The Takers: Book One of the Oz Chronicles (11 page)

"Is that your angel?" I said pointing to the billboard.

"Yep," Valerie said.

"That's him," Tyrone added. "'Cept he ain't no angel. He's a janitor. See, he's holdin' a mop."

"So," Valerie said a little perturbed. "Angels can mop."

"What's wrong?" Lou asked.

I flicked Phil and Ryder with the reins. "Nothing a trip to the hospital won't fix."

***

The hospital was not far off the exit, so it wasn't that difficult to find. The parking lot was full of cars. If I hadn't known better I would have thought that it was bustling with people inside, scurrying from floor to floor, visiting loved ones, or administering care to the sick.

Once inside though, it became apparent that the eight-story building was abandoned by the crowds long ago. Lou, Nate, and Ajax stayed with the wagon while Tyrone, Valerie, Kimball, and I entered the darkened hallways of the hospital. I held J.J. in one hand and a flashlight in the other. I also stuffed a dozen or so firecrackers in my pockets. I didn't know what I was going to find, but I wanted to be prepared if it was unfriendly.

Tyrone and Valerie guided me through the maze of hallways to the stairs at the back of the building. I opened the door. It was a pitch dark stairwell. I shined the light around revealing the jagged pattern of a seemingly endless number of zigzagging stairs.

"He took us down there," Tyrone said.

I shined the light to the set of stairs leading down. "Of course he did," I said sarcastically.

We stepped inside the stairwell and slowly made our way down three flights of stairs to the landing. The sign above the heavy steel door said, "Basement: Records, Morgue, Boiler Room, Authorized Personnel Only." I swallowed hard. "Morgue," I whispered.

I pulled on the door with all my strength to get it open. Once we were on the other side, the heavy door closed with a thud behind us. The putrid smell of rot, the same as I encountered at Archie's Seed and Feed, only ten times stronger, slapped us in the face as we stood in the wide cold hallway. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the smell was coming from the morgue.

Valerie pointed at the morgue door. "That's where the angel hid us."

"It's full of…" Tyrone started, but I stopped him.

"I know what's in there," I said. "There's no need to talk about it."

As I stood there staring at the door, I could hear Wes's voice in the back of my head saying, "They ain't got no use for dead people."

Suddenly I heard a tap, followed by another and another. Then a cool breeze raced through the passageway. I turned the flashlight in the direction of the breeze and nearly collapsed to the floor in fright as I saw the door to the boiler room closing. Tyrone and Valerie were clinging tightly to me. Kimball was sniffing the ground near the door.

"Let's go," Tyrone said. "Let's get out of here."

I should have listened to him, but instead I moved to the boiler room door, took a deep breath, and opened it. "Hello," I said hoping for a friendly salutation back. I heard nothing but a quick succession of footsteps traveling deep into the bowels of the boiler room. Kimball barked. The bark echoed through the empty chamber, bouncing off the dead machinery that once powered the huge hospital.

"Stevie!" I yelled.

The footsteps stopped.

"Stevie, I want to talk to you."

"Who dat?" asked a voice from the darkness.

"We're friends."

"Stevie fends gone," the voice said. "Monstas take away."

"We're new friends." There was a long silence. "I have Valerie and Tyrone with me. They said you helped them hide from the monsters."

"Valley?" Stevie said. "Ty-lone?"

"Say something," I said to Valerie and Tyrone. They were still holding me tightly.

"Hey, Stevie," Tyrone said. "What's up?"

"You got away," Stevie said with obvious glee.

"Me, too," Valerie said.

"Valley," Stevie said. "I told you the monstas wouldn't find you in the mo'ga."

I pinpointed the direction of his voice and shined the light towards him. I saw Kimball saunter up to a pair of feet sticking out from behind a metal construct of some kind. His tail began to wag.

"Hello, doggy," I heard Stevie say. His head appeared out of hiding as he bent down to pet Kimball. He turned his face toward the light. "I like doggies."

***

After some gentle coaxing we convinced Stevie to come with us upstairs. He agreed but he refused to leave the hospital. Instead he took us to the fifth floor to the hospital's chapel. A stained glass window provided a source of light that ranged in colors from yellow to purple as we sat on the front pew and talked.

I learned his name was Stevie Spangler. He had a flat facial profile, a depressed nasal bridge, and a small nose. His eyes had an upward slant. He obviously looked similar to Stevie Dayton because they both had Down syndrome.

"Are you here by yourself, Stevie?" I asked.

"No, I'm with you, silly," he said. This drew a laugh from Tyrone and Valerie.

"No, I mean, were you here by yourself before we came?"

"Yes," he said. "Eveebody's gone."

"Have you left the hospital since they went away?"

"No, monstas out they." He pointed toward the outside world.

"How do you know?"

"I hea' dem."

"You hear them? The monsters?"

He nodded his head. "They lookin' fo sto-weetellas"

"Sto-weetellas?"

"Sto-weetellas," he repeated.

I didn't understand. Valerie tugged on my shirt and whispered, "Storytellers."

"Storytellers?" I said, perplexed.

Stevie nodded.

"What storytellers?"

Stevie shrugged his shoulders. "All of dem."

"How do you know all this?" I asked.

"I he' dem."

"You hear them? They talk?"

"No," he said. "They say it to my bain." He pointed to his head.

"Brain? They're telepathic?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

I rubbed my chin. "What do they say to your brain?"

He thought about the question. "They say they look fo seven."

"Seven what?"

"Sto-weetellas."

"Are you a Storyteller? Is that why you can hear them?"

He looked at me as if I had just asked the most asinine question ever. "No, no, no." He giggled a little. "I'm the janito."

"Why do they want these Storytellers?"

"To finish the sto-wee." He gave me the same perplexed look. I could see the wheels turning in his head. He was trying to assess exactly how stupid I was.

A thunderous crash came from outside the chapel. I jumped to my feet. Valerie and Tyrone stood behind me. Stevie ducked under the pew and curled up in the fetal position.

"They don't want me to say anymo'," he said. "They don't want me to say anymo'." He repeated it over and over again until it became a fast rhythmic chant.

I had both hands on J.J. Tyrone, Valerie, and I were backing away, scanning every inch of the chapel, looking for the Takers to materialize out of thin air. Kimball paced excitedly in the back of the room.

"No!" Stevie screamed. "Don't make me do it!"

"Stevie, calm down," I said. "Don't let them get in your head."

"They want me to say they name," he said.

"Don't do it, Stevie. Don't do it."

He stood. His face was red. I could see his temples pulsing. His hands were covering his ears. Tears streamed down his cheek. "Beway," he gurgled. His tongue was turning purple. He was fighting it, but he was losing. "Beway…"

I took Valerie's hand. "Tyrone grab on to Valerie." He did as requested. I pulled them around the side of the pews to the back of the chapel. We raced for the door.

"Beway the Takas!" Stevie shouted.

With that his body relaxed, and his shoulders slumped. He turned to us, sopping wet from his battle. "Won," he said.

"Won?" I said. "You won?"

He shook his head and screamed, "Won!"

"Run." Tyrone pulled on my hand. "He said, run."

The words barely had time to leave Tyrone's mouth when the door to the chapel came flying open, hitting Kimball and knocking him across the room. A Taker entered, its teeth chattering. This one was bigger than the ones we had encountered in the Kroger's. It stooped over to avoid hitting the ceiling. It let out a roar that shook the building. The Taker stomped toward Stevie.

"Won! Save the sto-weetellas!" Stevie picked up a hymnal from the pew and threw it at the Taker. The monster caught the fat book in its mouth and thrashed its head back and forth.

I slid against the back wall with Tyrone and Valerie in tow. The Taker was fixated on Stevie. The door had been knocked from its bottom hinge. It hung precariously from the top hinge. I pushed it easily and peered up and down the hallway. It was clear. I pulled Tyrone and Valerie in front of me and sent them into the hallway. "Kimball," I said. I had not noticed until that moment that he had not moved since he was hit by the door and sent flying across the room.

I handed J.J. to Tyrone "Go down to the wagon and tell Lou to get out of here."

"But what about you?" he asked.

"I'll catch up. Just go. Get Valerie down to the wagon and get out of here."

He brandished the heavy sword with some difficulty and ran towards the exit with Valerie.

I stepped away from the battered doorway and made my way toward Kimball. The Taker was nearly on top of Stevie. Stevie was screaming and throwing every hymnal and Bible he could get his hands on as he backed away from the creature. I bent to the ground and scooped Kimball up in my arms. He had regained some of his weight since I first saw him a few days ago, so the task of carrying him took every bit of strength I had. I stood and heard the horrible gurgled scream of Stevie. The Taker had him halfway in his mouth. Stevie's legs kicked and flailed about as the monster began to swallow him whole.

My mind raced. I had to do something to help him. I put Kimball down and quickly pulled a lighter and M-98 firecracker out of my pocket. I fumbled with the lighter. I flicked the lighter over and over again unable to get it lit. Finally, as my thumb throbbed from my unsuccessful attempts, the flame appeared. With a shaky right hand, I lit the firecracker and prepared to throw it at the Taker, but much to my dismay, Stevie was gone and the creature had turned his focus on me. He stepped toward me, and I could see his overstuffed stomach involuntarily expand and contract. Stevie was still alive. He was fighting the Taker from within.

I threw the firecracker. It exploded near the creature's shoulder. It stopped momentarily. An open wound smoked on the Taker's shoulder. The monster shrugged it off and continued its pursuit of me. I lit a second firecracker and tossed it in the

Taker's mouth. The M-98 exploded. Two teeth shot out of the monster's mouth, but it still pressed forward. I tossed a third and fourth firecracker, each time striking a direct hit on the creature and slowing its advance. But I could not stop it. I had a fifth M-98 lit when its huge hands wrapped around my neck. It lifted me off the ground with its mouth open and its remaining teeth folded in. It was going to swallow me. Its slimy tongue licked my face. I took the lit firecracker and stuffed it down its throat, and then grabbed the Taker's snout and tried with all my might to push myself away from its mouth. I heard a muffled pop. The monster dropped me. It grasped its throat with both hands.

The Taker stumbled back and fell over a row of pews. I took the opportunity to pick up Kimball and run to the door. Before I exited, I looked back at the fallen creature. It was still alive, but in pain. It rolled over on its hands and knees, coughing and wheezing. I wanted to go back and see if I could help Stevie, but I convinced myself that he was dead now, churning in the monster's stomach. I leapt through the broken door and headed towards the exit with Kimball who was now beginning to stir.

I threw my shoulder into the stairwell door and was surprised to see Ajax and Lou standing on the other side. "What are you doing here?" I asked short of breath.

"We came to help."

The Taker stumbled out of the chapel. It was still grasping its throat with one hand. It spotted me by the stairwell exit and headed towards me.

"Well you can start by getting out of the way!"

Lou saw the creature and quickly complied. We reached the third floor before we heard the fifth floor stairwell door crash open. The Taker was slowing. We heard it let out a strained roar. It sounded as if it were dying. I had mortally wounded it.

When we reached the first floor, the Taker was finished. The unmistakable sounds of it tumbling down a flight of steps echoed through the stairwell.

Kimball groaned and lifted his head. He began to squirm making it impossible for me to continue to hold onto him. I set him down and he stood on wobbly legs. Ajax gently patted his old pal on the back and hooted.

We opened the door to the hallway and stepped out into the corridor. I collapsed to the floor. The slime from the Taker's hand was still on my neck. I frantically tried to wipe it off.

"You all right?" Lou asked.

"No," I said. "Didn't Tyrone tell you to leave?"

"Yep," she said.

"So, why didn't you?"

"I don't know how to drive that stupid wagon," she said. "Besides I couldn't just leave you."

"Yeah, well next time do what I say." I stood. The emergency room sign caught my eye.

"You're not the boss of me," Lou said.

I ignored her and headed for the emergency room.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

I didn't answer. I continued down the hallway.

"We should get back to the wagon," she said. "I left the baby with Tyrone and Valerie."

"Go ahead. I'll be out in a second." I opened the emergency room door and disappeared inside. All that I could think about was seeing the Taker swallow Stevie whole. The poor guy was eaten alive. I wondered to myself if there was a chance, however small, that he was still alive in that creature's belly. I stepped behind a curtained partition and saw a silver tray of instruments, just what I was looking for. I grabbed the scalpel and turned to see Lou staring at me dumbfounded. "What are you going to do with that?" she asked. "I thought you were going out to the wagon." "I sent Ajax and Kimball. What are you going to do?" I held the scalpel up. "I don't know if you want to see this."