Restless (14 page)

2
4. SEARCHING FOR SECRETS

ONE MOMENT LEESA AND DOMINIC
were standing alone in the woods outside of Lisbon Falls, surreptitiously surveying the town below them through the trees, and the next Rave, Dral and Bain had silently materialized beside them. All three were dressed in black shirts and pants. Leesa hadn’t heard a thing, but Dominic turned his head just before their arrival, his heightened wizard senses detecting their approach at the very last moment.

The night was pleasantly warm, without the humidity that had bedeviled them the last few days in
Connecticut. A nearly half full moon peeked in and out from the partly cloudy sky. When the moon disappeared, it became fiercely dark in the woods, but Leesa could still make out the outlines of things around her. She was pretty sure her senses were slowly sharpening as she became more and more in touch with the magic inside her. She welcomed the darkness—it would provide excellent cover for the volkaanes to sneak safely into the town.

They had made very good time
covering the two hundred or so miles to get here—it wasn’t even eleven o’clock yet. None of them seemed the least bit tired from their journey.

The sound of metal
clanging against metal echoed through the night. The army had been busily constructing chain link fences topped by coils of razor wire around the town ever since Leesa and Dominic had arrived, and the workers were apparently going to keep setting the fences up throughout the night. Bright floodlights illuminated the sections where the fences were being built, but other areas were still swathed in darkness, leaving plenty of places where the volkaanes would be able to sneak past the guards. With the pace at which the fence was going up, Leesa wasn’t so sure about them getting back out.

She did not voice her concerns—everyone knew the stakes here.

“Bain and I will go in, entering through two different spots,” Rave said. “Dral will remain here, as added protection.” He looked at Dominic. “I know your senses are sharp, but they are not volkaane. I’ll feel better knowing he’s here, looking after Leesa.”

Dominic nodded. “We’ll be glad to h
ave him. If anything does go amiss, I wish to avoid using my magic if at all possible. Having a volkaane to keep watch makes it more likely I will not have to.”

“I’ll be glad to have Dral here, too,” Leesa said. “But I’d rather have you.”

Rave smiled. “I’d rather stay with you as well. But I cannot ask my friends to do something I will not do myself.”

Leesa kissed him on the cheek. “I know.
That’s one of the things I love about you. Please be careful, though.”

“Always,” Rave replied.

“Do not take any unnecessary risks,” Dominic said. “There appears to be a curfew in town, so you cannot let yourselves be seen until morning. Prowl around tonight and see what you might overhear from the guards and anyone else who is about. Tomorrow morning, you can talk to people, but be careful. If you can make it out of the city in daylight, come back here by noon and let us know what you have learned. If not, return as soon as it grows dark enough.”

“
I understand,” Rave said.

Bain
nodded that he, too, understood.

Rave kissed Leesa on her forehead. “Get some sleep. We’ll be back before you know it.”

“You’d better be,” Leesa said.

Rave and
Bain melted off into the darkness. Even watching them go, they disappeared from Leesa’s sight in just a few seconds.

“Rave is right,” Dominic said. “You should get some sleep. We
do not know what tomorrow holds for us. You may have need of your energy.”

Leesa wasn’t sure just how much sleep she would be able to get, but she allowed herself to be led back to the SUV. She crawled into the back and lay down atop a soft co
tton blanket while Dominic and Dral remained on watch outside.

It took her awhile, but she finally drifted off to sleep.

When they neared the edge of the area that had been cordoned off, but not yet fenced, Rave and Bain split up, each of them looking to find their own way into the town. Rave crept eastward, while Bain made his way silently to the west.

From the concealment of the trees, Rave studied the deployment of the guards. Groups of three or four soldiers were stationed every forty yards or so, while small squads of roving patrols moved back and forth among their stationary comrades. With the darkness, it would be difficult but not impossible for a human to sneak past the sentries. For a volkaane, it would be child’s play.

He settled into the shadows at the
base of a thick tree, listening to the soldiers with his keen volkaane hearing to see if their conversation might provide him any information about what had happened in the town. He heard a few words about “damn zombies” and “angry residents,” but nothing of any use. More of the talk was about boredom and women and having to stand guard all night. He hoped that once he made his way inside the town he would learn more.

H
e chose a spot where a shallow depression in the ground ran across the guarded area. A trio of soldiers had stationed themselves less than ten yards from the gully—they might as well have been a mile away as far as Rave was concerned. He waited until the moon ducked behind a thick cloud and then flashed silently forward at volkaane speed. In a matter of seconds, he disappeared into the shadows beneath a small grove of trees more than fifty yards away. Despite his speed, the gentle wind made more noise than the sound of his passing.

From the tree
s, he worked his way stealthily into town, moving when the blackness was deepest and disappearing into the shadows when the moon came out. He listened beneath windows and outside closed doors, but once again overheard little of any import. He didn’t fret—that was not the volkaane way. He simply continued moving quietly around the town and listening patiently. Twice he crossed paths with Bain, but his friend had learned nothing, either.

With less than an hour of darkness left, he headed for the cemetery that was the rumored source of the zombies. The graveyard was well-guarded, telling him the rumors were probably true. He remained hidden far back from the illuminated area and carefully surveyed the scene. He counted forty graves that had been dug up—whether the digging had occurred from
above the ground or below he couldn’t tell. There were no signs of any heavy equipment having been used in the graveyard, so he leaned toward the idea that the corpses had dug themselves out. The alternative—that a large group of diggers had uncovered the graves to release the zombies—seemed unlikely. Of course, the digging could have been done magically, but that was something Dominic would have to determine if he could get close enough. It was certainly beyond Rave’s ability.

When the sun finally began to paint the eastern sky in a rosy glow, Rave
found a local park and crawled into a thick clump of bushes to wait for the town to awaken. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself by being one of the first to stroll the streets—only when the sidewalks began to fill with people going about their daily business would he emerge and resume his search for information.

He didn’
t have long to wait. Lisbon Falls was an early rising town, even though none of the townspeople could go beyond the hamlet’s boundary and no one from outside could come in. When he was certain nobody was looking, Rave slipped out from the shrubs which had hidden him.

For half an hour, he simply
walked the streets, listening to the conversations around him. Much of the talk centered on yesterday’s attack, but it was difficult to separate fact from rumor and speculation. He needed a better source of information than the gossip of the townspeople.

One of the tidbits he
picked up from his eavesdropping was that the army had taken over the top floor of the local hospital. Exactly what was going on in there no one seemed to know. After asking a friendly citizen for directions, he headed for the hospital to see what he might learn.

The hospital was a four-story concrete and glass building surrounded on three sides by asphalt parking lots. Other than squads of soldiers stationed beside the main entrance and the emergency room entrance, Rave saw nothing unusual.
He settled himself onto a comfortable wooden bench and watched the front entrance for a few minutes. The guards were not stopping or even checking anyone who entered or left. Clearly, whatever real security was in place was located inside.

Rave was about to head into the hospital when he saw
an army colonel and an official-looking man in a dark suit exit the building and move toward the parking lot. Rave got up and walked casually in their direction, just another visitor on his way to the hospital

As he drew nearer the two men, his volkaane eyesight read the plastic nametag attached to the man in the suit’s lapel. He was a doctor from the C
enter for Disease Control.

Rave smiled as he approached the men. “Good morning,” he said cheerfully. “Anything new on those zombies from yesterday?”
He kept his tone light, like he didn’t really care whether he got an answer or not.

The colonel studied Rave carefully for a moment. He seemed to decide that Rave was just a curious citizen.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his tone friendly but firm. “We have no comment on anything having to do with that matter.”

“Sure, I understand,” Rave said. “No problem. I was just curious.”

“That’s completely understandable,” the doctor said. “I’m sure we will be issuing a statement in the next day or two.”

“Great,” Rave said. “Thanks.”

He moved past the two men and made his way slowly toward the hospital entrance. While he walked, he kept his ears focused on the colonel and the doctor to see if he might pick up anything from their conversation, but all they talked about was what they were going to have for breakfast.

As expected, the guards didn’t bother
him as he entered the hospital. Inside, everything seemed normal, except for more guards stationed in front of the stairwells and the elevators. Like the sentries outside, they did not stop or question anyone using the stairs or elevators. Rave did not expect that would be the case if he tried to make his way onto the fourth floor.

He headed toward the stairwell, smiling at the guards as he approached. A female corporal returned his smile and
politely pulled the door open for him.

Rav
e climbed the stairs slowly. When he reached the third floor landing, two soldiers stood at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the fourth floor. Another pair of guards was stationed at the top of the stairs. Unlike the other guards he had passed, all four of these looked alert and ready for action. Clearly, there would be no unauthorized access to the fourth floor. Rave opened the third floor door and left the stairwell.

He strolled the length of a long corridor to the other side of the hospital, where he found the same situation in the opposite stairwell. The elevators were not an option for him, of course, but he guessed they would not take visitors past the third floor. With no other
choices, he headed down the stairs and out of the hospital.

He still had a few hour
s left before noon, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to learn anything that would be of much use to Dominic.

2
5. A RIVER SURPRISE

WHEN THE SUN
WAS ALMOST
directly overhead, Rave made his way toward the northern edge of town to see about getting through the cordon that surrounded Lisbon Falls. The length of fence had grown substantially since he had entered the village the night before and the guards all appeared alert and ready. With his speed, he knew he could make it safely past them, but he didn’t see a way to get by them without being noticed. The same thing with the fence—he could easily leap over it, but someone was sure to see him. The last thing he wanted to do was raise more questions and cause the authorities to increase the security around the town.

He moved westward, walking casually and keeping
at least fifty yards from the fence and the sentries, searching all the while for any place he might escape unseen. When the fence curved southward, he turned with it, following it all the way to the river that formed the southern boundary of the town. He gazed down at the slowly flowing water and knew that he had found his way out.

Turning east
, he walked along an asphalt path bordering the river, heading away from the soldiers who guarded the path and a small coast guard boat that blocked the river. When he was out of sight of both, he stopped and waited for a pair of joggers to trot past before scampering down the rock jetty and slipping silently into the water.

He
gulped down a deep breath, filling his lungs with air, then dove far beneath the surface where he would be invisible to anyone above and began swimming west. Propelled by his powerful arms and strong kick, he moved as quickly through the water as all but the swiftest fish. He knew he could easily hold his breath until he was far past the boat guarding the river, but something on the bottom of the river caught his eye, causing him to change his plans.

He circled back to the three bodies he had seen resting on the riverbed. As he swam nearer, he could see they were in varying stages of decay. He was surprised to find that the eyes of all three corpses were open. Even more startling, the eyes seemed to be watching him!

He floated slowly above the bodies and confirmed that this was no trick of the flowing water—the eyeballs of all three were definitely following his progress. He wasn’t sure how it had happened, but three zombies had found their way to the bottom of the river. Apparently, the creatures could not drown.

Swimming slowly to the
surface, Rave poked his head out of the water in the shadows of two large rocks. He looked around quickly to make sure he could not be seen from above, then set to thinking about what he had just discovered.

Dominic wanted information about the creatures—what better way to get him some than to bring a live zombie to
back to him? Rave was pretty sure he could tow one of the creatures underwater far enough to make it past the guard boat, unless the thing struggled and resisted. By grabbing the zombie by the sides of its head, he knew he could keep it from biting him, but if the thing struggled too fiercely it would slow him down and he might not be able to stay underwater long enough to get by the boat.

There was only one way to find out. Rave sucked in a
nother deep breath and dove back beneath the surface.

He swam close above the zombies,
positioning himself above their heads so they would not be able to reach him if any of them tried to grab out at him. Other than the movement of their eyeballs, all three creatures remained still, except for a slight fluttering of their limbs and tattered clothes caused by the current.

Very carefully, Rave reached his hand toward the head of one zombie, ready to pull his arm back at the slightest movement from the creature. The zombie’s arms remained still and its mouth remained closed. The thing seemed to have no interest in biting him.
Perhaps the zombies were only interested in human flesh, he thought, not volkaane. If that were true, it would make transporting the thing underwater a whole lot easier.

Still being extremely cautious, Rave reached for the wrist of the creature nearest him. He gripped it firmly and pulled, dragging the zombie a foot or so along the riverbed. The thing showed no reaction, nor did either of its fellows. Rave pulled harder, lifting the zombie off the silty bottom and pulling it ten feet away from the other two.
The thing still did not react, other than to watch Rave with its eyes. Satisfied now that the creature had no interest in biting or grabbing him, Rave lowered it to the ground and returned to the surface for more air.

After gulping in several deep breaths in the shadows of the rocks to replenish the oxygen in his lungs and blood, Rave dived for a third time. This time, he did not hesitate. He grabbed the zombie’s wrist with his left hand and used his right arm and powerful legs to propel himself upstream against the
weak current with the zombie dangling behind him. In less than three minutes he passed beneath the shadow of the guard boat, but he stayed submerged for another two minutes before surfacing at the edge of the river and making sure there was no one about.

The rock levee did not extend this far from the town. Instead, the riverbank consisted of dirt and grass. Spying an area ahead where the
woods came right to the river’s edge, Rave submerged once more and covered the distance underwater. When he reached the trees, he climbed out of the water and pulled the zombie up after him. The creature made no move to attack him, but freed from the river, it began tugging against Rave’s grip in the direction of Lisbon Falls. It seemed the thing could smell human flesh even from this distance and wanted to feed its voracious appetite.

Rave had a decision to make. He could try to carry the struggling creature back to Dominic and Leesa, but he wasn’t sure how quietly he could manage that
task. While the zombie made no sounds other than a low, rumbling growl, its thrashing about in an attempt to break free was certain to make the passage a noisy one. He could paralyze the thing by snapping its neck like he had back in Leesa’s dorm, but he preferred to present Dominic with an undamaged specimen.

In the end, he decided to return the zombie back to where he found it—at the bottom of the river. Unable to move in the water, it would be safe there while Rave went to fetch Dominic.