by Dan McNeill
"Sure, as long as he sounds human enough, they'll come over to check it out." Salome sat down now across from Gary. “So wait a minute," she said, tapping on his metal skull. "You sure he still works? What about the electronics?”
Raymond shrugged. “I dunno. He worked fine when Po played with him a couple years ago. From what I remember my mom saying, he was like a great big music box. There wasn’t much in the way of electronics.”
"How does he work?"
"Easy, we select a game, pull the lever and he starts talking."
"That's it?"
"From what I remember, yes."
Salome stood up, looking uneasily at her watch. "The train's probably pulling up at the station right now. We don't have much time."
Raymond brushed off the leaves and sat in the marble chair in front of the gaming table. He looked up at Gary’s face and shook his head. That calming countenance peeking at him from behind his round-rimmed glasses. He looked so wise. A dry grin on a beard made of brass. Did he have any idea what was about to go down? He looked at the lever on Gary’s side that activated him.
"Come on!" Salome yelled, looking off to the road beyond the library. "If we're gonna do this we gotta do it now!"
Raymond's hands were trembling as he looked down at the game game map painted on the marble table. The brass etchings on the board indicated places on the map you could move to as Gary read out the adventure. The game was usually quite random and sometimes made no sense. But it was always fun. Brushing aside vines covering the table, Raymond found the dial and turned it to select the “Dark Tower Quest”.
He didn't know why he was so hesitant to do this. Was he too caring? Did he think it actually mattered if this thing was destroyed? Cracked branches.
"Holy shit Raymond, get down!" Salome grabbed him and pushed him hard under one of the benches.
It was his nightmares come to life. Shadows, pouring like thick blotches of black ink, came screaming out from the inner forest.
They were everywhere now as Salome tried desperately to cover the parts of them that stuck out from under the bench with the vines that roped over the top of the table in front of Gary. Shadows leaping over shadows, running faster and faster. Knocking each other down. Stepping over each other to escape. Raymond wanted to run but felt Salome's hand grip tighter.
"Sit still and shut up!" she grimaced. "They ain't here to attack us. If they were, they'd be laughing. Nope, they're being chased!"
"Who the hell are they?"
"Ragers!"
Before Raymond could say another word, they were on top of them, leaping and rolling over the table and around Gary's lap. The smell of them made Raymond want to puke. They reeked of something akin to maggot infested meat. Raymond tried holding his breath.
But he couldn't hold it that long. The fury of the chase seemed to be unending. Then, just as Raymond thought they would be crushed, gunfire.
The shadows froze. Around them, Raymond could hear a low growling from the creatures nearest to the table as the sound of clanging metal drew near. More gunfire. Targeted. A mass of shadow exploded behind the table. Another gunshot. More metal clanging against metal.
"The drones!" Salome whispered. "It ain't what we planned but I think we just got our distraction." She slowly peeked up over the bench to try spotting the drones.
But Raymond remained frozen. There was another sound now. The high-pitched whistle that howled from across the lake. The one that Po would make up funny stories about to keep Raymond calm. The one that made his insides feel like they wanted to melt out.
Salome froze too. By the beads of sweat now trickling down her cheeks as she curled beneath the benches, this new threat seemed to frighten her most of all.
The shadows howled and continued to charge forward once again. Apparently whatever was giving them chase was much worse than the promise of death by drone gunfire.
And Raymond saw it. A dozen men on horseback came charging out from the dark forest. His living nightmares. Skulls, wolves, lightning bolts and other symbols that Raymond couldn't even begin to make out in the ensuing chaos. These men on horseback seemed to be painted almost entirely in black - save for the symbols on their tunics - which chests appeared to be painted in a phosphorescent yellow.
They each carried above them a staff they spun faster and faster above their heads. Inside something at the top of the staff was a burning fire that made the symbols on their tunics glow brighter. And produced the sound that filled Raymond's fears.
Without Po's stories to protect him, Raymond shut his eyes tight and covered his ears. Though the whirling flames and the high-pitched whistles still managed to find a way in. Raymond could hear shots like cannon fire blasting out towards the location of the drones, followed by an explosion and echo of crashing metal.
With the drones gone, the howling from the shadows grew more worrisome, growing in pitch to nearly match the sound made by the staffs from the men on horseback. Raymond covered his ears tighter. The only thing he wanted was for it all to be over. The hooves from the horses were following the sounds of the howls, surrounding them. Herding them.
After several long minutes, the howling sounds seemed to be contained. Then, just as suddenly as they started, they stopped.
The meadow adjacent to the courtyard seemed quiet. Raymond could hear a train's horn off in the distance. Salome got up and peeked out over the table.
"All clear," she said, patting Rowdy on the head. "Come on," she said, offering Raymond a hand. "We may still make it!"
Chapter 5
Raymond's head was pounding as he led Salome across the street to the old train station in downtown Lake Geneva. It was the same kind of deep headache he'd get when he'd wake from his nightmares. Of course Raymond never dreamed. But nightmares was the only name he had for the Wonderland-like state he withdrew into when the howls from across the lake would blow. Being so close to that sound when the men on horseback appeared left a residual effect much worse than the blow to the skull he suffered when Salome tackled him.
The train was parked on the tracks. But it wasn’t just any train. This was like a gigantic version of the black locomotive that used to circle around the train set in their Grandpa Lou’s basement. Steam curled out from the locomotive’s smokestack near its front. The steel side rods connecting the giant silver wheels were splattered with grease and mud but enough of them were visible to shine back a reflection of the rising moon. Behind the locomotive was a coal car. On its side, in fading white lettering, was “SANTA FE”.
Behind that coal car however, nothing made any sense. No sense at all. Hiding along the side of an old minivan sitting in the weed-filled parking lot in front of the station, Raymond looked out in horror.
Behind the coal car stood connected a line of freight cars that looked endless. Drones with rifles raised guarded the cars. Muscular work-hands dressed in ragged clothes, their heads covered in black ski masks, were loading pallets stacked with crates. Behind them, in cars further down the line, more drones were supervising the loading of animals, horses, cattle and other livestock. Behind this line, the freight cars seemed to appear older, like a book that was read too much. It was these cars that held the cargo the Chosen cared about the least.
Scores of drones and men in white robes were leading masses of disheveled passengers on board. As best as Raymond could tell, all of them had Down syndrome.
Raymond could also make out a variety of quite unsettling sounds - screams, barking dogs, punches – accompanied by gunshots and more screams. There were more than fifteen freight cars, with people being forced onto each one.
Raymond’s eyes were drawn now to a portly man dressed in red sweat pants and a Wisconsin Dells sweatshirt. He was smiling, carrying a sleeping bag as if he were going to a slumber party.
Raymond turned away. “The people,” he said. “So many people.”
Salome stared ahead, her dark eyes fixated on the hordes of people being led on by gunpoint. “Yep. That train go
es all the way past Chicago and on up to Canada I hear.”
Salome must have sensed the disgust in his voice and grasped his hand. It was a soothing grasp, holding him tight as her pinky caressed his inner palm.
But it only lasted a few seconds. As the drones began systematically closing the freight car doors, she dropped to her haunches while one of the Chosen guards signaled the conductor.
“What happens to them?” Raymond asked, squatting besides her. A horn blew and the train began to belch more gray smoke.
"You'll find out all too soon," Salome said ominously. Staying hidden behind the weed-choked cars in the parking lot, Salome rose slightly and began running in a crouch.
"Follow me! Quick now!"
The whistle on top of the train clanged and steam began to gush from its stack. Slowly, the side rods began to churn and the ancient locomotive started lumbering forward. One-by-one, the freight cars began to creak along behind it. With the cars secure, the drones retreated into a guardhouse setup near the station. Peeking around quickly, Salome made a run for the last rail car. “Move! This is our only shot! Let’s go!”
Bolting forward, Salome stepped onto the metal footing of the rusted out boxcar. Grabbing hold of the door latch, she swiftly lifted herself up. With her other free hand, she unlatched the door to the freight car and slid it open.
“It's empty!” she shouted to Raymond. "Get in!"
Sniffing first, Rowdy was the first to leap in. The cars were starting to pick up speed.
“OK,” she said, pointing at Raymond, “you next.”
The train was moving quickly now. But Raymond was faster. Throwing Remmy into the freight car to buy him some speed, he grabbed hold of Salome’s hand.
But something else had seized Raymond from behind. Something that smelled like road kill left out in the summer sun. By now, Raymond knew what it had to be.
Startled, Salome momentarily released her grip and Raymond tumbled back onto the gravel, the tumored hands of the moaning rager holding firm. As they continued to roll into the dark underbrush, Raymond could hear Rowdy howling from the car as it moved away.
Raymond and the creature thudded against the base of a tree at the bottom of the hill and the muscled rager released his grasp. Raymond, his head pounding from the fall, shot up and stared blindly into the night. He could see nothing. The sound of the train seemed to be getting farther away.
Taking a calculated step back towards the hill they just tumbled from, Raymond was met with the shrill scream of a banshee as the rager's clawed hands pounced on Raymond from behind, wrestling him to the ground. With Raymond pinned on his back, the rager firmly clasped its gnarled hands around Raymond’s throat and began pressing in. Staring down at Raymond with blood red eyes, it grunted something and laughed as it tightened its grasp around Raymond’s neck. Raymond’s vision began to get cloudy and his thoughts began to drift back to Po and the giggly book and nights around the campfire. Thoughts of his brother gave Raymond hope as the clicking sound from the freight train's wheels trailed away into the night.
And hope arrived. Looking up, a bolt of golden lightning, Rowdy, his teeth bared, leapt onto the rager’s back. Sinking his sharp teeth into the tumors lining the creature’s neck, it howled obscenely, releasing its grasp on Raymond.
Raymond rolled away, trying to catch his breath while Rowdy chased the creature away. Looking down the tracks, Raymond could still see the last car of the freight train. There still might be time to catch it.
“Rowdy!” Raymond yelled. “Let’s go boy!”
They both ran, shooting off across the rocky ground alongside the tracks. Charging forward with only the light of the moon to guide them, Raymond did his best to keep his footing. While the train was picking up speed, so were they.
Salome saw them, excitedly extending her hand to Raymond. Grasping it firmly, she pulled Raymond aboard the train in one fell swoop.
Raymond immediately turned back towards the open car door to help Rowdy.
“Jump boy!” he yelled.
Rowdy kept running, and with a mighty thrust of his back legs, hurtled himself towards the open door, missing by just inches. He hit the ground at an angle but almost immediately was back running. Moving relentlessly towards them, his legs, like the steel side rods of the powerful locomotive, were a blur of light.
Raymond dropped down onto his stomach and leaned forward, stretching both of his arms out the freight car door. “Come on boy!” he shouted. He hoped the dog didn’t catch the tinge of panic in his voice. He knew that Rowdy was sensitive to such things.
Rowdy was close enough to them now that Raymond could see his jowls bouncing, his legs moving with purpose to reach his master. Once again, he leaped forward, this time, so high that Raymond was able to grab hold of his collar.
“Gotcha boy!” Raymond exclaimed. Salome was behind them, clapping her hands.
He looked down at Rowdy, who Raymond was still struggling to get into the car, which was now moving at full speed. Like Po used to always tell him, Rowdy was most definitely smiling. Holding the old leather collar firmly, he gave Rowdy a final strong yank towards him.
And he was gone. Raymond stared dumbfounded at his hands, which held only half the collar. Worn and weathered, the old collar had torn in two. Rowdy had tumbled backwards landing hard on his side. He appeared motionless, a tiny diminishing blur of moonlit gray as the train pulled rapidly away.
“No!” Raymond got up from his stomach holding back tears, screaming. Confused. So confused. The train kept moving, the moon blinking between the slits of the wooden planks. He turned around and ran towards the open door of the rail car as Salome’s cold hands grabbed him by the shoulders.
“It’s too late!” she shouted. “No time!”
“Get out of my way!” Raymond yelled back. “I’m going after him!”
“No you ain’t! There're Ragers out there! Screechers! More drones! A whole mess of shit that will just whack you hombre! You understand?” Salome looked furious.
Raymond tried to break free, struggled and fell back. It was useless. Salome held him tight for a few more seconds before letting him go. She closed the rail car door and gave Raymond some space.
In the darkness, Raymond wiped away tears and crouched in the corner of the freight car. Anger, brutal anger. At Salome, at the Rager. Maybe even a little at Po. He thought about Rowdy, hurt and alone in a wilderness of wild beasts and mechanical monsters. He only hoped that Rowdy was able to recover while he still had a fighting chance.
But it didn't matter. The clicks from the train wheels grinding over the rusty tracks caused him to feel anxious and alone. But the repetition centered him. It wasn't a peace though. Not in this place. Raymond's only constant was his anger. He knew he needed to keep that anger stockpiled. Keep it ready. Ready for a destination he knew nothing about. Ready for a fight.
After many long minutes, Raymond felt a warm hand on his shoulder. Startled, he turned to it.
“It's ok Raymond,” Salome gently whispered. “It wasn't your fault you know.”
“Sure it was,” Raymond replied coldly. He'd forgotten he wasn't alone. He rubbed his eyes and continued to stare into the darkness as he hunched over into the corner.
“I don't mean the dog. I mean everything.”
Raymond remained still while the train continued along. Through the narrow slits between the wooden planks, he could occasionally make out some piece of scenery. He wondered just where they were right now. Wherever it was, it was far from Lake Como. Far from the quiet of the lakeshore, the tranquility of staring up at the stars with Po, the peace of listening to one of his stories. He missed that blessing. That blessing that meant things would stay the same. That they wouldn't go back to the emptiness of the past. But Raymond knew that blessings really were. Blessings were bullshit.
"So, it's Christmas time in post-Rap Chicago," Salome says. Me and the Jake-Man are out trying to find a present for someone. Some young kid that started tagging around with us
." She laughed, shaking her head just enough to make Raymond know all she really wanted to do was cry. She put her hand on Raymond's knee. He didn't care enough to push it away.
"The kid was maybe seven or eight," she continued. "A real wild one. Probably alone since the Rap. When we found him at that factory outside of Melrose Park, he was living on chocolate chips and Doritos. But the little shit knew the terrain. Found us a place to hide when we were ambushed by a drone squadron. The Prophet called him a blessing."
"There's no such thing as blessings," Raymond grumbled.
"What-ev's," Salome said. "The little shit became out mascot. Our good luck charm. So that's who me and Jake were out trying to find a present for."
Raymond shook his head.
"Me and Jake, we're up on State Street!" she laughed again. "Man, nothing like how it used to be back in the day, right? Not a sign of any rich bitches from the burbs, you know? Outside of wolves and the occasional bandit, me and Jake, we had all the stores to ourselves. The Chosen hadn't taken Chicago yet, you know. But they were close."
Raymond continued to squint out at the moonlit landscape, finding solace in the desolation. But not everything was so desolate.
"So we find a big ass panda bear. Seriously, this thing had to be bigger than me. The little shit, he likes stuffed animals, you know? In the warehouse where he was holed up he had a whole mess of them. They were like his little plush protectors. So like we take the big ass panda. Figure that'll be the kid's Christmas."
Raymond thought he saw what could have been lights and people passing in the streets. Salome was crying.
"We get back to the camp and everything's just red," she sighed, rubbing her face. "The little shit, he's gone. But not gone, you know. Not gone. Just blown away. A big fucking chunk of his chest just blown away."
