Part 11 (1/2)
And in the meantime, figure out what the h.e.l.l she was planning tonight.
Lou adjusted the weight of his pack and gave one last glance behind him.
He could barely make out the tops of the buildings that remained on the Las Vegas Strip-or as it had been in 2010. From where he stood, in a sludgy puddle of water between two tall vacant buildings, two miles behind him, he caught sight of the rooftop of New York-New York. The bastion of civilization in this world.
I must be f.u.c.king crazy.
Lou looked back at New York-New York, where, far beneath the towers, Sage was likely just settling into place at one of the banks of computers. She wouldn't realize he was gone until lunchtime ... or later.
Yep. I've crossed the line. Definitely crazy.
He lifted his burning torch and a rat slinked into the shadows. The walls of Envy, built from old cars, billboards, semi-trailers, airplane wings, and whatever large pieces of rubble they could find, had been constructed fifty years ago to protect the residents from gangas gangas and wild animals. Now they loomed above him as Lou started through the intricate secret tunnel through cars, culverts, and boxcars that led to the outside. and wild animals. Now they loomed above him as Lou started through the intricate secret tunnel through cars, culverts, and boxcars that led to the outside.
Moments later, he stood on the gra.s.s on the other side and snuffed his torch. He placed it against the wall next to one of the broken lights from a Bellagio billboard. It would be there on his return.
If he returned.
I'll return. I haven't lived this long by being stupid.
He wasn't even certain of the last time he was outside the walls. And that was part of what had prompted him to leave now. Theo needed his help. He had to be sitting on a f.u.c.king gold mine of information about the Cult of Atlantis-not to mention other goodies that might be found at Brad Blizek's-and while Theo was a h.e.l.l of a gearhead, Lou was the better hacker. And ... he was tired of being confined, of being treated like a decrepit old man. He was old, but he wasn't by any stretch decrepit.
Besides all that, he wouldn't-couldn't-believe that Brad Blizek had been in the Cult of Atlantis.
He was fully aware of the dangers. A little more than a month ago, Vaughn Rogan, the mayor of Envy and Lou's friend, had nearly died from a lion attack. For, not only did zombies lurk, but tigers, lions, wolves, feral cats, and even elephants lived in the former Nevadan desert. Now the terrain was lush and green, overgrown and practically tropical at times.
Part of the s.h.i.+ft of the earth after all of the cataclysmic events.
”You're a long d.a.m.n way from your gadgets, old man.”
Lou nearly shot into the air. He whirled to see Zoe emerging from behind a crushed and overturned mail truck. The red-and-blue insignia was faded to gray.
”What the f.u.c.k?” he demanded, a hand clapped to his chest. It was going to be hours before he settled his seventy-eight-year-old heart. ”Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
She had her quiver of arrows slung over a slender shoulder, and her short dark hair was winging every which way. Her look was withering. ”If you didn't hear me, then that's even more d.a.m.n cause for worry. I made enough f.u.c.king noise to bring the zombies out of their day sleep. How the h.e.l.l do you think you're going to get where-the-f.u.c.k-ever you're going without getting ambushed?”
He stood up straighter and adjusted his pack. ”No one's going to ambush me but you. I've been living in this crazy world longer than you have. I've taken precautions.” He looked into the distance, into the direction he sensed that Theo was. ”I'm traveling during the day and holing up at night where the zombies can't get me. I'm going to be just fine.”
”Let me guess. You didn't tell anyone, that's why you had to sneak out the back-a.s.s secret entrance.”
”They would've argued with me. Don't even think about trying to stop me.” He glared.
Zoe smiled and leaned back against a tree. ”You obviously don't know me well enough, Lou. I'd be the last d.a.m.ned person to try and stop you. Even Quent knows better than to try and keep me penned up behind those f.u.c.king walls.”
Lou relaxed. ”Good. That way I won't have to hurt you.”
Their eyes met and they both laughed. Zoe was a crusty wench, but he liked her. It was hard not to, once you saw through her facade.
”You going after Theo?” she asked.
”Yep. He found some things I need to see. Computers and other stuff.”
”How the h.e.l.l you going to find him?”
He shrugged. ”It's this twin thing. I can sort of sense him ... I'm just going to follow that. I'm taking one of the Humvees.”
”They're going to have a f.u.c.king zombie cow back there, you know.”
”Half of Envy already thinks I'm crazy.” His talk of the Strangers and their desire to control the remains of the human race, not to mention the abductions and ma.s.sacres related to the zombies, had long been dismissed as the ravings of a senile old man.
”That's a d.a.m.n true statement,” Zoe said. ”f.u.c.king good thing we know you aren't.”
”True.” Since no one paid attention to him, that made it easier for them to build the secret Resistance.
”Well, I'd go with you, but you'd just slow me the h.e.l.l down,” Zoe told him, but there was worry in her eyes. ”Remember to keep your hair covered, old man. Those a.s.s-c.r.a.p zombies like blondes.”
Lou chuckled. ”Silver is a far cry from blond, but they sure as h.e.l.l can't tell the difference. Tell Sage I'll be all right. She likes to worry.”
”She's not the only one,” Zoe grumbled, glancing back toward Envy. ”Quent is going to be one volcanic pimple on my a.s.s.” She frowned, frustration emanating from her.
”You mean he isn't already?” The arguments between Zoe and Quent had become legendary for their vociferousness, volume, and frequency. Of course, everyone knew that those battles were most often followed by very exuberant make-ups in their room afterward. And sometimes in the stairwells, as Lou knew from personal experience.
He was still trying to decide if he was embarra.s.sed or delighted by that bit of a free show.
Zoe's face darkened. ”h.e.l.l, yeah. He couldn't be a bigger pain, always trying to b.u.t.t in on my hunts, telling me how to do it. Him and that fancy-a.s.s bomb of his. But it's going to get worse.” She flattened her lips, considering. ”h.e.l.l, I might have four months ... if if I find something loose to wear, dammit.” I find something loose to wear, dammit.”
It dawned. ”You're pregnant?” Then he started chuckling. The very thought ... it was amusing and horrifying all at once.
”Shhhh!” she snapped, as if the trees could hear. ”Don't say it so loud or he'll be locking me up tomorrow. It'll be the last d.a.m.n time he lets me out on my own.” She'd planted her hands on her hips. ”Maybe I should go with you ... I could come back after this is all the h.e.l.l over. Then I wouldn't have him breathing down my d.a.m.n neck all the f.u.c.king time.”
Lou was laughing out loud now. Zoe, with a baby? Zoe, with a baby? He could only imagine. She'd probably strap the poor thing on her chest in a little pouch and take it hunting for zombies. ”I don't think so. I take it he doesn't know?” He could only imagine. She'd probably strap the poor thing on her chest in a little pouch and take it hunting for zombies. ”I don't think so. I take it he doesn't know?”
Her almond-shaped eyes grew wide. ”What the h.e.l.l? Do you think I'm f.u.c.king crazy? The minute he finds out, I won't see a d.a.m.n arrow for nine months. Or longer.” She moaned. ”He's going to go flipping crazy on me.”
”You-uh-don't seem too happy about it,” Lou ventured.
”Well, yeah. It's kind of unexpected, for f.u.c.k's sake.”
His heart sank a little. He and Elsie ... they'd been on their way to being parents, but everything went wrong when she tried to deliver. It was more than forty-nine years ago, but he still mourned them both. If he'd just had one of them . ..
”I mean, what the h.e.l.l am I going to do-as a mom? I don't know s.h.i.+t about nurturing and all that c.r.a.p. But I think Quent ... he's going to be a h.e.l.la good daddy,” Zoe said. And the smile on her face was just soft enough, just sheepish enough, to let him know that she was going to be okay with it. Once she got used to the idea.
”Congratulations,” Lou said. ”And ... stick near Envy. In case anything goes wrong. So Elliott can take care of things.”
Zoe huffed an exasperated puff of air up into her bangs. ”Don't you get started on me too. You've got places to go. What the h.e.l.l are you waiting for?”
Lou saluted her and adjusted his pack. ”Nothing.”
When he got back to the arcade late in the afternoon, Theo logged into his email to check on Lou's reaction to what he'd learned about Brad Blizek and found three new messages. All from Sage. None from Lou.
And the first header from Sage was: Lou's GONE! Lou's GONE!