Neal Barrett - Through Darkest America

The empty eyes jerked away from him. “Dory, they need us up there. Get on with it.”

The blade seemed to come out of nowhere and find itself in Dory’s hand. It flashed torchlight as Dory squatted down and reached out to grasp Howie between the legs.

Howie’s heart stopped. “ Oh, my God please no please no…! ”

“Best think about girls real quick,” Jacob said gravely, “if you ever had any, now’s the time to run ’em all through your mind, boy.”

Dory pulled him out tight so the blade would slice easy. Howie went rigid and screamed—

—thunder slammed down like a big fist and sucked the scream right out of him. In a brief instant he saw Dory look up, surprise starting on his face. Then something dark came down, turned his features red, and he was gone.

Howie gasped for breath and choked on dust. Warm blood filled his ears. The torch was gone. But there was another light up above. Daylight, from a ragged hole in the gray ceiling. He was covered with white powder and small bits of stone. There was blood, too, already clotted with dust, but he decided most of it wasn’t his.

The thunder had come in from behind and above, driving great chunks of rock before it with a terrible force. The back of the heavy chair had saved him, then; but Dory and Jacob were nowhere to be seen. He supposed they were buried under the rubble at his feet. Blinking against the dusty light, he could see something white against the wall.

Dory, maybe, or—

Howie started. Something cold grasped his leg. He looked down and found Jacob’s empty eyes. His head was covered with dust and blood and he was trying to work his mouth, but nothing came out. Kari was standing beside his chair. She gave him a curious glance, then kneeled down, put the pistol against Jacob’s ear, and pulled the trigger. Jacob’s head jerked. His hand let Howie go.

“Howie, we’ve got to get out of this place,” she told him. “We can’t stay here any longer.”

Howie tried to see her through stone dust that clouded his good eye. He wanted to say something, but didn’t know what. He had the peculiar feeling he ought to explain it all to her, that it was important she understand what he was doing there, stretched out naked in a cold cellar.

He caught her looking at his face, and what they’d done to it, while she tore the straps from his arms and legs. She just looked, without saying anything.

“Kari… .”

She shook her head. “Don’t talk, Howie. Just sit there a minute. Can you move? Your arms and legs are probably going to be stiff, but we don’t have much time to warm ’em up. You think you can stand?”

Howie thought sure he was going to laugh, but knew how much it would hurt if he did.

“Come on , Howie.” She grabbed one leg and started slapping it hard. Howie sucked in a breath and grabbed the arms of his chair.

“ Godamn , Kari!”

“Feeling coming back, huh? Good. Try to get up.”

Howie shook his head. More thunder rumbled outside. Close, then far away, then close again. Without warning, Kari ducked her head under his arm and pulled him up. Blood rushed to his legs and he let out a yell and collapsed, taking her with him. The fall jolted his head and he thought sure he was going under again.

“ Howie… ”

“I flat can’t, Kari.” He tried to look at her. Her face was swimming and it made him dizzy.

“You’ve got to,” she told him firmly. “We can’t stay here.”

“Why not?”

She looked at him, then got up and ran quickly out of the room. He tried to sleep but she was back again.

“Here.” She raised his head. “Try this.” Howie tasted water and clutched at the jug, trying to get his own hands around it. She pulled it away.

“That’s enough for now. You’re going to get sick.” He pleaded with her, but she wouldn’t listen. “When we get out. Okay? When we get out, you can have some more. Now. Try to get up again.”

With Kari doing most of the work, he made it past the door and halfway down the long hall. He took one look at the steps and shook his head.

“Kari. I can’t.”

“Yes you can. You haven’t even tried, yet.”

“Give me… some water.”

“At the top, Howie. Up there. You’ve got to get up there .”

He tried to think of something that would make her give him the water. His head was pounding hard and he knew he wasn’t going anywhere at all, but he wanted the water. He looked at the steps again. They were nothing but a blur. Kari’s face was melting again. He closed his good eye and started crawling…

“Better?”

“I don’t know. Some. Nothin’s swimming ’round no more.”

“Good. We can’t sit here all day, Howie.”

“Maybe you can’t,” he told her. “I don’t figure on gain’ anywhere soon.”

He drank a little more of the water and decided maybe she was right. His mouth and throat thought it was the best stuff ever, but his belly didn’t think so. Instead, he tipped the jug and splashed it in his face.

Down the narrow alley past the door where they’d come up from the cellar, the street was full of people. Some were running, or hauling carts full of their belongings, or clutching things they’d stolen from the shops. Some just stood and stared at nothing. A woman was crying somewhere. Soldiers clattered by on horseback, one man carrying a tattered pennant that said ’2nd ARKANSAS. His shirt had been burned away and there was blood on his arm. The air overhead was thick with smoke, turning the sky pale orange. Howie could smell wood burning. There was gunfire, some of it close.

Thunder struck again nearby. Howie winced. The ground shook beneath him. He turned to Kari. “Listen… what the hell is that, anyway?” Until now, it hadn’t even occurred to him to ask.

“Boomers,” Kari said shortly. “’Least that’s what the troopers call ’em. It’s powder and stone all wrapped up tight in barrels. The Rebels sling them over the walls from big machines. Same thing as a cartridge going off in a chamber, sort of. Only these go off outside. I heard about ’ern before, only nobody ever made one work. Look, Howie…” She gave him a hard, stern look. “We simply cannot stay here any longer. Don’t you understand? If the Rebels get over the walls… and they will, too… nobody’s going to get out. Can’t you just try, Howie? Just try?”

He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. “Howie!” She was on her feet, glaring down at him. “You can’t go to sleep , Howie!”

He tried to listen to her. It was so easy not to do anything. She was probably right, too. They ought to do something. Only, it didn’t seem real important anymore. And if they did something, what would it be? He couldn’t think of anything very helpful.

“Kari,” he said wearily, “If Rebels are comin’ in, how are we supposed to get out? And where’s there to go, anyway?”

“We can get out,” she said stubbornly, “because we’ll have horses. Nobody can stop us if we have horses.”

“Horses?” He decided that was worth waking up for. “Kari, what’s the matter with you? Ain’t nobody goin’ to give us horses .”

“Of course not,” she said crossly, “you’ll have to shoot someone, Howie, and take them.”

He laughed, even if it hurt. But Kari wasn’t laughing. “If you ain’t had a good look at me, you better look again. I don’t much feel like shootin’ nobody.”

“You could if you wanted to. If you had to.”

He wasn’t really sure that was so. What if he did, and missed? He hurt too much to think about getting hurt again.

Kari seemed to guess his thoughts. “I know you don’t think you could be any worse off than you are,” she told him. “But that’s not true, Howie. You sure will be if you just keep sitting there.”