Resurrection (Eden Book 3) (28 page)

“Sis?”

“Listen, I just—”

“You don’t have to say it. I know what you’re going to say.”

“Then hear me out on this then, okay? Tomorrow, I want you to stick as close to me as you can. As close as you can.”

“I got it.”

“Good.”

A few minutes later, over the snores of Evan, Anthony whispered to his sister. “Rye?” She made a small noise, letting him know she was still awake. “Do you think we’ll hear dogs?”

“I don’t know.” Riley had a bad feeling about their pursuers and their method of pursuit, though she couldn’t put it into words. If she could only get close enough to them…“Don’t worry about it now. Sleep.”

“I love you, sis.”

“I love you too, little brother.”

“They told me you invited me. Why’d you invite me?”

A counselor from the assisted living facility had gotten off the bus with Gary and walked with him to the hospital. After sticking her head in to introduce herself, the counselor waited outside in the hallway with the Public Security officer stationed there.

“I thought you might want to see Mickey,” said Gwen.

Gary had come in and seated himself in the chair by the windows.

“I see him.”

“He’s your friend, isn’t he?”

“Yes he is.” Gary did not look up. “How do you know my name?”

“They told me. Did they tell you my name?”

“No, they didn’t. Yes, they did.” He smiled playfully. “It’s Gwen—right?”

“Right.”

Mickey lay unresponsive on the bed, connected to a myriad of tubes and machines.

“He doesn’t look like he’s getting any better.”

“He’s not, Gary.”

“He looks sick. Is he sick?”

“Yes, he’s sick.”

“You look sick.” Gary glanced furtively at Gwen before looking away. “Are you sick?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Are you dying? You look like you’re dying.”

“Yes, I am.”

“
Ohhh
,” Gary nearly whined. “That’s sad.” He didn’t sound sad. “Are you sad?”

“I guess I’m okay with it.”

“It’s late.”

“It is. Thanks for coming. It was nice of you to come. I know Mickey is happy you’re here.”

“How can you tell?”

Mickey remained where he was, unresponsive.

“I just can.”

“He doesn’t look like he can tell.”

“He can.”

“Here. I brought him this.” Gary placed a compact disc jewel case on the table next to his chair. “You can watch it too.”

“What is it?” Gwen didn’t have the energy to get up and cross the room, nor did she wish to startle the man.

“It’s a movie.
The Wild Bunch
. Sam Peckinpah. Have you ever seen it?”

“No.”

“Mickey has. I have. It’s great. When Ernest Borgnine and William Holden were talking around the camp fire, Sam Peckinpah couldn’t yell ‘cut’ because he was crying. Why do you think he was crying? What was he crying about?”

“I don’t know, Gary.”

“Maybe he already knew the Wild Bunch was going to die. He was the director so he would, wouldn’t he? Ernest Borgnine, was he
Marty
? I think he was
Marty
.”

“Gary, how long were you and Mickey out there together?”

“A long time.”

“This place must be really…
different
than what you’re used to.”

“What do you mean?” Gary looked confused.

“I mean New Harmony,
this place
, the hospital. Were there places like this out where you and Mickey were?”

“No. We’re strangers in a strange land. Like the Robert Heinlein novel.”

Gwen had never heard of it. “Strangers in a strange land?” She smiled a deathlike grin.

Her smile encouraged Gary.

“Yeah, strangers in a strange land. ‘What’s the secret the baby shares with the wise man? Would you recognize the bells of truth if you heard them ring?’”

“Is that a riddle?” Gwen didn’t feel up to any games that required much thought.

“No. It’s a song. By Leon Russell.
Strangers in a Strange Land
.”

“Like the book?”

“No, not like the book. It’s a song.” Gary was flustered. “By Leon Russell. Claude Russell Bridges. The Tulsa Sound. Jeez, why is that so difficult to understand?”

“So
Strangers in a Strange Land
was a book and a song?”

“Yes. That’s what I just said, isn’t it?”

“I guess you did.”

“Leon Russell named his son after a Gary Busey character. Teddy Jack.”

“Wow. I haven’t heard that name in a long time.”

“Who? Teddy Jack?”

“No,” Gwen looked at Gary. She thought the man knew exactly what she meant. She thought he was playing with her. “Gary Busey.”

“Why, did you know him?”

“No, Gary, I didn’t know him.”

“He had the same name as me. You know who else sang a song with that title?”

“Who?”

“Iron Maiden. ‘
Was many years ago that I left home and came this way.
’ That’s off their
Somewhere in Time
album. It was released in 1986.”

“Do you like heavy metal?”

“‘
if you suffer for the millions, then it’s what you’re fighting for
.’ Barbara Streisand sang that.”

Gwen grinned anew. “Did she sing a song named
Strangers in a Strange Land
too?”

“Yes. Why else do you think I’d bring up Barbara Streisand?” Before Gwen could attempt an answer, Gary asked, “Why’d they call her
Babs
? Barry Gibbs sang background vocals on that. Did you know?”

“No, I didn’t. Sometimes when people are named Barbara, other people call them Babs. Like a nickname.”

“Why do they do that?”

“I don’t know. You know, like when people are named Jonathan people call them John, or when people are named Michael people call them Mickey.”

“His name isn’t Michael.”

Mickey lay inert on the bed.

“No, it isn’t.”

“Triumph had a song too. ‘
You just wait for the wheel of fate to turn and the wind of the wolf is gonna blow it all down
.’ The wolf blew down the little piggy’s houses. Why’d he do that?”

“I don’t know, Gary.”

“Were there three little piggy’s? I thought there were ten little piggy’s. They went wee-wee-wee-wee all the way home, but when they got home they didn’t have any homes. Did you know U2 had a song with the same title, too? Did you know that? U2. What was the lead singer’s name? Bono?” Gary laughed. “Bono sounds like Boner. Doesn’t it sound like Boner?”

“It does,” Gwen granted.

“I’m going to miss him.”

Gwen looked at the man seated across the room. He looked down, rubbing the sides of his head furiously before lowering his hands to his lap where they wrestled with one another.

She looked over to Mickey on the bed.

“I’m going to miss him too.”

“Riley…” Anthony shook her. “Time to go. Come on, sis.”

She sat up and got her bearings. It was barely dawn. The fire had burned down and Evan was stomping on it, damping out what flames were left, thick grey smoke curling up from it to the sky. Troi squatted off to the side looking around them, concerned.

Riley’s clothes were wet and dirty and she was cold. She did not feel rested.

“We ready?” Evan pulled his black skullie down over his head.

They started off at a fast pace, Evan in the lead. He seemed more confident since traversing the swamp. They had come this far and survived. There was no sign of their pursuers. Each knew, and it went without saying, that
that
didn’t mean anything. They were out there somewhere now—the old man Thomas, little Red, and who knew however many else of them. And the four friends from New Harmony were aware that the hunters did not think they could be beat.

They had been walking for an hour and a half through sparse trees, up a slope, when Evan stepped onto the branches concealing the pitfall and nearly plunged headlong to his death. At the last moment he stepped off the edge of the concealed hole, launching himself forward over the gap that opened up beneath him as the branches and bushes collapsed into it. He landed on the other side, flat on his stomach, his legs and hips hanging down into the dug out pit.

There was a frenzy of activity from below as—eight feet down—a zombie, stirred from its torpor, reacted to the falling branches and sought the cause, reaching for Evan’s dangling feet. Evan felt it groping for him and kicked out violently, scrabbling with his hands to drag himself up and out of his precarious position, but his frenzied kicks only threatened to sink him farther.

Before that could happen, Troi and Riley reached him, each grabbing a wrist and dragging their friend out of danger.

“Man!” Evan gasped, genuinely unsettled.

The four stood above the pit, looking down into it at the zombie staring back up at them. The thing had the remains of a noose around its neck and its head was canted at an odd angle, but it was still standing, still reaching for them, still growling as it showed its teeth.

“I almost died there.” Evan sounded like he didn’t believe it. “I came that close. Sons of bitches.”

“How crazy are these people that they set traps with Zed?” Troi asked. No one answered because they all knew. These people were very crazy—crazy enough to hunt human beings in the first place. And that was very crazy all by itself.

“Should we cover it up?” Anthony referred to the pit.

“No, they know its here,” replied Riley. “They’re the ones who dug it. I’m in the lead.”

“Yeah…” Evan was looked down into the hole, and the lynched zombie looked back up at him. “You lead.”

The slope they climbed ended at the top of a slight hill. Ahead of them, trees in all their magnificent autumnal colors spread for kilometers.

“Is that a river off that way?” Troi pointed ahead in the direction they knew they had to go.

“Hard to make out from here…” Anthony said

“Yeah, well I’ll tell you what’s not.” Evan was turned, looking behind them at the way they had come, back towards the swamp which was barely visible from this distance. “See them?”

Riley, Anthony, and Troi stared off in the direction he was looking.

“I don’t see—” Troi began but then she saw them. “Oh damn. Oh damn. Oh damn.”

From this distance their pursuers were miniscule, barely discernable as people. It appeared they had skirted the swamp, because they were coming from the east.

“How’d they find us?” asked Anthony.

“Maybe they haven’t yet.” Evan thought he was wrong. He thought he knew why he was wrong, and how they had been found.

“No. They’re coming this way.” Riley didn’t sound scared. She sounded determined. “How many do you see?”

“Ten, fifteen?” Anthony said.

“No,” Evan corrected. “At least fifteen, maybe twenty.”

“Twenty,” Troi sounded dejected. “Why’d they have to go and bring that many?”

“They get off on this crap,” said Evan.

“I can’t see that good from this distance,” admitted Riley. “Are those
zombies
they’ve got on chains?”

“
What
?” There was new fear in Troi’s voice.

“Shoot.” Anthony could just make them out. “Yeah, they are.”

“They’re tracking us with Zeds…” Riley started to say, then noticed how Troi was looking at Evan and Evan’s leg. The leg where Red had cut him.

“Well,” Evan concluded with some finality. He’d seen the others looking. “I guess now we know why she did that. And it wasn’t just because she’s a little sicko.”

“What do we do?” Troi asked.

“We get moving,” said Riley. “Five minutes ago.”

“No. This is stupid.” Evan stood staring at their hunters. “No matter where we go, they’re going to find us as long as we’re together. Zed smells me.”

“Ev?” Anthony wasn’t sure where his friend was going with this, but he didn’t like it at all.

“We have to split up. I need to go off by myself, lead them away.”

“You’re crazy,” Anthony protested. “We stick together. You almost fell in that hole back there.”

“Thanks for reminding me. But it’s what we’ve got to do. Tell him I’m right, Rye.”

Riley looked from Evan to her brother. “He’s right.”

“Just like that?” Anthony sputtered, his face turning red. “Just like that? After all we’ve been through? We’re going to abandon Ev?
Our
Ev?”

“You’re not abandoning me. Think of it as me throwing them off the trail. And I have no intention of letting them catch me, thank you.”

“Ev, you keep north,” instructed Riley. “We’ll turn west here and turn back your way a few kilometers up. If we keep parallel to one another, we should all be able to meet up by that river, if that’s what that is, maybe even by tonight.”

“I don’t want to be out here another night,” said Troi. “Especially not if they’ve got zombies hunting us.”

“We won’t be if we get moving now,” contended Evan. “Anthony, don’t think of it as goodbye,” he held out his hand, “but just in case. It’s been real, man.”

Anthony looked like he was going to cry. “That’s it then?” He looked from Troi to Riley to Evan. “That’s how it’s going to be?” He took Evan’s hand and pulled him close, wrapping an arm around his upper back in a bud hug. “I’m going with you. You’re not going alone.”

“That’s right,” said Troi. “He’s not. But you’re going with Rye, Anthony. I’m going with Evan.”

“What?” Riley looked at her friend.

“You know you’re not going to let your brother go off with Ev without you…” insisted Troi “…and I’ll be damned if I’d let the three of you abandon me alone out here. We’ve all got a better chance of making it if we split into two groups of two. Two sets of eyes are better than one.” Forestalling any further discussion on the matter, Troi hugged Riley tight. “You know I’m right.” Riley hugged her back, pulling her close.

“Yeah, you are.” Riley sniffled and wiped a lone tear from her eye. “Come on, Anthony.”

“Hey, brother?”

“Yeah, brother.”

“Mind if I ask you a question?” David asked.

“Not at all,” replied Keith.

“You ever, when we were younger…you ever, you know, take matters into your own hand, thinking about any of our female relatives?”

“What is it you’re asking me, David?”