It happened for only a second, leaving afterimages in his eyes. The truck had gone from the parking lot of Stop 17 to the southbound side of the thruway. Walter collected himself and stepped on the pedal. The sky grew green with lightning, and then very dark.
What the hell is going on, he thought. What the hell is going on?
Chapter Four
Matt used his NaU to pull the road sign from Danni’s chest.
The girl had been struggling to pull it out, beating the ground in frustration. Oh, what had happened to the quick-witted girl who always knew what to say? Why was she replaced with this monster, hell-bent on hurting herself but always able to heal?
The girl growled at the sign and smashed it with her hands.
Matt left her to her devices and floated over toward Kent.
The boy got the rough end of the deal, at least when it came to the NaU. Nigel had had some pretty bad effects on him, but they paled in comparison to what had happened to Kent.
Though never an attractive boy, back before the NaU, he had at least looked normal. Now, arm and legless, without a nose or eyes, he looked like a monster. Without Matt holding the boy up, he’d never be able to move on his own.
There isn’t enough punishment in all of hell for you, Robbie, Matt thought.
As Matt approached, another piece fell off of Kent. His right ear, branded with the infection of his NaU, cracked off and fell to the ground below. Matt used his NaU to catch it.
“Leave it,” Kent said. “I still hear fine without it.”
Matt let the ear fall to the ground.
“Odd help that Becca is relying on,” Kent said. “I almost have his car radio. If you give me a couple more moments, I’ll be able to talk to him.”
That’s how Kent was. Focused on the mission, as always. He had to be. When everything else is taken from you, you have to keep moving forward, no matter what.
“They’re not going far,” Kent said. “I think she knows she can’t use this man as a shield for long. We’ve shown we don’t care about causalities, with what Danni did back on the highway.”
Matt frowned at that. He spared a look down at the girl. After the incident with Pete, he had found the girl half-mad up in the mountain, attacking anything that moved. Something happened to her head.
The plan was for no casualties. No one else was going to die but Becca.
But Danni, in her current state, was like a rabid dog, attacking anything. The people who died on the highway from her attack didn’t deserve what happened to them. It was a mess, but if they could just get Becca, then it would all be worth it, and those people wouldn’t have died for nothing.
“I’m sorry,” Matt said.
“For what?” Kent said. “You’re still going to give me the NaU, right? I’m still going to be healed, so there’s no need to apologize.”
He had to know it wasn’t going to him. But yet, he kept his focus on the mission.
“Thank you,” Matt said. “You’re one of the greatest people I’ve ever known.”
“Don’t get dramatic,” Kent said. “Besides, I was never going to be anything anyway. Better for Jolie to have it. It just makes sense.”
As the boy talked, the rest of his nose fell off. Matt thought he saw tears streaming down the boy’s face, water, and steam coming from where his eyes no longer existed.
But then Kent’s new eyes widened.
“I found them.”
Chapter Five
Walter, I know that you are stubborn. Hell, that was one of the main reasons I married you all those years ago. But I need you to realize that there comes a time in everyone’s lives in which they have to make a choice. I only hope that you’ll make the right one.
With love, Beth.
Walter drove through the night as fast as he could.
Rebecca was sleeping next to him in the passenger’s seat. As right as rain, once they “moved” or whatever the hell the girl called it, she lost consciousness.
His heart raced in his chest, and ever since the girl brought up the fact that he might have arteries and veins with high amounts of cholesterol in them, he was nervous that a heart attack was on his horizon. He took a sip of his lukewarm coffee, which was now past the lukewarm mark and was cold. Still, though, the caffeine tasted good for his throat and body. He tried to calm down, but he was shaking, and he didn’t think it had anything to do with the cold.
And cold it was.
It was now late in the afternoon, but for all intents and purposes, it was dark as night out with the heavy snow clouds above them.
What I am doing? he thought as he drove. In all honesty, this was far from a simple stroke or anything like that. He had gotten himself involved in something that he was largely out of his element for. People shooting things from their hands, flying, and what the hell had been that thing next to the two people in the sky? It looked like it didn’t have any arms or legs, and Walter could see glowing pink orbs of light where the thing’s eyes were supposed to be.
And the fact that they were flying alone was enough to show Walter that he had fallen down the tree into the well of Wonderland at the moment, and he desperately wanted to either wake up or go back to the way things were.
Hello
Walter looked at his radio in dismay. It had been turned off. Walter didn’t use it that much anymore, except whenever he wanted to listen to an audiobook or something of that nature.
First things first, this is like a walkie-talkie. We cannot both speak at the same time. So I’m going to talk right now, and then I’ll wait for your response.
My name is Kent. I was the thing with no arms or legs
