Prayer had been a habit when he’d been a little kid. His mom had taught him. Then, when Chris had started doing his prayers, he’d insisted that Joey do them with him. It was surprising how easy it had been to kneel down beside the bed with Chris and pray.
“Now I lay me down to sleep… .”
The words rolled through Joey’s mind as Zero parked the Cadillac in the alley at one end of the strip mall. His throat tightened. His prayers, he was sure, were a wasted effort. He felt certain that God wouldn’t listen to him.
“Hey, man,” Zero said in his deep voice.
Joey suddenly grew aware that Zero was peering back at him over the front seat.
“Something wrong with you?” Zero asked. “You look like you’re crying.”
“Allergies,” Joey mumbled. He brushed at his eyes and felt his fingers come away wet.
Bones, seated in the front passenger seat with RayRay sandwiched between, snorted and said, “More like he’s suffering a hangover.” He looked at Joey. “I told you, man, if you want to shake a hangover quick, you gotta drink a little again when you first get up. Just enough to put a buzz back in your brain.”
“Can’t,” Joey said. “Makes me sick.” That was no lie. He’d tried, and it had.
“Whatever,” Zero said. “Keep up or get left behind if we have to move fast.” He popped the door release and pushed himself out. None of the car’s interior lights flared to life because he’d removed them all.
Dropper was seated next to one of the rear doors. When he got out, Joey followed.
Standing outside in the cool night air, Joey felt a little better. It helped to be up and moving. He didn’t have time to dwell on things that way.
Zero opened the Caddie’s trunk and took out all the crowbars and screwdrivers they’d been collecting to make their scavenging easier. He passed the tools out, handing Joey a pry bar. Then he took out the gleaming .357 Magnum he’d found a few days ago. Joey hadn’t known what kind of gun it was. But Zero identified it and occasionally talked about the kind of damage it could do.
They’d taken other weapons since that night. Everyone carried a handgun. Even Joey carried a 9mm that Zero had insisted he keep with him while they were on “missions” to hook up with the alien invaders Zero was certain were out there. Joey never took the weapon off of safety, and had returned it to Zero at the end of every mission.
“Okay,” Zero said as they walked to the mall’s receiving door behind the building, “we got two dozen shops in here. All small places. I checked the phone book.” He grinned. “Works just like a catalogue because it lists all the places inside. They even got the answering service working now, but the power’s not back on in this grid. Which is why the strip club with the generators is the only place open.”
Joey fell in behind the other boys. He felt ill at ease. His stomach rolled and he kept hearing Chris’ singsong voice inside his head: “I pray the Lord my soul to keep.”
“Phone book doesn’t come with a map, though.” Zero shoved the end of his crowbar into the jamb between the receiving door and frame. “So we go in, split up, and cover each other’s backs.” He pushed, and the sound of screeching metal filled the dark alleyway for a split second. Then it was over and the door hung open crookedly.
Joey watched both ends of the alley. No police cars or National Guard jeeps suddenly swooped into view. He relaxed, but only a little. They were still on someone else’s premises and in the wrong.
“Somewhere inside this mall is a sporting goods shop,” Zero said. “The place is called In The Wild. The ad I saw for it said they have generators. We want as many as we can fit into the back of the Caddie.” He banged the crowbar against the receiving door. “With this door still being locked, I’ve got hopes nobody has ripped this place off yet.”
“Until tonight.” Bones grinned and pushed his glasses back up.
“Let’s go shopping,” Zero said.
Joey let the others go first, noticing that Derrick hung back with him. Then he went through the door.
Down the long hallway that ran through the heart of the mall, Zero and the others flicked on their flashlights and played them over the shops. The beams shone at the tops of the shops, picking up the names.
“You know,” Derrick said as he turned his own flashlight on, “Zero is really starting to creep me out.”
“I know,” Joey said. He started forward, walking through the mall. Ahead of them, Zero and the others cut left, following the bend in the hallway, and were instantly out of sight. The pool of light they dragged around after them took a little longer to disappear.
“Do you have any idea what he’s going to do when he finally realizes there are no aliens waiting out there to make him an ambassador or a prince?”
“Yeah,” Joey said. And the thought filled him with dread.
“I’m telling you, man, he’s going to totally freak.” Derrick shone his flashlight from side to side.
“I know,” Joey said.
“He could end up hurting himself,” Derrick said. “He could end up hurting us.”
“I know. I’ve been thinking about that. He may act tough, but I don’t think Zero’s dealing with the disappearances too good.”
“I don’t think he lost anybody.” Derrick snickered nervously. “Everybody Zero knows is too mean to have disappeared.”
The way Chris did. The painful thought ripped through Joey’s heart.
“Now I lay me down to sleep… . Say it, Joey. You’re ‘posed to say it with me.”
“Okay, little guy. Now I
