Instinct (6 page)

“Anything?” Brad asked.

“Who knows,” Romie said. “I can barely see.”

“I don’t see anything,” Pete said. “You guys look for keys. We’ll keep watch.”

Brad left Robby in the living room with Pete and Romie. He dug through his pocket and pulled out the tiny light he carried. He turned it on as he moved down the hall. He saw Lisa’s light come on at nearly the same time. Brad headed for the kitchen. The back door was open a few inches. The screen door was closed, but not latched. Brad pushed the back door shut and set the deadbolt.
 

He turned back to the kitchen. He imagined it would be a cozy spot in the daylight, but by flashlight it held too many shadows. He pushed aside the mail on the counter, and dumped out a basket that held pens and a notepad. He spun slowly, looking for a bowl, or pegboard, or anywhere you might keep a set of car keys.

A pair of black bananas had turned to liquid near the microwave. Near the toaster, a plastic bag looked like it contained more mold than bread. He pulled open a few drawers and finally found the one that contained random screws, tools, and junk. That’s where he would keep his spare set, if he lived there. Nothing.
 

Brad backed out of the kitchen and scanned the dining room quickly. That room looked barely used.
 

He returned to the living room.
 

“Nothing in the den, or hall, or laundry room,” Lisa said. She came into the living room from the other entrance.

“Nothing in the kitchen or dining,” Brad said.

Robby was still standing there, like he was supervising Pete and Romie. They practically had their faces pressed to panes of the front windows.

Lisa turned her light towards the stairs and Brad followed her.

They split at the top of the staircase and Brad found himself in the master bedroom.

He still found no signs of the occupants. From the pictures and the dressers, it looked like an old couple shared the room. One bureau had spare glasses, a brush, and a couple of watches. The other had jewelry boxes and perfume. It reminded Brad of his grandfather’s bedroom. He crossed quickly to the nightstand. His grandfather kept keys in that drawer.

Brad pulled it open. He shone his light inside and frowned at a jar of Vaseline, and a wallet.

Brad jumped when Lisa’s voice came from the doorway.

“Anything?” she asked.

“Nothing. You?”

“Just a bathroom and guest room. I think they took the keys with them.”

“Maybe,” Brad said. “But grandpa’s wallet is here.”

He picked it up. It was too light. He opened it and found nothing inside.

“Oh,” he said, holding it open to Lisa. He dropped it on the floor.

She turned away and opened the closet. On a hook on the inside of the closet door, a pair of pants were hanging from the belt still looped through the belt loops. She put her light in her mouth and pointed it forward as she dug her hands into the pockets.

“Gum,” she said through her teeth. She pulled a pack from the pocket and flipped it to Brad. “Wallet,” said. Brad caught that as it sailed over to him. “And keys.”

She turned with the ring dangling from her finger. She wore a big smile.

“Well done,” Brad said.

“My dad used to do the same thing,” she said. Brad followed her out of the room. “He wore the same pants every time he left the house. Didn’t wash them until the end of the week.”

At the bottom of the stairs, Lisa paused.

Romie and Pete were now looking out the same window and Robby had moved too. He was standing just behind the pair, like he was looking over their shoulders.

Brad was about to ask what they saw when Robby started to make noise.

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The sound began as a low groan, but it formed itself into a name as it progressed.
 

“Lyle,” Robby said.

“What?” Brad asked.

“Quiet,” Pete said.

Brad moved over to where Robby was standing. He put his hand on Robby’s shoulder as the boy said “Lyle” again. This time the name was more clear.

“Robby,” Brad whispered. He shook Robby’s shoulders. Even with the trace amount of light coming in through the windows, Brad saw consciousness return to Robby’s face. It was like a spark animated his features all at once. The boy turned to Brad. “What is it, Robby?”

“Lyle,” Robby whispered back.

“There,” Romie said. Lisa joined them at the window.

“Who’s Lyle?” Brad asked.

“Bad,” Robby said. “Very bad.”

At the window, Lisa hunched forward. “What is it?” she asked.

Pete shook his head.

“We don’t know,” Romie said.

“Why is he bad?” Brad asked.

Robby pointed to his mouth and showed his teeth, as if that was an answer. He looked up and away, like he was lost in a memory.

“Robby? What are you saying? Robby?”

Robby clapped his teeth together. Brad shrank back. The boy fixed him with a stare that clamped an icy hand around Brad’s heart.

“He eats people,” Robby said. “He knows you. He knows Romie, too.”

“What?” Brad asked. He saw Romie’s head twitch at the mention of her name. She kept her eyes on the shadows outside.

“From the Chinese buffet,” Robby said. “You stole his food.”

“I don’t know…” Brad began. He trailed off as an image floated forward from the back of his mind.

From the back of the house they heard glass crack and then fall to the floor.

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“Could be two of them,” Pete said. “Maybe more.”

“Upstairs,” Lisa said.

“No,” Romie said. “They could burn the place down. We have to get out.”

“Through the side porch,” Pete said.

He led the way and crashed his shin into the coffee table. Romie and Lisa moved around him as he threw it to the side.

On the far end of the living room, glass doors led out to a screened-in porch. Romie and Lisa threw the doors open and the others followed them out. Lisa had a knife. She slit a hole through the screen, cutting from the bottom up, and slipped through. On the other side, she tumbled into a bush.

Brad was the next through. He pushed slashed screen apart and stepped through. After helping Lisa to her feet, Brad turned and tugged on Robby’s hand, to lead him. They found their way to the other side of the bushes while Pete and Romie followed.

“I’ve got keys to the Ford,” Lisa whispered to Pete and Romie.

Brad moved to the corner of the house. They were on the opposite side of the house from the driveway. The car was partially hidden by the house and another set of bushes. There could be anything hiding in those deep shadows. Someone approached Brad from behind. He turned, expecting to see Romie or Lisa. It was Robby.

“Lyle,” Robby said.

“It’s too risky,” Pete said, moving up behind Robby. “We don’t want to cross out in the open in case they have guns.”

Pete pulled at his sleeve and Brad let the man direct him away from the house, deeper into the shadows. They ducked under low branches of some fir tree and wound single-file to the yard of the neighbor’s house. They stayed close to the back of the house, crossing the back deck and hunching down as they swerved around the shed.

Brad brought up the rear, pushing Robby out in front of himself.
 

The next yard was surrounded by a tall stockade fence. Romie found the gate, and Brad closed it behind himself. They spotted a back gate and stayed low as they walked to it, so the fence would hide them. Brad took deep breaths to stay on top of his fatigue. Robby’s breathing came in shallow pants. To Brad, the boy sounded like a wounded animal in the dark.

The other side of the back gate was a sea of black. Their faces were assaulted with branches of the packed trees. Brad lifted his feet high but still stumbled on roots and rocks. He crashed into Robby’s back several times before they stopped.

“I can’t see,” Romie said.
 

“I can,” Robby said.

The boy moved away and Brad found himself alone in the dark. He heard the boy’s footsteps, but that was his only connection to the world. A hand reached out of the dark and found his arm. He was guided forward by the insistent tug.

They walked through the dark, stumbling down a bank and then back up an even steeper one. Sometimes the hand propped him up, and sometimes Brad had to help the owner back to their feet after a stumble. He caught the occasional spot of light, but it was soon cancelled out by a branch. He felt his sense of direction evaporate in the dark.
 

When he caught a glimpse of something white through the trees, his eyes locked on it and drank it in. The shape was blocked out and Brad shifted his head frantically to try to get it back. With a few more steps, it was back. He saw the sharp, orderly lines, and as they moved through the patch of woods, he understood them. It was a big white house across a shaggy lawn. They didn’t have any cover, so they ran as fast as they could. Robby reached the building first and he disappeared around the side.

Brad stayed behind Romie. Her pace was slow, but Brad didn’t want to run by her and leave her behind. When they finally got around the side of the house, Pete was standing on a porch, holding open a storm door. He waved them inside. Brad found himself in a dark mudroom. A bench sat over a row of shoes and below a set of windows. Brad knelt on the bench and looked out into the dark as Pete pulled the door shut behind them.

Lisa joined Brad in the watch.
 

“Robby, who is Lyle?” Brad asked over his shoulder.

The boy was still panting. Brad heard the boy’s throat click as he swallowed.

“Lyle?” Pete asked. Brad glanced back. Pete was shutting the door to the rest of the house.

“He’s very bad,” Robby said.

“Who is?” Pete asked.

“Lyle,” Robby said.

Pete abandoned the questioning and turned his attention to talking through a plan.
 

“I don’t think they could have tracked us through the dark. I say we lock this place up, tuck ourselves away in a dark corner, and wait for daylight,” Pete said.

“That sounds like a good plan,” Romie said. “But we need to maintain two escape routes. There’s a porch roof over the far side. In a pinch, we could bail out through a window. Let’s plan at least two escape routes, name them, and then we can hide.”

“Good,” Pete said.

“Should we at least hear what Robby knows about this guy first?” Brad asked.

“No offense, but he’s been conscious for what? Five minutes? Let’s do Pete’s plan and we can listen to Robby’s thoughts when we’re safely hidden,” Romie said.

“Guys,” Lisa said. Brad turned around. His attention had strayed from looking out into the night. Fortunately, Lisa had stayed vigilant.

“Lyle sees everything,” Robby said.

Pete and Romie moved to the windows.
 

“What did you see?” Pete asked.

“Right there, just beyond the swing set. Do you see?”

“No,” Romie said. “What is it?”

“There,” Lisa said.

Brad saw it. He was pretty sure they all did. One of the shadows withdrew until it was once again a part of the dark woods.

“He knows we’re here,” Robby said.

“Just hush,” Romie said. “What should we do?”

“We don’t know what we’re up against,” Pete said. “We don’t know how many of them there are, or what kind of weapons they might have. I wish we had that van. At least on the road we could draw them out into the open.”

“What if we loop back around to that house?” Lisa asked. “I have that key for the Ford. It will be tight, but we can all pack in there.”

“We don’t even know if it will run. It’s been sitting for months,” Pete said. “What if the battery is shot? How long until daylight?”

“About five hours until dawn,” Brad said after consulting his watch.

“We have to keep running until we lose them,” Pete said. “Let’s go out through the front, cross the street, and make our way from block to block. We’ll turn uphill to keep away from the river. We don’t want…”

Pete stopped talking when they heard the groan of the door. The four of them all turned at once. The door to the outside was open and the storm door was swinging shut. Robby was gone.

CHAPTER 5: NEW YORK

“A
RE
YOU
ALONE
HERE
?” Judy asked.

Daniel, Bill, and Viv had already walked through the door. The older woman with the candle still held the door open, but Judy paused on the porch.

“I suppose I should say I’m not alone,” the woman said. “I should tell you that there are half a dozen strong men asleep upstairs. Yes, I’m alone.”

The flickering candlelight made the woman’s face seem fluid and malleable. It almost looked like there could be a smile twitching at the corner of the woman’s mouth, but that could have just been a trick of the light.

“Come on,” Viv said.