He disconnects for the third and final time and slips the Link back into his pocket. Around us, steam rises from the grass and from the tops of the trees. Inside the wood, beneath the canopy of moss, the air is dark and still. Water drips silently down, like jewels slipping down an invisible thread. The Undead lurk within that darkness, hiding from the sun, waiting for the light to fade. Waiting for something to feed upon. What if I yelled right now? What if I screamed and brought them to us?
“Behave, little lady,” Ben warns.
I drop my eyes.
“Casey!” Ben snaps. “Time to go.” He watches Casey stand up and work the stiffness from his muscles. He smiles, and Casey smiles in return. It seems miraculous. The treatment really does work. Casey is getting better.
“Where?” Casey asks.
Ben points to an overgrown concrete walkway. “Why don’t you take the lead for a while, Casey?”
Casey passes him, almost struts as he walks by. He still moves a little stiffly, but there’s a new look in his eyes, a mixture of awe and respect, of hope and vindication. He looks pleased with himself. Ben pats him on the back and looks pleased with himself, too. He grabs Casey’s arm and holds the bite up into the light. “How do you feel?”
Casey’s smile turns into a laugh. “I totally feel great!”
“Of course you do! See? I told you you’d thank me.”
Casey plunges into the woods, not caring that he’s making all kinds of noise. He moves quickly now, with purpose. The brush is close all around and branches snap and the soggy leaf litter makes muffled crunching sounds underfoot. He powers his way through it. I hesitate, not wanting to follow him in, not with the racket he’s making. But Ben pushes me with the tip of his machete.
“Go on now, jacker queen,” he says. “Time’s a wastin. Aren’t you anxious to see your friends again?”
He laughs and gestures for me to go. Casey’s already disappeared from view, but I could follow him with my eyes closed. My hands itch, wanting something to hold onto—a knife or a bo stick, something to defend myself with in case we get attacked. Ben pokes me again, urging me forward. I have no choice but to do what he says.
I imagine slipping away in the darkness and into the impenetrable thickness of the wood.
“No straying,” Ben tells me, as if he can read my mind. “You get lost in there, you’ll never make it out. Not alive, leastways.”
The brush closes around us and dew soaks into my clothes. They were just beginning to dry out. I keep my eyes and ears peeled. I realize I’m actually hoping we come upon the Undead.
But we emerge at the edge of the clearing around the Jayne’s Hill complex ten minutes later. Not an IU in sight. My bad luck is holding.
Casey’s already standing on the edge of the grass. I’m almost startled by the improvement in his appearance. He looks even stronger, even more confident, than he did ten minutes ago. There’s a flash in his eyes. When he sees Ben step out behind me, he beams.
“I ain’t sick, Ben.”
And Ben replies, “And you ain’t never gonna get sick again neither, boy.”
Chapter 14
Ben strides past me, heading for the gate. “Grab her,” he tells Casey. “Bring her along. Don’t let her escape.”
He grunts as he says this, as if he knows how ridiculous it would be for me to try and get away from him now. Where would I go? What would I do? Everything I need right now is either in his pocket or inside this compound.
Casey tilts his head and nudges me with the muzzle of the rifle. Whatever guilt and self-doubt he’d harbored inside of himself before is now long gone. It’s such an unbelievable transformation that I wonder how much of it might be psychological. Ben had beaten him down so badly, had stripped him so completely of his self-confidence, that the smallest praise, the tiniest improvement, could make him feel more invincible than he might really be.
Ben had to know it would happen this way. He had to know how much it would affect Casey if the treatment worked. He knew it would turn him from the uncertain fool he was to a man who now feels like he can do anything. It tells me a lot about Casey—most of which I’d already figured out—but also something about Ben: he’s a lot smarter and more dangerous than even I had guessed.
Casey trails along behind me, not really shoving the business end of the rifle into my back, but not being as tentative as he had before. I almost feel sorry for him. I know that what is so easily built-up, can be as easily torn down. The first time his newfound feeling of invincibility shows its first cracks, Casey will completely crumble.
The soft hum of the electrical current gets louder the closer we get to the gate. I can feel the hair on my arms beginning to rise from the charge in the air. Almost instinctively, I search the clearing, hoping to see Shinji there, maybe asleep in the shade of a tree or trotting along one of the thin animal trails toward me, his tongue hanging out as he pants with that doggy smile on his lips. But he’s not there. He’s gone, miles away by now.
Ben is checking his Link again, keying something into it. I open my mouth to ask how he expects to get inside when the humming noise suddenly evaporates. Without hesitation, he reaches out and grabs the gate and unlatches it and swings it open.
“After you,” he says, that obnoxious grin on his lips.
“How did you—”
“Ain’t technology wonderful?” he answers. “Now get inside!”
Casey and I walk in. Ben closes the gate and latches it. Then he thumbs his Link one final time. A moment later the humming sound resumes.
“Shall we go find your friends now?”
“Untie me first.”
“Of course, darling,” he says, magnanimously. “No chance you’ll escape now.”
I give the machete in his hand a wary look. He sheathes it and pulls a knife out of his pocket and shows it to me. In that instant I realize how stupid I’ve been. I have my own little pocket knife. It’s still in my left back pocket. I could’ve cut through the bindings myself at any time while we were on the road, especially in the chaos following Ben’s siccing the zombie on Casey, or during the height of his infection.
Ben grabs my arms and begins to saw through the knots. When my hands are free, I bring them around and rub the soreness from my wrists. They’re red and chaffed.
“Don’t want the first things your friends to see to be you all bound up, now, would we? That wouldn’t make for a very nice introduction.” He laughs. “Of course, can’t do nothing bout that black eye of yours.” He throws the cord onto the ground and gestures. “You’ll behave, won’t you?”
“Ashamed?” I spit. “Because even you have know it’s not manly to hit a girl.”
He raises his hand again, and this time I don’t flinch. We stand there like that, frozen in poses of defiance, waiting to see who’ll blink first. The tension builds until the sound of skin slapping skin shatters it and we both turn to see Casey inspecting his palm.
“God damn mosquitoes,” he says.
I can see Ben wanting to snap at him, but he doesn’t. He’s not ready to tear down that house of cards he so carefully constructed.
I turn on my heel and head toward the largest building, but he tells me to stop. “I believe you want that building,” he says, pointing to the smaller one. I don’t know what I was planning, just that I knew I had to delay us getting to Kelly and the others so I’d have more opportunity to take him out.
There’s a slight grin on his lips, like he knows. And he does, because he knows exactly where we are and where I need to be going. He’s been here before.
“How long have you been tracking us?” I ask.
“Computer trackin? Tried. Couldn’t get the software to work. Got some kind of glitch or interference or something in it. Could only track ourselves.” He shrugs. “What good is that? I already know where I am. Anyhow, it don’t matter no how, not when we’ve been gettin reg’lar updates from our Coder. Now, if you don’t have any more questions, it’s time.”
I s
igh. “Can I at least have my Link back?”
“No.” He gestures again to the smallest building, the one with access to the basement. “You know which buildin. No more tricks or deceptions.”
We enter through the broken door, and I quickly notice that the boys have cleaned up a little. The bodies of the IUs are now gone, probably moved into one of the rooms. Thick black coagulated blood spots and streaks mar the walls and floor. Casey eyes it all, his eyes narrow as he assesses the scene with a clinical eye. Gone is the timidity, the self-doubt. I think if an IU ran up to him right now he’d stand and fight it with his bare hands.
“Kelly?” I call into the silence, but only silence answers. “They’re probably with Jake.”
“Then let’s go see him, shall we? Casey, you stay up here. Let me know when the others arrive.” He walks over and whispers something into his ear and shows him the screen of his Link.
Casey nods. “No problem,” he says, and he starts heading back toward the door.
“Oh, and Case? One more thing. Show a little restraint. There’ll be time enough later for fun.”
“Yes, sir.” He grins.
We turn and, when he heads for the stairs, I suggest we take the elevator. He shakes his head.
“Never use them. Don’t like confined spaces. Bad things happen in small places, if you know what I mean.”
The stairwell has also been cleared of bodies. When we reach the landing where Micah tried to extract the implant, Ben gives the stains on the wall a curious look. “You kids had quite the party in here.”
“Yeah, it was a blast.”
He chuckles and doesn’t ask for clarification.
When we get down to the bottom floor and push through the doorway, we’re met by a blast of frigid air. Kelly hears us and hurries over, a heavy wool woman’s jacket draped over his shoulders. He gives Ben a wary look, taking in the black outfit and the machete in his belt. Something flickers in his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything. When he sees my eye he gasps and steps toward me. Ben moves to intercept.
“I’m okay,” I tell him. “Where are the others?”
Kelly leads me over to Jake, moving stiffly, warily, careful not to make any sudden movements. Ben positions himself slightly to the side, where he can quickly intervene if need be. We enter the main room and the lights are turned down low. “We’re taking shifts watching over him,” he says, talking quickly. It’s what he does when he’s stress. “Ashley was going on and on about the cold, so Reggie took her upstairs a couple hours ago. I think they must’ve fallen asleep. And Br—”
He glances at Ben again.
“Everyone else is upstairs,” he finishes.
If Ben notices Kelly’s hesitation, he doesn’t show it. I’m not sure it’s any advantage, keeping Brother Nicholas a secret from him. I have no idea how to leverage it. I just hope it doesn’t turn into a mistake we’ll later regret.
Ben circles around to the head of the table and looks down on Jake. The straps around his body have been reinforced, in case he should turn when no one is watching. They’ve also set up an automatic spraying system to keep him even cooler. Despite the chill of the air and the water, heat still rises up off of his body in thick, sickening waves. His skin has gone an ugly bruised yellow and his cheeks are sunken in.
For another moment, Kelly frowns at the figure, hurt in his eyes, before he turns to me. “Did you bring the medicine?”
Ben fingers the snap on his pocket and reaches in. “You mean this?” he asks.
Kelly exhales and waits.
Ben smiles, checking Kelly out. He leans against the table, scratching his chin with the end of the syringe. “So, you are the famously elusive Kelly Corben,” he says. “Not really much to look at, are you?” he chuckles. “Casey told me all about you after what happened during his previous encounter with you. Think you’re some kind of smart fucker, don’t you?”
Kelly’s eyes narrow.
“What encounter?” I ask, shocked.
Ben inhales, clears his throat dramatically. “The one with Casey and Shane. Never shoulda sent a couple of boys to do a man’s job. But that was Paddy’s mistake, not mine.”
“Kelly?”
“Yeah, he’s a slippery one, ain’t you? Can’t trust you, not for a second. I’ll be keepin my eyes on you, that’s for sure.”
“Kelly, what’s he talking about?”
“Not now, Jess.”
“Yes, not now. But soon,” Ben says. “I’m expectin a couple more guests to our little party, and I so hate repeatin myself.” He steps away, positioning himself so we can’t escape. “You kids have been givin us all quite the run for our money. Lucky I ran into your little darlin here at the wall. We was just headin out to look for the good father when we got waylaid by the storm.”
Kelly frowns. “Heall? What do you want with him?”
“Heall? Ironic, ain’t it, carrying around that name. But what I want turns out to be the same thing you want.” He holds up the syringe. “His secret recipe. Anyway, now that’s cleared up and we’re all together again, like one big happy family, just got to tie up a few loose ends. And once that’s done, I’ll be taking a little trip to—where the hell was it? Brookfeather?” He smiles waiting for me to correct him. “Brookhaven,” he says, finally. And the grin spreads.
He slips the syringe back into his pocket. “Everyone else is topside, you say?” he asks, and when Kelly nods, he seems satisfied. “Good. Why don’t we join them then? We’ll finish this at last.”
He winks at Kelly, then gestures toward the stairs.
Chapter 15
“Where’s Ashley?” Kelly asks Reggie, when he finds him lying down on a desk in one of the darkened rooms.
Reggie lifts his arm from his head. His face is slack with fatigue and his movements are groggy, but when he sees me standing behind Kel he quickly pushes himself up. “You’re back!” he exclaims, and he hurries over and gives me a hug. “Jesus, Jessie. What the hell happened to your eye?”
“Where’s Ashley,” I ask, quietly repeating Kelly’s question.
Reggie stares at me for a moment, confused, before his eyes raise from my face and focuses on the doorway. Ben’s shadow fills the room and I feel Reggie immediately tense.
“Who’s he?”
“He’s got the medicine for Jake.”
“Another brother?”
I give my head a quick shake, frowning. The less said, the better.
“Why don’t we find someplace to talk,” Ben says, smiling. “Someplace more…open, with a little more light and where we can stretch out a little.” He looks around the tiny darkened room with distaste.
“Where’s Ashley?”
“She went…” Reggie starts, but then he stops, confused. He looks back at the desk. “She got up a little while ago. I thought she was going to use the bathroom.” He rubs his face. “What time is it?”
Kelly checks his Link. “Almost two.”
“And Jake?”
“Okay. For now. Still hanging in there.”
Reggie turns back to Ben and says, “Look, if you’ve got the medicine, then can’t we talk afterward? Our friend is in pretty rough shape.”
“We’ve already been down—” I begin, but Ben reaches in and pulls me out by my arm.
“Hey!” I hear Reggie say in alarm, but that’s all. Kelly must’ve signaled him to be quiet.
Ben drags me out to the main room, and Reggie and Kelly follow behind. He instructs us all to sit down. The worry on Reggie’s face deepens. Kelly’s face is a blank slate.
“Listen, guys, just do as he says,” I tell them. I find a chair and gesture to the others.
“Before we get too comfortable, why don’t you let me hold onto your Link devices,” Ben says, holding out a hand. The other is on the hilt of his machete. Any pretense of civility is gone. Everything about him screams, Don’t fuck with me! “We don’t want no interruptions now, do we?”
Reggie jerks, as if shocked. I can almost see the option
s going through his head. Kelly reaches into his pocket and pulls out his Link without a word. But Reggie shakes his head.
“Reggie, just do—”
“I left it downstairs,” he says, feigning checking his pockets. “With my backpack.”
Both Kelly and I turn and look at him, but Ben just shrugs. “Fine. Whatever. We’ll deal with it later.”
He slips Kelly’s Link into the left breast pocket of his shirt where it clicks with mine.
“I’ll need that back,” Kelly says.
“Of course you will.” Ben smiles amicably, but the look in his eyes is threatening.
“You guys want to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Reggie asks us, whispering.
“Said I’ll explain everything when everyone else gets here,” Ben answers. “Patience.”
He pings Casey and asks, “Shane and Lena arrive yet? They shoulda been here by now.”
I can hear Casey answer no, not yet. He sounds out of breath.
Reggie leans over and whispers, “What the fuck is going on?” I give him a quick shake of the head, my eyes never leaving Ben as he frowns at his screen. I wonder if he knows about the failsafe device in our heads. He has to, in which case, he knows Reggie’s lying because there’s no way he could’ve left his Link downstairs and not be unconscious by now.
“Damn it!” Ben snaps. “What’s taking them so long?” Casey warbles an answer we can’t quite hear and Ben shakes his head in frustration. “Fine. Just make sure you let me know as soon as they’ve arrived.” He glances up at us and says, “No talking.”
A moment later, his Link pings. Casey’s voice comes through loud and clear: They’re here. “Good,” Ben responds. “We’re in the main room, Building One. On the ground floor. Bring them here. Keep an eye out for the last two. If you see them, escort them over, would you, boss?” He thumbs it off.
Reggie leans over toward me. “Does he know Micah’s not here?”
“Quiet, I said!”
From the outside door I hear Ashley’s voice. Then Brother Nicholas’ reply. They’re coming closer, and they don’t seem to be aware that we’re back. They enter the room, each of them carrying a bundle of plants, and they’re talking about how to prepare them for use as a salve. When they see us, they stop and stare in surprise, their discussion cut off in midsentence.
S.W. Tanpepper's GAMELAND, Season One Omnibus Page 82