by Mark Tufo
"Me too," April said, looking over lustfully at MJ who for the moment was not paying her any attention.
"I'm in," Paul stated.
"Paul," Erin said. Implicit in that one word was the question, 'Why do you feel the need to risk your life and leave me here?'
Paul shrugged his shoulders as if to say, 'Look who's going, someone has to watch out for them and it might as well be me.' Paul laughed a little; sometimes being married was a trip. They had just had an entire conversation, mostly unspoken.
"I will go too," Alex said dejectedly.
"No, you will stay here my friend, by your wife's side," Paul said, placing his arm around Alex' shoulder. "It'll be fine," he added hollowly.
"You really believe that?" Alex asked, calling him out on his statement.
"I have to," Paul answered him. "What's the alternative?"
"Fair enough, but hurry up or I'm going to throw Deneaux outside on her ass," Alex said with a small smile.
"What's the cut-off point?" Paul asked, looking at a non-existent watch.
"I'm going to lock the door on our way out," MJ said.
"That would be wise," Alex told him.
"That means you'll be locked in," MJ said as if he was talking to a five year old.
"I think he gets it," Paul said, grabbing MJ before Alex had the chance to lose his cool again.
"I just wanted him to be aware of that,” Alex heard MJ say as Paul led him away.
Mrs. Deneaux walked over to the far side of the store to the recliner section, and with a loudly audible sigh sat down in an oversized EZ Boy.
"I think her fever's breaking," Erin said excitedly as she pressed her palm to Marta's head.
Marta's eyes fluttered open as she uttered one word. "Demonio."
Alex made the sign of the Holy Trinity. Erin looked questioningly over towards him. "Demon," he offered in translation.
"Got it,” Erin answered with a shiver. Marta's eyes closed as a more restful sleep ensued.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – Ron - Searsport
As soon as Ron got home with his dad, Nancy took the kids to get them settled in. Their initial fears of being in a new place were put quickly at ease by Nancy as she got them cleaned up, fed and showed them where they could sleep. For now she set up a bunch of sleeping bags and pillows in the family room in the basement. She had a hunch that, at least at first, they would feel much more comfortable if they were all within arm's reach no matter how much testosterone the three boys pretended to throw around.
"They going to be alright?" a wiped out Ron asked his wife as she came up the stairs.
"As all right as any kids can be when they lose their parents," Nancy answered him solemnly. “I had hoped Meredith would come home with you," Nancy commiserated as she placed her hand on Ron's arm.
"Me too," Ron said, using his other hand to try and wipe the exhaustion from his features. Ron related all of the events that had transpired throughout the day. As he wrapped up, he thought that he most likely should have glossed over a few of the stickier details. Nancy was looking a little less hale than she had been a few minutes before. “The old man is a rock," Ron said, referring to his father.
"You've got more of him in you than you know. I'm going to check on the kids." Nancy needed desperately to take her mind off of just how close to a disastrous end her daughter had come. She was still mourning for one of them. She could not compound those feelings; her soul was already feeling threadbare.
All was quiet as Ron sat on his couch reflecting back on the day. His hands nervously twitched. He did not notice.
"Eagle's Nest, Eagle's Nest, this is Valkyrie," Mike said through the airwaves.
"What is wrong with you?" Gary asked, "It's Mount Olympus. You can’t just go making stuff up.” "How many people do you think he has checking in?" Mike asked his brother.
‘More than you know,’ Ron thought as he got up to talk on the handset.
"That's not the point," Gary said a little peevishly. "If you're not going to follow protocol…” "Protocol?" Mike cut his brother off, "Are you kidding me? Chariots of Fire my ass, I still haven’t forgiven you for ratting me out. You know that moose wasn't my fault.” "Maybe if you had driven a little better…" Gary needled his brother.
"You're blaming my driving skills now! Maybe if I wasn't so distracted by your attempt at singing, or whatever you call that…” "Boys!" Ron shouted through the microphone. "Am I going to have to put you two in a time out?” "He could probably use it!" Gary shouted. A loud crashing sound immediately followed.
"I've got your time out right here!" Mike shouted to the most likely retreating back of his brother, but over the headset it was deafening.
"Mike! I've already got a headache. It's been a hell of a day,” Ron yelled.
Mike immediately turned all business, "Everything all right?" Mike held his breath waiting for a response. "Tracy make it back?" Fear was coiled in that question like a compressed spring.
Ron took a breath, he hated lying this big to his brother. Oh, there were times when it was necessary like on the Risk board when he would tell a mistruth about how many turns they would stay allies, but this was of a much higher magnitude, life and death to be exact.
"Ron?" Mike asked, fear threatening to overcome all of his senses rendering him useless.
"She's fine, Mike.” ‘Not so much a lie there,' Ron thought.
"Whew,” Mike said in relief. “Can I talk to her?"
"She's sleeping, they had a close call on the way back.” Ron had learned from his earlier revelation to his wife that it was best to limit the amount of details. “She's fine, Mike,” Ron reiterated to stop the next barrage of questions. “As are the kids.” Ron could picture his younger brother wiping the dampness from his eyes as he collected himself.
"Dad, everything alright?" Travis asked on the other end. Ron's vision must have been spot on.
"Good,” Mike choked out. “Just relieved. Your mom is safe.”
‘Dammit.’ Ron thought. ‘Didn’t actually say that.’
"It's a little early for a call in Mike. What's going on?" Ron asked. He didn’t get a sense that there was any urgency to the call but this was not a time in history where assumptions should ever be taken.
"Well, I was calling to check on Tracy and to let you know that we're heading south a little quicker than we thought,” Mike told him.
"What's changed?" Ron asked, intrigued.
"We've got reason to believe that Alex, and possibly Paul if they are still together, are now the objects of Eliza's attention.” "What? Did she send you a text?" Ron asked sarcastically.
"Just about,” Mike answered back seriously.
"I don’t even want to know,” Ron told him.
"Probably better off.”
"Are you going to be able to find them? South is a pretty vague direction.”
"I've got an idea, not sure if it will work. Just something I've been thinking about on the fly.” "The last time you thought of something 'on the fly' it cost me three hundred dollars to bail your ass out of jail,” Ron jibed.
"Don’t go getting all riled up, I paid you back for that.”
"No you didn't.”
"You sure?" Mike asked. “I'll get right on that when I get back.” "Yeah, a lot of uses for cash these days. Just get your ass back here and we'll discuss repayment.” "I'm not aligning with the Allegiance of Darkness on the Risk board if that's what you have in mind.” "Well, that was partially it, but we can figure something else out,” Ron said smiling now. “Alright, call me when you hunker down for the night.” "Roger that, tell everyone there that I love them.”
"Will do.”
*
Ron waited a minute before changing the frequency. “You catch that?" he asked BT.
"Got it,” BT said.
"You'd better be careful or you'll end up passing him by.”
"That would serve him right if I did and then saved the day, so by the time he got there I had Eliza's head on a pike. I’
d be drinking the last ice cold Molson on the planet and he’d get stuck having to kill some crippled ass old zombie and drinking a piss warm Schlitz.” "Umm, still a little pissed that he asked you to stay behind?" Ron asked.
"Does it show?" BT asked seriously.
Ron decided wisely to not answer. “You know the drill. Next time he calls, wait a few, then switch to frequency two and we'll discuss what we want to do going forward.” "What I want to do is kick his…"
"BT!" Tracy said.
"Fine, we'll be in touch,” BT said menacingly.
"Always a pleasure,” Ron responded.
A loud growl came over his headset. He truly hoped it had something to do with the curvature of the earth as it came in line with sunspots, as opposed to any sound emanating from a human being.
Ron stood there a moment longer basking in the quiet of his home. He hoped that someday soon the quiet would be replaced by the noise of the living, many of the living.
CHAPTER NINETEEN – Talbot Journal Entry 9
"All right Justin, I know this was partially my idea, but I'm not feeling all that great about it,” I said to my son.
"Dad, we've already decided that I can skip one day of shots without any ill effects. This is just one more day and it means that they will last longer,” Justin answered. He had a brave face on, but I wasn't completely convinced. Hell, I was scared and the bitch wasn't in my head nearly as deeply as she was within his. I could feel her on the periphery of my consciousness but that was it. Kind of like a mosquito on the other side of a screen door, somehow we now shared a link from the 'kiss of death' she had given me before the downfall at Little Turtle. But it was more a knowledge of something bad than actually being bad.
As the effects of Justin's shots wore off, it meant that Eliza could begin to hold sway over him. It was not a comforting thought. We sat at the edge of I-95 for a few hours waiting; we actually saw a few cars pass by. It wasn't rush hour by any stretch of the imagination, and they were about as friendly as Yankees fans after losing to the Red Sox, but it was still nice to see actual living breathing, not trying-to-cut-my-throat people.
"Oh Dad,” Justin said with a moan. “I'm beginning to feel her.” He began to scratch his arms like a junkie.
"It's not worth it,” I said, digging through his bag for a shot.
He seemed to rally his reserves. “It's alright, I can do this,” he said, taking a big breath of air. “I need to do this.” He sat there a few moments longer, eyes closed, body shivering even though it was a fairly balmy 40 or so degrees, which after this winter seemed like the tropics. Gary and Travis were busy having a snowball fight, oh how I wanted to join them.
"Do you think we should maybe try this at another time?" I asked Justin. A cold chill wind buffeted my back, although I think the chill was more internal than external.
Justin opened one eye. “She's least active during the day. This is our best chance to go unnoticed.” Unnoticed under Eliza's watch? I didn't share in the optimism.
Justin seized up, his entire body going rigid. I grabbed him, fearful that he was going to topple like a redwood tree.
"Found her,” he meted out.
"Wonderful.” To those of you that might possibly find this journal having not read the previous three, here is just a brief moment of explanation. ‘Wonderful’ in this context is primarily meant as a term of sarcasm. I in no way relished any more contact with Eliza than was absolutely necessary. “And?"
"Not yet,” he said stiffly. “It's not like there's a set of directions.”
“Sarcasm returned.” I didn’t know it was even possible but Justin seemed to stand even more ramrod straight. Gary caught a snowball with his ear hole as he turned to watch.
"Uh oh,” Justin said.
"Uh oh is bad Justin, what's going on? The last time I said uh oh I had… yeah, I think I'll just hold on to that thought.” Even under the heavy concentration, Justin was able to spare a moment to give me a sidelong glance. I smiled weakly.
"Whoa, I thought she felt me. It's good now though. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this connection without her feeling me though. And I'm still no closer to reaching out to Marta.” "Forget it then. There's no sense in giving her a heads up about us especially with no upswing.” Justin looked as if he was just about inclined to agree, “Wait… wait… she's there!!" he said excitedly.
All I could figure was that it was Eliza. I damn near panicked and shoved the shot in his sternum.
"Marta?" Justin asked. “It's me, Justin,” he said touching his chest. “I can't stay long, but we're coming to help. Where are you?"
Travis, Gary and I were now in a semi-circle watching the birth of a potential new means of communication. Is this what it was like when Edison invented the telephone? Talk about a Smart Phone!
"We're on our way, stay strong!" Justin said beaming, “Hold on, my dad has one quick message for Paul.” Justin relayed the message exactly as I had given it to him even if he now wore a panicked expression on his face. “Dad, she's coming! Hit me!"
I was momentarily lost in the reverie of marketing the new telecomm age, but that quickly changed as I watched elation turn to fright in the span of a blink. I plunged the needle in and the fear in him receded slowly, but the taint of evil took much longer to leave. He spent the majority of that day huddled in the back seat with a couple of blankets on him. Eliza needed to be dealt with quickly.
Eliza and Tomas Interlude
"I am intrigued, brother,” Eliza said coolly. “Why is it that you would allow our enemies to converse?" she asked as she arched an eyebrow. She feigned indifference but it was clear her brother had upset her.
"Does it not make the task at hand easier if they are all together?" Tomas asked.
"Perhaps, my brother, but I do not yet know if I trust you.”
Tomas smiled as he walked away. That smile lay somewhere between conniving and triumphant. Even Tomas did not know to whom he had given the benefit when he allowed Justin a moment to communicate with Marta.
CHAPTER TWENTY - Alex and Marta
Marta's arm shot up as she grabbed Alex' forearm. “They're coming!" she said excitedly.
‘She's gone,’ Alex thought sourly. ‘She's finally lost it.’ Alex was wondering how he would be able to live out the remainder of his days without her.
Marta watched the sadness in her husband’s expression as it traversed across his face. “No,” she said tenderly. “Mike is coming!" she said softly but excitement punctuated the words.
"Oh Marta, you cannot know this,” Alex hitched. It was one thing to witness the destruction of one's body, a completely different form of torture to watch one's mind disintegrate.
"The boy who was scratched,” she said as she wet her fever dried lips.
"Justin?" Alex asked.
"Yes, Justin,” she answered, putting her head back on the pillow. “He says that we are in danger and that they are coming to help.” Alex had a look of astonishment on his face.
"He says that he, his brother, Mike, and Mike's brother are coming here and that we should not go anywhere.” "I do not know what to believe,” Alex nearly cried.
"Believe me, dear husband,” Marta said as she fell back into a much more peaceful sleep.
Alex did seventeen laps around the store alternating between outright joy and terror, never becoming fully comfortable with any one thought. He was on the far side of the store on his eighteenth lap when he heard Paul and MJ coming back from their expedition. He was met with stares of concern as he ran down the center aisle to meet them.
"Everything alright?" Paul asked, scanning the warehouse for any signs of trouble. “Is Marta okay?"
"Mike's coming!" Alex rushed out. He was all out of breath and covered in a sheen of sweat, the exertion of his power walk showing.
"Catch your breath buddy and maybe start from the beginning,” Paul suggested concernedly as he escorted Alex over to a chair.
MJ already lost interest and was pushing his
shopping cart full of electronics to the desk section for assembly.
"Hey, maybe work on improving that low battery indicator,” Paul said to MJ before turning back to Alex. MJ was too deep in thought to catch the slight.
"Marta says that Justin spoke to her, and that Mike is heading this way,” Alex reported, looking at his friend. It sounded much less sane when spoken out loud and to one that had not witnessed the event.
"And she's sure it was Justin?" Paul asked, not willing to believe just yet.
Alex nodded.
"And she was sure of Justin's intent?" Paul asked. He didn’t say it, but they were both thinking it. When they parted company with Mike, Justin was already feeling the effects of Eliza’s power and was slipping further away every day. It did not seem that the elapsed time could have done him better. The exact opposite was more likely the case.
"Paul, she looked happy after she 'talked' to him.” "Far as I know Alex, Justin was not born with the ability to speak psychically. I think that's Eliza's specialty.” Alex bowed his head. “But why, Paul? Why bother?"
"To keep us off guard, maybe just to raise our hopes so she could be there when she smashed them. I don’t know, who can tell what such a malignant mind might find worthwhile.” Paul's thoughts ran deeper and darker. 'If,' and Paul truly believed that was the case, 'If Justin was now an agent for the enemy, that meant that more than likely Mike had not made it to Maine .'
"If Justin is one of them,” Alex said, verbalizing Paul's thoughts, “then Mike is dead.” Paul's knees suddenly felt weak, and he sat down next to Alex. A torrent of memories flooded through his senses, from the first time they met, through high school, college and ultimately until they parted. “I'll miss you my friend,” Paul said to the heavens. A more pressing thought came to the fore. “We've got to leave,” he said, wiping his eyes. “I'll start rounding people up,” Paul said as he stood up. Alex still had his head in his hands. Even false hope hurt when it was ripped from your soul, like a fish hook through a cheek.
