TORMENT (44 page)

“I’m sorry,” the woman said, and raised her hand to strike the back of Garbarino’s neck.

Mia remembered what had happened to White when the killer struck his neck, and she knew that this woman could easily kill Garbarino with a single blow. From her position on the floor she snapped a kick up at the woman and struck her square in the face. Pain twanged up Mia’s leg, but she ignored it and pressed the attack.

As the woman stumbled back, Mia stood and kicked again, this time with her good leg. She connected a solid blow on the woman’s chest and sent her careening back, slamming into a second killer who’d just run around the corner. Mia had never used her karate to attack anyone, but dropping two killers on her own made them seem a little less unbeatable.

Garbarino pushed himself up with a grunt. “Thanks,” he said, and then ran in the opposite direction of the two killers. Mia followed. The killers fought each other as they untangled and scrambled after them.

“We have to get out of here,” Mia said. “We can’t outrun them if they fill the entire system.”

Garbarino knew she was right. Every turn could lead them headlong into a line of killers. But would the city streets be any better?

Light streamed out of a tunnel ahead of them.

“Looks like an opening ahead,” Mia said.

“Run!” shouted a voice from behind them. The two killers were gaining.

“I don’t want to!” The second voice was in front of them.
A shadow moving through the tunnel on the other side of the light.

“Hurry!”
Garbarino said, pushing toward the light.

Mia moved her legs as fast as she could, adrenaline blocking out the pain. But she knew it would be back, and far worse than before. She could feel the sinews of her ruined muscles snap with each step. If they survived, she’d have a limp for life.

As they approached the light, the three killers were only ten feet away on either side. Garbarino rounded the corner fast, yanking Mia with him. They squinted in the bright light, unable to see, but still moving.

The killers entered the light behind them and shrieked in agony. The noise sounded unlike anything Mia had heard before—pain-filled and horrified.
What could make them react like that?
Mia thought, and then the tunnel dropped away beneath their feet and she fell into the light.

53

Coffee.
Mia smelled the most delicious coffee. It drifted past her nose and pulled her from sleep. But the warmth enveloping her fought to keep her asleep. She felt peaceful, like never before, and safe. More than that, she couldn’t remember ever feeling unsafe.

She rolled over and felt a cool breeze brush across her face. It carried a trace of ocean air, cherry blossoms and earth. The scents invigorated her. She blinked her eyes open, squinting in the bright light of day.

She placed her hand down on the soft bed beneath her and smiled. The bed wasn’t a bed. It was grass.
Green and lush.
The warmth came from a light above, like the sun, but too bright to see clearly. She lay beneath a cherry tree, thick with pink blossoms that drifted away with the breeze.

The sight made her laugh.

She didn’t wonder how she got there.

She didn’t question what happened to Garbarino.

These things and the horrible state of the world were no longer known to her.

She sat up and leaned back on her arms. The grass grew on a slope that led to a stand of tall reeds. Beyond the reeds was a sandy beach that led to the ocean where waves crashed, filling the air with the hypnotic sounds of roaring water followed by the sifting of sand.

Seagulls called.

And then a voice.
Distant and high pitched.
But familiar.

A shadow fell next to her and she found a wolf sitting in the grass beside her, its tongue hanging out as it panted. It glanced in her direction and then back out to the ocean. She felt no fear at the wolf’s presence and saw no hunger in its eyes.

She held a hand out to the wolf and it scooted over to her. She petted the predator’s head and squeezed it to her side. The stiff hairs tickled her.

She was naked.

Mia stood when the voice called out again. She headed down the hill toward the beach. The wolf followed her.

A worn path cut through the reeds. Mia walked through slowly, admiring the streaks of green as they reached up toward the sky and glowed in the bright light. She ran her hands through them as she walked, feeling the contours and listening to the gentle hiss of the reeds against her skin.

Then she stood on the beach, her feet sinking into the sand. Warmth spread from the sand and coursed through her body. The grains were smooth and caressed her feet as she walked.

The voice grew louder, coming from the water. A woman was there, concealed by waves as she danced in the water.

Mia called out, “Hello!”

A tall wave crashed, revealing the woman’s naked back and flowing blond hair. She turned around with a broad smile that Mia recognized—Elizabeth, older and stunning.

She raised her hand to wave, but the brightness above exploded with white. The images around her disappeared. As Elizabeth’s face was washed out, Mia’s heart broke open and poured fear into her body. She shook, as the light became unbearably hot. The sand scorched her feet. The wolf growled and barked. The reeds behind her caught fire and blackened.

And then she was back.

She knew it by the smell. Death and destruction mixed with the dirty penny scent of
her own
blood. The pain returned next, pounding her body with each beat of her heart. Her vision cleared. The blue sky was now full of gray clouds, flashing with heat lightning.

Then Garbarino stood above her, his face twisted with worry. “You okay? You were just staring straight ahead.”

But she couldn’t answer. She had tasted freedom.
From this world.
From hate, fear, and pain.
And she wasn’t sure how, but she knew it was real. Dreams were never that powerful.
Never that tangible.
She could still hear the waves and smell the cherry blossoms. And the memory of the place hurt her more than the gash in her leg, the end of civilization or the death of Elizabeth.

She had never experienced such intense and all consuming despair. She had tasted paradise only to have it yanked away.

But the feeling slowly ebbed as reality drowned out her memories of the place.

“Where are we?” she asked, but her voice sounded like someone else’s. Rough and dry.

Garbarino looked from side to side. “We’re in the crater. We fell a few feet and rolled a few more. The good news is that the killers won’t come in here.”

Mia had begun to detect the bad news before Garbarino said anything. Voices surrounded them, but no one spoke. She heard weeping and wailing, screams of agony and remorse. They were the very emotions she’d felt when she returned to the real world.

“The bad news is we’re not alone,” Garbarino said.

Mia turned to her side and saw a row of people. They would have looked normal enough if they weren’t all naked and half buried in the ground. There were a mixture of races, and the ratio of men and women seemed equal. But what unified them was their despair. They all stared straight ahead toward the center of the crater, which was blocked from Mia’s view by Garbarino—arms stretched out, desperately reaching for something. They screamed and cried for it. Tears streamed down their faces. They wanted something so bad, but it dangled just out of reach, taunting them with its closeness.

But they would never have it.

That’s how the world worked now.

“What are they reaching for?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Garbarino said. “I don’t see anything.”

He stepped aside and Mia looked down to the center of the crater. She saw a bright light and caught a scent of ocean water. Then it was gone. Loss and regret consumed her. She reached for the light, her voice crying out for it.

A shadow extinguished the light.

Garbarino stood in front of her again. “What the fuck was that?”

“You can’t see it?” she asked, desperation filling each word. “Take me back. Please, take me back.”

Garbarino looked over his shoulder and saw nothing but a football stadium-sized crater packed with people, all reaching down toward an empty swatch of blackened earth. If there was something there, he couldn’t see it.

He pulled her up, careful to stand between her and the crater bottom. “We need to get out of here. They’re not coming in, but they’ll be on us as soon as we’re out.”

Mia looked back. The shattered sewer tunnel gaped open, a black hole into the earth. She could hear the shouting voices of killers within, but they stayed back from the light. Fifteen feet above that she saw the surface, a charred black rim of scorched pavement and the melted remnants of city buildings. There were voices up above, too, but they weren’t getting any closer.

“They’re afraid of the crater,” she said.

“Actually, I think they’re afraid of whatever they, and you, are seeing at the bottom.”

Mia tried to look around Garbarino. She wanted to see the light again.
To feel that taste of paradise one more time.
More than anything, she wanted to run down to it, jump in and return to the beach with Elizabeth.

And Matt, she decided. She didn’t see him there, but she had no doubt she would. “I want to go back,” she said.

Garbarino looked her in the eyes. “You’re not ready.”

Having tasted the place, she didn’t believe him. “Maybe
you’re
not ready.”

They stared at each other for a moment. Then a voice interrupted. It came from above, speaking quietly, but the word struck like an atom bomb. “Peace.”

A second voice followed.
“Life.”

Mia turned around and saw Austin and Henry Masters standing at the edge of the crater. The pair seemed irritated by the light at the center of the crater, but
were
otherwise immune. The pair stared down at them, eternally smiling.

“Run,” Garbarino said.

“Where?”

“Where do you think, Carol Anne? Run to the light!”

Nothing sounded better to Mia at that moment, so she turned and ran, looking into the light and reaching out for it as she ran. The empty patch of sloped earth beneath open sewer tunnel was congested with half buried people, but Mia pushed past them even as they reached out for her, jealously fueling their screams. Mia was headed toward the light. And as she neared it, she felt escape was at long last possible.

After pulling herself free from the swarm of reaching arms, Mia reached the bottom of the crater. The light hovered five feet above the ground, a glowing blue-white sphere. She stepped toward it and thousands upon thousands of voices roared in response. The sheer volume of the sound made her stumble. But she was almost there.

“Head to the other side,” Garbarino said as he kicked loose of the crowd. “We can probably reach the top before—” He noticed Mia was no longer listening. She continued toward the center of the crater, arms outstretched. “Mia...”

The light was right in front of her. She reached for it, feeling its warmth, and closed her eyes. She stepped forward, into the light and felt its warm embrace.