Dragon Virus (9 page)

Well, it is. But what can you do?

Nance tells it like it was, and Drew nods thoughtful like,
moving markers on the map he’s got tacked against the far wall. They track
Howlers, townies, anybody comes into range. I don’t know what good they think
it’s gonna do, someone decides to oust us. Home’s twenty-three bodies, counting
Annie who’s old, and the baby Simon. Twenty-three won’t do shit a howler party
come a knocking. But I don’t think about that. I follow Nance, and she’s the
brains for all of us. Us four: me, Roo, Nance and Jody. I don’t always like ’em,
but I love ’em.

You know what I mean? Two other hunter-packs in Home, but
none like us. And none of ’em Changed.

Drew scoots us, and we scatter, leaving him nodding over his
notes and stroking that pointy chin of his. My hand goes to my chain in reflex.
Yeah. Looks better on me.

o0o

Hallway’s dimmed, cause it’s daylight. Jody’s for
sleeping. Nance slams that down; Nance thinks like Olders, sometimes, that
there’s time and place and a not-time and place.

Sleeping in daylight’s a not-time. Roo’s got its own ideas,
you can tell, but don’t volunteer them, same as always. Roo don’t lead, don’t
follow. Just happens to be where everyone else is.

After check-in, I’m supposed to go for schooling. None of
the other of the three: Nance and Jody’re done with it, nobody tells Roo what
do to. But they’ve hopes I’ll learn something. Don’t see the point, much.
Townies read, townies die. The Olders say otherwise we’re just Howlers. Me, I
see Howlers livin’. What’s the point? But it makes the Olders happy, so I sit
for a couple hours: turn pages, sound out words. Look at the pictures of what
was. Go couple-three days south, you see what was, too. Old stuff, gone now. Buildings,
way bigger than Home, way bigger than towns, even the biggest towns. Blew ’em
to bits, in the aftermath. People were gone, why not? Must’ve been fun.

I’m not supposed to think like that. Those’re
Howler-thoughts.

I don’t want to go for schooling today. So when the pack
goes left, I tag along.

Whatever’s better than sitting alone. Nance’s striding,
tall-like, Jody bumping on walls, hopping up and down, getting in Roo’s way.
Jody’s the dumb one.

“What you got?”

Jody, poking too close to Roo’s space. I though for sure Roo’d
slap him into tomorrow, but no. It just grins, broken teeth jangling like
scares a lot of folk. That means it’s pleased about something, which is what
should scare folk. Roo pleases about weird shit.

Nance puts herself between the two, blocking my view. I
juggle around Roo’s long arms, trying for better position in the narrow
hallway. Roo shakes its head. “Not here. The playroom.”

The playroom’s what we call downbelow the kitchen. Dark and
cool, it had a dirt floor once, ’fore Roo piled rugs and rugs down there. Now
it’s cozy. Padded, too, so when we take to roughing, nobody gets more than a
little slammed up. We troop down, one at a time sliding the ladder, and take
usual slots. Roo pulls my tail when I land, so I follow it over to the side.

Its voice was the first thing I ever remember hearing, but
you never do get used to its breath. “Stay tight, pretty ears. This is gonna
get fun.”

I hate it when Roo says shit like that. Means blood most
times, and guess who cleans up. Short list, and only me on it.

“Show,” Jody demanded, digging his heels in like he was an
Older giving a scolding.

On him, all scrawn and skin, it looked dumb-butt. But Roo
gives over, holding out one claw and unfolding it like it’s got an ache
somewhere. But nobody starts, cause what Roo’s showing us is worth some air.

It’s little, way wee, Doonie would say. And gold and glowly,
like a sip of the whiskey Mata gives us when we get cold on duty, only alive like a
flame.

Only it can’t be a flame, ’cause Roo’s holding it steady and
even its hand isn’t that rough tough. Mine is, when I figure it to be, but Roo’s
not like me.

Well, actually, nobody’s like me. That’s the Change for ya.

“What is it?” Nance comes in close, careful of Roo’s claws
on account of them being sharp sharp, but way closer than most get.

“Found it. On the meat.”

“You took salvage?” Nance drew back, real peevy. Salvage is
supposed to go to all.

Second rule, after Meat’s Shared.

But Roo shook its head, the flickeriness catching sharp
edges on its face, dancing off the thin skin that always looks like the blood’s
gonna burst out from under some day. “It won’t go. See?” And it turned its hand
upside down and sure’s daybreak, the flickering whateveritwas stayed put,
dancing upside down like it was safehome.

“Is it hot?”

“A little,” Roo answered Jody, more kindly I ever heard
before from its mouth. “Not burn-hot, though.”

“What does it do?”

Roo shrugged. “Looks nice. Feels nice. Was in the meat’s
hand, when I hefted it, came off into mine. Won’t cut loose.”

“Dangerous maybe?” I didn’t think so, but Nance should’ve
asked that and she was too busy making pretty-eyes at it.

“No,” Roo said, sharp.

“Just asking...” I was going to back away, but my feet didn’t
want to move. Matter of fact, they wanted to get closer.

“Not Tech.” It wasn’t a question Jody was askin’. Didn’t
look anything like Tech. We get what Tech is drummed into dumb heads first off,
before we ever make hunter-pack, before they let us go prowl. Tech makes folk
scaredy. Tech caused the Change. Only townies used tech, and it got them
deadbunny killed.

“Nope,” Roo said too cheerfully. It wasn’t much on cheerful,
especially not to Jody, and this was making me creep.

“So what then?” Nance got the thinking look means she’s
making a plan. Roo cradled the flickering gold-fire, holding it close like it’s
whispering in its ear. I look close, wish I hadn’t.

There’re things in the flame, things that oughtn’t be there.
Spikey-edged circles and green shimmers and things that smell townie, smell old
and bad and like nothing we shoulda brought in here. Like somebody dying-sick.
Looked wrong, smelled wrong, was wrong wrong wrong.

“Can I hold it?” Jody, bouncing on Nance’s shoulder till she
swatted him back. Roo cuddled the flame like it’s never cuddled nothing, and
prickly chills started walking up my spine like bad winds out of the wasteland.

“Don’t touch it,” I said, but wasn’t nobody listening. Feet
finally started walking back, and so I guess was outta range when Roo broke
loose. Didn’t know what, maybe Nance shoved it or it just took spiteful the way
it does sometimes, but faster’n even I thought a Changed could move Roo flipped
its hand again, tossin’ the flickery-thing at Nance. It hung on his hand,
still, but parts went flying, sparks like splutter-candles Doonie lights
sometimes. Nance got back but not fast enough. I seen meat get eaten, when the
Howlers came by. This wasn’t that pretty.

Jody went whacked, tried to get it off Nance, only it spread
to him too, chewing up flesh like flame shouldn’t. No burnin’, just blood and
sizzle-dissolving smelling and flickering and glowing brighter and brighter
until the room was filled with darkness ’cause my eyes were closed and I was
down on the floor being one with the carpets there until a weight fell on my
shoulder.

“Niyaaaaaa!” And I tried batting it away only it wasn’t, it
was just Roo, teeth glinting in the real-dark now.

“Come on, pretty ears. Time to get moving.”

It moved back up the ladder. There was something kindamaybe
moving in the corner.

I couldn’t look. I didn’t want to look.

Of course I looked.

The only sound that rose was me splattering my insides over
what was left of life.

o0o

Roo was telling later like it wasn’t its fault. Was stuff
as was supposed to be. The glowy thing told it what to do. Whispering-like, only
not. Whispering in the blood, in bones.

Deadbunny brought it, but we was meant to have it. Drawn
down from Old stuff, it was, made from the Bad Day. Livestuff. Changed, like
us. Glow-thing told it so, Roo was claiming. I wasn’t hearing it. It — Roo — says
it did what was needed to do. Nance and Jody, they wasn’t like us, not halfway.
Even less so the Olders. Changed gotta change, them was slowing us down.

The glowy thing ate Roo’s brain, was my thinking. Didn’t say
so much: me not bein’ the stupid one. But we went through the House like
shadows; Roo moving, me just following, the glowy thing slamming and eating and
the screaming just went on and on and on...

Maybe I am the stupid one. Shoulda known the meat was bad
news. Shoulda known, shoulda seen. When Roo was pleased I shoulda run.

And then I’d be alive, and Roo’d be alive, only not
together, and the others, they’d still be dead.

Roo’s sayin’, was them as made us. Them and their stupid Old
ways. Made us and didn’t have the balls to die. Never knew it was so bitter,
all those years. Roo’s voice was the first I ever remember hearing. Roo’s hand
was the one as slapped me when I was dumb. Never be sorry, it’d say. Never
regret. Sorry’s for townies; regret’s for the dead. Don’t you be a townie, and
don’t you be dead.

Meat is meat.

o0o

I hear them, up in the winter night. The dead. All dead.
We watch the Howlers movin’ by. Slipstream out of sight, eat what we find. Roo’s
happy. This is what it thinks Changed life should be; away from the ones who
made us, livin’ in the world they can’t take.

I hear them, sighin’ and fryin’ all over again. And when Roo’s
busy I slip down and watch what’s left of the House. Maybe Drew — what’s left
if anything’s left if the old god-book was right he’s all gone elsewhere-better
now — knows I’m nearby.

Maybe he’s even caring.

Never be sorry. Never regret. Never forgive.

Never forget.

www.bookviewcafe.com

for Gardner Dozois,
whose support of “Dragons” early on let
me know I was on the right track.

Dragon Virus

a tragedy in six evolutions/
an evolution in six tragedies

Laura Anne Gilman

Book View Café Edition
November 27, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-61138-178-8
Copyright © 2012 Laura Anne Gilman

www.lauraannegilman.net

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce
this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
For
information/permissions, contact
[email protected]

Cover design by Patrick Swenson

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Laura Anne Gilman
is a former book editor who went to the dark side of full-time writing in 2003. Her novel credits include ten
Cosa Nostradamus
books (the
Retrievers
and
PSI
series), the Nebula-nominated
The Vineart War
trilogy, and the forthcoming
Portals
duology,
Heart of Briar
and
Soul of Fire
(August/October 2013).

Wearing her editorial hat, she is the author of
Practical Meerkat’s 52 Bits of Useful Info for the Young (and Old) Writer
, available through the Book View Café Ebookstore.

Laura Anne also writes mysteries under the name L A Kornetsky, and isn’t quite sure how many short stories and novellas she’s had published — more than 30, less than 50 (number subject to increase).

She lives in New York City, where she also runs
d.y.m.k. productions
, an editorial services company.

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