So did my mother and nephew when they were children. Until the government I serve took their memories away.
“Then you understand your vital role in this, Ryan. Did … this creature show you why the abductions have begun again?”
“Because they got it right this time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you ever play Age of Blood?” He leaned over the side of the chair to dig into a container of video-game cases, pulling out one with a US soldier fighting a massive green orc decked out in ornate armor. “It’s starting to show its age, but it was one of the first to let you be a general, commanding armies. And it explains the mistake Earl and his buddies made.”
“Come again?” Kate squinted.
“In the game, you’re a general. And if you don’t keep pretty tight control of your armies, they start to unravel. Uprisings, desertion, you get the idea. Earl and his peeps obviously did not play Age of Blood. They thought they could take people from isolated places, juice them up with the weapon of choice, and then drop them off in different climates to see how effective they were. But they didn’t keep tabs on them. No one guarded the henhouse, so to speak.
“They thought their armies would just scatter around the world, and they could test their weapons from time to time to see how people died around them. They didn’t count on the government rounding them up in places like that town in Colorado and keeping them from the masses. And, they didn’t count on their brains frying.”
Kate tapped her fingers on her leg. “Are you talking about the comas? The ones who … were…”
“Activated? Yeah, Earl and his boys didn’t count on that. Once those people got triggered to see what damage they’d cause, they’d sure as shit do it for about a minute or two, but their puny little brains couldn’t handle it. Straight to coma city, and then they were just useless. So, of course, the defects had to all be gathered up. Basically an intergalactic recall.”
Ryan extended his arms. “But they’ve been working to improve their products, and you’re looking at the new and improved version. Trigger me, and I don’t die. No screaming headaches, no bleeding ears, no coma. I could dance a jig for you or put together a puzzle after I command people to kill.”
He thumped the cover of the game. “Thus, this time, they stole a play out of the ol’ Age of Blood game book. No more defects. Four of us, supercharged, plopped down in every civilized nation. I watched them do it. And once our major general connects with us, he tells when to fire at will. Once he triggers us, we can do it on our own.”
“You mean kill people.”
“I didn’t even know I was doing it. Once my agent pals moved me to Washington, they realized pretty quickly that the riots breaking out outside my building weren’t just sparked by political ideology. I remember waking up from a weird dream and just watching it from my window, wondering why it seemed like the whole neighborhood was on fire. When they moved me to another location, I blacked out, and three rival gangs suddenly decided it was time for full-on warfare. It didn’t take long for the Men in Black to realize something was sparking it all.”
He rested his head on his fist. “He dreams, I black out, and people die. That’s when I got a one-way ticket underground. It’s Christmas every day down here, so they think overloading me with distractions will stop me. But I’m not in control. I suggested they sink me to the bottom of the ocean. Instead they stuck me this far underground. Apparently there’s a limit to our reach.”
Kate’s voice was stuck in her throat. “You said, ‘He dreams.’ What does that mean?”
“Our major general. He woke it in me. Just like he’s awakening the others. He’s already met one of us in person. They’re together, actually.”
“Together?”
“He’s got a little girl with him now.”
Kate stood up so quickly she almost knocked the stool out from beneath her. “Did you say a little girl?”
“Yeah. Once they touched, I felt it. I don’t know if he’s connected to all of us yet or not. I guess once he’s fired us all up, all over the globe, the next wave blows in. I can see by the expression on your face that the Comic-Con deal probably isn’t going to happen.”
She took a step towards the door. “I will do everything in my power to help you. You’re thirteen, you should be at Comic-Con. I want you to get out of here—”
“You just don’t want bloodshed in the streets of San Diego, I guess,” he said. “Well, it was worth the try. I would have liked to have seen it.”
“I’ll find a way to get you there one day—”
“You don’t get it,” he said, those eyes haunted now. “There won’t be any more. There may not be one in two weeks.”
“I will come back for you, I promise,” she said, practically running across the room, her heart beating loudly in her ears. As she reached the door, she heard the La-Z-Boy foot rest lower. “I know that you know, Senator, who our major general is.”
He was standing now, his hands in his pockets. “I can see him. We can see him in the dreams. Like I said, I know when he first made physical contact with the girl. But I don’t think he understands quite yet. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. I don’t think he can see us. And I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right; he has to die in order for everyone to live—”
Ryan then shuddered and gripped the side of his chair.
“Ryan, what’s wrong—”
“Go,” he said, throwing his arm in an arc. “Go now!”
Kate suddenly remembered Flynn’s words. Because of what happens when he gets in those trances. We never know when he’s going to unleash.
“What is it?”
“Run past the agents if they’re outside! Go!”
“What’s happening—?”
“He’s dreaming,” Ryan said, clutching the chair. “And I can’t hold him back.”
* * *
Fire burned, gleefully licking the dry grass—
A storm churned over the water, preparing to launch against the city—
Two men in a dark corridor strangled each other as an elevator closed nearby—
Hospital rooms filled to capacity, the rapidly deteriorating patients now in tents outside. As always, eyes watched, including Lily’s, the writhing of the black-scaled snakes all around her.
William was pulled onward. It had happened many times before. The nightmares always started in the same four locations, but periodically shifted to similar disasters in different places. Never before, though, at this speed.
First to a vast grassland, where kangaroos leapt to escape the rocking earth. Then to the skies, an angry black, on the coast of a city where a building with white sails braced as the funnel formed over the water. He was in a small medical center frantically struggling to keep pace with the people funneling in, most unable to even walk. On a farm, where men stopped herding sheep to run towards each other, pummeling each other with their fists, their faces soon bloody and gouged, their dogs watching in tense confusion.
Just as the eyes had emerged in the familiar four locations, they now met him everywhere he went. Slanted eyes, blue eyes, bloodshot eyes, eyes crusty with age, eyes watering by smoke. He saw a castle’s portcullis over the shoulder of a man shot three times, screaming in what sounded like French. The Great Wall of China, perhaps, but difficult to tell; the flames were too high.
He tried to stop them, screaming at them. As the eyes flashed before him, he tried to focus on them, connect with them, order them to stop. But they quickly rushed by, as if he were on a speeding subway watching faces on a platform.
Most places he didn’t recognize, including the village on the cusp of civilization, where children ran from adults who were beating, biting, stabbing each other. And when that massacre was done, the children held their breath in the hut where they hid, trying not to weep as the surviving adults approached the entrance with blood on their hands—
“William!”
He gasped for air, his throat raspy
.
“William, are you alright?” Steven asked.
He sat up from where he had slumped over in the chair. He vaguely remembered the buzzing of dragonflies on the hunt for mosquito larvae and the gentle rocking of the boat tied to the dock that had made him drowsy. His screams must have shattered the near-silence of the Apalachicola River.
“I tried shaking you awake and you didn’t budge. Figured you were just too tired to stay awake anymore. You weren’t asleep for ten minutes when you started whimpering and then a full-on scream. It’s going to be a miracle if nobody heard you. My God, did you have one of those dreams?”
William shut his eyes tightly. “I’m sorry.”
“What do you see?”
“It’s spreading. Rapidly. I watched it happen. I swear I even saw China. There are eyes everywhere. They must be the abducted who were returned. I don’t even know if they realize what they’re doing. I don’t think they do.”
“I’m sure they don’t. It’s not their fault. Just like it’s not your fault.”
“I’m awakening it. Whatever it is, within them.” William shook his head, thinking of the children in the village.
“Not you, William. They’re using you. You aren’t responsible.”
“There has to be a way to stop it.”
“You’ve already proven you can, with Lily. We just have to find a way to do it with the others.”
“People are dying. I don’t have time to figure this out.”
“I know this weighs heavily on you. Once we get somewhere safe, you can experiment with Lily. If you can stop her, you must be able to stop them too. We just have to determine how.”
Steven finally lifted his hand from William’s shoulder, fumbling a bit to return to his seat. He sighed as he sat, rubbing his shoulder.
“This can’t be good for you,” William said. “I have a lot of older people in my life. I know stiff-backed chairs are preferred. This constant movement can’t be good.”
“At my age, anything that isn’t a leisurely walk is a stretch.”
“You mentioned a heart attack. This is too much for someone of your age.”
“This is too much for someone of your age. I’m old. Eighty-six. Every day I get, I’m thankful for. Even when every bone in my body aches, like they do right now. And I’m here with you, which is something I never thought would happen.”
“That makes two of us.”
“William, I owe you an apology.”
“For what? For not telling me about a mistake you and my grandmother made sixty years ago? That’s none of my business. We have more pressing matters at hand. Including Blue. You’re certain she’s alive?”
“I am. Rudd knows where to hide her. I know she’s tough. But this will weigh hard on her, to finally meet her great-grandson and then have him ripped away. All members of the Corcillium will lock down now; it’s our protocol if the house is discovered. No communication for seven days. I was not exaggerating when I said we are on our own. We’re fortunate the tributary by the house empties into the river that allowed us to escape.”
“I have to say it again: Lily and I should turn ourselves in. I can’t risk you or anyone else dying for this. We are the danger. We are the weapons. I understand why the government is so desperate to contain us. They should have us, find what was implanted in us, and rip it out.”
“No.” Steven tried to sit up. “We cannot trust the SSA—”
The sound of running came from across the dock. Lily was much further ahead than Quincy, her nightgown flapping around her thin body. As she arrived at the boat, her face bearing the familiar expression of concern for William, Quincy finally came to a stop, leaning over, hands on his knees.
“Are you … OK?” he gasped.
William nodded. “I am. I guess you could hear me?”
“We were walking back from the store when we heard you start screaming. But nobody’s up there, at least nobody we saw outside,” Quincy said, gathering his breath. “Another dream?”
Lily reached out and laid her hand on his shoulder.
“So there is a store up there?” Steven motioned up the path from the dock.
“About a half mile up. We saw a knockoff Dollar General. There’s a crappy motel too, if you could call it that. And a gas station. While I am not a fan of returning to any motel room with this crew, it could give us a place to decompress for a minute. Plus, there’s a sign in the window that the store has an ATM.”
Steven frowned. “We can’t. They’ll be monitoring every financial transaction for any hint of us.”
“Let’s just say that when you get to a certain income level, you learn tricks. If I can get to the ATM, I can get cash. I’m not sure we have any other option.”
William helped Steven from the boat, assisting him up the dirt road. They walked on the edge, so if they did hear a vehicle approach, they could step into the pines and hide. As soon as Steven said he felt the stiffness starting to loosen, they’d reached the cluster of buildings, which clearly only existed to provide fuel to boats and food for the people who came to ski or fish. The beat-up motel completed the image, a haven for those who drank too much on the water and needed to crash for the night. In the window of the store was a badly faded ATM sign, just above a Jeep Cherokee that didn’t appear to have been driven this decade.
“I should be the one going in, I’m the least recognizable,” Steven said. “You still have your debit card?”
Quincy patted his back pocket. “Only because my pants haven’t blown up yet. And sorry, you’ve got to know the codes. And this one’s long.”
“This is risky. What if someone recognizes you? What if—?”
“Don’t think we have a choice. Look at us. Little bit here is still in her nightgown. Anyone sees us, they’re gonna call the cops. And that ended really badly last time. I’m going in.”
The other three could only stand in the shadows of the pine trees, watching Quincy walk across the road and into the store. Lily held tight to William’s hand.
Every minute that passed prompted more sweat and the shuffling of feet. Steven sighed repeatedly. Even Lily pulled away from William’s hand so she could twist her hair tie around her finger.
Then Quincy came strolling out. He was whistling and carried two plastic sacks in his hand. He motioned to the motel.
They hurriedly crossed the road to where Quincy waited. He reached into the sack and put on a comically large trucker’s hat with the words, “Deez Nuts,” in bold black letters.
He winked at William, holding up a key. “The ATM is now fully drained. And we got the Presidential Suite. Old girl behind the counter is the kingpin of this monopoly. Got us a room. I think she wanted me to invite her in, but alas.”
He handed William a hat. It had the grill of a Jeep on the front with the outline of a naked woman and read, “My Jeep looks better topless.”
“My God.” William smiled.
“I have the charming habit of being incredibly inappropriate at all times. It’s this one. Room one.”
With a quick turn of a key, they hurried in. The room was dark, the combined smell of mold and Lysol rising to greet them.
“Don’t touch anything until we check for bedbugs,” Quincy cautioned, steering Lily away from where she was about to sit on the bed. “OK. We’re all winners at the Lower Florida Nordstrom. Jeans and T-shirt for William, belt for me to hold up these Hammer pants, and even something for Miss Lily here. Enough junk food to clog our arteries, and toiletries for all. And a cheapie phone. I know we can’t use it, but it claims to have internet service at least.”
“How much cash did you get out?” Steven asked.
“Let’s just say if a local needs ten bucks to buy a Hunt Brothers pizza, they’re out of luck. More money in there than I would have thought. Miss Linda needed some cash.”
“Miss Linda?” William looked back from where he was peering out the curtains.
“Miss Linda Mosh from Cambria, Illinois. Miss Mosh has financia
l accounts I can access when necessary. Helpful to tuck away cash during tax time, and certainly helpful now. If you testify to the IRS about it, I’ll deny it.”
“Could I have the phone?” William asked, grabbing the clothes and a toothbrush. He needed to shower badly.
“Give me a minute,” Quincy said, tearing open the packaging.
William rushed through his shower and hurriedly brushed his teeth. His beard was already becoming unkempt. Thankfully, Quincy had bought several hats, including a solid navy blue. The T-shirt was a size too small for his liking, but the jeans would do.
He stepped out, and Lily quickly ushered herself in, carrying another plastic bag, closing the door.
“Did she get something to eat?” William asked.
“Kid can tear through some Doritos. Phone is operating. The bars are low, but you can give it a whirl. And no sign of bedbugs, which is why Dr. Richards felt it was safe to use a pillow.”
“Just need to rest for a moment,” Steven said, his eyes closed.
“Everybody needs to rest.” William held up the phone, praying that the internet responded.
“Careful with whatever you’re searching. They’ll be looking,” Steven said.
“Just checking CNN. I want to see something.”
Just as Quincy began to wipe down a chair using a thin packet of Lysol wipes from the store, the bathroom door opened, and Lily stepped out. Gone was the nightgown, replaced by a horribly bright yellow dress with grinning suns on the hem. The same color of yellow shone on the flip-flops on her feet.
“Thank you, Quincy,” she said softly.
Quincy scratched his neck. “I’m used to buying Versace for women. But you’re welcome, kiddo.”
“Are we safe?” she asked.
William set down the phone, coming to squat in front of her. “I think so. I want you to know something: None of this is your fault. None of it. What happened back in the cotton field, and the airport, when you saved me in the car—you’re not doing it. I am. I don’t know how, but I am.”
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