Uprising (14 page)

“Oh thank God! You’re ok,” she whispers.

“I told you I would be.” I lean down to kiss her quickly but she wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me as close as I can get. After a minute of scorching kisses that almost gets her into trouble, I have to pull back.

“Honey. It’s time. You ready?” I ask as I lift and cradle her, making my way out of our room.

“As I’ll ever be.”

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Merrick carries me into the room and I see the Lighter there, tied up and dirty. His sweat has made little wet trails down his face in the caked dirt. There’s blood on his lip too but he doesn’t look as bad as I had imagined he would.

I’m surprised to find I’m actually happy about that. My humanity must still be intact even after all this, though I would have guessed not. I would not wish torture even on the cruelest creature.

Merrick doesn’t set me down. He cradles me in his lap the whole time as he sets himself on a chair in the corner.

When the Lighter finally looks at me his eyes widen and he sucks in a breath and then coughs, breathing in the dust all over him.

“You,” is all he says as he burns a hole in me with his hate filled eyes.

“Me,” I say, trying to be brave.

Trying to not let it bother me that I am literally three feet from a Lighter. Trying not to let the pain in my leg bring tears that he’ll misinterpret as fear of him to my eyes.

“You look just awful, Sherry,” he says chipper, then smiles. “You look like you may have been worked over by an associate of mine. Gee, I hope you aren’t in
too
much pain.”

Then he lets out this breathy little evil giggle, making goose bumps creep up my skin. Merrick tightens his arms around me.

“Watch it, Lighter,” Merrick orders gruffly.

It’s ok, honey. He’s just trying to scare you. You’re doing fine. I’m pretty sure he’s lying about where the kids are, just wait it out. We’ll get them back, I promise you. Don’t let him get to you.

“Now,” Miguel starts. “Tell Sherry where the children are.”

“I already told you,” the Lighter says, dragging out the last syllable and twisting his lips.

“Tell us again, you stupid dill,” Miguel says making an advance on the Lighter who flinches.

“A large green shed two blocks from the grocery store in the city,” the Lighter says almost monotone, refusing to look at me.

“He’s lying,” I hear my voice say, but I’m so sad to put any emphasis behind it.

Afraid he won’t ever tell us where they really are, but I force that out and trust in Merrick and Miguel.

“What? No I’m not!” He looks at me with a ‘how?’ on his face. Why do they believe me and not him? Then he looks back at Miguel. “Ok. Fine. They are in the basement of the grocery store.”

“Lies.”

I breath in a frustrated breath.

“Tell her the truth,” Miguel angrily spits out the command as he picks up the hammer once more.

The Lighter just sits there staring so Miguel takes the Lighter’s hand and places it on the cement block upright by his chair. I swallow hard and try not to move.

“Don’t watch, Sherry,” Miguel says as he raises his hand with the hammer above his head.

Fine by me. I bury my face in Merrick’s neck and wait for the screaming but all I hear is the Lighter yelling ‘ok!, ok!’.

“Ok! It’s a big white gated house. Out beside the radio station at the west end of town. Maple Street. Maple Street!” he yells it all in a rush of breaths.

Everyone looks at me expectantly.

“Let’s go,” I nod vigorously and my voice cracks with relief.

After we all get our gear and the rest of us get dressed. We head out after Miguel loads our prisoner in the van. Only a few of them remain, the ones without gifts. The rest of us, even me, make our way to the vehicles and hunker down for the cold ride to town.

They need my lie detecting skills I assume, otherwise there is no way I’d be going. Or maybe after everything, Merrick is just scared to leave me here without him under any circumstances. Whatever the reason. I’m grateful.

Sardined into the three vehicles, we go. No one wants to ride near the Lighter so, he unfairly, has more room than anyone else.

Celeste and Danny joined Merrick, Jeff and I in the van with the Lighter strapped in the back. We are all cramped up in the middle seat to be as far away from it as possible.

Danny is explaining to Celeste about how they trapped it and took it down to the room to be questioned. How it didn’t even put up much of a fight. He still sounds angry to me.

I haven’t even really talked to Danny much lately. Not
really
talked. I miss him. I don’t even know what’s going on with him and Celeste anymore. They apparently are still together but what is to come of it? How are things going? Is he happy? Is she happy?

So I ask him. Not just for knowing the answers but also to take my mind off what’s coming once we get where we’re going.

“So. How are you guys doing?” I ask when I can get a word in.

“Good,” Danny answers, not really understanding my question, just small talk.

“No, Danny. How are you guys doing? You and Celeste?”

“I’m good.” He looks at Celeste and they both smile bashfully at each other, Celeste ducking her head. “We’re good. Really good, considering the circumstances.”

“Uhuh. And how’s your mom Celeste?”

“Good. She’s a little freaked out by all this stuff, my gift and all. She refuses to speak about it actually but...good,” she answers, looking relieved to change the subject.

“That’s good. Seems like forever since I’ve talked to her. So..”

“So..” Danny says with an insisting tone, insisting I drop the subject I so want to talk about.

“What? I just miss you guys. We’ve haven’t really talked in a long time. I’m your sister...I can be in your business. It’s my job.”

“Hoho, really? Well. In that case,” he says playfully elbowing me, then he gives me the dirt I was hoping for, “We’re great. Really. Margo loves me, of course, and she’s the best. I’m the perfect son-in-law that never was. She’s happy for us.” He smiles. “I mean, we aren’t going to go to your extreme to get married but...we would if we could, one day much, much later. Right now, things are just fine like they are.” He looks at her and picks her hand up in his lap to play with her fingers and smiles like they’ve had this conversation before. “Celeste is working with me on my gift too and I’ve been working with her some. Her gift is way cooler than mine-”

“Nuhuh, baby,” Celeste interrupts him. “Your gift is awesome. I just zone in on people, that’s nothing but you can-”

“Nope. Nope. You,” Danny interrupts her and the nauseating sweetness back and forth continues in spite of the dreary circumstances.

I wonder if this is what Merrick and I look like to other people? But I am happy for them. They seem great together and seem extremely happy.

It’s funny how normal things seem to go on even when everything seems so messed up. People can still fall in love, even at the end of the world. If anyone has half of what I have with Merrick, I consider them lucky.

Once we reach the spot the Lighter told us about we stop two blocks away and across the street. Only then do we realize that there is only one other vehicle behind us.

Jeff reaches out to Kay in her mind, he tells us as he’s trying. Then he gets the biggest grin and gives Merrick a look. I know they are talking and I can’t help the scowl that reaches my face.

And I can hear the Lighter grunting and wiggling in his restraints. It’s amazing the things you can use if you just think. Fish nets for bondage. Golf clubs for, what- stakes? Hammers and books as instruments of torture and cooperation.

After a few minutes another set of headlights comes into view then shuts off a few hundred feet from us as it coasts to a stop.

I see Cain jump out first with something bulky in his arms. He’s sprinting to us. At first I’m alarmed but then I remember Jeff’s grin after speaking to Kay, so it must not be anything bad.

Merrick opens the side door and pulls me to the edge of the seat. Cain comes up looking pretty smug. I tilt my head trying to figure out what everyone is up to. Cain’s hands are off the side, on the other side of the door where I can’t see them.

“What?” I ask finally, when everyone continues to grin at me.

He produces a pair of crutches, metal and gleaming.

“What? How did you-?” I laugh as my eyes fill with grateful tears.

“We thought you could use these. We made a little pit stop. Snagged them from the hospital on the way over here, along with a real walking cast and some other supplies we thought might come in handy, ya know, since we were there already,” Cain says grinning and holding them out, ready for me.

Merrick helps me out of the van and I take the crutches from Cain.

“Thank you guys, so much. I can’t believe you did this! Believe it or not, I’m a pro at these things. I broke my leg when I was seventeen on a family camping trip. Had to use crutches for four months. Course, they weren’t
stolen
crutches,” I say laughing.

“Stolen crutches are better than no crutches,” he says winking.

“True. Thank you Cain.”

“No problem. Now, you ready to get your kids back?”

“Absolutely,” and I have to smile at the way he throws ownership on me, like I have rights to claim them.

We gathered around the backside of the van. Huddled for protection as much as warmth. It was freezing. We sat alternating Keeper, Special, nobody in order to spread the Keeper warmth around. Merrick’s arms are around me of course. I almost feel guilty but, he is mine after all.

Celeste goes to work. When she searches for someone in her mind, her eyes turn from green to white, really bright white. She looks mystical and somehow even more beautiful and fascinating, even though you’d think it not possible.

She’s searching in her mind for where Lily is so we know which direction to head or at least how they are doing.

“Ah!” she gasp angrily, making a few of us jump cause she’d been quiet for a few minutes. “They’ve got her tied up and blindfolded. She’s lying on a...dirty mattress on the floor. I can’t tell where exactly. She’s breathing but very still. Maybe she’s asleep. It’s dark. It looks like she’s alone.” She makes a small distressed sound. “There’s a dead rat on the floor.”

A few angry grunts and gasps from the others echo out. I push the knot in my throat back down. I knew this wouldn’t be pretty. Merrick’s arm tightens around me.

Crying will solve nothing. I listen more as she searches for Calvin.

“Ok. He’s...the same, tied and blindfolded on the floor but in a different room. Looks like a bathroom, not as dark. And it looks like he’s alone too.” She chokes out a sob. “He’s crying.”

Danny pulls her head to his shoulder to soothe her, wrapping his arm around like an anchor. Again I fight the urge to cry and force myself to focus.

“Ok,” Jeff starts. “Now we know their situations, let’s find out where they are and how many Lighters are here waiting for us. Josh.”

Josh turns to look at the property. He has to physically be looking at it to see through it. Nothing seems to be happening to him, except, his eyes too are completely a glowing white. His baby face still sets perfectly, not twisting or squinting. He pans the house and yard past the gate. There is a lot of tree coverage and blinds.

“I see a group of them...five, right on the inside of the gate. No weapons, just talking.”

“Talking,” Jeff says like it’s unbelievable.

“Yep, talking.”

“Trudy, what are they talking about?”

Trudy steps up, still a huge bandage on the back of her neck. Apparently, none of her injuries has affected her extreme hearing.

“They been talking about this Crandle every since we got here, honey. That he is ‘magnificent’ they called him,” she says sarcastically like it was such an outrageous claim. And it is. “The best leader they’ve ever had. That this was so easy. That they like it here, earth. They are happy that they’ve practically won and this is almost all over.”

Of course. What else do Lighters have to talk about? Everyone takes a look around at each other. Shaking their heads in disbelief, a few muttering under their breath.

“Ok, Josh. Go ahead. Let’s finish this,” Jeff says sounding highly peeved.

Apparently the ‘we won’ comment isn’t sitting well.

“Ok. Nobody in the front of the house or any of the front rooms. Kitchen...hall...back bedroom...dark and empty. I’m heading upstairs. Second floor. Bedroom...hall...oh! I found him. I found Calvin! Second floor bathroom. He looks scared. He’s sitting in the tub now, blindfold pulled down... He’s saying something but I can’t hear. There’s a third floor. Wonder who lived here. This house is jacked. Next bedroom empty... Going upstairs... nothing. It’s completely empty. I don’t even see any Lighters anywhere.”

“That can’t be. I saw her. I saw Lily on the floor,” Celeste whispered.