Death Whispers (Death Series, Book 1) (50 page)

But he wouldn't do what he was told for long, he
wasn't big on listening.

There were several zombies and now Parker held
onto Tiff like a
deathline
.
He sucked off our power, adding his to ours, it was numbing me.

The zombies looked at me, then turned to Parker.

Parker straightened arrogantly. “I am Master
here.”

The zombies moved toward Parker.

I jerked Tiff just about off her feet and slung
her to my left and away from Parker. “Stop!” I flung out to them.

They turned to me and Tiff, some without eyes,
staring darkly at the two of us.

Parker looked at me. “This will not work, I am
more powerful then you, more experienced. You cannot prevail.”

I wondered the same.

Never give up.

I
turned with Tiff launching ourselves at Jade, running to the zombie
with the knife in its neck. The first to answer our call, my call
.

Jade's hand clutched solidly in mine, we tore
through the zombies, moving like bowling pins as we wove between
them, some stroking our bodies as we came through, bolstered by our
combined power.

“Stop them!” Parker yelled, pushing zombies
aside, knocking a few over.

Hands reached out and I said, “No.” Their
hands hesitated.

I reached my zombie just as Man-Three was taking
the knife out, getting ready to plunge that blade home, killing my
zombie for real. A sense of something lurked below the surface, just
a feeling, and I went with it like a drowning man reaching for the
lifeline, my last hope.

Jade and Tiff struggled to keep my pace as I
landed next to my zombie, my knees sliding on the grass as my hand
encircled the wrist that held the knife, Man-Three's eyes widening in
surprise. I wasn't as strong, but I'd startled him, the element of
surprise was enough.

My zombie understood, we were connected, his eyes
glittering black diamonds, he snaked his hand out, grabbing my other
wrist. The girls' hands fell away. Only the three of us connected
now, the gun man, the zombie and me.

It
took only a second to break his concentration and as he moved to
finish the zombie taking my straining arm with him for the killing
blow I thought,
die.

A big sucking nothing happened for a heartbeat.
Then Man-Three started shrieking, great gulping screams, one after
another, as my power took from him.... and gave to my zombie.

It was watching a movie in reverse. My zombie
started to fill out, the knife pushing out of his neck, falling to
the ground. His cheeks filling in, the gaping hole of his chest
filling in as I watched, the skin pooling together, flesh like water
filling the void.

My eyes moved to Man-Three, the light in his eyes
fading, his body growing stiller.

“Caleb, what are you doing?” Parker asked in a
near whisper.

“
Killing
him,” I replied dreamily. If felt good to use this thing, my zombie
was mending itself and this bad guy,
very
bad guy... would... would be gone
.

“Caleb!” Tiff shrieked in my face.

“Huh?” My head swam toward her.

“Stop! You're killing him!”

I
released the two, reluctantly. I tried to feel bad about almost
killing Man-Three, who had put a gun barrel to Tiff's head just
moments ago, and couldn't
.

We had bigger problems. Leaving Man-Three on the
ground, I rose off my knees. Jade ran to me, pressing her face
against my chest. We turned to look at Parker and Gun-Holder, who
still had the choke hold on Jonesy. I could feel the presence of my
healed zombie at my back, ready to do the same command.

A literal bunch, zombies.

“Let him go,” I said to Gun-Holder.

Ten
zombies looked in my direction. Of course he doesn't
have
to let Jonesy go.

I
could make him.

Parker saw my thought process. “Don't, it'll be
a stalemate,” he said, his voice holding a slight tremor.

Something
had taken that arrogance down a notch. The life-suck thing. I was
sure
that
was not covered under the five-point standard.

I held Jade tighter.

He seemed to visibly collect himself. “We raised
this group together, we both control them,” he reasoned with me.

I
wasn't feeling reasonable. “Yeah, maybe you guys didn't think this
through when you were busy spying on American children,” I said,
watching him flinch.

Sophie
joined our little group.
Where's
John?
I mouthed.

“... with Bry,” she answered.

Jonesy watched Sophie with concerned eyes. “Let
him go or we'll see who owns who,” I told Parker.

He nodded at Gun-Holder who let Jonesy go with a
disgusted grunt. He glared at Parker, shoving Jonesy away.

“Dick,” Jonesy muttered.

It was Parker's look that told me he was placating
us. He had a plan and it didn't include us leaving.

Jonesy walked over to Sophie, giving her a hug.
Their two-inch height difference allowed her curly hair to swarm
around his like an embracing halo.

Gun-Holder
spoke into his mike and the chopper noise was loud again, they had
something up their sleeve, I knew it.

Parker stepped forward and I instinctively moved
Jade back, taking Jade with me. “Don't get any closer, Parker.”

But Gun-Holder grabbed at Jonesy again, who was to
the side of Sophie and she got taken instead.

“No!” Jonesy roared, his lightning reflexes
grabbing at Sophie, who yelped in surprise as his fingers slipped off
her arm. Gun-holder smoothly took her and ran for the ropes hanging
suspended under the roar of the chopper.

“Jonesy, no!” I yelled over the noise.

Of course Jonesy didn't listen.

Sophie was too stunned at first to believe that
she was being carried like a sack of potatoes toward a government
helicopter and began to fight in earnest, bucking and thumping her
fists on Gun-Holder's back.

Jonesy was fast, overtaking Gun-Holder, who was
weighed down with a body to carry, both of them reaching the ropes at
exactly the same moment.

Jonesy leaped forward, grabbing onto Sophie's
wrists, both outstretched, just as Gun-holder grabbed a rope.

Power surged in a blooming arc around us, all of
us ducking, the feeling of it unfamiliar but vital. Pulsing once like
a great light, searing and painful, then that big spider in the sky
stopped making noise, dropping toward us in a black rush of crashing
branches and trees.

Jonesy jerked Sophie off of Gun-holder who was
scrambling for safety. The blades of the chopper cut great swaths in
the sky, slowing down but coming closer. I ran with Jade and Tiff
back to where Bry and John were.

Jonesy dragged Sophie to safety just as a chopper
blade embedded itself in the ground, a guillotine meant for harm, two
feet behind Jonesy, spearing a tombstone, which disintegrated on
contact, shards of marble flying through the night like tiny missiles
of destruction, the ground shaking with the force of impact.

I didn't look behind me but took great leaps
between tombstones until I reached Bry and John. Turning, I saw
Parker and the other two government men on the ground. I took stock
of the group: Bry and John on the ground, Jade and Tiff with me, a
grubby and tired Jonesy with Sophie and my human-looking zombie.

He
looked down at me, completely unconcerned with the mayhem of the
moment. It was all about the directive. That was a relief, some
things never changed
,
I took a shaky breath.

In the distance the other group of zombies stood
there, torn between masters, Parker staring back at me. “We're not
done here, Caleb Hart.”

“Yeah we are!” I shouted back.

“Tiff,” I said.

She looked at me.

“Let's put him back before Parker gets his crap
together,” I said.

We all looked at my zombie, who stood unblinking,
staring at me.

Unnerving.

“Rest,” I said, unfurling that power again,
just a stab of it directed at the zombie, Tiff's hand convulsing on
mine.

He lingered, staring, and for one awful moment I
thought maybe I'd used it up in all the chaos. But then he turned,
running gracefully on fully formed legs. His clothes re-knitted to
perfection, the stolen energy from another human being powering his
effort. The grave opened like a crater to receive, swallowing him
whole, the ground closing over him like a giant mouth.

“Let's go,” I said quietly.

Parker
watched us. The zombies around him stood like a small forest of
corpse-trees, unmoving. He could lay them to rest. Besides, he said
we were part owner
.

Let him figure it out.

The government men laid at Parker's feet, the one
I hadn't used up, hand rummaging around for that M-16 he dropped.

Time to get going.

Bry struggled to sit up, looking worse for wear.
“Tell me to stay behind next time,” he said, out of the fattest
lip I'd ever seen.

Tiff
said, “Let's go,
right
now
!”

We hightailed it outta there, the graveyard and
its inhabitants at our back.

CHAPTER 32

Our bikes stood at attention, hidden in the bushes
at the beginning of a little used dirt road, which led to the main
paved road. Instead of a clean escape a cop car stood parked, lights
out, idling softly.

Jonesy swore with real feeling.

A dome light appeared inside the car as the cop
got out, swinging it shut behind him, he turned his face and I
recognized Garcia.

“
Great,
we're screwed. He's in it with
them
,”
Bry said, his voice thick with injury.

Jade seemed to sway next to me and I held her
against my body. What else could go wrong?

He had the gun, the badge, and crooked friends.

John
said, “I don't want to be
his
bitch either.”

It was bad when John was swearing. “We're not
going to be any kind of slaves for anybody,” I said, stepping
forward.

Garcia surprised us all, running forward. “You
guys hurt?” he asked, all-concern.

We said nothing.

He sighed. “Listen, I don't have a lot of time
here, they're calling in reinforcements as we speak. I have to get
you kids out of here and somewhere safe.”

“Wait a sec, we thought you were with them,”
Jonesy said, jerking his head in the direction we came.

“The
Graysheets? Hell no, I'm deep undercover but won't be if we don't get
your butts out of here.”

“We can take him, form a rebellion if he gets
outta line,” Tiff said.

Everyone rolled their eyes at that, even me.

“Okay,” I said, what choice did we have? But I
didn't have to like it.

“What about our bikes?” John asked.

“Leave them,” Garcia said. “We'll get them
later, or somebody will, it sure won't be me,” he said, looking
around.

We piled into the cop car, all the girls stacked
on top of us and Onyx, who had been oddly silent jumped in last,
riding shotgun next to Garcia.

Garcia got in and put the squad car in drive,
looking down at Onyx, who wagged his tail.

Garcia just shook his head at the dog and got
rolling, the gravel crunching under the wheels of his cruiser.

We left the graveyard, surrendering our anonymity
forever.

****

“So what's going on?” I asked

Garcia stared ahead at the road for a minute, I
thought I'd have to repeat the question.

“Where to begin?” he said almost to himself.

Our group, with the Weller kids bashed up again,
sat waiting to hear why he had the good fortune to be
cop-on-the-spot. Even Onyx was looking at Garcia.

“Let's get where we're going, then we can talk.”

“No, I don't want to go to someplace you want, I
have a place, we have a place that we know is safe.”

“Not the hideaway, Caleb. Maybe he can't be
trusted,” John said.

“Yeah, the hideaway, John. You think we can't
take care of things if they get exciting?” I asked him, turning
around in the seat where John was squished by Sophie, a sliver of his
face showing behind her.

I turned to face Garcia, who did a quick check of
my expression. “We have a place you can take us where we feel
safe.”

“I'll have to pulse Bobbi,” he said.

“Gale?” My face was one Fat Dirty Look.

“Yes, Officer Gale,” he said, noting my
expression. “I guess I deserve that.”

“No offense, but adults aren't really on our
trust list right now,” John said.

“Fair enough,” Garcia responded.

I gave Garcia directions and he used his car-pulse
to let Gale know where we would be.

She met us there in her civilian car, looking very
weird in her regular clothes. I thought it was a little like meeting
your teacher in the grocery store; they actually ate food?