My pace slowed even more, but the two that followed me didn't notice. Stephanie was weaving, nearly asleep on her feet, and Joss seemed bored, although he kept a watchful eye behind us. When the smell grew stronger, I reached behind me to grab Stephanie's hand and pulled her close to me. She didn't protest, but the movement was enough to alert them both that something wasn't right.
"What is it?" Stephanie whispered, gripping my hand tightly. Again, her voice was near panic. I frowned at her, shaking my head as I patted the air in front of her with my free hand, hoping she'd get the message she needed to stay quiet. Joss huddled close to Stephanie's other side, and we continued to creep along. I listened for any indication of something else - or someone else - out there, but heard nothing. The smell was growing stronger, and a few seconds later it finally hit me.
Deathpool.
I groaned and released the tight grip on Stephanie's hand. She didn't want to let go. I didn't fight it as her hand gripped my wrist, and she let me lead her.
"What was it?" Joss asked as he leaned in close to me.
"Nothing." I sighed, hoping the stench wouldn't get any stronger. "I smelled something."
"Smelled?" Stephanie breathed, sounding confused. She didn't seem to be looking for an answer, so I remained silent. Unfortunately, the smell continued to grow, and I was surprised they hadn't noticed yet. About a minute later, Joss's groan matched my own.
"Deathpool." He muttered.
Stephanie gasped, and I winced as her nails dug into my forearm. I continued to walk as she clung to me, refusing to let me get a step on her. When she nearly hissed her question, I understood how scared she was. "What's a deathpool?"
"Sometimes freaks fall into swimming pools..." I started, but she interrupted me, hissing again, her voice rising in pitch.
"Are the red-eyes out there?"
"Not alive." I said quickly, taking her hand in both of mine while her other clutched her blanket tight at her throat. Her wide, panicked eyes focused on mine, and she started to calm as I spoke. "They've drowned in the pools. There aren't any live ones near here."
"I would have heard them if they were out there." Joss added.
"Ryan told me this area was clear, so we should be safe from the freaks for tonight." My hands clenched hers, and she clenched back. She nodded, and I turned to pull her along again. The smell grew worse the further we went until finally Stephanie pulled away from me, both hands going to her face.
"Oh," was all she said as she stared at me blankly. Then her face screwed up in disgust as she bunched the end of the blanket up under her nose. "Is that it? Is that the deathpool?"
"That would be it." Joss grumbled.
"It's disgusting!" Stephanie's voice was muffled by the blanket.
"Yes, it is." I answered, walking on. Stephanie quickly caught up with me, but didn't try to take my hand again. She seemed too concerned about keeping the protective barrier against her nose.
The stench hung heavy in the air, but we had to keep pushing past it. We followed the road south as it curved, only to swing back to the west shortly thereafter. The stench was so strong my eyes watered. We walked past house after house, and when the smell didn't abate, I knew there was more than one.
I pulled my shirt over my nose, searching for a small degree of relief. Joss did the same, but it didn't help much. When the line of houses ended and the concrete road gave way to gravel and dirt, the odor finally began to abate. I thought we were in the clear when a sudden gust of wind from the south pushed the smell down on us, and my eyes rolled back from the fumes of decay. Joss coughed and doubled over, but Stephanie took it worst of all. She went down to her knees and caught herself with her hands, ending up on all fours.
She retched loudly for several minutes, and I winced at each sound. Joss stood over her, patting her back, and helped her stand once she was done. I had a bottle of water ready for her that she took gratefully.
"I'm sorry." She sniffed as she took a sip.
"I think she needs to rest." Joss said, although Stephanie hadn't protested or complained. We had only been walking two hours at most and hadn't covered much ground. There was no sign of dawn coming soon, but I couldn't keep pushing her. Joss was right. I glanced back in the direction of the hotel and hoped we'd put enough distance between us.
"I agree." I sighed, "But we can't stop here. Let's get away from the smell. Then we'll rest."
"I can make it." Stephanie said firmly as she looked at me. I could see the traces of tears glistening in the corner of her eyes.
Nodding, I turned without further comment and began to pick our pathway along the gravel. The smell followed us, though it was fading. When we came to a crossroads, it was difficult to judge the best path in the darkness. The dark rise of the landscape looming in the distance turned us to the left.
Fifteen more minutes of walking and the smell was gone.
I scanned the area, but there was nothing of note anywhere near us. When Joss looked at me curiously, I could only shrug. "I guess this is as good a place as any."
"Seems good." He agreed. "I don't hear anything."
We both moved to help Stephanie at the same time, but Joss backed away when he saw me, giving me room to help her. He busied himself with his own packs and may have been blushing as he searched through his supplies. Stephanie was holding the water bottle while the blanket was tangled up in her other hand. I gently pried both her hands free, helped pull off her pack, and finished by resetting the blanket on her shoulders.
"It's so cold." She muttered, almost absently. She shivered.
Frowning, I paused to feel the air on my arms, not feeling the cold. I was wearing the t-shirt Ryan had given me, and the walk had warmed me past the point of needing a blanket. Joss hesitated long enough to frown at me and shake his head. He went back to digging through his bag, but I knew he wasn't cold either.
I propped Stephanie's soft backpack on the ground and helped her down so she could rest against it before pulling off my own packs. I propped those around her too, forming what I hoped was a protective wall. She pulled the packs as close around her as she could, and I stood to inspect my pathetic attempt to insulate her when Joss called me.
"Come look at this." He whispered, keeping his voice level. He held his pack open with one hand pushed inside. I stepped over cautiously, with a fleeting look back at Stephanie, who had curled around one of the packs. She was exhausted.
Joss waited patiently for me to lean down next to him. He motioned me to look inside his backpack, and a small, dim light appeared in his cupped hand. I blinked and looked around quickly, thinking the light could draw attention to us, but the illumination didn't make it past the rim of the backpack. Joss eyed me with one eyebrow raised, then motioned me to look again.
The dim square of light had a number in the middle. It read forty-six.
Joss released his hold on the object, the light disappearing instantly, and held the little square out to me. "It is cold. We just can't feel it."
"What?" I said, hearing him but not comprehending. I took the item, knowing what it was as soon as he dropped it in the palm of my hand. It was a relic from the old world, a gadget that showed the time and temperature, possibly other things, in that soft LED light. I didn't dare press any of the buttons while I held it out in the open.
"It's only forty-six degrees right now." He said, driving the point home. "I don't think we feel the cold anymore."
The truth rolled over me slowly, and I was momentarily surprised that Joss had figured it out before me. I gave him an appreciative glance. The kid was sharp.
"And summer barely fazed me." I said as I chuckled bitterly, adding another trait to our growing list of differences. Then a frown of worry made its way back to my face as I looked to where Stephanie lay huddled under her thin blanket, shivering. We might never have noticed if Stephanie hadn't said anything.
"Lay against her. We'll have to keep her warm." I suggested. It was the only thing I could think of and our only
option since she didn't have the energy to get back up and hike until we found another building. There was also no guarantee that we would find a building if we kept our current course, and I couldn't ignore the fact that the further we got away from the hotel, the more likely it would be that we would run into a freak.
Joss gave me a wide-eyed stare, and then went back to pulling blankets from the packs. I roused Stephanie long enough to get another blanket between her and the cold ground, then covered her with two more. They were all thin, but maybe with our added body heat, the night wouldn't be horrible for her. She shrank down within the layers of fabric into a shivering ball.
I arranged the packs one more time, a flimsy barrier at best, and lay down next to her, hoping the blankets would trap our body heat under them. Joss stared for a moment, hesitating before crawling in to lie against her back. Soon enough, the heat began to radiate between us and Stephanie's shivers stopped.
Sleep didn't come for me as I listened to both Joss and Stephanie slip into weary dreams. During what remained of the night, Stephanie moaned softly and slipped an arm over me. I took her grasping hand and squeezed it. The gesture seemed to be the comfort she was looking for, and she settled back down.
I waited for dawn to push the night away.
Chapter 2 – Joss
I stared at Ali for a moment, stunned by her last comment. Had she really told me to lie against Stephanie? It made sense, but that didn't stop my mouth going as dry as cotton. Part of me thought it was ridiculous to be embarrassed about it, the situation was too serious, but my cheeks were beginning to heat up anyway. Ali helped Stephanie adjust her blankets, and then she lay down next to her, leaving me standing awkwardly alone.
I was glad she couldn't see my face in the dark.
The thought that I could offer to take watch again entered my mind, but that wasn't going to help Stephanie keep warm. Running my hand through my hair and scratching an itch at the back of my head, I decided to crawl onto the blankets and find my place. Stephanie was so exhausted she was probably already out, so she might not even know what was going on.
Ali had been right. This was a bad idea.
When I slid between the packs and Stephanie, she only shifted slightly. Once I found a comfortable position, the silence grew heavy and weird. I could hear the distant, soft rustling of animals and chirps of insects, but nothing else. That should have been comforting, but it only made me uneasy. There should have been more. It wasn't until my eyes began to drift shut that I knew my drowsiness dulled my hearing.
My eyes popped open, and I tried to concentrate on staying awake. I needed to stay awake to protect her, to listen, but they began to drift shut again despite my brain telling them to stay open.
Only a second. I'll just shut my eyes for a second, I thought, thinking it a decent compromise. A second later, and my eye-lids easily obeyed when I opened them...
And I was standing in a wheat field.
My jaw dropped as I spun in a circle, dumbfounded. The night was gone, replaced by the evening sun that glinted off rows upon rows of waist-high wheat stalks, as far as my eyes could see. I stood alone, the wheat and sun making everything shimmer a rich gold, even the air. I felt safe and warm. I felt like I was home.
"How you doing, kid?"
I spun quickly, startled, turning in the direction that I had just been facing. No one had been there seconds ago, but he was there now, having materialized out of nowhere. Seth was striding toward me, his hands in his pockets, and that familiar half-smile on his face.
"Seth!" His name tore out of me as I ran to him, throwing my arms around him in a crushing hug. His grip on me was just as tight, almost knocking the wind out of me, but I didn't care. I remembered when I used to wrap my arms around his waist to hug him as he towered over me, but now my arms embraced his chest.
"Growing right on up, aren't you, kid?" He smirked, nodding at me appreciatively as he pulled back.
"How?" I was excited, but the confusion began to seep in. "This feels so real."
He shrugged as he stepped away, his smile fading slightly. "It's just a dream."
I frowned, gaping up at him. My elation started to die away as I understood the dream for what it was. A deep sadness twisted in my stomach, but Seth smiled regardless and reached out a hand to ruffle my hair. He said, "How you doing?"
I shrugged and grinned back, doing my best to keep the sadness at bay. "Good. Ali and I are okay."
He nodded, the smile pasted on his mouth, but it was gone from his eyes. "I miss ya, kid."
"I miss you too, Seth." I hugged him again, and he returned the tight squeeze. Then he broke away.
"I bet you can't beat me to the house." The playful smirk was back.
"What hou..." I started as I looked around, pausing as I saw a house sitting across the field. It hadn't been there before. Then the long stalks of wheat shrank down to the close cropped nubs of harvest. For a second, I looked around in amazement, marveling at what my mind could conjure in a dream world, and my smile began to return. With only a quick grin tossed at Seth in warning, I started to run.
My legs pumped as fast and as hard as possible, but Seth was always a step behind me. I felt he could have overtaken me anytime he wanted. He held back, though, and I was the first to make it to the porch. I collapsed over the rails, sucking in air between fits of laughter. Seth fell against the steps, chuckling along with me. He didn't seem nearly as winded as I was.
"Remember when we used to go fishing out at the Miller's pond?" He said when I could breathe again.
"Yeah. I hated that old dog of theirs." I answered, looking across the horizon in the direction the pond should be in. This wasn't our house or our land, but then again, it was. This was my dream, and it belonged to my wants and desires, so I was positive the Miller's pond was down in the valley just beyond the hill. I was also sure that old hound dog would be there waiting to give us trouble, and I smiled to myself. It felt right.
"How 'bout it?" Seth said, grabbing two fishing poles that had been leaning against the porch. I gave him a grin and reached for one.
"Let's do it, brother."
It was almost real. We talked and teased each other the whole afternoon, and we fished until we heard the baying hound closing in on us from a distance. The mutt had finally sniffed us out, and we grabbed our fishing poles and tore out of there as fast as we could. It was just like the old days. It was just like the last five years had never happened. It was so real.
Almost.
I opened my eyes as the sun peeked over the eastern horizon. Reality caught up with me, and the familiar sensation of loss thundered into my heart and ripped open old wounds. My eyes grew damp, and I remained still as the morning sun lightened the sky.
Stephanie was sound asleep. I didn't want to disturb her for multiple reasons. She needed her rest, and I wasn't ready to face anyone this morning. I used those moments to go over the short list of good things I had in my life, and I gratefully added Stephanie to the list.
As my muddied thoughts began to clear, the silent morning came alive. Sounds began to separate in my mind; Stephanie and Ali's soft breathing, the birds chirping, a soft swoosh, swoosh, swoosh sound coming from some distance away.
That last sound was strange, one I couldn't easily place. Lifting my head slowly, I looked down the length of my body toward the distant buildings to our south and sucked in a huge gulp of air. A small group of dead-brains was shuffling along, marching to an unknown destination.
"Shh," Ali hissed. She tilted her head just enough to look at me, shifting slightly so as not to disturb Stephanie. She whispered, "They've been there for a while. Haven't noticed us."
I blinked as I looked at her. Her new short hair was one thing, but the dark shadows in odd places on her face startled me. They were bruises. She was beat up worse than she'd let on, something I'd not been able to see in the darkness, and anger burst through me. She would heal fast, but that didn't stop my teeth from grinding together. I wished I ha
d the strength to protect her, but the thoughts were fleeting. There wasn't anything I could do about it now.
It was difficult, but I pushed the anger away and focused on the danger walking so close to us. "How many?"
"Three to the south. Maybe five or so have already passed." She answered. I tried to look behind me, but wouldn't be able to without shifting Stephanie. Ali continued, "If we move slowly and keep the noise down, we might be able to avoid them."
"They're just walking?" I said, stunned.
"Yeah, they do that." Ali answered. "Following each other, maybe. I don't know."
I continued to watch them as they shuffled along, slowly and without purpose. Sometimes one would come to a stop as if it forgot what it was doing, standing idle until another passed by or bumped into it. Then it would start moving again. They seemed to leapfrog like that, a different one stopping to be pushed on by another, and the cycle continued. I watched the three until they slipped beyond my view.
"We're going to wake her up soon." Ali said. "We need to go a little further north to get clear of these."
Ali shifted, moving to her back, and she propped herself up on her elbows. Stephanie grumbled in her sleep and snuggled closer against her. She even had her arm thrown over Ali's waist. I was speechless that Ali allowed it, but Ali only raised an eyebrow at the sleeping Stephanie before meeting my gaze.
"Do you know anything about this girl?" She questioned me. "How is she going to react to this?"
In truth, I didn't know. She had been calm in every situation I'd seen her in so far, but being face to face with a dead-brain was taking it to another level. Stephanie had to have known the dangers when she left the hotel to follow me... didn't she?
Becky's innocence flashed back in warning. Becky had thought she had seen bad things, but she never truly had, at least, not until it was too late. If Stephanie had been as sheltered as Becky, that could pose even more of a problem.
"I don't know." I finally answered. I knew that wasn't what Ali wanted to hear.
The Phoenix Curse (Book 3): After Page 3