Arkadium Rising (19 page)

"Couple days ago?" Jerry scratched his beard in thought. "Sorry to say, couple days ago I was… mourning Scott, he was my other boy. He died eight months, three days ago. I'm not a reg'lar drinker. Just every new month he's gone, I erase that day like it never existed."

"God punishes the weak," Linda said. "Drunkards especially."

"Now, now, Linda dear. God forgives. He wouldn't have breathed the air of His lungs into ours if He didn't think we were worthy." Eldon took hold of her hand. "God is understanding, especially in times of weakness."

Linda looked from Eldon's hand holding hers, to his caring, bearded face. She looked like the concepts of forgiveness and understanding were new to her.

"I smell something cooking out front," he said warmly. "Why don't we see if we can help, that way we can continue our discussion."

Something in his reasonable, soothing tone got through to Linda. He didn't say anything more, but when Eldon left the foot of the hammock, Linda followed him as if he were a star pulling in an asteroid.

"Sorry about that, Jerry," Jason said. "Linda… she's not dealing well with all the changes."

"Well, like I said, I ain't noticed no explosions. And I ain't seen no changes, neither." He laughed and combed his fingers through his beard. "So the 'lectrical is gone?"

"Yeah, all of it, as far as the coasts for all we know," Jason said.

Mandy touched the skin of Monique's forearm and then quickly placed her fingers on her wrist. "Damn it," she muttered, and then reached into her kit.

"What is it?"

"Her blood pressure has dropped, her pulse is erratic."

"What does that mean? Are you going to take the bullet out?"

"I can't. Not now, not with how weak she is." She opened a vial with a liquid in it and removed a rubber-bulbed dropper. With the bottle held up to the sun, she squeezed a measured amount into the bulb.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"I… I don't know." Mandy pushed down on Monique's chin until her mouth opened wide enough for her to dispense the droplets of medicine on her tongue. "She's in hypovolemic shock."

"What did you give her?"

"A mix of herbs… astragalus, tamarisk, flower essences—"

"You don't know if she's going to live or die and you're putting
flower essences
on her tongue?"

"It's old medicine, older than the One True Word. But it works. I've seen it work. If I only had an IV bag, I could get some saline into her… but I don't, so I'm doing all I can."

With all the commotion, Dawn woke from her exhausted slumber and stood up. She looked down at her stepmom. "What's going on?"

"She's in shock. She's lost a lot of blood, she's dehydrated…" Mandy explained until her voice cracked involuntarily.

Tears ran down Dawn's cheeks and she took hold of Monique's hand. Hearing the raised voices, RJ and Kylie ran over.

As if touching something unsavory, Dawn withdrew her hand and folded her arms in front of her, hugging herself.

Mandy rifled through her kit, looking for something, anything, that might arrest Monique's descent. Jerry placed two gnarled fingers on the inside of her wrist.

"What's going on?" RJ asked, looking at Jason and Mandy. He turned to his sister. "Dawn?"

"She's gone," Jerry said. "Poor thing's gone."

2.

Kylie felt mute and barely capable of functioning. Everyone stood around an open grave as the sun dipped below the trees. Eldon presided at the head, mumbling prayers she didn't understand. Her mom stood to his side, hanging on his every word, a rapturous smile on her face.

How is this happening? How can this be real? Every single detail of this situation is so wrong.

Next to her, Dawn was sobbing, her head resting on RJ's shoulder. Ever since Mandy declared Monique dead, Kylie had wanted to console her friend, but she couldn't string together complete thoughts, let alone speak coherently.

Kylie shifted on her feet, feeling the effects of no sleep, little food, and most of all, the weight of a seemingly endless string of tragedy. Her mother had totally lost her marbles. Her dad was missing. Her trailer and all of her earthly possessions were most likely burned to cinders. And now Monique was dead. And to top it all off, they were running away to… she hadn't the foggiest idea, and were now a part of a group of… what? Survivalists? Armed militia? A frickin' cult?

She shifted too far forward and saw the outline of Monique's body wrapped in a ratty sheet provided by Jerry. She felt woozy and looked away, settling her gaze anywhere but
there
. She saw the hermit sitting on a home-hewn chair just outside the door to his cabin. A kerosene lantern was at his feet, flickering slightly from the gentle breeze, projecting a grotesque shadow on the front wall of his cabin. He tipped an imaginary cap and she looked away.

"Excuse me…" Dawn stepped away from RJ's embrace. "I need to… I'll be right back."

"Okay, Dee."

Kylie watched Dawn stumble away from the gathering, wiping tears from her face.

I should go with her. Even if I don't say anything, just knowing that I'm there for her…

She nixed the idea right away, thinking that Dawn wanted to be left alone. She probably just had to pee, and who wants anybody hovering nearby while you're trying to pee in the middle of the woods at night?

"She'll be fine," RJ whispered, trying to respect Eldon's sad liturgy. "She's tougher than she looks."

"I know," she said, feeling a lump in her throat. "Are you okay?"

He nodded and tightened his lips into a thin line. Tears formed in his eyes, and he nodded even harder. "Yeah… thanks."

She took hold of his hand, and at first he was reluctant. But when she squeezed his hand, he squeezed back. Kylie felt steadier on her feet. She had to be. She had to be there for RJ, and when she got back from peeing, she would be there for Dawn as well.

"In the end, there is a beginning!" her mom said in response to something Eldon had said.

"And as our Lord God the Creator looked upon His empty world…" Eldon clasped his hands together across his expansive belly, his eyes closed in concentration. "He formed man from the fertile womb of Mother Earth, taking dust from the house of Sanctuary, and irrigated this desiccated amalgam with all the waters of the world. And He breathed into the nostrils of this hollow vessel the spark of life; and in His image, this new-formed man breathed a soul reflected in the illumination of his eyes, and the hearing of his ears, separating him from the beasts, and the beasts from man."

Kylie didn't know what Eldon was talking about, but his steady cadence had a calming effect on her. She found herself listening, soothed by his words.

"And God the Creator endured upon man the knowledge of understanding, and in this understanding, He spoke the word, the One True Word, His Genesis, and its antithesis, the shade of death and the return of the dust to the womb of Mother Earth, and his blood to the waters of the world—"

A blood-curdling scream cut off Eldon's prayer. It came from the woods, in the direction Dawn had gone.

"Dawn!" Kylie said and immediately rushed in that direction.

Within a couple of strides RJ had caught up to Kylie and passed her, closing in on the continued screaming.

"Hector, Austin, take up positions…" Marcus said. "Where is he? Where's that hillbilly fuck!"

Dawn screamed, her voice trembling in anger, becoming throaty, becoming a cornered animal facing down its attacker.

"Get off of me!" Dawn cried. Kylie pushed through the underbrush just as RJ was pulling Austin off of his sister. Austin's pants were at his ankles and he fell back on his naked backside. Dawn's shirt was stretched out at the collar and torn. Her baseball cap had been knocked off, and her ponytail was a snarled mess. The button to her shorts was undone and the fly pulled down.

"You sick…" RJ grunted then punched Austin in the face. Austin's head whipped back, but he quickly reached his feet and pulled up his pants. He touched his cheek, which was bleeding a steady flow of blood, and gave off a cocky smile.

"Shouldn't have done that,
boy
." Austin brought his fists up in a fighting pose. He hopped on the balls of his feet and turned his neck from side to side until it cracked a couple of times.

Marcus stormed in to the clearing and held his hands up as if he'd been caught stealing. "Whoa-whoa-whoa, what the hell is going on?"

"Just havin' a little fun," Austin said, taking another step toward RJ, "at least until this nigger showed up and ruined it."

RJ growled and closed the gap, hitting Austin with a hard upper cut against his jaw. He followed with a punch to his belly.

Kylie helped Dawn to her feet, pulled her shredded shirt closed, and then stood in front of her protectively.

"What happened here? Let's hear both sides of the story."

"This sicko pervert came up on me when I was trying to use the bathroom."

"I saw the look you were giving me. Don't tell me you didn't want a little escape away from the tragedy of the day."

"Fuck you!" Dawn tried to push past Kylie.

RJ charged at Austin and tackled him into a dense thorny thicket. He pressed his left hand against Austin's chest, holding him down, and reared back for another punch.

Austin kicked RJ in the groin and he crumpled off of him, landing among the thorns.

"Enough!" Marcus shouted.

Austin ignored him. He pushed himself up to his feet, ripping dozens of thorns from the skin of his back, arms and face, stoking his anger.

RJ moaned and tried to stand, but Austin kicked him in the head before he could right himself. RJ's eyes rolled to full-whites and he fell back. He rose up on his elbows, but he was dazed.

"I told you that's enough!" Marcus said.

Austin unsheathed his knife and advanced on RJ.

Marcus stepped closer, ready to get between them.

Kylie screamed.

Delaney shoved by Hector and Jason and then launched herself into the air. She let out an animalistic roar and landed on Austin's back, grasping his waist with her knees. Austin thrashed about, trying to swat her away, but she had a firm grip on him.

"I said, knock it the fuck off!"

Delaney took a firm hold of Austin's hair like a horse's reins with her left hand, and with her right, she stabbed him in the side of the neck, striking like a cobra, and then again, and again, until her arm began to blur, and Austin sagged to the ground, taking her with him.

Sickened, Kylie turned away, and when she did, she was facing Dawn. She brought her friend into a tight embrace, horrified at what she'd just witnessed.

"That's enough, Deli. It's over," Marcus said in a tired voice. Kylie heard another couple of wet, thudding stabs before the attack ended.

Kylie opened her eyes and looked at Dawn. Her eyes were steely, filled with something akin to madness. But it wasn't something that seemed untethered. No, if anything that madness, that rage, was totally under Dawn's control.

Dawn patted her back and then held her at arm's length. She approached Austin's body cautiously, as if he might have one more slasher-movie attack left in him. She spat into his face and kicked him in the ribs with everything she had.

"Are you okay, dear?" Mandy placed both of her hands on Dawn's forearms and leaned over to look into her eyes.

Marcus looked angered at Delaney. She squatted down and wiped her knife clean on Austin's pant leg. She smiled wickedly and sheathed the knife.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said.

"I did what was needed. A sick dog needs putting down."

"I needed him alive.
We
needed him alive."

"Oh well, I like him better after his makeover. Don't you agree, Dawn?"

Marcus tilted his head back and took a deep breath. He looked around his milling followers, shifting to get a view of everyone.

"Jason?" Everyone looked around in confusion. "Jason! You better answer me!"

Marcus left the clearing and sprinted toward Jerry's cabin. Kylie and the others followed until Marcus stopped in the middle of the swaying purple and white prairie flowers. A nearly full moon cast everything within its reach in a ghostly light.

"Jason!"

1.

Lightning filled the sky like spider web cracks advancing across smoky dark glass. Thunder grumbled, an angry god seeking vengeance. The sky opened up, sending down sheets of rain. And still Jason ran.

Running… always running, a random crazed sprint, a stumble, a fall, a curse. The acrid burn of fear in his nostrils, the palpable stench of exhaustion, paranoia. Lungs seizing as he cried blurring tears, but unable to stop. The branches lashed and snared, drawing blood. The rocks underfoot conspired against him, fomenting his end. And still he ran. Because there was no other meaning but movement. No other existence or understanding. And with distance and time, trying to not recall the last two days, trying not to admit to his utter ruin, to his
being
the
ruiner
…

Witnessing the leaking red dimple. His doing.
His
doing…

The crunch of bone on concrete under the force of his own weight. The spasms of a brain corrupted, short-circuiting, shutting down.

And Delaney… the unexpected sight of her standing on his parents' sidewalk. That coy smile. Her angel wings, glowing; her fervent heat, drawing him in. And the mad thrill in her eyes as she stabbed Austin repeatedly, even long after he was dead. Her mad jubilation…

Thunder rumbled through the woods as Jason crested a hill at a full sprint. His mind was nothing more than flashes of recollected misery. And still he ran.

His foot caught on a tree root that sent him airborne. His arms flailed wildly and for a split second, he felt the freeing sensation of flight, but then gravity reclaimed him, pulling him down into a violent embrace as he careened down the hill until a tree barred his path that took his full weight and velocity. When his back smashed into the tree he heard a crack, and when he tried to scream, he heard nothing.