CRYERS (25 page)

Chapter 41

Sara had been
wrong about one thing that day. She had believed there would be no meal served
in her home that night, but here they were, gathered around the
operating-supper table. She could have never guessed they would have company.
Lawson sat at one end across from her. Cobe and Willem sat on the side to his
right, Trot and Kay to his left. Sara’s daughter was scrunched up close to her
mother, putting as much space between her and Trot as she possibly could. The
girl wouldn’t make eye contact with the lawman—she couldn’t even turn her head
in that direction.

“I ain’t sat
down with folks for a good meal in an awful long time,” Lawson said. He sopped
a piece of brown bread around the remaining stew in his wooden bowl and smiled
gratefully at Sara. “Makes me think I missed out on the better aspects of
life.”

“Some life,”
Sara said quietly. She offered Cobe another cup of water.

Trot asked if
he could have more stew. He shoveled the first heaping spoonful into his mouth
and started talking between chews. “Thank you for cleaning up my ear, and the
cream for my hands. I feel much better.”

“You’re
welcome,” Sara replied. “I hope you don’t make a habit of following after
Lawson. Sliding down metal ropes and tangling with inbreeds out in the Dirty
Hills…You’ll all end up getting killed with him around.”

They all
stopped eating. Even Trot looked mournfully down into his stew. Tomorrow night
at this time the lawman would more than likely be dead. Cobe, Willem, and Trot
all realized their time was nearing an end as well.

Lawson pushed
away from the table. “If you’ll pardon me.” He went to the window and looked
out into the night. Lode was leaning against a hitching post on the other side
of the street staring back at him.

“I’m sorry,”
Sara said. She stood up and started clearing the table. “You’re all safe here.
You can get a good night’s sleep, and tomorrow…well that’s another day, and
we’ll figure something out when the time comes.”

She tried
sounding optimistic, but it had no effect on the others.

Kay started
helping her. “At least I got to have
one
meal with my Pa.”

Lawson turned
to her but couldn’t think of a thing to say as the girl disappeared into the
back room with an armload of dirty bowls and spoons.

Cobe went to
him and looked out the window. Lode pointed a finger his way and pulled his
thumb back like a pretend gun trigger.

“Don’t let
him get to you,” Lawson said. “That big fucker’s just mad ‘cause he can’t touch
us tonight.”

“You feeling
any better?” Cobe studied the old man’s face. Sara had cleaned his wounds and
stitched him up where the cuts wouldn’t stop bleeding. She’d even bent his
busted nose back into place—or as close into place that was possible.

“I feel
better than I have in years…like a new man.” He’d found a stash of tobacco
somewhere in Sara’s home and was rolling a pinch of it into a brown leaf
between his crooked fingers. He went to the table and pulled his stool towards
the small fireplace a few feet away. “Gather round, boys—it’s time we had one
final talk.”

He lit his
cigarette from the burning end of a small piece of kindling as the others
pulled their stools closer. Willem was already shaking his head. “I don’t wanna
hear it. I don’t wanna listen to you tell us how you’re gonna die all gawdamn
proud tomorrow. Our Pa said the same things the night before he was hung. I
don’t wanna hear it all again.” His voice cracked on the last word.

“Ain’t
nothin’ proud gonna happen tomorrow,” the lawman replied. He blew smoke onto
the dying embers inside the hearth. “I’m weak as shit, and I reckon I’ll go
down fast.”

“So what’s
the point?” Cobe asked. “Can’t you think up some other way to survive the
Rites? What if we snuck out during the night? We can head out the back—Lode
won’t see a thing.”

“Ain’t
nowhere left to go.” Lawson inhaled deeply from his cigarette and coughed.
Smoke puffed from his nostrils and spit leaked out over his lip. He wiped it
away, and took a final drag before flicking the rest into the coals. “The
bridges will be heavily guarded tonight. There’s always a few reluctant
fighters lookin’ fer a way out. Besides, my runnin’ days are done. They’d catch
up to the rest of you soon enough…Nope, we ain’t runnin’ no more.”

Trot showed
them his bandaged hands. He clenched them into fists. “Let me fight for you
then. I’m dumb, but I’m strong.”

The lawman
chuckled. “I don’t think so, Trot.”

Cobe tilted
his head to one side. “You
do
have a
plan, don’t you?”

“It ain’t so
much a plan—more of a settlement of things. The three of you will
walk
away from here when the Rites are
done.”

Willem made
an indecent sound with his tongue. “Tell that to Lode.”

“Lode won’t
have no say in it. When the dust settles tomorrow I want the three of you to
head north. Take Sara and Kay with you. When you think you’ve gone far enough,
swing west and keep goin’ till you get to the ocean. If the five of you stick
together, you just might find Victory Island.”

“You’re
coming with us,” Trot said.

“No. I’m
gonna die tomorrow. Don’t go thinkin’ I’ve given up—I just found out this very
day I have a daughter. I’ll fight like gawdamn wild, but we all know how it’s
gonna end. Even if I somehow win, Lode will finish me on the spot.” He took a
long pause and stared intently at each of them. “Promise you’ll do as I
say—promise me the five of you will stay together and keep yer distance from
them things we woke up back in Big Hole.”

They nodded
their heads in silence.

***

Cobe couldn’t
sleep. His brother and Trot were curled up in front of the fireplace sharing an
old blanket Sara had given them. The fire had gone out hours before, and Cobe
watched the two struggle back and forth for more coverage. Trot would pull the
blanket over his round shoulders and Willem would yank it back seconds later.
After a while he looked back out the window and watched Lode watching him. Did
he ever sleep?

“He’s a nasty
one, isn’t he?”

Cobe jumped
from his stool and saw someone in the gloom padding quietly around Willem and
Trot. “You scared me.”

Kay leaned
against the window frame. “Didn’t mean to. You live in a place long enough, you
get to know where all the squeaks are. I didn’t want to wake them two.”

“You couldn’t
sleep either?”

“Lawson snuck
into our room about an hour ago. He settled in next to my Ma.” Cobe’s eyes
widened. “It ain’t like that…They’re just talking. Thought I’d give them some
space.”

“So the
lawman’s your pa.”

“I guess he
is.”

The moonlight
flooding in made her face glow. She did look a lot like Lawson, but Trot had
said it right; she was softer, younger—and a whole lot prettier. Cobe had been
thinking too much about the girl from Big Hole. It was nice to look at Kay.
This wasn’t some dumb dream without any meaning. This was real. “I’m sorry you
had to find out this way—sorry you’re gonna have to say goodbye for real
tomorrow.”

Kay shrugged.
“I’ve known about him for less than a day. I figure it won’t take long to get
over his passing. It’s not like he’s a nice man or anything.”

Cobe thought
about that. He had looked up to the lawman in a reverent, terrified kind of way
since he was a child. It was only in the last few weeks he’d started to hate
the man. But Lawson had explained his reasons for letting his parents die. It
was Lawson that had set out after Cobe and his brother. He’d saved their lives
more than once, and he was set to sacrifice himself once again at the Rites.
The lawman
wasn’t
a nice man—but he
wasn’t a terrible one either.

“He wants
your ma and you to leave Rudd when this all over.”

“I know…I
heard them whispering about it.”

“What’s she
think of that?”

“She don’t
wanna leave Rudd. It’s the only home she’s ever known.” She looked away from
the moon and stared into Cobe’s eyes. “But I get the feeling she won’t fight
him on it. We’ll be heading north with you tomorrow night at this time.”

Cobe didn’t
want this night to end. It would be Lawson’s last, and he liked the sound of
Kay’s voice. “You ever left this town before?”

“Never been
past the pit…What’s out there?”

What would he
tell her—that the lands were desolate dust bowls belonging to rollers and
howlers? He wondered if her ma had ever told her about the Dirty Hills, and the
family of inbred murderers living in its forests. And then there was Big Hole.
Trot had accidently released the first monster from that ancient, subterranean
village, but it had been Cobe’s idea to run away from Burn with his brother. If
he’d stayed home, those things wouldn’t be after them now. Kay and her ma
wouldn’t have to leave Rudd. The lawman wouldn’t have to die.

“Nothing…There’s
nothing good out there.” Cobe no longer wanted to hear her voice. He didn’t
want to have to lie anymore. He stood up from his stool and stretched his legs.
“It’s gonna be a long day tomorrow. Gods only know how long it’ll be until we
get a chance to sleep again.”

Kay started
away and turned to whisper one last thing. “I been waiting to get outta this
town my whole life. I wish it didn’t have to be this way…but I’m not sorry.”

You will be
, Cobe thought. He waited until she was gone and lay down next to his
brother. He didn’t fight Willem and Trot for a piece of the blanket. Cold or
warm, Cobe figured sleep would be a hard thing to come by.

Chapter 42

The pit was
empty. It had been cleared of most of the mud and rocks that had accumulated
over the last two years, but it still didn’t look like any proper kind of arena
where men fought to the death. There were still ankle-breaking ruts and sharp
nubs of bigger stones poking up through the dirt. Maybe that was the point,
Cobe thought. Why make dying any easier? The workers had finished their part in
it. They sat up in the rocks with their wives and children, talking with
friends, placing bets, and arguing on outcomes. It was a big crowd, or so Cobe
believed. This was the first Rites he’d ever attended. There were around
six-hundred people that called Rudd home, and over half of them were here.

The sun had
risen an hour before but people traveling from Burn were still arriving,
pushing their way through the home crowd, searching for any little bit of bare
stone left to sit on. Word had arrived back in Cobe’s village that Lawson would
be fighting in the last event. Not many men fought in the Rites more than once,
and none of them had a reputation like the lawman. He was respected and feared
in equal parts. A lot of folks had come to cheer him on, and even more were
hoping he would lose.

Rudd’d town
leader—a skinny old runt of a thing named Yaven—walked out into the center of
the pit. The crowd cheered, and the man held his arms up for silence. A gust of
wind lifted the three feet of wispy white hair growing out from the back of his
skull around like a tattered banner. Cobe gathered from the whispered
conversations around him that Yaven had fought in the Rites as a young man.
Size apparently didn’t account for everything.

“Good people
of Rudd!” The crowd fell quiet. “Visitors from Burn!”

Cobe glanced
at his brother, and Willem rolled his eyes. The boys were no longer residents
of any town, but Yaven’s small insult still managed to piss them both off.

“We have
assembled here this morning to witness a glorious and bloody event. Before I
was born…before my father was born…and many generations before him—The Rites
have been held here in this pit every second year. All those other years in
between don’t much matter. The shit-hole they use in Burn can hardly be called
a
true
arena.” That brought a roar of
laughter from the crowd. Someone from Burn stuck up for their home town and
called Yaven a stringy old fuck. Yaven smiled the remark away and gestured for
silence once again. “As in years past, the bouts will be presented in order of
age and ability…That’s to say the most feeble and useless will compete first.”
More laughter. “These preliminary contests may not seem all that important…The
combatants have either volunteered to prove themselves worthy of continued
citizenship in our towns, or they have been selected by their peers to compete.
They are fools, and they are freaks. They are deformed and dumb. But on this
day…on
this day
they deserve our
respect.” There was a long pause in Yaven’s speech as the onlookers from both
villages bowed their heads in solemn thought. “And after the preliminaries—when
the main event takes place—you will be treated to the
very best
our towns have to offer.” He planted his hands on his
hips and did a half-turn for the people to recognize him as one of those past
champions. “The time has come!”

Cobe looked
back over the crowd. Every square inch of rock and boulder was occupied with
men, women, and children. There was even a baby propped up its father’s
shoulders for an optimal view. Cobe no longer regretted his decision for leaving
Burn. His mother had believed in the idea of civilization, but he saw none of
it fostering here. Humanity in larger gatherings was blood-thirsty and
ignorant. He looked forward to taking his chances again with the howlers and
rollers.

Two larger
groups were pushing their way through the trail between boulders at the west
side of the pit. They jostled for room and pushed spectators aside. The town
representatives and trainers had arrived with their first batch of champions.

Yaven saw
them and threw his arms back into the sky. He finished his preamble with the
words most people sitting in the rocks knew by heart. “For Rudd or for Burn—for
Burn or for Rudd…for honor and for love of our land…the Rites have begun!”

People rose
from their seats and roared. A few fell and toppled onto those standing below.
The noise they made was incredible and Cobe saw Trot standing next to him cover
his ears in an attempt to block the sound out. He looked terrified and
confused, but he was the only one.

William
shouted to be heard. “You ain’t never been to the Rites before, Trot?”

“A few
times,” he yelled back. “I keep forgetting how loud it gets.”

Cobe spotted
Sara among the men Rudd had chosen to fight. She would be tending to the
wounded from both villages this year—the task of looking after Burn’s fighters
had fallen on her shoulders since Cobe’s mother was dead. Kay wasn’t with her.
The lawman’s daughter had stayed back in town. The lasts words she’d spoken to
him an hour before still rang in his brain.

Always figured my Pa was dead—don’t need to see
him die today to prove it.

The crowd
drew back, creating a larger circle of trodden dirt for the combatants to trade
blows in. Cobe was pushed back with them. He stepped on something soft and
almost fell backwards. He’d squished a piece of shit in two with his heel, but
there were no dogs inside the pit. They didn’t need dogs here, he thought. The
place was already filled with animals.

Yaven had
disappeared. In his place was the old eyeball-impaler from the day before.
Rudd’s eldest selection stumbled around in the ruts searching for another rock
to use. His opponent walked out and was hailed with curses. Cobe knew the man.
His name was Gil, and he was famous in Burn for being notoriously slow-witted.
The old man saw his challenge and joined in with the swearing audience.

“He’s half my
fucking age and twice as big! I ain’t fightin’ him! I ain’t!”

The crowd
exploded its protests and rocks were hurled at him. Arlo had been an unlikely
champion the day before during practice, but now he was seen as a coward, and
the people from Rudd and Burn were letting him know it. He scooped one of the
stones up and waved it over his head. The crowd approved, and Arlo slowly
advanced on Gil.

One of Gil’s
trainers yelled. “Go easy on him. Go slow, and don’t hit too hard. We’re here
for gawdamn show!”

The man swung
his arm in a lazy arc and connected with Arlo’s neck. Arlo fell into the dirt
and Cobe heard a bone snap. The trainer groaned, and Gil moved in to finish it.
He grabbed one of Arlo’s skinny ankles in two beefy hands and started spinning
him around. Arlo squealed and threw the rock towards Gil’s face. It bounced off
of his forehead and he released the old man into the air.

Blood spilled
into Gil’s eyes as he staggered about the pit looking for his enemy. He found
him eventually, twelve feet away and dying. Gil wasn’t the brightest fighter
Burn had to offer, but he knew what he was there to do. He stomped on Arlo’s
chest with his big feet until the old man was good and dead. He kept on stomping
until the ribs were pulp. A couple of Burn men finally ran out and pulled him
away. People in the rocks applauded—the bout had been shorter than most wanted,
but extremely entertaining.

They would
have to bear witness to four more matches like this, Cobe thought, trying not
to vomit on his brother’s back. Four more gruesome contests before the lawman
took his place at the center of it all. He looked up and saw a boy smaller than
Willem climbing along the highest branch on the tree hanging out over the pit.
He spun around it twice, imitating Arlo’s final moments, and a group of his
friends clustered around the tree’s base laughed.

Cobe dreaded
the day’s end, but it couldn’t come soon enough.

***

Kay was on
the west side of town getting water from the well when she saw the group of
strangers crossing the bridge. If they were folks from Burn coming to see the
Rites then they would be sorely disappointed. It was a few hours past noon and
most of the fighting would already be over. The lawman—her Pa—would more than
likely be preparing for his go in the pit right about now, and these late
travelers would be lucky to even see any of that sorry competition. But people
from Burn wouldn’t be entering Rudd from the west—most people used the southern
bridge between towns and saved half a mile of extra walking.

When the fat
woman ran the last twenty feet of bridge and sank her teeth into the lone
guard’s face, Kay knew these folks weren’t from Burn. These were the ones she’d
overheard Lawson warning her Ma about in the night. She hadn’t heard much—Kay
had felt too uncomfortable eavesdropping on their private whisperings—but she’d
picked up enough to know these strangers were more than dangerous. They were
deadly.

She dropped
the half-filled water bucket and ran for home.

***

“Kill them
all,” Colonel Strope ordered.

Lothair took
a hold of Ivan before he could rush down the first dirty street. “Spread out,
question them first on the whereabouts of the old cowboy, and then kill them.”
The Russian nodded and set after the young girl he’d seen fleeing moments
earlier. She had light, golden hair, and Ivan had always enjoyed pretty young
blondes.

Aleea took
Lenny by the hand and led him in another direction. “Come on, kid, let’s see
what we can find to eat in this dump.”

Lothair
tapped Eunice on her fat shoulder. “Have you had enough yet? We
do
have work here, you know.”

The woman had
eaten most of the soft parts away from the guard’s throat. She was now trying
to jam her fingers deeper into his insides for some bigger organs. “Leave me
alone…I haven’t eaten a thing in over two hours.”

“Go on,”
Strope said to Eichberg. “I’ll stay with Edna.”

“No…I’ll keep
an eye on my grand-daughter. You go find what you can with the others.”

The Colonel
did as he was told and followed after Aleea and Lenny.

Lothair
ignored Eunice’s chewing and tore off one of the guard’s arms. He held the
dripping end of it out towards Edna. “Hungry, my dear?”

Edna was
leaning against her daughter for support. She raked the air in front of her.
“Hung…Hungeeee.”

“She’s
showing improvement,” Lothair said. “Her ability to speak is returning. Pretty
soon the three of us will be able to sit down at a family dinner and discuss
things… Mutual dreams perhaps.”

“She won’t
talk to you—I won’t let her.”

“Where was
the Cryers Project conducted? Which installation…Which state?”

“Fuck you,
gramps.”

Lothair
butted her in the forehead with the stump of dead arm. “What about you, Jenny?
I haven’t seen you eat anything since we brought you back. Aren’t you
starving?”

A bit of cold
blood leaked between her eyes and down the side of her nose. Jenny wiped it
away before it could hit her lips. Her mouth began to water. Edna grabbed the
arm away from her grand-father and chewed ravenously on the fingers.

“It won’t be
much longer now,” Lothair whispered. A scream erupted from one of the homes in
the distance. It sounded as if Ivan had found his first uncooperative resident.
“Soon you will feed like the rest. It’s who you are now…one of us.”