Bits & Pieces (50 page)

“I didn't know there were guards up here,” said Benny.

“Of course there are guards up here,” said Ledger. “There are also a crapload of land mines and you're lucky you didn't step on one.”

“The reapers didn't step on any mines.”

“Not this time,” said the ranger, “but over the years? Yeah, a whole bunch of them have gone into the darkness at high velocity.”

“It's not funny,” said Benny.

“No,” admitted the ranger, “it's not.”

Benny considered the two soldiers. “What were their names?”

“Private Andy Beale and Private Huck Somerton.”

“Do they have family?”

“Back home. They're from Asheville, North Carolina.”

“I'm sorry,” Benny said.

“Yeah,” said Ledger. “But at least we know that the reapers have found a way through our back door. I'll make sure it's nailed shut again.”

“Is that worth two people's lives?”

The ranger shook his head. “No. But we take what we can to save more lives down the road.”

“The reapers . . . they'll keep trying, won't they?”

“Yes.”

“Won't they ever give up?”

“Not as long as Saint John is driving them.”

“They're afraid of him,” said Benny.

“It's worse than that,” said Ledger. “They love him. They really do think he has the answer. They think he's going to solve all their problems.”

The kept walking. Grimm trotted along behind, his armor clanking. Joe carried the dog's spiked helmet.

After a while Benny asked, “How'd you know I was up here?”

“I didn't. But I was looking for you and didn't find you anywhere else. You didn't take a quad, and you weren't in one of the hangars. There's not too many other places you could be.”

They walked and the sun slid red and swollen into the west.

“I'm not going to say I'm sorry,” said Benny.

“I didn't think you would.”

They looked at each other. Harshly at first, then with small smiles of acknowledgment. Like chess players.

“Thanks, though,” said Benny.

“Jeez, kid, that sounded like it actually hurt to say.”

“It did. My gums are bleeding.”

Ledger laughed, and the sound of it bounced off the stone walls. They walked for another ten minutes without speaking.

“There's a war coming,” said Benny at last, “and I'm not ready for it.”

The ranger gave a slow nod of approval.

“It takes a . . . ,” Joe began, but stopped.

“What?” demanded Benny, some sharp edges still evident in his tone. “What were you going to say? That it takes a ‘man' to make a decision like that? Don't bother, we both
know I'm not a man. I'm a kid, and I'm doing the best I can.”

Captain Ledger gave him a small smile. “No, kid, that's not what I was going to say. What I was trying to say was that it takes a real warrior to make a decision like that. To accept the world for what it is. To ask for help. That's what your brother would call being ‘warrior smart' . . . and that has nothing to do with how old you are.”

He held out a big, tough, calloused hand.

After looking at it for a long moment, Benny took it.

Southern California

Saint John sat near the glow of a massive campfire. He'd ordered it built big tonight, and there were three times as many guards posted. Most of the reapers were already asleep. Even Brother Marty was dozing.

Saint John sat apart from everyone and stared deep into the chaotic heart of the fire, watching the snakes of flame twist and tangle and writhe.

He listened to the crackle and pop of the wood as the purifying fire consumed it.

And he listened to the sounds of the night.

Listening for . . .

For what?

The sad laughter of a stranger?

The howl of a wolf?

“I will cleanse this world of all flesh, all life,” he told the
flames, speaking in a voice so soft he could barely hear his own words. “I am a saint of the Night Church. We own the night, we hold it in the palm of our hand. There is no force in this world or any other that can stand against us.”

Although his voice was quiet, he spoke with the force and cadence of a litany. Repeating each phrase, each promise, each vow.

Repeating and repeating it until he believed it once again.

That, however, took all night.

Tomorrow, with the dawn, he would take his army of the living and the dead and set out with a will toward Haven. Toward the first of the Nine Towns. There were hard weeks of forced marches ahead of him. His army would have to forage and provision, and that would lose them hours, days. It didn't matter.

Even if there were things out in the night that he didn't understand, he had his army and he served the will of Thanatos, all praise to his darkness.

He finally slept, and for the first time since his troops attacked the caravan, he had a smile burned onto his hard mouth.

The jet's out here somewhere.

Somewhere.

Somewhere.

Out here.

We all saw it. Lilah, Benny, and me. Tom saw it too.

It's out here.

Sometimes knowing that is the only thing that keeps me from screaming.

1.

Full page panel. BENNY IMURA, fifteen, sits on a grassy slope as the sun rises. He leans on a sheathed
katana
.

CAPTION: I'M BENNY IMURA.

CAPTION: MY PARENTS ARE DEAD.

CAPTION: MOST OF THE WORLD'S DEAD.

CAPTION: MY BROTHER TOM'S DEAD TOO.

CAPTION: HE WAS TRAINING ME TO BE LIKE HIM. TO BE A ZOMBIE HUNTER AND A SAMURAI.

CAPTION: HE DIED SAVING A LOT OF PEOPLE. SAVING ME AND MY FRIENDS.

CAPTION: WE COULDN'T GO HOME. BACK TO MOUNTAINSIDE.

CAPTION: WE SAW SOMETHING THAT COULDN'T BE.

CAPTION: A PLANE. WAY HIGH IN THE AIR. A JUMBO JET.

CAPTION: NOW THE FOUR OF US ARE LOOKING FOR IT. ME. MY GIRLFRIEND, NIX. MY BEST FRIEND, CHONG.
AND LILAH, A GIRL WE FOUND LIVING WILD IN THE FOREST. FOUR KIDS. FOUR SAMURAI.

CAPTION: KIND OF.

CAPTION: IT'S A BIG WORLD. THAT PLANE COULD BE ANYWHERE. BUT WE HAVE TO FIND IT.

CAPTION: AFTER ALL . . . WHAT ELSE IS THERE?

NOTE: On pages 2–5 there is a slim vertical panel that shows the exact same view of a sword blade held downward so that the tip is nearly touching the ground. In each panel the sword will be increasingly bloody; and in each it will reflect a different image.

Each of the other panels are wide and horizontal, running from the edge of the vertical sword panel across the rest of the page.

1.

Flashback begins. Sword panel. This panel hugs the left side of the page and runs the whole length. The sword blade is clean. In the bright, polished steel we see a reflection of a baby crying.

2.

Flashback continues. We see four members of a family. TOM, twenty, a handsome Japanese-American in a police academy uniform; BENNY, eighteen months, a half-Japanese toddler; MOM, Irish-American and very pretty, wearing a white long-sleeved casual dress; DAD, Japanese, dressed in a police patrol sergeant's uniform, tie askew. Dad sits on a dining-room chair as Mom bends to examine a bloody bite.

CAPTION: NOBODY KNOWS HOW IT STARTED.

CAPTION: DAD GOT BIT AT WORK. SOME CRAZY HE ARRESTED.

3.

Flashback continues. Dad, semiconscious on the couch, sweating and gray as Mom frets over him.

4.

Flashback continues. In the foreground, Dad's dead face, slack and gray. Tom holding Mom (who is holding a wailing Benny) as she screams in horror at her husband's death.

CAPTION: HE GOT REALLY SICK REALLY FAST. HE DIED BEFORE WE COULD EVEN GET AN AMBULANCE.

CAPTION: JUST LIKE THAT.

5.

Flashback continues. Same angle, but Dad's eyes are open now. They are gray-green zombie eyes. Tom and Mom stare in horror. Even the baby seems to be shocked.

CAPTION: BUT
DEATH
KIND OF DIED TOO.

1.

Flashback continues. Vertical sword panel. The orientation of the panel now shifts to one-quarter of the way across the page. The blade has a single line of blood running down the gleaming steel. In the bright, polished steel we see a reflection of a male zombie, Japanese, reaching for whoever is holding the sword. This is Tom and Benny's dad.

2.

Flashback continues. Mom shoves Benny into Tom's arms as she begins to rush toward her husband, who is now standing. Tom yells out a warning.

CAPTION: AT FIRST NO ONE KNEW WHAT A ZOMBIE WAS.

3.

Flashback continues. Dad bites Mom's arm.

CAPTION: GUESS WE LEARNED THE HARD WAY.

CAPTION: THE WRONG WAY.

4.

Flashback continues. Switch to a bedroom. The door is closed. Mom pushes Tom to the window, forcing Benny into his arms. Sleeves are now drenched with blood.

CAPTION: MOM MADE TOM TAKE ME AND RUN.

CAPTION: SHE WAS ALREADY STARTING TO CHANGE.

5.

Flashback continues. The bedroom door bursts open and Dad is there, rushing at Mom.

CAPTION: WHAT ELSE COULD TOM DO?

1.

Flashback continues. Vertical sword panel. The orientation of the panel now shifts to halfway across the page. The blade has several lines of blood on it, and some of the blood is very dark, almost black. In the steel and gore we see the reflection of a little girl zombie.

2.

Flashback continues. Tom huddles with Benny on the lawn, crying and wretched. Benny screams.

CAPTION: IT KILLED HIM TO LEAVE HER.

3.

Flashback continues. Tom stands by the open trunk of his car. We can see his police gear bag and his martial arts bag, from which the handle of his sword can be seen. Shadows fall across Tom's back, and a few hands reach into frame.

CAPTION: BUT IT WOULD HAVE KILLED US BOTH IF HE DIDN'T DO WHAT HE
HAD
TO DO.

4.

Flashback continues. Tom whirls to see that the neighbors are there. All are zombies.

CAPTION: WHATEVER HE HAD TO DO.

5.

Flashback continues. A view from inside the trunk as Tom, having clearly placed Benny inside, closes it. He has his
katana
in his right hand.

CAPTION: NO MATTER WHAT IT COST HIM.

1.

Flashback continues. Vertical sword panel. The orientation of the panel now shifts three-quarters of the way across the page. The blade is mostly covered in blood. We see the reflection of a burning city and a mushroom cloud.

2.

Flashback continues. Also seen from inside. Tom opens the trunk. He is covered with blood and he looks crazed.

CAPTION: NO MATTER HOW MUCH OF HIMSELF HE LOST DOING IT.

3.

Flashback continues. Tom and Benny in the front seat. Tom, still streaked with gore, drives; Benny is in the car seat, screaming. Tom looks absolutely shell-shocked and crazed.

CAPTION: BACK THEN—ON
FIRST NIGHT
—IT WAS FIGHT, RUN, OR DIE.

4.

Flashback continues. A long traffic jam into a city.

CAPTION: EVERYTHING FELL APART REALLY FAST. EVERY CHOICE WAS A HARD CHOICE.

5.

Flashback continues. The city is in the rearview mirror, very small. A mushroom cloud rises above it.

CAPTION: MOST OF THE CHOICES PEOPLE MADE WERE THE WRONG ONES.

CAPTION: UNTIL IT ALL FELL APART.

1.

Flashback continues. Vertical sword panel. The orientation of the panel now shifts all the way across the page so that it hugs the right-hand side of the page. The blade is completely bloody, and the glistening blood reflects the image of a horde of zombies. Rotting fingers with broken nails begin to intrude into the panel.

2.

Flashback continues. Tom and Benny abandon the dead car.

CAPTION: WHEN THEY NUKED THE CITIES, THEY DIDN'T STOP THE ZOMS. BUT THE EMPS KILLED ALL THE POWER.

CAPTION: THE WORLD WENT DEAD TOO.

3.

Flashback continues. They pass a crashed Black Hawk helicopter.

CAPTION: THE DEAD ROSE.

CAPTION: WE FELL.

4.

Flashback continues. Benny sits on the ground, still crying, as Tom fights two living men—one with a club, the other with a sledgehammer.

CAPTION: PEOPLE WENT CRAZY, OR THEY TURNED BAD 'CAUSE THEY THOUGHT IT WAS THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE.

CAPTION: EXCEPT TOM. HE ALWAYS HELD ON TO WHO AND WHAT HE WAS.

5.

Flashback continues. Tom, in his thirties now, and a teenage Benny train together. Tom has the steel sword that Benny will carry throughout the series; Benny has a plain wooden bokken.