The Pure: Book Three of the Oz Chronicles (16 page)

“‘He’s lying,’ Wes said. ‘I ain’t never
seen a Silencer travel alone.’

“‘Look,’ Lou said. ‘He just wants to
pass. Let’s let him through, and that’ll be that.’

“Wes rubbed his chin. ‘All right, but
the young ones aren’t putting down their crossbows.’

“She nodded. ‘Agreed.’

“She raced back to tell the Silencer he
could pass. I could tell by Wes’s face that he was going against his best
judgment. He put his arm around me and pulled me in close. Whispering, he said,
‘Don’t say a word. If the Silencer hears your voice, he’ll get a bead on your
brain waves. They can get inside your head if you ain’t careful. We got an
agreement with Canter. He stays out of our head as long as we help him out. But
I bet good money this one here ain’t holding to any such agreement.’

“I nodded. ‘What about Lou?’ I
whispered.

“He snickered, ‘They’s in for a world of
hurt if they get inside her head.’

“The Silencer moved toward us, its eyes
scanning from left to right as it walked. It reached the Corolla and as a show
of strength pushed the small Japanese car out of its way rather than walk
around it. Wes and I quickly stepped back to avoid getting hit by the vehicle.
The Silencer plowed forward. It snapped its head to the right and peered at
Valerie. It stooped at the waist and eyeballed her.

“This incensed Ajax. The Gorilla leaped
on the hood of the Corolla and let out a tongueless roar followed by a frantic
beating of his chest. The Silencer turned to the great ape and narrowed its
eyes. Kimball bared his teeth. His fur stood on end. Our two warriors from the
animal kingdom were on the verge of pouncing.

“Lou stepped between them and the
Silencer. ‘Get out of here before I change my mind,’ she said.

“The Silencer leaned in closer to Lou.
She bent backwards. Ajax climbed to the roof of the car. It began to buckle
under his weight. The situation was about to explode.

“‘You heard her,’ Valerie cried. ‘Get
moving.’

“The Silencer quickly turned its
attention back to Valerie. It stared at her. It reeked of smugness. It was hard
to say why. Maybe it was the sound of Valerie’s voice, but it was clearly
pleased. The half-man half-crab passed without further incident. As I watched
it walk out of sight, I couldn’t help but feel that Wes’s instincts were right.
We should have killed the freak.

***

“Wes cleared out the back of the
Escalade, collapsed the back seats, and laid out on the plush leather. He was
mad at Lou and didn’t speak five words to anyone after the encounter with the
Silencer.

“Valerie had spoken fewer words. She had
been unnerved by the Silencer. I could only assume that it was because it heard
her voice and got inside her head. She kept her distance from the rest of us,
and we all sensed she needed some time alone. Ajax and Kimball kept a vigil
over her, backing off only when she screamed at them to leave her alone.

“‘What do we do?’ I asked Lou.

“Lou shrugged her shoulders. ‘Let the
cry baby sulk.’

“I gave her a disapproving glare.
‘That’s a little rough.’

“‘What do you want me to do? Stroke her
hair and tell her everything will be all right?’ Lou pushed past me. ‘You go
coddle her if you want to. Or send your silly sorority girl April over there.
I’m not in the mood to kiss it and make it feel better.’

“‘You know, not everyone is as heartless
as you, Lou. You need to learn how to make nice.’

“She disappeared behind a small U-haul
truck.

“‘It got in her head, too,’ Tyrone said
from atop a Honda Element. ‘She won’t admit it, but it did. The farther that
thing gets away from here, the better they’ll get. You’ll see.’

“I stood at the front of the Element.
‘There’s nothing we can do?’

“He shook his head. ‘Leave ‘em alone is
about all you can do.’

“‘I don’t feel right leaving Valerie out
there in the dark all by herself. She’s too far away.’

“‘Ajax and Kimball will keep her safe,
and I got a good view of her from up here. This ain’t our first night sleeping
out under the stars,’ he smiled.

“I smiled back. ‘Guess not.’

“‘I’m going to marry her, you know,’
Tyrone said blushing. ‘Not for a while, but someday, when we’re old, like
twenty or something. I already asked her.’

“‘She said yes?’ I asked.

“‘She said if I’m not as big of a creep
when I get older then maybe. But she doesn’t really think I’m a creep. She
likes me.’

“‘You’re pretty sure about that, aren’t
ya?’

“He shrugged his shoulders. ‘I guess.’

“I tapped the hood  of the Element.
‘Make sure you invite me to the wedding.’ I left to check on April.

***

“I awoke to the sound of a thundering
crash. I opened the door of the minivan I had chosen to sleep in and stumbled
out onto the pavement. Ajax and Kimball joined me as we headed toward the
sound. Ahead of us, Wes, Tyrone, April, and Lou stood in front of a pick-up
truck. It was bouncing up and down. A heavy street bike was sticking out of the
truck’s windshield.

“‘What happened?’ I shouted.

“Wes turned with a bewildered expression
on his face. ‘It’s the damndest thing. It looks like this motorcycle dropped
out of the sky. Smashed the truck all to hell.’

“‘Motorcycles don’t just drop out of the
sky,’ I said.

“Tyrone looked over our group. ‘Wait a
second. Where’s Valerie?’

“A scream rang through the night as
Valerie’s name left Tyrone’s lips. We all turned to see her being lifted into
the air by the Silencer had we had let pass earlier.

“‘Valerie!’ Tyrone shouted.

“We all bolted after her.

“The Silencer crab-walked to the edge of
the road holding Valerie above its head and jumped into the dark cover of the
woods.

“‘Weapons,’ Wes yelled. We all stopped
to collect them except Tyrone, Ajax, and Kimball.

“‘Tyrone,’ I said. ‘Wait.’

“He didn’t listen. He reached the spot
where the Silencer disappeared into the woods and did the same. Ajax and
Kimball were right behind him.

“I looked at the woods that bordered the
road. It was pitch black past the tree line. My whole body began to shake. I
had doubts that the courage that had eluded me when my wife and child were
taken would suddenly make an appearance in order to save Valerie. I closed my
eyes and searched the recesses of my mind for something to help me shake the
overwhelming fear. Nothing came. I felt someone brush past me.

“‘Move,’ Lou shouted.

“I opened my eyes to see her and Wes
heading for the woods. I heard a twig snap to my right. I made out the
Silencer’s head as the monster moved rapidly through the forest. I held a
crossbow and then dropped it when I realized I had never fired one before. I
couldn’t take the chance of firing at the Silencer and accidentally hitting
Valerie. I bent down and picked up a large hunting knife. I gripped the handle
tight.

“I tore through the woods to my immediate
right and pursued the Silencer. The others were nowhere to be seen. My guess is
that they had gotten lost in the darkness, exactly what the Silencer had
planned. He hadn’t counted on a coward who lagged behind because he was too
afraid to immediately jump into action.

“It wasn’t long before I had him back in
my sights. He had slowed to a walk. I slowed too.

“‘Hey!’ I shouted.

“The Silencer stopped and turned. He no
longer had Valerie.

“‘Where is she?’ I demanded.

“I felt him smiling. It was a frightening
feeling of dread and morbid satisfaction. Valerie was dead. He nodded as he
read my mind. ‘I gave her to my parasites once I got what I wanted.’ He held up
a fist wrapped around a severed tongue.

“I felt the blood rushing through my
body. ‘She was just a kid.’

“‘They have the sweetest tongues.’ He
shoved the tongue into a slit on his neck. He closed his eyes in ecstasy.

“I let out a scream that sprang from my
gut and poured out in long deep tones. I had never heard such a sound come out
of me. I rushed the Silencer. It crouched. I felt my brain vibrating as I got
closer. I heard Wes’s word of warning repeating in my head, ‘they’ll get in
your head.’ I stopped in my tracks and dropped the hunting knife. I placed my
hands on my head and squeezed, trying to stop the vibration. I spun around and
fell to my knees. I felt as though I would vomit. I placed a hand on the cold
ground to prop myself up. Movement in the distance caught my eye. Skinner dead
feeding. The Silencer’s parasites. I closed my eyes and saw myself hiding in my
garage, listening to my wife screaming and my son crying. Not again. I picked
up the knife and stood.

“‘You want in my head?’ I said.

“The Silencer laughed. ‘I’m already
there.’

“I stepped forward. ‘You’re about to get
evicted.’ I leapt forward, brandishing the knife. I heard it cutting through
the crab shell hide. I felt the Silencer’s surprise. He tried to tighten his
grip on my brain. I swung the knife again and watched in delight as the monster
began to bleed from the stomach. I felt the pain racing through its freakish
body. I stabbed at it and smiled when I saw the blade completely disappear into
its side. The creature fell to its crab knees. I extracted the knife and buried
it into its upside-down head. My brain slowly relaxed as the vibration ceased.
The huge half-crab half-man fell to the ground.

“Exhausted, I turned my attention to the
skinner dead. They were gone, and they had taken Valerie with them. I was
relieved to not have to fight again. I waited for the others to find me, but
they never came. I sat down against a large tree and passed out.

***

“Covered in Silencer blood, I emerged
from the woods early the next morning. Wes spotted me first and ran to help me
stay on my feet. He examined my clothes and shook his head.

“‘There goes the truce,’ he said.

“Lou stuck her head out from behind the
abandoned U-haul truck. She looked as surprised to see me as I was surprised to
actually still be alive. She grabbed a bottled water and brought it to me as
Wes gently helped me sit down in the back of the Escalade.

“‘Valerie?’ she asked.

“I took a drink and shook my head.

“Wes grumbled and threw a fist into the
side of the Escalade. ‘Damn it! We should have killed that thing when we had a
chance!’

“‘So this is my fault?’ Lou asked
defensively.

“Tyrone approached. ‘Where is she?’

“I couldn’t look him in the eyes. ‘She’s
gone.’

“‘Where is she?’ he screamed

“I looked up and saw April and Little
Bobby nervously standing on the shoulder of the road. They both smiled, clearly
relieved I was back.

“‘Tell me!’ Tyrone continued to scream.

“Wes put his hand on Tyrone’s shoulder.
‘Hold on, kid. Keep it together.’

“Tyrone shook his hand off. ‘I want to
know where she is!’

“I worked up the courage and stared him
in the eyes. ‘No you don’t.’

“He understood and collapsed to the
pavement. Wes knelt down beside him and put his hand back on Tyrone’s shoulder.
This time Tyrone grabbed and squeezed tightly.

“Tears welled up in Lou’s eyes. ‘What
did I do?’

“The trouble that Wes had anticipated
delayed our trip by two days. We spent a day in shocked silence. We all loved
Valerie, even those of us who only knew her for a very short time.

“Tyrone lay on the pavement where he
first fell for a full twelve hours before he moved. Wes followed him as he
walked to the Honda Element he had previously used as a watchtower. He opened
the door and pulled out Valerie’s backpack. He hugged it to his body and stood
motionless. A cool breeze picked up. We all watched him like he was a stick of
dynamite that would explode at any minute. All of us except Lou, she had locked
herself in an Oldsmobile Cutlas Supreme. She blamed herself for Valerie’s death
and it was apparent the rest of us did, too. I wasn’t sure how fair it was, but
we couldn’t help ourselves. None of us would say it to her face, but we all
felt it. I knew that without even speaking to the others.

“By mid-afternoon the next day, I
decided she had been allowed to stew in her own juices long enough. It was time
one of us made an attempt to alleviate her guilt. I knocked on the driver’s
side window of the Oldsmobile. She sat with her arms folded over her chest and
shot me a devil’s stare. She then resumed staring at nothing. I knocked again.

“She didn’t acknowledge me.

“‘This isn’t getting us anywhere. I
think it’s time we move on...,’ I winced. I didn’t mean that the way it
sounded. ‘I mean we should get going... to Saluda like we planned.’

“She remained silent.

“I placed my hands on the roof of the
car and tapped my fingers. ‘Look, Lou... soldiers die in wars. That’s just the
way things are.’

“‘She was a kid,’ Lou said.

“I ducked my head. ‘True, but so are
you. I’m almost a kid myself. We’re going to make mistakes.’

“I felt someone tapping me on the
shoulder. Startled, I twirled and fell against the car.

“Little Bobby giggled at my reaction.

“‘Don’t sneak up on people like that,
Bobby,’ I said as my heart thumped frantically.

“‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I just wanted to
know when we’re having dinner. I’m hungry.’

“I sighed and ran my fingers through my
hair. ‘Have whatever you want, Bobby. I don’t think anyone else feels like
eating.’

“Bobby shrugged and peered through the
glass at Lou. ‘You hungry, Miss Lou? We’re supposed to have noodles tonight.
Remember?’

“She turned with a confused expression.
‘What are you talking about?’

“‘After Valerie dies we always have
noodles,’ he said.

“She looked at me waiting for me to
interpret for Little Bobby.

“‘What do you mean we always have noodles?’
I asked turning Bobby toward me.

“‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I’m hungry.’
He walked away. ‘I’ll get the noodles.’

“The car door opened and Lou stepped
out. ‘Bobby,’ she yelled. He stopped and turned to her. ‘This has happened
before?’

“‘It happens every time I read this
comic book.’

“I furrowed my brow as he walked away.
It was crazy talk by a retarded kid who pretended to be the world’s greatest
jockey, nothing more. The expression on Lou’s face told a different story. She
understood exactly what Bobby was talking about.

***

“Lou paced, chewing on her fingernails.
She was deep in thought. I watched her from a distance at first, afraid to
interrupt the plan that she appeared to be mulling over in her head. Wes joined
me.

“‘She getting better?’ Wes asked.

“‘She’s starting to snap out of it,’ I
said.

“Wes nodded. ‘Good,’ he said, sounding
as if he was trying to convince himself. ‘That’s good. It was a mistake. A dumb
mistake, but she can’t let that eat her up. No, that’s good. That’s real good.’
I could tell he didn’t completely forgive Lou for what happened, but I imagine
he blamed himself, too. He was the oldest of the group. He probably felt he
could have overridden Lou’s decision, but he let her lead. It was going to be
interesting to see what happened when the next life-and-death decision had to
be made. Would he let her lead again? He probably would. You don’t let people
lead. It just happens. Lou was a natural born leader. Wes wasn’t, and he knew
it. Wes cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together. ‘What did you say to
her to get her to come around?’

“I shrugged. ‘I didn’t say anything. It
was Little Bobby.’

 “‘Bobby?’ Wes said. We both turned to
watch Little Bobby sifting through the supplies. ‘What did he say?’

“‘Said he wanted to eat noodles for
dinner.’ I looked at Wes to see if that meant anything to him.

“‘Yeah, so?’

“‘So,’ I said. ‘It seems we always eat
noodles after Valerie dies.’

“‘What in the world is that supposed to
mean?’

“‘I’m not exactly sure. Something about
a comic book.’

“Wes’s eyes bulged. He looked as though
he’d stopped breathing. After several seconds, he spoke, but couldn’t manage to
say anything but a series of ‘Ummms’ and ‘Ahhhs.’

“‘I take it that means something to you,
too,” I said.

“He nodded. ‘We’re back in the comic
book,’ he said.

“I shook my head. ‘Not getting it,
chief. Back in the comic book, what does that mean?’

“He smiled. ‘It means there is still a
way to win this thing. We’re in the comic book again!’ He yelled.

“‘I don’t think we ever left,’ Lou said.
She had approached unnoticed and it startled both Wes and me.

“‘Somebody want to tell me what’s going
on?’ I asked.

“‘The Takers,’ Lou said. ‘That was a
comic book that was written by Stevie Dayton, the first Storyteller. He
basically wrote about everything that happened to us before it happened to us.’

“‘The Délons,’ Wes said. ‘There ain’t
never been a comic book there.’

“‘Not that we know of,’ Lou said, ‘but
they’re looking for the Source. What’s to say the Source isn’t a comic book?’

“Wes nodded. ‘Could be.’

“I listened to them talk and mulled over
the implications of what they were saying. I wasn’t the best student in school,
but I paid attention to what the pretty girls liked. I had a crush on a girl by
the name of Carlie Lee in seventh grade. Her old man was a philosophy teacher
at Alabama. She was Asian so I spent six weeks studying Chinese philosophers to
impress her. It didn’t do me a bit of good, because she was more interested in
Alan Crump, the starting quarterback for our middle school’s team. But I can’t
help but think that crush on Carlie Lee prepared me for this moment. The moment
where Lou and Wes discussed the possibility that there was a comic book out
there that described everything we were going to do before we did it.

“It sparked the one philosophy that
challenged me, that actually made me think. A Chinese philosopher by the name
of Zhuangzi once had a dream that he was a butterfly, but when he woke up he
wasn’t sure if he was a man dreaming he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming
he was a man.

“Were we looking for a comic book about
us or were we just characters in the comic book, living out the story as it’s
written?

“My head spun slightly as I tried to
hold onto the thought. I shuddered and shook my head.

“‘You okay?’ Wes asked.

“‘Fine,’ I said. ‘Got a chill that’s
all.’ I stood and started to walk away.

“‘I’m going to cook some noodles.’ I
joined Bobby and helped him search through the supplies. I wanted to ask him if
we were real. If we had lived the lives we thought we had or if that was just
back story for the way we behaved on the pages of the comic book. But I was
sure he would just shrug his shoulders and tell me two plus two was penguin.

“We searched and searched and searched,
but we came up empty. I squatted and went through a backpack I had gone through
three times before. Pulling out the same box of instant rice I had pulled out on
all three occasions, I said, ‘There ain’t any noodles to be found anywhere,
Little Bobby.’

“He looked dumbfounded.

“‘I don’t get it,’ I said. ‘If you’ve
read this comic book shouldn’t you know where the noodles are?’

“‘I know where they are,’ he said.

“I laughed. ‘Sure.’

“‘Tyrone’s got them.’

“I leaned backwards and allowed myself
to gently flop to the cold pavement. ‘Then what are we doing looking through
all this stuff?’

“‘Cause that’s what we’re supposed to
do.’

“‘Uh-huh,’ I said. ‘Because that’s what
we do in the comic book, right?’

“He nodded.

“I held up the box of rice and shook it.
‘I think you’re going to have to settle for rice...’

“‘You looking for this?’ Tyrone said,
holding out a family sized bag of Ramen noodles.

“I slowly reached out and took it from
him. ‘Yeah, where...?’

“‘It was in Valerie’s backpack with
this,’ he said handing me a folded piece of paper.

“I unfolded it and read the note inside.
‘For Bobby. Give to Archie.’

“Bobby took the bag of noodles out of my
hand, ‘Told you.’

“‘She knew?’ I asked Bobby.

“He nodded with a hangdog look on his
face. ‘She’s nice. I don’t like this part of the story. I didn’t want the
monster to get her this time, but... no matter how many times I tell her it
still happens. Don’t be mad.’

“I stood. ‘Mad? You should have told
her. You should tell all of us what is going to happen.’

“He handed the noodles back to me.
‘April cooks.’

“April walked up on cue. ‘I’m hungry.
When are we going to eat?’ She spotted the bag of Ramen noodles in my hand.

‘Sweet.’ She took the noodles out of my
hand. ‘I can cook the crap out of some Ramen noodles. I lived off these things
my last semester.’ She disappeared behind the truck we were standing in front
of to start preparing the noodles. I watched the whole thing play out with
wonder.

“‘Tyrone will leave to help her,’ Bobby
said.

“Confused, Tyrone looked at Bobby and
then me. ‘What’s going on?’

“‘I’ll explain later,’ I said. ‘Go help
April.’

“‘You have to say please,’ Bobby said.

“‘Please,’ I said.

“Clearly still confused, Tyrone decided
to do as I requested.

“‘What happens now?’ I asked.

“‘You ask me what happens,’ he said.

“‘Besides that?’

“Lou and Wes joined us.

“‘Now they ask me,’ Bobby said.

“Lou said, ‘I think it’s time you tell
us what you know, Bobby.’

“‘See.’

“‘Okay,’ I said. ‘This isn’t getting us
anywhere.’ I urged Lou and Wes to let me handle the interrogation. ‘Bobby, do
you know what the Source is.’

“He laughed. ‘You never like my answer,’
he said.

“‘Try me,’ I sighed.

“‘Yes.’

“There was a long moment of silence as I
waited for him to follow up with more information, but he never did. ‘What is
it?’ I shouted.

“‘I can’t say. I’m not really supposed
to be telling you anything.’

“‘But you told Valerie.’

“‘And it didn’t help.’

“‘So, you still told her.’

“He dropped his chin to his chest. ‘I
get in trouble every time I go back. Dr. Bashir gets really mad.’

“‘Bashir?’ Lou said.

“Bobby nodded slowly. Whispering, he
said, ‘He doesn’t want you to win.’

“‘Is he listening?’ Wes asked.

“Bobby shook his head. ‘He’s reading.’

“We all stood frozen in time. I searched
the sky for a giant pair of eyes staring down at us. Violet clouds glided above
our heads, but there was no evidence of pupils scanning unseen words in the
ether that surrounded us.

“I reflexively grabbed Bobby’s hand and
squeezed. ‘Are we real?’

“His face grimaced in pain. ‘What do you
mean?’ he asked yanking his hand away.

“I pulled back. ‘I mean do we exist, or
are we just characters in a comic book?’

“Wes snickered. ‘Well, I can tell you
for damn sure that I’m real. I got a family... had a family, sister, her
husband and what not. I’m real as this old beat up truck,’ he said patting the
tailgate.’

“Lou fixated on the tailgate. ‘What if
the truck’s not real?’

“Wes rolled his eyes. ‘Good God
almighty! Don’t tell me you’re going to start up on this, too. It’s nonsense,
Lou. Crazy as crazy can be.’