Instinct (36 page)

“I have to check a few things first,” Tim said.

“This thing is safe, right?” Ty asked.

“Safer than a car,” Tim said. He was pleased to see that Ty was helping Cedric up onto the wing and trying to figure the best way to climb up there himself. The plane had little stickers where you were supposed to put your feet.
 

Tim didn’t make it far down his checklist.
 

On the other side of the plane, the cowling was lying on the ground. Someone had taken a hammer to the engine. Clean spots on the dented metal showed where it had been hit. Tim ran around to where Ty was loading the bags in the plane.

“We need a new plan,” Tim said.

Ty didn’t wait for an explanation. He turned and immediately began unloading the plane. Tim called Cedric, and the dog hopped out of the compartment.

“There’s an ambulance that I start every few weeks, just to keep it fresh. It’s down in the garage,” Ty said.

Cedric barked and they turned.

Jackson stood there. He looked tired and leaned to one side.

“I knew you’d leave,” the young man said.

“We were just going to look for supplies. You know, food and stuff,” Tim said. He put his hands up and shifted to the side. The gun was poking from Jackson’s pocket.
 

“That’s bull,” Jackson said. “I saw the note.”

“Listen, kid,” Ty said. “His voice was so deep and soft that Tim could barely tell what he was saying. “You don’t need us. You won’t let us near her, and I understand that. You’re protective of her. You take care of her.”

“Nobody else will,” Jackson said.

“That’s right. And nobody else can take care of Amy Lynne as good as you can. We’re going to give you two some space. You’ve got everything you need.” Ty’s voice was almost hypnotic. It was so persuasive, that for a second Tim thought it might actually work.

It didn’t.

Jackson began fumbling to get the gun out of his pocket. Cedric, who’d never shown any aggression that Tim could remember, ran straight for Jackson. Tim wouldn’t have made an attempt to wrestle the gun from Jackson. But he couldn’t allow the dog to go against the young man on his own. Tim rushed forward.

Cedric jumped up and put his paws on Jackson’s chest. In his attempt to pull the gun from the front pocket of his jeans, Jackson had bent over. The stance put him off balance, and the dog’s push sent him backwards. As Tim arrived, Jackson was falling back on his ass and the gun pulled free from his pocket. Tim went for the hand. He pushed it up and away as Jackson pulled the trigger.

The shot was deafening at such a close range. Tim fell forward, pushing all of his weight against Jackson’s hand and coming down on the young man’s chest. He pressed Jackson’s hand to the pavement, but didn’t have any defense for the blows that Jackson threw with his other hand. The boy caught him with a wild punch to his ear and Tim saw stars. His balance evaporated and he felt like he was falling.

Ty reached them just in time. Tim lost his grip on Jackson’s gun hand and Jackson had just begun to raise it again when Ty’s foot came down on his wrist.
 

Tim hit the pavement. He saw Ty kneel, putting a knee on Jackson’s chest. The kid kicked, but instead of hitting Ty, he managed to drive the toe of his shoe into the back of Tim’s thigh. The muscle cramped immediately and Tim rolled onto his back.

Cedric’s head filled Tim’s vision as the dog hovered over him. Blood dripped on Tim’s face. He tried to pull himself backwards.

“Let go or I’ll break your wrist,” Ty said. His voice was soft and menacing.

Tim heard the kid whimper and then heard the gun clatter to the pavement. Tim managed to push himself upright. He swayed, trying to fight against the rolling inside his own head. He blinked and managed to focus. Ty pulled Jackson up under his armpits, like he was lifting a toddler. He set Jackson on his feet and towered over him.

“You go back to Amy Lynne. You don’t need us anymore, but she needs you. Run,” Ty said.
 

Jackson did just that. He ran towards the hospital, stumbling at first but then picking up speed. Ty picked up the gun between two fingers. He threw it towards an alley.

Tim’s hands found Cedric’s head. Sticky blood matted the hair on the side of the dog’s face.

“What happened to you?” Tim asked. He couldn’t find the wound.

“The bullet grazed him,” Ty said, looming over Tim and Cedric. Ty knelt and examined the dog. The giant man pulled his lips back into a grimace as he looked at Cedric’s ear. “Here it is. He needs a couple of stitches. I’ll do it in the ambulance.”

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With the engine idling, Ty performed the procedure. He injected a local anesthetic and shaved a patch of fur while he waited for it to work. Ty talked to the dog while he treated him. Cedric looked very serious and watched with keen eyes as Ty’s hands moved.

“It’s just a nick,” Ty said. “We might get away with gluing it, but I’ll feel better with a couple of sutures in there. Can you feel this?” he asked. The dog didn’t react when Ty poked him with the needle, so Ty began.

“Hello?” Jackson called. His voice echoed in the parking structure.

“Shit,” Tim whispered. He looked around for something to use as a weapon. The only thing he found was a fire extinguisher. He fought the clasp and pulled it from its bracket.

Jackson appeared around the side of the back door. Ty was right in the middle of a stitch and didn’t look up.

“Go away,” Tim said. “You’ve got what you need and we’re leaving.”

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry for what happened,” Jackson said. “I know your dog got hurt.”

Tim heard whispering and saw Jackson turn towards it.

Jackson continued. “And I hope you will accept my apology.”

“Fine,” Tim said. He glanced at Ty. The man’s giant fingers were tying a delicate knot in the nearly invisible thread. Cedric was holding still, but his eyes were locked on Jackson. “Apology accepted. If you don’t mind moving, we’re going to be backing…”

“Can we come?” Jackson asked, interrupting Tim.

Tim shook his head before be began to answer. “No. You need to stay here to take care of Amy Lynne.”

“She’s right here,” Jackson said. He wrestled with something around the other side of the door and the wheeled Amy Lynne backwards into view. She was in the wheelchair from the lobby. Tim wondered how Jackson had gotten it down the stairs, but then he saw Amy Lynne. She looked alert and perfectly capable of limping down a flight of stairs on her own. Her color was good and her eyes were bright. “She wants to come with you. It was her idea. I told her you wouldn’t take us because I shot your dog.”

“Listen, Jackson, no offense, but I think it might be best if we just go our separate ways,” Tim said.

“Amy Lynne says you know things. She says you’re smart and it would be smart if we came with you.”

“I understand,” Tim said.
 

“Kid,” Ty interrupted. “Give us a second to talk things over, would you?” He snipped the thread with a tiny pair of scissors. He didn’t wait for Jackson to answer, but pulled the big doors on the back shut with his gloved hands.

“Good,” Tim said. “Keep Cedric steady and I’ll back out.” Tim began to move for the driver’s seat. The ambulance was still idling, so all he had to do was put the heavy vehicle in gear and Jackson would have to move out of the way.

“No,” Ty said. “I think we should bring them.”

“What? That kid is half insane, and dangerous.”

“They might need help,” Ty said. “She’s looking better, but that could change.”

“That’s a shame, but why would we risk our lives for hers? Like you said, if she takes a turn, who knows what he will do.”

“I think he’s all bluff.”

“Like when he tried to shoot me?”

“The gun went off accidentally.”

“Sure, this time. Last time he pointed it a foot away from Cedric and pulled the trigger. That bullet could have bounced and killed me or Cedric. You weren’t there.”

“He’s scared, and he’s just trying to take care of his girlfriend.”

Tim shook his head. “You’re crazy. This is crazy.”

“You brought her here, looking to save her life. Don’t give up on her now.”

“She looks good. You just said so yourself. Maybe he is capable of caring for her. Or maybe she’s a lot stronger than we give her credit for. I don’t see why we need to be involved.”

“She might need more help as she heals.”

“We’re going to die. This is going to end really badly, and then we’re going to die,” Tim said. But, as he spoke he moved to the doors. He opened them up to find Jackson and Amy Lynne still there. “Get in,” Tim said.

“I’ve got one more stitch to do,” Ty said.

CHAPTER 24: BUNKER

B
RAD
LOST
TRACK
OF
time. It was even more disturbing when he lost track of space. In the dark, with every sound reverberating in the metal cylinder, he could imagine that the walls were a hundred yards away. The air was so still that it seemed to heat up around his skin. Only when he moved did he sense the real temperature of the place. It was cool and damp until he held still. When he didn’t move, the heat built up around him and he began to sweat.

The worst part was when condensation on the metal grate, or even sweat from his own forehead, would fall. Between his breaths he heard the liquid as it pulled away from the surface that it clung to. The liquid snapped as it formed into a falling sphere and began gravity’s descent. Brad thought he could almost hear the falling drops of liquid. He cringed while he waited for each one to hit the bottom. When they did, he would hold his breath.

Somewhere down there was a pool of water. At one point—it could have been hours, or even days before—he had climbed carefully down the spiral stairs. The treads were a diamond pattern of bands of steel. The lower he climbed, the more rusty the treads were under his hands. He wondered how long the silo had been flooded. Had it been decades? Centuries? He would have believed either. He imagined the concrete in the walls transitioning to stone, and then blocks of granite, as he descended into the past.

Brad had never made it down to the pool at the bottom. What he heard down there was too terrifying. He imagined a waterlogged arm of flimsy flesh reaching out of the water. It clawed at the metal stairs, trying to gain enough purchase to climb up to him.

A blinding light opened above him and Brad climbed towards it.

A shape blocked the center of the light. Brad knew not to get too close. If he got too close, they would send the electric darts down, to shock him back into the dark.

“Tell us again,” the voice said.

Brad’s voice croaked when he tried to speak. He hadn’t used his voice since the last time they had asked him the same thing, and by the end of that session, he had been screaming.

“It’s the same,” Brad said. He gained control of his weak voice and continued. “It will always be the same.”

“You say that, but it changes every time, Brad. Tell us again.”

“I need water.”

“There’s all the water you can drink at the bottom of the stairs,” the voice said. He heard a smile behind that voice. The smile mocked him.

“Fresh water.”

Something clanged on the steps and Brad threw his hands out. He couldn’t see well enough to know what he was reaching for, but he could guess. He caught the bottle of water just before it rolled off the back of the step in front of him. He pulled it to his chest as the door above him slammed shut, leaving him in the dark again. For several minutes, he couldn’t bring himself to open the water. In his imagination, he kept dropping the bottle, losing it to whatever lurked below.

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The next time the door opened, Brad’s fingers were cramped from gripping the stair treads. He was convinced that gravity had been rendered meaningless, and he wasn’t certain which direction was up and which was down. He couldn’t hold a thought for more than a second. His ears constantly strained for the sound of whatever was waiting for him in the water below.

The circle of light finally drew his blinking eyes. The shape of a man’s head blocked the center of the light.

“Tell us again, Brad.”

He didn’t object this time. He simply blurted out his story.

“I was walking out behind my house in the summer and I found a vine,” he began. He told his story fast. Using only a sentence to declare each major event from the time he’d found the vines until he reached Portland on the back of his old snowmobile.

“You said the name of the government guy was Herm this time,” the voice said. It had that same mocking smile behind the voice. “Last time you said it was Stavros.”

“No,” Brad said. “Stavros is my old college buddy. I called him to come look at the vine because he works as a game warden.” He realized that past tense would be more appropriate. Stavros was certainly dead, along with his job as game warden.