Sleepers (Book 6)

by Jacqueline Druga

“Is that person you?”

  He had his back turned to me, exhaled, and turned around. “No, Mera, it’s not.”

  “Sit.” I pushed back the chair.

  “Mera…”

  “Sit.”

  Like a sulking child, Alex pulled the chair out more and plopped down. “What?”

  “Why are you so agitated?”

  From under the table, Phoenix spoke up. “Alex mad.”

  He looked under at the boys. “Alex is not mad. Keep playing under there.”

  “Can you play?” Phoenix asked.

  “Sure, count me in.” He returned to me. “I wanted to be out there, not here. No offense to your company.”

  “None taken.”

  “I want to be a help. I want to see things firsthand and not hear about it, after I have some inane psychic conversation about your future romances.”

  “Wow, you are mad. Why are you angry with me?”

  He slumped his shoulders and exhaled. “I’m not. I’m really not. I just get frustrated at times. This whole conversation about Beck rubs me like a bad rash.”

  “Alex you play?” Phoenix called out.

  “Yes,” Alex answered.

  I asked, “Beck or the future?”

  “Damn two way conversation from top of the table to under. Both.”

  “Is that why you shut down when I bring up the baby?” I questioned. “Because I told you, if you want…”

  “I know what you told me, Mera. But I can’t. I can’t be a part of this baby’s life. I can’t say ‘hey call me Dad while your mom is with Beck’, it ain’t gonna happen. I’ll see her. I’ll be Uncle Alex.”

  “Unlike what you project … that’s not how you want it.”

  “You know what? None of this is how I want it. None.”

  “Alex,” softly I reached out and laid my hand on his, “you are an amazing man. You are my world and I love you.”

  “Stop.” He pulled his hand away. “Stop. I know where you’re going with this.”

  “Do you?”

  ‘Yes. And spare me the ‘I love you but not in that way’ speech.”

  “Alex….”

  “Save it. I never said you should be with me, never said I wanted it that way, that I was bitter because you weren’t with me and I never said I was so fucking in love with you it drives me insane. I never—Ow!” Alex screamed, screeched back his chair, and jumped up. “Goddamn it! Who bit my leg?”

  Phoenix peeked out. “We play Sleepers.”

  “Well if you’re gonna play Sleepers, don’t bite people. Goddamn it.” He shook his leg. “You drew blood.”

  Mumbling and grumbling, Alex walked away, came back a second later to snatch his map, and then he continued in his dramatic exit.

  I sat there silent and in shock, torn between laughing over Phoenix biting Alex and speechless over all Alex had just said.

  FIFTEEN – SONNY WILSON

  There would be many things we would pass on the way to Altman’s Home Improvement store. It was the biggest in the county, one of those chain stores and a do-it-yourself guy’s haven. It was also barely touched and contained a lot of what we needed. We hadn’t been at Haven too long, so there wasn’t a need to go there like we did for stores near Grace.

  I already had a mental list of things to do, including hitting the fast food joints for packets of ketchup and hot sauce.

  Altman’s was about twelve miles north, and also east. Miles and I didn’t see a single Sleeper, so it really would be a test of Michael. If he was unable to call them, we really needed to rethink what Ed told us.

  Danny and Ed sat in the back seat with Michael, who looked annoyed. I would be too if I were forced to listen to Neil Sedaka.

  “So, what do you think?” Beck asked.

  I wanted to blurt out that I agreed, but I didn’t hear his question. I was too busy going over my mental list in my mind. “Think about what?’

  “Gas.”

  “What about it?”

  “Is anything we got the last couple of days gonna be any good?”

  “More than likely, no,” I replied. “But the military vehicles really can chew it up without too many problems. I mean, we can find beater cars as well, use the gas in there and not give two shits if we kill the engines. That’s a plan.”

  “A good one, too. I take it you’re thinking about what you need?” Beck asked.

  “Yeah, especially to make the swords.”

  “I haven’t seen any Sleepers. We may not be able to call them.”

  “They may have migrated.”

  “You think?” Beck asked.

  I shrugged, looked out the window. “Beck, stop.”

  “Why?”

  “Look.” I pointed. “A dog.” The thin tan dog, more than likely a mutt, was walking along the side of the road up ahead.

  Beck didn’t slow down.

  “Beck, you can’t leave him. I have not seen a single dog since this thing began.”

  “There’s a reason for that.”

  “Yeah, they’re Sleeper food.”

  “We can’t, Sonny. We don’t know about dogs. Like I said, there’s a reason we haven’t seen any.”

  We drove by the dog and the little fella took off running after us. “Aw, man, Beck. You have to stop. He’s chasing us for help.”

  “Dude,” Danny said from the back, “that’s heartless. You have to get the dog.”

  Beck looked in the review mirror at Ed. “Ed, what do you know about dogs?”

  “I never saw one. I heard of them,” Ed said. “For all we knew they survived but were food for the Sleepers and they went extinct.”

  “See?” I said. “You just made that dog the next grocery store stop. He’s fine now, we’re calling the Sleepers. We’re just handing him over. Poor little guy.”

  “Sonny—”

  “I can’t believe you’re leaving him.”

  “Tell you what, if we see him on the way back, then we’ll get him.”

  “Oh, we’ll see him all right. We’ll see his bones, blood, guts. It’ll be heart wrenching and you’ll feel really bad.”

  Beck hit the brakes. “Get the dog. But he goes in the cab of the truck.”

  “Yes!”

  “Why are we stopping?” Michael said loudly. “And I apologize for my volume. I can’t hear anything with ‘Laughter in the Rain’ playing over and over.”

  Excitedly, I opened the door. Granted, I didn’t think about it at first, however, when I saw the dog barreling my way, I got a little scared. I reached for my knife. The dog jumped at me. It made this happy, whimpering sound of love, wagging not only his tail, but his entire backside.

  “Oh, good boy! You were lonely.”

  I couldn’t help myself, my hand pet that dog like it was my long lost friend. I reached into my coat. “Want some jerky, hungry boy?”

  “Sonny…”

  I ignored Beck and handed the dog the jerky. He didn’t snap for it, he took it gently. “You thirsty, too?” I asked while reaching in the truck for my water bottle.

  “Sonny!” Beck sounded annoyed.

  “Fine. Fine. Wait.”

  I opened the bottle of water, poured some in my hand, and the dog just about destroyed that water. I felt really bad for him.

  “Sonny, now. Put the dog in back and let’s go.”

  “Danny, get up front,” I said. “I’m gonna sit in the back with this dog.”

  “Whatever, Sonny, let’s just go.”

  I walked around to the back of the truck, lowered the gate, and placed the dog inside. After I climbed up, I scooted back, resting against the cab of the truck. The dog snuggled up to me. After closer inspection, I realized the dog wasn’t a puppy. His tags confirmed his age of four years old. “Scout. Your name is Scout. Good name. Good name, boy.”

  Something about finding Scout felt right to me, as if he was going to make a difference somehow. I felt there was a sense of importance about him, although I’m certain the others would think I was nuts.


  <><><><>

  Miles had pried the doors open the day before and we’d left them about two inches apart for easy entrance into the store.

  As soon as we stepped in, Michael gasped in relief when he took off the headphones. “Sonny, please do not tell me part of your invention will involve Neil Sedaka.”

  “Hopefully no music at all,” I said. “Something silent or a hum is the plan, some kind of white noise.”

  “That I can deal with. I couldn’t even think with that song blasting in my head.”

  “Then it worked. We were Sleeper free.”

  “We don’t know for how long,” Beck cautioned. “His head’s been freed, so he’s already inadvertently sending messages. Mike, I need you to call them. Concentrate and call them.”

  “I’ll go outside with Danny. That way if they come I can watch out for him.”

  Beck did a radio check to Danny, who reported all clear, and we proceeded to gather what we needed.

  I found two huge knife sharpening devices while Ed sought out whatever he thought would make the swords, including cutting the metal for them. The handles would be another matter, and it was Beck’s job to be creative on that.

  When Miles and I scoped the area, we did a good two mile circumference and didn’t see a single Sleeper. Knowing their pace, we had an hour if they were at the mark beyond where we had searched.

  I wasn’t confident that ‘Project Michael the Beacon’ wasn’t going to work, until Scout started barking. He was outside with Danny. The only noises that Scout had made so far were ones of happiness, and right now he sounded like a terrier in attack mode.

  In a dead world, sound travels.

  I left my cart to head outside when I heard Danny call on the radio, “We have incoming. Forty or fifty coming in from the north.”

  “Distance?” Beck asked.

  “Moving steady about two hundred yards. If you guys get out here now, we can load up and head out before they hit. I think we got our answer.”

  “Roger that,” Beck said. “We’re heading out.” He whistled out, as if we hadn’t heard the radio conversation, and waved us toward the door.

  Ed moved quickly. He had his sword draped across this shoulder and without saying anything, I knew what he was up to. He wanted to load up and pull out those instruments of destruction. Beck didn’t dally either.

  They were a couple hundred feet away. Ed took out almost that many at Mera’s. I didn’t panic, nor was I afraid.

  “Sonny, sometime today!” Beck yelled at me.

  “You know,” I said as I was pushing the cart, “not only do I have the heavy stuff, there’s only a few more than Ed took out before. We didn’t freak out then.”

  “Move your ass.”

  The cart really was heavy and about the only thing that bothered me was Scout’s barking. The Sleepers were too far away for him really to be going nuts, unless he’d spent so much time out n the wild that he was good at sniffing them out.

  He was barking like mad. When I approached the doors, Ed was loading the back of the truck and Beck wasn’t far behind.

  I lifted my radio. “How far now, Danny?”

  “Two hundred feet. We’ll be out of here before they hit the lot.”

  “Why is my dog barking?”

  “I think he’s barking for you, he’s staring at the building.”

  “Can you see anything? A Sleeper maybe?”

  “Negative,” Danny replied. “Beck asked, too.”

  “I don’t see anything,” Beck said over the radio. “Something is just wrong with your dog.”

  I knew at that instant that Scout and me were a good pair, both easy targets to be picked on.

  Crossing through the front doors, the wheels of that stupid flatbed style cart, loaded with the metal, wouldn’t go over the slight groove on the floor. “Are you shitting me?”

  “Sonny, come on, they’re closing in,” Danny urged.

  “I’m trying.” Using my hip and arm strength, I pushed the cart. It inched but wouldn’t go over that section. “Can you send Beck to help?”

  Beck had unloaded and shoved his empty cart away from the truck and walked my way.

  Scout kept barking. Finally, with one hard push, I made it over that rivet and moved the cart. I shouted a victorious, ‘Yes!’ at the same time everyone yelled, ‘Sonny watch out!’

  Shit, not again.

  I smelled him, then felt him slam hard to my back. The Sleeper had to have come from the roof or that flat awning just above the store’s entrance.

  It seemed like it all happened in slow motion, but I knew the entire exchange was only a few seconds.

  The weight of the Sleeper caused my chin to slam into the handle of the cart, I lost my footing, and I fell to the ground with the Sleeper on top of me. I reached back, trying to grab him, trying not to get bit again. I cocked back my head, making a connection with his face. He released his grip only slightly. It was enough for me to maneuver away, though not very far. He was too close to me for Beck or anyone to get a shot.

  I was on my back, trying to get up, trying to scoot away, pushing and fighting. His face was covered with ulcerated sores that were in contrast to his pale white skin.

  He was so close, too close to biting me. I saw Ed in my peripheral vision, then before he could arrive to do that ‘fell swoop’ thing of his, a single brown blur shot by me and nailed that Sleeper.

  Scout.

  The force and surprise of Scout’s attack sailed the Sleeper back and Scout was all over him. His growl was vicious and the Sleeper fought just as much to bite my dog as my dog tried to bite him.

  Calmly, Ed approached. With his sword point down, he lifted it above the downed Sleeper and impaled his face.

  The Sleeper stopped moving.

  Scout inched back, barked once, then ran to me.

  “Oh my God, good boy.” I hugged the excited dog. “Good boy!”

  Ed reached down and helped me to stand. “You all right?”

  “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  “Sonny, are you bit?” Beck asked.

  “No. No.” I looked down. “Wait, I must be,” I said when I saw all the blood on my chest. “Man, I got bit again.”

  Beck tilted back my head. “Nah, you split your chin. You need stitches. You’re good. Let’s get the truck loaded and out of here.” Beck reached down and ran his hand over Scout’s head. “And I think this guy can ride inside the truck.”

  Ed took my cart and I held the dog, taking him back to the truck. I wanted to check him and make sure he wasn’t hurt. My adrenaline started to subside and my face throbbed.

  We had to hurry.

  There wasn’t time to tie down all of our supplies. The horde of Sleepers hit the parking lot as we loaded the last item into the truck.

  There were more than forty.

  Forgoing a battle, Michael returned to his Neil Sedaka isolation, and we hightailed it out of there before the Sleepers could lock on to us.

  SIXTEEN – ALEX SANS

  Rarely, did I ever feel like I was suffering from severe thirst, but for some reason, after my talk with Mera, I sulked at the library for about an hour then I got really thirsty. My mouth was dry, my tongue felt like cotton. It was odd.

  Probably nerves.

  My mind was still processing the stupid shit I said to Mera. At the cafeteria, I grabbed a bottle of water, chugged it, then grabbed another.

  Randy walked in. “Hey, Alex. Thirsty?”

  “For some reason, I am.” I lifted the bottle to my mouth.

  “Your hand is shaking.”

  After setting down the bottle, I held out my hands. They were trembling. “Damn it.”

  “Something happen?” Randy asked.

  “I... said some stupid stuff to Mera. It got me upset. My gut feels like it’s bundled with nerves right now. Probably why my mouth is dry. When I had to give a speech in school this is exactly how I felt.”

  “Maybe you got that flu.”

  I should not have taken a
drink, because I choked. “Sorry?”

  “The flu.”

  “I don’t have the flu. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  “What did you say to Mera?”

  After an exhale, I finished that water. “Pretty much put my feelings on the line. I didn’t mean to, but I did.”

  “That will do it,” Randy said. “Take a walk. It might calm you.”

  “Yeah, I’m gonna go see Miles, see if he heard anything from Beck.” Just to be on the safe side, I grabbed another bottle of water and headed toward the tower.

  Miles was on watch and I made my way up. It wore me down. For the first time, I got out of breath walking up those stairs.

  “Hey,” I announced. “It’s me.”

  “I saw you coming.” Mile stood with his back facing me.

  “Anything happening?”

  “Nah, I’m keeping an eye on the gate. Nothing on the radio.”

  I walked to the east facing side and peered out. “Nothing out there either.” As I turned, my legs felt weak, and this moment of dizziness hit me. I reached for a chair.

  “Been pretty…” Miles turned from the window. “Jesus, Alex.” He rushed my way. “You look like shit.”

  “I feel like shit.” I sat down.

  “Your face is pale, you’re…” Mile reached for my arm. “Oh my God, you’re burning up.”

  “I’m starting to think this Sonny Flu is real.”

  “There’s no Sonny Flu, you don’t have that.”

  “Then what the hell can be…” I groaned loudly when a sharp pain seared up my leg and into my groin. I grabbed my side.

  “Appendicitis, or maybe you got some internal injuries.”

  I cringe and winced in pain.

  “Man, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear you had the Sleeper virus. That’s what you look like.”

  As sick as I felt, I laughed, but only for a second. “Shit.”

  “What?”

  I shook my head and stood. “I’ll be back.”

  “Where you going?”

  “To see Javier.” After assuring Miles I was going to be fine making it to the medical building, I left the tower. On the steps I paused, sat down and lifted my pant leg.

  Sure enough, that tiny little mouth mark from Phoenix’s bite had swollen and looked infected.