Right now, both Milepost 291 and Mi’ssippi might as well be a million miles away, because he couldn’t even find Kiki and the others, and they were probably not even a mile away. He didn’t know how far a mile was. Probably as far as he could walk. But the mist sure made a mile seem a lot longer.
“I heard something,” a man hollered from the far end of the mist. “Over here.”
Stephen was almost glad because the man was moving farther away from him. That proved Stephen’s idea of running was better than just ducking down in the weeds and hiding, because they would have found him by now. If he could outsmart them, then DeVontay might not be as mad at him.
So he kept running, or at least jogging, even though he was breathing hard and his side hurt. He headed uphill, where the mist seemed way darker. He guessed the woods were beyond it, with the mist weaving in and out of the trees to make a wall. He could hide there until he figured out what to do. But being alone was too scary. And the group couldn’t be much farther away unless they were already in the woods.
Then he heard James nearby: “I can’t see anything!”
James was too dumb to stay quiet like he was supposed to. A couple of kids were crying. Little babies. They didn’t know that being afraid only made things worse. Kiki and Carole were telling them to hush and stick together, but they sounded scared, too.
Stephen wanted to yell at them. Why didn’t they hide in the woods like DeVontay told them? Didn’t anybody listen anymore? Did they get scared and do stupid stuff like Stephen did?
If only Rachel was here, Stephen would feel better. Kiki was smart and nice, and she did a good job caring for the kids, but she wasn’t tough like Rachel.
And why is Rachel not here? Because you got scared and did stupid stuff!
He changed his plans and headed toward the voices. The least Stephen could do to make up for his mistake would be to lead them all into the woods to safety. Then, when DeVontay got away from the rest of the men and found them, he’d tell Stephen what a good job he’d done. He’d call him a Brave Little Man. Something like that was worth the risk.
Some kid was bawling and sniffling, giving away their position even in the thick fog. Couldn’t Kiki slap a hand over the kid’s mouth? It was probably Jeremiah, that kid who kept farting because he needed a special diet. Between the farts and the whimpers, Jeremiah was a real downer. If Stephen had his choice, he’d have left Jeremiah in the big building.
But DeVontay said they were all in it together. Maybe DeVontay was just doing it so that Kiki would kiss him, but DeVontay was brave, so he probably really meant it.
Then he heard James almost right in front of him saying “I see somebody.” James wasn’t even smart enough to keep his voice down. James was almost Stephen’s age but no way would DeVontay ever call him Little Man.
“Shush, James, it’s me,” Stephen whispered.
Kiki called to him.
He pushed through the grass and there they were, the kids all whining and bawling and sniffling like scared brats, the blanket all tramped down and soggy, half the food gone. Kiki gave him a hug and asked him where DeVontay was, and he was ashamed to admit he didn’t know. But DeVontay would want him to lead the group now, not sit around feeling sorry for himself.
“Why didn’t you leave when you heard the shot?” Stephen asked.
“We thought it might be DeVontay,” Kiki said.
Stephen didn’t want to confess that he’d messed up. “He’s down there somewhere. He told me to come back and get everyone to hide in the woods.”
But that strange man’s voice came again, this time real, real close, and it said, “The woods ain’t safe for children.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
At least we’re all together again.
DeVontay could barely make out the dark jacket of the man in front of him, the one who’d spoken to Kiki, Carole, and the group of children. Rooster was at his back, still whispering the way he had as they’d followed Stephen up the meadow. Rooster had promised a new society they’d build in the shadow of the Zapheads, even bragged about taking back the compound, but he’d also veered from delusions of grandeur into sudden bouts of paranoid rage.
“Who’s there?” Kiki asked.
Rooster whispered in DeVontay’s ear. “Be cool. We don’t want to scare them.”
“It’s me,” DeVontay called out. “I met some people down there.”
“What kind of people?”
“One of them shot at me,” Stephen said.
“No,” Rooster said. “One of my men thought you were a Zap. Sneaking around in the weeds like that.”
Rooster pushed DeVontay toward the group and the mist parted a little. The kids looked miserable, shivering with the damp chill. They huddled against one another, Kiki covering them as best she could. Carole cradled the smallest toddler, who was mercifully asleep. Stephen stood apart from the group, his head down as if he expected DeVontay to yell at him.
Shapes moved in the mist, but DeVontay had only a vague sense of them. The wet, gray smoke around them had thickened until the visible world was barely thirty feet in diameter. The hidden moon suffused the ceiling of the sky with a lurid silver glow.
“Zaps are on the move,” Rooster said. “You should have stayed in the compound.”
“You abandoned us,” Kiki snapped. “All of you.”
“We could have counterattacked. But we got scattered around out here along the river road. I don’t know where the horseback riders are. So we need to find a safe place to regroup.”
“What about the house?” Kiki asked DeVontay.
“Rooster’s right,” DeVontay said. “We need to get out of the area.”
He wondered if Rooster planned to assume command of the group. If Rooster had a vision of a utopian society, with himself in the role of benevolent dictator, then the man had little to offer outside of the compound. Inside, he’d been able to impose martial law, but out here, even a few guns seemed futile against the new rulers of the planet.
But at least they could buy a little time and figure out their next move while appeasing Rooster.
“Sorry I yelled out,” Stephen said to him.
“It’s okay, Little Man. You did a good job getting back to the group.”
That drew a shy smile from the boy. Kiki seemed wary of Rooster, not trusting him after his treatment of them in the compound. But DeVontay urged her to gather the kids and get them moving. He collected the remaining rations, and then dumped the trash off the blanket. Carole calmed a little girl who was scared of the “men with guns.”
“I hear something, Rooster,” one of the fog-shrouded men said.
“Don’t shoot unless you see something,” Rooster replied. “Else we’ll be mowing each other down in the dark.”
“We need to get these kids to shelter soon,” Kiki said to him. “If that house is no good, we better find another one. They’ll all be sick.”
“Good news,” Rooster said to one of the kids. “We’re going to Milepost 291. All the candy you can eat, a swimming pool, and boxes and boxes of toys.”
The exhausted kid clapped her small hands in delight, but Stephen’s eyes narrowed. “There’s not any toys at Milepost 291.”
“Shh, Little Man,” DeVontay said. “Let’s just get there, and then we can worry about it.”
“Little Man.” Rooster chuckled. “Guess you two are real buddies, huh? Can I be your buddy, too? Since we’re all in it together now?”
Rooster reached out to high-five Stephen, but the boy stepped back, wary. Kiki and Carole had the children up and herded together, half-dragging a couple who were almost sleepwalking.