by J. Thorn
***
“I could use the horde to draw him out.”
The stalkers. They avoid that place.
“I know, which is why we must get him to give up. You and your pack are not great enough in number to pursue them through the labyrinth.”
How did the girl know about it?
Major felt an accusation in the unspoken question.
“They have been running for their lives, to the east. The Reversion has pushed them there.”
The wolf licked his teeth and circled back around to survey the hunters. The old man was right.
You have bait he will take?
“I have many tools at my disposal,” said Major, with a smile spreading across his face. “I don’t know if he’ll leave the girl, but he will be disoriented, at the very least.”
Go. I will wait for you. But realize that time here is short, and the Reversion slows for nothing. I will not suffer another cycle by failing Him.
Major nodded and stepped past a throng of the undead as they approached the cave. He tried not to look at their faces as he contemplated a strategy for luring Samuel out with enough time to find what he needed before the alpha male tore the flesh from his bones.
***
What appeared to be a black hole from the outside softened from within. Ancient stalactites and stalagmites bit into the cavernous space. The old rock glowed with a dull, heavy cast of gray light, as if it came from the final throes of a dying sun. The floor of the cave lay covered with a fine powder, dry and unlike the heavy, moist soil of the forest. Passages extended in all directions, heading deeper into the depths of the mountain.
Several of the walls wept. Trickling streams of water followed grooves etched in the stone over eons, the droplets crashing into puddles on the ground like cannon fire echoing throughout the space.
Mara stopped and looked at Samuel as they stood shoulder to shoulder, their backs to the entrance. She looked into his face, shuddering at the pale complexion brought on by the inner glow of the cave. When she turned to look at the cave entrance, she saw the darkness of the locality brought by the Reversion, making it seem like a heavy curtain had been drawn across the last remnants of their world.
Samuel’s eyes met Mara’s. He let his breathing slow while surveying the inside of the cave. The glow of light produced phantom shadows that slithered over the pockmarked stone. He felt the cold, moist, subterranean air on his face and detected the faint aroma of wet limestone. The open passages reached out to Samuel like bony fingers threatening to pull him inside the mountain to an unending maze of labyrinthine tunnels.
“Now what?” he asked her.
Mara looked back to the entrance and then grabbed Samuel’s hand. She jogged to an outcrop of rock against the north wall of the cave, pulling Samuel behind her. She placed her back against the cool wall and then stood upright when it chilled her to the core.
“We can hide,” she replied.
“From who? For how long? I don’t see how—”
Mara cut him off by placing her index finger to his lips.
“The horde hates this place, and I don’t know why. I remember seeing them standing out front before, a long time ago, when I first got here. Kole and I were hiding in the trees, and we saw Major coming out. But the undead, they weren’t in here.”
“What about the wolves?” Samuel asked.
“I don’t know.”
The air within the chamber changed as a slight breeze raised gooseflesh on their arms.
“What’s the point?” The question came from the cave’s entrance, echoing off the walls until reaching their ears in a concurrent reverberation. “You’re only delaying the inevitable,” said Major, his words drawing nearer.
“C’mon,” Mara whispered.
She grabbed Samuel’s hand and sprinted around the side of the outcrop. The two rushed headlong into the nearest tributary and raced through the kinked maze of stone until it ended in a solid wall of rock. Mara turned and ran back toward the main cavern, towing Samuel by the arm. She ducked into another passage, only to end up at another dead end.
“Go ahead and try them all. I’ll wait. But the wolves, eh, not so sure about their level of patience. And the undead, not sure if they even understand the idea any longer.” Major’s voice came through the air with clarity. He was getting closer.
“What do you want?” Samuel asked as he stepped around Mara to face the entrance to the cave.
Major appeared from behind an outcrop. His hair appeared more silvery than it had before. He walked with a lurch, and the headband slipped lower on his forehead, making his eyes forlorn.
“There’s a lot about this place that you don’t know, son.”
“So you’re my father now, my caretaker, is that it?”
Major chuckled and waved a hand in the air.
“You and the girl come out here so we can talk like human beings?” Major asked. “Ain’t like I can do that with the stalkers or the pack now, can I?”
Mara shook her head and tried to pull Samuel toward a third unexplored passage deep under the mountain. He bit his bottom lip and stepped in front of her, pulling his hand from hers.
“Okay.”
“I’m really a business man, Samuel. Once you understand that, I think you’ll find what I have to offer will be a fair trade, one that benefits both parties involved.”
“Don’t trust him, Samuel. He’s devious and manipulating. He belongs here. He deserves to be eaten by that cloud, swallowed by the Reversion.”
“Mara, dear. Such ugly words from such a tragic beauty as yourself.”
“You say you have business with me,” replied Samuel. “Let’s hear it.”
“I wouldn’t have saved you from the alpha male and sent you to the Barren to get rid of you. That would have been a foolish waste of resources and time, neither of which occur in abundance in this shit-hole of a world. Scary to think this is the nicest locality I’ve been in since I started slipping. Not exactly postcard material.”
Samuel scoffed and wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. “You have thirty more seconds before we run headlong into the mountain. If the Reversion is coming, we’ll go on our own terms, with each other. Judging by the ghouls that didn’t follow you in here, and the limp you got going on, I don’t think you’re in a position to chase us down. What do you want, old man?”
“Fine. I’ve made many deals in my time, and I’ve always believed a certain level of civility helped to ease the negotiations.”
“I never said we were negotiating. You’re down to twenty seconds.”
Major stepped forward, distributing his weight on both legs. He looked over a shoulder at the entrance to the cave, where dark coats of fur had begun to pace back and forth at the threshold.
“They’re scared of it. Won’t come in. Yet. The wolves and ghouls will wait, but I won’t. I need to slip again, and you have the talisman to do it. I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t matter—you’re going to slip with me. I’ve done it before, slipping with someone else. It’s risky, sure, but no more risky than remaining here in this dying place. And the girl, well, it would be good business to leave her for the wolves. She’s flickering out, one way or another.”
Mara shivered and reached for Samuel’s hand.
“I don’t even know if I can slip with another. And if I did, why would I take you? I can take Mara with me.”
Major laughed. His voice echoed throughout the cavern and brought a yelp from one of the pack that strayed too close to the entrance.
“And how are you going to do that, Samuel? Tell me. Exactly how are you going to slip into another locality, let alone find a way to take her with you? You may have the talisman, but I have the know-how,” Major said, tapping the side of his head with his index finger. “You got the Dodge Daytona, but I got your keys.” A dark, greasy smile spread across Major’s face.
“You’re an evil son of a bitch,” said Samuel.
“We don’t have time for empt
y insults, young man. You get the knowledge of the slip in return for my ticket and the girl. Take it or leave it.”
Mara growled.
“How do I know you really know how to use the talisman to slip this locality? How can I be sure you’re not tricking me?”
“You don’t!” said Major, fighting the laughter erupting from his mouth. “You can’t be sure. When do you ever get certainty in life? Thought you’d at least wised up to that in your time here.”
Samuel turned and tucked his chin to his chest. He used the back of his hand to caress the side of Mara’s face. She closed her eyes and pulled his hand closer with her own.
“Can you trust me?” he whispered.
Mara nodded without speaking.
“We do it on my terms,” Samuel said, spinning to address Major.
“If we don’t get going soon, there aren’t going to be terms to follow.”
Samuel took a deep breath and nodded at Major.
“First thing you need to do is stand with your arms outstretched, what the boys in Soundgarden used to call a ‘Jesus Christ Pose,’” Major instructed.
Samuel raised an eyebrow.
“I was alive in the ’90s, too,” said Major.
Samuel followed the old man’s instructions. He walked to the center of the open cavern while Mara remained with her back to the limestone.
“Good. Now close your eyes and visualize another place. Think white, sandy beaches and palm trees. Any locality without a fucking cloud would be perfect.”
Samuel closed his eyes, and his face wrinkled as if he were devouring lemons. “I can’t. My mind is racing. I can’t think.”
Major stepped closer and spoke under his breath, so only Samuel could hear. “If you can’t do this, big man, that little tart of yours is going to become a meal for the pack. And you and I won’t be far behind. Close your eyes and try again.”
Samuel clenched his fists and brought them down to his waist before stopping and letting them fall against the sides of his legs. He concentrated, trying to clear his head of the distractions in the cave and the desperation of his situation. The air surrounding him lightened, and he felt a faint breeze blow across his face.
“Don’t open your eyes,” said Major, as if reading his mind. “That’ll break the connection. Keep going.”
Samuel forced his mind clear again, and this time a pinhole of light appeared. He watched it grow behind his eyelids and dart back and forth like a chaser in his vision. Samuel could see the edges becoming fuzzy and rolling back from the center, like sand pulled out by the tide. He lost sensation in his limbs and could no longer tell if he was standing or lying in the limestone dust on the floor the cave. Major’s voice cut through, sounding as if the old man were inside his head.
“You got one, boy! You grabbed on to another locality. Now let it open up and make sure it’s not all brimstone, lake of fire, or any of that other biblical bullshit that keeps Christians in the pews every week.”
Samuel blinked within his vision without opening or closing his eyelids. He watched the center spread until the fuzzy border pushed out to his peripheral vision. Samuel had to remind himself to breathe. He now stood on the shore of a narrow, long lake. The water sat like a sheet of ice, reflecting the towering mass of earth above it as if another mountain existed inside the lake. Tall pine trees bordered water that cut its way through a high mountain pass. Patches of snow clung to the ground in places hidden by shade. He saw the wind push the pine trees, nudging them into each other with a gentle shake. Samuel could not hear a sound in the vision, and he was about to tell Major that he saw no sign of life when a dark dash pinned to a deep blue sky came across his field of vision and stopped at the top of the tallest pine. He watched the bird spread its wings and take flight in the opposite direction, and Samuel was able to identify the hawk in this locality.
“Is it alive?” Major asked within his head.
“What?”
“The locality. Is there a cloud? Is a Reversion coming?”
Samuel went back to his vision, searching the landscape with all of his senses, even ones he did not realize he had.
“Seems okay.”
Major laughed, and Samuel heard the slapping sound of his hands coming together.
“Perfect. The next thing you need to do is focus on a point inside that locality. Find a rock, a tree, something physical that you can latch on to. This is your coordinate for the slip, in a manner of speaking.”
Before Samuel did that, he spun around inside his vision to find the best perspective possible before attempting anything. When he faced the west, Samuel felt it before he saw it. The unmistakable baffle choking the light and life from the sky. He saw tendrils of slate swirling in the blue sky, turning it gray.
“Yeah, this place looks perfect. Let me find us a decent landing pad.”
Major snipped with excitement, and Samuel felt him temporarily exit his mind. He hoped Major would not take it upon himself to serve Mara to the wolves.
“I’m almost ready,” said Samuel. “What’s next?”
“Walk to it. Touch it. Hell, lick it if you have to. Get yourself a physical connection to the object there, which will help target the slip. We won’t land on that fucker, like Plymouth Rock, but we’ll be damn close. Make sure it’s not too close to water. I don’t wanna get my hair wet.”
Samuel realized he could shut Major out, like closing a door or hanging up the phone. He reached out to Mara, still inside the cavern.
“Hey,” he said.
“Samuel?” she asked.
“Listen, and don’t speak. When he gets close, push him in the back.”
“But I don’t know what you mean—”
“Mara. Stop. We don’t have time. When he gets close, push him. Do you understand?”
Samuel felt her head nod. He switched communication from Mara back to Major.
“I think I’m almost ready,” he said to the old man.
“I will not miss the howling of those wretched beasts. And the goddamn horde can rot in hell. Let’s do this.”
Samuel sent a final flash to Mara before opening his eyes. The portal from inside his head now hovered above the ground inside the cave. The opening rose up ten feet and expanded to a length of twelve. He felt as though he was sitting on top of a cloud, looking out of a bay window on another world below. The ambient sunlight spilled from the portal and illuminated the cave, chasing the wolves even farther away from the entrance and forcing their retreat into the forest. Major and Mara held their hands over their faces to protect their eyes from the blazing light they had not experienced for so long.
Mara stepped forward and made eye contact with Samuel. He winked and then turned to face Major.
“Sure is a beauty, eh? I knew once you conjured the portal that nothing would stop you from slipping this locality, not even your little Goth princess over there. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind some young pussy, but even that ain’t enough, right?”
“Just do it,” replied Samuel. “I want out of this filthy place.”
Major nodded and lifted his chin at Mara.
“Let’s go, hon. You belong to the alpha male now. Sammy and I are going to send you a postcard, don’t you worry.”
Mara dropped her head to her chest. When she raised it, tears streamed down her face.
“Can I just look at it for a minute before you two go?”
“I don’t see no harm in that,” Major said, lifting his shoulders at Samuel.
Samuel shrugged and stepped back from the edge of the portal to allow Mara and Major space to step up to it.
“Take a look at that beautiful, virgin land,” said Major, gazing upon the eastern end of the distant locality.
Mara inched forward. She shook her head, more tears following. Major stepped to the side and put an arm around her. He whispered into her ear.
“Could be dinosaurs with eight heads in there somewhere. But you know what ain’t there? This place. This stinking shithole ain’t.”
Major stepped forward and spread his arms as if to embrace the vista. He tilted his head back and let the natural sunlight ease the tight scar tissue on his face.
“Now!” yelled Samuel.
Mara had taken two steps back from the edge and one to the side. She had positioned herself directly behind Major while he was basking in the glow of the portal. With her dark, straggly hair covering all but her piercing eyes, Mara lunged forward with both hands. Her palms struck Major’s black overcoat like a slap to the face. She locked her elbows and extended her arms, driving her weight through the push and forward toward the open portal. Major gasped as the shove knocked the air from his lungs. He stumbled forward and almost regained his balance when his left foot slid on the loose limestone and into the portal. His left leg dropped, and his body torqued to the side as whatever force ruling the portal sucked Major in like gravity would from the precipice of a cliff. Samuel saw the shock and the anger in Major’s eyes as his body slid farther into the portal, alone. His fingers grasped the fuzzy edge of the vortex, and he pulled his chin up to them.
“You fucking liar!” he shouted. “I swear to God I’m coming back for you, you son of a bitch!”
Samuel closed his eyes again. When he reopened them, Mara stood by his side, both of them staring at the cavern wall where an open portal to another locality used to be.
Chapter 14
He will not trick me again.
The hunters from the pack circled their tails, first clockwise, then counterclockwise. Strands of saliva fell from their muzzles, turning the dark soil even darker. Some hunters growled, while others kept their gazes low to avoid signaling a challenge to the alpha male. The wolves’ yellow eyes cut through the darkness with laser precision. The alpha male pulled back from the cave entrance when he no longer felt the elder’s presence, fearful of what it could mean.
He is gone from here. Banished.
The pack kept moving, agitated and weary.
The end arrives soon.
The horde had gathered at a safe distance behind the pack. More creatures emerged from the trees, off the path, and from other hidden places within the locality. They clumped together, swaying back and forth, blotting out the trees and the ground with their swelling numbers. The horde became a living organism comprising thousands of unthinking beings. The edges oscillated like a giant cell membrane. The Reversion kept advancing from the west, raking the horde to the cave like a pile of leaves.
