Devil's Throat (The River Book 6) (17 page)

You go left,
Roy thought to Deem,
I’ll go right.

What’s going on out there?
Winn asked. He dropped his shovel, climbed out of the
hole, and dug his other EM gun out of his backpack. He ran into the front of
the shop.

Deem and Roy splitting directions confused the ghost for a
moment. It snarled again and decided to head for Deem. It reached her within a
couple of seconds and slashed at her back. They heard Deem scream as she went
down.

Winn appeared at the doorway to the room as the ghost landed
on Deem. He yelled at the ghost, trying to get its attention. The ghost looked
up at Winn and snarled. Deem was lying face down on the ground, not moving. Winn
yelled again and waved his arms. The ghost left Deem and went for Winn.

Winn turned to run. Roy watched as the ghost chased Winn
through the doorway. He ran to follow, unsure if shooting the ghost a second
time would speed things up.

As he passed the doorway, he saw Winn on the ground, face
down like Deem. The ghost was on top of him, but changing. As Roy caught his
breath, the ghost became translucent and faded from sight.

Winn stood up.

Deem?
Winn thought.
Are you OK? It’s gone.

Roy walked back into the front room and saw Deem rising to
her feet. He released a sigh of relief.

I’m scratched on my back,
Deem said.

Winn joined them and looked at Deem’s back.
It’s light,
you won’t need stitches or anything. We should clean it, though. I’ve got
alcohol in my backpack.

I thought you were a goner,
Roy thought to Deem.
You hit the ground so hard.

It’s the best defense if you can’t run,
she thought.
At least, that’s
what Winn told me.

Playing possum,
Roy thought.

The lack of movement seems to calm them back down,
Winn thought,
or at least allow
for other distractions to take their interest. But if they’re really focused on
you, it won’t stop them.

I’ll have to remember that,
Roy thought.

At least the one in the building with us is out of the
picture,
Deem
thought.
You guys can start digging faster.

They heard Steven resume in the other room.
Almost there,
Eliza thought.

How long before it comes back?
Roy thought to Winn.

Depends on the ghost,
Winn thought.
The stronger ones can manifest again in
twenty minutes. Come on Deem, let’s clean those scrapes.
Deem followed Winn
back to the room where they were digging, and Roy returned to his post at the
front of the shop.

Shit!
Roy thought as he got his first glimpse of the hotel.
They’re coming
out!
As he watched, ghost after ghost filed out of the front doors of the
hotel and began to stream down the street.

Shit shit shit!
Roy thought.
We’re gonna be surrounded by them. You gotta
hurry with the digging!

We haven’t found the body yet,
Steven thought.

Switch back to quiet digging,
Roy said.
In a second there’ll be
a dozen of them passing by the front!

Steven slowed down and made sure his shovel was as silent as
it could be, sliding it carefully into the dirt in the hole and lifting it to
pour its contents quietly on the pile that had accumulated next to it. Winn finished
tending to Deem’s back, and picked up the other shovel.

Shit!
Roy thought.
They’re right outside the window!

Roy moved to the left side of the windows that faced the
street so he could observe the ghosts passing from the back, rather than
looking into their faces as they approached. He watched as dozens of ghosts
passed. He saw several turn into the space between the building he was in and
the building next door.
They’re filing throughout the whole town,
he
thought.
Watch out back there, guys, some went down the side of this
building.

Steven paused his digging and looked up at the windows in the
room they were in. He and Winn were standing in the hole, and could duck if
spotted, but Eliza and Deem were out in the open.

Eliza, Deem, you two should move under that window, quickly!
he thought. Deem walked over to the
window and shrunk down under it. Eliza quickly followed.

They’re mindlessly walking home,
Winn thought.
As long as we don’t
catch their attention, we should be OK.

Steven crouched down in the hole and watched the window.
Several ghosts passed by, not stopping to turn and look. He thought they might
be in the clear, when a slow-moving ghost appeared. It looked like an old
woman, taking slow steps. She stopped, perfectly framed by the window, and
turned to look into it.

Steven ducked into the hole. Winn ducked with him.

Shit! I hope she didn’t see us,
Steven thought.

At the front of the store, Roy occasionally saw one or two of
the ghosts peel off from the crowd and enter a building further down the
street. Roy realized the shop he was in might be home to more of the ghosts. Another
might come through the door at any moment.

I’m coming back where you are,
Roy thought as he rounded the corner
into the back room.
There’s no point to being out here anymore. They’re
everywhere.

Not now,
Winn thought.
We’re being watched.

But it was too late. Roy rounded the corner. He saw Steven
and Winn ducked down in the hole, and Deem and Eliza huddled under the window.
In the window was the ghost of the old woman. When it spotted Roy, it snarled
and came through the wall.

Roy fumbled for the EM gun. He aimed it at the woman and
fired, the sound of the hum and pop sounding loud in the small room. The woman
increased her speed, raising her arms toward him and drifting quickly through
the room. Roy’s eyes went wide and he turned to bolt back into the front of the
shop.

Steven and Winn struggled to get out of the hole. They ran
into the front, watching as the woman bore down on Roy, hissing and snapping at
him. Roy was lying on the ground face down, mimicking the possum pose.

Winn yelled.
Hey bitch! Over here!

The woman turned, her face angry. She drifted back towards
Winn. Before she could reach Winn the effect of the EM gun kicked in and she
began to fade.

Steven rushed to Roy’s side.
Are you OK?
he asked.

Roy picked himself up from the floor.
I am forever
grateful for that trick,
he thought.
I’m fine.

Steven and Winn walked with Roy to the back room and resumed digging.
Roy began a watch on the windows in that room, ready to alert the group if any
more came down the alley between the buildings.

After several minutes, the hole they were in was deeper than
they were tall.
Found something,
Steven thought. He pulled up a femur
and placed it upon an open tarp spread out next to the hole.

I don’t suppose one bone would be good enough,
Winn thought, continuing to dig.

We’ve gone through too much to take that chance,
Steven thought.
We’ve got to get
as many bones as we can.

They dug as silently as possible. One by one bones came up
out of the hole and onto the tarp. Eliza watched as the parts of the skeleton
slowly took shape.

Winn checked his watch.
12:30 guys,
he thought.
The
ghosts will be completely spread out around town by the time we leave.

Maybe we should stay here for the night?
Eliza thought.
Although
I
can’t believe I just suggested that.

The ghosts don’t go back to the hotel until sundown,
Winn thought, continuing to dig in
the hole, looking for any remaining bones.
It’ll be just as hard to leave
during the daytime. The ghosts are harder to see, and there will be tourists.

Can you imagine how we’d look to tourists in the daytime?
Deem said.
Popping in and out of
the River?
They’d think we’re crazy!

Why couldn’t we pass
as
tourists?
Eliza thought.
They don’t attack the
tourists, do they? They’re not in the River.

That’s exactly what we’re going to try and do,
Winn thought,
as we carry the
body out of here. We’ll stay out of the River as we leave. These bones will be
the only thing that might arouse their suspicion.

I think that’s it,
Steven said, examining the last rib he’d extracted from the
ground.

Looks pretty complete to me,
Eliza thought, looking at the bones
on the tarp.
All the major bones are here.

Let’s roll up that tarp to be sure nothing will fall out,
Winn said. Deem stepped over to the
tarp and began to prepare it as Winn and Steven climbed out of the hole.

They picked up their backpacks and lanterns. Deem carried the
tarp.
Let’s head out,
Winn thought.
Follow me. I’m going to head
straight out of town the fastest way, which will be to the east. Then we’ll
circle around back to the car. We’ve got to be careful. Let’s avoid talking if
we can, and stay out of the River. We may still run into a ghost or two; if we
do, we’ll deal with them. But if you go into the River, you’ll be turning on a
giant beacon to them, so don’t do it.

They all dropped out of the River and Winn began to walk. They
fell into line behind him.

It was a silent march. Steven looked down as they walked
around the empty foundations.
We’re just tourists,
he thought,
out
looking at the ruins of this town.
Crazy tourists, out in the middle of
the night. I wonder how many walk among these foundations every day, not
realizing how many ghosts are all around them?
He stopped himself from
thinking about the ghosts, afraid it might attract them. He focused instead on
his steps, the dry lakebed cracking under his feet.

After a couple of minutes, Winn changed direction and they began
to circle back. It would take longer to get back to the car, but Winn wasn’t
taking any chances. They were now outside of the town boundaries, and intended to
stay that way.

Winn’s Jeep and Deem’s truck pulled up to the same spot off-road
next to the entrance to Devil’s Throat. They emptied out of the vehicles. Deem
retrieved the tarp containing – what they believed to be – the remains of Ira
Bohnert.

They made their way through the dark landscape of the desert
to the cave’s entrance, using the light from the moon to guide their steps. It
was the middle of the night, and the heat from the day had finally reduced to a
comfortable eighty degrees.

They crawled through the cave opening, Deem passing the tarp
through to Eliza on the other side. Then the group made their way around the
Throat and to the hidden entrance of the ritual area.

“What a horrible smell!” Eliza said, following closely behind
Deem.

They passed the stack of bodies and entered the room
containing Michael’s grave and the graves of the other Callers.

“Damn, I am tired of digging graves,” Steven said as he
placed his shovel in the earth next to the grave of Michael. He stopped and
tapped his shovel on the ground over Michael’s grave. It had already started to
harden into stone.

He dug, trading off with Winn and Roy. Once they’d reach four
feet down, they stopped.

“Four feet is enough to stop coyotes and wolves,” Steven
said.

“If they’d even come in here,” Deem said, taking the tarp and
placing it into the open grave. Steven and Winn began shoveling dirt on top of
it. Within five minutes they had covered it over and were smoothing the dirt on
top.

Steven stepped back and examined the work. Ira was buried.

He glanced over at Michael’s grave again. It had changed. It
didn’t look like it had a rock covering anymore – it looked exactly as it had
when Jason had finished burying him.

Roy had walked back to the other graves, and was examining
them. “Oh, look!” Roy said. “My knife!” He picked up his hunting knife, showing
it to the group. “Jason must have removed it before he buried Michael.” He
slipped the knife into his belt, behind him.

“Did you hear that?” Deem asked the others. She cocked her
head, listening.

“Came from back there,” Eliza said, pointing back to the
ritual area.

Deem turned to investigate. She walked to the opening between
the two areas, and looked inside. “Guys,” she said, “we’ve got a problem.” She
slipped her backpack off her back and removed a hatchet.

Eliza joined her, looking into the ritual area. A corpse on
the top of the pile had raised its head, and was pressing its arms into the
pile of bodies beneath it in an attempt to push itself up.

“We need to get out of here!” Eliza said, turning to look at
the group behind her. Her eyes widened as she saw the figures behind the group.

Steven noticed her reaction and turned to look behind him.
There were a dozen people, all standing on top of their graves – resurrected.
Most were decomposed beyond recognition, but one was still very recognizable –
Michael. The others were not moving, as though they were trying to understand
what had just happened to them. Michael understood immediately what had
happened.

Michael lunged at Steven, hitting him squarely in the chest
and rolling on top of him. Steven sucked in air, trying to push Michael away,
but Michael was moving quickly and crawled on top of him, his hands wrapping
around Steven’s throat. The fingers felt mushy on his skin, as though part of
Michael was coming off as he pressed against his neck.

He looked up at Michael, sitting on top of him. His flesh had
putrefied, and his features were bloated and grotesque. The knife wound in his
stomach had festered and was oozing a dark substance. Steven kicked with his
feet, attempting to dislodge Michael, but Michael seemed to have the upper hand,
tightening his grip on Steven’s throat.

Michael began to lean his head down towards Steven’s face.
Steven could see where the flesh had begun to rot, and the smell was
overpowering. The worms had found Michael, even under stone – they had cleaned
out his left eye socket, leaving only mucus, which dripped down onto Steven’s
face. The flesh that remained on Michael’s skull shifted like Emmett’s,
transforming back and forth, making his entire face look alive. Michael curled
his lips up, revealing his teeth, and he spoke: “This one’s for Lukas,” the
words half-catching in his recently dead throat. Steven felt the grip around
his neck tighten even more. He knew he was about to pass out.

Then Michael’s face plunged toward his. Horrified, Steven
turned his face to the right as he saw Michael approach, and he felt Michael’s
face hit his left cheek, then roll to the side. The grip around his neck
loosened. Trembling, Steven turned his head back – and saw the neck of Michael,
exposed, sliced. He’d been decapitated.

Standing behind Michael was Roy, holding a shovel.

Standing behind Roy was a dozen reanimated Callers, watching.

Steven pushed Michael’s body off his, and pulled Michael’s
lifeless hands from around his neck. “Behind you!” he tried to say to Roy.

Roy stepped forward and grabbed Steven’s arm, pulling him up.
“Come on, we’ve got to get out of here!” he said.

The Callers began moving off their graves. Seeing one of
their own decapitated had galvanized a purpose for them. They were coming after
Roy and Steven, who were ten feet ahead of them.

The group moved quickly back to the ritual area. Several of
the corpses had successfully removed themselves from the pile, and were
shambling towards them.

“We make a run for it!” Winn said. “The Callers behind us are
much more dangerous than these corpses.”

“Alright,” Steven said. “I’ll go first!”

Steven ran through the ritual area, past the pile of bodies.
Several of the corpses turned to chase him as he passed through the hidden
entrance, but they were moving too slow to catch him, and became confused when
he disappeared through the entrance and into the cave proper.

Deem took advantage of their confusion. She grabbed Eliza’s
hand and the two of them ran through the area, dodging the bodies. One corpse landed
a hand on Eliza’s shirt. Eliza’s momentum pulled the corpse along for a few
feet, but it broke Eliza’s hold of Deem’s hand. The corpse grabbed at Eliza’s
back, landing its other hand on her neck and pulling Eliza toward it. She fell.

Deem turned when she lost Eliza’s grasp, and saw Eliza dragged
to the ground by the corpse. She raised her hatchet and sliced into the
corpse’s head. Its arms grasped for Eliza. One had a handful of her shirt, and
the other was scratching at Eliza’s neck. Deem swung at the arms, severing
them. The one around Eliza’s neck released and fell to the ground, but the one
attached to Eliza’s back maintained its grip.

Other corpses were now converging on them. “We’ve got to go!”
Deem said, dragging Eliza to her feet and bolting for the hidden entrance. They
passed through it together and found Steven on the other side, waiting. The arm
was still attached to Eliza’s shirt, and Deem pulled the fingers of the corpse
one by one until it released its grip – then she threw the arm back through the
opening.

Roy and Winn had seen how close it had been for Eliza. Roy turned
to look at the Callers behind them. They were close.

“We both go now,” Roy said, looking at Winn, who nodded back.

Winn bolted, and Roy followed. Winn chose a course that
appeared to be open. As Roy passed a body lying still on the ground, it reached
out for his feet and Roy fell. He felt the hands of the corpse grabbing at his
legs, pulling itself up along his body. He kicked at the corpse as hard as he
could. His leg went completely through the corpse’s midsection.

Horrified, Roy looked at the corpse impaled on his leg,
facing him. He shook his leg but it didn’t dislodge. The corpse looked at him
and moaned, reaching forward with its arms. Its hands landed on Roy’s thigh.
They tugged into the cloth of his pants and pulled, sliding its body along his
leg past the knee. It reached forward again and grabbed Roy’s shirt at his
waist, and pulled. It slid the rest of the length of Roy’s leg, stopping at his
torso. Then it leaned forward, bringing its face toward Roy’s.

Roy raised his other leg and kicked at the corpse. His foot
connected with the corpse’s head, and kept it from lowering any further, but he
wasn’t able to push hard enough to slide the corpse back off his other leg. The
corpse reached up with its hands, trying to push Roy’s leg away.

Winn thought Roy was behind him, but as he reached the hidden
entrance he realized Roy wasn’t there. He turned and saw Roy fifteen feet back,
lying on the ground, trying to free himself. He looked past Roy and saw that
the Callers were coming, and would descend upon Roy in seconds.

Winn ran back to Roy. He grabbed the corpse from behind and
pulled. It slid off Roy’s leg, leaving a trail of gore. Once it was clear of
Roy, he flung the corpse through the air, sending it sailing.

A Caller grabbed at Winn’s back, wrapping its hands around
his neck from behind. Winn raised his hands to try and stop the Caller, but he
couldn’t turn around and he couldn’t get a grip on the fingers to loosen the
Caller’s hold. Roy got to his feet and pulled his hunting knife from behind him.
He walked forward to Winn, knife drawn, and sunk the knife into the Caller’s
skull. The Caller fell, and they both ran for the hidden entrance.

When Winn and Roy emerged, Winn yelled, “Come on! They’re right
behind us!”

The group ran from the entrance, stopping to turn and look
before entering the narrow passageway. Nothing emerged from the hidden entrance
behind them.

“They’re not coming,” Winn said.

“Why not?” Steven asked.

“That hidden entrance’s purpose has been reversed by Ira’s
curse,” Eliza said. “It was placed there to keep people out, now it’s keeping
people in. Either they don’t know there’s an entrance there, or they can’t
detect it. They’re trapped.”

“I assume that’s why the Callers resurrected?” Steven said.
“The opposite of the reason for burying them there?”

“That’s consistent with the curse,” Eliza said.

“Same with the dead bodies in the pile,” Deem said.

“I’ve changed my mind about involving the cops with this,”
Steven said. “That area needs to stay hidden. Anyone who goes in there is
risking their life, the cops included.”

“Come on, I want to get out of this cave,” Winn said, heading
towards the entrance. The group followed.

“What happened to you, Roy?” Eliza asked, seeing the gore on Roy’s
pants.

“Corpse slid up my leg,” he said. “Winn saved me. I need a
shower.”

“I’d ask you all over to my place,” Deem said, “but it’s 4 a.m.
and my mom would freak out, especially if she saw you, Roy.”

“We’ll go to my place,” Winn said. “You can all get cleaned
up.”

◊

Winn placed a large bowl of scrambled eggs on the cable
spindle table. Dawn had arrived and there was enough light to see your way
around. Steven sat in one of the wire chairs next to the table, sipping coffee.

“I’m so hungry my belly thinks my throat’s been cut,” Roy
said as he spooned some of the eggs onto one of the plates Winn had brought.
Then he leaned back in his chair and shoveled a spoonful into his mouth.

Deem and Eliza each took some, and passed the bowl to Steven.
He declined, not feeling very hungry.

“Well, now that you’re all settled and cleaned up and fed and
all that,” Winn said, “I’m going to shower, not that there’ll be any hot water
left I expect.”

“Not that a cold shower wouldn’t do him some good,” Deem said
under her breath to Eliza.

“I heard that!” Winn said. “There’s plenty of room in the
shower if you want to join me.”

“No there’s not!” Deem said. “That shower is the smallest
I’ve ever used. You couldn’t fit another person in there if you tried.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Winn said, smiling. “I’ve done
it many times!”

Deem turned back to Eliza. “He’s such a pig,” she said,
spooning more eggs from the bowl onto her plate.

Winn disappeared into the trailer.

“He made us eggs, though,” Eliza said. “That was nice of him.”

“Because I told him to,” Deem said. “Normal hospitality
doesn’t come natural to him.”

“You’ve been very kind to us while we were here, Deem,”
Steven said. “We’re very grateful.”

“And I owe you my life,” Eliza said, “for saving me in there.
It really had a hold on me!”

“Think nothing of it,” Deem said. Although she’d only known
Eliza for a day, she decided she liked her a great deal. “You’d have done the
same for me.”

“I like to think I would have,” Eliza said. “I’m not so sure
I’m as handy with a hatchet as you! The next time you’re in Northern California,
I expect you to stop by my place and say hello.”

“That would be fun!” Deem said, genuinely turned on by the
idea. “Are you all heading home now?”