William was pulled onward. It had happened many times before. The nightmares always started in the same four locations, but periodically shifted to similar disasters in different places. Never before, though, at this speed.
First to a vast grassland, where kangaroos leapt to escape the rocking earth. Then to the skies, an angry black, on the coast of a city where a building with white sails braced as the funnel formed over the water. He was in a small medical center frantically struggling to keep pace with the people funneling in, most unable to even walk. On a farm, where men stopped herding sheep to run towards each other, pummeling each other with their fists, their faces soon bloody and gouged, their dogs watching in tense confusion.
Just as the eyes had emerged in the familiar four locations, they now met him everywhere he went. Slanted eyes, blue eyes, bloodshot eyes, eyes crusty with age, eyes watering by smoke. He saw a castle’s portcullis over the shoulder of a man shot three times, screaming in what sounded like French. The Great Wall of China, perhaps, but difficult to tell; the flames were too high.
He tried to stop them, screaming at them. As the eyes flashed before him, he tried to focus on them, connect with them, order them to stop. But they quickly rushed by, as if he were on a speeding subway watching faces on a platform.
Most places he didn’t recognize, including the village on the cusp of civilization, where children ran from adults who were beating, biting, stabbing each other. And when that massacre was done, the children held their breath in the hut where they hid, trying not to weep as the surviving adults approached the entrance with blood on their hands—
“William!”
He gasped for air, his throat raspy.
“William, are you alright?” Steven asked.
He sat up from where he had slumped over in the chair. He vaguely remembered the buzzing of dragonflies on the hunt for mosquito larvae and the gentle rocking of the boat tied to the dock that had made him drowsy. His screams must have shattered the near-silence of the Apalachicola River.
“I tried shaking you awake and you didn’t budge. Figured you were just too tired to stay awake anymore. You weren’t asleep for ten minutes when you started whimpering and then a full-on scream. It’s going to be a miracle if nobody heard you. My God, did you have one of those dreams?”
William shut his eyes tightly. “I’m sorry.”
“What do you see?”
“It’s spreading. Rapidly. I watched it happen. I swear I even saw China. There are eyes everywhere. They must be the abducted who were returned. I don’t even know if they realize what they’re doing. I don’t think they do.”
“I’m sure they don’t. It’s not their fault. Just like it’s not your fault.”
“I’m awakening it. Whatever it is, within them.” William shook his head, thinking of the children in the village.
“Not you, William. They’re using you. You aren’t responsible.”
“There has to be a way to stop it.”
“You’ve already proven you can, with Lily. We just have to find a way to do it with the others.”
“People are dying. I don’t have time to figure this out.”
“I know this weighs heavily on you. Once we get somewhere safe, you can experiment with Lily. If you can stop her, you must be able to stop them too. We just have to determine how.”
Steven finally lifted his hand from William’s shoulder, fumbling a bit to return to his seat. He sighed as he sat, rubbing his shoulder.
“This can’t be good for you,” William said. “I have a lot of older people in my life. I know stiff-backed chairs are preferred. This constant movement can’t be good.”
“At my age, anything that isn’t a leisurely walk is a stretch.”
“You mentioned a heart attack. This is too much for someone of your age.”
“This is too much for someone of your age. I’m old. Eighty-six. Every day I get, I’m thankful for. Even when every bone in my body aches, like they do right now. And I’m here with you, which is something I never thought would happen.”
“That makes two of us.”
“William, I owe you an apology.”
“For what? For not telling me about a mistake you and my grandmother made sixty years ago? That’s none of my business. We have more pressing matters at hand. Including Blue. You’re certain she’s alive?”
“I am. Rudd knows where to hide her. I know she’s tough. But this will weigh hard on her, to finally meet her great-grandson and then have him ripped away. All members of the Corcillium will lock down now; it’s our protocol if the house is discovered. No communication for seven days. I was not exaggerating when I said we are on our own. We’re fortunate the tributary by the house empties into the river that allowed us to escape.”
“I have to say it again: Lily and I should turn ourselves in. I can’t risk you or anyone else dying for this. We are the danger. We are the weapons. I understand why the government is so desperate to contain us. They should have us, find what was implanted in us, and rip it out.”
“No.” Steven tried to sit up. “We cannot trust the SSA—”
The sound of running came from across the dock. Lily was much further ahead than Quincy, her nightgown flapping around her thin body. As she arrived at the boat, her face bearing the familiar expression of concern for William, Quincy finally came to a stop, leaning over, hands on his knees.
“Are you… OK?” he gasped.
William nodded. “I am. I guess you could hear me?”
“We were walking back from the store when we heard you start screaming. But nobody’s up there, at least nobody we saw outside,” Quincy said, gathering his breath. “Another dream?”
Lily reached out and laid her hand on his shoulder.
“So there is a store up there?” Steven motioned up the path from the dock.
“About a half mile up. We saw a knockoff Dollar General. There’s a crappy motel too, if you could call it that. And a gas station. While I am not a fan of returning to any motel room with this crew, it could give us a place to decompress for a minute. Plus, there’s a sign in the window that the store has an ATM.”
Steven frowned. “We can’t. They’ll be monitoring every financial transaction for any hint of us.”
“Let’s just say that when you get to a certain income level, you learn tricks. If I can get to the ATM, I can get cash. I’m not sure we have any other option.”
William helped Steven from the boat, assisting him up the dirt road. They walked on the edge, so if they did hear a vehicle approach, they could step into the pines and hide. As soon as Steven said he felt the stiffness starting to loosen, they’d reached the cluster of buildings, which clearly only existed to provide fuel to boats and food for the people who came to ski or fish. The beat-up motel completed the image, a haven for those who drank too much on the water and needed to crash for the night. In the window of the store was a badly faded ATM sign, just above a Jeep Cherokee that didn’t appear to have been driven this decade.
“I should be the one going in, I’m the least recognizable,” Steven said. “You still have your debit card?”
Quincy patted his back pocket. “Only because my pants haven’t blown up yet. And sorry, you’ve got to know the codes. And this one’s long.”
“This is risky. What if someone recognizes you? What if—?”
“Don’t think we have a choice. Look at us. Little bit here is still in her nightgown. Anyone sees us, they’re gonna call the cops. And that ended really badly last time. I’m going in.”
The other three could only stand in the shadows of the pine trees, watching Quincy walk across the road and into the store. Lily held tight to William’s hand.