The Pure: Book Three of the Oz Chronicles (5 page)

FIVE

“I slept at the foot of the tree stump
next to the dead orchard. My choice for a place to sleep is not as unusual as
the fact that I slept at all. Sleep is a rare commodity when you are prey.
That’s what we humans were now, prey. We were other creatures’ food and slave
labor. They even hunted us for sport.

“Most of the reason I was able to nod
off is because of the  400-pound gorilla named Ajax that decided to sleep next
to me. The gentle sound of his breathing lulled me to a point where I couldn’t
help but nod off. I felt... at ease. A feeling I didn’t think was possible in
this world.

“If I slept at ease that is not how I
woke up. I awoke to Ajax’s panicked growling. Startled, I popped up from my
slumped over position and wiped the drool from my chin. The dog, Kimball,
barked frantically toward the orchard. What passed for a day in this world had
broken. Everything was cast in violet hue. I scrambled to my feet facing the
direction the two animals faced. I saw nothing, but heard a low, steady chatter
in my head that grew in intensity with every passing minute. I backed away,
stumbling over exposed roots, but never falling.

“‘What?’ I asked Ajax and Kimball. They,
of course, did not answer. They simply continued their hysterics. Ajax pounded
his chest, pock-pock-pock, pock-pock-pock.

“I saw the branches of the dead trees in
the back of the orchard move. An animal, scratch that, a herd of animals was
slowly heading towards us. An animal I had never seen before. The chatter
intensified. I covered my ears, but the noise was inside my head.

“‘Silencers,’ I barely heard a voice
say. I turned to see Lou standing at the ready with her sword.

“‘What?’

“‘Silencers,’ she repeated. ‘Nothing to worry
about. They’re working with us.’

“I shook my head. ‘You mean you. I’m not
working with anybody.’

“She shrugged her shoulders. ‘If that’s
the way you want it.’

“‘I do,’ I said. Ajax was growing more
and more agitated. He huffed and gritted his massive teeth. ‘Your gorilla
doesn’t seem too thrilled,’ I said.

“‘I don’t blame him,’ she said. ‘They
cut out his tongue.’

“She said it with such a nonchalant tone
that I couldn’t believe she’d actually said it. I must have heard her wrong. I
had to have. ‘His tongue?’

“She nodded. ‘They didn’t eat it
though.’

“She said this as if it was a great
gesture of goodwill by the Silencers.

“‘That’s great...’ I stopped
mid-thought. I got my first glimpse of a Silencer. It had a human torso and
head, only the head was upside down. The mouth (where the forehead should be)
appeared to be sewn shut in a dreadful frown. The bottom half of the creature
was a four-legged crab. It bore a single spike at the end of each leg and five
deadly spikes at the end of each hand.

“‘A new one,’ I heard in my head.

“I breathed in and almost choked.

“‘Relax,’ Lou said. ‘I told you they’re
working with us.’

“‘A fresh, delicious tongue,’ a raspy
voice said in my head. ‘I just need a little taste.’

“‘Do they know that?’ I said to Lou,
backing away.

“‘Most of them,’ she smiled.

“If she was joking, I didn’t get it.

“She rolled her eyes. ‘You see that
one?’ She pointed to a Silencer in the middle of the orchard. He looked no
different from the others except for a chain with a tongue hanging around his
neck.

“‘Ye-Yeah,’ I said.

“‘That’s Canter. He’s the leader. He’s
the only one that matters. The rest of them do what he says.’

“The group of about twenty Silencers
reached us. They swayed and sniffed the air. One broke from the pack and
stepped forward. Ajax roared and leapt toward it. Another Silencer advanced.
Ajax pounded the ground, and Kimball’s hackles were up. He barked incessantly.

“‘Wow,’ I said. ‘Y’all work really well
together.’

“‘Ajax! Kimball!’ Lou screamed. ‘Back!’

“Wes and the others (including my crew)
approached from behind us.

“The one Lou called Canter looked me up
and down.

“‘Picked them up last night. Following
your dead-end lead,’ she said with no attempt to hide the irritation in her
voice. “Canter glared at her.

“‘Every lead you’ve given me has been a
dead-end. I’m starting to think you don’t want me to find him.’

“Canter moved forward.

“‘It’s getting harder and harder to
believe you.’

“It was obvious they were having a
conversation, but I couldn’t hear Canter’s half. I turned to others to see if
they could hear the ugly crab-thingy.

“‘None of that,’ Wes said. ‘Damn it now.
Pipe us all in or don’t talk at all.’

“Canter and Wes exchanged a stern look.
The ugly creature then focused on Lou.

“‘Do it,’ she said. There was a pause.
‘Just do it!’

“‘Do not take that tone with me,’ a
voice said in my head. ‘This alliance is held together with the thinnest of
threads. You would be advised not to push me too far.’

“Lou took a deep breath. ‘I... I’m
sorry. It’s just that we need all ears on this. It’s too important.’

“Canter stepped forward, eyes still
zeroed in on Lou. ‘Very well. Keep in mind, General Roy and his swarm are still
officially ruling this world. I can’t guarantee they can’t pick up on this
transmission.’

“‘I haven’t seen a Délon in two weeks,’
Wes said. ‘Word is they’ve lost control of the north and most of the west.’

“‘Wrong,’ Canter replied sharply. ‘Not
lost. Losing. General Roy’s never been more dangerous.’

“Kimball sniffed the ground and
approached the group of Silencers to the right of Canter. They nervously
scampered from him. They looked like a group of fiddler crabs darting across
the beach.

“‘You’re running out of time,’ Canter
said. ‘They’ve captured two more Storytellers. And they hold two Keepers.’

“I turned to Tank and April to see if
they understood the nonsense we were hearing. They both shrugged and then their
eyes widened as if they were suddenly terrified. I turned back to find Canter’s
upside down face just inches from mine.

“‘The new one is a liability,’ he said
fixated on my mouth. “‘I-I-I,’ is all I managed to say.

“‘It’s none of your concern,’ Lou said.

“Canter shifted his attention to her.
‘Everything you do is my concern. You don’t seem to appreciate what I’m
risking.’

“She laughed.

“‘You dare laugh at me,’ he barked
advancing on her. Ajax grunted and stepped in front of her.

“Canter faltered. He examined the ape’s
face and then chuckled hideously. He held out the tongue hanging around his
neck. ‘Missing something?’

“Ajax roared and leapt forward. Kimball
turned and bounded toward them. All hell was about to break loose.

“‘Enough!’ Lou screamed. Ajax and
Kimball instantly heeded her command. ‘We don’t have time for this!’

“Canter chuckled again. ‘Take your
orders, ape.’

“‘Back off, Canter. Don’t think we don’t
know why you’re helping us. If the Délons fall, you’re in control. So, don’t
tell me about the risks you’re taking. Just tell me where to find him!’

“‘Him who?’ I asked without thinking. It
was none of my business, and I didn’t want to make it my business.

“Canter turned to me. ‘Curious boy.’

“I swallowed and shook my head. ‘Not
really.’

“‘Then hold your tongue. Your sweet,
delicious tongue!’

“I could hear the other Silencers smack
their sewn lips. I grit my teeth and fought back the bile.

“‘I told you before,’ Lou said. ‘He’s
none of your concern. Now, I assume you’re here because you have new
information.’

“He slowly turned from me to her. ‘The
Bashir are advancing from the west.’

“‘What’s the Bashir?’ she asked.

“‘Ask your new friend,’ Canter said.

“‘New friend?’ Wes said.

“Lou shot me a sideways glance.

“‘Me,’ I said. I turned to April and
Tank. ‘Or us, rather. He’s talking about us.’

“‘Okay then, what’s the Bashir?’ Lou
asked me. The trust had vanished from her tone.

“‘Ugly cusses,’ Tank said. All eyes
shifted to him. ‘Hard to describe, really. Massive heads. Tusks that curve
back, nearly touch their giant slimy eyeballs. Thick hands the size of Texas
watermelons...’

“‘They stink to high heaven,’ April
added.

“‘Yeah,’ Tank concurred. ‘Big, mean, and
smelly. That about sums it up. Seen one squash a guy like a bug near Memphis.
Guts and mess all over the place...’

“‘We get the point,’ Lou said, her gaze
still fixed on me. “‘That’s a Bashir,’ I said timidly. ‘But I don’t see what
that has to do with me.’

“Canter leaned in and sniffed me. He was
so close he raised goose bumps on my flesh. ‘I know your smell, creyshaw.’
“‘Creyshaw?’ I said backing away. ‘What’s a creyshaw?’ “He laughed. ‘You are a
creyshaw.’

“Back-off, Canter,” Lou said.

“Canter complied and moved to the edge
of the orchard. ‘The Bashir are hunting your creyshaw,’ he said. ‘I told you,
he is trouble.’

“‘What’s a creyshaw?’ I demanded.

“‘We can handle the Bashir,’ Wes said.

“Canter shook his head. ‘Even the Délons
fear the Bashir. They are one of the reasons the Délons are so desperate to
find the Source.’

“‘What’s a creyshaw?’ No one was
listening to me.

“‘What about, Oz?’ Lou asked, her voice
shrill and panicked. She was on the verge of losing her cool.

“Canter took a step in between the first
row of trees in the orchard and turned back. ‘They keep him on the move and
away from the collective. The swarm does not know where he is. Only General Roy
and a few others know. I have agents close to the general. We will know soon
enough.’

“‘You said it yourself, we don’t have
much time,’ she said.

“‘You don’t,’ Canter said walking away.
‘But if you fail, I will merely find another way to get what I want.’

“‘Canter!’ Lou screamed.

“‘Travel east,’ he said. ‘General Roy is
headed toward the coast. I will gather what information I can. Don’t be
surprised if next time we meet, I have news of your Oz’s demise.’

“‘You bring me back that news,’ Lou said
in a hushed tone. ‘I’ll kill you.’

“Canter and the other Silencers laughed.

“In a state of shock, I watched Lou and
Ajax walk away. I caught a glimpse of Wes’s anguished face as he turned and
headed back to the greenhouse. Tank looked at me and shook his head while April
smiled timidly.

“Valerie whistled, and Kimball bolted
towards her. Tyrone looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

“‘Anybody going to tell me what a
creyshaw is?’ I asked.”

***

“‘A creyshaw is a coward,’ Tyrone said.

“‘Or a warrior,’ Valerie added.

“Tyrone rolled his eyes and nodded,
reluctantly agreeing with her. ‘Yeah, yeah, sure, but that never has made sense
to me.’

“April, Tank, Valerie, Tyrone, and I all
sat around a small open pit fire. We were feasting on a meal of canned pears.

“‘Has to mean one or the other,’ Tank
said with a mouth full of pear.

“‘Maybe,’ Valerie answered. ‘Have to ask
the Silencers. It’s their word.’

“April shivered at the thought. ‘I’d
just as soon never see them again. What were those things?’

“‘I don’t know,’ Tyrone said digging a
juicy pear chunk out of his can with a fork. ‘One of the Storytellers thought
it up.’ “‘What is this Storyteller business?’ I asked.

“Valerie looked at me surprised. ‘You
don’t know?’ “I shook my head. ‘Should I?’

“‘It’s why we’re here,’ Tyrone said.
‘Dealing with the monsters and the undead and whatever else is out there. Ain’t
you wondered how we all got here?’

“Tank looked at Tyrone cockeyed.
‘Wondered? That’s all I pretty much do from the time I wake up ‘til I go to
sleep. Only a crazy man don’t wonder.’

“Tyrone smiled. ‘Wonder no more, my
friend. For I have all the answers... Well I have most of them.’

“Valerie shook her head in disapproval.

“‘All right, all right,’ Tyrone said. ‘I
have some answers. Does that work?’ he asked Valerie.

“She smiled. ‘Better.’

“He stuck his tongue out at her in a
show of mock annoyance. Back to me, ‘Check it out,’ he said. ‘There’s these
Storytellers, they were this bunch of retards...’