The Land of the Dead: Book Four of the Oz Chronicles (18 page)

We all gathered on the floor of the empty pool. I leaned against the side and stretched out with Throwaway June and Stevie on either side of me. Ajax sat and watched from the foot of the ladder leading down to the bottom of the pool.

By now, I was used to these little trips to the Land of the Dead, and I was able to relax. Unfortunately, my two Throwaway buddies weren’t so lucky. They were nervous and unsure. Their breathing was shallow and loud. It didn’t help that we were sitting in a huge cavernous pool that amplified every little sound.

I wasn’t even sure why I was taking them with me, but something in my gut told me I should. The dead boy didn’t seem to mind that Stevie was with me last time, so why not bring them? Experiencing the old gray man in his world by myself was not the most fun I’ve ever had. I suppose having company just seemed like a nice thing.

“I don’t think I should leave April,” Throwaway June said.

I picked at a loose tile on the floor. “April’s not April anymore.”

“She changed?” Throwaway June asked.

“Yep,” I said. “We all have.”

“Like us,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“The Throwaways, we changed. First we were nothing, and now we are like you.”

I thought about what she said. “Looking like us doesn’t make you like us.”

She smiled. “What would make us like you?”

“Doing something on your own. Stop watching and be part of the story.”

Before I could answer, I heard a small crash at the deep end of the pool followed by a clank, and another clank, and then a rapid series of clanks. It was as if it was raining marbles.

I stood and instructed Throw-away June and Stevie to come with me. “I think our ride’s here,” I said.

They held on to each other, and we approached the source of the sound at a snail’s pace. Through the darkness, I could see the tile and plaster on the side of the pool falling away. A hole the size of a door was slowly taking shape. A face appeared in the darkness through the hole, and I could see that it was the dead boy. I motioned for my guests to hurry. After several seconds of coaxing, I got Throwaway June and Stevie to follow me through the hole.

***

Stepping through the darkness, we found ourselves on an old-fashioned trolley car. Although I guess it was really a new-fashioned trolley car in the Land of the Dead. The car was about half-full. None of the passengers saw us, of course. We stood in the back of the trolley and watched the passengers intently. I had never thought about it on any of my other trips to the Land of the Dead, but it occurred to me that all these people were dead. They ceased to breathe, to go to work, to talk with their friends and family. They were just no more. It was the exact opposite of my situation. I lived in the world where I breathed, but my friends and family (most of them) were gone. They were just no more. I didn’t know who was better off, me or the people on the trolley.

The car came to a stop and several people got off, and an even bigger group boarded. They filed on and took their seats. I almost didn’t notice the last two. It was the old man and Grace. I clenched my teeth as I watched him shower the little girl with attention. He giggled and asked her about her dress and patted her head. I couldn’t take it. I walked over to them and stood in front of the monster. He nonchalantly placed his package on the seat next to him. I went wide-eyed. Oh, if I could just grab it and walk it out of the Land of the Dead. That would be the end of this. I knew it. The old gray man would be useless without his property.

The old man pretended not to see me. I knew he could. Every once in a while he stole a quick glance at me and then quickly looked away. He saw me, but he didn’t want to startle the girl so he played it cool.

“I’m going to win, old man,” I said.

He twitched, but did not take his eyes off Grace.

“I can’t stop you from what you’re about to do to Grace, but I can make you pay. It might take me a million years, but I promise you I will find a way to make you pay for everything that you’ve done.”

He snickered involuntarily. A bubble of snot came out of his nose, and he quickly reached up and wiped it away with the back of his hand. His lip trembled.

“I know you’re dead. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about making your insides pay, your soul. I don’t know how it works, but I’ll figure it out. That’s what I do. I figure things out.”

He reached out and pinched Grace’s cheek. “Look at those tasty little cheeks.” He looked at me from the corner of his eye and sneered. “My niece is going to have such a good time with you. She’ll be so excited to have a new friend…” he turned to me and looked me dead in the eye, “for dinner.”

The trolley stopped, and he grabbed Grace’s hand and jumped in line with a group of people exiting. He stood inches from me and, as he headed for the door, he tipped his hat to me.

I groaned and balled my hands into fists.
Just one punch
, I thought.
Give me just one
. I looked down at the seat next to the one he’d been sitting in, and there it was, his package. He had forgotten about it. He took a step toward the exit and looked back at me. I stepped between him and his view of the canvas-wrapped box. He took another step, towing little Grace behind him. He was going to forget it. He was going to step off the trolley without it, and the trolley would pull away with his precious property on board. I held back a smile as he reached the door. He gave me one last look and then stepped down onto the street, extending his hand to help little Grace off.

“Go,” I whispered. “Just go.”

Grace reached out for his hand and then recoiled. I smiled. She knew. She sensed it. Maybe this didn’t have to turn out the way it did in real life.

“Grace, dear, what’s wrong?” Fish asked.

“Wait,” she said running back towards me. I was astonished. Could she see me? Was she coming to me for help?

She stopped right in front of me, looked down, and grabbed the package. She ran back to the door yelling, “You forgot your package!”

The old gray man grew a hideous grin as she handed the canvas-wrapped box to him through the trolley door. He glanced at me through the window and winked. He and Grace began their trek to the horrible, horrible end that awaited her. It almost hurt too much to think about. She was going to die because she reminded the devil that he had forgotten his tools of terror.

DAY 6

SEVENTEEN

I couldn’t risk checking on Gordy. I was really hungry, and I could smell his wounds the minute I climbed out of the pool. I instructed Throwaway Stevie to join him and help Ariabod watch him. I then gave Throwaway June the option to go with him. But she asked if she could go with me.

“I thought you’d want to be close to April.”

“She is not April any more.”

I smiled and agreed to let her come with Ajax and me. I actually didn’t mind at all. I was looking forward to the company, even if it was only Throwaway company.

Passing the door to the dressing room, I paused as we parted with Throwaway Stevie. I thought long and hard about giving in to my urges. Eating Gordy wasn’t something I just desired to do, it seemed essential to my survival. I gave myself reasons to do it. I was the key to bringing the old world back. Everybody thought so. Didn’t I owe it to everyone to survive? Eating Gordy gave me the best chance to make it out of here and make sure we all had a home to go back to… well, everyone except Gordy.

Ajax, reading my mind, sat in the doorframe making sure I couldn’t pass. I hated him for it. We made our way through the basement to another staircase located next to what looked like a laundry room. The stairs took us to a part of the first floor that was not familiar to me. The walls seemed to be soaked in the smell of tobacco. We crossed into a room with a dusty old pool table. I never really played the game, but seeing the table made me wish I had played. Back in the good old days when I didn’t want to eat my friends, and I wasn’t spending my days trying to figure out how to save the world that I had destroyed.

I ran my hand across the smooth felt surface of the table. It felt familiar even though I didn’t play. It was just part of the world I knew, the world I wanted back.

“Play?” I heard a rough and gravelly voice ask.

I looked down at the end of the table and saw Wes sitting in the far, right corner, half cloaked by the darkness. I should have smelled him before I saw him, but the tobacco odor was too strong. Seeing him, my stomach gurgled and burned. He grabbed his stomach, and I knew he was having the same hunger pains. I backed away slowly, glancing at Ajax who looked uneasy. I didn’t like it when he was uneasy.

“What?”

“Pool. Do you play?” Wes asked, wincing.

I shook my head.

“I did.” He bit his bottom lip and doubled over briefly. “Wasn’t bad either. Could make a hundred bucks in friendly games on a good night.”

I doubled over this time. “This isn’t a good idea.” I placed my hands on my knees and sucked in some air. Standing up straight, I saw another figure in the shadows. It was a woman I did not recognize. She was heavy-set, dirty-blonde hair, wearing a smock. She was dressed like the woman who used to do my mom’s hair.

Wes saw that I had noticed the woman. “My sister,” he said. “The real Lou…” He stopped himself. “Not real, exactly, A Throwaway version of my sister Lou. Say hello, Lou.”

“Hello, Lou,” the woman said.

Wes slapped the table and let out a snort of laughter. “That is just like something she would say, too. I swear these Throwaways ain’t too bad once you get used to them.” He saw Throwaway June and pointed at her. “You got April’s?” He snuck a step to his left. He didn’t think I noticed, but I did. He was going to make his move.

I nodded. “April’s not feeling like herself, so I invited Throwaway June to tag along.” I stepped back again.

Drool formed at the corner of Wes’s mouth. “There’s a lot of that going around. Not feeling like yourself.”

“Yeah,” I said, “there is.”

He licked his bottom lip and laughed. “I ain’t exactly hidin’ my intentions, am I?”

Ajax let out a low rumbling growl.

“Not really, no. You forget. I’m in the same boat you’re in.”

He laughed, “But you ain’t no fat man. I tried to eat a Twinkie yesterday, and threw it right up. A Twinkie, Oz. I love those damn things.”

“Where’d you get a Twinkie?”

He smiled and put his hand over his mouth. “Oops. I let the cat out of the bag. Half my backpack is Twinkies. I stock up wherever we go and keep them all to myself.”

I must have looked shocked and hurt because he immediately started to defend himself.

“You just don’t know, Oz. I gotta have my Twinkies. Nothing I like more. ‘Cept maybe slicing you up and eating you up in a soup. Man, I have just been craving soup. Human soup.”

That did sound good. It was my turn to drool. I lifted my hand to wipe the spittle from the corners of my mouth. I must have shifted my gaze enough in doing so for Wes to take the opportunity to rush me. He charged me like a bull. I didn’t have time to react. His big meaty hand grabbed my shirt collar and yanked me towards him. The look on his face was the same I had seen on the old man when he was plotting to eat his prey. It was a sickening look of anticipation and joy.

“Nothing personal, Oz, but a fat man has got to eat.”

His intention was to pick me up and slam me down on the pool table, but he was on his back on the floor before he could carry out his plan. Ajax’s fang-filled mouth was just inches from his face.

“Get off me! I gotta eat!” He squirmed under Ajax’s tremendous weight.

I looked down and happened to see his lower calf exposed. I pictured myself dropping down and quickly tearing the flesh from the bone. Just one bite. That would be enough. That might get me through the day. I considered the best way to approach it over and over again. Just bite, rip, tear, and eat. Bite, rip, tear, and eat. That’s all it would take. I closed my eyes trying to shake the thought. I couldn’t go through with it, could I? I could. Yes, I could. Nobody would blame me. The Flish was in me. I had an excuse. I felt myself smile, and I saw the Flish doing the same thing in my mind’s eye… I wasn’t about to let him win.

I stepped through the doorway and ran to another door down the short hall. It was locked, but it only slowed me down. My adrenaline was high. Two solid kicks near the door knob and the door popped open. I rushed through and found myself standing in the banquet hall. I took a few seconds to collect myself and let Throwaway June catch up. I yelled back at Ajax to keep holding Wes down.

“C’mon,” I said to Throwaway June, noticing a slight change in her hair color and maybe the length, too. I couldn’t be sure, but I figured it didn’t really matter all that much.

“It’s safe, Ajax!” I said once we reached the other end of the banquet hall.

A few minutes later the big gorilla was standing on all fours next to me. “Thanks,” I said.

He grinned.

I patted him on the back. “I think it’s time we talked about what to do if we don’t… you know, make it out of here.”

His nostrils flared, and he looked away.

“It’s important,” I said. “Archie and Bobby are upstairs. We gotta make sure they make it out of here. They lost their Keeper, so we need to have a backup plan…”

Ajax knuckle-walked away. I thought about making him listen, but in the end, I knew he’d do the right thing. He didn’t need me to tell him what he had to do. I was about to follow him when I heard my name from the other end of the huge room. Wes stood in the doorway, and I could see that he was crying.

“I’m sorry, boy. I’m so, so sorry.”

I choked back a tear.

“I can’t hold out much longer, Oz.”

I nodded. “None of us can.”

“Lock me up. Chain me down. You gotta do something.”

“Can’t. Not unless I do the same to everybody, including me. Otherwise you’ll be defenseless when one of us finds you, and trust me, one of us will.”

He shook his head. “I don’t care, boy. I used up my last drop of willpower. If I do anything to any of you… I just can’t live with myself. I’d rather it be me.”

“Wes!” I barked. “Gordy, April, even Tyrone, I can do without them. But when it comes time for me to stand and fight, I need you and I need Lou. I can count on you two. I don’t care if I do look like a big juicy steak to you right now, I know you’ll come through for me when I need you.”

He roared and smashed his fist into the wall.

I left before I actually gave in to his pleas.

“You’re making a mistake, boy!” were his parting words.

And I thought he was probably right. But what I didn’t tell him was the minute I had heard him ask to be chained down, I was coming up with a plan to take advantage of the situation, and eat him myself.

***

I sent Ajax to get Lou. I no longer trusted the radio. Giving away my position did nothing but let the others know where they could find a meal. Actually, Tyrone and Wes were the only ones I had to worry about. April was locked in the closet, and Gordy wasn’t going anywhere in the condition he was in. But Tyrone alone was enough to concern me. It seemed like he wanted to hurt me and everyone else for that matter even before the infection.

I sat on the floor near the front entrance. Every sound the old house made sent me into a defensive posture. I was sure Tyrone was coming for me. But, they all proved to be nothing. When Lou finally arrived, I was just one big frazzled nerve.

I didn’t even say hello. I just started interrogating her. “What did you find out from Bobby?”

She looked a little offended that I didn’t seem happy to see her. I was. Had I been myself I would have told her how much I missed her, more than she could possibly know. But I was way past being myself.

“As far as I can tell, there’s some kind of king involved.”

“What, like the king of England or something?”

“Not sure what he’s king of, but he’s either the Keeper or Creyshaw for this story.”

“You don’t know for sure? What have you been doing?” I sounded a lot harsher than I’d intended.

“Getting straight answers from Bobby isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world, you know? Besides, it doesn’t do you any good to know who this king is because the Flish is already here. He… ate the Creyshaw, remember? It’s too late. Keeper or Creyshaw, king does you no good.”

“He hasn’t made it all the way through,” I said. “Don’t you see? He’s stuck in this house. Maybe the Creyshaw failed, but that only got him this far. It’s got something to do with that stupid package…”

“Package?” Lou snapped her fingers. “That’s right.”

“What?”

“I asked him about the package and the only answer he would give is some little poem… I thought it was just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo.”

“Nothing is just mumbo-jumbo in this world. What was the poem?”

She titled her head up and to the right as she tried to remember. I saw her silently mouth a few words. “From,” she started. “From here to the next. From alive…no, wait. From dead to alive. He cannot find… detect. He cannot detect. For the package to arrive.”

“From here to the next,” I said. “From dead to alive. He cannot detect for the package to arrive.”

“That’s it,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

I repeated the poem to myself and then out loud a few more times. I got to the word detect. I didn’t know why, but it made me stop. “Detect. Detect. Detect. There’s something about that word.”

“Well,” Lou said, “it means to find or discover something, so it means we have to find the package.”

“Maybe,” I said, barely able to pay attention because I was so focused on that one word. Detect… It hit me. “Detective.”

Lou nodded. “Yeah, they detect. It’s actually in the word.”

“No, you said a king, but that’s not it. It’s the king. Detective King.”

“Who’s Detective King?”

“He’s the cop, back in the Land of the Dead. He’s the one looking for Fish, only he doesn’t know he’s looking for Fish. He cannot detect for the package to arrive. Detective King can’t find the package in order for Fish to arrive.”

“But Fish is here?”

“No, he’s here and he’s there. Fish can’t escape the Land of the Dead until he finds his package. He’s nothing without his package. He won’t leave it.”

“How do you know?”

“You should see him when he doesn’t have that package. He goes nuts without it.”

Lou shook her head. “It doesn’t fit the rules of the other Storytellers. A Destroyer can come forward when a Storyteller is captured, right?”

“That’s the way Ajax explained it, but Tarek said there is a way to bind the Flish to the Keeper, to keep him from spreading his infection.”

“What else did he say?

I didn’t tell her that he said there was basically no hope, that I should kill her and the others and live my life craving human flesh, so I just told her that he was his regular chatty self and added that he wasn’t a lot of help.

“How do we bind the Flish to the Keeper?”

I shrugged. “He didn’t know.”

She startled me by snapping her fingers. “It’s King. He’s got to be the Keeper.”

I thought it over. “Maybe.”

She tapped her finger on her lips. “And the package… maybe we have to get it to King. That’s how we bind Fish to him, right?”

“We’ll have to figure that out as we go. We’ve got to pick a strategy and go with it. This is the closest thing to a theory we’ve had since we’ve been here. I’ve got to go back to the Land of the Dead and find Detective King…” I stopped when I realized that just finding him wasn’t enough. How was I going to talk to him? As far as I could tell, Fish was the only one who saw me in the Land of the Dead.