Black River Falls (7 page)

All Greer said was, “Gonzalez.”

“Where?”

“Down the trail. And he's not alone. He's got a twitchy-looking Marvin with him.”

Damn it.
“The kids still asleep?”

Greer nodded. “You want me with you?”

“Yeah. Go ahead. I'll be right behind you.”

He started to fade into the dark.

“Wait! We should talk about the—”

“Forget it,” he said.

“But—”

“Don't worry,” Greer said. “There's plenty of time for me to call you a jackass in the morning. Now let's get moving.”

The dark swallowed him up as he moved down the trail. I changed out of my running clothes, trying to still the nervous tremors in my hands. Gonzalez and a Marvin showing up in the middle of the night on the day they announced that the Guard was bugging out. Whatever they wanted, it couldn't be good.

I found the three of them in a circle of light at the first turn of the trail. Gonzalez was standing there with a flashlight, looking uncomfortable in his body armor, helmet, and mask. The Marvin was next to him.

He had on the same blue hazmat suit as the men in the truck, but sported a clear faceplate with a hose running to a tank on his back. It was overkill, but not unusual for someone new to the QZ. Through the faceplate I could make out dark eyes set in a slab-of-granite face. His gloved fingers were tapping against his biceps, which bulged beneath the blue plastic. By the time I joined them, Greer was doing a little song and dance in front of him.

“. . . you should
totally
take off that mask, Marvin. Maybe you're immune! You'd be like a gift to science.”

“Greer, could you please—”

“Hush, Gonzalez. Now, about the suits. Are you guys
trying
to look like giant blueberries or—”

“Cardinal!” Gonzalez edged Greer out of the way when he saw me coming. “This is Mr. Raney. He'll be handling security in the QZ once Martinson Vine takes over. I'm guessing Greer told you about today's announcement.”

So it was really true. The Guard was bailing on us. I stopped a few feet away from them and crossed my arms.

“What can we do for you guys?”

Gonzalez started to speak, but Raney stepped out ahead of him. “Two gentlemen showed up at the doc's office earlier today. Both of them beat up pretty bad. Thought maybe you'd have an idea how they got that way.”

“Why would I?”

“Said they ran into a girl with green hair and a skinny black kid wearing a Bio-Mask.”

Greer let out a big laugh. “Well, that leaves Cardinal out, Marvin. My man here is
bi
-racial!”

“Greer,” Gonzalez warned.

“We don't know any girls with green hair,” I said. “And I'm not the only uninfected kid in town. I'm guessing one or two others might look like me.”

“Really?”

I gave Raney the biggest, most innocent smile I could muster. “Well, sir, Black River has always prided itself on being a diverse community.”

Greer cackled, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Gonzalez. Raney stood perfectly still. There was a tense hush as he looked from me to Gonzalez to Greer. When he was done, he walked past me to take a higher position on the trail. He nodded up toward the camp.

“So, you guys have been living up here since the beginning, huh?”

I glanced over at Greer. “Uh . . . yeah. Just about.”

“That's good,” he said. “I got a couple nephews about your age. All they do is sit inside and play video games. I try to take them hiking or fishing, and they act like I'm suggesting we reenact the Bataan Death March.” Raney chuckled to himself, then shifted so he was looking down at the three of us.

“Listen, fellas. I've been the new sheriff in town before. Everybody thinks I'm planning to come in and declare that up is down and black is white. And I'm not saying there won't be changes—we'll be making sure you all start school again, for one thing—but at this point I see no reason to cancel Lieutenant Gonzalez's live-and-let-live policy when it comes to you-all. Sound good?”

He smiled, but there was something about it that made me think of the Terminator—like if I looked close enough, I'd see a titanium chassis behind his lips.

“And just between us,” he said, lowering his voice like it was some big secret, “those guys getting stitched up in the doc's office? They look to me like the types that maybe could have used a good beating. So how about we just call that one even for now? If you should happen to hear anything more about it, or if you hear about anything else going on in the QZ you think I should know about, you'll come tell me. How's that for a deal?”

Raney stuck his blue-gloved hand out. Not seeing what choice I had, I shook it.

“Outstanding,” he said. “And tell you what, to seal the deal—Salvation Army sent us a big shipment just the other day. Lots of kids' stuff in there. Clothes and whatnot. How about I send some of it up here with my guys?”

Greer jumped in from the sidelines. “That'd be great. Thanks.”

I shot him a look and he mouthed,
What?

“Not a problem,” Raney said. “And listen. We've got some good stuff planned for Black River. Some
fun
stuff. You guys could use a bit of fun, right?”

I gave him a tight smile and then he turned to Gonzalez.

“Lieutenant?”

“I need to talk to Cardinal a minute,” Gonzalez said. “Wait for me here?”

“I'm sure I can find my way. You boys have a good night now.”

Raney pulled out a flashlight and strolled away down the mountain. Once he was out of sight, Gonzalez gave Greer a shove.

“Damn it, Larson! Why do you have to be like that? You just met the guy!”

Greer laughed. “I swear, Gonzalez, it's like you don't even know the most basic rules of warfare.” Greer tapped at his temples with two fingers. “You gotta get inside the enemy's head.”

“Raney's not your enemy.”

“He's not
now,
” Greer crowed. “Not after that expert-level intimidation.”

Gonzalez rolled his eyes. “You got a minute, Card?”

I turned my back on him and started up the trail. “Later.”

“Card. Seriously. A minute. Please?”

I stopped. Kicked at a pile of gravel. I was exhausted, pissed off too, but there was no mistaking the tone in his voice. I glanced at Greer. “See you in the morning, okay?”

As I said it, I flicked my eyes down the mountain, hoping he'd get the message:
Follow Raney. See what you can find out.

Greer smiled. “Yeah, sure. Tomorrow.” He threw Gonzalez a crisp salute. “Night, Lieutenant.”

Greer bounded up the trail. Gonzalez glanced at me, then called after him.

“Yo! Larson! Going all the way up there just so you can double back and follow Raney as soon as I'm gone? Waste of time. You're gonna lose your target that way.” Gonzalez jerked his thumb back over his shoulder into the woods. “I'd head that way. Follow the streambed. He'll never see you.”

Greer reversed course, knocking Gonzalez on the arm as he passed by.

“Good tip, Lieutenant. Thanks!”

“I'm in your head, Larson! Never forget that.”

Greer raised his middle finger over his shoulder as he left the trail. Gonzalez turned to me with a shake of his head, but I didn't feel like playing our usual game of
Wow, that Greer sure is crazy.
Whatever he had to say, I wanted to hear it and go. I blew past him, heading for the spot where we usually met.

When we got there, I expected Gonzalez to get right to explaining, but instead he stripped off his mask and knelt by a little stream that cut through the woods. He filled his palms and splashed water on his face.

“How could you not tell us?” I snapped. “You're bailing on us and
this
is how we find out?”

“I'm not bailing on you!”

“Oh, really?”

“I go where they send me, Card! And the Guard isn't set up for stuff like this. We've been here almost eight months!”

“And how long were you in Iraq?”

“That's different,” he said. “This domestic stuff? We're supposed to be in and out. And I didn't tell you because the governor of the State of New York doesn't exactly check in with me when he's deciding how to deploy the National Guard. I found out like five minutes before you did.”

I kicked at a root sticking up out of the ground. He was right, I knew he was right, but it didn't stop me from feeling like the blood in my veins had caught fire.

“When?”

“Haven't set a date yet,” Gonzalez said. “A few weeks probably for the transition.”

“Who the hell are they?”

“One of these megacorporations,” he explained. “Into a little bit of everything. Private security. Pharmaceuticals. Construction. Hell, about half the guys I served with in Iraq were Martinson Vine contractors.”

“And now they want to take over the QZ.”

“Apparently they've been offering since the beginning, and the governor finally said yes.”

“So what happens now?” I asked. “We all go live in some shelter? Get stuck with random families?”

“You heard what Raney said.”

“
Live and let live?
You actually believe that? What's the real story, Hec?”

“Dude, it's not like they cc me on their emails.”

“But you've gotta know
something.
”

Gonzalez sighed. He pulled off his helmet and ran his fingers through his sweaty hair.

“Look, the way I see it—me and my guys? We're Su­per­man and the Justice League. Okay? We do what we do for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Martinson Vine? They're more like Heroes for Hire.”

“And what were they hired to do?”

He shook his head and scuffed his boot through the dirt.

“Gonzalez?”

“I don't know,” he said. “But if I had to guess? It was to make a problem go away.”

“What problem?”

He took a breath. “This whole damn place,” he said. “Black River.”

Whatever strength I had left flowed out of me. I dropped down next to the streambed. The water raced by, overloud, like crinkling cellophane. I rubbed at my temples, trying to get at an ache that had started deep inside.

“How?” I heard myself ask.

“I wish I knew, man. I really do.”

I pulled off my mask and craned my neck to look up through the trees. The way the wind bent the upper branches made it seem as if the whole earth was shaking. Like we were caught in an earthquake that wouldn't stop.

There was a nudge at my shoulder. Gonzalez was holding out his canteen. I took it from him but just sat there with it in my lap. Gonzalez slid down to sit beside me.

“I would have told you about all this sooner if I'd known,” he said. “I promise.”

I nodded. There was this rawness in my throat. I unscrewed the cap on the canteen and took a drink, but it didn't help.

“It just seems like every time we get used to something . . .”

“Yeah. I know.”

Gonzalez leaned over the stream and stared down into the dark water.

The first time he came up to Lucy's Promise, the kids were so sick of seeing me and Greer that a new person was like a gift from God. Most anybody else would have run screaming the other way. Not Gonzalez, though. He just tightened the straps on his gas mask and played Santa, handing out bits of his equipment. Makela took apart and reassembled his radio. Ren played with his compass. Astrid found a tube of woodland camo face paint in his pack, and he showed her how to use it. If one of us had asked for an arm, he would have sawed it off and handed it over.

“Guess this means you'll be able to make it to Comic Con this year.”

Gonzalez nodded, his head still down.

“You gonna do the portfolio review?”

“Don't know,” he said. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” I swatted him on the shoulder. “Come on. Let's see the goods.”

He looked up from the water. “Seriously?”

“You got it with you?”

Of course he did. He hustled the backpack off his shoulders and pulled out a big sketchpad.

“Who all did you end up putting in it?”

“Cloak and Dagger. Luke Cage.” He snorted. “Wolverine, if you can believe that.”

I rolled my eyes. “Everybody draws Wolverine.”

“I know,” Gonzalez said. “But I figure you gotta show the powers that be that you can draw the big boys. You sure you don't mind taking a look?”

“Yeah, but I'm telling you, it's not like I'm an expert or anything.”

“Are you kidding me? Dude, you're—”

He cut himself off, but I knew what he was about to say.
You're
Derrick Cassidy's son.
He recovered pretty quick.

“—someone who knows his stuff. Everybody back at the barracks, they go see a couple Captain America movies and they call themselves comic book nerds, you know?”

Gonzalez clicked on his flashlight and trained it on the pages as I moved through them. I'd never seen his drawings before, but he'd been talking about going to the Comic Con portfolio review practically since the day I met him. I have to say, I was impressed. The drawings were solid. More than solid. The faces were expressive, and he had this cool, sketchy style that made all his characters look like they were bursting with motion even when they were standing still. Kind of Ronin-era Frank Miller or maybe Bill Sienkiewicz.

“Don't be afraid to be honest, man.
Brutally.
Tear my guts out.”

I flipped through the drawings. Wolverine. Luke Cage fighting the Absorbing Man. Cloak and Dagger right before teleporting. A really good Kitty Pryde with Lockheed. I made it all the way to the back and then turned to the last page. What I saw there froze the breath in my lungs.

Gonzalez reached for the sketchbook. “Oh. Crap. Right. Dude, I was going to mention that. I hope you don't mind.”