by J C Lane
Thinking of home, he re-read the text he’d received from Matty earlier that morning.
Get a moose yet? Wish I was there. I’d get one, too.
Robert hadn’t gotten his moose, but he was awfully close.
“Excuse me, are you the young man looking for your friend with a broken arm?”
Robert glanced down at the woman beside him. She was pale and skinny, wearing a cheap gray suit, and holding a clipboard. Her glasses magnified her eyes, turning her into a cartoon mouse.
“Yes, I am. Do you have news for me?”
“You said your friend’s name is Tyrese?”
“That’s right.”
“If he was here, I couldn’t tell you, since you’re not family, but I can tell you he isn’t here. We’ve had no one of that name come in all day.”
“Have you had anyone with those looks come in today?”
She blinked behind those humongous mouse lenses. “I can’t discuss that with you, sir.”
Robert spoke through clenched teeth. “Where is your boss?”
She took a step back, holding her clipboard at her chest. “My boss isn’t here today, sir. I mean, my boss is the CEO of the hospital, and she works weekdays.”
“Who else can I talk to?”
She gazed at him silently for a few moments. “There is no one you can talk to who will tell you about the patients in our emergency room. It’s against the law.”
Robert smacked the wall. “I need to know now.”
She jumped back and started blinking again, her head swiveling. Hoping for guards, probably. The other people in the waiting room looked over, and the guy in the mechanic’s outfit had his hands on the arms of his chair, like he was ready to jump up.
Robert held up his hands. “Sorry, everybody. Just stressed out here.” Gradually they all turned away, except for that mechanic. Robert wanted to punch him in the face. Instead, he turned back to the woman. “I’m sorry,” he said in a gentler voice. “I’m really sorry.” He rubbed his hands through his hair. “I’m just so worried about Tyrese.”
Her lips twitched. She was obviously working hard to get her face under control. She picked at her clipboard and finally said, “The best I can do is take your name and find out if anyone fitting his description is here. If there is, I can let him know you’re here.”
“So it’s not against the law to use my name?”
“Not if you give it voluntarily, sir. And as long as it’s not about your medical records.”
He pushed himself away from the wall. “Never mind. I’ll just wait. I don’t want to interrupt if they’re taking care of him. He’ll let me know if he’s here.”
He left Mouse Woman and sat in a chair facing the double doors. He couldn’t see into the ER hallway from there, but after his outburst he couldn’t afford to be looming over everybody in the waiting room. They’d be watching him now. In fact, two security guards had entered and were talking to the mousey woman. He smiled and raised his hand, as if to say he was calm now. They didn’t smile back.
Forget them. He tried his smartwatch again, but there was still no proximity signal. At least the next location transmission would be sent in less than a minute. Then he’d know for sure if Tyrese was back there. He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.
“You okay, son?” The mechanic spoke to him across the row of chairs.
Robert cracked open his eyes. “I’m fine.”
The man got up and sat two seats down. “Couldn’t help but hear you’re looking for a young man who broke his arm.”
Robert sat up. “You see him?”
“Sure. I brought him here.”
Just as the man said this, Robert’s watch went off. He took a moment to check the GPS. Sure enough, Tyrese was still in the hospital. Not a surprise, if he broke his arm. He’d be in pain, and it wasn’t like the staff was going to let a young guy like him leave if he needed help. Robert checked the proximity button, but Tyrese was out of range. Either his room was more than twenty feet away, which was likely since Robert was on the far side of the waiting room, or they’d taken him to get X-rayed. “His name Tyrese?”
The man sat back. “Dunno. He never got around to telling me. In too much pain to talk, poor guy.”
Robert kept his expression one of concern rather than victory. If Tyrese was hurt really badly, all the easier to Tag him. It was everything he could do to not jump up and run through those doors. He might get Tyrese, but he would also get himself locked up by those guards eyeing him from across the room. Although he could make a run for it out another exit.
The man—Mike, his name tag said, the guy from the garage at the exit—started telling the sad tale of a trio of rednecks who claimed Tyrese was stealing a car, but really they were stealing Tyrese’s money because they were idiots, and how one of the guys hit Tyrese with a crowbar.
Robert knew all this already, remembering the story the three dumbass brothers told him in the Gas-n-Go, and only half paid attention as Mike kept talking. Finally the security guards relaxed their vigil. One of them even drifted out of the room. Robert watched through hooded eyes and waited for his opportunity.
10 a.m.
Amanda
Amanda was starting to feel sleepy, and the bus ride didn’t help. It was time to make her move. As soon as she saw the stop she’d been waiting for, she got off the bus. From a little ways up she would take a water taxi to the planetarium, but first she would wait in the nice little park, where she could sit for a minute and observe everyone around her, in case someone resembled an androgynous Asian avatar.
No one did.
Tyrese
“Okay, honey, your turn!” The chipper nurse did a double take at Tyrese, poised in the corner, holding his shoe like a weapon. “What are you doing?”
“I have to get out of here.”
“Can’t do that, sugar. We need to get X-rays and set that arm.”
“How long’s it going to be?”
“Few minutes yet.”
Tyrese considered his options. Take out the nurse. Run like mad. Kill himself with the oxygen tank strapped to the wall. Robert was probably watching through the window in those double doors, and would see Tyrese’s head as soon as he stepped into the corridor. Tyrese couldn’t exactly crouch and sneak out without causing a scene. “Okay, I’ll stay. But is there a restroom close by? I really need to go.”
“Of course. Come this way.”
He stumbled and clutched the table, holding himself up.
“What’s wrong, hon? You dizzy?” She grabbed his elbow, and he let her set him in the chair.
“A little bit, I guess.”
“All right, baby, you hold on one second.” She hustled out and returned with a wheelchair. “In you go.”
Again, Tyrese allowed her to get him settled. “Thanks.” She wheeled him into the corridor, turning left, the opposite direction of the waiting room and the double doors. Tyrese kept his head turned for those first seconds, then hid himself in front of the ample nurse so he wouldn’t be seen from the window. He didn’t dare turn and look.
Once they rounded the corner, Tyrese relaxed, feeling dizzy for real. They stopped outside the bathroom, and the nurse put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure you’ll be all right? I don’t want you to fall. I can call an orderly.”
“No, I’ll be fine. Thanks.” He got up carefully, making a show of being stable. “See? No problem.” She opened the door for him, and he turned before shutting it. “Don’t stand there, okay? I’ll never be able to go.”
She giggled and wagged her finger, wearing a fake serious face. “Fine. But I’ll be back.”
He shut the door, and a moment later opened it to peek out. The nurse was gone, as promised. The only other people were at the far end of the corridor, preparing to go into a cubicle. Tyrese scooted out, closing the bathr
oom door so the nurse would think he was still in there, and took a second look at that Exit sign with the arrow. He eased toward it and darted down that hallway. After turning a few more corners, he found the exit beside the regular hospital registration. He waited thirty seconds for his location transmission to go, because Robert already knew he was in the hospital, and it would give Tyrese a head start, since Robert might not even know he’d left.
As soon as the watch vibrated, Tyrese pushed through the glass doors. An old valet parking attendant stood outside the entrance at a stand, his maroon blazer a little too big, a name tag declaring him, “Vincent.”
“There any taxis?” Tyrese asked.
Vincent shook his head, glancing at Tyrese’s arm, still encased in the splint. “Sorry. If you want, I could call one. Be here in maybe twenty minutes.”
“Too long. Thanks.”
Tyrese ran his eyes over the parking lot. He could find an older model car, hot-wire it, take off. But the old guy would be watching. He wished he could get in touch with Mike, the garage guy who brought him there, but there was no way to do that without alerting Robert.
“Car rental place?” Tyrese said.
The old guy frowned. “We’re not that big a town, you know, and we don’t have an airport or anything. Why don’t you let me call you a cab?”
Another old guy wandered up, opened a metal case on the wall, and hung a set of keys on a hook. There must have been twenty keys in there, all to cars Tyrese could never identify in time, even if he had the opportunity to swipe them.
“Ernie,” the first old guy said. “This boy needs a ride. Who could we call?”
Ernie turned around slowly, his mouth working as he thought. “Taxi could get here in twenty minutes.”
“Too long,” Tyrese said. “I need to go.” He really did, or he would completely lose his advantage. “What about a bus?”
Vincent brightened. “There’s a tourist trolley with a stop up at the sidewalk. Goes every fifteen minutes, heads all the way to downtown Chicago, making a big loop. It’s slow, but free. You could get that, it could take you…where did you say you needed to go?”
“Where’s the stop?”
“Up that hill,” Vincent said, pointing left. “Can’t miss it.”
Tyrese took off at a jog. It wasn’t until he was at the end of the parking lot that he remembered the old guy and turned around. Vincent was still watching him. Tyrese held up his hand. Vincent returned the gesture, yelling something Tyrese couldn’t hear. Tyrese waved like he understood, and resumed running.
The trolley stop sat right where Vincent had said it would. A plastic-covered map of the little town filled one end of the Plexiglas waiting area, along with a schedule, which confirmed Vincent’s assumption. Every fifteen minutes. It didn’t say when the fifteen minutes started. He could’ve just missed the trolley, or it could be around the corner. Tyrese checked his watch. Four after ten. Four wasted minutes. He should just leave, start walking. But he studied the people walking around, driving past, pulling out of the hospital’s parking lot. No one looked like him, either in color or size. He would stand out like…well, a broken arm. Which was now throbbing. Those painkillers hadn’t lasted very long.
He couldn’t run, or hitchhike, or even walk down the street without someone noticing him. Robert wouldn’t have to look far to find a witness. The person didn’t have to be afraid of Tyrese, or even think he looked out of place. Tyrese just had to be seen in this neighborhood, and he would be remembered.
Tyrese backed into the shelter, hiding as well as he could behind the map. When the trolley came, he would get on. Even if the people on it noticed him—which they would—the trolley itself, and its passengers, would be long gone by the time Robert found the spot. If he did. Which he would if he talked to the old guys down by the hospital.
Tyrese banged his thigh with his good fist. He never should have talked to the valets. He should have just kept on going, right past them. But without them, he wouldn’t have known about the trolley.
His arm pulsed, and he sank onto the bench. Robert was going to be looking all over the hospital. Bullying the staff. Or maybe he’d hear Tyrese’s nurse telling someone that Tyrese was gone. He was going to know somehow, and Tyrese was going to die.
Tyrese pushed himself up, ignoring the pain. He had to get going. He would just run—
A bell sounded, and the trolley swooped over the hill to stop at the shelter. The driver smiled, tipping his hat. Tyrese climbed on, avoiding eye contact with the few passengers. He moved to the back, where he would be out of the others’ sight lines, and hopefully out of their memories. The trolley lurched to a start, and Tyrese did his best to stay conscious as it trundled through the streets. Nine minutes had passed since he’d left the hospital. How long could he stay on the little hometown bus?
The old guy had said the trolley went all the way to Chicago. According to the map on the wall, he was right. It wasn’t fast, but it was moving, and that was all Tyrese needed at the moment. A place to sit that wasn’t stagnant. It would keep him—and Robert—on the move. And give Tyrese a chance to rest before his push to the finish.
Laura
Laura stared up at her rescuers. Or kidnappers. She wasn’t sure which they were, except she liked them a whole lot better than the guy who had ambushed her in her Bug the night before. Had it been that recently that she’d had a gun pressed against the back of her neck?
“You really expect us to believe you’re okay?” Sydney didn’t look ready to believe the world was round, the way her chin jutted out.
Laura slumped in her seat and hiccupped.
“Hey, don’t let her rattle you.” Adam sat beside her. “She wants to help. She just gets a little intense sometimes.”
Sydney smacked his arm. “Do not.”
The bus had almost cleared out, but Sydney wasn’t budging.
“I have to get out of here.” Laura struggled to stand.
Sydney stuck her arm out, but Adam pushed it away. “Leave her alone.”
“But that’s exactly her problem,” Sydney said. “She’s alone.”
“You kids coming?” The not-Mom tour guide waited at the front of the bus.
“We’ll be right there,” Sydney sang out. “My bag got caught on the seat and spilled all over the place.”
“Need help?”
“No, we’ll get it.”
“Come out as soon as you can.” The tour guide exited, herding the rest of the group toward the Sears Tower entrance.
The bus driver still sat up front, writing in a logbook, not paying any attention to them.
“What’s your name?” Sydney said.
Laura shook her head. “It’s not safe for you to know.”
“Whatever. Just your first name, then. Can we at least know that? You can’t be the only person with your first name.”
She considered it. Really, what could it hurt? “Laura.”
“Good, that’s a start. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Now, Laura, start talking.”
They weren’t going to let her out. They really weren’t. And she wasn’t strong enough to fight past them. She was, as Sydney had said, alone. Completely. She didn’t know how people did it, making isolated decisions, solving problems, escaping insane teenage killers, all by themselves. She’d tried it for half a day, and she’d almost died. She was exhausted, smelly, terrified, and, as of twenty-five minutes earlier, injured. No way was she going to be running anywhere.
hic
What would Jeremy tell her to do? Smile, and have the world at her feet? Well, right now her world was pretty small, and it depended on these two super nice—and determined—people blocking her way.
“You won’t believe it,” she finally said. “It’s crazy.”
“Try us.”
Laura brought up the original text of the Rules and turned her
wrist toward Sydney. Adam stood next to her to see it.
Sydney’s brow furrowed. “What is this?”
“You tell me.”
“A game of Tag?” Adam said. “I don’t get it.”
“I don’t, either, but I’ve spent the past ten hours running. And now I have to run some more, because my last thirty minutes are up.”
Sydney twitched. “You mean this person, whoever It is, knows where you are?”
“She found out five minutes ago, when the last transmission was sent. Which is why I have to get out of here now.”
“But why does it matter so much if she tags you? You going to lose money or something?”
Laura pointed out the Rule explaining how one of them would be dead at the end of the Game. “She’s going to kill me.”
Sydney laughed. “I’m so sure.” She stopped laughing. “For real?”
“Holy crap,” Adam said.
Sydney hauled Laura to her feet. “Come on.”
“Hey, kids,” the bus driver called. “I gotta move out of this space.”
Laura gripped Sydney’s hand. “You realize if you help me, you’re in danger, too.”
“Not if we run with you.” She smiled brightly. “No way someone can catch all three of us. Pick her up, Adam. Let’s go.”
Sydney grabbed her bag and led them down the aisle again, this time with Adam carrying Laura.
“I can walk,” she said.
“Eh,” he replied.
The bus pulled away as soon as they got off, and Laura scanned the area, searching around the tour group for a face she didn’t want to see.
Sydney looked, too. “You know who you’re looking for?”
