The Land of the Dead: Book Four of the Oz Chronicles Read online

  Wes looked at me. He wanted to say something, but he didn’t. He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just having a bad day. Y’all don’t pay no attention to me.” He walked to the window behind the counter and watched the rain.

  I stepped to the opposite end of the store, bothered more by what Wes didn’t say than by what he did. They were all better off without me.

  TWO

  By the time the rain let up, nightfall was upon us. We decided to wait it out until morning to begin our trek to the Biltmore House. We slept in shifts. I volunteered to take the first watch with Gordy. Lou was hurt. She wanted to spend some time alone with me, but we would talk strategy, and losses, and feelings. I wasn’t in the mood for those conversations.

  Gordy and I set up two chairs behind the register. Earlier, we had found a case of energy drinks in the manager’s office so we popped a couple open and sipped on the tangy drinks. They were awful, but they kept us bright-eyed so they served their purpose.

  “How’s your brain?” Gordy asked.

  “Huh? My brain?”

  “Dude, that shunter worked on you for a long time.”

  “Oh.” I reached up and felt my temples. “I’m a little fuzzy. Kind of feels like I just woke up from a deep sleep all the time.”

  “I’d kill for that feeling,” he said. He downed the last drop of his energy drink and tossed the can in a nearby trashcan. “You know what I really miss?”

  I shook my head.

  “Cheeseburgers. Big, thick, juicy cheeseburgers. Melted cheese, tomato. Slice of bacon.” He leaned back. “Oh, man. I’d fight a thousand wars to get back home and sink my teeth into a cheeseburger.”

  “Pizza for me, man,” I said. “Sausage, hamburger, and onion. Thick crust. Big cold glass of Coke. Crushed ice.”

  “Bread sticks,” Gordy said. “Gotta have bread sticks.”

  “With garlic butter dipping sauce.”

  “Sweet,” Gordy said.

  We both relaxed in our chairs and savored our imaginary meals. I think I may have even smiled. I breathed in deeply as if I could smell the melted cheese of my make-a-wish pizza.

  “Dessert,” Gordy said. “What about it?”

  “Shake,” I said. “Vanilla with a little cream soda mixed in. Something my dad used to make. Made it so thick, you’d have to eat it with a spoon. He called it heaven in a glass. He was a hundred percent right, too. It was.”

  “Brownie for me,” Gordy said. “Hot, chewy, thick, chocolaty. The smell… it’s like fresh… Man, I can taste it now.”

  We both relaxed, and didn’t take notice of it. If we had, we would have realized how absolutely special it was. The tension was gone. The fear was gone. The worry… gone.

  I leaned back in my chair. “What’s something you don’t miss?”

  “Huh?” Gordy said.

  “Seems like all we talk about is the stuff that was fun. There’s gotta be something you don’t miss.”

  Gordy thought. “I don’t think there is.”

  “C’mon.”

  He shook his head. “Seriously. I can’t think of nothing that’s worse than this. I mean my old man could get mean when he drank. My little sister was a royal pain most of the time, and I hated Mrs. Hurley’s little dog. Thing bit me three times. But I swear on a stack of Bibles I’d let that damn thing bite me a hundred times a day if it meant I could go home.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I guess it was a stupid question.”

  Gordy shrugged. “I gotta admit it’s kind of nice not having to go to Ms. Paul’s house for piano lessons. She smelled funny.”

  I chuckled. “I didn’t know you were taking piano lessons.”

  “Just started. My mom made me. Wanted me to get some culture. Not even sure what that means.”

  “I think it means not telling people Ms. Paul smelled funny.”

  He waved me off. “Then culture ain’t for me.” He stood. “I gotta pee.”

  I set my energy drink on the floor. “I’ll go with you.”

  “I can pee by myself,” he said.

  “I don’t plan on helping you,” I said. “I just don’t want you to go outside alone.”

  He thought it over and then nodded.

  We moved around the counter and quietly pulled the door open. I took a quick look at the others. They were snoozing away. It was good to see.

  Outside, Gordy headed for the pumps while I wandered to the curb.

  “Tell you one thing I miss,” Gordy said.

  “What’s that?” I asked as I strained to see as far as I could down the dark stretch of road.

  “A working toilet.”

  The wind picked up. Black clouds raced across a dark purple sky. A grunt soared up out of the darkness, followed by a high-pitched wail. A girl screamed. I had no weapon. I turned to warn the others and was startled to see Ajax approaching. He bore a grim look on his face.

  “Crap!” Gordy barked. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  Ajax knuckle-walked into the middle of the road.

  “What is it?” I asked him.

  He beat his chest.

  A girl ran out of the dark horizon of the road. She was shrieking at the top of her lungs.

  Gordy joined me at the curb.

  “Who’s that?” he asked.

  “April,” I said. I don’t know how I knew it was her. I had never met her. I had only heard Archie talk about her. I suppose I just assumed it was her.

  Tyrone appeared shortly after.

  “Ty!” Gordy yelled.

  We both followed Ajax as he bolted towards them. In retrospect, it probably wasn’t a smart thing to do. His hair was up. He was running into a fight. Neither Gordy nor I had a weapon of any kind. I turned to my right and saw Kimball race by us. It wasn’t long before he was hot on the heels of his old friend Ajax.

  Gordy and I reached April and Tyrone. “You okay?”

  “Oz!” Tryone shouted. I had forgotten we hadn’t seen each other in a very long time. He hugged me. I couldn’t believe how tall he was.

  “Ty, good to see you, little man.”

  He pushed himself back. “We gotta get out of here.”

  “Why?” Gordy asked.

  A lone Myrmidon stepped out of the dark horizon. It was enormous… ten feet tall. It wore black thick armor from head to toe.

  April shrieked, “That’s why.”

  Gordy gasped. “Why do they always have to be so big?”

  “Ajax!” I yelled.

  The silverback ignored me. He raced for the Myrmidon. The giant ant-man crouched and readied itself for Ajax’s attack. I turned to Gordy. “Get them back to the store.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know yet.” I turned and chased after Ajax. As I ran, I scanned both sides of the road for something I could use as a weapon. It was amazingly clear of debris.

  Ajax had stopped twenty feet from the Myrmidon. He stood and pounded his chest. Kimball barked and growled. The Myrmidon screeched. Out of the darkness, a flash of silver and black launched itself through the air and landed on the back of the Myrmidon. Ariabod. The huge silverback knocked the ant-man to the ground and brought his large fists down on the creature’s helmeted head. The Myrmidon was unaffected. He tossed Ariabod aside like a stuffed animal and jumped to his feet. Ajax leapt forward and swept the giant’s legs out from under it before it had time to react. The ground shook when the Myrmidon hit the pavement. Ajax stood on its chest. Kimball nipped at the monster and looked for a soft spot to bite. Ariabod found his balance and joined Ajax in the fight. Together, the two gorillas thrashed the Myrmidon with their fists. Each blow was quick and fierce. They were relentless. I heard the creature’s bones break. It twitched and wheezed as it was being beaten to death. The two gorillas would not stop. They were driven by a kind of madness that frightened me. I almost felt sorry for the Myrmidon.

  It wasn’t long before the Myrmidon didn’t move on its own. It was clearly dead yet the two silverbacks continued to pound it with their
fists.

  “Ajax, stop.” I said much too quietly.

  Ariabod stopped. He grunted and huffed erratically as he plodded away from the body. Ajax continued to pummel the dead Myrmidon. The creature’s bones crunched as they fractured under the stress of Ajax’s powerful blows.

  “Ajax!” I yelled.

  He turned to me. His eyes were wide open, and his fangs showed as his mouth was stretched in an awful grimace. He breathed heavily. He looked at me, but I was sure he couldn’t see me. He was gone. Lost in his rage.

  I stuck my hands up, palms down. “Easy.” Kimball had backed away at this point. He sat with his head cocked to the side, studying his old friend.

  Slowly, the grimace relaxed. Ajax climbed off the Myrmidon’s chest and was greeted by a sloppy tongue to the face from Kimball. The two were joined by Ariabod and they all headed toward the store. I took a step toward the Myrmidon and studied its battered body. I heard footsteps approaching. I turned to see Wes standing behind me.

  “Dead?” he asked standing at what he deemed to be a safe distance while craning his neck to get a better look.

  “So far,” I said.

  “Any more out there?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

  “Why don’t you think so?”

  “Hunch. I get the feeling they’re not built for going solo. I’m guessing there were more of them, but Ariabod disposed of them somehow. If there were others, they’d be here by now.”

  He scratched his stubbly check. “You got these things figured out pretty quick.”

  “Not that hard.” I squatted and stared at the corpse. “You don’t want me here do you, Wes?”

  “What?” I could feel him staring at me. “Son, I will kick your ass from here to China if you say something like that again.”

  “It’s okay. I get it. I’m putting everyone in danger.”

  “Is this about me going off before?”

  I didn’t answer.

  “Look here, this is a hard life, Oz. I ain’t always going to be… positive about this path we’ve chosen. I got weak. That’s all.” I heard him sniffle. “You’re my family, you and the others. I’d just as soon lay down my own life than see you leave us again. And Miss Lou… She’d go stark raving mad. I can’t have that.”

  I stood and turned. I saw a tear slide down his fat cheek.

  He cleared his throat. “I need you, boy.”

  I smiled and we headed back to the store.

  ***

  “Three took out after us,” Tyrone said. “Ariabod and Jambo, the other gorilla, held them off for a while… and then Jambo… they got him, but he took one out. Broke that sucker’s neck. We outran them, or at least we thought we did. They caught up to us a few miles back. Attacked us while we were sleeping. Ariabod done one in, and April and me took off. Ended up here.”

  “The other apes?” I asked.

  Ariabod signed while Lou interpreted.

  “He says they’re out there. Waiting.”

  “Waiting for what?” Gordy asked.

  Ariabod signed.

  “War… something,” Lou said.

  The gorilla signed again.

  Frustrated, she said, “Signing faster doesn’t help. It’s war… something. That’s the best I can do.”

  “Unless the rest of it is ‘War ain’t happening,’ I don’t want to hear it anyway,” Gordy said.

  “Where’s Archie?” April asked. She was sipping away on an energy drink.

  “Didn’t make it,” Gordy said.

  I shot him a look. “We don’t know that for sure.” I tried to give April a reassuring smile.

  “Those giant bad guys in black armor say different,” Gordy said.

  “Could be the Keeper died for all we know,” I said. “Nothing more.”

  “I don’t understand,” April said, lip trembling, shoulders shaking.

  “Whenever awarrior …,” Gordy started.

  “Creyshaw,” I said.

  “Fine, Creyshaw. Whenever a Creyshaw fails and a Storyteller is captured by the Destroyers, a new race of Destroyers comes forward.”

  “From where?” April asked.

  “From the North Pole, Never Never Land, Atlantis, who knows.”

  “Some of them also come forward if the Keeper dies,” I said.

  “Maybe,” Gordy said.

  “Bobby said…” I started.

  “Bobby said. Bobby said. Bobby had half the sense of a brainless bat,” Gordy responded.

  “Y’all are doing a lot of yapping about stuff that don’t matter a lick,” Wes said. “We need to rest up and get ready to move out in the morning.”

  “It’s near morning now,” I said.

  Wes looked out the window. “We still got a couple of hours.”

  “I can’t sleep,” Lou said.

  “You’re on watch then,” Wes said. “Unless someone else wants to volunteer, I’ll take watch with her.”

  “I…” Was all I was able to say before Wes cut me off.

  “Not you. We need you raring to go.” He scanned the others. No one volunteered. “Me it is then.” He started for the counter and then stopped. “Get on to sleeping already.” Everyone but Lou moved to the back of the store.

  I caught a glimpse of Lou and felt a strange feeling come over me. I didn’t recognize it at first. It was like something gnawing away at my nerve endings. Suddenly I realized I was worried about her. I got Ajax’s attention and called him to a corner of the store where we could be alone.

  I spoke slowly as if he were an idiot. “I need you to do me a favor.”

  He nodded.

  “Watch Lou.”

  He turned his massive head and watched her for a brief period and then turned back to me.

  “No,” I said. “I mean protect her.”

  He nodded enthusiastically.

  “Don’t tell her about this.”

  He shook his head.

  “Good.”

  He grinned comically.

  I patted him on the shoulder and relaxed as that gnawing feeling slowly disappeared.

  ***

  I woke up the next morning with Kimball licking my face. I pushed him away and sat up, wiping the slobber from my cheek. The others were gone. I yawned and stood on unstable feet. I was weak. Maybe the time spent under the shunter’s “care” was finally getting to me. I reached up to open the door and noticed for the first time that the room was smaller. There were no windows. The door was slotted. It folded open and shut. It was a closet. I pushed the door open.

  I was in my parents’ bedroom. I turned to look back in the closet for any signs of the convenience store. The floor was covered with clothes. Kimball was nowhere to be found. I heard a clicking outside the door of my parents’ bedroom. This was all very familiar.

  I placed my hand on the bedroom door knob, breathed deeply, and then slowly pulled the door open. I stuck my head past the jamb and peered down the hallway. I was about to breathe a sigh of relief when a man appeared at the end of the hall. With his gnarled fingers thrust forward, he stumbled toward me. A purple blob covered his face.

  “Archie!” I yelled.

  “Oz,” a voice replied.

  “Archie.”

  “Oz!”

  The voice was coming from behind me. I turned toward it, and was horrified to see Gordy’s dead Skinner sister staring back at me. I screamed and tripped over my feet as I attempted to flee. I fell to the floor face first with a thud. Woozy, I slowly rolled on my back and saw Lou looking down at me.

  “Oz,” she said quizzically. “You okay?”

  I jerked up. “What…” I was no longer in my parents’ bedroom. I was back in the convenience store. I hesitated and searched for an explanation. “Dream,” I said. “It was just a dream.”

  Lou helped me to my feet. “I guess that means you were able to sleep.”

  “I guess,” I said wiping my eyes.

  “That’s good,” she said, handing me a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. �
��Found a secret stash of candy in a filing cabinet in the manager’s office.”

  I examined the candy. “Probably should give this to April or Ty…”

  “There was enough for everybody,” she said. “Eat it.”

  Relieved, I tore open the wrapper. I was starving. I devoured the candy. I wanted to cry it tasted so good. “Where are the others?” I asked with peanut butter stuck to the roof of my mouth.

  “Out front waiting for us.”

  “Why did you let me sleep?”

  “Even Creyshaws need their sleep, Oz.”

  I nodded. “I guess.” I started for the door, but she stopped me.

  “Are you mad at me?” she asked.

  “No, why?”

  She shrugged. “Kind of feels like you’ve been avoiding me.”

  “Nope,” I said. We locked in a momentary stare. I could feel my heart begin to pound against my chest. I breathed in and marveled at how good she smelled.

  “What?” she said.

  Perplexed, I said, “What do you mean ‘what’?”

  “You’re looking at me funny.”

  “I am?” I hadn’t realized.

  “Is there something you want to tell me?”

  I shook my head. “Just that we should get moving.”

  She smiled and brushed past me. The touch of her gave me goose bumps. My one true love, I thought. That’s crazy.

  THREE

  We spent the first half of our morning rummaging through a Walmart for supplies and a change of clothes. We all washed up with baby wipes. At Wes’s insistence, April and Lou went to one end of the store with Kimball and cleaned up, while the rest of us went to the other.

  “Lou is like my daughter,” Wes explained. “I don’t need to see her business. That ain’t right.”

  “Yeah, well if it’s all the same to you,” Gordy said, “I’d just as soon not see your business either.”

  We each chose a separate aisle, undressed, and wiped ourselves down with the wet wipes. When we met back up in the middle of the store, we had new clothes and a clean baby smell.

  “Now you people don’t make me want to throw up,” Gordy said.

  “I wish I could say the same for you,” Lou said.

  “Ha ha,” Gordy replied.