Darkness Falls (9 page)

18

Sam walked back to the diner’s kitchen, where Wyatt sat on a chair, glass of milk in hand. He stared aimlessly at his drink, eyes fringed red from crying.

Sam squatted down and pulled Wyatt close, hugging him tightly. Wyatt’s small body shook with sobs, and Sam let himself cry, too, his head a swirling mess. “I’m sorry, Wyatt. I’m so sorry you were here for this.”

“Uncle Dana,” Wyatt croaked out between sobs. “Is he…”

Sam took Wyatt by the shoulders and gently pushed him back, so he could look at him. He’d never had to deliver news like this to his son. The divorce was hard enough, but death...that was permanent. No coming back. No visitations. He decided honesty was the best course of action. It’s what he’d want. “He’s gone... He’s gone to Heaven.”

Wyatt sniffed. “Is that really true, Dad? You don’t go to church. And I know you don’t like Pastor Dodge, even though he’s nice to Mom.”

“How nice?” Sam asked, instantly regretting the question. It was none of his business, and it was so very far from the right time to think about such things.

“Mom cries a lot with him,” Wyatt said. “When they talk...about you. He says mom should try to work it out. That leaving isn’t the right thing.”

Sam nearly fell over with surprise. Ken Dodge was telling Tess
not
to leave?

“I saw what Uncle Dana did to Uncle Jimmy,” Wyatt said, turning the conversation back to current events. “I saw him jump out the window.”

“Look at me, Wyatt,” Sam said, running a hand over the boy’s head. “That wasn’t Uncle Dana. He’d never hurt your Uncle Jimmy, and you know that. That was…something else. Trust me, Uncle Dana is in a better place. I promise.”

That seemed to calm Wyatt a little. As long as he didn’t realize they were still stuck in the
worse
place, he’d be okay. Wyatt finished the rest of his milk in one long gulp and stood. He wiped his tears on his sleeve and set the empty glass on the chair. “Can I go see Uncle Jimmy?”

Sam smiled at Wyatt and ruffled his hair. “I think he’d like that.”

Sam followed Wyatt
back into the front of the diner, where the out-of-towners had gathered in two small groups, whispering in hushed tones, eyeing the locals like they were all crazies. Only the doctor, Kyle, seemed to be socializing with the locals. Jimmy sat at one of the tables with Laurie and Cash, drinking coffee and talking quietly. He smiled when Wyatt ran up and gave him a hug.

It had been a long time since Sam had set foot in the
Silver Springs Diner
, and from the looks of things, not much had changed.
Except for the busted-ass window
.

The diner was a single large room with white tiled floors and a walk-up counter lined with the classic red-seated swivel stools. The main dining area consisted of a row of six smaller tables next to the windows, each with a little mini jukebox that would play the song of your choice for a quarter. There was also a row of eight larger tables in the middle. To the side of the diner was a little bakery counter, featuring Grandma’s Famous Apple and Cherry pies, despite Grandma having passed away some time ago.

Sam joined the group.

“Feeling better?” Sam asked Jimmy.

“Little sore, but I’ll survive. I gotta be honest, though,” Jimmy looked to Wyatt and back to Sam. “I don’t think everything’s quite sunk in yet. If you know what I mean.”

“I do,” Sam said.

“I was just telling Cash about our plan to go up to WPOS.”

“The plan’s crap,” Cash said, but then he winked and added, “But it’s a plan. If there is help out there to be had, we need it. What’d Becky think of the plan?”

“Uh, Cash,” Sam said. “Sheriff Rule... She didn’t make it.”

“I was with her just a few hours ago,” Cash said.

“That’s what I was told,” Sam said. “She didn’t make it back in town before the…the shift.” He glanced at his son, and lowered his voice to a whisper. “She was cut in half.”

Cash took the baseball cap off his head, closed his eyes and made a cross over his chest. “Frost in charge now?”

Sam nodded. “She deputized Griffin.”

Cash gave a nod of approval. “Okay, look. I’ve got this place rigged bright enough to see from space, but the gennie’s going to be tapped out in the next few hours. We’re going to have to haul ass to the station, contact whoever we can and get back here ASAP, before making a run for town.

“This was our plan,” Sam said, motioning to Jimmy. “I can’t rightly ask you to—”

“You gone and forgot that I’m the best electrician north of Nashua?” Cash asked. “You’re going to need me to get that place up and running.”

“I’ll come, too,” Kyle said.

“Thanks,” Sam said.

“What about Wyatt?” Laurie asked.

“I was hoping you might—” Sam started.

“No!” Wyatt shook his head. “I’m not staying behind again.”

“You won’t be alone,” Sam replied.

Wyatt crossed his arms. “I wasn’t alone with Uncle Dana, either.”

“I know,” Sam said.
And touché.
“But you’re a lot safer here. Those things don’t like the light, and we’re going to have to move fast out there.”

“I
am
fast,” Wyatt said.

“Not fast enough,” Sam replied. “Now I don’t want to hear one more complaint. You’re staying here with Laurie, no ifs, ands or buts about it.” He looked at Laurie. “Sound about right to you?”

Laurie pulled Wyatt onto her lap. “Staying here with this cute little man? No, I wouldn’t mind one bit. But you guys better be careful. And quick.”

Sam nodded his thanks. “Now what do you have for lights?”

“I’ve got that one covered,” Cash said. “I have a
halo
.”

Laurie smiled and patted her brother’s hand. “You and your toys.” She looked at Sam. “Anything else?”

“Actually, yes,” Sam said, wondering if Cash’s response was sarcasm. “What’s a halo?”

19

Sam, Jimmy and Kyle followed Cash to his van, which was parked by one of the pumps. The lights were bright inside the diner, but they were downright brilliant under the carport.

Cash opened the door to his service van and climbed in. “So where is it?” Jimmy asked. “This ‘halo’ of yours. Cause it sure as shit ain’t floatin’ above your head.”

“Saw the effect the light had on them. Put this together using stock I had in the truck. Haven’t had much use for it since the retrofitting began. We would have left soon if you hadn’t shown up.” Cash reached under the dash and flipped a switch. White hot light from six halogen work lamps mounted around the roof brightened a fifty-foot radius around the van.

Heat radiated from the lights, the temperature change sending a shiver through Sam’s body.

Cash flipped the toggle back to the off position and the temperature immediately dropped. He opened his door and stepped out. “Only problem is, she’ll drain the battery faster than a redneck going to a Nascar event.”

“Well then, let’s hope we don’t need it,” Sam said.

“Rather have it and not need it—”

“Than need it and not have it,” Sam finished, slapping Jimmy’s back. “You need to get a new line, buddy.”

Cash climbed back into the van and slammed his door shut. “Saddle up, boys. Time’s a wastin’.”

If it had
been a long time since Sam had been to the
Silver Springs Diner
, it’d been an eternity since he’d been up Domenick Ridge (named after one of Refuge’s founding fathers). The road to the radio station was steep but well maintained. Aside from the surrounding mountain ranges, Domenick Ridge was one of the highest points in Refuge.

Cash pulled to a stop in front of the station. All four men sighed with relief. The tension during the drive had been intense, but they hadn’t seen a single shadow monster. Sam leaned forward and peered through the windshield. The building was dark and quiet; it was about the size of a one-bedroom ranch home. Four tall letters stood on its roof, advertising its call letters, WPOS.

“Not much to the place,” Cash said, turning off the van. “Only has three rooms. One for the DJ, another for the tech and a server room for all the broadcast equipment. Came up about a month ago to install a new lightning suppression unit.”

Cash pulled four lantern flashlights from a box between him and Jimmy. He clicked one on and off and handed it to Jimmy before checking the others.

“Batteries are good, but they’re not new,” Cash said, passing two back to Kyle and Sam. “Try to use ’em sparingly.”

Sam stepped out of the van and stretched. The ride up in the back with Kyle had been cramped.

A light rain fell from the sky, and a warm breeze blew through the trees, creating a soft hiss. A bright purple flash lit the distant sky over Refuge, and thunder rumbled off in the distance. Would have been pretty, if it wasn’t a stark reminder that they were severely fucked.

Sam could see the distant lights of town, but the darkness appeared to be slowly encroaching, winking out one light after the next. When they’d left Soucey’s, the light from town had carried out to the water tower, but now the tower was gone, lost in total blackness. Sam thought of the dog at the house and the Dana-thing back at the diner.

It’s like a disease
.
Spreading and infecting everything it touches.

He thought of Tess and Ellie, back in town, and what might happen if the darkness swallowed the town whole. If they didn’t reach outside help through the ham radio... He shook his head, fighting off his morbid train of thought.

The moon—
or is that the sun?
—hovered above them, peeking out occasionally from behind dark clouds, like some giant watchful eye, casting a deep purple glow over the surrounding woods and the station. It seemed to have a mind of its own, shifting to different locations in the sky, not following its normal arc. Sam thought of
The Eye of Sauron
from
The Lord of the Rings
, and he wondered if this moon could be in some way responsible for what’d been happening since he woke. He nearly laughed at the thought. Shadow creatures was one thing. But living moons?

“So, what first, chief?” Jimmy asked, looking to Sam.

Sam clicked on his flashlight and gave the grounds a quick once over. To the right of the station was a walkway past two parking spots and around a small supply shed. The walkway continued past, leading to the radio tower. To the left was a paved driveway that led to a single-car garage that was almost beyond the flashlight’s reach.

Sam turned his light on the station door. “Probably a little late to be asking, but does anybody have a key to get in?”

Jimmy walked up to the station door and gave the handle and solid turn and a shove. “Locked,” he said, trying the handle again. “Good thing I carry a master key with me.” He took a step back and gave the door a hard kick. The old door caved in on the first try.

“Master key, eh?” Sam said, walking past Jimmy and inside the station.

“Hasn’t let me down yet,” Jimmy said, following Sam with Kyle and Cash.

They moved down the hallway, single file. Sam stopped in front of a closed door, listening, not in the mood for any more surprises.

“Tech room,” Cash said, stepping by Sam. “It’s also where the switch to the generator is. Beauty too. Generac, 70-kilowatt, propane-fueled and liquid-cooled. Shit, I’d have one of ’em at home, if I had a spare 20k laying around.”

“I thought those were automatic?” Sam said. “Shouldn’t it be up and running already?”

“Depends on the power running into the building,” Cash said. “A lot of places still need the main breaker switched off. I’m guessing no one was here when this place went dark.”

“Can you get it running?” Sam asked.

“Bear shit in the woods?”

Cash opened the door to the tech room and stepped inside.

“We’re gonna check out the rest of the place,” Jimmy said. “We’ll meet you back here.” Kyle followed him.

Sam nodded and joined Cash in the tech room. Cash focused his light on a panel door in the back corner. He ran his finger down a numbered list and read the labels. He stopped and flipped a breaker off and then on again.

“Huh,” Cash mumbled.

“Huh,
what
?” Sam said. “Bears still shit in the woods, right?”

Cash ignored Sam and shined his light over the breaker panel. He ran a finger down each line of breakers.

“Main switch is flipped and all the breakers are on. Should be running.”

“Any ideas?” Sam asked. “Propane right? Not a priming problem then. Maybe they turned the line off for safety, when everything started happening?”

“Maybe,” Cash said, scratching his chin. “Makes sense.”

“What makes sense?” Jimmy asked, he and Kyle joined them just outside the tech room.

“Propane line to the gennie might be off,” Sam said.

“Well, we got some good news for ya,” Jimmy said. “Ham radio’s set up over in the server room. Looks good as new. Tommy’s got a damn antenna mounted to the station’s radio tower. Better hope the FCC don’t catch him.”

“National Guard emergency still at 34.90 frequency?” Cash asked.

Jimmy smiled, impressed. “Ayuh. You can try 47.42 if that don’t work. Should be the Red Cross, if memory serves.”

“So where’s the shutoff?” Kyle asked.

“In the garage,” Cash said. “The main feed for pretty much everything up here D-marks in there. Tank’s just outside, behind the garage.”

“Lemme guess, locked?” Jimmy asked.

“Probably,” Cash said. “Unless they left here in a hurry and forgot to check it.”

“All right,” Jimmy said. “We’ll head out and check it.” Jimmy turned his attention to Sam. “There’s a window out in the broadcast room, you should be able to see us from there. We’ll flag you when it’s on, so you can give it a try.”

Cash flipped the top breaker in the panel to the left. “Main breaker’s off. Go give it a whirl.”

“Jimmy,” Sam said. “I’ve already lost one friend today, I’m not looking to lose another. Eyes open and ears sharp. No surprises.”