excuse for being strange. Still, there were times when Corinna couldn’t deal with it. When she felt overwhelmed, she usually went to the place with the bathtub that overlooked the park. All that still, cold luxury could calm any fear.
This was no time for hiding. She had to make sure Liam was safe from Frank and that other guy.
Instead of grabbing his hand again, she picked him up. He was too heavy to carry for long. She didn’t have another choice.
“It’s okay,” he said in her ear.
✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪
She locked the door to the changing rooms and then pushed the heavy cart to block it. The cart had four brakes—one on each wheel. With them all engaged, the thing was impossible to move.
Corinna stuffed a curtain under the cart to block their light.
Prince was fine—he had just gone out and he was chewing on a plastic toy.
Liam was quiet. He was still sitting in the overstuffed chair where she had left him. Seeing him sit, quiet and content, was deeply disturbing. This high up, he should have been complaining and crying about the dead. It’s what he always did when he wasn’t deep enough in a building.
She came over to Liam and sat on the blanket next to the dog. Liam wa
s staring off at nothing, almost like he was listening to a voice that wasn’t there.
“What did they say to you in the bathroom?” she asked.
“He’s coming soon,” Liam said.
Corinna looked over her shoulder at the door. It was blocked and locked—nobody was coming through without making a bunch of noise. Through her secret escape route, there were half a dozen locked doors. They were completely safe. Still, Liam’s words sent a chill down her back.
“Who is coming?”
“Robby. He’ll bring Gordie, too. Prince will like to see Gordie.”
“Robby? Was he the one in the bathroom?” she asked. Even as the question left her mouth, she realized that it didn’t make sense. Robby had gone south. She saw him disappear into the tunnel with her own eyes. Besides, his voice wasn’t nearly deep enough to be the one she had heard through the bathroom door.
“No,” Liam said. “Robby is coming back from the churn.”
“The what?”
“Churn?” Liam asked. He was terrible at remembering words. He always twisted them into sounds that made sense to him. The only good part was that he knew it. If she challenged him, Liam was always willing to admit that he might have the wrong word. The process was adorable, but often frustrating.
“Like something spinning?”
“Yes!” Liam said. His face lit up. “He’s out where things spin.”
“What does that mean?”
Liam’s forehead crinkled up with thought, like she was the one who wasn’t making sense.
“I want to tell you a story,” Liam said.
“No, Liam. I know it’s bedtime, but we have to stay up in case we need to run, okay? If someone tries to get through that door, we’re going to go out the back way and then… I’ll tell you where we’re going when it’s time, okay. For now, no stories. Why don’t you tell me what the man said in the bathroom?”