Nathan Yocum - The Zona

Eliphaz turned and shot Terence’s horse in the face. Blood painted the house’s exterior wall. The horse’s aquiline eyes showed confusion and hurt. The horse shook its head as though it were tormented by an insect both powerful and strange. The beast stepped backwards and slumped lifelessly against the iron fence.

The crack of a pistol shot echoed through the neighborhood. Terence quickened his pace. Running through loose sand with deadweight was a herculean task. His calves burned. The wash was intersected by an asphalt road. Terence broke into a run on the surer ground. Lead mumbled from his comatose state.

Terence kept out of the Crusader’s line of sight by running crouched next to houses long abandoned by humanity. He cut through streets and yards layered with sand on their return to nature.

Terence was past exhaustion by the time he laid Lead’s body down in a long abandoned mine shaft. A faded metal sign declared it BISON MINE. The shaded cavern provided cool relief. Terence took a drink from his canteen. He poured water into Lead’s mouth, over and past cracked lips. Terence leaned against the cavern wall and assessed their situation. He closed his eyes and rested. Fear warded off sleep.

Eliphaz pushed through the bat-wing doors of the Xanadu Inn. He entered alone; his companions remained in the suburbs hunting for the ex-Preacher’s trail. Conversation stopped. The iron shod heels of Eliphaz’s boots clicked against hardwood floors. He strode to a table full of men eating from a platter of hard bread and cheeses. The men abandoned their feast at the sight of the Crusader, giving him free reign of the table. Eliphaz sat and motioned to his informant. The man was small and hunched, giving the impression that he was somehow part beetle. The right nostril of his nose was missing, a wound of syphilis or combat, one as likely as the other. Eliphaz set a roll of silver notes on the table.

“He was in the neighborhood but not at the house. Thou led us to his horse and no better,” Eliphaz said.

The informant eyed the silver notes and licked his lips, he wanted to reach for them, but was unsure what the Crusader expected of him. Eliphaz drew his Browning and pointed at the informant’s face.

“Know this child, I know when lies are told to me and when sin is committed and had thee known better than what thee stated, thou’d be bleeding out on this floor.”

Eliphaz tapped the toe of his boot against the floor for emphasis. The informant did not move, his survival instincts were keen, he calculated the odds of quitting this situation alive and richer, and his mind told him to remain still, hold his breath, and for the love of God don’t look the Crusader in the eyes.

Eliphaz released the hammer. A small manic grin touched his lips. He waved his gun, beckoning the informant to come closer. The informant took a step and was suddenly grabbed and pulled by his collar. Eliphaz whispered into the informant’s ear.

“Go now child and let thy peers know more notes are to be had by those who find the marks, and a redemptive death will be claimed by those who assist marks.”

Eliphaz batted the roll of notes to the floor with his gun and released the informant. The beetle man let out the breath he’d been holding. He picked up the notes and pocketed them without counting.

“I witnessed a young boy name of Philip riding hard out east end not an hour ago. Stands to reason a boy fleeing these parts does so with reason. Good information or not I’m sure your Holiness will pay fair bounty,” the informant said.

The night winds added to the chill damp of the mine shaft. Terence dug a shallow pit and buried Lead to his neck. He could think of no other way to insulate the sick man from the cold. Lead woke in a half-conscious panic. He tried to reach for his chest but the sand prevented his arms from moving. Terence placed a hand over Lead’s mouth.

“Don’t make a sound. They’ve sent the Crusaders.” Terence kept his hand over Lead’s mouth until he ceased to struggle.

“Crusaders, the Church would not be so rash.” Lead whispered in disbelief. His mind reeled. Crusaders were the Church’s dogs of wars, sent to bring ruination on the heads of those who were too strong, too dangerous. They were the Churches arm against the armies of Satan. It must be a mistake that they’d been set to hunt this old mark. If they had, it meant that the Church had lost faith in Lead’s mission; that he too was out of favor with the Church’s holy influence. That he too might bear the Mark of Cain.

“That don’t matter, son. I’ve seen them, they’re here.” Terence said. He stared out of the cave’s opening into the mouth of darkness.

“We need to leave.” Terence said.

Philip formed a cocoon of blankets around his body. He hunched in front of a fire just off of the road to Kingman. His fire’s light created an island in a vast black sea of cloud-covered night. The night’s creatures chirped and scuttled and made small noises unappreciable by men. Philip sat in a void that could have been the desert, or hell, or distant starless space for all he could perceive within the sightline of his camp. Despite the comfort of blankets and fire, his body shook in the bitter wind. He carefully placed a wire tray over the fire and set a coffee pot on it. Philip clutched the blankets to his body. Out west, past the California border, lightening flashed and reflected blue on Philip’s saddle and coffee pot. Philip said a prayer for good weather.

From the darkness a small rock flew and struck Philip above the left eye. He cried out in mixture of surprise and pain. He touched his face and his hand came away streaked crimson; blood ran into his eye. Philip leapt to his feet, half blinded, and pulled a hunting knife from his belt. He leapt closer to the fire, a primitive notion for seeking safety.

A pistol report silenced the night creatures. A bullet tore through Philip’s calf, spinning him to the earth and sand. Eliphaz walked softly into the firelight, gun pointed at Philip. He circled Philip outside of reaching distance.

Philip beheld his attacker’s Van Cleef and armored vest with his good eye. He recognized the Crusader and tossed his knife out to the darkness. He bit his cheek against the pain in his calf and put forth a brave visage.

“I yield, sir! Why did you shoot me?” Philip said as he gripped his wounded calf.

“Why? Why?” Eliphaz emulated Philip’s voice and laughed. He kicked Philip’s hands away from the wound and pressed the tip of his boot against it. Philip yelled out and tried to twist his leg away. Eliphaz pressed harder. Lights flashed in Philip’s vision, thunder crashed in the distance.

“I’m going to let thou know a secret. It’ll save us both time and aggravation.” Eliphaz said. “God speaks to me. Not metaphorically. Not in my dreams or through fasting or prayers or any of that horseshit. God speaks to me just like I’m speaking to you right now, man to man, person to person. He comes down to earth and he…speaks…to…me!” Eliphaz pressed his foot harder to emphasize the point. Philip’s world was immersed in pain.