Dead Spots

by Rhiannon Frater

  Startled, Mackenzie remembered the man who saved her from Tildy the first time. Grant had told her he was a killer. That declaration really hadn’t made sense to her then and didn’t ring true now. Why would a murderer save her? Uneasy, she asked, “Does Lucas wear a leather jacket?”

  “Uh-huh. He has pictures on his arms and earrings.” Johnny made a face. “It’s kinda weird, but he’s nice.”

  It was difficult to reconcile what Johnny was telling her with what Grant had insisted was true about the mysterious man in the leather jacket. Grant had seemed completely terrified of him, but Johnny obviously had trusted him as a protector.

  “How did you die? Didn’t Lucas take care of you?”

  “When we were getting food last night, the dead people came. The … zombos?”

  “Zombies,” Mackenzie corrected.

  “Yeah. They were getting in the house and Lucas made me hide in the closet and told me to stay there until he was done killing them. But I got scared. I heard my brother calling me, trying to find me in the house. So I ran outside and…” Johnny fell quiet as he set his new boat adrift on the gentle waves of the pond.

  “You don’t have to tell me. I died last night, too. I ran outside when the house where I was staying fell apart.”

  “Did the zombies get you, too?”

  “No.” Mackenzie hesitated, remembering Tildy’s empty eyes and smirking lips. “Well, kinda. A different zombie.”

  “I don’t like dying. It hurts so much.”

  “I don’t like it either.” Mackenzie had to fight the urge to hug the little boy. He was such a solemn little creature with his haunted eyes and baby cheeks. Rising, Mackenzie stared across the graveyard, searching for the road she knew had to be close by.

  “This is a bad place,” Johnny said in a disgruntled tone.

  “I know,” Mackenzie said sadly.

  “It was nice when my brother and I first got here. We lived in a dream palace with some other kids for a long time. It was kinda cool. Then one day, the bad stuff got in.”

  Mackenzie flashed on Grace’s gruesome visage when she had bit off Ted’s head. “Yeah, I know how that can be. After that what did you do?”

  “Ricky took care of me. He was sixteen. We tried to go home, but it didn’t work. One time we went to Disneyland, but it was scary there. He always tried to keep me safe, but they killed him a lot. They killed him until he … Ricky is a monster now.”

  Again, she fought the urge to hug the child. Johnny watched his leaf sailboat cruise the pond with a somber expression stamped on his features.

  “Were you alone a long time before Lucas found you?”

  Johnny nodded. “Yeah. I think it was a month. Or maybe longer. I don’t know. I hid a lot. Are you alone?”

  “A friend was with me, but we got separated when I died. I don’t know where he is now.” Mackenzie folded her arms over her chest and nudged a stone with her foot. It was uncomfortable talking to the child about such dark subjects, but he had already endured far worse than she had.

  “Are you going to go find him?” Johnny inclined his head to look at her, slightly squinting in the daylight.

  “I want to find a road and try to figure out where I am. I know where he was headed, so maybe we can find him.”

  “Can I come with you?”

  Mackenzie looked at him in surprise. “Of course! I wouldn’t leave you here.”

  “Other people didn’t want me. They said I have a bad imagination.”

  “I have a bad imagination, too. Trust me.”

  “Maybe we can find Lucas. He has a nice car.”

  “I didn’t think people could have cars in this world.”

  “He does. It’s cool. It’s black and has red seats.”

  Mackenzie spotted a thin line of asphalt at the far corner of the graveyard near a copse of trees and a single-story building made of pink granite.

  “What are you afraid of?” Johnny asked timidly.

  The question brought myriad images into her head, from the ridiculous fears her mother had imposed on her growing up to the image of Grace’s shark mouth. “A lot of things.” She squatted beside the boy and stared out over the dark water of the small pond. It was such a tranquil setting with the little boat skimming along its surface. “I found the road out of here. I want you to come with me, okay?”

  Offering her hand, she waited to see if he would take it. She dismissed her mother’s nagging voice chiding her about taking on more than she could deal with, and Grant’s voice admonishing her for taking in yet another stray person. The boy needed her and, strangely, she needed him, too. She didn’t want to be alone and her instincts were to take care of the child. His small hand settled into her palm and her fingers closed over it.

  “The boat is going to make it to the other side,” Johnny said, a smile gracing his face.

  Mackenzie watched the little leaf boat accelerating toward the far end of the pond. It left small ripples in its wake. The shark burst out of the water, breaching like a whale, its white underbelly glistening in the muted sunlight. The tiny boat disappeared when its huge body crashed into the dark waves.

  Johnny’s screams broke her out of her shocked state and Mackenzie jerked him from the water’s edge. Gasping for air, she stared in shock at the churning water. The shark had been a Great White. Its length had to be at least half of the pond. It was impossible for it to exist within such a confined space, but then again, this was the world of the impossible.

  “It’s okay. It can’t reach us,” Mackenzie said confidently, but took a few more steps away from the edge. “It can’t leave the water.”

  The dorsal fin broke the surface, the huge white shape barely visible beneath the water.

  “I want to go,” Johnny said.

  “Me, too.” Mackenzie firmly held his hand, guiding him away from the pond.

  Mackenzie couldn’t help but steal looks at the giant fin slicing through the water. It made her stomach clench to see it so close, but she kept reminding herself that it was trapped in the pond. Yet, the terror it inspired in her made her walk faster and she hurried Johnny along.

  “It’s so big.”

  “It’s a Great White. Like in Jaws.”

  “What’s jaws?”

  “Uh, a movie about a shark.” Mackenzie forced herself not to look at the pond, but to focus on getting to the road.

  “I don’t think I would like it.” Slightly dragging his feet, the boy kept staring over his shoulder, trusting Mackenzie to guide him.

  “It’s a very scary movie. Look, there’s the road. We’ll be there soon.” She pointed toward their destination while looking down at Johnny, who finally turned his attention forward.

  “Lady,” the boy said, his voice hushed.

  “My name is Mackenzie.”

  “There’s a wraith!” Johnny pointed, fear etched onto his face.

  Near the road, a dark figure stood waiting for them.

  CHAPTER 21

  Stooping, Mackenzie grabbed another heavy chunk of a broken headstone. Johnny followed suit, still clutching her hand while he leaned over to pluck a baseball-sized piece from the ground. Determination was etched on his innocent face from the furrows between his eyebrows to his lips pressed into a tight line. His bravery touched Mackenzie.

  The tall shape didn’t move. It was backlit by the sun making it difficult to make out the facial features. From the way its head kept sweeping back and forth it appeared to be scrutinizing the graveyard. Mackenzie ducked behind several bushes. Johnny crouched beside her.

  “Can we kill it, Macky?”

  Mackenzie almost corrected his new nickname for her, but thought better of it. Her mother had never allowed anyone to use nicknames for her when she was growing up. Tanner had gleefully called her Mac just to upset her picky mother. Let Johnny call her what he wanted. It wasn’t going to hurt either one of them. “No. We’re going to try to avoid it. Maybe we can sneak around it.”

  Watching the figure through the
leaves of the bushes, Mackenzie experienced a twinge of recognition. Narrowing her eyes, she studied the form. For a moment she thought it was Tanner, but then she realized the shoulders were too broad.

  “Grant!” she exclaimed. “It’s Grant!”

  “Macky, that’s not your friend. That’s a bad guy,” Johnny said somberly.

  “No, it’s my friend,” Mackenzie assured him, grinning.

  Johnny shook his head adamantly, trying to keep her next to him by tugging on her hand when she started to stand. “Don’t! Don’t!”

  “It’s okay, Johnny. I promise. He’s my friend.” Waving happily, she stepped into clear view. “Grant!”

  “Mackenzie!” His voice floated through the air. He burst into motion, running toward her. His suit jacket flapped around him like wings and he quickly closed the space between them. Snatching her in his arms, he whirled her around, his face buried in her neck. “I found you!”

  Mackenzie laughed with relief. “I can’t believe you found me!”

  “It was blind luck. I woke up nearby.”

  Wincing, Mackenzie said, “You died, too?”

  Grant nodded grimly. “I did. But at least I got my jacket back.”

  Johnny dared to stand and grab Mackenzie’s hand. “I want to go now.”

  Grant abruptly let go of Mackenzie at the sound of the child’s voice and stared in surprise at the boy at her side. “What’s this?”

  Johnny’s fingers painfully clung to Mackenzie’s hand, his small body slanting away from her, trying to pull her away. “Macky, I want to go!”

  Witnessing the none-too-happy expression on Grant’s face, Mackenzie regarded him in confusion. “This is my new friend. His name is Johnny.”

  “Mackenzie, how could you?” Grant asked incredulously. Sweeping his hand through his hair, he paced in front of her, obviously frustrated.

  “What do you mean?” Mackenzie scooted a little closer to Johnny, the joy of her reunion with Grant vanishing under the onslaught of his withering glare at the boy.

  “Macky,” Johnny whispered. “I want to go. I don’t like him!”

  “Macky?” Grant shook his head, laughing bitterly.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Mackenzie demanded. “Why are you acting like this?”

  “The boy’s a wraith!” Grant pointed an accusing finger at the child.

  “No, you are!” Johnny yelled back. “You’re bad!”

  “He’s obviously taken advantage of the fact that you’re mourning your dead baby boy to get his hooks into you! After what happened last night with Grace, how could you do this again? Didn’t you learn from Tildy?” Grant stared at Mackenzie with a heartbroken expression on his face, his hands settling on her shoulders. “You died once already, Mackenzie, because of these things. The thought of you dying because I took in that group kills me inside. I should have never risked your life with them, or allowed you to take in Tildy.”

  Everything about Grant’s demeanor and words was painted with fear and affection. The softness in his eyes and the anxious tone of his voice affected her. For just a second, she wanted to console him and apologize for taking in Johnny, but then she looked at the scared boy at her side and shoved those thoughts away.

  “We both made mistakes, Grant. Yesterday was … awful. Last night was worse. But I’m not going to turn my back on a little boy!”

  “That’s why it’s disguised like a child! To lure you in! Mackenzie, when I died last night all I could think of was that I had failed you. The second I was alive again today, I started searching for you. My every thought has been about you. I’m not going to let anything or anyone close to you again. You and I need to stay on our own.”

  “He’s just a little boy!”

  “Isn’t that convenient? A little boy? Who calls you Macky? He might as well call you Mommy!” Grant flung up his hands.

  “You’re the bad thing! Not me!” Johnny shouted, tears sparkling in his eyes. He tugged on Mackenzie’s hand again. “I want to go!”

  “Don’t you dare throw my dead son in my face! I know Johnny is not Joshua.”

  “Even their names are similar!”

  “He’s not a wraith! I saved him from a zombie! He’s just a scared little boy!” Mackenzie stepped protectively in front of Johnny. “He’s coming with us.”

  Vexed, Grant didn’t answer her. He stalked a few feet to the left, stopped, rested his hands on his hips, and stared out over the graveyard with his back to them.

  “I want to go, Macky,” Johnny whispered. “He’s not looking at us. We can run away.”

  “He’s just scared, Johnny.” Mackenzie dropped to her knees to gaze into the little boy’s face. Tears dotted his long lashes and she gently wiped them away with her fingertips. “He’s scared because of all the bad things that happened to us last night.”

  Johnny shook his head adamantly. “No. He’s bad.”

  It was plain to see that Grant had developed deep feelings for her in a very short time. It made her uncomfortable, yet she could understand how absolutely lonely he must have been until he stumbled upon her. She could see how feelings could develop at a much speedier pace in this world. Already she felt attached to the little boy standing at her side. She barely knew him, but her instinct was to protect him. She couldn’t slight Grant for feeling the same way toward her. Though she didn’t have romantic feelings toward Grant and was very confused after the dream she’d experienced, she did have to acknowledge she wanted him at her side. The way he cared for her made her feel safe, though it irritated her at times.

  Finally turning around, Grant threw out his arms in surrender. “Fine. We’ll take him with us.” Gesturing toward the building, he said, “There’s shelter over there.”

  “How about a car?”

  “A car?” Grant lifted his eyebrows.

  “Yeah. A car. Johnny said he met a man that had a car. You said it was hard to keep one working outside the dead spots, but I want to try.” Mackenzie raised her chin, feeling a little defiant. She didn’t like being told what she could or could not do.

  Grant lifted an eyebrow. “You want a car because the little boy told you someone else had one?”

  “It’s a nice car,” Johnny mumbled.

  “Yes. I would much rather try to drive to wherever we are going next than end up with my feet a blistered, bloody mess like yesterday. It’s embarrassing that you had to carry me.”

  “I didn’t mind carrying you, Mackenzie,” Grant replied.

  “Plus, Johnny will get tired if we have to walk and we’ll have to carry him.” She deliberately didn’t tell Grant that Johnny had been with the mysterious man in the leather jacket. It was best to leave Lucas out of it, or else Grant would insist on leaving Johnny behind. Mackenzie wasn’t sure what the true story around Lucas actually was, but she didn’t want to risk giving Grant more ammunition against Johnny. Mackenzie was certain the little boy was not a wraith. She trusted her instincts on the matter. After all, she was the one who had figured out Grace’s true nature. Maybe it had been a fallacy on her part to just believe everything Grant had told her. It was possible that he didn’t know everything, or had a skewed perception after everything he had endured. He had been adamant about Grace and had been wrong.

  Resting his hands on his hips, Grant sighed before motioning toward the building. “You might not be strong enough to maintain a car, Mackenzie. It’s very difficult to do. I’m worried you’ll drain yourself.”

  “Let me try.” Mackenzie wasn’t about to budge in her determination to at least attempt to get a car in working condition. It might be difficult to sustain the vehicle outside a dead spot, but she wanted to at least see if she could.

  “Fine! There is a hearse parked behind the funeral home.”

  “That’s the funeral home?” Mackenzie balked at the thought of entering the building. It seemed foolish in light of all she had endured, but it made her uneasy.

  “Some rural communities had the funeral home connected to the cemeteries.
It made it much easier on the families. I’ll go into the building and find the key. You restore the car.” Now that Grant was resigned to Johnny coming along his irritation was dwindling. “Sound like a plan?”

  Mackenzie nodded. “Sounds good.” Her palm felt sweaty against Johnny’s fingers. She hated to admit her own squeamishness about the funeral home.

  Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the dorsal fin of the Great White still slicing through the dark water of the pond and the dead body of the zombie. Was it really just two days ago that she had left Shreveport for Kerrville? It seemed like an eternity had passed. How quickly her mind had acclimated to her new reality. It was rather frightening. The thought of zombies stumbling around graveyards and Great Whites loitering in a pond should make her laugh or question her sanity, but now they seemed rather normal. Again, the thought that perhaps she was in a coma or having a mental breakdown drifted into her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. She had to concentrate on dealing with the here and now.

  “The shark’s still there,”Johnny said in a frightened voice. “Why isn’t it going away?”

  Grant looked toward the pond and the dorsal fin. He didn’t look very surprised by what he saw. Instead, he sighed. “Because it frightened Mackenzie,” Grant answered simply. “Let’s get a move on. No use standing around here.”

  The funeral home was constructed out of quarry stone, so its walls were still standing. The roof had given way over time. Vines crept up the walls and wrapped around the termite-ridden posts of the portico. The long narrow stained-glass windows had gaping holes in the colored glass. An aura of sadness and desolation clung to the building. A well of sympathy swelled inside of Mackenzie for all the families who had sat in the chapel of the building saying farewell to loved ones. Yet, the darkness looming beyond the windows and gaping front doors gave her pause.

  “I don’t want to go in there,” Johnny decided.

  “I’m going in. You can go with Mackenzie and try to get the car started.” Grant pushed the front doors open completely and peered inside. “Mackenzie, do you mind fixing it? It’ll make it easier for me to find the keys.”