Night Beyond The Night (31 page)

He heard a faint sound, breathing, and began to scan his light around the room. He wasn’t worried that a
ganga
lay in wait; they hadn’t that subtlety. Either it was Theo, stalling to see if he was friend or foe—or preparing to assault him—or the man was injured and couldn’t move or speak.

“Lou sent us,” he tried again, scanning the light as he stepped in farther. He felt Jade follow him, and the door close behind her, blocking out any little bit of light that might come from the opening of the mall . . . and the glow from his lighter for any inquisitive
gangas
.

“Here,” came a voice.

Still motioning for Jade to stay back in case it was a trap, Elliott moved toward the voice, around tall metal shelf units that had tipped like rows of dominoes. White Mac boxes of all sizes littered the area, and between the shelves and the boxes, he felt like he was making his way through a maze.

Then Elliott’s light fell on the unmistakable sight of a human figure half obstructed by a huge, metal shelving unit that had crumpled on top of him. The man beneath it was about his age, with short dark hair, long sideburns, and a little stubble on his chin. The guy looked up, then squinted as Jade blasted a flashlight toward him, revealing a wristwatch with a little red light on it and a pack on the floor next to him.

“Where’s Theo Waxnicki?” Elliott asked, flicking off his light. Then he knelt next to the obviously injured man. “Where are you hurt?”

“Who are you?” the man replied, his words grinding out. Then he must have looked up and seen Jade behind him, because he grunted, “Jade. What the hell are you doing here?” He was obviously distressed, but not as much as Elliott, who’d so far received answers to none of his questions.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked again.

“I’m Theo Waxnicki,” said the young man.

“Who the hell are
you
?” Theo Waxnicki asked, looking up at Elliott.

Elliott stopped gawking at the man who was definitely not the seventy-seven years old he’d expected and moved into emergency mode. “Name’s Elliott Drake. Your brother sent me with Jade. He thought you must be injured. I’m a doctor. I—uh—went to Michigan.” He looked at the other man steadily, and waited for the comprehension. “A real doctor. Like . . . from the past.”

With only the illumination from Jade’s flashlight, it was hard to see exactly what was in Theo’s eyes, but it looked like an intelligent gleam settled there. “Awesome, because I can’t move,” he said, gesturing to his legs.

“Can you feel your toes?” he said, already moving to lift the shelving unit. “Jade, help him get out when I lift this.” It was large and unwieldy, but simple to get it up and shove it to the side. He took care to be as silent as possible.

“My toes are wiggling fine. I can feel my legs—ohhh,” Theo groaned. “Son of a bitch, that f—” He cut off whatever he was going to say, and Elliott understood that feeling was surging back into his limbs like a thousand acupuncture needles.

Agony for him, but a really good sign. Thank God. At least he wasn’t going to have to make a decision about healing a paraplegic.

“Gangas
are coming. We’ve got to get the hell out of here,” Elliott said, helping Theo to his feet.

“God, Theo, how long have you been like this?” Jade asked, deep concern in her voice, reaching to touch her friend. “I’m so glad we got your messages, or you could have been here for a lot longer.”

The moaning, groaning
rruuu-uuuth
s sounded like they were getting closer.

“I’ll be able to walk . . . soon,” he said, sagging toward Elliott.

Mainly because he was overcome by curiosity about the man’s youthful appearance, Elliott did a quick, vertical scan of Theo, noticing with interest that his body was just as young inside as it appeared from the outside. And he was, thank God, completely healthy.

There
was
an odd formation near the base of his back, in the fleshy part above the hip, but it didn’t appear to be contributing to any injury. And Theo was right—he should be able to walk soon, for there was nothing seriously wrong with him. A pulled muscle, legs weakened by stasis—he wasn’t certain how long he’d been trapped under the shelves—and lack of food and water were all minor things.

Elliott would have to be careful helping him so that he didn’t absorb the injury himself. Taking care not to touch him directly, skin to skin, or for more than a second at a time. The one thing he’d realized about his healing power was that it took concentration and more than a brief touch to allow the healing energy to sizzle through his body to the patient. Even when he’d “healed” the old man and passed it on to Lenny, he’d been scanning and concentrating on him, not knowing what would happen. It was the getting rid of the injury, the passing it on to some other entity, that seemed to happen uncontrollably, and in a flash.

“They’re getting closer,” Jade said. Her eyes held worry, but not panic.

“This mall is a storage place,” Theo said, his voice thready with pain as he put full weight on his legs. “For the
gangas
. A freaking warehouse for the bastards. I’ve been avoiding them, hiding out here for two days while trying to hack into the Strangers’ Chatter. What the hell are you doing here, Jade?” He reached for his pack on the floor.

“I wasn’t going to let Lou come, you craterhead.”

“We can talk about the whys and hows later, dammit,” Elliott said. “We’ve got to go.”

He offered his hand to help the other man, then changed his mind and grabbed Theo’s shirt-covered arm.

For a geek, Theo was fucking solid, and buff as hell, Elliott noted as he took on part of his weight. The arm that draped over Elliott’s shoulder had a long, serpentine dragon tattooed on it, curling from the hand and wrist up along the forearm, and farther. Definitely the type of guy women liked. Fortunately, he didn’t sense anything but sisterly love from Jade—and vice versa.

“Come on,” Elliott said. He took two steps, then had a thought.

Every storefront in the mall had to have a delivery door at the rear of the backroom that usually opened directly to the outside, or at least to a rear corridor that led outside. They could slip out through that back door and be away from the
gangas
.

“The back door,” Elliott said, more to himself than anyone else. “Jade, I need the flashlight.”

Theo eased away from him, standing weakly under his own power, and said, “It’s blocked. That’s how I managed to get myself trapped for two days.”

“I can move the stuff.”

“No, I mean it’s blocked by a huge concrete slab that must have fallen from the upper level. I already tried,” explained Theo. “The only way out of this store is through the front. But there are other back doors behind other storefronts.”

“They’re getting closer,” Jade said again, urgency in her voice. Her fingers brushed Elliott’s arm in a light caress.

“How many?” Elliott asked, looking at the other man.

“Three dozen or more,” Theo replied. “There are more every time I turn around. They’re either fucking like bunnies and procreating right here, or more are arriving. This has to be some sort of central location for the Strangers too.”

“Either way, it’s going to be tight.”

They left the backroom of the store, navigating around the white boxes. Elliott could fairly feel Theo’s anguish at leaving possibly scavengeable electronics behind, but the other man didn’t say a word. Except maybe a little groan when they passed the miraculously pristine box of a MacBook Pro, but other than that, Theo remained stoic. He seemed to be concentrating on trying to hold up his own weight, a feature that would come in handy . . . about now, because—

He heard a faint whir start up, and immediately a soft yellow glow filled the room.

“Damn,” Theo said. “Someone’s got the generator working again. It’s not powerful enough for the lights to be on full, but this makes things a bit more interesting.”

“I’ll say,” Elliott muttered. He didn’t think
gangas
were that smart, which didn’t bode well for the situation. Was someone else here, helping them?

As they hurried out of the Apple store, Elliott heard a creaky whir, and realized almost immediately what it was. Theo did too, but Jade—who’d probably never seen a working escalator in her life—didn’t.

“Fabulous. Now the
gangas
can chase us up
or
down,” Theo grumbled as Elliott looked up and saw the orange eyes. They glowed from the upper level of the mall, and some of them were already beginning to lurch nervously onto the moving stairs.

It would have been humorous to watch the clumsy, staggering creatures try to navigate onto the rolling steps if Elliott hadn’t noticed another group of orange eyes just across from them. On their level, moving closer. Jade bumped up next to him, and he felt her fingers close around his arm.

He counted at least ten pairs of eyes. And then another dozen or so
gangas
that were lining up to edge their way onto the escalator. “Fuck.”

“More over there,” Jade said, her voice steady. “We’re trapped.”

“There’s a hallway right there, at two o’clock,” muttered Theo. “That’s where we have to go. Holy cats, can you smell those fuckers?”

Yeah. Elliott could definitely smell the rotting, moldy scent. “I have a bottle rocket in my pack,” he said, digging for it. By the time he pulled out the small alcohol-filled bottle with a little rag tied around it, Jade was prepared with the lighter.

“Hurry the fuck up,” Theo said tightly.

Jade held the lighter to the bomb’s wick. The fabric was little more than gauzy cotton, and it burned as quickly as human hair.

“Go,” Elliott ordered, giving Jade a little shove as he measured the distance from the gangas . . .
one . . . two . . . three
!

Elliott pitched the bottle at the group of
gangas
that were on the escalator as he dashed after Theo and Jade, who’d started off along the edge of the mall.

Boom!
The little bomb exploded behind him, and he glanced back to see
gangas
scattering, tumbling, pushing. One of them tipped over the side of the escalator and crashed to the ground. Unfortunately, he got up almost immediately and started staggering toward them with half of his face burned away and an eye sagging from its socket.

Elliott scooped Theo’s arm over his shoulders, relieving Jade’s awkward gait, and they picked up speed. Keeping as much in shadow as possible, they passed two storefronts—BO
DER
and GU SS—and suddenly Elliott ducked inside the second store, pulling Theo with him. They had a few minutes before the
gangas
found them—the Guess store had display windows with backdrops that blocked the interior of the shop, giving them a place to hide until the creatures sniffed them out.

Ruu-uuthhh. Ruuuuuth. . .
.

The sound of their groans echoed in the empty space, eerie and insistent. Closer. The nasty smell of rotting flesh filled the air. This was not good.

“The gate,” Theo said, stopping just inside the entrance and looking up.

But Elliott had already thought of it, and found the chains that lowered the chainmail-like gate that blocked the store from the mall. The flimsy metal wouldn’t last long against the
gangas
, but it would give the three of them a bit more time. It screeched horribly, but he yanked it down and they ducked farther into the store.

“I’ll go to the back and see if I can find the back door. Hold them off while I get it open,” said Theo, grabbing onto one of the T-shaped clothes racks.

“Go,” replied Elliott, already looking around the dim place, then found what he wanted—piles of dusty clothing and the freestanding metal racks that had held them. As Theo started off as quickly as he could, Elliott tossed a lump of clothing at Jade and said, “Burn ’em.”

She nodded, and began to quickly knot the sleeves of the shirts together. This turned them into little bundles of cotton that would be easier to throw.

While she did that, Elliott stood and selected one of the T-shaped clothes stands, moving it within easy reach. There were even little hooks on it for hangers, giving it a mace-like quality that would smash
ganga
brains very well.

Ruu-uuuth. Ruuuuthhhh
.

The
gangas
had reached the gate. It shook and creaked, rattling ominously. It wouldn’t last much longer.
Shit
.

He glanced over his shoulder, hoping for a glimpse of Theo coming back, but there was no sign of him. Then a loud crash from the front rattled the gate, making a noise sing in his ears. “They’re coming, we’ve got to light them,” Jade said.

Without waiting for his agreement, she turned and put the lighter to the edge of a sleeve, where the fabric was thinnest. The fire began to slowly eat the heavy cotton, but not nearly fast enough.
Fuck
.

“The stuff you used for the bombs,” she began, her face intense, but Elliott was already digging into his pack.

He pulled out one of the bottle bombs and, opening the top, he stuck an edge of the shirt down into the alcohol until the corner became damp. This time when Jade lit the shirt, it caught quickly, blazing into the shirt’s fabric. They worked together to light a second, and then a third, fourth, and fifth.

All at once, the gate crashed to the ground in a loud clatter, and the
gangas
began to push their way in. Elliott stood and gripped the metal clothes stand like a skinny baseball bat.

Jade grabbed hold of one of the knotted sleeves, and she winged the blazing bundle out toward the advancing creatures.

It didn’t go very far. At all. And it veered off to the right. “Crap,” she said, reaching for another one.

“You light ’em,” he said, snatching up a shirt flare. He’d tease her about throwing like a girl later. If he had a chance. Unfazed, she grabbed up the alcohol and lighter as he lobbed the flaming bundle at the closest
ganga
, even as he glanced over his shoulder.

Theo, where the hell are you?

Four years of varsity baseball—including one year of all-star
MVP
for pitching—served him well, and Elliott caught the lead
ganga
in the chest. He picked up another one as the leader staggered, flailing jerkily at his suddenly flaming clothing, brushing the blazing packet away from him and onto his companions. Chaos ensued among a small knot of monsters, but Elliott didn’t wait. He whipped another bundle, and another.