"True, it's not like you are going to raise any kids or anything now, is it?"
"No." Red said.
"Nor is there a need to discover a cure for cancer or build houses or learn how to fight fires."
"True."
"What about writing a book? You got a story in you?"
"No."
"So what will you do, Red?"
"I'm not sure. I thought I would try and help the people who are still alive."
"That's something then. It makes you more useful than tits on a snake at least."
"Look, Jimbo, this is all well and good, but what are you getting at?"
"Open your eyes."
Red cracked his eyes open. He was alone at the creek, the only evidence that Bobby had been there were the muddy foot prints on the opposite bank of the creek.
"What the hell? Where's Bobby?"
"What time is it Red?"
"A couple hours after dawn, maybe seven thirty."
"Where is the sun?"
Red looked up and to his surprise the sun was high overhead. He experienced a bit of disorientation. "What is going on?"
"I'm in."
"What?"
"I am in, it turns out you are more susceptible to smooth talking than a crowbar."
"How? I don't feel any different."
"Where are we talking Red?"
"What do you mean?"
"I could read you, but you couldn't read me this morning at the table. You think Bobby is hiding behind a bush out there somewhere, ready to spring out and say, 'Surprise!'?"
Red looked around for just such a thing, then he shook his head, "He could be hiding, but I don't sense him."
"Are you sure?"
Across the stream Bobby walked out from behind the tall grasses and ran splashing into the stream. Red watched him closely, something wasn't right. He should have seen the boy in the field before he came to the stream, instead it was as if the boy just appeared in front of him.
"That's not right."
"What's wrong?"
"It doesn't look right, there is something wrong with Bobby."
"What?"
Red thought for a moment, then said, "He's clean. Too clean. He got mud all over his shorts, now there clean, did he change clothes? And his chest isn't coated with mud either, plus his hair is combed. He's not real."
Bobby slowly faded from Red's sight.
"Do you believe me now?" Jimbo asked. "I told you I could do other things."
"Make me see things that aren't there?"
"See, hear, feel. Remember."
"Don't mess with my head!" Red shouted, fear seizing him as he tried to force Jimbo out.
"Hold on partner! It's too late for that anyway, I am in and I leave when I want to. What have you got kicking around in here anyway? Deep secrets you think I shouldn't know about?"
"Get out!"
"Good! See what you're doing? You are trying to build a wall, it won't work for me, I am inside already, but it will help keep other people out. And Red, I could care less about your secrets, I am not peeking, I am only interesting in two things, first do you want to do what you told me you were going to do and second, how can I help you make that happen?"
Red relaxed a little, but in his mind he kept building a wall, trying to wall Jimbo in, instead of keeping him out.
"Now, I've got my answers to both questions and I am going to hit your switch buddy. All that talk about philosophy wasn't just bullshit. This mental crap is insidious, you think about what you want and you make it happen. You don't want to be held by something more powerful than you, well what is hard to hold?"
Light dawned on Red, "A fish!"
"Or water, or air."
"It works both ways though, my new found friend."
Red looked at the walls he had around his mental image of Jimbo in his mind, to his dismay there were windows in the walls, and he saw the man climb through one to stand on a grassy mental meadow.
"I haven't run into anyone who doesn't fight dirty, but so do I. If you can see what Bobby was doing to keep you from grabbing him when you first met him, you can build a counter against others too." said Jimbo
"Like a net?"
"That might have worked on someone else, not Bobby, do you think we sit around rocking ourselves back and forth all day long after the chores are done? We've been practicing and I can tell you his mind is nimble, as soon as you caught the fish, he'd be a cloud, or superman."
"So what does this mean? Am I ready? Can I make the zombies see things that aren't there?"
"Could I do it to you this morning? No. So you won't be able to do it to others either, you had to let me in, or be seduced into letting me in. The other guy will too, and he won't be standing around letting it happen. There are other tricks you can pull on him though. We've had time to think of a few."
"So will you help me?"
"We already are. Come back to the house. Bobby is at the neighbors, looking for another pellet gun, he seems to think you'll be staying with us."
"I gotta go take care of this little problem first, but I think I might be back, if it's okay with you."
"I think we could use another hand around the farm, if things work out."
Red nodded as he felt Jimbo leave his mind. He didn't raise any defenses to keep the man out either, he was fairly certain he wouldn't know how.
Chapter 3 — Whatever happened in Nebraska?
The rest of the day passed in training. Red wanted to head back to attack Ramey immediately and said as much to Jimbo.
"Go ahead, but what has changed? I've only taught you the basics. It usually doesn't take long to do that, but this guy is tougher than you."
"So?"
"Well you're the toughest person I've run into. You could have bent Nancy around your little finger if you wanted. But I can keep you out. You almost had Bobby in the barn, is the difference in power between you and Bobby the same as between you and this Ramey?"
"No." Red assured Jimbo, "We are pretty close to equal, he has just enough of an edge that he could win. If you show me how to keep you out, that should be enough."
"Is he alone?"
"I don't know."
"Were you?"
Red shook his head, "You know I wasn't."
"Then use your head, he won't be either. If one of his friends has the brains to shoot you in the head while you and Ramey are going at it in the mind's playground, you will be just as dead as if he rips your head off himself."
"Are you offering to come with me?"
Jimbo looked down at the table, "We talked about it. I think we have to be like Germany and stay out of it."
"Switzerland, Jimbo. Not Germany." Veronica corrected.
"Why?"
"We've fought enough. We'll be here when you get back, if you get back."
"Your confidence is underwhelming."
"I don't think you can do it now. I think you might keep him out of your head, but after that initial contact, he will pin you down and let his friends take you out."
"Do you have a better idea."
"Give me another day. Leave in the morning after I show you a few tricks and the way to keep me out of your mind."
"Other tricks?" Red asked interested.
"Oh yeah, he has 'em. Jimbo may look like six feet and two hundred and fifty pounds of redneck, but he has mad skills. The best analogy I can think of is that me and Bobby, well, we are like a high school band. And Jimbo? Jimbo is like the Philharmonic Orchestra. There is a world of difference. I can play a nice tune and entertain my friends and family, but Jimbo, he can entertain the world."
"Aw V, it's like you really care or something! I would blush if I could."
"Okay you got my attention, but can you teach me enough in a day to make a difference?"
"I think so. I think it would be the difference between winning and losing."