Gone (48 page)

Save the kids? Save John? Conld she save anyone? Could she save hersell? What do I do?

What do I do when the killing starts? Suddenly a girl was there. Taylor, lust there in the middle of the room.

"Hi. I brought food," she announced. She held a plastic McDonald's tray. It was piled high with uncooked hamburgers.

Every coyote head snapped around. Drake was too slow to react, caught off guard.

Taylor flung the tray against the common wall shared by the day care and the hardware store. Meat slid down the gaily painted cinder blocks.

Drake's whip hand cracked.

But Taylor was gone.

The coyotes hesitated only a moment. Then they lunged toward the meat. In a flash they were snarling and snapping at one another, pushing, jostling, dimbing over one another in a feeding frenzy.

Drake jumped to his feet and yelled, "Pack Leader, get a grip on them " But Pack Leader had joined the frenzy, laying about him viciously to establish his dominance and his share of the sudden bounty.

Two things happened at almost :he same instant. The wail shuddered and cracked and the coyotes nearest to it suddenly floated upward, their paws scrabbling in midair.

"Dekka," Drake snarled.

There was a blinding flash of green-white light and like a butane torch cutting through tissne paper, a hole two feet across appeared in the cinder block. The hole was high up on the wall, well above the heads of the children but right about where the suddenly weightless coyotes were floating. One of the coyotes caught a straight blast. The beam of light cut it in two. The segments floated, spraying weightless globules of red.

The children screamed and John screamed and Drake backed away from the wall, away from the zone of weightlessness.

Edilio's head appeared in the hole. "Mary, Down on the floor."

"Everyone get down!" Mary screamed, and lohn threw himself onto a runaway toddler. Edilio yelled, "Sam, go!"

A new hole burned lower down, chest level, and this time the beams of light scoured the room, blasting walls covered in faded an projects, burning through coyotes, setting them alight to float like (laming Macy's parade balloons. "Okay, Dekka" Edilio yelled.

The coyotes hit the ground hard, some dead, some alive, but none with any desire for a fight. The door flew open, yanked by some unseen hand, and the animals ran over one another trying to escape.

"Pack Leader!" Drake bellowed. "You coward!"

The annihilating beam of light swung toward him. He hit the floor, cursing, and rolled out toward the door.

Quinn felt as well as heard the wall between the day care and the hardware store rumble and crack,

A few seconds later he saw the coyotes pouring in a panicked jumble into the alley and racing oft this way and that.

And then Drake appeared.

Quinn shrank down behind the parapet. Brianna rushed boldly to look over.

"It's Drake. Now's your chance."

"Get down, you idiot," Quinn hissed.

She rounded on him, furious, "Give me the gun, you wimp"

"You don't even know how to shoot it," Quinn whined. "Besides, he's probably already gone. He was running."

Brianna looked again. "lie's hiding. He's behind Ihe Dumpster"

Quinn nerved himself to look, just a peek, just enough to see.

Brianna was right: Drake was behind the Dumpster, waiting.

The back door of the hardware store opened and Sam emerged alone. He looked left anc right, but was unable to spot Drake.

Brianna yelled, "Sam, behind the Dumpster."

Sam whirled, but Drake was too quick. He snapped his whip, slashed Sam's defensive arm, and ran straight at and over Sam.

Sam landed on his back and rolled over quickly, but not quickly enough. With inhuman speed, the whip hand sliced the air and cut a bright stripe across Sam*s back, right through his shirt.

Sam cried out-

Brianna began hauling the aluminum ladder to the edge, but her speed betrayed her She lost control of the ladder and it clattered down into the alley.

Drake had his whip around Sam's throat now, choking, squeezing. Killing.

Quinn could see Sam's face turning red. Sam thrust his hands back over his shoulders and tired blind.

The beams singed Drake's face but did not stop him. He threw Sam hard against the alley wai Quinn heard the sickening crunch of skull on brick. Sam slumped, barely conscious.

"Forget Caine," Drake crowed. "I'm taking you down myself."

He raised his whip hand, ready to bring it down with enough force to lay Sam open from hip to neck. Quinn fired.

The kick of the gun in his hands surprised him. It had happened without conscious thought. He hadn't aimed, hadn't caretully squeezed the trigger like he'd learned to do, he'd just fired on instinct.

The bullets left pockmarks in ihe brick.

Drake whirled, and Quinn rose shakily to his feet, standing now in lull view.

"You," Drake said.

"I don't want to have to kill anyone*"Quinn said in a shaky voice that barely carried. "You'll die for this, Quinn."

Quinn swallowed hard, and this time took careftil aim.

That was too much for Drake. With a furious snarl he ran from the alley.

Sam was slow getting up. To Quinn, he looked like an old man standing up after slipping cn the ice. But he looked up at Quinn and performed a sort of salute.

"I owe you, Quinn"

"I'm sorry I didn't get him," Quinn answered, Sam shook his head. "Man, don't ever be sorry you don't want to kill someone." Then, spotting Brianna, he shook off his weariness and said, "Breeze: With me. Quinn, anyone comes back toward the day care, you don't have to shoot them, all right? But tire into the air so we know." "I can do that," Quinn said.

Sam ran toward the plaza, confident that Brianna would catch up quickly. She was with him in seconds.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Everyone's putting on a show of complying with Caine's terms. If we're lucky, Bug will report back that we're obeying before Drake gets back to tell Caine that weVe retaken the day care."

"You want me to go after Drake*"

"Use those fast feet. Find him it you can, but don't try to fight him, just tell me."

She was gone before he could add, "Be careful"

Sam broke into a trot that seemed paintuily slow compared with the way Brianna moved. The kids, the normals, more than a hundred of them, ail who could be rounded up on short notice, were milling around at one end of the plaza. Sam was counting on Caine not knowing exactly how many kids were in Ferdido Beach, or how many were in town as opposed to hiding in their homes. He needed to make it look convincing, but Caine's demand left room for some tew to still be hidden away with Edilio.

Astrid and Little Pete, Dekka and Taylor and the rest of the Coates Freaks were entering the church, protesting loudly, making a show of it.

Sam strode to the fountain and jumped up on the side. "Okay, Bug, I know you're watching. Go tell Caine we've done what he asked. Tell him I'm waiting. Tell him if he's not a coward, to come here and face me like a man "

He jumped down, ignoring the stares of the hundred or more kids huddled scared and vulnerable in the plaza.

Had Bug seen what went down in the day care? lie had certainly heard the shots. Hopefully he would interpret them as coming from Drake himself, or as target practice.

And just as dangerous, would Drake be able to warn Caine? He should find out soot. Either way, Sam doubted that Caine could resist a face-to-face confrontation. His ego demanded it.

Sam's walkie-talkie crackled. He had the volume turned down low and had to hold it to his ear to hear Astrid. Sam.

"Are you okay in the church, Astrid?"

"We're both okay. We're all okay. The day care?"

"Safe."

"Thank God."

"Listen, get everyone in there to lie down. Get them under the pews—that may give them some protection " "I feel useless here"

"Just keep Little Fete calm, he's the wild card. He's like a stick of dynamite. We don't know what he might do."

"I think a vial of nitroglycerin would be a more apt analogy. Dynamite is actually quite stable"

Sam smiled. "You know it always gets me hot when you say 'apt analogy.'"

"Why do you think I do it?"

Knowing that she was right there, just fifty feet away, smiling sadly, scared but trying to be brave, sent a wave of longing and worry through him that almost brought tears to his eyes.

He wished Quinn had been able to eliminate Drake. But he suspected his friend would nol have survived with his soul intact if he had. Some people coulc do things like that. Some couldn't. That second group were probably the luckier ones.

"Come on, Caine," Sam whispered to himself. "Let's do this."

Brianna blurred up next to him."Drake went to his house. You know, the place where he was slaying" "Is Caine there?" "f don't think so."

"Good job, Breeze. Now go into the church. Go slowly so Bug can see you if he's watching." "I want to help."

"Thai's what I need you to do, Urianna"

She trudged off, making a show of it. Sam was alone. The normals huddled at the far end of the plaza as Caine had ordered. The freaks—Sam hated using the word, but it was hard not to—were in the church.

And now it came down to him and Caine.

Would Caine come?

Would he come alone?

Sam glanced at his watch. In just a little over an hour, it wouldn't matter.

From not far enough away, he heard a coyote howl

01 HOURS, 06 MINUTES

"THEY'RE DOING IT." Bug yelled as he burst through the door.

"All right" Caine said. "Showtime. Everyone load up. Into the ears."

There was a scramble lor the door. Chaz, Chunk, Mallet, and a much-abashed Frederico, who had finally freed himself from duct-tape bondage, all raced for the station wagon in the garage. Diana, oozing suppressed rage from every pore, followed. Panda grabbed Lana by the arm and pushed her toward the door.

Only then did Caine realize someone was missing. "Where's Howard?"

"I... I don't know," Panda admitted."I didn't see him leave."

"Useless worm. Without Ore, he's dead weight," Caine said. "Forget him."

The second car in the garage was a luxury car, an Audi with a sunroof. Panda jumped behind the wheel, and Diana rode shotgun. Caine took the backseat for himself.

Panda pushed the automatic garage door remote control. Both doors rose.

Both cars lurched forward. The Subaru wagon promptly crunched into the side of the Audi.

Chaz was driving the wagon. He rolled down his window. "Sorry."

"Great start" Diana said.

"Go," Caine ordered tersely.

Panda accelerated into the street, keeping his speed to a prudent twenty-live miles per hour. The wagon stayed a block back.

"Bada bum bada bum bada bum bum bum." Diana began humming the
William Tell Overture
"Knock it off" Caine snapped.

They had gone two blocks when Panda slammed on the brakes.

A dozen coyotes streaked across the street.

Caine rose up through the sunroof and yelled, "What are you doing? Where are you going?"

Pack Leader stopped and glared with yellow eyes. "Whip Hand gone," he snarled.

"What? What happened at the day care?"

"Whip Hand go. Pack Leader go," the coyote said.

"No way" Caine said. To Diana, he said, "They've got the day care. What do I do?"

"You tell me, Fearless Leader"

Caine slammed his fist down on the roof of the car. "Okay,

Pack Leader,unlessyou'reacowsrd,follow me"

"Pack leader follows the Darkness. All others follow Pack

Leader. Pack is hungry. Pack must eat"

Tve got food for you." Caine said. "There's a plaza full of kids."

Pack Leader hesitated.

"It's easy" Caine said. "You can come with me and take as many kids as you want. Get every one of your coyotes. Bring them all. It's a buffet"

Pack Leader yipped a command to his pack. The coyotes circled back toward him.

"Follow us" Caine cried, caught up in it now, eyes wild and excited. "We go straight toward the plaza. You go straight at the kids there. It will work perfectly"

"The fire list is there?"

Caine frowned. "Who? Oh. Sam. Fire fist, huh? Yes, hell be there, but I'll take care of him" Pack Leader seemed dubious.

"If Pack Leader is frightened, maybe someone else should be pack leader"

"Pack Leader no tear" "Then let's kick," Caine said-

"Oh, man" Howard said."Oh God, oh God, what happened to you. Ore?"

He had slipped out of Caine's hideout and made his way to the house he had once shared with Ore. He found his protector there, sitting on a couch that had broken beneath Ore's weight, collapsed in the middle. Empty beer bottles were everywhere.

Ore held up a game controller. *My fingers are too big to work this thing "

"Ore, man, how did this ... I mean, man, what happened to you?"

Ore's face was still half his own. His left eye, his left ear and the hair above it, and all of his mouth were still recognizably Ore. But the rest of him was like some slumping statue made of gravel, lie was at least a head taller than he had been. His legs were as big around as tree trunks* his arms as thick as fire hydrants. He had burst through his clothing, which now hung from him and provided the barest degree of modesty.

When he shifted in his seat, he made a sound like wet stones.

"How did this happen, dude?"

"It's a judgment on me," Ore said flatly.

"What's that mean, man?"

"For hitting Bette. It's God, Howard. It's His judgment on me."

Howard fought the urge to turn and run screaming. He tried to look at Ore's one human eye but he found himself looking into the other eye, a yellow oyster beneath a brow of stone.

"Can you move? Can you stand up?" Ore grunted and stood much more easily than Howard expected.

"Yeah. I still have to be able to get up to pee," Ore said. "What happens when it spreads to your mouth?" "I think it's done spreading. It stopped a few hours ago, maybe."

"Does it hurt?"