Stefan Petrucha - Dead Mann Walking

“You got it. Hess, where are you going to start?”

“Where do you think? Scene of the crime.”

“Don’t forget your hat. You need the shade.”

I grabbed it, and some of Turgeon’s cash, and headed out alone, except for the day, and the day was never much company, especially during the summer. Moist heat makes it easier for bacteria to grow, for rotting to set in. The sunlight makes it easier to see the gray tinge to my skin, makes it harder for even a “lucky one” to blend in, unless there was a real early Halloween party. I wasn’t wild about it, but if I really was going to do anything, I had to leave the Bones.

I kept the hat on at the Rent-A-Wreck, hoping I could get in and out before they realized I was among the dearly departed, but the agent grabbed my hand to shake and spotted the gray skin. With a grin he doubled the fees for the cheapest piece of shit on the lot. I didn’t object so much as groan, but he still went into his song and dance. It wasn’t enough he was screwing me; he had to yammer on about the extra insurance for chakz, and how he was within his rights to refuse to rent to me at all. I handed him the cash. My nice big wad of bills was already getting smaller.

I kept the windows up and the clunky AC on. The trip was uneventful, a straight shot, so I didn’t have to worry about my driving much, and it was broad daylight, so no hakkers. My biggest concern was that the damn four-cylinder tin can I was driving would overheat and leave me to bake in the desert.

Once I recognized the spot from the news, I pulled over alongside the prominent No Dumping sign and got out of the car. Fucking desert. The heat from it rose right up through the bottom of my shoes. First thing I noticed was that someone had dumped a few garbage bags right next to the sign. Funny. They didn’t mind the kitchen trash so much as the bodies. It didn’t attract coyotes as much, or freak the families on their way in or out.

I scanned the dried weeds, the dust swirls, the sand that wanted to be dunes but couldn’t get its act together because of the rocks. Beyond that, except for a few pieces of shriveled, dried plant, the ground was flat. A few marks could be tire tracks, or not. I followed and they petered out. A bit of police tape twisted in the wind.

I trudged around, kicked some sand, pretended some other marks might be more tire tracks, or a spot where an arm or a leg might have been. Wilson and Boyle were both dumped here. Were the heads out there, too, still . . . thinking?

That image wasn’t helping. I had to focus, but there wasn’t much to focus on here. Maybe I should head back to town, try to retrace their steps. But I had no idea where the Humvee headed after it dropped me off; I only knew where it came from. Big piss yellow thing like that would be easy to spot, though. Some druggie or low-level chak back in the Bones may have seen it and thought he was hallucinating.

I headed back toward the rental, absently calling Turgeon as I walked. One ring, nothing. Two rings . . .

I heard a chirping behind me. I whirled, tried to follow the sound. The ten rings passed and I got his message again. The second time I hit the number on the speed dial, I found it, facedown in the sand, a brownish streak along the plastic, a darker color than the silver or the sand. Blood.

I wished I had a plastic bag to put it in, so I wouldn’t contaminate the evidence. Old instinct. I tore off a piece of shirt and picked it up as gingerly as I could.

It wasn’t good news. Chakz don’t bleed like that. If we bleed at all, it’s more what that old horror writer Lovecraft called a “putrescent ooze.” The red stuff on the phone belonged to a liveblood, and I had a sinking feeling I knew who.

Poor baby. He was as much out of his depth as I was out of mine. Had a gun, didn’t he? Two, counting mine. I wonder if he went down fighting. I was sure Boyle did. He’d go crazy trying to protect . . .

Ashby. I’d forgotten all about him. Fucking memory. They hadn’t found his body either. Whoever did this probably didn’t expect a third party. The chances were slim to nothing, but maybe he’d survived. I had no idea where Turgeon lived or worked, but if the kid could walk, he’d likely head back to the only place he knew.

I hopped in the car and made for Bedland.

The radio told me what to expect. The place was still a mess. A bunch of the inhabitants had gone feral—wonder why. The national guard was all over the place. Ignoring the sanitation truck where they piled the bodies, I parked. If I’d been a liveblood, the guardsmen might have stopped me for my own protection. As it was, as long as I wasn’t moaning, after casting a suspicious glance my way they didn’t care.

They’d already cleared the buildings, but were still hunting the brush. As I walked along, every now and then I’d hear a rifle crack echo through the dry woods. Cripple ’em, D-cap ’em. Boyle and Wilson could have been anyone, really.

There but for fortune.

With all the decapitations, it wasn’t easy finding a familiar face, but an hour later, as far away as you could get from everything, down in a basement rec room, I stumbled on Thornell. With the gunshots muffled to near nothing, he was shooting pool all by his lonesome. He looked up when I came in.

His arm was back on. Krazy Glue and thread. I didn’t think the hand was working, but it made a nice bridge to lay the cue on. With a sound too much like a rifle crack, he sank an easy corner shot.

“Mann, you came back,” he said.

I was going to ask how he could play games with the shantytown crumbling around him; then I realized he was just like me. He had to do something to keep busy. Solve a crime, play pool. To each his own. From what I saw outside, they’d lost at least thirty people.

I heard a howl from somewhere outside. Thornell rubbed his cue with chalk, loudly, trying to drown it out. I didn’t know if he had heard about Boyle, or if it would make any difference. I had to be careful. Finding out he was chopped up could be the straw that broke Thornell’s back. I decided to play it by ear.

“Pretty crazy seeing you. What do you want?” he said. “Got more good news for a chak? Better hurry while there’s some left.”

“I’m curious about Frank Boyle,” I said. “He have any enemies?”

Another gunshot, then the crack of the cue ball against number eight. “Enemies? Are you fucking out of your mind? Sure, he had enemies. Almost seven billion.”

“Good point.” I waited a few shots, then asked the big question: “That kid Ashby find his way back here by any chance?”

Thornell stood up straight as an arrow. Pay dirt. “Who wants to know?”

I shrugged. “Me. Why? Anyone else looking?”

“The cops, maybe,” Thornell said. “Didn’t you used to be a cop?”

“Used to be,” I told him. “Look, I just want to see if he’s okay, that’s all.”

“He’s not,” Frankenstein said. He nodded toward what looked like a supply closet. I took a few steps toward it.

“So much for that haven, huh?” Thornell said. So he did know about Boyle.

Something popped into my head. I hesitated to mention it. Then, I don’t know why, but I said, “You know Jonesey from the Bones? He’s thinking about organizing a rally.”

Thornell seemed amused. He snorted through his nose. “Really? A chak rally? That’s bat-shit crazy.”

I agreed, then opened the door.

The space on the other side was small, windowless, full of mops, cleaning supplies, and a big pile of rags on the floor.

Only the pile of rags had a nervous laugh. “Heh-heh.”

I got closer, nudged the pile with my foot. It trembled.

I tried to remember how to sound gentle. “Ashby, you remember me?”