Part 5 (1/2)

”Listen.” I grabbed her shoulders. ”Do you hear anything? The screaming has already stopped. It's quiet again. Whatever happened to them, it's already over.”

”He's right,” Russ said. ”We tried to warn them. Our conscience is clear.”

I nodded. ”Even if we did venture out there, it wouldn't matter. There's nothing we can do for them now.”

”There is one thing we can do,” Russ said. ”Not for them, but for those who are left. We need to warn people. Tell them what happened, in case anyone else wants to leave.”

Something growled in the shadows. We all spun around, peering into the blackness, but there was nothing there. The darkness s.h.i.+mmered. Once again it reminded me of a heat mirage on a hot summer road. We watched it apprehensively, but nothing solid appeared.

”Did you guys hear that?” I asked.

”The chainsaw?” Russ nodded. ”Kind of hard to miss, right?”

I shook my head. ”It wasn't a chainsaw. Something just growled at us.”

”I heard something different,” Christy said. ”It wasn't either of those.”

Russ turned back to the darkness. ”What the h.e.l.l is going on?”

”We're each hearing something different again.”

”What do you want?” Russ shouted at the shadows. ”Who are you? Why are you doing this?”

The darkness responded. This time, we all heard the same thing.

It was laughing at us.

”Let's get out of here,” Christy pleaded. All the resolve was gone from her voice. ”Please, Robbie?”

”Yeah,” I agreed. ”Let's bail.”

We walked back to the car. We didn't run, although I think all three of us probably wanted to. Personally, the only reason I resisted the urge to run was because of the pain in my gut. We didn't tarry either, though. Christy held my hand tightly, refusing to let go. She squeezed so hard that my knuckles got ground together, but I didn't stop her. Russ shuffled along beside us, breathing hard.

”You okay?” I asked.

He shook his head. ”No, I'm not. None of us are.”

I turned around and glanced at the darkness. I don't know what I was expecting to see or hear, but the result was nothing, in either case. The darkness was silent again.

But I was sure that it was watching us leave.

CHAPTER SEVEN

I don't remember a lot about the drive back to town. We didn't talk much. Each of us was lost in our own thoughts, shaken by the visions the darkness had shown us and what had happened after the firemen went into it. I mean, let's be honest-the whole thing was pretty f.u.c.ked up. It was hard to know how to react. I felt numb and emotionless. Not tired or scared or freaked out-just...numb.

We discussed stocking up on supplies from the stores but ultimately decided against it. We knew that we needed to, but all of us were just too tired. h.e.l.l, we weren't just tired. We were physically and mentally exhausted. Scared as we were, all we wanted to do was go home and hide. Supplies would have to wait.

Occasionally, Christy quietly sobbed, but when I tried to comfort her, she'd pull away.

We pa.s.sed quite a few cars and even more pedestrians. Apparently we hadn't been the only people to ignore the chief's request to return to our homes. Other curiosity seekers were turning out to investigate the darkness for themselves. Some drove the speed limit. Others zoomed by, heedless of any traffic laws or posted speed limits, pa.s.sing the cars in front of them. Of the people walking alongside the road, some looked frantic and others seemed merely pa.s.sive. As we went through one intersection, we saw a motorcycle lying on its side in the middle of the road-one of those big touring bikes. I couldn't tell what make or model. It was dinged up pretty bad, but there was no sign of the driver. I carefully swerved around it, almost hitting a dog that was running around off its leash. If the dog had a master, he wasn't there. Russ rolled down the window and called to it, but the dog ran away.

After the intersection, we came across another car-a blue Honda Civic. It was broken down in front of the storage unit rental place. The hood was up and a woman stood bent over the engine. Steam rose from the motor, swirling in the headlight beams. I pulled alongside her and stopped. I checked the rearview mirror, but there was n.o.body behind us. I hadn't really figured there would be. People were heading toward the darkness, but no one was coming from it.

I rolled down the window. ”Need some help?”

The woman straightened up and turned to me. Her eyes were wide and distraught. It was hard to tell in the gloom, but it looked like she might have been crying.

”I don't know what's wrong with it. I think maybe it's overheating or something.”

”Have you checked your coolant lately?” Russ called out from the backseat.

She shrugged. ”I don't know. My husband usually takes care of all that. I don't know anything about cars.”

”Well,” I said, trying to muster some sympathy even though I still felt numb inside, ”it looks like you're stuck for a while. Want us to give you a ride back into town? Maybe your husband can look at it later?”

”He's at work. Bob works for the Library of Congress. He commutes to Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., every day, so he leaves really early. And I've got to get our baby to the doctor. He has an appointment today. He's asleep in the back. If he wakes up and starts crying...”

Her voice trailed off. She raised her arm and made a sweeping motion toward the Civic. Sure enough, there was the shadowy outline of a car seat sticking up in the back, presumably with a baby inside it.

I smiled. ”We can probably fit that car seat in the back, if you want me to try?”

”No,” she said. ”We can't go back home. I told you, he has a doctor's appointment. He's only three weeks old, and he's been having trouble breastfeeding. We put him on formula, but he was allergic to that. Now they have him on some hypo-allergenic stuff, but he's still losing weight and...” Her voice cracked.

”Ma'am,” I said softly, ”where is the doctor's office located?”

”In Verona.”

”It might not be a good idea to go there right now. I don't know if you heard what the chief said earlier, but there's a situation.”

”I know that,” she snapped. ”I'm not blind. It's dark outside. Big deal. Weren't you listening? He's got to see the pediatrician. If he's still losing weight, then...” She trailed off again, glancing back down at the smoking engine. ”They said if he hadn't gained weight by today they were going to check him into the hospital and start feeding him intravenously.”

I paused, considering our limited options. That numb feeling started to evaporate, replaced with an intense sense of pity. I didn't know this woman or her baby, but they needed our help. All you had to do was look at her to know that she was at the end of her rope and close to cracking.

I opened my mouth to respond, but Christy reached out and squeezed my leg. Her nails dug into my skin through my sweatpants. I turned to her.

”Do not not offer her a ride to Verona,” she whispered. ”No way, Robbie. You said it yourself. We can't go out there.” offer her a ride to Verona,” she whispered. ”No way, Robbie. You said it yourself. We can't go out there.”

”We're not.”

”You promise?”

”Yeah. I'm not going to offer her a ride.”

Shrugging Christy's hand away, I turned off the car and got out. The woman jumped back a little. I held up my hands and tried to smile rea.s.suringly again.

”It's okay. I just want to look under the hood.”