Sometimes the insides of his worthless eyes flashed bright white as the pain hit, knocking him back, making him useless. When it got that bad he couldn’t do anything except wish he was dead.
He hadn’t told anyone that. Not even Joy, who pretty much knew everything about him these days. She’d only worry and he didn’t want that.
Sleep sounded good.
When he heard the door handle turn, his body involuntarily froze. Breathing deeply, he pulled himself up till he was sitting as straight as possible. His ears perked, waiting.
Footsteps entered the room.
Silence.
“I’m not afraid of you,” he said as bravely as he possibly could.
Silence. The sound of someone breathing softly.
“Come on,” Jack said. “Let’s get this over with. I’m tired.”
The footsteps moved in closer until Jack could feel the Bagger standing beside him at the bed.
He closed his eyes and waited.
MICHAEL
They moved carefully back across the football field, bent low to the ground, trying to be as invisible as possible. Michael thought about the situation as they walked. Between them, they each had a baseball bat and Aries was carrying Clementine’s Taser. Three weapons. Two of them. Not nearly enough for an ambush.
And if by some miracle they managed to get back inside the house, how on earth were they going to walk out with a blind boy leaning on their shoulders?
It was suicide.
“We could always tell them we tried and it was too late,” he whispered to Aries as they approached the back lane. “They don’t need to know. That’s a secret I don’t mind taking to the grave.”
“I’m not backing out,” Aries said.
It suddenly dawned on Michael that they were missing a group member. He hadn’t seen Nathan since they got back. And Eve, who was obviously drugged, couldn’t even get sober enough to run.
Something had happened.
Was this some sort of rescue mission based on guilt? Had something happened to Nathan, and Aries hadn’t been able to save him? Suddenly everything made a bit more sense and he mentally reminded himself to ask Clementine about it when they were alone.
If he got the opportunity.
They paused at the back gate, ducking behind the white boards, their knees sinking into the dirt. From their spot, they had a clear view of the house. The door was open and they could see the Baggers moving around inside the kitchen. Michael caught a glimpse of the fake Heath. He had a dish towel pressed against his head and was being screamed at by another Bagger. Michael couldn’t help but smile to see the bastard’s discomfort.
There were a lot of them.
“I don’t know what to do,” Aries whispered. She was clearly distraught, chewing on a fingernail, mesmerized as the monsters tore through the house. “There’s no way we can get in there.”
“This is pointless,” he said. “We should go back.”
“Just a few more minutes. Let’s wait and see if they bring him out. They captured Mason and—” She paused. “Daniel. They might take Jack, too.”
Michael thought about pointing out the low odds of that. The Baggers wouldn’t want to keep Jack around, being blind and all. He was as useless in this new world as a three-dollar bill at a 7-Eleven.
But if Aries didn’t know what to do, Michael realized he was going to have to be the one to lead her back to safety.
“Let’s go,” he said. “Even if they do bring him out, there’s nothing we can do. We need to get back to the others. Clementine and Raj are under enough stress as it is with Joy and Eve. And Colin’s so bloody useless.”
Aries shook her head.
“Listen to me, Aries.” Michael grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him. “They are the ones who need us. Not Jack. We look to you for leadership.” He spoke the words, wondering how long that would remain true. She looked like she might crack any minute. “So you have to lead. Back at UBC I met a guy named Ryder who said something to me. Leaders lead. They make decisions that aren’t always easy. You need to stop feeling sorry for the people you can’t help, and kick some ass for the ones you can. You can’t keep second-guessing yourself or you’re just going to go crazy. Get it?”
She nodded.
“Then let’s go.”
They stood up together and turned. Michael almost didn’t see the Bagger until it was too late. A woman, dressed in dirty clothes and carrying a huge kitchen knife, had snuck up behind them. A few more steps and it would have been over for at least one of them.
The woman opened her mouth, letting out a loud shriek as she raised the knife.
Michael tackled her, sending her flying backward into a recycling Dumpster. They both crashed to the ground and rolled around as he tried to get the knife out of her grasp. She continued to scream, and he half covered her mouth with his hand while fighting for control of the knife. She bit down hard on his wrist, sending hot pain up his arm.
“Shut up!” he grunted.
Aries swooped down, holding the Taser up against the Bagger’s body and pressing the button. Nothing happened. Michael could see the bewildered expression on Aries’s face, so comical it almost made him want to laugh.
Yeah, hysterical.
Pulling back, he managed to free his hand, but not before the Bagger swiped at him with her knife. He felt the blade scratch against his chest, tearing a ragged hole in his shirt, but enough adrenaline raced through his veins that he barely registered the pain. He punched the Bagger twice, blood flying from the gash in his wrist; he managed to push away from her enough to grab the baseball bat.
He hit her squarely on the second try. The Bagger dropped to the ground instantly, unmoving except for a few sporadic twitches.
The other Baggers were piling out into the yard. Of course they’d been heard.
“Time to go,” Aries said.
Michael couldn’t agree more.
They raced across the football field with the Baggers in pursuit. If they could make it to the other side, the tangle of abandoned houses might give them better shelter. Footsteps stomped behind him and his shirt pulled tight as one of them grabbed hold. Michael swung the bat around, making contact, and heard a loud grunting noise as the Bagger tripped over his own feet. Michael didn’t even pause to look back. He didn’t want to know how close the others were.
By some miracle, they made it across the field and managed to escape between two houses and into a yard where a moldy pool waited in the darkness. Several months’ worth of dead leaves and garbage seemed to occupy the space where the chlorinated water should have been.
“Come on,” Michael said. “We need to hide.”
Aries understood and they both raced down the steps into the pool’s shallow end. Michael’s sneakers instantly became soaked. There was at least a foot of rainwater underneath all those dead leaves. Ignoring the freezing shock blasting through his body, he moved in farther until he was waist deep.
From between the houses, they could hear the shouts of the Baggers. Not much time now.
Michael took a deep breath and plunged his head under. The shock of icy rainwater tore into his system, and it took all the strength he had not to burst back to the surface, gasping for air.
He held his breath until he couldn’t bear it any longer. Raising himself up a bit, he tilted his face out of the liquid and inhaled lightly. It meant swallowing dirt and bits of moldy leaves along with his oxygen.
But at least he remained hidden under all that mess.
He could hear the muffled shouts of the Baggers, but it didn’t last long. The voices faded as the Baggers moved on, oblivious to the two of them hiding beneath the pool surface.
He waited until his fingers were numb and he could no longer feel most of his appendages. So cold. Finally, when he couldn’t take it anymore, he poked his head up a little higher, wiping the leaves and junk from his eyelashes, and took a quick peek.
The yard was empty.
Yanking on A
ries, he brought her up too. She was shivering like crazy. Rubbing her hands against her body to try and keep warm. Leaves and twigs tangled in her hair.
“Next time I get to pick the hiding spot,” she said as her teeth chattered.
Carefully, making as little noise as possible, they climbed out of the abandoned pool and stood on the tiles, listening to the night and for any sounds of impending danger.
They could hear shouts from halfway down the block as the Baggers continued their search.
“Come on,” Aries said, breathing on her hands to try and send the numbness away. “Let’s go. If I get pneumonia, I’m coming back to haunt you.”
He took her fingers and rubbed them between his own hands. “If we get out of here alive, I’m buying you the biggest, hottest cup of coffee you’ve ever seen.”
She smiled. “You’re on.”
CLEMENTINE
They waited in the new safe house, sitting in the living room, weapons close by just in case. Claude had agreed to stand first watch, and she wondered if he would even bother coming back. She had yet to hear him say more than a few words since he’d arrived with Larisa.
Eve was asleep again, her head in Raj’s lap, drooling enough to soak a quarter-sized spot on his leg.
An hour passed.
She went through the cupboards for something to do and was rewarded with some warm cans of Coke. She passed them out, and Raj drank his in a few gulps while Joy placed hers on the table and just stared at it sullenly.
No one talked. There wasn’t anything left to say.
Even Colin looked lost without his Game Boy.
Poor Michael. How must he be feeling right now, knowing that he’d brought the Baggers right into their hiding spot? How dare one of them pretend to be her brother, Heath. Even weirder, how on earth did they know about Heath to begin with?
Daniel must have been feeding them information all this time.
The revelation hit her like a slap to the face. How were they supposed to trust anyone? Baggers or not, who’s to say they wouldn’t all turn into betrayers if they were given no other way out?
What if one of them had already done something? She studied Colin for a while, watching the way he crunched his empty Coke can between his hands. She didn’t trust him, never had, but she still didn’t think he’d go out of his way to rat them out.
Trust.
They’d have to learn it all over again.
And it was going to be hard. But still completely necessary.
A soft knock at the door broke her concentration. Flying out of her chair, she grabbed hold of her baseball bat, wishing for the millionth time she hadn’t given Aries her Taser.
Raj beat her to the door, pulling back the window curtain slightly. His shoulders instantly relaxed. He unlocked the dead bolt and let them in.
Both Michael and Aries were soaked. Water dripped from their hair, which was covered with leaves and dirt clumps. They looked like soggy water monsters.
A short burst of laughter escaped her lips before she could even think about it.
“Are you suggesting I’m not my usual hot self?” Michael said through chattering teeth. He came straight for her, wrapping his freezing arms around her and embracing her in a bear hug before she could even think to try and stop him.
“You’re getting me soaked,” she protested.
“Misery loves company,” he said, refusing to let go.
Even though the cold dampness transferred to her own clothing, she was still filled with a warm glow of happiness. She wanted to hold on tight to him and never let go. But that feeling went away quickly enough when she realized Aries and Michael had arrived alone and what their embrace must be doing to Joy. She pulled back, smiling at him, but firmly enough that he let her go.
Joy had stood up, waiting in the middle of the room, a strange look on her face.
“I’m sorry,” Aries said. “We tried but there were too many of them.”
Joy nodded. The tears were thick in her eyes. “Thanks,” she said with a soft voice. “You did your best.”
Aries opened her mouth to say something more but didn’t. Clementine went over to her friend and tried to put her arm around her, but Joy shrugged her off.
“Do you think it’s safe enough here to spend the night?” she asked in a hollow voice.
“Yeah, safe enough,” Michael said. “They didn’t follow us. We doubled back and forth a few times to make sure. I’m probably going to be sick as hell the next few days, but it was worth it. Besides, I’ve always got Clem to be my nurse.”
Clementine made a tsking noise with her teeth. “I’m not going near you if you’re sick.”
He grinned at her wickedly. She loved it.
“Then I’m going to go lie down for a bit,” Joy said. “No offense, but I kinda want to be alone.”
They all nodded. They understood.
“And I need to find some dry clothes,” Aries said. “I’ve never been so cold in my life.”
“Hope they have some good brand names in the closet,” Michael said. “I won’t cover my frozen skin with anything less than Louis Vuitton.”
“That’s a purse, dumb ass,” Clementine said.
“Wow,” Michael said as he put his arms around her again. “My girlfriend knows both cars and clothing. She’s a dream come true.”
She laughed. It was a good sound and it made her feel warm inside, despite the icy fingers on her waist.
“It’s good to have you back,” she said.
ARIES
She waited until they were all asleep before scribbling a quick note and sneaking out into the darkness. There were still a few hours to go before light and she wanted to get down to the water before it might be too late.
It was a stupid idea and she knew it. But she had to know for sure.
She’d managed to find some new clothing. Nothing nice, just a pair of men’s sweatpants and an oversized hoodie, but it was warm. The shoes she wore were a few sizes too big and she had to stuff some tissues in the toes, but they were dry. She wasn’t about to start being choosy at this point. They could always find new clothes. There were an abundance of stores from which to pick.
She rubbed her fingers against the glass vial of sand in her pocket. It soothed her, making the anxiety a little less painful.
Kitsilano Beach was quiet. Even the waves didn’t seem to be making much noise. She walked through a pile of litter, kicking at a discarded Sprite can, as she headed toward the park bench, keeping her guard up just in case.
She needed to know.
Ahead of her, she could see the figure waiting. She approached him cautiously, the baseball bat tight between her clenched fingers. As she drew closer, she recognized the shape of his back, and her shoulders tightened. He didn’t turn around, even when she stopped a few feet away.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Daniel,” he said. The waves washed quietly against the shore, and in the distance she heard a seagull cry.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
Daniel turned slowly to face her. She raised the bat, prepared for the worst, but it was only his brown eyes looking back at her.
“How could you do this to me?” She could feel the tears burning, threatening to fall, and she blinked them back furiously. No, she wouldn’t cry over him.
“Do you want an explanation? Would that make everything better?”
“No, but it’s a start.”
He nodded his head slightly, suggesting she sit down. “Don’t worry, I won’t bite. I’m normal enough for now.”
There was so much pain and misery in his eyes that she believed him. She sat down cautiously on the edge of the bench.
He didn’t say anything for a while and the silence was too much. Finally the word blurted from her lips. “Why?”
“Did you know they tortured me back at the camp? They’re torturing Mason, too, probably as we speak.”
“Why?”
“They want Mason to give up informa
tion,” Daniel said. “As for me, they’re mad that I’d been avoiding them. I’d managed to stay away from them for too long. It was punishment because I’ve been behaving badly.”
“You betrayed us.”
“Not me. Never me. The monster inside me did it.” The anger rose in his voice, and she flinched a bit, gripping her weapon tighter.
“Explain it,” she said. “You tell me.”
“It started right before the earthquakes,” he said. “I was having blackouts. Periods of time where I couldn’t remember a damn thing. Often when I woke up, I’d find myself in situations. I’d done something terrible. I beat the living crap out of some guy at school. I woke up in the park with blood on my face and hands. I had no idea why. Everything was a great big blur. Do you have any idea what that’s like?”
She didn’t say anything.
“After the earthquakes, everything started to make a bit more sense,” he said. “I started putting bits of the puzzle together. They came for me and tried to make me join them but I ran away. I couldn’t understand why they didn’t try to kill me. But by then I was in too deep, I guess.
“And after a while I started remembering things,” he continued. “Little flashbacks and small memories that invaded my mind. I was doing terrible things. I was killing people and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. Part of me didn’t want to stop either. It was like something primitive had taken over my brain and I enjoyed it. And the voices in my head, always whispering at me. Telling me that I craved it. I needed it. They get inside my brain and stir things around. I don’t know which way is up or down.”
“Are they all like that?” she asked. She thought back to when Nathan died and the female Bagger that started crying and mumbling about being sorry. “I mean the Baggers. Do they all have moments of being . . . human again?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Most of them, they’re stuck in their world, they don’t have a conscience like me. At least if they do, I’ve never seen it. I’m the only one who seems to be trapped between both worlds. But if it makes you feel any better, you help me sometimes. You seem to keep me sane.”