Instead, she raised a hand to his face. “You’re badly cut.”
“Scratches. A bush.”
She felt the thin lines of dried blood.
“You should wash them.”
“And you should sleep.”
She curled her legs up and rested against him.
“I don’t think I can do that.”
Neither moved as the black night sky outside slowly began to lighten.
ESCAPE
35. 6:07 A.M.
Morning. Jack tried to force himself to stop pacing.
Christie led the kids out in their PJs, Simon’s with the Avengers battling a bad guy, Kate in a purple T with matching pajama bottoms.
He wanted to tell them before they got dressed. Give it a few minutes to sink in.
Get dressed, because we have something to do.
Simon flipped the pages of one of his comics while he sat down by his sister.
“Why are we up so early?” Kate said. “Some vacation.”
Christie didn’t say anything but sat down beside her daughter.
Jack would give every dime he had for the mindless sound of a TV in the living room, blaring cartoons, news, infomercials—any goddamn thing.
And as he waited, walking from the living room to the bedroom for absolutely nothing, he checked the windows.
The guards had gone.
That was good.
No daytime guards watching over all the Paterville campers.
Things getting back to normal.
He turned to Simon, then Kate. Their faces finally registering that something was wrong with their father.
“We have to leave—”
“Leave?” Simon said. “But I like—”
Jack crouched down close to Simon, giving Kate a look as well.
“We have to leave, Si. There are bad people here. We have to go.”
Neither of the kids said anything.
Then Kate, in a small voice, said. “Bad people. You mean…”
He shot a glance at Christie, who gave Kate’s hand a squeeze. Then amazingly, miraculously, Kate understood. Don’t ask that question. Not with Simon sitting so close. The squeeze signaling, Be strong if you can be.
Outside, the sky had lightened some more.
It was time to go.
Instead, they all heard a knock on their door.
There was time for just one more look at Christie before he went to answer it.
Shana stood there.
“Morning, Jack.”
Christie had come up behind him. He saw Shana keep her smile as she looked from Jack to his wife lurking just behind him.
“Um… morning. Really early. Anything wrong?”
Her eyes went wide. “Wrong? Don’t think so. Ed just asked me if I could hustle down here first thing and see if you had a minute to chat with him.” Another big smile. “I just do what the big boss says.”
Jack gestured back at the interior of the cabin. “I was about to take my daughter to the game room.”
“How nice. Dad and daughter.”
He wanted to say no. No way was he going up to the lodge.
But would that be normal? Kate was not ready yet. The request seemed innocuous. He turned to Christie to see what she might say.
“If it’s only a minute.”
As if that decided it, Shana turned, and started to lead the way.
Jack said quietly, “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.”
He followed Shana.
“You okay, Jack? Seem a little tense…”
Shana walked close, almost sliding into him as they walked to the lodge.
Why this escort? he wondered. Another opportunity for Shana to play with him?
“How come he didn’t come down to see me?”
“Ed? I imagine he had something that you needed to see. I don’t know. State troopers coming soon. Another sideways glance. “You seem a little tense, Jack. A little tight.”
“Yeah. Well, I didn’t bargain on dealing with a Can Head attack when I came here.”
“Oh, that was rare. Trust me. Never happens. Ne-ver. Almost like it was something special.”
She stopped at the bottom of the steps to the lodge.
“Just for you…”
“What?”
Special?
Just for you?
“Gotta run. Lot of repairs we’re doing today. And we’re down a few people.”
She started away.
Jack walked up the steps.
“Have a seat, Jack.”
“I’m good. Look—”
“I know. You want to get back to your family. I get that. But listen.”
Lowe stood up and walked close to Jack. His gut strained against his pants and his plaid shirt.
The closeness of Lowe, the size of the room, all made Jack feel dizzy.
“Have you thought more about what we talked about? Last night?”
“No.”
A big Ed Lowe smile. “Wish you would, my friend. You could be great here. Your family. Plenty to eat.”
“We do okay.”
“And tell me, do you really want them to be outside, those gorgeous kids of yours?”
Small bodies behind Sharon Blair, swinging on meat hooks.
Gorgeous kids.
“I take care of them.”
“But you think this is all over? That it will all end soon? More and more Can Heads every day, Jack. Every damn day! They’re winning. And soon, places like Paterville will be the only refuge. A last stand. And trust me, Jack. We are ready.”
A last stand? Can Heads on the outside, and Can Heads inside. Except here, they can smile, talk. As if they had made a choice what side they were on.
“You forget. My job is stopping them.”
A bigger smile from Lowe.
“Jack, do you know what did this? What changed the world?”
“The drought. That, or all the strange playing with DNA, the weird genetics.”
“Pick a theory, Jack. What’s your favorite? ’Cause, you see, it doesn’t much matter. It is whatever the hell it is. This is the world. I’m afraid if people like you don’t get that, then you can join the dinosaurs.”
“We done here?”
“Stay, Jack. Your wife can enjoy the lake. Kids, the clean air. We’re just beginning our little experiment here.”
Experiment? Lowe didn’t even bother to use the word “camp.”
Did Lowe know something? The air grew thicker as if filled with an unbreathable dust.
He had to fight the urge to say anything.
Lowe laughed. “Your final answer, Jack? No?”
“You got it. Just want to enjoy the rest of my vacation…”
Did the lie pass?
“… then go back to the real world.”
Lowe’s smile faded. “This is the real world, Jack.”
“Right.”
Jack turned, and gasping for air, left Lowe’s office, hurrying down the hallway filled with offices, all with closed doors, to the reception area of the lodge.
Was everyone looking at him?
Or did he just feel like everyone was?
Jack walked into his cabin and Shana stood there, waiting for them.
He stopped and looked around, finally calling out. “Christie, kids?”
“They’re not here.”
He went up to Shana and wrapped a hand around her upper arm, squeezing. “Where the hell are they? Where’d they go?”
“Oh, now you want to get physical?”
He squeezed harder.
“Starting to pinch, Jack.”
“Where the fuck is my family?”
“Not here, obviously. Wish you had accepted Ed’s offer. You could have such a good time here with us. Life, as they say, can be good.”