ears to ring. He looked down and saw their human faces superimposed like bloodless masks. Men and women whose lives he’d taken. Some deserving and others just unlucky.
The sheriff seemed lost in a daze. Each time he closed his eyes Cyclops took a step closer until Cyclops snatched the gun from his hand and whipped him across the face with it until he dropped to the ground.
“You can have him if you want,” Cyclops told the dogs.
He checked the chamber to see if the gun was loaded. It was not.
Chapter 54
Getting down the gangway hadn’t been easy. Chad had stumbled forward several times and almost sent them both over the railing. When they reached the dingy Ann helped him on board before heading to the back. She pulled the rope-starter and the motor kicked to life and began churning up black water. She sat on the cold aluminum bench and saw Cyclops staring down at them from the concrete seawall.
She was about to put the motor in reverse when Chad looked over his shoulder and pointed at the dock.
“Wait… You forgot the rope.”
Ann glanced at the dock and felt her stomach roll over. Sure enough, the boat was still tethered. She’d been in too much of a hurry to untie them from the dock.
She set the motor in neutral and climbed out of the dingy. As she worked to loosen the rope, footfalls began thundering down the long gangway. Cyclops was heading toward them, dragging the edge of his knife along the steel handrail as he went. She could see that Chad was trembling with fear.
“Chad.”
“What happened to the sheriff, Ann? He was supposed to protect us.”
“You’ve got to help me.”
“No. I don’t want him to hurt me again.”
“He won’t Chad. But you have to listen to me. I need you to take over the motor. I might not have time to get back there.”
Her fingers were numb. The rope was sticky with frost and not coming loose easily. She could hear Cyclops getting closer. She turned and saw him grinning at her as he advanced, the knife singing against the steel rail.
She got the rope free and tossed it into the boat. Chad was still inching toward the back. There was no way he was going to make it to the motor in time. He stopped and stared up at her with widening eyes.
Ann felt a hand take hold of her collar and lift her into the air. As she swung her fists to free herself, Cyclops dangled her over the swift water of the bay before tossing her onto the dock. She lifted her head and saw that Chad still didn’t have control over the motor. The side of the dingy was still bumping next to the dock.
“Go!” Ann screamed.
“I’m not leaving you, Ann.”
Still lying on her side, she kicked the boat with her foot and sent it moving away from the dock. Chad stared at her one last time before the dingy spun out into the current and was lost in darkness.
“It’s your time,” Cyclops told her.
Ann ducked as he reached down for her again. She got to her feet and ran up the gangway. Cyclops was fast behind her and she heard the snick of his knife as it sliced off hunks of her hair. The fire in her leg was making her cry.
Halfway up the gangway she spun around and kicked Cyclops in the jaw. He hadn’t seen it coming. He stumbled back and caught the railing with his hand. Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth and collected on his filthy beard.
“This is going to be fun, Ann.”
She turned around and ran. When she got to the top landing she noticed an empty steel drum and pulled it over. The drum bounced down the gangway and she heard Cyclops grunt as she cleared the seawall.
She ran across the parking lot in the direction of her car. She thought that if she had enough time she might still be able to get the mace out of the glove compartment but stopped when she realized it wouldn’t work. Her Volkswagen had been flipped over onto the right side. Getting to the glove box would be too time consuming.
Not far from her car she noticed a body lying on the ground. She recognized the uniform and the shape that filled it.
“Sheriff?”
“Help me, Ann…”
When she reached him, his eyes fluttered as if straining to stay open. He was trying to reach for something near his leg but she saw nothing.
“Don’t move. I’m going for help.”
The sheriff shook his head. He raised himself again and stretched his hand toward something near his leg. This time he’d managed to grab his pant cuff and pulled it up far enough so that she could see what he was after.
Strapped to his calf was what looked like a snub-nosed.38 revolver. He nodded at her and she bent down and pulled it free. Just as she was about to stand up she felt his fingers claw into her ankle and she leaped back and briefly pointed the.38 down at him. He stared up at her.
“It’s too late for me, Ann.”
“Don’t say that.”
“He busted me up bad. You’ve got to stop him before he kills anyone else. Before he kills you.”
They both turned to see Cyclops emerging from the opening in the seawall. His face lowered with only his single eye floating behind a greasy curtain of hair. The sheriff began to tremble.
Ann leveled the.38 and fired. A bullet tugged at Cyclops jacket before he dove behind Chad’s car. She was unsure if she’d even hit flesh.
“Run,” the sheriff wheezed.
“No. I’m going to stay here with you. I can keep him away until someone comes.”
“It’s not going to work. Gun’s almost empty…
Ann broke open the chamber and glanced inside. The sheriff was right. There was only one bullet left.
It made sense that she should leave. If Cyclops followed her, the sheriff might stand a better chance. It was obvious that Cyclops had only gotten started on him.
“I’ll get help…”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m finished.”
She turned and ran toward the highway.
Chapter 55
It was as if a hot coal had been shoved into the flesh of her leg. Ann had run some brutal cross country races in the past, but she’d never felt like she was on the verge of blacking out. She wondered how far the scarlet line of infection had traveled. Did running make it rise faster? Would it reach her heart by the time she got to town?
