CRYERS (30 page)

Chapter 52

“Open your
eyes.”

Lawson kept
them shut and held his breath, hoping the thing hadn’t seen his chest rise.

Colonel Strope
leaned over his still body. “I’ve caught men playing dead before. Enemy
combatants mostly, but there were a few deserters as well. You can tell when
they’re acting. Open your eyes…We need to talk.”

Lawson opened
his eyes. “Still hurting…need rest.”

“Bullshit.”

The lawman
sighed and worked his way up onto one elbow. “If you’re going to kill me, make
it quick. I may be used to having my bones broken, but I’m still not all that
fond of pain.”

“I’m not going
to kill you. I said I wanted to talk.”

The lawman
looked around. “Sara…where is she?”

“Your woman is
still alive, she’s checking up mine.”

“Edna. The one
I blew in half.”

“Yes. You have
been listening. Then you’re probably aware Eichberg plans to use you as our
guide to other towns and cities.”

“There ain’t
no cities no more.” Lawson lay back down in an attempt to put some distance
between him and the fetid reek of Strope’s healing face and breath. “What towns
remain ain’t worth your effort. They’re far and few between.”

“Eichberg is
the one concerned with distant populations. I have other plans.”

“Eatin’ all
the folks in Rudd don’t sound like much of a plan.”

Strope ignored
the comment. “I lived in a world—worked for a country that was continually
fighting for more. Where did it get any of us? What is it that Eichberg hopes
to achieve by starting the process all over again? This world needs to be
rebuilt. It needs guidance. It needs to grow. I want to see that happen
here
.”

The lawman
shifted away from him and stood up. He hurt all over, but there was nothing
inside broken bad enough the Ambrufel hadn’t already healed. Lawson was
grateful he’d had enough sense to take some extra packages of the stuff from
Level
E
when he’d been holed up in
the washroom with Cobe. Giving them to Sara the night before the Rites was one
of the brighter things he’d done in his life. Lawson saw no need to hide his
condition from Strope any longer. If he’d wanted him dead, no amount of ancient
medication could’ve kept the lawman alive. He moved over to the window and
looked out into the night. “Quiet outside… No one left to help you rebuild this
world of yers.”

“It shouldn’t
require many people. The soil is fertile enough again to begin growing
healthier and hardier crops.”

“I wouldn’t
count on it. Only thing that grows around here half-ass hardy is weeds, and you
ain’t gonna survive on that fer long.”

“There are
seeds stored back in the Dauphin facility. They’ve been genetically modified to
withstand almost any hostile environment. I’m offering you an out, Lawman. Take
your people and leave this place to me.”

Lawson had no
idea what genetically modified seeds were, but he was a good enough judge of
people. And even though Colonel Strope could no longer be considered human, the
lawman could appreciate motive. Maybe he really did want a fresh start. Maybe.
“Why not just kill me and the others right now and start this new world without
us? What good is there in lettin’ us go?”

“You
misunderstand.” Strope went to him and led him back to the table, away from any
prying eyes in the night. “I
would
prefer killing you and your friends.”

“But?”

“But my main
concern is Eichberg. He has too much support…The Russian, Aleea Shon, Eunice
Murrenfeld, and Dutz…They will follow him. I need all of them out of Rudd, away
from my family.”

Lawson nodded
slowly. It was starting to become clear. “You want to settle here, and you need
to set me back off into the wild so the others follow.”

Strope forced
him back down onto the table’s surface. “I don’t expect you’ll be able to kill
them. I’m not sure anything can truly destroy us now. But I do need you to draw
them away for a time. It will give me the chance to fortify this position.”

“What if I say
no?”

“You’re not
that stupid. Would you prefer being eaten?” Lawson remained quiet. “I didn’t
think so. You leave at midnight. I’ve spoken with my daughter, she’ll have the
others waiting by the south end of town shortly before.”

“What about
Eichberg? He ain’t just gonna let us stroll out of town.”

Strope went to
the door. “Edna will keep him preoccupied.”

“No offence,
but I saw what that grenade did to yer woman. She ain’t all there anymore, is
she?”

“Edna has
other…abilities.” Something like a grin spread over the thing’s face causing
the grey skin to crack and leak. Lawson shrank further back into the table.
“Two hours until midnight, Lawman. Do your part, and we’ll do ours.” He left,
shutting the door quietly behind him.

A lantern was
flickering on the fireplace mantle. Lawson went to it and snuffed out the small
flame. He crept back to the window and chanced another look out into the night.
He heard something after a full minute of silence. It came from the south, a
sound he was very familiar with. A horse’s whinny.

It was the
lawman’s turn to grin. He whispered its name. “Dust.”

Chapter 53

Lothair was in
a place he’d never been before. He had eaten in hundreds of restaurants during
his first life, and even though that had been a long time ago, his improved
memory recalled every diner he’d ever stepped into, every meal he’d ever eaten,
and each cup of coffee served to him. He spread his hands out over the table’s
worn but smooth surface and noted the color in his skin. He didn’t like being
human again. Lothair felt weak like this, too vulnerable. He closed his hands
into fists and leaned back into the soft red fabric of his seat.

Edna appeared
next to him holding two steaming cups by their handles. “You thirsty?”

“I don’t drink
coffee anymore.”

“Come on, it’s
a dream, I wouldn’t poison you in a dream.” She sat across from him and pushed
the mug his way. “There was a time when I respected you more than any other
person I knew.”

“I was frozen
before you were even born. You never
knew
me.”

“I knew of
your work. I was proud to call myself an Eichberg, and to carry on the work you
started.”

Lothair caught
himself smiling. It was an old human thing he couldn’t quite shake when he was
in the dream state, like the sickly pink color of his skin, and the pale liver
spots spattered across the back of his frail hands. He hated humanity. “I was a
doctor during World War II. I experimented on hundreds of children. During the
fifties and sixties I sold dangerous narcotics to addicts and likely sent
thousands more to their graves. You say you were proud to call yourself an
Eichberg…what changed?”

Edna took a
noisy sip from her cup. “You did it all in the name of science. ABZE was a
company formed to bring life back to those that were dying or already dead. The
Nazi crap, the drug trafficking—it didn’t define who you were and what you were
trying to accomplish. You were always a bit of monster… but your goals were noble.”

Lothair was no
longer smiling. “And now?”

“You’re
all
monster.”

He tried his
coffee. Lothair used to love the stuff. Now it tasted weak and cold, even
though the steam rising was warming his cheeks. “Enough of this. I can’t be
made to feel guilty. Michael said you wanted to speak me. How long have you
been in communication with him?”

“In dream?
Once or twice…I’m concerned about Jennifer’s welfare.”

“Jenny is no
longer human. She can take care of herself. I’m more concerned with the
Colonel. What have you been saying to him? He seems more…distant.”

“Harder to
order around, you mean? I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

Eichberg threw
the coffee in his great-granddaughter’s face. He willed it to melt the skin,
and it did. “Quit wasting my time, bitch. Tell me where the secret facility out
west is. What state, what city?”

Edna clawed
the ruined flesh from her face. “The Cryers experiments were unauthorized.
Nothing good came from it…a failed program.”

Lothair
grabbed one of her wrists and pulled it away from her face. Strands of red skin
came with it, like melted cheese. “No! It was a success—I see it in your mind.
You achieved absolute immortality. Men and women
ten times
stronger than you or I. Imagine the world we could build
with that kind of strength—unlimited, unstoppable.”

“Every single
patient stark-raving mad.”

Lothair
shrugged. “So we tinker with the formula a little bit.”

Edna twisted
free of his grip. “I
won’t
help you.
Michael won’t help you.”

Eichberg was
grinning again, and this time he didn’t fight it. He let the smile spread on
his face like disease. “Victoria…I saw it in your mind, dear. The Cryers
facility is located beneath the city of Victoria on Vancouver Island.”

Edna slumped
down into her seat. She had tried to keep it from him, and she had failed.
“Victory…We named the installation under the city Victory.”

“Victory,”
Lothair repeated. “Victory Island… How fitting.”

***

Lawson didn’t
trust the Colonel. He found it hard colluding with any man that exhibited
strong cannibalistic tendencies, so the lawman had decided to leave Rudd an
hour sooner than planned. Sara had got word to the boys, and the time had come.
They would be on the run once again in a few short minutes when they all met up
at the south bridge—or they would be caught and likely consumed on the spot.

The lawman
shoved the remaining packets of Ambrufel Sara had hidden away into his back
pockets, and fastened his gun holster around his waist. He’d lost the gun that
went with it, but Lawson had grown used to the feel of the thing on his hip,
empty or not.

Sara watched
this and disappeared into the backroom for a moment. She returned with a long
bundle in her arms wrapped in leather. “I’ve been holding onto this damn thing
since the last time you were in Rudd.” She placed it on the table and removed
the cover revealing an ancient weapon. “I never had no use for it…wouldn’t know
how to use a rifle if I tried.”

Lawson took it
into his hands. “It ain’t no rifle…This here’s what they used to call a
double-barrelled shotgun. I found it on my first drop into Big Hole. Not all
that practical, considerin’ the fire power I found there since. Still—it can
pack one hell of a punch if you get in nice and close.” He checked to see if it
was loaded and discovered two dirty gold shell ends in place. Lawson snapped it
back into place and furrowed his brows. “Sometimes ammunition can go bad if it
sits too long…not sure it’ll work if the time comes we need to use it.”

“Then shove
the metal end up one of those things’ shithole. It’s only been gathering dust
here for the last fourteen years.”

Lawson gave
her a wicked smile and the two crept out into the dark.

Jenny and the
boys made their move less than a minute after Eunice Murrenfeld left the town
meeting hall with another screaming prisoner. They slipped into the shadows
between buildings while she raked the skin off the poor man’s back with her
finger nails in the center of Rudd’s main street. His cries echoed into the
night as he attempted to crawl away from her on his hands and knees. The four
watched as the woman straddle-walked behind him.

Trot moaned
when she leapt on the man’s back and started pounding his face into the ground.
Jenny’s eyes glowed a green warning in the shadows, and Cobe wrapped his hand
over Trot’s mouth. “Quiet,” he whispered into the man’s ear.

Trot peeled
Cobe’s fingers away and whispered back. “It ain’t so much the killing and
eating…it’s the dark. I’m scared of the dark.”

Cobe could
understand his fear. Trot had been on his own in the dark when he followed the lawman
out of Burn, hunted most of the way by howlers. He had discovered Lothair
Eichberg, and been shoved into the cold confines of the monster’s metal coffin.
It had been night when he took an arrow through his ear in the forests of the
Dirty Hills, and it was night when the rollers nearly trampled him flat on the
open plains. They all had reason to fear the dark—Trot especially.

Eunice ripped
the man’s spine out and his screams ended. Cobe put an arm around Willem’s
shoulders and held Trot’s hand as Jenny led them away. They met up with Lawson
and Sara a few streets over.

Trot hugged
the lawman and whimpered like a lost dog reunited with its master. “When I
heard you was still alive I knew you would get us outta this. I just knew it. I
done my best to be brave, I tried to be strong for the boys.”

“I know you
did, Trot…I never once doubted it.”

The six of
them gathered in the shadows against the wall of a worn-down house. The stench
of rotted flesh drifted out of an open window between them. Jenny peered inside
and looked for signs of movement the others couldn’t see. “All clear…just
remains.”

 
The lawman looked at her suspiciously. “I
heard you were goin’ to help us…not sure if I much care for the idea of it.”

“I
trust
her,” Cobe said.

Willem
shrugged. “She ain’t ate any of us yet.”

“Not the most
encouragin’ endorsement,” Lawson grumbled, “but I suppose it’ll do fer now.” He
gripped the shotgun in both hands and they started for the south end of town.
Jenny strode along beside him, looking out into the dark in all directions.

Sara jogged up
to her. “What about the bridge—won’t one of them be on guard?”

“Aleea or
Ivan,” she answered. “I’m not sure which.”

It turned out
to be both.

“What’re they
doing?” Willem asked. Aleea was naked and sitting on top of an equally bare
Ivan. She was moving up and down quickly. “Is she gettin’ ready to eat him?”

“I’m afraid
not,” Sara said.

Lawson
motioned the others to stay behind. He approached the two as quietly as he
could—although it seemed stealth wasn’t all that necessary. A herd of rollers
could’ve thundered by them and they wouldn’t have noticed with all the grunting
and rutting noises they were making.

He stood in
between the Russian’s feet as the man’s heels dug twin trenches into the dirt
with each thrust. He aimed the shotgun at the back of the woman’s head. It was
a good line, Lawson figured. With a little luck the one shot would blast her
brains out and travel directly into the other one’s face.
Two fer one.

He pulled the
trigger, expected the kick back into his shoulder. The rifle made a clicking
sound. Aleea turned and growled.

Lawson looked
at his useless weapon. “Gaw
damn
it.”