In the Lone and Level Sands (86 page)

Only he wasn’t powerless to stop it, this
time.

“Tell Layne to hurry up,” Ralph said. He
thought over what he was about to do, then took a few deep breaths.
He felt under the water for Dex’s face, took one more deep breath,
and plunged his head under the water.

Ralph placed a hand on Dex’s chest in the
most calming manner he could. Then, assuming Dex’s mouth would be
full of water, he pressed his fingers against Dex’s nostrils,
closing them, and placed his mouth on Dex’s. He sucked inward, and
water filled his mouth. Dex seemed weak, and (not knowing what was
going on) kept struggling to move his head above the surface.

Holding Dex’s mouth shut tightly, Ralph
emerged, spat the water out, took a deep breath, then went back
under. He put his mouth to Dex’s again, and blew air into it. Dex
nearly choked.

Up again for air, then back down, Ralph
breathed more air into Dex, who no longer fought. Ralph couldn’t
tell if it was because it was working, or because it had failed.
But he continued.

“You’re a genius, boy!” Warren said one of
the times Ralph came up, but Ralph mostly ignored it. Lacie had
stopped crying and was watching with hopeful eyes.

****

Layne and Keely reached the utility closet.
It was locked.

“Here,” Keely said. She pointed her gun at
the wood above the handle and fired. The bullet exploded when it
hit metal inside the door, and a tiny bit of shrapnel pierced
Layne’s arm.

“Ah, fuck!” he said, clutching the small
wound.

“Shit, sorry.”

Layne pushed on the door, and it gave a
little. He slammed into it, and the doorknob broke the rest of the
way off. Layne and Keely entered the utility room.

There were several metal boxes marked with
different things. Some were fuse boxes, a few were light switches.
In the back of the room was a row of gigantic white tanks and a web
of metal pipes. In the middle of the set of tanks, barely visible
in the dim light, was a huge metal wheel.

“Think this is it?” Keely asked.

“Yeah, I do,” Layne replied. He tried to
turn the wheel, but it was jammed from years without use. Keely
joined in. The two pulled as hard as they could, shifting all of
their weight to the right. The wheel turned a little, and then
jerked so hard that Layne fell into the water and Keely fell on top
of him.

Keely got up and then helped Layne up. They
turned the wheel, which went much more easily, and there was a huge
groan as the water moving through the pipes slowed to a stop, and
the sprinklers overhead stopped spraying.

The sound of rushing water continued as the
water poured over the walls and down the stairs, but it was quieter
in the prison.

“Let’s hurry up and get back,” Keely said.
They headed out, and Layne couldn’t bear to think of what he might
find.

When Layne saw what Ralph was doing, he was
thrilled and proud. He wanted to say something, but Ralph was hard
at work, and Layne wasn’t even sure if it was working.

“Any way you can just shut off the gate?”
Garrett asked.

Layne hadn’t thought about it. “There are a
ton of boxes in there. I don’t know what they do, it’s dark.”

“It’s okay, I doubt it would work anyway.
They call it ‘lockdown’ for a reason.”

Layne felt stupid for not flipping every
switch in that room to try to save Dex’s life, but not knowing what
it would cause, he decided it was probably better that he
hadn’t.

Finally, the water level started to lower as
the water in the walkways rushed down the stairs. After a few
minutes, with Ralph becoming noticeably more tired, he went from
diving into two feet to only a few inches. Then, the moment came
when Ralph was able to lift Dex’s face out of the water.

“Dex! Can you hear me?” Layne said. His
hands were pressed against the bars, he wished he could be on the
other side.

Dex coughed a few times and spat water. The
ensuing cheers nearly drowned out his “Sure… thing, Pop.”

“Dex, you’re going to be okay. We’re going
to find some way to get this gate open, okay?”

“It’s hard… to breathe,” Dex said. The bars
were pressing hard enough to pin him down, and Layne hoped they
weren’t pressing hard enough to kill.

“Thank you, thank you so much!” Lacie said.
The others were offering Ralph their praise. Ralph sat there, not
really understanding at first what he had done. Then, he looked
down at Dex, who was becoming less and less submerged.

“Thanks… man,” Dex said. And then it hit
Ralph, and tears came to his eyes. It had worked, he had saved his
friend’s life.

“So, what’s the plan?” Garrett asked.

Layne thought for a moment. “We need to find
something to get these bars off of him.”

“You go on ahead,” Warren said. Layne looked
at him like he was crazy.

“We need to stay with him,” Lacie said.
“He’s stuck, and in the meantime, he’s defenseless. At least some
of us have to stay.”

Warren drew his handgun. “I’ll go look for a
strong enough lever to get this off of him. The rest of you go on
ahead. Go find cell 605.”

Layne took a few seconds to gather himself,
then said, “Okay. Be careful, and watch out for each other,
okay?”

The others nodded. Layne, Garrett, Katie,
and Keely headed down the walkway.

****

The sound of falling water had nearly
stopped, and for a moment Layne thought he heard the song from his
dream somewhere in the dripping echoes.

The survivors went up the stairs, careful
not to slip. At the top, Layne saw the big black “D BLOCK” painted
on one of the walls, and entered that walkway.

Right away, a zombie rushed at them. Katie
shot it, and it fell to the ground. The four stepped over its body,
reading the cell numbers as they went. Another zombie came down the
walkway, and Layne raised his gun and pulled the trigger,
forgetting it didn’t work. He shoved the zombie over the railing
when it arrived, and it growled as it fell to the ground five
floors below, where it landed with a
crunch
and lay
still.

“Hello? Is anyone out there?” a voice said.
The group stopped to listen. “I need help, please!” The voice was
weak. The group stopped before cell 602, where a man was on his
knees by the door, clutching the bars. “Please, help me. I’m
starving, I need food, please.”

“What can we do?” Garrett asked.

“We have to help him,” Layne said.

“Oh, God. Thank you.”

Layne knelt down so he was level with the
prisoner. The man looked weak, thin, and pale.

“Careful, Layne,” Keely said.

“My name is Layne.”

“I’m Vince. Are you with the Army?”

Layne looked up at Katie, then back at
Vince. “There is no Army, Vince. We’re just… passing through.”

“Can you get me out of here?” Vince asked.
“I swear, I won’t hurt anyone. I just want out.”

The four looked around. Layne sighed. “I
have something to do, here. When I’m done, I promise, I’ll get you
out of there.”

“You’ll really let me out? You’d let me just
go free?”

“We’d let you come with us,” Katie said.

Vince was wide-eyed, hopeful yet suspicious.
“But I’m a prisoner. You’d trust me, just like that?”

“As long as you’re able to contribute,”
Layne said. “There are people… Things trying to kill us. You saw
one in the walkway just now. We can handle ourselves, if you’re
dangerous. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve done your time.” Vince
stared at him, and then started to cry. He reached his arms through
the bars, startling the others, and embraced Layne.

“I never wanted to hurt anyone. I’ve been in
here for years, no chance of parole. Drunk driving, I killed a
family.” Vince sobbed. “But I never wanted to hurt anyone, and I
swear to God I’ll never hurt anyone again.”

Layne put his hand on Vince’s shoulder.
“Everyone gets a new life, now. We’ll get you out.”

Layne stood up and looked at the others.

“Does anyone have any food?” Garrett
asked.

“I have some granola bars,” Keely said.

“Give him two, for now,” Layne said. He
turned back to Vince. “You haven’t eaten in a while, so you need to
start out small, okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” Vince said. He reached
forward as Keely handed him the granola bars, taking them like a
starved animal in a cage. He didn’t eat them, he devoured them.
“Thank you so much,” he said with a full mouth. “God bless you, all
of you!”

“We have to go now, Vince. We’ll come back,
we promise.”

“What are you guys doing in here,
anyway?”

“We’re looking for someone. Norman Peters.
Ever heard of him?”

“Yeah,” Vince said. “Heard a lot, actually.
Mostly legends, bedtime stories, bullshit. He’s at the end of the
block. Never comes out. Probably dead.”

“Thank you,” Layne said. They started to
leave, and Vince looked worried, almost betrayed, but he calmed
himself and sat in his cell.

They made their way to the end of the row,
where a concrete wall waited. The walkways and cells stopped there.
Layne pushed away the idea that he was hearing that song again, but
it was getting harder to do.

Layne looked into the last cell and saw a
normal-looking man in a prison uniform. His hands were bound to
chains attached to the walls, which held them separate. He looked
emaciated, barely alive. His bald head hung low.

“Hello?” Layne said. The man didn’t
move.

“Are you Norman Peters?” Keely asked. He
still didn’t move.

“I think he’s dead,” Garrett said.

“We’re all dead,” a calm voice said. Layne
stared into the cell. The man raised his head, opened his eyes.
They were a clear blue. His mouth was in the shape of a smile,
though whether he was actually smiling or it was just the natural
curve of his mouth, Layne couldn’t tell. Whatever the case, he had
a peaceful demeanor, the kind of face one might recognize as “the
good guy” in countless movies. The only off-putting thing about him
was a small scar along the right side of his head.

“You are him, aren’t you?” Layne said. “I
have some questions.”

The man laughed. “You think you can just
come here and find whatever it is you’re looking for?”

“If you have answers, let us know,” Garrett
said. The man let his head fall backward, and he stared at the
ceiling.

“Did you do all of this?” Katie asked.

“Yes,” the man said, then paused. “No.”

“Don’t fuck with us, man,” Garrett said.

The man laughed again. “What are you going
to do? Shoot me?”

“Maybe,” Layne said. He gestured for Keely’s
pistol, and she gave it to him. Layne extended his arm between the
bars and aimed right between the man’s eyes. The man stared at
Layne, his eyes burned into him, made him uncomfortable. The two
stayed that way for a moment. Layne cocked the gun.

“Fine. You’re right. I’m Norman Peters, and
this—” He moved his arms what little he could, as if to gesture
with them wide open. “—is my work.”

“Your work?”

“I’ve been preparing for years. I hope you
like it.”

“Yeah,” Garrett said. “You’re a regular
Ozymandias.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of
Gilgamesh,” Norman said. “But tell me, how far away stretch my lone
and level sands?”

“Pretty God damn far,” Garrett said, and
then took a few steps away, breaking all sight with Norman. A few
cells down, Vince was clutching the bars, pressing his head against
them, listening intently.

“What did you do?” Katie asked.

“What do you think I did?”

“Your questions are starting to piss me
off,” Keely said.

Norman laughed. “I assure you, young miss,
I’m
quaking
.”

“Look,” Layne said, “we can bring you food,
we can get you what you need, if you cooperate with us.

The smile faded from Norman’s face. “Don’t
patronize me by assuming you have anything to offer. All I need is
to die here in this cell.”

“Well, that’s one thing I can make happen,”
Garrett said. He stepped back in front of the cell and lifted his
shotgun between the bars. Layne pushed the barrel down softly.

“Please… Just tell us what we want to know,”
Layne said.

“What is it you want to know?”

“What are those things?” Katie asked. She
was beginning to feel silly, like Norman was just playing with
them, and he was actually as confused as they were.

“They’re people,” Norman replied.

“What’s wrong with them?” Garrett asked.

“They appear to have a great taste for human
flesh.”

“They’re zombies,” Layne said. Norman
laughed.

“Yes, you could call them that. A neat
little trick I learned long ago, and one that worked much better
than I could have imagined.”

“Why?”

“‘Why’ what?”

“Why did you do this?”

“I didn’t do anything that wouldn’t have
happened on its own. I just sped it along.”

The survivors exchanged glances.

“You don’t believe me,” Norman said. “That
doesn’t surprise me. Few are willing to accept the ugly truth of
things.”

“Why should we believe you?” Layne
asked.

“You’re the one who came to me.”

“And I’m about to leave.” Layne turned and
started down the walkway.

“Tell me, how many of your friends died to
get you over that wall?”

Layne turned and ran back to Norman’s cell.
“How do you know about that? You can’t know about that!”

“Layne, what’s he talking about?” Garrett
asked.

“You came because I called you,” Norman
said. “You’re here to do what I want you to, and you won’t leave
until you do.”

“What are you talking about?” Layne
said.

“Look at the world around you. What do you
see? You see plants and animals, creatures of all kinds fighting
each other, killing each other to stay alive.”