Gone (9 page)

"They," Astrid noted."We've moved on from'God'to'they"'

They reached the highway and stopped.

"Well. That's creepy" Quinn said.

In the middle of the highway was a UPS tractor-trailer The trailer had broken free and was on its side, like a discarded toy. The tractor, the truck part, was still upright, but off to the side of the road. There was a Sebring convertible smashed against the front-The convertible had not fared well-The impact was head-on. The carwas crumpled to about half its usual length. And it had burned.

"The drivers poofed, car driver and truck driver" Quinn said.

"At least no one got hurt," Edilio said.

"Unless there was a kid in the car," Astrid pointed out.

No one suggested checking. Nothing had survived that crash or the subsequent fire. None of them wanted to see if there was a small body in the backseat.

The highway was four lanes, two going each way, not divided, but with a turning lane in the middle. There was always traffic. Even in the middle of the night there was traffic. Now, only silence and emptiness,

Edilio laughed a little shakily. "Tm still expecting some big old truck to come barreling down on us, run us over."

"It Would almost be a relief" Quinn muttered.

Edilio stepped on the pedal, the electric motor whirred* and they eased out onto the highway, skirting around the overturned UPS trailer.

It was an eerie experience. They were going slower than a strong cyclist on a highway where no one ever traveled at less than sixty miles an hour. They crept past a muffler shop and the Jiffy Lube, past a squat office building that housed a lawyer and an accountant. In several places cars from the highway had plowed into parked cars. A convertible was all the way inside the dry cleaner's. It had taken out the plate-glass window. Clothing in plastic wrap lay strewn across the car's hood and into the passenger compartment.

There was a graveyard silence as they drove. The only sound came from the soft rubber tires and the strained whirring of the electric motor.

The town lay to their left. To the right the land rose sharply to a high ridge. The ridge loomed above Perdido Beach, its own sort of wall. The thought had never occurred to Sam so forcefully before that Perdido Beach was already bounded by barriers, by mountains on the north and east, by ocean to the south and west. This road, this silent, empty road, was just about the only way in or out-Ahead was the Chevron station. Sam thought he saw movement there.

"What do you guys think?" he asked, "Maybe they have food. It's a mini-mart, right?" Quinn said. "Pm hungry."

"We should keep going," Astrid said. "Edilio?" Sam pressed.

He shrugged. "I don't want to be paranoid. But, man, who knows?"

Sam said, "I guess I vote for keeping going" Edilio nodded and eased the golf cart to the left side of the road.

"If there are kids there, we smile and wave and say we're in a hurry," Sam said. "Yes, sir," Quinn said.

"Don't pull that, brah. We took a vote," Sam said. "Yeah. Right"

There were clearly people at the Chevron station. A slight breeze carried a torn Doritos bag down the highway toward them, a red and gold tumble weed.

As the golf cart approached, one kid, then another, stepped out into the road. Cookie was the first. The second kid Sam didn't recognize.

"T'sup, Cookie," Sam called out as they drew within twenty yards.

"Tsup, Sam?" Cookie replied.

"Looking for Astrid's little brother, man."

"Hold up" Cookie said. He was carrying a metal baseball bat. The other kid beside him had acroquet mallet with green stripes.

"Nah, man. we're on a mission, we'll catch you later" Sam said. He waved, and Edilio kept his foot on the pedal. They were within a couple of feet and would soon be past.

"Stop them" a voice yelled from the Chevron station. Howard was running and behind him. Ore. Cookie stepped in front of the cart.

"Don't stop" Sam hissed.

"Man, look out," Edilio warned Cookie.

Cookie jumped aside at the last second. The other kid swung his mallet hard. The wood shaft hit the steel pole that supported the cart's awning. The mallet head snapped off and narrowly missed Quinn's head.

Then they were past and Quinn yelled back, "Hey, you almost knocked my head in, jerkwad"

They were maybe thirty feet on and pulling away when Ore yelled, "Catch them, you morons."

Cookie was a big kid, not fast. But the other kid, the one holding the broken mallet, was smaller and quicker. He broke into a sprint. Howard and Ore were farther back, running full out, but Ore was heavy and slow and Howard pulled away from him.

The kid with the mallet caught up to them. "You better stop," he said, panting, running alongside. "I don't think so"Sam said.

"Dude, Pll stab you with this stick" the kid threatened, but he was panting harder He made a weak stab with the shattered end of the mallet.

Sam caught it and twisted it out of his hands. The kid tripped and sprawled. Sam tossed the stick aside contemptuously.

Howard was almost in range, coming up directly behind the cart. Astrid and Quinn watched calmly as Howard pumped hard, skinny arms windmilling. He threw a glance back and realized Ore Wasn't going to catch up.

"Howard, what do you think you're doing, man?" Quinn asked in a perfectly reasonable voice. "YouVe like a dog chasing a truck. What are you going to do if you catch us?"

Howard got the point and slowed down.

Edilio said,"It's a low-speed chase, man. Maybe well be on the news"

That got a nervous laugh.

Five minutes later, no one was laughing. "There's a truck coming up fast," Astrid said. "We need to pull over"

"They won't run us down," Quinn said. "Even Ore's not that crazy"

"They may or may not want to am us down," Astrid said, "but that's a fourteen-year-old driving a Hummer. You really want to be on the road?"

Quinn nodded. "We're in for a pounding"

274 HOURS, 27 MINUTES

THE HUMMER WE AVE D back and forth across the road, but there was no way to pretend it wasn't going to catch them.

"Keep going or pull oft?" Edilio asked. His hands were white-knuckled on the wheel.

"They're going to kick our butts now," Quinn yelled. "We should have just stopped. I told you we should have just stopped, but no"

The Hummer closed the distance with shocking speed.

"They're going to hit us" Astrid yelled.

Quinn jumped off the cart and ran. The Hummer shuddered to a stop. Cookie and the Mallet Kid piled out and went after Quinn.

"Pull over" Sam said. He jumped oft and ran to Quinn'said.

Quinn tried to leap the ditch beside the road, but landed badly. The two thugs were on hirr before he could recover. Cookie pounded him in the back with his list.

Sam made a flying leap al Cookie. He grabbed Cookie in the crook of one arm and yanked him forward with his momentum.

Cookie landed hard on his belly, and Sam rolled free. Cookie had dropped his bat to pound Quinn with his fists, and Sam dived for it. Mallet* Edilio, and Quinn had a brief but violent tussle that left Edilio and Quinn standing and the other kid down. But it had given Ore and Howard time to climb down from the truck.

Ore swung his bat and caught Edilio behind the knees. Edilio dropped like a sack of cement.

Gripping Cookie's bat, Sam raced to get between Ore and Edilio.

"I don't want to fight you" Sam shouted.

"I know you don't want to fight me" Ore said confidently. "Nobody wants to be fighting me"

Astrid came striding up. "All of you stop it" she yelled. Her fists were balled up. There were tears in her eyes. But she was angry, not sad. "We don't need this crap."

Howard slid between Ore and Astrid. "Step off, Astrid, my man Ore has to teach this punk
t
lesson "

"Step oft?" Astrid shot back, "fou don't tell me to step off you .,. you invertebrate."

"Astrid, stay out of this, I got this," Sam said. Edilio tried to stand firm, but he could barely stand at all.

Surprisingly, Ore said, "Hey. Let Astrid talk."

Pumped on adrenaline, Sam almost didn't hear him. But then he processed what Ore had said and kept his mouth shut.

Astrid took a deep breath. Her hair was flying wild. Her face was red. Finally, struggling for calm, she said,"We're not looking for a light"

"Speak for yourself" Cookie muttered.

"This is crazy," Astrid said. "We're just looking for my brother"

Ore's slit eyes narrowed farther "The retard?" "He's autistic," Astrid snapped.

"Yeah. Little Pe-tard," Ore sneered, but he didn't push it-

"You should have stopped, Sammy." Howard made a itsfc-
tsk
sound, shaking his head regretfully.

"That's what I said, and I'm the one who ends up getting pounded?" Quinn gestured wildly, angry at Sam.

Howard nodded toward Quinn, amused."You should have listened to your bro there, Sam. I told you last night, you need to take care of my man Ore"

"Take care of htm? What does thai mean?" Astrid demanded,

Howard turned cold eyes on her. "You have to show Captain Ore some respect, that's what I mean "

"Captain?" Sam resisted the urge to laugh.

Howard stepped close, brave with Ore standing right behind him. "Yeah. Captain. Someone had to step up and take charge, right? You were busy, I guess, maybe surfing or whatever, so Captain Ore volunteered to be in charge"

"in charge of what?" Quinn asked.

"Stopping everybody running crazy, that's what"

"Yeah," Ore agreed.

"Kids were busting everything up, taking anything they wanted," Howard went on. "Yeah."

"And all those booger-eaters, alt those little kids running around, no one to even stop them crying or change their diapers. Ore made sure they were taken care of" Howard grinned a huge grin. "He comforted them. Or at least made sure someone did"

"That's right "Ore said, as if it was the first time he'd heard it put that way.

"No one else wanted to get things under control, so Ore did," Howard said. "And so he is the Captain now, until the adults come back"

"Only they ain't coming back* Ore said.

"That's totally right," Howard said. "What the Captain said."

Sam glanced at Astrid. The truth was, someone needed to get people to stop acting crazy. Ore would not have been Sam's choice for that job. But he didn't want to do it himself.

The fight had mostly gone out of the situation. And now that the two sides were lined up face-to-face, there was no question who would win if it started up again. It was tour to four, but the four bullies included Ore, and he counted for three at least.

"We just want to go look for Little Pete," Sam said finally, swallowing his anger.

"Yeah? If you're looking for something, it's best if you go kind of slow" Howard said with a smirk.

"You want the golf cart," Sam said.

"That's what I'm talking about, Sammy" Howard said, spreading his hands wide in a gesture of conciliation.

"It's, like, people pay taxes, right?" Mallet said. "Exactly," Howard agreed. "It's a tax." "Who are you, anyway?* Astrid challenged Mallet. "Pve never seen you at school" "I go to Coates Academy"

Sam said,"My moms the night nurse up there"

"Not anymore," the kid said.

"Why are you down here?" Astrki again.

"I didn't get along with the kids up there." Mallet tried to toss the line off like it was a joke, but the effect was undermined by the fear in his eyes.

"Are there any adults up there?" Sam asked hopefully.

"Aw," Howard said-"Sammy wants his mommy."

"Take the golf cart," Sam said.

"Don't waste your time trying to look all bad at me. See, I know you, man" Howard said. "School Bus Sam. Mr. Fireman, You go all heroic, but then you disappear. Don't you? It kind of comes and goes wife you. Everyone last night is all, there's Sam? Where's Sam?' And I had to say, 'Well, kids, Sam is off with Astrid the Genius because Sam can't be hanging out with regular people like us. Sam has to go off with his hot blond girlfriend'"

"She's not my girlfriend,"Sam said, and instantly regretted it.

Howard laughed, delighted to have provoked him. "See, Sam, you always got to be in your own little world, too good for everyone, while me and Captain Ore and our boys here, we're always going to be around. You step away, and we step up."

Sam could feel Astrid and Quinn watching, wailing for him lo deny what Howard was saying. Bui what was the point? Sam had feit ihe expectations of so many kids in the plaza, kids wailing for him to ste.> up> like Howard said. And all he had wanted to do was run *way. He had jumped at the chance to go off with Astrid.

Tm bored with this" Ore grunted.

Howard grinned. "Okay, Sam You can go find Little Petard, but when you come back, you better have a nice present for the Captain. Captain runs the FAYZ, man "

"The what?" Astrid asked.

Howard was clearly pleased to be asked. "I came up with that myself. FAYZ. Spelled F-A-Y-Z. It stands for Fallout Alley Youth Zone. Fallout Alley, and nothing but kids"

Howard laughed his mean laugh. "Don't worry, Astrid, it's just a FAYZ, Get it? It's just a FAYZ"

The sun was hot on her face. Lana opened her eyes. Ominous winged shapes floated above her, crossed the sun, floated back. The vultures watched her and waited, confident of a meal.

Her tongue was swollen so that it filled her mouth, almost gagging her. Her lips were cracked. She was dying.

She looked around for the body of her poor dog. He should have been right there beside her. But there was no body.

She heard a familiar bark. "Patrick?"

He came bounding over to her. excited, urging her to come and play.

She lifted her one good arm and touched Patrick's neck. His far was matted with dried blood. She probed where the fatal bite had been. The wound was closed. There was still a scab on the site, but it was no longer bleeding, and judging from Patrick's behavior, he had never felt better,

Had she dreamed it all? No, the dried blood was proof.

She strained to recall her last conscious moments from the night. Had she prayed? Was that it, a miracle? She didn't remember doing that, she wasn't a person who thought about prayer.