She frowned. “You’re afraid of Saint John?”
Joe put his hands on her shoulders. “Lilah, there’s not a living soul on this planet who shouldn’t be afraid of Saint John.”
He got back on the quad, and they roared off toward the plateau.
72
Mother Rose stood in the shade of a massive cottonwood tree. Brother Alexi stood behind her, his massive hammer standing on its head, the handle leaning against the tree trunk. Other reapers — all trusted members of her inner circle, her chosen ones — stood in a loose ring around them. In the middle of this ring was a ragged prisoner, a stocky man with a Hawaiian face and curly black hair. He knelt directly in front of Mother Rose, and she towered over him, dominating him with her personal power as well as the evident control she held over his life.
The Hawaiian bowed his head.
“—and this girl who was leading you,” said Mother Rose, “her name was Riot?”
“Yes, ma’am,” mumbled the prisoner.
“She was leading all of Carter’s people through the woods?”
There was a pause before the man said, “Carter wasn’t our leader. We’re
Mother Rose flicked a glance at Alexi, who mouthed the word “Bingo.”
“What is your name?” she asked.
“Mako,” said the Hawaiian. “Like the shark.”
“It is my belief, Brother Mako,” said Mother Rose, “that Carter presumed leadership of your group only because he had a relationship with Riot.”
“I guess. Carter’s always been an arrogant… ” Mako let the rest go. “The two of them were thick as thieves, ever since we met her.”
“They are both sinners,” said Mother Rose.
Mako hesitated, then nodded. “I guess so.”
“I know so. Sinners and heretics who care only for themselves. Tell me what happened.”
Mako glanced at the reapers, then risked a look up at Mother Rose, who gave him an encouraging smile.
“I don’t want to die,” said Mako. Fear and defiance warred on his face. “I don’t owe a damn thing to Carter. I… don’t want to die.”
“Death waits for all sinners,” said Mother Rose. “But for those who serve the will of God… there is always a chance for a new life.”
Mako blinked in confusion. “But… I thought… the reapers… ”
Mother Rose bent and caressed the man’s bruised cheek. “The world is full of mysteries, and the Lord Thanatos moves in such unexpected ways.”
“Wait… I… ”
She bent closer still and whispered in Mako’s ear. “A new world is waiting to be born. If there is something you know — a word, a name — something you ache to tell me… then that name will buy your way into a new paradise. And no, my friend, I am not talking about the darkness. This is no trick. This new world will be right here. This world.
“You promise?”
“On my life,” she assured him. “Now… tell me.”
Mako leaned back and studied her face, looking for the lie. Finding none.
“I know where Riot was taking Carter and… the rest of us. A place called Sanctuary.”
“I already know that she was taking them to Sanctuary,” said Mother Rose with a sigh. “Is that all you know?”
The big Hawaiian man shook his head. “There were four of us. Carter, his wife, Riot, and me. Two nights ago, Riot drew a map in the dirt to show us the best routes in case we ran into trouble. In case we got separated from her.”
Mother Rose waited, holding her breath.
“I know how to
FROM NIX’S JOURNAL
When we left town, no one came to see us off.
No one.
How screwed up is that?
73
They gathered up as many of the papers and maps as they could and shoved them into the largest pockets of their canvas vests. Maybe Chong could make sense of the science stuff, and perhaps they’d eventually find someone who needed to have this information.
Someone from the American Nation, perhaps.
The door to the cargo bay was heavier than the cockpit door, but there was the same kind of unbroken wax seal over the lever-style metal handle.
Above it, the word DEATH seemed to glare at Benny.
“So encouraging,” he said.
He placed his fingers lightly on the handle and arched an inquiring eyebrow at Nix.
“We have to,” she said.
“I guess we do.”
He gripped the handle, took a breath, and turned it. The wax snapped and fell away. The big lock went
Benny nudged the door open with his foot. “I’ll go first,” he said.
In truth he’d rather go first out of the hatchway and down to the desert floor. Then all the way back to Mountainside. Hopefully no one would be living in his old house yet. Maybe his bed would even still be there.
“Okay,” said Nix. No argument, no tussle over who was pack leader.
Nix’s quick agreement did absolutely nothing to bolster Benny’s confidence as he stared into the ominous darkness of the big plane’s cargo bay.
Faint light from the hatchway reached tentatively into the bay but failed to reveal anything. He took a cautious step inside. The air smelled heavily of industrial grease — the old stuff, made from oil, not the stuff they mostly used in town that was made from animal fat; and there were other smells. Dust, animal dung, and some sharp chemical smells that reminded him of the kind of booze that Charlie Pink-eye and his crew drank. Stuff Mr. Lafferty at the general store sold as whiskey but that Morgie Mitchell’s dad used to call “rotgut.” And the ever- present stink of death. It wasn’t as strong as the other smells, but it was there.
