by Geoff North
Kay finally climbed out from the still pool of river they’d built their camp next to. “No longer than an hour, I guess.” She wrapped a blanket around her body. “She can stay away all night for all I care.”
“Enough of that talk. We’re all that girl has left.”
“She’s safe enough.” Kay slipped back into clean, damp clothes and added a generous amount of wood to their fire. “She’s got a rifle and a horse, plenty of protection against whatever’s out there.”
“Still… I should’ve been the one to go on first patrol. The girl’s never fired a gun in her life.”
“Have you?”
“That isn’t the point. I’m the adult. I’m responsible for both of you.”
Kay wanted to tell her she was more than capable of looking after herself, and so was Angel. But that guilty look had crept back into her Ma’s eyes. She blamed herself for letting Cobe and Willem slip away. Losing Trot had hurt her even more. Now wasn’t the time to start a fight when there was nothing but blame and guilt to spread around. They had come across the river marked on the Lawman’s map sooner than expected. Kay would enjoy this rare twist of luck as long as she could.
Angel rode in a few minutes later with a heavy bundle strapped down behind her. Sara rushed to the horse. “Where have you been, girl?”
“Patrollin’, like I said I was going to do.” She smacked Trot’s rear end. “And look what I found.”
Sara pulled the horse closer to the fire and saw the side of Trot’s sunburned, dusty face. “Gods… is he dead? Did you shoot him?”
Angel laughed and jumped off the horse. “Shit, no, I ain’t stupid.”
Another voice spoke out from the darkness. “And she isn’t a particularly good shot, either.”
Sara reached for the rifle strapped to Angel’s back. The girl pushed her away. “It’s alright, he’s with me.” A man dressed in strange black clothes with a strip of red tied around his neck stepped into the light. His skin was grey and his eyes glowed pink. “His name’s Hank. Says he’s the presence of the high states.”
“President of the United States,” Hank corrected. He raised his hands and approached slowly. “I can take you where you want to go… I can help.”
Chapter 28
“Where’s yer brother?” Lawson asked.
Cobe looked across the fire expecting to see Willem seated in the dirt. “He was just there a minute ago.” He stood up and called his name.
Jenny stepped towards them. “He went off a little ways to relieve himself.”
Lawson reloaded his gun. “You shouldn’t have let him. It ain’t safe out in the dark.”
A voice yelled out. “Lawman!”
He snapped the weapon back to together and whispered. “Eichberg.”
“I have the boy, Lawman.”
Cobe started out in the voice’s direction. Lawson pulled him back to the fire. “Don’t be foolish. He’s tryin’ to separate us, pick us off one by one.”
Lothair spoke again before Cobe could protest. “I’m not interested with children… Not anymore. I only want you.”
“Then come into the light and take me.”
“He’s a hundred feet that way,” Jenny whispered, nodding her head once off to the Lawman’s right.
Lawson pointed his guns there. “You can see that far in the dark?”
“More smell than anything. He’s not alone.”
“Put the guns away, Lawman. I’m travelling with a hundred rollers. They can be quite docile if you have the right touch.” There was a long pause as Lawson considered his options. He couldn’t think of any. “Place your guns back into their holsters,” Lothair continued. He sounded a little closer. “Have Willem’s brother gather the rest of your weapons.”
“Do as he says,” Lawson grumbled.
Cobe went to the saddle bag and removed four handguns. He dropped them in front of the fire next to the Lawman.
Lothair spoke again. “The rifle, too. I know you have one. I’ve been watching.”
Cobe walked slowly to the bundle of supplies wrapped in a blanket next to Dust. The rifle was sitting beneath it. He lifted the weapon and pointed it out into the dark. If I can keep him talking, if I can figure out roughly where’s he standing…
“I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” Eichberg warned. “There’s a good chance you could blow your brother’s head off instead of mine. And the noise would only agitate the rollers. You don’t want to agitate the rollers.”
Cobe placed the rifle down on top of the hand guns.
“Smart decision. Now I want the three of you to walk away from the fire. Jenny will lead you back to Rudd. Wait there, and I may let Willem live.”
Lawson yelled out. “Why not just finish us off now? You’ve got a herd of gawdamn rollers!”
“Too fast,” Lothair replied. “Too merciful. I’ve waited a long time to catch up to you, Lawman. I can wait a few more hours and see this done right.”
Lawson looked helplessly at Cobe and Jenny. “We gotta do as he says. At least for the time being.”
Cobe stepped further into the shadows. “We’ll go to Rudd, but we’re taking Willem with us!”
Another long pause.
“I don’t think so. I’ve lived too long a life to be that trusting. Your pathetic little group has slipped through my fingers before. I want assurances… I want to be sure you’ll cooperate this time.”
Lawson went to Dust.
“The horses stay there, Lawman.”
“The fucking horses come with me!”
There was no more discussion. Jenny started towards Rudd, and Lawson led the animals out into the night behind her without any more challenge. Cobe took one last look at the guns sitting in the dirt and followed.
***
Willem’s hand was tied to his feet. He tried twisting it around so his fingers were closer to the knot. Lothair was sitting across the fire where Willem’s brother had been six hours earlier. He was studying the Lawman’s guns intently. “Don’t bother. The knot is too tight.”
“Could you at least loosen it some? It hurts real bad.”
“No.”
Willem kept twisting. “The Lawman’s got more guns. He’s got a couple hidden in his boots, and one tucked in the seat of his pants.”
“No he doesn’t.”
“How would you know? Can you see through stuff?”
“No. I don’t have x-ray vision.”
“What’s that?”
“Never mind. Go back to your struggles.”
Willem did so for a few more minutes, but finally gave up. Even if his fingers were turned in the right direction they still wouldn’t be able to reach the knot. He had gotten on just fine in his young life with one hand, but there were certain situations that required two. “Are you going to kill me?”
“Yes.”
“Before or after you’re done with the Lawman?”
Lothair finally looked up from the guns. “That’s a surprisingly good question.”
“So what’s the fuckin’ answer?”
“You will remain alive until I’m sure the Lawman can’t trick his way out of what he has coming. He is responsible for the deaths of thousands of my clients… my people.”
“Them freaks back in Big Hole? They were the ones what had it coming. Freaks and mutants, all of ‘em.”
“Not all of them. Leonard Dutz had a gentle soul.”
“The one that like eating eyeballs? Yeah, he was gentle alright.” Willem started twisting at the rope again. Lothair had let the fire die down, the night had grown cold, and it was still a few hours from sun-up. He needed to keep moving.
“What are you doing, Willem? Are you trying to get under my nerves? You’ll have better luck with that rope around your wrist and feet.”
“Can you at least throw some more wood on the fire?”
“I’m not cold.”
Willem had an idea. It wasn’t much, but there was nothing else. “I have a book, Seein’ as I don’t have mu
ch time left, I thought it might be nice to read a few more pages.”
Lothair looked at him again with more interest. “A book? Show me.”
“Can’t. It’s in my back pocket.”
Lothair stepped around the fire pit and tossed the boy onto his stomach. He found the book after a rough search. “Amos Hannon… Gun Fight in Oklahoma.” He leafed through the first few pages, and Willem winced as the brittle corners broke away. “I’ve never heard of this author.”
“You like books?”
Lothair thought about the hundreds he’d written inside his mind while trapped in his cryogenic canister. “I have an interest, yes.”
“Go on and read it if you want. Don’t matter none to me.”
“I’m not stupid. Attempting to sneak off while I read this drivel won’t work.” The boy looked crushed. “But I’m not opposed to you reading.” Lothair added wood to the fire. When it was roaring hot and bright again he untied the rope cutting into Willem’s skin and handed him the ancient novel. “Go ahead.”
Willem turned to page three, realizing he wouldn’t be able concentrate on a single word. He tried picking up where he’d left off.
“No,” Lothair said softly. He was sitting next to Willem now with the Lawman’s rifle resting on his lap. It was pointed at Willem’s ribs. “Read it to me.”
Willem had never said words from printed pages out loud before. He began slowly, stuttering and unsure. The old warnings that had been pounded into his subconscious about books and reading were difficult to overcome, more so considering what was sitting next to him. Lothair patted his arm and whispered. “Relax and take your time.” He pointed the rifle away.
The Lawman’s story continued.
“Sounded more like a warning.”
“Then take it as such and move on. This town runs on order, and I’ve been appointed to keep that order. The two of you don’t look much like the orderly types.”
A light scrape sounded from under the table. Hannon knew a gun barrel was being pointed in his general direction. The sheriff pulled his weapon out with blinding speed and shot the man in the chest. His brother threw the whiskey bottle at Hannon’s face, and the Lawman batted it out of the air. The man he’d shot tumbled to the floor, his gun clunking down next to him.
Hannon pointed the still-smoking barrel end of his six-shooter into the dead man’s brother’s face. “I knew you two looked familiar… Jake Lassiter.” He glanced down at the corpse. “And his brother, Little Willy. Wanted dead or alive for bank robbery and murder.”
Jake Lassiter held his hands up. “I’ll go peaceably enough, lawman, but don’t go figuring this is over. I got other family… more brothers and sisters and cousins than you could shake a stick at… or point a gun at. They’ll swarm into this town of yours like wildfire before I get hung… Mark my words. You’ll pay for what was done to Willy.”
Amos pulled Lassiter up roughly by the scruff of his collar and steered him towards the saloon doors. “Then we’ll have multiple shootings. More of your family members will hang. Justice will be served.”
Willem lowered the book. He stared into the fire and thought again how much Amos Hannon sounded, looked, and acted like Lawson in his mind. Or how Lawson acted like him.
“Why have you stopped?” Lothair asked.
“How long do I have to do this?”
“Read? Why all night, of course. It’s not a very long book.” He showed Willem the black tablet. “And when you’ve finished, I’ll make you read some more.”
Chapter 29
The sun began to rise, and the Lawman watched, sitting on the edge of the table where Sara had saved his life. It was the same table where he’d sat and ate supper with his daughter for the first time. The walls of Sara’s home had burned to the ground, and the table was the only thing left standing, charred black and cracked in places. Cobe was nearby, shivering away the last of the pre-dawn, and like Lawson, had spent the remaining few hours of night awake and utterly dejected.
Jenny was seated cross-legged on a patch of floor where the rubble had been pushed away. Her back and head were leaned up against one of the table legs. Her eyes were closed. Lawson spoke to her. “Anything?”
There was a long pause. The cryer’s brows furrowed together for a few seconds—one last push into the dream world—and her eyes opened. “Nothing.”
“Is Willem dead?” Cobe asked.
“I can only talk to people in their dreams if they’re willing, it doesn’t mean your brother’s dead. It only means he isn’t sleeping.”
The Lawman kept his eyes trained east. “And Eichberg? I know you can get inside his brain without him having to shut his yes.”
Jenny shook her head. I can sense him… but he’s not allowing me in.”
Lawson folded his arms over his chest to warm up some. “Then we wait a little while longer.”
“Wait for what?” Cobe asked. “For him to bring Willem back in pieces?”
“If he was going to kill him, he would’ve done it by now. Hells, he could’ve finished us all off… No, I reckon he’s trying to break us down some. Demoralize is the word, I think. When he’s ready, and when he thinks were dispirited enough, he’ll send word.”
The night had been painfully cold, but the heat that developed in the late morning and early afternoon made the three long again for the sun to set. It was an unnatural, threatening heat. The kind of oppressive, still swelter that pushed down on your shoulders and back in the total absence of breeze. Jenny constructed a shelter of sorts from the bigger remains of houses that had collapsed during the fire. Cobe and Lawson tried to help, but their efforts didn’t speed things up much. The girl was far stronger, and her endurance seemed limitless. When she’d finished leaning pieces against a chunk of crumbling rock wall, they waited the rest of the day out in a slightly less hot patch of shade, clustered around Dust’s legs.
The blue sky—the only color seemingly left in the world—took on a greyish tinge as evening began to set in. The day’s heat remained. It radiated up from the ground, and continued to bake them as night finally arrived again.
“Ain’t it ever going to cool down?” Cobe asked.
“Probably not. The only thing that’ll break this heat is a storm… a big one.” The Lawman had started smoking a cigarette. He made a pained expression every time he inhaled, as if he was breathing in fire. Cobe had thought more than once to ask the Lawman to roll him one. Seeing how he reacted to it now pushed the consideration from his mind.
Thunder rumbled from the north as if on cue.
Jenny curled up into the ground and closed her eyes. She had gone looking for Lothair again.
“Hope the rain comes soon,” Cobe said quietly. “And not the burning kind.”
“There’ll be more than rain when it comes. Heat like this spawns all kinds of nasty weather—shred winds, dust storms, and twisters.”
Cobe recalled the last time he’d talked about frightening weather. He’d been with Willem, crossing the plains a few miles west of Burn, and heading for the hills. It made his heart ache. The thunder sounded again. Cobe could feel it shake up from the ground under his rear end.
Jenny sat up. “Tomorrow morning… First thing.” She looked at Lawson. “You’re supposed to go alone into the pit where the Rites were held.”
“What’re the chances the two of you will heed my advice and start west this very moment?”
“Not good,” Jenny replied.
“And not without my brother,” Cobe said.
“Then I reckon we should shut our eyes and dream up a way to get that done.” The Lawman went to the sleeping horses and stretched out on the ground. He rested his head against Dust’s belly and tilted his weathered hat down over his eyes.
Chapter 30
2075
Fifteen miles northeast of Plentywood, Montana
One mile beneath Lone Tree Lake
The massive coronal ejection of 2070 had crippled the world. The power grids had overloaded and
shut down. One-hundred and twenty-three nuclear power plants located along the eastern and western coastlines of the United States had melted into the ground and spewed their eternal poison up into the atmosphere. Triple that amount had done likewise throughout Europe, Unified Russia, and south-eastern Asia. Extremist religious groups set off chemical bombs in the already dying cities of New York, Boston, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Moscow.
In five short years, ten billion people had died.
But Hank O’Dell still felt the earth was overpopulated. Two billion remained. They were starving, freezing, living out humanity’s final two or three generations in hopelessness and terror. He wanted to put an end to their suffering.
God had spoken to him, and shown him the way. President O’Dell would be the third leader of the United States to authorize the use of nuclear weapons on populated areas. Truman had ordered two cities destroyed in 1945. Escobar flattened five exactly one hundred years later. Hank proposed something on a much larger scale.
Three-thousand hydrogen bombs in thirty-six counties.
He wanted to wipe the remaining population off the earth and begin again. He met with the leaders of ABZE, and an agreement was reached to freeze the President and his staff throughout a handful of cryogenic facilities spread across the country. The United States would be destroyed, but the idea of government and civilization would survive, frozen underground for fifteen-hundred years—the maximum length of time ABZE could guarantee the facilities would operate un-manned on nuclear-powered batteries.
But the cryogenics company hadn’t become the largest privately owned entity in the world by cooperating with governments and giving away their services for nothing. A heavy price would be paid when the leaders of yesterday were finally revived centuries later. The states would be dissolved, the land split in two. Everything east of North Dakota, all the way down to the southern coast of Texas would remain US land. All the territory west would become a new country, governed by the surviving leaders of ABZE.
