The Lost and the Damned (38 page)

“The Army, huh?” she said, turning the thought over in her head.

“Oh, and there’s the possibility that the Queen of Elves will come from her magical fairyland to take us all away someplace where we’ll never die and everything will be made of ice cream.”

“I’m glad to see that your excessive pain has had no affect on your aptitude for sarcasm,” she said.

“You know it,” I said, hissing again from pain.

“So what now?”

“Waiting?” I suggested.

“But what do we want to do while waiting?” she looked around. “I think playing ‘I Spy’ is out. Tell life stories?”

“I’m pretty sure the pain is going to keep me from any complex thinking or soul searching,” I said.

“I could tell you my life story,” she suggested.

“I would love that, but again, I'm thinking I’m in too much pain to enjoy it.”

“Then what?”

“Sing me a song,” I said. I didn’t know how much air we had, but if we didn’t have enough for her to sing, we were pretty dead anyway.

“I guess I could do that, my voice is kind of weak, though.”

“I’m the only one who needs to hear it,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Okay then,” she said. “What do you want to hear?”

“Surprise me.”

“Hmm,” she said, taking a moment to think. “I think I have just the thing.”

Then she began singing the old Bobby Darin hit
Beyond the Sea
, her voice as beautiful as I had ever heard. When she hit the part about golden sands it reminded me of my sandy beaches and it almost broke my heart.

Sometime during her singing, I lost consciousness, the pain overtaking me. I know that I lost consciousness smiling, and that was what mattered.

I awoke to the sounds of rubble being moved. It was dark, and for a moment I didn’t know where I was. I quickly remembered and then my heart raced, fearing that the beam was finally going to fall and crush us.

The flashlight went back on.

“I turned it off to save the battery,” she said. Her voice was weak.

“How long have I been out?”

“No idea,” she said. “Hours? An hour? When you’re cramped and barely staying alive, you lose track of time.”

I heard more sounds of shifting rubble. This time it sounded much closer.

“What was that?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve been hearing it from far off for a while. It’s getting closer.” We heard another shift of rubble much closer to us. I thought I could hear a voice, but I wasn’t sure if it was just wishful thinking.

“Rescue?” I suggested.

“Maybe,” she said.

“Do you have enough strength to start yelling?” I asked.

“Screaming good enough?”

“Yeah,” I said.

I winced as her high pitched scream pierced my ears. I only hoped that would also pierce the ears of anyone nearby.

When Katie took a breath between screams, I heard a bunch of small noises – footsteps on rubble? She screamed again and that was all I could hear. Finally she stopped screaming and I could hear rubble shifting right next to us. And then to our left.

“We’re here! We’re here!” I shouted.

“Over here!” shouted Katie.

I was close to losing consciousness again, but I was elated to hear the rubble being moved all around us. I closed my eyes, trying to stop tears of pain and stay awake. I just had to hold on.

Finally I felt the beam moved off my shoulders and I straightened up, opening my eyes as Katie suddenly clung to me more tightly.

I looked around and found that we stood in a circle of Army soldiers, all pointing their assault rifles at us. I was close enough to see down the barrel of each gun. I took a deep breath.

“It will be all right, Katie,” I said, “It will be all right.”

Eighteen

An hour later I sat on an ambulance gurney. Flashing red and blue lights pierced the night as rescue personnel ran all over the place, trying to make sense of everything. The Army had receded, leaving just key members, their massive force no longer around to make people nervous.

As soon as the Army freed us from the rubble, Katie was taken away by her corporate handlers. It was a massive group of men in suits acting as a buffer between her and any type of Army or emergency personnel. I could see them across the clearing of ambulances where they had her cloistered away, an obvious executive berating her like a child.

A call through my now-working cell phone alerted me to their presence. When I had called Morty, telling her that I found her right before I entered the hospital, he called Intersperse Records. Then when local emergencies mentioned the same location, they dispatched their whole team of handlers. Even if she wasn’t here, they weren’t going to take the chance of losing her to the emergency.

So what was the emergency? Army, medical, police, and FBI all wanted to know that as well. I was questioned by a long succession of people. They all wanted to know what I saw, why I was here, etc. After all that I saw, I kept it simple. Nothing strange, nothing extravagant. I had located Katie and came to find her. I was in the hospital visiting with her when there was some sort of gas leak and explosion. Then we nearly got killed in a second explosion before being found. Nothing strange, sir.

Their reaction was more interesting. Once it had gotten up to the federal level of men in black suits, they were more concerned with telling me what I saw. I was told absolutely and unequivocally there is no Sommersfield, there never was a Sommersfield. The town of Sommersfield was simply a rumor cooked up by some troublemakers. I nodded along with them. It seemed the truth had some pretty big enemies.

After that I was left alone to be bandaged up. They couldn’t give me enough painkillers for my back, but I was happy to find out that my back was not broken. I would recover. I might need physical training and I’d have pain for a few months, but I would recover.

I talked on the phone with Morty for a while. He confirmed that I would be receiving my fee soon; the corporate brass at Intersperse had already called him to let him know how happy they were with the job. I’m sure that she was going to be more trouble than a Katie-look-alike, but hey, maybe they could get more albums out of her this way. I rubbed my eyes.  I didn’t want to deal with corporate security, but I wanted to see her again. I just didn’t think that was happening.

I leaned back on the gurney. It had been a hell of a day. I’m not sure if I believed everything that had happened. I’m not sure anyone would believe me. The story I would tell would leave them suggesting that I should be checked into the hospital as a patient. I put it aside. Some things you’ll never get to tell. Some things would only be accepted as fiction.

I was woken out of my reverie by my name being called. It got closer. I opened my eyes and sat up just a moment before a beautiful Katie leapt into my arms. I began to say something, but it was smothered by the immediate kiss she gave me. I had been kissed before, but it never had been like this. Of all the kisses I had in my life, this was the most perfect. Not perfect technique. This was sloppy, urgent, indulgent. She kissed like this was the last kiss she’d ever have, and I kissed back like I would never get the chance again. Maybe that was true. All I knew was after a timeless moment that was over too quickly, she pulled away, her beautiful eyes watching me, a satisfied smile on her face.

Then she ran back to her corporate handlers, appearing to receive yet another lecture for taking even a moment to talk to me. They led her to an expensive luxury car before driving off. I watched the car as long as I could before it disappeared down the hill and past smoking ruins.

I sat back with a satisfied smile, for just a brief moment acknowledging something that I would not admit to myself later. Something I would admit only in the darkest nights when I was the loneliest. On the most dangerous of jobs I might acknowledge it, when my life would be in danger it might pass through my mind. It was something that I knew was true but I would wish wasn’t. I might deny it and never admit it, but at this moment, I knew it was very true and I didn’t try to hide it.

I am in love with her.

About the Author

Dennis Liggio
is the author of eight books, including the Damned Lies series, The Lost and the Damned, and the novella Cthulhu, Private Investigator. He is a veteran of the game industry, enjoys long walks on the beach while thumbing through tomes of unspeakable evil, and rumor has it that if you say his name three times in front of a mirror at midnight he will appear and give you Hostess Fruit Pies. He writes primarily in the genres of geeky absurdist humor, horror, and urban fantasy. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and two furry monsters.

www.dennisliggio.com

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Books by Dennis Liggio

Voices of Madness

WHAT IF GOD WENT MAD?

Compelled by screaming voices, sorcerer William Drake travels across America in a desperate attempt to resurrect a god. His activities disrupt the lives of four unlikely heroes - an armchair occultist, a Taoist exorcist, a college dropout, and a punk rock musician - who band together in an awkward alliance to thwart his plan.

Will they stop him in time? Or will the voices succeed in compelling their puppet Drake to do the unthinkable?

Find out in this standalone prequel to
The Lost and the Damned!

Cowards and Killers

"In the end, most of humanity are one of two things: cowards or killers."

When Michael died, there was no eternal rest waiting for him. He woke up in his own bed and started receiving calls from a mysterious voice. That voice has a deal for him: become their assassin and kill the targets they ask him to. Refuse and they'll remove the power that keeps him in the world... and he'll go straight to Hell, as was intended after he died.

He accepts their deal but never stops hating himself for accepting. In a black suit that conceals his identity and a black gun that never runs out of bullets, he kills when they tell him to do. However, he is not alone; there are other agents with the same dilemma. They all get calls from the voice and must kill their targets before the timer winds down.

But Michael won't accept his fate. Together with another agent, he plots to rebel against the voice and the deal. But can they really fight against their fate when the voice holds all the cards? With each kill, their humanity is slipping away. Is there a way to escape this dilemma, or do all roads lead to Hell?

I Kill Monsters -
Coming Soon!

Mikkel and Szandor kill monsters. They're not government funded, they're not from a time-honored lineage of hunters, nor are they rich kids with lots of toys. They're two twenty-something brothers from the poor side of town who have taken it on themselves to rid the streets and underground of creatures who would prey on the innocent. Donning gas masks and using makeshift weaponry, they delve into the labyrinthine sewer system of New Avalon to grapple with snarling zombies, flesh-eating ghouls, insectoid hive creatures, and more. It's a dirty job and it rarely pays, but someone has to do it.

Hired by a woman from the rich side of town who believes she's being stalked by monsters, the two brothers think they've finally gotten an easy job that will pay well. But as they follow the clues, things are not adding up. Kidnappings, jackbooted commandos, and mysterious emails are just the beginning. Soon they find themselves involved in something bigger than monsters. It's anybody's guess whether they'll come through it alive, much less get paid.

I Kill Monsters is an exciting punk rock urban fantasy for those who enjoy their protagonists with a mouth on them and a weapon in their hands.

Damned Lies

Damned Lies is the true story of things that never happened. It is a fictional memoir of fantastic events. It is a chronicle of self-cloning, of adventure, of magic, of bare-fisted hobo boxing tournaments, of zombies, and more. It's the autobiography of a wild summer adventure out beyond the fields we know. It's the secret of what's hidden in a government bunker, it's the story of helping a nun with a crossbow hunt a vampire, it's the explanation of why you can't have that death ray you really wanted. It's a cautionary tale of just why cloning yourself is a really terrible idea.

Damned Lies is a big fish story for those who don't fish. It's a shaggy dog story for cat lovers. It's the scifi fantasy humor memoir we'll all wish we dictated on our deathbed. It's why we can't have nice things.

Damned Lies Strike Back

Clones! Monsters! Cursed swords! College mayhem! Mystery gangs! Epic battles! Magic! Cults! Giant robots! More explosions!

Damned Lies are back with another group of COMPLETELY TRUE tales of everyone's favorite snarky narrator! Still dealing with clone issues from the last book, the narrator and his trusted friends Bruce and Becky are trying to uncover and thwart his double's plans to usher in the apocalypse. Meanwhile he recollects his first year at college and the gang of friends he assembles to thwart the nefarious plot of a college professor. This time the stakes are higher and the action even more over the

Damned Lies of the Dead 3D

Zombie outbreak! Hand to hand combat! Crossbows! Ghosts! Paranormal Investigators! Conspiracies! Even more explosions!

The third book in the series centers on the government-disavowed zombie outbreak in Austin, Texas of 1995. When the dead begin to walk, can a ragtag group of college students escape the city before they are trapped by a ravenous horde of the undead? Meanwhile, a certain someone is wandering the afterlife, looking for a way to return.

Cthulhu, Private Investigator

Cthulhu's partner, Dagon, has been found floating dead in the water at the docks. The Elder Gods have given him three days to find Dagon's killer, or Cthulhu is going to take the fall for it. Starting on the trail of a femme fatale that had hired Dagon, Cthulhu begins searching for the Pnakotic manuscripts and finds himself on everyone's hitlist. Navigating a web of lies and betrayal, he becomes involved with a rogue's gallery of untrustworthy Old Ones who are after the coveted Silver Key. As things hurtle towards their inevitable confusion, he discovers to what deadly lengths the others will go to obtain the Key.