Corrosion: Terminal Horizon (The Portal Arcane Series - Book III)

by J. Thorn

  “So now what?” 1991 Kole asked. “I need that fucking orb.”

  “All you had to do was ask nicely,” Old Man Kole said.

  He sat back down at the bar and whistled. The bartender came over with a bag. It had the initials TJD monogrammed on the front with a zipper. Two handles protruded from the top. The bartender set the bag down on the bar and walked through the two-way door into the kitchen.

  “A bowling ball? Holiday Lanes closed down years ago.”

  “Shut up and listen,” Old Man Kole said. “1991 Penn Monroe is about to vanish so if you want the orb, shut the fuck up. I need to explain some things before I give it to you.”

  “Why?” 1991 Kole asked.

  “Would you hand a loaded rifle to a kid without showing him how to put the safety on?”

  “No, I guess not.”

  “Right. You wouldn’t, fucknut. This thing needs to be handled carefully. Even the Grim Reaper you’re traveling with doesn’t know the power of the orb. Shit, even Deva didn’t. I’m you. I’m here to tell you things that matter, things that will help you decide when and how to use this. There ain’t no user’s manual.”

  1991 Kole thought about what Old Man Kole said. He decided to forget trying to make sense of the situation and do what he was telling himself to do. 1991 Kole was sitting in a bar, in 1991, talking to himself as he existed in the reversion.

  Fuck, he thought.

  “Fine.”

  “Fine, what?” Old Man Kole asked. “You going to calm the fuck down and listen to what I’m going to tell you?”

  “What choice do I have?” 1991 Kole said.

  “Choice is an illusion. You’ve never had it and the sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.”

  1991 Kole sat still. The TV remained black. Even the 1990s grunge was silent in the jukebox.

  “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. A quote from the end of ‘The Myth of Sisyphus.’ Albert Camus published it in 1942.”

  “So?” 1991 Kole said. “I need the orb and I need to get it to the peak.”

  “I always was impatient, wasn’t I?” Old Man Kole said.

  Relinquishing control while trying to swallow his impatience, Kole took another swig of beer and let his older self continue.

  “Camus was trying to find a way to describe the absurdity of life. He was a philosopher and many think Sisyphus was triumphant in the end.”

  Old Man Kole looked at 1991 Kole and waved a hand in the air.

  “Okay. I’ll back it up. So in Greek mythology, Sisyphus had to roll a boulder up a mountain, knowing it would roll down and he’d have to do it all over again. The Gods punished him for putting Death in chains. Sisyphus didn’t want humans to die. But Death escaped and when it came time for Sisyphus to die, he struck a deal that got him out of the underworld. Push the rock to the top, it rolls down, do it again.”

  “Like a reversion,” 1991 Kole said.

  “Yes,” Old Man Kole said. “Exactly like a reversion. It’s a meaningless task like counting the blades of grass on a lawn, finishing and then starting over. But that didn’t matter to Camus. He believed that happiness was in the struggle, not the outcome.”

  “Why didn’t Sisyphus kill himself?” 1991 Kole asked.

  “Not that simple to the ancient Greeks. But I get what you’re asking: if you realize the universe is absurd and you have no control, should you check out? If life is random, meaningless, unpredictable and absurd, what’s the point?”

  1991 Kole nodded.

  “Happiness, absolution. That comes from pushing the fucking boulder up the hill yet again. Life isn’t about getting to the finish line. It’s about what you do to get there. That’s where happiness is found.”

  Old Man Kole paused, letting 1991 Kole process the information.

  “What’s this have to do with the reversion, the orb? I want to kick Samuel’s ass and get on with things.”

  “Exactly,” Old Man Kole said. “You just want the boulder perched on top of the mountain.”

  1991 Kole sighed and placed his hand on the leather bag. The handles were worn and darkened by sweat. He saw scuffs on it and part of the zipper was missing.

  “It’s in here?” 1991 Kole asked.

  “Yes. Remember, Kole, the rock is your thing, your happiness. Use the orb to wield utter destruction and take joy in it because the reversion could drop you from the noose beneath the cloud yet again.”

  “That’s depressing,” 1991 Kole said.

  “It’s not, Sisyphus. Be content in the absurd, stop looking for resolution and your dues will be paid. If you do that, I don’t think you’ll be pushing the rock up the hill for much longer.”

  Chapter 13

  Lindsay walked several yards ahead of Samuel and Tommy. She turned her head from side to side, scanning the buildings for any sign of a threat. The black birds circled above and the descension of the horde came and went without Samuel and Lindsay knowing.

  Samuel hated the silence. He adjusted to the dullness of colors and the bland food in the reversion, but the silence gnawed at him. It festered like a blister rubbed raw after miles of hiking. With every step, the silence was a pain that became harder to ignore. He realized walking down the middle of the highway toward the city that he had not been alone in this world since he first dropped from the tree in the suicide forest. He had met the alpha male and then Major, but before they appeared Samuel was alone. The silence was not as profound once he found the others and he had conversations with Mara and Kole. Even life in the Barrens was bearable as long as they had each other. As long as they talked.

  The past several hours, they walked to the city with Lindsay up front and out of earshot. She demanded it, insisting Tommy would be better protected hanging back with Samuel. He did not agree and would have sacrificed the boy for Lindsay, but Samuel knew better than to argue with her. In many ways, Lindsay reminded him of Mara. They were both warm, passionate and determined. But Lindsay was a warrior whereas Mara was a sage. She had wisdom and patience, while Lindsay would ass-kick whenever the situation called for it.

  He loved them both but in different ways. According to Deva, Mara was his sister. Samuel could not remember that but he had no reason not to believe it. His love for her felt familial. Lindsay, however, was an alpha too. Samuel found her inner strength and fierce stare intimidating and electrifying. In some of their most harrowing moments together, Samuel was the most attracted to her. After what seemed like an additional lifetime in the reversion, Samuel thought of Lindsay as his soul mate regardless of what a preacher with a ring might say. Now, walking without her company, the silence crept back into Samuel’s heart. He struck up a conversation with Tommy in order to keep the feeling at bay rather than as a means to get to know the child better. Although Samuel could not articulate the reason, he felt the threat from Tommy deep in his gut. He knew there was more to the child than what he saw and Samuel also believed Tommy had Lindsay duped.

  “How much longer?”

  The question sounded so mundane and ordinary that Samuel smiled and looked at Tommy with as much affection as he could muster.

  “Until we get there,” he said.

  Tommy smiled back. If the undead could speak, they would have chatted about the boy and his father on a lovely stroll through the dead wasteland.

  “Do you like her?”

  “Yes.”

  “No,” Tommy said. “Do you like her, like her?”

  Samuel chuckled, almost enjoying the conversation. It made him forget about the painful silence stalking him a few minutes ago.

  “Yes.”

  “Ooooooohhhhhh,” Tommy said. “Is she your girlfriend?”

  “Yes. We’ve kissed. On the mouth.”

  “Ewwww, gross,” Tommy said. He tightened his mouth and wrinkled his face, looking almost like a normal child.

  “You don’t like girls?” Samuel asked.

  “I like my sister,” Tommy said. “She’s got a nice pussy
.”

  Samuel stopped walking, as did Tommy. He turned his face up to the man and waited.

  “What did you say?” Samuel asked.

  “I said I like her pussy. Her cat is so cute.”

  Samuel’s breath hitched and he shook his head. He turned and started walking again. Lindsay was now thirty to forty feet ahead of them, unaware of their conversation.

  “Yeah, kittens are cute.”

  “I love them,” Tommy said. “They stay alive the longest.”

  “Right. Nine lives and all,” Samuel said.

  “No, silly. I mean they last the longest.”

  Samuel kept walking, although the alarms were ringing inside his head. He caught a whiff of danger as if it was a natural gas leak.

  “I’ve hung them up by their tails for days with all the blood dripping out and they keep living.”

  He kept his legs moving and tried not to look at Tommy. Samuel was not sure how to respond. The boy’s words could not be mistaken. The sexual innuendo was on Samuel but there was no mistake behind the boy’s last sentence.

  “Are you telling me you torture animals, Tommy? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “It’s not torture. I’m sending them to God.”

  Samuel kicked a rock off the edge of the highway. It shot into the guardrail and rattled the ancient steel. Lindsay stopped and turned to the right. He could not tell if she was letting them close the gap or if she saw something of concern. Tommy skipped now, his arms out to his sides as if they were walking through a park on a summer’s day.

  “Where did you do this, Tommy?”

  “In the basement. Mom doesn’t like the mess and I didn’t want her to send me to my room.”

  Lindsay was now walking toward them, her attention on the right side of the road. She was only a few paces away.

  “Samuel?”

  “Yes, Tommy?”

  “I’m going to send you to God too.”

  ***

  “Can you see them?”

  Alex raised his head above the wall and turned it sideways.

  “I see someone.”

  Jack pulled him off the top of the barrel. Alex stumbled and reached up to keep his glasses from falling off of his face and into the alley. Jack used the top of the fence to hoist his feet on to the barrel. He crouched on it like a cat, slowly raising his head until his eyes peered over top and into the city. They were waiting in an old gas station. The dumpster behind the restrooms was rusted shut and the wheels on the bottom would not move. Jack rolled a fifty-five-gallon drum over and stood it upright as a step-stool to see over the fence bordering the station. Samuel would have to come down the highway, and from their vantage point, Jack estimated they would have a visual on them at least a half-mile out, depending on how much sand the wind was blowing.

  He could tell by her walk that Lindsay was in front. Another adult was behind her along with a smaller figure.

  “A kid?”

  Alex tugged at Jack’s pant leg.

  “Let me see. I want to see Lindsay.”

  “You’re blind ass couldn’t see her if she was doing a strip tease right in front of your face.”

  Alex turned and saw the panther lying on the ground near the collapsed garage door. The creature licked the decaying flesh from its fur, swallowing what was left of the horde.

  “Is it them?”

  “Shhh,” Jack said, although he knew they were still far away and out of earshot.

  “Is she there?”

  “Yes,” Jack said. He dropped below the top of the fence and snarled at Alex. “Lindsay is out front.”

  “Oh, thank God,” Alex said.

  “Samuel is all mine. Looks like they got a midget or a kid with them.”

  Alex leaned against the fence and kicked at a nearby rock.

  “Doesn’t matter. I’m here to save her. The kid is on his own.”

  “The kid is the weak link. I’m shocked Samuel brought him along.”

  The panther growled and stood, stretching and yawning like an ordinary house cat. After parting the horde, the white panther lumbered down the highway ahead of Jack and Alex. It would remain as long as they held the talisman. The reversion conjured the beast according to the ancient pact formed with the chief of sixteenth century Michigan. The white panther would remain until discharged by his descendants. But without an imminent threat, the panther would sleep and ignore those it was bound to protect.

  “I think he's hungry.”

  “He just ate, like, four hundred zombies,” Jack said.

  “Yeah, but is that real meat? I mean, is it nutritious?”

  They shared a rare laugh. Jack crouched up again to see how much farther they had come.

  “They’ve stopped. Looks like they’re talking about something.”

  “Duh,” Alex said. “What else would they be talking about except something?”

  Jack laughed again but Alex was not interested in cracking more jokes.

  “If they stop for the night, we’re going to have to wait until tomorrow to confront them.”

  “No fucking way,” Alex said. “I’m saving my girl tonight.”

  “Let’s wait and see what happens.”

  ***

  “There’s something over there,” Lindsay said.

  Samuel looked at Tommy looking at Lindsay. He shook his head and turned to scan the buildings.

  “I don’t see anything,” Samuel said.

  “Oh my God. Are you okay?”

  “What?” Samuel replied with a question.

  “You’re white and look like you’re about to be sick.”

  Tommy smiled at Samuel and reached for Lindsay’s hand. She took his, squeezed it and winked at him.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” Samuel said. He hated lying to her. “What’s over there? I don’t see anything.”

  “Probably the horde. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and then I heard a noise in the distance, like a rock thrown over a cliff and bouncing off the canyon walls. Did you hear it?”

  “No,” Samuel said. “Tommy and I were…talking.”

  Samuel felt vulnerable standing still in the middle of the highway. It spooked him that Lindsay saw movement and heard a noise, and he could not shake Tommy’s words from his head.

  Where do I even begin?

  “I think we should jog next to the outbound guardrail. Just enough to get us past whatever the hell is in those buildings.” She pointed at two mid-level office buildings.

  They were still at least a mile from the center of the city and had yet to get to the base of many of the skyscrapers. Samuel tried not to think about what could be hiding inside them. The wind was steady and the sand was stinging his face. Samuel thought a jog might do him some good and help clear his head.

  “I agree,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  Lindsay nodded and looked at Tommy. She ruffled his hair and all three of them started a brisk jaunt toward the center of the city, hoping to bypass a possible threat while running straight into another.

  ***

  “They’re running. Well, not really. More like jogging.”

  Jack squinted and placed a hand on his forehead. The increasing winds and sand were making it difficult to see. Alex paced on the ground below, while the panther kept its head on its paws, a lazy tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth.

  “Which way?” Alex asked.

  “Toward us. Toward the city,” Jack said.

  Alex felt his heart ripple. His soul mate was getting closer. He could feel it. Alex’s entire existence, everything he endured, led to this moment. Lindsay would be so grateful and even if he died in this wretched place, he would have that. He would die as her hero.

  “What should we do?”

  “I’m gonna fuck Samuel up, is what I’m gonna do,” Jack said.

  “I want to save Lindsay,” Alex said.

  “I don’t care what you do to or with her, honestly. I mean, I wouldn’t mind taking a run at that fine ass, but I think Sam
uel will be a handful.”

  Alex wanted to drag Jack off the drum by his ankles and feed him to the panther. He thought the panther would eat Jack for him. Alex believed that because he believed in the mythology. The creature materialized and he had a cosmic connection with the panther. Jack, however, did not. If things became desperate, Alex knew the panther would protect him over Alex, even though they both had the talisman.

  “We need a plan.”

  Jack looked down at Alex and snickered.

  “Okay, Mr. Knight in Shining Armor. What’s your plan?” He jumped off the barrel to stand next to Alex. They had three or four minutes before the runners would be within reach.

  “They know you. They don’t know me. If Lindsay is really a woman now instead of a girl, she probably won’t recognize me right away. I’ll walk out into the roadway waving my arms as if my car just broke down. You circle around behind them. When I get close enough, you time it so I can grab Lindsay before you and Samuel fight.”

  “Nope. Disagree,” Jack said. “If they see me, they’ll stop. We’re on a fucking road. There’s no way to surprise them. They won’t anticipate I’m working with someone else. You come out from behind to grab Lindsay, and I’ll use that distraction to get the first punch on Samuel. What about the kid? Guess you don’t give a shit about him?”

  “I guess I don’t. I’m here to save my Lindsay. I still think I should go out first. It’s my best chance to get her to safety.”

  Jack smiled and smacked Alex on the shoulder with his right hand. He used his fingers to dig into Alex’s collarbone until he could feel the man shake.

  “You are the definition of pussy-whipped, my friend.”

  Jack released his grip and took a step backwards. He looked at the panther.

  “What about the big pussy over there?”

  “The pussy jokes are getting old.”

  “So is your bullshit crusade to save the chick,” Jack said. “I’m about tired of hearing that too. Get your ass behind them and don’t fuck it up.”

  Jack pointed at the alley and waited for Alex to take a step before he climbed back on top of the barrel. Alex nodded and trotted into the alley, leaving Jack and the panther behind the fence. Alex was glad he would not have to lie to Jack. He really did not care what Jack was going to do. Alex had his own plan. He would run to Lindsay and save her before Jack could do anything about it.