The Massacre Mechanism (The Downwinders Book 5) (7 page)

Hey,
what’s he doing?
Sagan asked, stopping and turning again to look at Daniel.

I think I
know how you can get at one of those animated bodies,
Winn said to Sagan.
Look.

Winn held
his hand slightly open, pulled back from his body at an angle that made it
difficult for Sagan to see. Sagan took a couple more steps, and Daniel
hurriedly transferred residue with the dropper.

What is
it?
Sagan asked.

How about
now?
Winn asked
Daniel.

Fifty
percent,
Daniel
replied.
Looks good, nice and stable.

What
looks good?
Sagan
asked, turning, watching Daniel with the dropper. He turned back to Winn.
I
want to know what he’s doing!
he said, pointing to Daniel behind him.

Never
mind about him,
Winn
said.
You’ll want what I’ve got here, trust me.

Sagan
stopped moving, his eyes pinching as he examined Winn.
You’re trying to
trick me,
Sagan said.
You want me to walk. He’s picking up something
where my feet were. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Well, I’m not moving! I’m
not moving another step!

Even if
you could get one of those animated corpses?
Winn asked.
I’ll bet just one of them would save
you dozens and dozens of the dogs and deer in the corner, wouldn’t it? Maybe
hundreds, right? Human blood goes a lot further with a cave spirit than dog
blood, doesn’t it?

It does,
Sagan said, his arms folded in front
of his chest.
But that doesn’t mean I believe you.

I suppose
I can just talk to Gale in Littlefield,
Winn said.
I know he’ll want it. Of course, once he finds
out about the supply of corpses in Devil’s Throat, I’m sure he’ll figure out
his own way to retrieve them without my help. Gale’s a lot smarter and a damn
sight more resourceful than you, isn’t he?

I don’t
give a flying fuck about Gale!
Sagan said, his arms still folded across his chest. Winn
could see Daniel still at the ground, ready to suck up the residual from the
next step if he could get the idiot Caller to move.

Of course
you do,
Winn said to
Sagan.
You’re both from the same cave spirit. Things would get real tricky
if your cave spirit came to rely on Gale for blood more than you, wouldn’t it?
Littlefield’s only a few miles from my trailer in Moapa. In fact I can hit
there on my way home this morning, easy. Have a little chat with Gale.

Fuck!
Sagan spat with exasperation.
Alright,
fine, what do you want?

I want
you to walk in front of my friend Daniel here,
Winn answered.
Just take a couple
of steps and then stop.

Sagan turned
and took three steps, then stopped and turned back.
There,
he said with
finality.

Daniel moved
in quickly to collect the residual trailing from the Caller, a faint blue
substance that turned clear and disappeared within seconds. Daniel transferred
the substance to his vial and checked it.

What’s he
collecting?
Sagan
asked.

Apparently
small bits of your smelly ass trail after you move,
Winn said.

Sagan took a
step, catching Daniel off guard.
Damn,
Daniel muttered.
It’s gone.
Missed it.

Again,
Winn said.
Let him collect until
he’s done.

Sagan took
another step, and then another. Daniel was ready this time, and moved quickly
to suck the residue into the dropper and transfer it to the vial. After another
minute of Sagan stepping and Daniel collecting, Daniel stopped and examined the
vial.

Good
enough,
Daniel said.
That should do it.

Goodbye,
Sagan,
Winn said,
turning to leave.

Don’t
forget you said you’d…
Winn heard Sagan shouting as he dropped from the River, effectively cutting
Sagan off mid-sentence. He walked to the stone steps, Awan and Daniel following
right behind. Once they’d all left the basement of the abandoned home, Winn
pulled the plywood back into place and Awan moved the boulder on top of it.

“He seems
like a little prick,” Awan said.

“Couldn’t have
said it better myself,” Winn replied, brushing his hands together. “I’ll have
to come back later and figure out how to get him one of those bodies. As much
as I’d rather not.”

“I need a
flat surface and some quiet,” Daniel said. “The compound is a little tricky.”

“Would the
inside of the Jeep work?” Winn asked as they walked back to the vehicle.

“Yes, but it
can’t move at all while I’m mixing,” Daniel replied. “Can you two wait outside
while I do it?”

“Sure,” Awan
said, noticing light in the eastern sky. “Better be quick.”

Daniel
hopped into the Jeep and the other two watched through the windows as he opened
his satchel and emptied a few vials and instruments onto the seat next to him.
He used a syringe to extract material from the vial of Caller residual, and
injected it into another small dark jar. Then he began adding more liquid and
powder from other vials.

“I could
never get the hang of that stuff,” Awan muttered as they watched.

“What
stuff?” Winn asked.

“You know,
mixing stuff. Powders and compounds. Like a foreign language to me.”

“What do you
concentrate on?” Winn asked. “Anything?”

“No,” Awan
replied. “I’m a generalist, I guess. Nothing seemed to jump out at me.”

“Not time?
Or Callers? Or something Native?”

“Nope,” Awan
said, turning from the window and taking a couple of steps from the Jeep.
“Nothing in particular. It’s all interesting, but I don’t know a lot about any
one thing. You, on the other hand…”

“I’m a
generalist like you,” Winn said, still watching Daniel moving slowly,
deliberately inside the car. “No one thing.”

“Except
vortexes,” Awan said.

“What do you
mean?” Winn asked.

“You have an
interest in them, don’t you? It makes sense you would, that whole thing with
your friend when you were young.”

“They
intrigue me,” Winn answered, “but I’ve never studied them or anything.”

“You’d like
to become one someday,” Awan said calmly.

Winn turned
to look at him. “You’re creeping me out a little, Awan.”

The corners
of Awan’s mouth, normally thin and straight, curled up slightly. “Just
something I thought I picked up.”

“Stay out of
my mind,” Winn said. “You don’t want to be poking around in there. Lots of
weird shit.”

“Wasn’t
poking around,” Awan replied. “Just a sense I got when you told your story
about the vorghost and what’s missing in you. But now I’m intrigued about your
mind. Sounds interesting.”

Light was
beginning to wash across the valley as the sun, still minutes from rising over
the mountain in the east, lit the sky to a dim blue. They heard a yelp from
inside the Jeep, and Winn returned his attention to the windows. Inside, Daniel
was lying back in the seat, his body convulsing. Something was pressing out of
his chest, a large, round mass that was causing the cloth of his shirt to bulge
up strangely.

“What the
fuck?” Winn said, staring through the window.

“The
syringe,” Awan said, pointing. “See the syringe in his arm?”

Winn dropped
his gaze from Daniel’s chest to his bare arm, where the needle from a syringe
was dangling, almost bouncing free. Inside the syringe was an inch of glowing
blue fluid.

“He didn’t
get it all in before…” Awan said.

“Before
what?” Winn asked.

“Before
whatever’s trying to come out of him started to come out!”

Winn opened
the door to the Jeep and rushed inside, reaching for the syringe. He grabbed it,
pushing it more deeply into Daniel’s arm so it wouldn’t dislodge. He pressed on
the plunger.

At first
Winn thought the terrifying growl he heard was somehow coming from Daniel’s
throat, but he quickly realized it was from the large, curved object trying to
rise out of Daniel’s chest. The cloth of Daniel’s shirt was tightly stretched
over what looked like a bowling ball or the top of another person’s head. As he
emptied the last of the syringe’s contents into Daniel’s arm, features began to
form through the stretched cloth of Daniel’s shirt; strange, twisted features
that weren’t human. A round depression formed in the cloth surface, bending
inward as if pulled by breath.

A mouth,
Winn thought instinctively,
horrified at what might be emerging. He pulled the needle from the man’s arm
and reached up to slap at Daniel’s face, trying to revive him. “Daniel!” he
shouted, his hand repeatedly hitting the man’s cheeks, hoping for a reaction.

The mound
pressing out of Daniel’s chest began to twist and move, stretching upward as if
a long neck below it was pushing it out. It slid along Winn’s arm, and he felt
the depression in the cloth against his elbow.

Winn moved
out of the seat, away from the rising head. He reached in to slap at Daniel’s
face, hoping to bring him back to consciousness. As he watched, the bulge in
Daniel’s shirt began to slowly recede, the features becoming less distinct as
the stretched cloth loosened.

Once it had
disappeared entirely, Daniel’s eyes fluttered open.

“I blacked
out,” Daniel muttered, looking around him. “I was injecting myself, and I
blacked out.”

“Something
was trying to come out of your chest!” Winn said, pointing at Daniel’s shirt.

The first
streak of light crested over the ridge of the mountain and direct sunlight
began to fall into the valley.

“Close,”
Daniel said. “I thought I had more time, but I must have misjudged it.”

“I found the
syringe in your arm,” Winn said, “only half used. I pumped the rest of it into
you.”

“You saved
my life!” Daniel said, reaching out to grab Winn’s arm. “If you hadn’t done
that, I’d be gone!”

As Winn
helped Daniel from the Jeep, he considered Daniel’s thanks.
He might have
been gone,
he thought,
but something else would have been here, instead.
The three men stood in the desert as the sun began to rise.

“How do you
feel?” Winn asked Daniel.

“Fine, just
tired,” Daniel replied.

“What was
coming out of you?” Winn asked, still concerned.

“I’m
starving,” Daniel replied. “Literally. Can we get something to eat, quick? I’ll
explain, but I need some food.”

“I wouldn’t
mind breakfast,” Awan said. “I’m pretty hungry.”

“Let’s drive
back into Mesquite and get something,” Winn suggested. “Then we’ll get you back
to Indian Springs and your car.”

They piled
into the Jeep. Daniel filled his satchel up with the items he’d removed, and
they drove north.

Awan and
Daniel pounded pancakes as Winn sipped slowly at coffee.

“These are
really good,” Awan said. “Sure you don’t want any?”

“Not feeling
the pancake thing,” Winn replied. “Carma loaded me up on croissants yesterday
and I’m carbed out. Might do some eggs in a bit.”

“They are
good,” Daniel echoed, wolfing down a stack.

“You sure
you’re OK?” Winn asked. “You’re eating those pancakes like a madman.”

Daniel
stopped and placed his fork down. “You’re right,” he replied. “Side effect. I
need to slow down.”

Daniel
paused, seeming to be carried away by another thought.

“What was
trying to come out of you?” Winn asked.

“Did
something try to come out?” Daniel asked. “Oh, that’s right, you said it did. Sorry,
my memory is a little off; I feel like the last hour has been a blur.”

“Where did
you go?” Awan asked. “Why didn’t you finish the injection?”

“The
timeslip had cycled back,” Daniel required. “Time was up. Without the compound
in my system, I wouldn’t have been able to stop it from pulling me into its
differential. I’d have been permanently gone.”

Awan looked
at Winn. “You?”

“Nah,” Winn
replied, and turned to Daniel. “You realize that didn’t make any sense to
either of us, right?”

Daniel
picked his fork back up and began to cut off a small piece of pancake.
“Jargon,” he said. “Sorry.”

“Are we
talking about the same differential as the symbols?” Winn asked.

“No,” Daniel
replied. “I had performed a demonstration at our presentation back at the hotel
in Tonopah for a couple of other enthusiasts. I was sure I had enough compound
to counter the cycleback, but I realized I made a mistake…”

“Cycleback?”
Awan asked.

Daniel took
a deep break. “It’s a little complicated.”

“Try me,”
Awan answered.

“OK,” Daniel
said, holding his fork in the air with a piece of pancake on the end. “The
theory is that there’s an infinite number of universes playing out in parallel
with the one we’re in right now. In those other universes, every possible
difference occurs. There’s one where I fell over with a heart attack ten
seconds ago. There’s one where a man runs into the diner and gives you a
million dollars. Every possible thing you can imagine. You with me?”

“A little
hard to conceptualize,” Winn replied. “But OK.”

“Alright,”
Daniel continued. “Well, you know there’s a little gathering of time
enthusiasts back at the hotel. That’s why I’m down here from Spokane.”

“Yes,” Winn
answered.

“Well, I had
given them a demonstration of a technique I use to initiate a timeslip, which
is a way to move temporarily from this universe to one of the other parallel
universes and back again.”

“No way,”
Awan said. “You’re bullshitting us.”

“No, it
works, I promise you,” Daniel said. “For a brief moment you get to see the
target universe, then you come back.”

“Fuck me!”
Winn said. “That’s unbelievable!”

“How do you
do it?” Awan asked.

“It’s kind
of like a slingshot,” Daniel replied. “You know in space movies when they use
the gravitational force of a planet to slingshot their ship to a new speed and
direction? It’s kind of like that. It starts a cycle that’s like a boomerang;
it speeds out to the target, slows down as it turns around, and then comes
back.”

“So back in
Tonopah you went to an alternative universe?” Awan asked. “Like
Fringe
?”

“Not quite,”
Daniel responded, smiling, and sticking the pancake into his mouth. “It’s not
some place I can stay, or even get much in the way of bearings. I get a
glimpse, then I’m pulled back. And keep in mind, it’s one of an infinite number
of parallel universes; what’s there can be completely chaotic or mind-bending.
For example, what if five seconds from now the building blows up? Or we all liquefy
into puddles? Or a gigantic prehistoric creature breaks down the door and
devours us? Every possible series of events exists out there, as wild as you
can imagine. More than you can imagine.”

“Why do you
do it, then?” Awan asked.

“To prove he
can,” Winn answered.

“Exactly,”
Daniel replied.

“So what was
going on back in the Jeep?” Winn asked.

“The way
this works is, I return to the universe I started from, which I did of course,
but the momentum of the cycle continues, slowed down. It takes about ten hours
to cycle back, but when it does, it tries to pick you back up and carry you
onward. As long as you inject the compound prior to the cycle’s return, it
stops the momentum of the cycle completely when it arrives, and you’re safe.”

“And you
found out you didn’t have any compound?” Awan asked.

“That’s why
I was desperate,” Daniel replied, eating more pancake. “Once I realized I’d
made a mistake, I had to do something. I knew I had some Caller residual back
in Spokane, but I didn’t think I could make it home in time. My best option was
to make some. When I saw someone selling it just an hour away, I thought I’d
try to buy it from them. That’s when you two showed up.”

“But what
was coming out of your chest?” Winn asked.

“What did it
look like?” Daniel asked.

“It was a
head, or a face,” Winn replied, “but not like an animal or human face. It was
twisted.”

“A
hitchhiker,” Daniel muttered. “It found the active cycle and followed it. They
have a habit of latching onto things trying to ride between differentials.”

“A monster?”
Awan asked.

“Possibly,”
Daniel replied. “Some are attracted to the variances created by the timeslip,
and like to feed off it. Others are trying to ride the cycle with you, to get
somewhere.”

“So you
would have been gone,” Winn said, “and that thing would have been here
instead?”

“The cycle
would have taken me into the timeslip, but picking me up would have slowed it
down dramatically,” Daniel replied. “I would have never reached another
universe. I would have been slowly dragged along forever between this one and
who knows what. My body would have gone into a coma.”

“And the
monster?” Winn asked.

“It would
have emerged and stayed here, I guess,” Daniel replied.

“Sounds
dangerous,” Awan said.

“No, I’ve
done it many times, this was the only fuck up,” Daniel replied.

“No, I mean
bringing these hitchhikers into our world,” Awan replied. “Who knows what it
might have been, or have done.”

“Add it to
the lot,” Daniel replied dismissively, taking another bite.

“The lot?”
Winn asked.

“All the
crap that The Dark River brings into existence,” Daniel replied. “The evil they
produce far exceeds any threat these hitchhikers might present. Most of them
die the moment they arrive, anyway.”

Winn looked
at Awan. “Dark River?” he asked Awan.

“I’m not
gonna talk about that,” Awan said, looking down at his plate of food
uncomfortably. “Moving on.”

“Wait, you
know what he’s talking about?” Winn asked Awan. “A Dark River?”

“Not gonna
talk about it,” Awan said, stabbing at his food.

“Why not?”

Awan placed
a forkful of pancake into his mouth and began to chew, not responding.

“Many people
don’t talk about The Dark River,” Daniel said to Winn. “Verboten. Sometimes
it’s a cultural thing.”

“We’re very
familiar with the evils certain cultures inflict upon others,” Awan said.
“That’s plenty for me.”

“Let me
guess, your parents warned you to never talk about it, right?” Daniel asked.

Awan began
to look perturbed. “So what if they did? I’ve done pretty well following the
advice of my parents.”

“I’m not
saying you haven’t,” Daniel replied. “Just pointing out that fear of it is
something that’s taught.”

Winn could
see that Awan’s body was completely tensed up. “I’m fine with talking about
something else,” Winn said, Awan relaxing considerably in response. “That
device you mentioned, Daniel…the one that could help translate the symbols?”

“Yes?”
Daniel asked.

“Do you still
have the picture on your phone?”

Daniel dug
in his pocket, pulling out his phone and swiping through it until he located
the image he’d shown Winn earlier on their drive to Mesquite. Winn took the
phone and studied it.

“It’s so
familiar,” Winn said. “I know I’ve seen something like this before, I just
can’t place it. These pictures are so fragmentary…it’s like I’m looking at
pieces of a puzzle unassembled.”

“Well, keep
in mind the images you’re looking at are of a salvaged mechanism that sat at
the bottom of the ocean for two thousand years,” Daniel said. “It’s hard to
conceive of how it must have looked before it became so deteriorated. But, I
think…” He gestured for Winn to hand the phone back.

Winn passed
the phone and Daniel began swiping and typing. Eventually he turned the phone
back around, showing Winn a new image.

“Here’s an
artist’s attempt to show what they think the entire mechanism looked like
before it was ruined,” Daniel said. “Of course it’s just a guess.”

Winn’s face
lit up as he examined the image. “I know!” he said, rising out of his chair so
quickly he bumped the table, causing the dishes to shake.

“Whoa!” Awan
replied. “Sit back down for a second. What do you know?”

Winn forced
himself to lower into his chair. “I know where I’ve seen it before! This
device!”

“Where?”
Daniel asked, surprised.

“Deem’s
house!” Winn replied. “There was one sitting on the mantel in her living room!”

▪ ▪ ▪

Winn slipped
the key from the lock and replaced it in the hide-a-key tucked behind a
planter. He pushed the back door open, and the three of them slipped inside
Deem’s house.

“Anyone
home?” Winn called, walking into the kitchen. His voice echoed through the
house. “Margie? Virginia?”

“You knocked
for five minutes before we came in,” Daniel said. “I doubt anyone’s here.”

“Just makes
me a little nervous walking in like this,” Winn said. “Deem’s mother was never
my biggest fan.”

“Hello?
Anyone home?” Awan called loudly as they walked out of the kitchen, his voice
bouncing from the walls.

“No table,”
Winn observed, looking at the spot where the dining room table once stood. “Oh,
no…”

Winn rounded
the corner into the living room. Depressions in the carpet marked the spot
where the sofas, coffee tables, and hutches had previously stood.

“No!” Winn
repeated, walking to the mantle above the fireplace. “It was right here!”

“Were they
robbed?” Daniel asked, looking around.

“Moved out,
I’d say,” Awan replied.

“Come on,
help me search the rest of the house,” Winn said, starting for the staircase.
“Check each room carefully!”

They spread
out, moving through the residence, inspecting everywhere. Soon Winn met Daniel
again in the living room. Daniel raised his arms and shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Last time
we were here was, what, two, three months ago?” Winn thought back. “David and I
were in the basement, and Deem was acting as bait upstairs. All the furniture
was still here. But her mother wasn’t — that’s right, she’d gone to spend time
with her sister in Arizona. With Deem not living here anymore, she must have
decided to move her things out. Shit! That device is probably in Arizona now.”

“Maybe not,”
Awan said, walking in from the kitchen with a piece of paper in his hands.
“Look.”

Awan handed
the blue paper to Winn. “St. George Moving and Storage,” Winn read aloud, his
eyes dancing over the NCR form. “It’s a moving receipt, dated six weeks ago.
They scribbled a note at the bottom.”

“What’s it
say?” Daniel asked.

“‘All items
moved to locker 139 at our facility, per your instructions’,” Winn read.
“Shit.”

“It’s just a
little harder to get, that’s all,” Awan said. “Better than everything being in
Arizona.”

“I don’t see
how,” Winn replied, waving the paper. “This place will have security. Guards,
cameras.”

“Cameras are
no problem,” Daniel replied.

“No
problem?” Winn asked. “How?”

“Every
security system records its camera feeds with a time code,” Daniel replied.
“You simply corrupt the time code, and it won’t replay.”

“You know
how to do that?” Awan asked.

Daniel
raised a hand to his chest. “What kind of a time expert would I be if I
couldn’t corrupt simple time code on a hard drive?”