by R. W. Ridley
“‘Get what off?’ I ask.
“A single locust flew out of her hair and landed at my feet. ‘That!’ she screamed.
“Carl walked over and picked up the insect. ‘A scout.’ He tossed it into the fire. ‘Get the draws to their posts!’
“Jerry grabbed my arm and started to escort me to my post, but we were stopped by Madison. ‘I can’t take the retard anymore. Let me have this one,’ She said to Jerry.
“‘But Carl put me in charge of this one,’ he answered.
“‘Jerry, we don’t have time to argue.’ She pried my arm away from him and handed him Bobby’s arm. Jerry hesitated and then took hold of Bobby. ‘You’re taking the heat from Carl if he gets pissed.’
“‘Deal,’ she said, and began to roughly escort me to my post. She looked over her shoulder a few times to make sure we weren’t being followed. Finally she spoke. ‘Here.’ She handed me the Bashir’s claw. ‘I can’t give you a knife because Carl knows every knife on the compound. If one goes missing, he’ll do whatever it takes to find out who took it. This should cut through the ropes.’
“‘What about the others?’ I asked.
“‘I can’t do anything for them and, if you try, the locusts will get you. In about ten minutes, visibility will be almost zero. We won’t be able to see you from the bonfire. Cut your ropes and run.’
“‘I can’t leave my friends.’
“‘You have to.’
“‘Would you?’
“We reached a ten foot post. ‘Doesn’t matter what I would do.’ She put my back against the pole and tied my hands together. ‘I have to make this tight,’ She said. ‘I’m sorry. I wish I could do more...’
“‘Maddy,’ Carl barked. ‘Who authorized you to switch with Jerry?’
“‘No one, sir. I just couldn’t take that retard anymore.’
“Carl rapidly approached. I cupped my hand around the Bashir claw. He stepped behind me and yanked on my ropes. Satisfied, he peered at Madison as he stepped toward her. Without a word, he backhanded her across the face. ‘My orders are never to be altered again!’
“She reached up and massaged her cheek. ‘But, Daddy...’
“He hit her again. Through gritted teeth he said, ‘Don’t ever call me that. I’m not your father. I’m your leader.’ He pulled her knife from the sheath on her belt. Holding it in front of her he said, ‘Cut him.’
“She took the knife. Her eyes on him, she slashed the blade across my ribcage. I felt the cold sensation of the blade followed by a searing heat. I fought not to cry out in pain.
“He eyeballed her a few more seconds and then walked off to inspect the other draws.
“‘Wait until you can’t see the fire,’ she whispered. Tears were flowing freely down her red cheeks.
“I could see Jerry tying Little Bobby to his post, but I couldn’t see the others. ‘Where are the others?’
“She sighed. I could tell she was fighting with herself. Part of her didn’t want to tell me, but the other part of her knew she had to. ‘The posts are fifty yards apart. They stretch all the way to the inlet. Just keep heading east.’ She started to walk away, but stopped. ‘If you try to save the others, you’ll all die.’
“‘Maybe,’ I said. ‘But if I run, I won’t be able to live with myself anyway, so I don’t have anything to lose. Why are you helping me?’
“She smiled. ‘Because I don’t have anything to lose.’ She turned and ran to the bonfire.
“The next few minutes were eerily quiet. Other than the roar of the fire, there wasn’t a sound. I could see the silhouetted figures of the members of the community swaying back and forth in front of the flames. The silence was broken by a sudden low rumbling thunderous buzzing. I looked up at the sky and watched a black curtain shut out the purple nightglow. It was impossible to make out individual locusts because they flew in such a tight formation. I started to cut away at the ropes. It was difficult to get my hands in position , and I almost dropped the claw at one point. But once I got the claw in position, I sawed away at the rope at a breakneck pace. Little by little, the fire and the silhouetted ghost community began to vanish. The rope snapped strand after strand as I cut through it. I tugged with all my strength and broke free from the post. I slipped in the dirt as I headed east toward the next post. Stumbling forward, I placed my hand on the ground and lost my grip on the Bashir claw. The light was totally gone. The claw was only out of my hands for a second, but it might as well have been lost to me years ago and miles away. I couldn’t find it. I fumbled through the thick grass, mumbling to myself, ‘Please, let me find it. Please.’ My hand ran across something sharp. I winced in pain and nearly cried tears of joy. I picked up the claw and called out, “Who’s there? Where are you?” The buzzing locusts grew closer and closer.
“‘It’s me,’ Little Bobby yelled. ‘Why?’
“I followed the sound of his voice and ran into him almost at full speed. I succeeded in knocking the breath out of myself, but I held tight to the claw.
“‘Heyyyy,’ Bobby gagged. ‘You hit me.’
“I felt in the darkness for Bobby’s hands. ‘Stand still.’
“‘Archie?’ he said. ‘It got dark.’
“‘Yeah, I know,’ I said as I cut away at the rope.
“‘What are you doing?’
“‘I’m trying to cut you loose.’
“Bobby’s rope was easier to cut than mine. I freed him in a matter of seconds. ‘C’mon,’ I said grabbing his hand. We ran screaming in the darkness. When someone screamed back, we headed toward the sound of the voice and found Lou. As I was cutting her rope, I felt a locust smack me in the head followed by another and another. We freed her and again cried out for the next person to give us their location while we ran through the darkness holding hands. April was next. Lou held on to Bobby while I cut through April’s rope. I could feel the locust crawling all over me while I cut with a frenzy I had never known before. April yelped in pain as I accidentally cut her hands. ‘Sorry,’ I said.
“‘Don’t be sorry,’ she said spitting a locust out of her mouth. ‘Just cut!’
“I freed her and we ran into the darkness screaming for Tank. He barked. ‘Here! Here! Here! Hurry.’
“We reached him and I quickly started to grope in the pitch black for the ropes that bound him. He was almost entirely covered in locusts. I swatted them off his arm and began to cut the rope. He coughed and hacked. ‘Hang on, Tank.’
“‘Forget it, Arch,’ he said. ‘Just get out of here.’
“‘Shut up,” I said. ‘I’ve cut through four ropes with this thing. I’m starting to get the hang of it...’ I heard a snap, and my hand slipped forward. The claw had broken. ‘Crap!’
“Tank laughed. ‘Don’t tell me.’
“‘What?’ Lou asked.
“I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud. ‘Help me get these ropes untied,’ I said.
“She felt for my shoulder in the darkness and then fumbled in the darkness until she found Tanks hands. We both started to tug on the ropes. There were a bundle of knots, and we couldn’t tell which way was which. April and Little Bobby began to cough violently. The locusts were getting thicker and thicker.
“‘Go!’ Tank said. ‘Get out of here!’
“‘We’re not leaving you,” I said. I could feel the locusts crawling in my nose. I snorted them out, blowing snot and locusts all over Lou.
“‘Listen,’ Tank coughed. ‘It don’t make sense for four people to die trying to save one broken down truck driver.’
“‘Stop talking,’ I said pulling on the knots. ‘I can’t concentrate...’
“Bobby’s coughing got worse with each passing second. I grabbed Lou’s hand. ‘Get them out of here,’ I said.
“‘He’s right,’ she said.
“‘What?’
“‘Tank’s right. We have to leave him.’
“‘I’m not...’
“‘You know he’s right!’ she said.
“
‘Let’s go,” April cried.
“‘Go,’ Tank said.
“I screamed like I had never screamed before. I jerked the rope one last time. ‘Tank... man... no.’
“‘Go!’ he demanded. ‘Before I break free from these ropes and beat the crap out of you.’ He laughed and coughed.
“Lou dragged me for the first ten feet until I shook loose from her grip and ran ahead of the others into the thick covering of the woods. I cupped my hands over my ears so I couldn’t hear Tank choking to death.”
EIGHT
“We wandered throughout the night. It took us hours before we couldn’t hear the buzzing of the locusts anymore. We were picking the nasty little bugs out of our hair and clothes longer than that. I would shudder occasionally as I remembered the sensation of the locusts’ prickly little feet crawling across my bare skin. I couldn’t get them out of my mind.
“I began to plot my revenge against Carl the second I made the decision I couldn’t save Tank. He would pay for Tank’s death. I would make sure of it. It was now my one and only purpose on this crap-hole of a planet. I would make him suffer just like Tank suffered. Of that I was nothing but sure.
“We stopped at dawn in a clearing near a muddy creek. I let the others sit before I chose a spot as far away as possible without losing sight of them. I didn’t want to socialize or to talk about what had happened or to cry over our friend Tank. I wanted to think about what I was going to do to Carl. I wanted to get mad and madder still. I wanted time to hate what he had done, what he had forced me to do. I wanted to plan my revenge in detail. I couldn’t do that with April whining about how tired she was or Little Bobby crying about how he missed his horses. I couldn’t do that with Lou and her ridiculous fantasies of Storytellers and Keepers and Takers and the great warrior Oz. “I sat under a large Cyprus tree and began to develop my plot to kill Carl. The others must have sensed my need to be alone because they didn’t even attempt to join me. I guess they could have been cooking up the same schemes I was cooking up. I looked over my shoulder and saw Little Bobby snoozing away with April’s arm draped over his shoulder. She sat, eyes drooping, fighting the need to sleep herself. She saw me looking her way and managed a half-hearted smile before she broke out in tears.
“I heard footsteps approaching from the creek. I swiveled my head around so fast I heard my neck pop. I was both relieved and angry to see Lou standing a few feet away. She bent down and propped her forearms on her knees while weaving her fingers together. She stared without speaking.
“I let it go on for several seconds before I finally spoke. ‘What?’ I said angrily.
“She cleared her throat. ‘You’re a creyshaw.’
“‘I’m not in the mood, Lou.’
“‘No,’ she said. ‘You’re really a creyshaw. A warrior.’
“I laughed. ‘I don’t feel like playing warrior today...’
“‘Listen to me. You are a warrior. You have a Keeper to find. You have a Storyteller to protect. Canter wasn’t just making an offhanded remark. He literally meant that you are a creyshaw.’
“I tried to soak in what she was saying, but I couldn’t get the sound of the locusts choking the life out of Tank out of my head. ‘Go away, Lou. Leave me alone.’
“She sighed. ‘You lost your friend. I get that. It’s tough. I’ve...’ She hesitated and breathed in deeply. ‘I’ve lost people, too, but we don’t have time for you to cry for Tank.’
“‘Lou, shut up!’ I barked. ‘Leave me alone.’
“‘No!’ she barked back. ‘You don’t get the luxury of feeling sorry for yourself. You’re a warrior. You understand? This isn’t a joke. It’s not a game. It’s a freaky little world where the purple people are losing control day by day and they’ll do anything to get it back. I need you to man up and take this seriously.’
“‘I don’t want to be a warrior!’ I tried to convey the depth of my anger with a penetrating stare, but she gave it back to me and then some.
“‘Want?’ she chuckled. ‘I want to be in Disneyland with my brother and grandparents enjoying the happiest place on earth, but that ship has sailed, my friend. Wants aren’t on the agenda anymore. You’re a creyshaw. You have a duty and if you don’t carry it out this world will keep on getting worse and worse until we’ll all be just as dead as Tank.’
“I stood. ‘Read my lips. I don’t care.’
“I heard her joints crack as she stood. ‘Wait a minute.’ I ignored her. ‘What if I told you there’s a possibility we can go back?’
“‘Back where?’ I asked still walking away.
“‘Back to our world. Before all this began.’
“I stopped. Turning, I said, ‘Before...?’
“‘Yes.’
“I nearly fell to the ground. I couldn’t believe my ears. ‘We can go back?’
“‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I used to think so. The further I get from who I used to be, I’m not so sure anymore, but Oz believed it. He thought it was possible.’
“‘How?’
“‘I told you I don’t know. But the Destroyers want the Storytellers so I figure it’s got something to do with them.’ “‘Tell me how this works,’ I said.
“‘The Storytellers created the Destroyers. They underwent some kind of therapy and training by this doctor in Buffalo. He taught them to create things with their minds. They suffered from Down syndrome. So they used their talent to create hell on earth to punish all the people who tormented them.’
“I thought about what she said. I looked at Bobby. Down syndrome, I thought.
“‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘I heard Carl’s thugs talk about how the Bashir acted toward Bobby.’
“‘Do you think...?’
“She shrugged her shoulders. ‘There might be a way to find out.’ She walked past me and headed toward Bobby and April. She whistled. ‘Hey, wake up!’
“April snapped to and Bobby groggily lifted his head.
“‘C’mon,’ April said. ‘Please don’t tell us we have to keep going. We’re tired. We need to rest.’
“Ignoring April, Lou addressed Bobby. ‘You ever hear of HMI, Little Bobby?’
“Bobby looked down. He shook his head.
“‘What’s that?’ April asked.
“‘Hyper Mental Imaging,’ Lou answered. ‘It’s kind of like magic, isn’t it Bobby?’
“Bobby backed away from her and pressed against April.
“‘What’s wrong, Bobby?’
“‘What was the doctor’s name?’ Lou said. ‘The one who taught you to make things with your mind. Dr. Baker?’
“‘Dr. Bashir,’ Bobby said. He immediately covered his mouth with his hands.
“Lou smiled. ‘Of course. Dr. Bashir.’ She looked at me. ‘That’s why he called his monsters the Bashir.’
“‘No,’ Bobby said shaking his head. ‘It’s not my fault. It’s not my fault.’
“‘What’s going on?’ April asked.
“Lou gently touched Bobby’s arm. ‘We know. Dr. Bashir made you make the monsters. Didn’t he?’
“Bobby nodded. ‘He was a mean man. He liked to hit. He made us think bad thoughts. He wanted us to hurt people.’ “‘It’s all right, Bobby,’ she said. ‘We’re here to help you.’
“‘Not you,’ Bobby said. He pointed at me. ‘Him.’
“I stepped back. Every instinct I had told me to turn and run and never look back, but I was terrible at following my instincts. I swallowed and said, ‘Why me?’
“‘You were nice to my horse once,’ he said.
“‘I looked at him dumfounded. ‘What are you talking about, Bobby? We didn’t know each other before...’ I lifted my arms and spread them wide. ‘This.’
“‘Yes we did,’ he smiled.
“‘No we didn’t. I found you in Mobile.’
“‘The second time,’ he said. ‘The first time you found me in Birmingham.’
“I thought about what he said, and suddenly realized it was a real possibility I had seen
Bobby before. I had been to a horse track in Birmingham. Years ago. I was a kid.
“‘You came to the track,’ he said. ‘You told your friend my horse was smarter than me.’
“‘That’s it?’ I said. ‘You chose me because I said your horse was smarter than you.’
“He shrugged his shoulders. ‘Everyone else thought my horse was kind of dumb. But you didn’t. You believed in him.’
“I waved my arms and walked away. Lou ran after me. ‘Where are you going?’
“‘He chose me because I was nice to his horse. I wasn’t even being nice to his horse. I was making fun of him. I’m not the guy. I’m not the warrior. It’s somebody else.’
“‘That’s the way it works. The people who are the creyshaw, the warriors, they weren’t chosen because they were ideal citizens. They were jerks... Most of them.’
“‘What about Oz? Was he a jerk?’
“‘The biggest,’ she said. ‘But I figure that’s what this is all about. Bad people getting a second chance.’
“‘I’m fine with who I was. I don’t need a second chance. I was a kid when I said that about Bobby. I’m supposed to pay for that now? Besides he doesn’t even think it was a bad thing.’
“‘I don’t have all the answers. All I know is the Bashir are coming after Bobby. Like it or not, you’re the only one that can save him.’
“I dropped my shoulders and lifted my chin to the sky. ‘This is ridiculous, Lou. I can’t stop the Bashir.’
‘Not alone,’ she said.
“I turned to her prepared to laugh in her face. It would take an army a hell of a lot bigger than me and her and April to protect Bobby. But when I looked her in the face, I saw a determination that was impossible not to believe. She could save the world with one hand behind her back. I shrugged. ‘Okay, I’ll save Bobby.’
“She smiled. ‘Great! Now all we need is Ajax.’
***
“Much to April’s dismay, we rested for only thirty more minutes before we continued on. Lou had set up a checkpoint with her crew. She was already a few hours overdue thanks to her abduction by Carl’s goons. They wouldn’t wait much longer for her. They had to keep on the move or they were at risk of being caught by the Délons. She believed purple creepies were on the hunt for Oz and, as far as they knew, he was wherever Wes and Lou and the others were. And if he wasn’t, he would come for them if he thought they were in trouble. And he would, but Lou had no idea where he was. He had left a year ago to find the Source, the key to the Délons return to absolute power.