Contractions. I’m having contractions.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to let them flow. Trell pulled her away from the tree and forced her into a march. She thought of her family and how much she wanted to see them again. She imagined Nick lying in a hospital bed, leads taped to his chest, monitors recording his vital signs. She wanted to sit beside him, kiss his forehead, hold his hand.
And she thought of Sarah, her sweet little girl. Somehow they’d grown apart over the past couple years, and she wished more than anything that she could go back and make it all better. She’d spend more time with her, hug her more often, play dress up, be a little less strict.
I love you, baby. Please stay safe … wherever you are.
The entrance to the cave loomed ahead through a cluster of birch. If Trell got its way, she would die in there … alone, and in the dark. Yet she marched toward Trell’s lair on traitor legs, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Darkness smothered her as she squeezed through the opening, and she knew she had to stay strong. She drew a deep breath and retreated into that secret place in her mind. She told herself that she could do this, that she could put an end to this nightmare.
I know about the amulet, Trell—its origin, its power, the Life Force. I know all of your secrets. And I’m going to kill you. I swear to God, I will.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
No one said much during the drive back to Glenwood. Jay played the radio awhile, tuned to a classic rock station, but Crystal turned it off when the Rolling Stones came on, singing Sympathy for the Devil. “Too close for comfort,” she’d said, and that had been that.
The eastern sky brightened slowly, and as dawn approached, the car cruised along the Mass Pike at just a hair above the legal limit, the miles melting quickly away. At one point, a state police cruiser fell in behind them, blue lights flashing, sirens wailing.
Jay switched on his blinker and began pulling over, but the cop blew past them, apparently en route to some other emergency. Jay exhaled sharply and loosened his grip on the steering wheel. In the back seat, Tim shook his head. “I don’t know if we just got real lucky… or real unlucky.”
Jay’s vote was for the former. If they got arrested, nothing would stand in Trell’s way, and Glenwood would become every bit as desolate as the lost settlement of Freetown. If that cop had pulled them over, Jay could imagine himself drawing the .45 from the waistband of his jeans and leveling it at the cop’s chest.
I can’t let you take us in. You have no idea what’s at stake here.
And if the cop didn’t stand down? Could he bring himself to shoot? Could he take one life to save thousands?
“We’re running low on gas,” Crystal said.
Jay glanced at the gas gauge and nodded. He turned off at the next exit and steered the car into a Shell station. He cut the engine and waved a ten-dollar bill at Crystal. “Mind putting this on pump three?” No sense filling the tank beyond what they needed to get to Glenwood.
She unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for the bill. “You guys want to come with me? Pick out something for breakfast?”
“Why?” Tim asked. “So Jay can take off without us?”
Crystal did her best to appear confused. “What are you talking about?”
“I heard you guys earlier. You’re terrible whisperers, by the way.” He folded his arms. “I’m going to Glenwood.”
“No, you’re not,” Jay said. “Get out of the car. All of you.”
“I’m not leaving,” Tim said. “Trell turned Maria into one of its assassins. And, by now, it’s probably gotten to my parents too. I can’t give up when there might be a chance to save them. Besides, what makes you think we’ll be any safer staying behind? It tracked us here from Glenwood. How do you know it won’t kill us after you drive off?”
“It found us through Maria,” Jay said.
“You don’t think it has some of its assassins driving around looking for us?”
Jay scratched his head. The kid had a point. “What about you, Sarah? Don’t you want to stay with Crystal? She can protect you while Tim and I go into the cave.”
“I’m coming too.” There wasn’t a hint of doubt in her voice.
“You realize this isn’t a game? We’re going into the cave and we might never make it out again.”
“I know,” she said. “But I think our best chance is to stick together.”
Jay shrugged. “All right then. I hope you know what you’re getting yourselves into ... because I sure as hell don’t.”
***
A security checkpoint blocked the road as they crossed the town line into Glenwood. Two National Guard Humvees were parked side by side in opposite directions. For a moment, Jay considered shifting the car into reverse and trying another way into town, but then he noticed that the trucks were empty, the door to the nearest one glistening with blood.
Jay exchanged a glance with Crystal before steering the car onto the shoulder and rolling past the Humvees. They cruised slowly through neighborhoods shrouded in shadows, passing homes that were eerily silent in the predawn gloom. The streets were empty—not a car on the road, not a single pedestrian in sight.
People should be getting ready for work now.
But he didn’t see any lights burning. Not a single one. It seemed as if the entire population of Glenwood had vanished, and he imagined this same location centuries before when the French fur trappers found the settlement of Freetown deserted, all traces of life frozen in time—doors open, wood half cut, place settings laid out for dinners that would never be served.
“Place is like a ghost town,” Tim said.
Jay nodded. Whoever hadn’t fled town was either dead or under Trell’s control. He braked suddenly, swerving to avoid a kid’s bike lying in the middle of the road. Twenty yards farther ahead, a doll lay on its back, its glass eyes staring up at the sky.
“Do you think we’re too late?” Tim asked.
Jay glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “I don’t know.”
They passed through the center of town, through the ghost-like silence, and turned onto the road leading into Elm Street Park. Jay pulled over next to an overgrown field. “Last chance to change your minds.”
“I’m going,” Tim said.
Sarah nodded. “So am I.”
“All right,” Jay said. “But I don’t know who’s crazier—you guys for wanting to go, or me for letting you.”
They climbed out of the car and stretched their legs, the scent of pine wafting out of the forest. It always seemed stronger to Jay after spending time in the city, and he found it oddly comforting, even now. He closed his eyes and turned his face into the breeze. God, it felt good to be alive, good to be aware of the world around him.
Do you really want to do this? Do you really want to die?
But he ignored the voice and focused his attention on the woods before him, on the vast expanse of forest that had stood for centuries, a silent witness to the slaughter of so many. The mountains loomed beyond the trees, basking in the blood-red glimmer of the rising sun. A host of rose-colored clouds scudded across the sky, and Jay thought of a saying he’d first heard years ago: Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky at dawn, sailor be warned.
There’s a storm coming all right. I just hope we’re ready for it.
Sarah’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. “This is where we met,” she said. “Where we first learned each other’s names.”
Jay nodded. He remembered that night well. They had emerged from the woods right over there, just past the white gazebo and the cluster of crooked birch. He’d been so relieved to see the yellowish glow of streetlights, so happy to be away from the smothering darkness of the crowding pines.
“All right,” Jay said. “Let’s get this over with.” He popped the trunk and doled out the weapons, handing the rifle to Tim, the Glock to Crystal, and the stun gun to Sarah. Then he strapped on a holster and slid his dad’s .45 into it. He showed the grenades to
Tim. “Let’s put these in your backpack for safekeeping.”
Tim turned around, and Jay zipped the grenades into the front pocket, tucking them behind the bag of bagels they’d bought at the gas station minimart.
“I’ll try not to fall on them.”
“Probably a good idea,” Jay said, ruffling Tim’s hair. He kneeled down beside Sarah and helped her strap the stun gun into a holster. “You remember how the man showed you to use that?”
She looked at him with her big brown eyes and nodded. “I remember.”
“Good.” He kissed her on the forehead and stood up.
Crystal squeezed his hand. “Let’s get moving.”
Jay nodded. He admired her courage. He admired all of their courage.
***
The forest swallowed them, its dense tangle of trees closing around them like the jaws of some ancient beast. They walked along a narrow dirt path in columns of two—Jay and Tim in the lead, Crystal and Sarah trailing a step or two behind. Dust spiraled up from their heels and drifted through the air like smoke.
Tim walked with the trail map open in front of him, the rifle slung over his right shoulder. “We stay on this path for a mile,” he said. “Then we turn left onto Arrow.”
The morning grew hot as the sun climbed into the sky. Slants of light pierced the canopy and dappled the forest floor in a patchwork of gold. Crickets chirped in the grass—seemingly all around them—and birds flitted from branch to branch, the woods echoing their song.
Just another day to them, Jay thought, wiping sweat from his brow. He scanned the forest, studying the shadows in the deep woods, looking for any sign of trouble. I should’ve come here alone.
Something rifled through the underbrush and streaked into the path ahead of them.
Tim dropped the map and stumbled backward, nearly tripping over Sarah.
Jay drew his gun and leveled it at what turned out to be a squirrel. It twitched its tail at them before darting back into the brush.
Crystal placed a hand over her heart and drew a deep breath, the hollow of her neck glistening with sweat.
Jay bit his lip. A squirrel? How could they expect to stand against Trell if they nearly died from fright when a squirrel crossed their path?
You picked the wrong guy, Samuel. I’m not the hero type.
That’s right, boy. But you’re the drinking type. Just like your old man.
Tim picked up the map and shook it free of dust. “You should have shot it,” he said. “Blown the furry little rat to kingdom come.”
Jay holstered his weapon and wiped sweat from his eyes. God, this weather was crazy—cold one day, hot the next. Typical New England Spring.
They started out again, following the path as it sloped down a hill and curved around a bend. Soon they arrived at a crossroads marked by a weathered wooden sign. Jay could just barely make out the words—black letters painted on white—Arrow Lane.
They drew to a halt and exchanged glances.
“Keep your weapons ready,” Jay whispered.
They crept along more carefully now, sticking close to the tree line, watching and listening for the slightest movement, the slightest sound. No one said a word … not even Tim. The woods were thicker here, the trees crowded together. Underbrush grew in a wild tangle and, in some places, spilled over onto the path. The canopy was denser too, the branches of pine, spruce, and oak joining together to form a screen that shut out the light.
Silence crept in like a fog. Jay couldn’t hear a single cricket, a single bird. It was as if every living creature had fled ... or had been killed. Shadows lurked everywhere, dark things brought to life by the wind through the trees. Jay suddenly felt as if they weren’t alone. Sarah must have felt it too because she drew closer to him and pressed her body against his side. He stroked her head with his free hand, his dad’s .45 clutched in the other.
Give me the strength to protect them. Please, God ... if you’re listening.
He tried to shake the feeling that they were being watched, that they were being hunted, and although he was scanning the area for danger, he didn’t see the thing behind the tree until it was too late.
It pounced on him with such speed that all he saw was a blur of black before hitting the ground. The jolt of the landing knocked the gun from his hand and made his teeth clack together.
Something rock-solid drove into his stomach, and his breath escaped his lungs in a choking whoosh. The thing climbed on top of him, pinning him to the ground, and all Jay saw was a tangled mane of hair as it clawed at his neck and strangled him. He thrashed his body, trying to throw the thing off him, but it was just too strong.
I’m going to die, he thought. Right here on the ground while everyone watches.
But then he heard a searing crackle, caught a whiff of ozone, and the thing tumbled off him. He scrambled to his feet and retrieved his gun from the ground. Then he stepped back and took his first good look at his attacker. “It’s human?”
“I don’t know if I’d call it that anymore,” Tim said, motioning to the crumpled form with Sarah’s stun gun.
Crystal wiped blood from Jay’s cheek. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Just a little freaked out.”
Somewhere through the trees ahead, a twig snapped.
“Quick!” Jay said, “Hide!”
They dropped to the ground and scrambled into the underbrush as a dozen or more of Trell’s assassins loped around the bend—some on all fours, others hunched like mountain gorillas. Their clothes hung in tatters, revealing bodies coated with dirt.
Crystal gasped. “It’s turning them into animals.”
But Jay knew better. It was Trell’s way of humiliating them, Trell’s way of asserting its dominance over the human race.
In the ferns beside him, Jay’s attacker began to stir. But Tim was on it in an instant, zapping it in the neck with the stun gun.
Trell’s assassins shambled down the path, their eyes darting left and right, nostrils flaring. The pack hissed and snorted and drew to a halt just ten yards from their hiding place. The leader paused to sniff the air.
Jay held his breath and lay as still as possible, his belly pressed against the ground. Sweat seeped through his pores and trickled down his ribcage, creating a maddening itch.
Come on, keep going, keep moving.
But the things on the path weren’t ready to leave just yet. They split up and waded into the waist-high underbrush. Jay watched them through a screen of fern. There was no way he and the others could take them all on. He might be able to fire a shot and scatter them, but what if Trell ordered them not to flee? What if it commanded them to fight to the death?
One of the things headed right for them, wearing nothing but a pair of soiled underwear. Jay drew his gun from the holster and had a vision of Steve spinning into the wall, his blood splashing the air.
The thing took another step, and Jay got a better view of its face. His jaw dropped open.
Oh my God … that’s Ron!
The principal of Glenwood High paused, one foot poised above the ground. It tilted its head to the side. Listening. And then all at once, as if orchestrated by some unseen conductor, Trell’s assassins gave voice to a chorus of grunting. The sound rose like a wave into the forest, startling more than a few birds from their perches.
The Ron-thing echoed the grunting before lumbering back to the path, snarling and clenching its fists.
“It’s him,” Sarah whispered. “It’s Samuel.”
Jay spread apart a veil of fern and saw Samuel moving through the pines, that strange blue glow pulsing around him.
“I see him,” Crystal said. “Jay, I can see him!”
“He’s leading them away,” Jay said.
They watched Trell’s assassins retreat into the trees and disappear. After a few minutes, Jay stood up and looked around. They were alone. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
They stayed close to one another as they crept along Arrow Lane,
their eyes sweeping from left to right, searching for whatever horrors might be lurking among the shadows. But they saw nothing.
The trail narrowed as it wound through a dense tangle of brambles and cut through the heart of an old-growth forest. The smell here was earthy, almost mineral-like. Moss grew thick on the sides of rocks and trees, and plump white mushrooms sprang up from dark soil.
An intersection loomed ahead. A sign for Wolf trail hung on a tree at eye level. The faded black lettering reflected a narrow swatch of sunlight that had found its way through a gap in the canopy.
Sarah drew to a halt as they rounded the bend. She pointed to a spot in the woods. “There it is.”
“The cave?” Jay asked.
She nodded. “It was in the dream. Samuel showed me.”
Jay had pictured something bigger, something more ominous—like a yawning black maw carved into a mountain of stone. But this didn’t even look like a cave. It was just two boulders covered in tangled ropes of ivy.
Tim scratched his head. “Looks like a giant Chia Pet.”
Jay detected a blur of motion from the corner of his eye. “Did you guys just see that?” Before anyone could respond, he caught a glimpse of a man slipping behind the boulders. He motioned for the others to get down. “Hand me the stun gun.”
Tim passed it over.
“Be careful,” Sarah said.
“Do you think it saw us?” Crystal whispered.
“I don’t know,” Jay said. “Maybe.”
Tim stood up. “I’m coming with you.”
Jay shook his head. “I need you to stay here and be ready with the rifle.”
“All right,” Tim said, gripping the gun in both hands and taking up position behind a tree.
“Just don’t shoot unless it gets past me.”
“Got it.”
Jay gave him a nod and squeezed Crystal’s hand. “I’ll be back.”
Will you, boy? Will you really?
He stepped into the thicket separating the path from the cave and moved against the wind, using it to conceal the sound of his approach. With the stun gun gripped in his right hand and his Dad’s .45 holstered at his hip, he stole from tree to tree in a low crouch, wincing at every twig that snapped beneath his feet.
Colony of the Lost Page 24
