by R. W. Ridley
“That’s why Lou formed an alliance with the Silencers. She promised them the Source if they helped her find Oz. She had no idea what or where the Source was, but she convinced them that Oz knew, and she could get him to turn it over to the overgrown crustaceans. They agreed and fed her the latest tips on Oz’s whereabouts, all the while keeping the Délons distracted and off her back. But she was growing more and more mistrustful of the Silencers and knew it was just a matter of time before their agreement was ended and she and the others were turned over to the Délons. She was running out of time, and so was Oz. I didn’t want to ask her what made her think he was still alive. I knew she had thought about it. It was written on her face when she talked about him, but she had an unflappable faith that he was alive because I’m sure he promised her they would see each other again. That’s the kind of thing people said to each other even though they had no way of keeping the promise.
“After walking and talking for an hour, April finally piped up. ‘This is crazy! You people are just going to have to stop. My feet hurt. I’m about to collapse from exhaustion. And I’m pretty sure Little Bobby’s been asleep on his feet for the past couple of miles.’
“‘We can’t stop,’ Lou said. ‘C’mon it’s not much farther.’
“‘I don’t believe you,’ April said. ‘You’re just saying that. I’m not stupid, you know...’ Her jaw dropped and her eyes opened wide. She stumbled backwards while pointing behind me.
“I turned to see a large white hairy monster marching through the woods in front of us. It was fifteen feet tall, with a broad mouth and red eyes.
“‘Tarek,’ Lou said excitedly. She ran to the beast and hugged it tightly.
“‘Lou,’ it said in deep explosive tones.
“‘It’s been so long.’ She reached down in some thick brush and picked something up. I saw legs dangling around her hip. She was holding a child. One of about two or three wearing a tiny little backpack. ‘He’s getting so big,’ she said.
“Tarek spotted us and approached. ‘Who’s this?’
“‘I found another warrior and Storyteller,’ she said.
“It sniffed the air. A needle-toothed grin spread across its ugly face. ‘Indeed,’ it said. ‘You are indeed.’
“‘How do you know?’ I asked.
“‘I know things,’ it said. ‘Your name?’
“‘You don’t know?’
“‘Would I have asked if did?’
“‘Archie Maynard.’
“It reached down, wrapped its enormous hand around me, and lifted me up. ‘You aren’t much.’
“Lou shook her head. ‘He says that about all the warriors.’
“‘Well,’ Tarek said. ‘None of them are much. It’s frightening to think the future of your world is in the hands of something as puny as this creature.’
“‘You want to put me down?’ I said having a little trouble breathing.
“Tarek effortlessly tossed me aside. I went tumbling to the ground nearly crashing into April and Bobby. I winced in pain as I stood and brushed the dirt from my clothes. April stared at the white monster with extreme trepidation, while Bobby seemed oddly calmed by Tarek’s presence.
“Tarek lost interest in me and watched Lou holding the child. ‘This one is already trouble. He is into everything.’
“Lou tweaked the youngster’s nose and made him giggle. ‘It’s tough being a parent,’ she said.
“Tarek shook his massive head. ‘A Keeper does not a parent make. I am his protector. It is not my job to raise him.’
“‘Gee,’ she said. ‘Whine much?’ She bounced the child on her hip. ‘Why are you here anyway?’
“‘He’s begun,’ Tarek said. ‘The stories.’
“Lou stopped bouncing the kid. ‘It’s too early. You said it would take him years.’
“The giant beast shrugged. ‘I was wrong. Look in the backpack.’
“Lou put the child on the ground and unzipped his backpack. She removed a piece of paper from it and straightened it out. I could see it was a drawing, a rudimentary one at that. It appeared to be a large nondescript black mass. Meaningless.
“‘What is it?’ Lou asked.
“‘You can’t tell?’ Tarek replied.
“‘A ball?’
“‘It’s a cave,” Bobby said and then immediately looked away sheepishly
“‘Bingo,’ Tarek said.
“‘A cave?’ Lou said. ‘How do you get a cave out of this?’ “‘I don’t,’ Tarek said picking up the kid. ‘But he does, and that’s the important thing.’ He walked to the thick forest canopy from which he emerged.
“‘What does it mean?’ Lou asked.
“‘Not sure yet,’ Tarek said, ‘but I’ll keep you posted. Incidentally, Wes and the others are about a half mile south of here.’
“‘Bye, Nate,’ Lou cooed. ‘See you soon.’
“‘By the way, Archie Maynard,’ Tarek said. ‘At the count of three, you will be wide-awake and feeling better than you did before.’
“‘What are you talking about? I’m not asleep.’ I looked at Lou for confirmation that I was indeed awake, but she was gone.
“‘One, feeling refreshed and confident.’ Tarek said. “‘Two, feeling revitalized and ready to have a productive day. Three, open your eyes. You’re wide awake, rejuvenated with a clear mind.’
Oz
NINE
Bones is waiting for me when I emerge from the closet. He begins to speak, but I cut him off before he gets the second syllable out. I am tired. I am angry. I am confused. In other words, it is business as usual for me in this place. I thought listening to Scoop-face’s sessions would give me answers, and if not answers, hope that I wasn’t completely off my rocker, that the things I thought happened really did happen. But so far, all I’ve been able to determine is that Scoop-face is as crazy as me.
Bones is surprised as I pass the hallway to my room and continue on toward the rec area and cafeteria. I am not in the mood to sit and stew in my room and go over the story Scoop-face is spewing in his sessions. Bashirs, militant survivors, lung locusts. That didn’t happen. And if his story is clearly nuts, then my story is obviously nuts, too.
I groan. Not in frustration, but in relief. I am nuts. The Takers, the Délons, General Roy, Reya, Ajax the talking gorilla, none of that is real. I know that now. The memory of them can’t haunt me anymore because it’s not a memory.
They are serving ice cream in the cafeteria. I think I haven’t had ice cream in a very long time. I know I haven’t because the second I see it, I want to eat an entire gallon... no, not want – I need to eat an entire gallon. I have not been in the cafeteria before. I hear spoons clank against porcelain bowls as I make my way to the ice cream line. Most of the crazies watch my every move. They are unnerved by my presence. They don’t know what to make of my visit. I stand behind the fat lady who is scared by her own farts. I pray she doesn’t let one go. Bones is standing behind me. He is unsure of my motives. He has been instructed to watch over me, but he has no idea how to protect me from myself.
“Ah, chief,” he says. “Do you think it’s a good idea to be here?”
“I’m hungry,” I say. “You don’t have to stay.”
“It’s just that...” He smiles nervously at our onlookers. “You’re kind of freaking everyone out, and believe me, boss, these aren’t the kind of people you want to freak out.”
“Do I make you nervous?” I yell out to the crowd.
“Oh, geez,” Bones mutters. “Shhhhh, you can’t... stop drawing attention to us.”
“Why?” I ask the cafeteria. “We’re all crazy here. I know I am. I just found out today that my second hand doesn’t go all the way around the clock, if you know what I mean.”
Bones backs away from me. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, shhhh.” He turns to the cafeteria. “He’s okay folks. He’s just making conversation. Back to your food. I’m sure it’s delicious.”
I step up to the metal counter with the wait staff lookin
g at me like I have three heads. “Scoop of vanilla and chocolate, please,” I say.
“I don’t like this, boss,” Bones says. “I really don’t like this.”
“Then don’t get any,” I say.
“That’s not what I mean,” Bones says. “We should be back in your room. Archie will be around to see you tonight. You might want to sit and think about what you’re going to say to him.”
The lady behind the counter hands me my bowl of ice cream. The mounds are perfectly scooped. They look like works of art. I sit at a nearby table and hesitate. It feels wrong somehow to destroy such perfection. I quickly shake it off and cut through the chocolate mound with my spoon. I let the ice cream touch my lips first. I savor the feel of it. The smell of it. I cannot believe how relaxed it makes me. I shove the spoonful of ice cream in my mouth and close my eyes. It is heaven. My next spoonful is vanilla, then chocolate, then vanilla. I alternate the two flavors with an ever-increasing pace. I feel the cold racing through my veins until a pounding pain hits me between the eyes. Brain-freeze. I double over. Eyes shut tight. I press my thumb and index finger against the bridge of my nose. I grow dizzy from the pain. The muttering from the others grows louder and louder. My eyes still closed, I can feel them closing in on me. I hear a tray crash to the floor.
“Oz,” a voice echoes through my throbbing head. I am in too much pain to respond. “Oz.” I breathe rapidly, sucking air in deeply and pushing it out through pursed lips. The pain begins to slowly subside. I feel the muscles in my body begin to relax. I open one eye and then the other, fluttering my eyelids to adjust to the light. The fluorescent glow of the cafeteria is gone. There is now a faint yellow radiance above my head from a single light bulb hanging from a vaulted ceiling.
“You’re wasting time,” a voice says.
I stand. “Who’s there?”
I hear the click, click, click of spiked feet approaching. Canter steps under the yellow dome of light. “This is getting us nowhere.”
“What are doing here?”
“Failing to make you see the truth,” he says.
“Which is?”
“You’re crazy.”
I laugh, softly at first and then I cackle madly. “I know I’m crazy. Where have you been?”
He shakes his upside down head. “You’ve accepted it temporarily. It will pass. Eventually you will start to believe again. Archie will get to you. He’ll convince you that you are a warrior... a great warrior who is the key to vanquishing the Destroyers. But you’re not. Do you understand me? You’ve done bad things. You’ve killed people... people you love.” He points down.
I look at my feet. Lou lays bleeding. I’m stunned beyond words. I begin to hyperventilate.
“It’s not true,” I hear Scoop-face say. He steps out of the darkness led by Bones.
I hear Canter scream in my head. “How did you get in here?”
Scoop-face smiles. “I found your hiding place,” he says. “That’s the benefit of getting in somebody’s head.”
I bend down and stroke Lou’s cheek with the back of my hand.
“Do you remember her real name,” Scoop-face asks.
“Shut up,” Canter says. He rushes Bones and Scoop-face, but stops short. Bones shields his face with his left arm.
Scoop-face smiles. “Relax, Bones. The Silencer is harmless here.”
“Her real name,” I say to myself.
“Lou is just a nickname,” Scoop-face says. “If you can remember her real name, you can go back.”
I turn to him. “Go back where?”
“Back to the cave. Before the shunter. You made a mistake. You can correct it.”
Canter chuckles. “There is no going back.”
“The cave?” I shudder at the sound of the words. Why would I want to go back there?
“If you can remember Lou’s real name. You’ll find her. You can correct your mistake and get back on the right path. The Storytellers want you to win, Oz, but you have to figure out how on your own. They want to give you a chance to do the right thing.”
“Storytellers,” Canter sneers. “They are weak and feebleminded. They have no power because they chose corrupt and undeserving warriors to save the world.”
Scoop-face smiles. “That’s the problem with you Destroyers. You never understood the power of forgiveness.”
Canter rolls his eyes. “Please.” He stomps a single spiked foot and the light bulb that illuminated the room explodes. “And you humans never understood the power of darkness.”
***
I awake in my room. I shake the cobwebs and feel strangely refreshed. As I swing my legs over the bed and rub the soreness out of my shoulders, I hear the dead scatter. I can’t bear to seek them out. I know they are there. That’s enough.
I peer up and see something on the padded wall in front of me, a word... no, two or three words. I narrow my eyes and try to focus on them. I can’t see them through the gloom. I stand and slowly shuffle towards the wall. I am afraid and curious at the same time. I have a desire to know what it says, and I have a fear that knowing will harm me in some way. When I make it out, I realize that it did more than harm me, it confused me. Written in blood is “Millie B. Story.”
***
Scoop-face arrives in my room an hour later. His eyeless face is highlighted by an impossible smile.
“What are you smiling at?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” he says. “I guess it’s just good to get back there. To see everybody again.”
“Everybody like Tank,” I say.
His smile disappears. “There was nothing I could have done.”
I shrug my shoulders. “Didn’t seem like you tried very hard.”
A scowl now. “I guess I’m not the great and powerful Oz.”
I sigh. I feel bad for what I said. “I don’t want to do this anymore, Archie. I belong here. The world is better off with me in here.”
“The world would have been better if you were a good person. We’re here because of you. You can’t decide to quit. You are creyshaw!”
I laugh. “You see! That’s it right there! The whole creyshaw business! It’s nonsense!”
“Keep your voice down,” he says. He whispers. “You have to see this through.”
I wave him off. “There’s nothing to see through. It’s not real.”
“It is,” he says raising his voice. “It has to be.” He points to his face. “How did this happen to me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you were born like that for all I know.” He stomps. “No, think. You know. You were there. You did this to me.”
I examine the vacant area of his face, and try to absorb what he just said. I couldn’t have done that. “What... me?”
“Think,” he demands.
I try to recall what he wants me to, but I can’t. “Why would I do that to you?”
“Because I asked you to,” he says.
I snicker. “Now I know you’re crazy. Why would anyone want that done to them?”
“Because if you didn’t, I would have become one of them. I’d rather have no face than become one of them.”
A flash of a memory pops off in my brain. I see the shunter on Archie’s face. My fingers are digging deep into the jellyfish body of the face-sucker. I am pulling it off with all my might. Archie is holding on tight to my arm.
The memory gone, I fall to my knees. “I did that to you.”
He puts his hand on my shoulder. “Warriors make hard choices. That’s what makes them warriors. You are creyshaw. You have to see this thing through.”
I nod. “I am creyshaw.” I force a laugh. “You should know that I’m more coward than warrior.”
He makes his way to the door. “We all are.”
***
When I arrive in the janitor’s closet the next afternoon, I discover a pen and small notepad sitting on one of the supply shelves. I grab it and flip to a blank page. I write down Millie B. Story and then tap the pen on the paper just as I had seen Dr. G
raham do a thousand times. I write down Lou’s real name? She told me. I know she did. I examine the name Millie B. Story. The harder I stare, the more the letters float apart.
Archie enters Dr. Grahams office and their session begins.
Scoop-face
TEN
“‘I’m sorry to hear about Tank,’ Wes said. ‘He was
good people.’ The portly former auto mechanic was tinkering with the engine of his VW bus.
“Lou pulled her finger out of a jar of peanut butter and stuffed it in her mouth. In spite of that, she tried to speak. ‘Really good guy. We could have used him, too.’
“I was eating some fresh baked flatbread. It was hard and barely edible, but I was hungry enough to marginally enjoy it. Valerie had made it for us, and I didn’t want to be rude by not eating it. I don’t know why I was holding on to the old social norms, but I couldn’t let them go.
“‘This community they took you to,’ Wes said. ‘You sure you weren’t followed?’
“‘Nah,’ Lou said. ‘The locust gave us cover. They’re probably just now figuring out we got away. They’ll send out search parties, though. They’re afraid we’ll give up their position.’
“Ajax huffed and grabbed the jar of peanut butter from her. He dug his finger into the sweet sticky treat and pulled it out. He sniffed it and hooted with delight. He sucked the peanut butter off. I wondered how much he could enjoy it without a tongue, but it didn’t seem to hold him back at all.
“‘Nice,’ Lou said with a disgusted look on her face. ‘Keep it.’ “He happily complied. Kimball sat next to him at full attention. Ajax smacked a glob of peanut butter on his canine friend’s snout. Kimball’s tongue shot out of his mouth and frantically attacked the gooey treat.