“It's about damn time!” I said, ducking out of the fray. “I thought I was gonna have to do all the work.”
John followed Jonesy, who was in a full-on struggle with Brett. I turned my attention back to Carson. “Say 'uncle' you troublesome prick.”
“Screw you, Hart.”
I just looked at Clyde, who got it, exerting more pressure on old fire lover.
Carson squealed like a pig. “Ooowww! Tell him to stop.”
“Clyde stop,” I said like I didn't mean it.
Jonesy and Brett were still dueling it out behind me; distinctive meaty thumping sounds of fists swinging.
Interestingly enough, Clyde didn't stop.
“Stop him!”
“Okay. Clyde, stop breaking Carson's hand. For now.”
Clyde took off the pressure, but he let his skeletal hand linger over Carson's.
John came up behind me. “Not that this isn't terrific entertainment, but I want to mention we're not exactly being subtle.”
Uh-huh.
I walked over to Jade. The others zombies stared at me as if I were the single most important thing in the world.
She fell into my arms. “I thought he was going to burn me, Caleb!”
I looked over at Brett and saw that Jonesy had him in an elbow lock. Nice. I guess we couldn't deliver them back all broken; the adults would ask about that.
“Jonesy, get off Brett.”
“Ahhhh!”
“Just do it!”
Jonesy backed off Brett carefully, giving him full eye contact. That was really necessary with Brett, a proven weasel.
Brett stared at me sullenly.
I glanced at one of the zombies over the top of Jade's head, it was a girl zombie.
But I was a believer after Gran and said, “Go watch him,” I pointed to the pile of sullenness that was Brett. The zombie shuffled over there, oops, that was the one with the feet issue.
Brett stood up, fists clenched (I knew that look), and said, “Get your creepers away from me Hart.”
“No, dick-hole. You locked me and Jade in there then tried to beat on me.”
“No, I beat on him,” Jonesy interrupted.
I laughed. “Your butt can just stand there while we deal with Carson.”
The other three zombies stood there, staring blankly at me, waiting for the next directive. Their rotten smell clung to all of us like loose clothing.
I turned to Carson. “Listen, I haven't done anything to you, but you insist on trying to drive me crazy, endangering my girlfriend, and hassling us all. Stop it, or I'm gonna sick my zombies on you.”
The zombies took a step toward Carson, Clyde giving an enthusiastic squeeze. “Not now guys, and girl,” I hurriedly corrected, her eyes almost gone but somehow alive.
The zombie brigade, energetic bunch.
“Not so easy, Hart. You need us.”
Was he high?
“How do you figure, Mason?” Jonesy asked.
“’Cause you've got this hideaway for a reason. I'm thinkin' you're all tryin' to hide from something... or someone. Looks like you're limited on how many of your creepers can help you, right?”
Damn. If he were really dumb, this would be easier.
John said, “Here's the thing. This is like a stalemate, like in chess.” He nodded at Brett. “Why don’t you guys just go away.”
Jade added, “Just go now and leave us alone.” She looked directly at Brett. “You should know better. Caleb helped you.”
“You think he helped me?” Brett barked out a laugh. “What do you think happened after you left?”
We were all quiet.
“He used me like a punching bag. You made it worse not better, Hart. You think you're so damn good. Well, you're not. You need to be put in your place, just like all the other jerks that think their shit don't stink.”
I felt sick. His dad had beat him anyway.
“So your dad's a royal dickhead. You wanna be like him, he's so cool?” Jonesy asked.
“No!” Brett yelled.
“Then stop it Brett. Stop it now,” Jade said quietly.
“Oh, you're all nice now that you're with him.” Brett jerked his chin at me. “But you have bad taste in dudes, Jade.”
“Ah... how is this relevant?” John asked.
Exactly.
Carson squeezed out, “Make this,” he rolled his eyes up to rotting-Clyde, “dead thing let me go and we'll leave you alone, for now.”
“Not good enough. Leave us alone, forever,” I said.
“Fine. Just so you know we're not gonna be friends, ever,” Carson said.
“Yeah, I think we got the enemies thing down.” I looked at Clyde. “Let him go.”
Clyde released Carson.
Carson stumbled and glared at Clyde, who stared unflinchingly back.
“They're not too smart, your zombies,” Carson said.
“Smart enough,”
“Nah, they're dumb,” Brett said, motioning toward Clyde. “But that one is something different.” He moved to stand near Carson.
“Let's split. We'll leave the zombie-lover and his freak friends here. They can get it on in the cave back there in the dark.”
The zombies watched the two with dark intent. I was really betting my residual feelings were leaking some on my zombie horde.
We followed the pair part of the way, then watched them walk the rest. At the gate, Carson turned and flipped us off.
“He's so consistent it's scary,” John said.
“He's always a dick, if that's what ya mean,” Jonesy said.
“Yes, that's what I meant.”
“Are we done yet?” Jade asked.
I looked down at her.
“I think we should fix some stuff before we go.”
“Okay,” John said. “But now that they know where the hideaway is, it's not a secret.”
I shrugged. “Secret enough. Carson's a coward and won't want to get mixed up in a thing where adults might show up.”
“True,” John said.
I check my watch. “We gotta hurry because Jade needs to get back soon.”
“Okay.” Jonesy clapped his hands, and the zombie posse turned to look at him. “Whoa! Hey, Caleb, call the dogs off.”
I laughed. “I don't think they're gonna get ya.”
“Maybe. But I don't want any special attention either.”
In a raspy voice, Clyde asked, “You have need for us this day, master?”
Master?
“Ah... yes, Clyde. Maybe you and,” I gestured vaguely at the others, “can help with our hideaway.” I explained what needed doing.
“This is what you would have of us?” Clyde asked.
“Yeah.”
“This is a small thing, this that you require.”
“Yeah.”
“This magic you have, necromancer, is not a small power. You must think on this thing that you wield.”
He gave me that level stare, his dead eyes holding the weight of his words.
I squirmed under his gaze, feeling uncomfortable.
“I think you need to give old Clyde here the sales pitch,” Jonesy said.
“The what?”
“Tell him why,” Jonesy said.
I turned to Clyde. I couldn't believe I was discussing things with a zombie, but I pressed on. “There are these government dudes who want to take me—”
“The young men we dispatched?” Clyde asked. I became fixated on how when he frowned, the rot froze between his brows.
The zombies were reacting to Clyde too, splitting their attention between us.
I swallowed. “Ah, no. Actually, those guys just want to beat me up and make us all generally miserable.”
A look of confusion came over Clyde's face, at least as far as I was able to tell, since his mouth only had about three teeth and a partial lip.
“They mean you harm without infraction on your part?”
“Kinda… I don't know. Listen, they're jerks, and they don't l
ike me and just enjoy causing trouble. Here's the thing: I need this place to hide, in case these government squirrels are looking for me and I need to escape. Can you and them”—I gestured at the other zombies—“make the tunnel bigger?”
“What, pray tell, do the government rodents wish from you?”
John responded, “I think they want to use Caleb to do bad things for them, like spy-type stuff.”
“Nefarious things?” Clyde asked, a rotten lip plucking in undead amusement.
John nodded. “Yes, exactly those things.”
“What?” Jonesy asked.
“Later,” I hissed.
Jonesy looked offended, he'd get over it.
“Very well,” Clyde said, straightening the lapels of his coat. One came off and fluttered to the ground. He gave a sniff and stepped over the top of it.
He looked over at the zombie group, eying them for almost a full minute. I was just about ready to ask what he was doing when they all shambled over to the freezer. The zombies did the GI Crawl back through the tunnel. Sounds of metal screeching and clanking began.
Jonesy bobbed his head forward and back. “Now this is what I was talking about.”
“Are they lifting those cars?” Jade asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
“They're strong.” She said it like it was a bad thing.
“Yeah, they are.”
“I told you guys to piss off? How come you showed?”
John grinned.
“What?” I asked.
“You weren't answering your pulse, I knew something was wrong.”
“We can't get pulse-signal in there,” I said.
John raised his eyebrows. “For an hour?”
“Yeah, I guess we were in there a while.” I noticed that a fine blush had worked its way up Jade's face, coloring her cheeks pink.
Jonesy said, “You guys getting all cozy in there?”
Jade wanted to die. I wanted to die. Jonesy... what an ass. But, he had saved the day. Choices, choices.
“Anyway,” John said, “let's go by the ice cream shop so we can make a pretense of having done what you said you were going to.”
The zombies plodded back out a few minutes later. We checked, and the tunnel was definitely wider. Even stocky Jonesy could get through easily.
When we came back out, Clyde turned his rotting eyes to me. “Master, put us to rest now that we have completed this task.”
Clyde was a good shot taller than I. I realized the rotting-flesh stench wasn't affecting me much anymore, but my friends stood at a respectful distance. Jade had her hand over her nose, and breathing out of her mouth.
I told Clyde, “I may need you again, because things come up.”
“What things are you referencing?” Clyde asked.
“Things like bad people showing up.”
“Nefarious people?”
“Yeah... them.”
“Indeed,” Clyde said, straightening.
We all left the dump and walked to the cemetery.
Me, the pied piper, trooping ahead and the zombies following; skirting behind the tree line so the observant adult wouldn't get in an accident.
We entered Scenic Cemetery and went to Clyde's grave.
Clyde landed on his grave in a graceful, acrobatic move. The others lay down on theirs. I released the thread that held them to me, reaching out for Jade's hand as I did. I thought, Rest.
And they did.
They appeared luminescent for just a moment, sunlight swirling around them, shimmering. Then, they leaked back into their graves as if they had never been.
Jonesy sighed as if he'd been holding his breath and clapped me on the back. “I'm so glad that you're my friend, dude.”
“I hear that,” John said.
“Me three,” Jade said.
“Hey. How come you didn't whammy me?” I asked John.
“I read up on being a Null. I guess you can shield your abilities.
I’ve been practicing, and this was my big trial run. Of course, it helped that they were all raised before I came. And I was standing away from you when you put them away.”
We all looked at the undisturbed graves. Cool.
“How do you do it? The blocking?” Jade asked.
“Shielding,” John clarified.
“I think about something completely different.”
“Visualizing?” Jonesy asked.
John gave him a surprised look. “Yeah, that's it.”
Jonesy broke out into a huge grin.
“Whatcha thinkin' about, John?”
“Ah-nothing, just something different.”
“Riiiiggghhht. I am sure it's really different.”
A bright blush rushed up John's face. Jade stared. I stared. We waited.
“It's nothing,” he mumbled, glaring at Jonesy.
“It's not nothing. It's a someone,” Jonesy said.
“Come on, let's go get ice cream,” John said, shooting Jonesy the evil eye.
Jonesy winked at Jade and me. I was sure wondering what John was using to shut down the Null in him. It'd be interesting to find out.
We jumped on our bikes and rode to the ice cream shop, the only tame thing we'd done that night.
CHAPTER 27
We perched on stools around a tall, round table. Jade ordered licorice ice cream, which I thought of as “black-tongue” ice cream and possibly the grossest flavor on the planet (and it reminded me of my zombies mouths). Another weird girl thing: Jade got her ice cream in a cup. That was like against a religion somewhere. I didn't know whose, but somebody’s. I had the best flavor, bubblegum, and so did the Js. Well, Jonesy insisted on half ruining his with an additional scoop of of upside-down pineapple (disgusting), but insisted it was the tightest flavor.
How could fruit elevate ice cream in any way?
Jade pulled out her pulse. “I'm going to pulse Andrea and let her know we ran into you guys and we're still at the ice cream shop.”
“She gonna buy that?” Jonesy asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, she figures I'll sit here, staring at Caleb, then with you two showing up, we'd stay longer. And the bonus is I don't have to lie. We did have ice cream, and we did see you guys here.”
“Stare at me?” I asked.
“Yeah, it's like a joke. She thinks that I stare at you when you're around.”
I felt a goofy grin on my face. Jade staring at me… I could get used to that.
We finished up, separated the trash, and slipped out the door.
“Wow, it's hot,” Jonesy said.
“No, it's just that they had the air conditioning in there set on frigid,” Jade said.
The Js and I looked at each other.
“It was perfect in there,” John said.
I nodded.
“Well, I get cold easy and they had the air on and I was eating ice cream,” Jade said giving us a face, see my logic?
We didn't.
It felt like a raging inferno out here and decent in the ice cream shop.
We shrugged, girls.
The Js took off toward their houses, and I got Jade back to hers. On her porch, I leaned in for a quick kiss. Actually, I let my mouth linger on hers just a little bit, then I took off for my place.
Riding up to the front door, I saw Onyx with his nose pressed to the narrow window, tail wagging.
The Boy has returned and made the good word smells in my head. The Dog wagged his tail harder.
I tore open the door and closed it quietly behind me. I gave Onyx's head a good rub. Then, I headed to the kitchen, Onyx on my heels. Mom and Dad were sitting at the table
Thunk, wag-wag.
“Whatcha doing, Parental Units?” I snagged a peanut-butter-chocolate-chip cookie.
“Hey,” Mom said, “those haven't cooled for the jar.”
I paused, cookie halfway to my mouth. “Okay and that makes what sense? Does it matter if I take it from the plate before it goes into the jar or after it's cooled and in it?”
<
br /> “I like the cookies to cool first,” she said. “Then, I've got more cookies to put in the jar. There are less cookies when you vacuum them off the plate before I can put them in their proper place.”
Weird Mom-logic.
I sat there with the cookie in my hand.
“Ugh! Just eat it, but no more.”
Dad grabbed one off the plate. Mom glared at him, but he was spared the cookie-jar speech. She opened the fat blue chef cookie jar and carefully placed the remaining cookies inside. She sprinkled bread crumbs from the ass end of a bread loaf too. Freshness.
I snickered.
Dad raised his brows, his lips twitching. “So what did you and the LeClerc girl do tonight?”
I swallowed my bite of cookie.
“We went to the ice cream shop.”
“On East Hill? Terhune's?”
“Yeah, that one.”
“I liked it when it was Baskin-Robbins,” Mom said.
“Remember Shakey's Pizza?” Dad asked with a wistful not in his voice.
Mom nodded. “Those were the days—all you can eat and we'd just walk over there from KM.”
“Mom, that's a school for derelicts now.”
“Caleb. You understand 'diversified' is more appropriate.”
“Yeah. But derelict sounds cooler.”
“It depends on who's listening, I suppose. I'll admit it's a great adjective,” Mom said.
Was Mom conceding my victory on a non-politically correct word? Or a misappropriated word?
“KM is vo-tech. now, right?” Dad asked Mom.
“Yes.”
“Well, pal, I guess you won't have to worry about the 'derelicts' as you'll be attending KPH.”
Mom frowned. I thought Dad secretly liked my use of spontaneous language.
After supper, I ran upstairs to my clean room. I had saved a cheeseburger chunk in my pocket. It was squished, and the ketchup and mayo were oozing out.
It looked bad.
Onyx wagged his tail.
The Dog smelled something delicious from the Boy.
I shrugged. I was betting the looks wouldn't matter. I was right. He inhaled it.
I laughed. “Was that good, boy? Did you even taste it?”
I fell asleep with a book on my chest and Onyx on the foot of my bed. He'd ignored the spot I had made for him. That was the way I liked it.
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