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  “Did she say anything about our brother Billy?”

  “She told me he was dead, but I didn’t believe her. Later she revealed the truth, when lover boy wasn’t around. She told me Billy had joined the Federation.”

  “I don’t believe it. Billy would never turn his back on his people.”

  “It’s what she said, Brand. Don’t be hard on your brother. My guess is he didn’t have many options. You know as well as I about a man’s instinct for survival. It can sometimes make us be somebody we’re not.”

  “It’s all my fault,” I said. “If I hadn’t chosen a rogue’s life I could have been around to protect Jess and Billy. I had no idea they were still alive. I swear I’d seen their house burnt to the ground with them inside.”

  “What’s done is done,” Cutter replied. “At least you know they might still be out there somewhere. Maybe you’ll find them.”

  “Not if Sorenson gets us killed first. Do you think we’ll be able to take the ship back tomorrow?”

  Cutter shook his head. “Not likely. If I were you, I’d run while I still could.”

  I glanced around at my thin band of survivors. We were exhausted and unarmed. I had doubts we could make it as far as the ship. And even if we did, we’d have to be ready to deal with a whole lot of hungry rotters.

  “Leaving isn’t an option,” I said. “Sorenson made sure of it.”

  Chapter 13

  I’d fallen asleep only hours before the first rays of sunrise began searing my face. When I opened my eyes Cutter was no longer around. I noticed drag marks in the sand and followed them toward the group of others gathered at the edge of camp.

  When I got closer, I saw a body lying on its stomach. It was Cutter who’d carved the path in the dust. I pushed past Jade and Ramos. Got down on my knees and touched the dead man’s throat. His gray skin was cold but soft as marshmallow. I thought he’d lost his right arm until I leaned closer and saw that it was sunk up to his shoulder in the sand.

  Right away I knew what had happened. Cutter had crawled away from camp while we were asleep. He’d found a death head spider hole to put his hand inside and had waited for its bite to come. I’d heard stories of folks desperate enough to do such a thing, but I’d never seen it firsthand.

  “Poor bastard,” Ramos said. “Not my idea of going out easy.” The big man stepped forward and helped me roll Cutter over. The arm that had been deep within the spider’s lair crumbled into powder as soon as we pulled it to the outside.

  Cutter stared vacantly at the sky. Dried black tears streaked his grimacing face. The pain he’d endured had been horrific. We now understood how he had kept his screams from reaching us. Locked between his teeth was an empty leather holster. His mouth had stained it dark with blood.

  The rumble of approaching horses forced us to look up. Sorenson was back from his reconnaissance of the ship and short two men. He sat his horse and watched us while his leg dripped puss on the sand below. He was slowly melting away. And yet he hadn’t gone into a coma or outright died.

  “Be ready to leave by tomorrow,” he shouted. “Anyone who can’t keep up will be left behind for the wolves.”

  And with that leg of yours you’ll be leaving a nice scent trail for them to keep following us, I thought.

  “Where’s that Cutter fellow?” the horseman asked. He swatted at flies shooting in and out of his bloated leg. The stench of his liquefying limb hit hard. I looked away. My stomach sloshed inside me like a dying fish.

  Sorenson spotted Cutter and frowned. He rode his horse over the man’s corpse and ground what remained into the sand. After he was done, he turned and smiled. Daring us to do something. Checking to see if we’d learned our lesson earlier.

  We stood watching him with balled up fists held at our sides. Struggling to push aside the vision of ripping Sorenson to pieces with our own hands. Although our anger charged the air like a passing thunderstorm, we were not prepared to rebel. I began to have doubts we’d ever be. The risk was too great.

  “What are you standing around for?” Sorenson shouted. “You’ve got work to do.”

  We set off the next day. As a precaution, Sorenson had Junior Garrett returned to the cart where he was covered with the same filthy tarp he’d been hidden under before. The boy looked eager to crawl inside, close his eyes and forget the outside world. Anything to make the wolves in his head go away for a while.

  A Duster is just the opposite. We don’t even sleep with both eyes shut most nights. In fact, we’re taught that trick before we can even walk.

  Patch gave Junior a good drink of whiskey before tucking him in. I didn’t like the idea of keeping him hidden. Not because we needed Garrett to help us fight -– although we could use all the help we could get -- I was more concerned with Junior’s ability to defend himself if the situation called for it. But Sorenson was willing to take that risk. His paranoia controlled how he thought now. Young Garrett was nothing more than a bucket of casino chips needing to be cashed out.

  By noon we reached the ancient sea bed where Sorenson and his men had turned around the night before. The vast salt plain was fractured into hexagonal shapes as far as the eye could see. We stood there getting lost in it while the horsemen kept a safe distance behind us. They were too far away from us to make out the nature of their discussion.

  Sorenson shouted and one of his men rode in our direction, dragging a large bundle behind his horse. He cut the rope and dumped his cargo in front of us. The impact broke the straps holding it together. The dark cloth flapped open, exposing a dozen rifles and extra ammo. We rushed forward, excited as we helped ourselves to the guns and boxes of bullets. The feeling, however, didn’t last long. Knowing Sorenson, there was going to be a heavy price to pay.

  “Why is he doing this?" I asked the man on the horse. The others had gathered near me, faces drawn with concern.

  The man gazing down at us scowled. “Don’t tell me you’re unhappy with your presents.”

  “Well actually I am,” Jade said. She turned her lip up at the rifle gripped in her hand. “Who’d you steal these from? A bunch of sorry¬-assed Pilgrims?”

  The man glared back at her. “I don’t give a damn, lady. Not my problem.”

  “What is it your boss wants?”

  “He says you’ll be taking the lead for the rest of the way to the ship. We’re going to hang back and let you clear rotters.”

  “And anyone else I might not like?” Jade asked.

  “I’ll leave that up to you. We’ll see who’s left standing and who’s not. Be a shame,” he added, staring at her hungrily. “I’d hoped the two of us could have a little fun sometime soon.”

  Jade spat in disgust. “Never happen.”

  “And why’s that, darling? Are you trying to tell me you like it rough?”

  I blinked and Jade was suddenly brandishing her big ugly knife. She started toward the man, swaying her hips back and forth as she walked.

  “You’re right. I think I want some of you after all.”

  The man’s face turned deep red.

  “Stupid dead bitch...”

  He snapped his reins and rode away fast, leaving us in a cloud of dust.

  Jade had tucked away the knife and was now following him with her rifle. If she wanted to take him out she could. She was the best shot I knew, no matter what life handed her. I watched her finger caress the trigger, searching for its sweet spot.

  “You’ll only make matters worse.”

  When Jade turned her head I thought I saw the Reaper himself glaring back at me through her eyes.

  “Worse?”

  An icy hand clutched at my insides, twisting. With each flash of pain bursting in my head I saw Trevor and Cutter dead. And then there was Laura...although I'd hardly known her, I couldn’t stop thinking about her for days. Now I could barely remember what she looked like before turning into a rotter.

  I wanted what Jade wanted. But I didn’t feel like it was the time.

  “Do what you have
to,” I said. I couldn’t tell her no. I knew better than that.

  After a few moments, she lowered the rifle and the burning in my chest eased up. I stood there blinking back tears. Wondering what had just happened. If I was making a mistake.

  “There’ll be a time for payback,” I said.

  Jade frowned and looked away.

  Ramos tapped my arm and passed the scope. He pointed out a silver glimmer on the horizon, no bigger than a head of a pin. I raised the scope to my face. When I saw the ship my heart popped against my ribs. I couldn’t believe it. The ship wasn’t a lie after all.

  I lowered the scope and glanced back at the others, wondered how we’d have any strength left to kill rotters. We were looking at several more hours of crossing the sea bed during the worst heat of the day.

  I put the glass to my eye again and noticed a blurred dark shape resting not far from the ship. I refocused and saw the burnt-out truck Cutter had told me about. How in the hell did Cutter survive hiding in that thing?

  I panned the scope from left to right. A bit over halfway, I noticed another, much larger shape. From here I couldn’t tell if it was a rocket fuselage or the remains of a badly burned sea vessel. I’d have to wait until we got closer.

  I was surprised I hadn’t seen a single rotter. They had to be out there somewhere. Either they were hiding or they’d migrated for some reason. It seemed too soon for them to have already moved on.

  I looked back and saw the flash of Sorenson’s whiskey bottle. He and the remaining three riders hadn’t budged. The wooden cart hiding Junior Garrett sat next to them.

  One of the horsemen raised a pistol and shot a hole into the burning sky. A stupid waste of a bullet, but the message was clear. Sorenson was tired of waiting for us to get a move on.

  “Let’s go,” I said.

  Chapter 14

  As the day progressed, Patch began worrying about our water supply and was forced to reduce our shares to pitiful-sized sips.

  The heat rising from the sea bed was unbearable. Liquid trapped deep below the cracks boiled to the surface and turned into steam. And although we were surrounded by a thick fog, the Lazarus sun still managed to stab a hole through it.

  My head felt as if it would split open any second and the pain caused my mind to teeter between the real and the imaginary. For a while I thought I saw a figure ahead of me, half hidden in the fog. I was convinced it was Trevor and shouted his name.

  Later when Patch walked by in his idiotic top hat, I’d had too much. I grabbed his arm and started to shake him for no reason other than I was going out of my mind from thirst.

  Patch’s face darkened and he pushed me away. When he shouted at me to get a grip, I laughed like I’d gone mad.

  I watched my arms raise my rifle on their own and point it at Patch’s chest. My brain was boiling. I wanted to do nothing but shoot him and take the remaining water all for myself.

  Ramos slammed his shoulder into me. I staggered like a drunk. It broke my attention long enough for Jade to snatch the rifle from my hands.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I screamed. I lunged at Jade, swearing to kill her if she didn’t hand the weapon over. Ramos jumped between us and began shoving me away.

  “Stop!" the big man pleaded. “Don’t force me to hurt you, Brand.”

  I swung at him and my knuckles connected with his right eye. Ramos stumbled backward before he was able to find his balance again.

  “Cabron!” the big man shouted.

  Next thing I saw was his blurred fist angling up toward my jaw. An audible crunch followed as my back teeth connected. Nerves shot jolts of pure agony into the back of my skull. My mouth filled with the taste of blood and ground tooth. I let it wet my tongue rather than spit it out on the smoking ground below me. Should have seen that coming...

  I was overcome with dizziness and fell to my knees. Covered my face so the sun could no longer penetrate through my eye sockets and cook my brain. I didn’t want to move again. I was suddenly content with turning into a dried-out husk. Like the dead couple back in Cranston, the ones Trevor and I’d moved inside the house. They’d looked so peaceful and finally at rest.

  “Brand,” Ramos shouted, knocking my arms away from my face. “Listen to me. You’ve got the sun sickness.”

  “Like hell I do.”

  “Look at yourself, man. You’re coming apart.”

  It took a while for his words to sink in. I didn’t want to believe him. I’d seen plenty of others get the sickness before. Some beat it and some didn’t. But they all went mad.

  I took several deep breaths. Every time I blinked my eyes I thought I saw the figures of ghosts gathering closer. This time it was the old man and his granddaughters. The sun shone through their translucent bodies and cast blood-colored shadows on the sand.

  Ramos is right, a voice inside me said grudgingly. That’s exactly what’s happened to me. But there’s nothing that can save me now.

  At least you’ve got a gun, I thought. Cutter only had a spider hole to escape by...

  I peered up at Ramos. His eye was almost puffed shut. There were flies bothering the remains of his ear. He took a moment to re-knot a bandana so as to keep it covered. After he was done he pulled me up. I was still feeling certain I wanted to die. Then I saw the faces of others surrounding me.

  “You should leave me here,” I said. “I’ll only get all of you killed.”

  “No way,” Patch argued. “You made a deal with Sorenson and you’re sticking to it. If you piss him off now, he might decide we aren’t worth the trouble to keep around.”

  I rubbed my face. I couldn’t think of anything to say.

  Jade edged closer. “You need you to see this through. If we’d wanted to die we wouldn’t have kept following you.” She always did manage to cut to the bone.

  “Ok,” I said.

  Patch gave me a drink from the skin. The warm, leather-tasting water was heavenly. And yet I knew it wasn’t enough to cure me of the sickness. My head still throbbed. The muscles in my legs were cramping up. As for the hallucinations, I had no choice but to accept them. I decided I wouldn’t bring them up. I didn’t want to worry the others any more than I had.

  Later after we’d fanned out during our march toward the ship, Patch stopped by with the water skin.

  “Hold out your hand,” he whispered as I drank. I did as he asked and he placed an auto-loader in my palm. The thing gleamed with bright blue fluid.

  “What is it?”

  Patch talked through gritted teeth. “Lower your voice, Brand. Listen to me... inject yourself now while no one is watching.”

  “You still haven’t told me...”

  “Damn it...”

  He reached down and pulled the water skin away from my hands. “It’s something your friend Cutter gave me. A dose of RZ63.”

  “RZ63?”

  “I don’t remember what the hell it stands for, so don’t ask. They started using it for sun sickness a while back. I’ve heard the stuff can almost revive mummies. I’m surprised Sorenson hadn’t found it when he’d taken Cutter prisoner. It’s worth a lot now. Sorenson might even have given it a try if he’d known about it.”

  “Would Cutter have lived if he’d taken it?”

  “Might have. But he didn’t care to share with me why he refused to do so. He insisted I hang onto it for him. It’s all he asked for.”

  “I wish you’d have told me about this earlier.”

  “Doctor-patient confidentiality,” Patch grinned sadly. “I gave him my word I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

  “I think it only applies if you’re a real doctor,” I said. I glanced around. Saw no one looking our way. I turned and injected my arm.

  The effect was almost immediate. The headache lifted and so did the soreness in my limbs. Most importantly, my mind began to clear. I started to realize how close I’d been to dying. Was this another gift from Lady Luck? I wondered. Maybe it was her I’d seen earlier and not a dust devil dancing across the cr
acked sea bed.

  Wrong. This was all Cutter’s doing. Not a woman I imagine sometimes. Give the poor bastard some credit. He saved your life.

  We arrived at the hulking shape I’d seen through the scope earlier, an ancient ship lying on its side. I’d thought the blackened areas were evidence of a fire but I was wrong. What I’d actually seen were crows. Hundreds of crows watching us with liquid silver eyes.

  A young man named Jake decided to see if he could scare the crows off by shooting above them. Jake didn’t know his ass from a spider hole. Hadn’t it crossed the idiot’s mind there could be trouble waiting for us inside the wreck?

  “Stop!” I shouted.

  But it was too late. He’d already fired off several rounds. They echoed across the lake bed for a full minute. Angered, I was going to knock Jake in the head until Ramos grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

  The crows didn’t stir. Instead they began making deep throaty sounds. Like the growls of something much larger than their scrawny frames alone could produce. I’d heard crows make a lot of noise before, but nothing that raised the hairs on my neck. Were they imitating something they’d met? A wolf maybe?

  Jade pointed at a ragged opening in the hull. The steel was ugly and twisted and thick with rust. Yet there were other places along the surface that appeared to have been recently strafed by gunfire.

  Jake ran toward the hull and slipped through the ancient mortal wound. Seconds later he emerged again, eyes bulging with fear. He waved his hand for us to come quickly.

  I turned and didn’t see Sorenson anywhere on the horizon. But I knew he had to be out there somewhere. Waiting for us to screw up so he would have another excuse to dish out more misery. The thought of him filled me with dread every time. His existence was a constant threat, and every fiber of my being ached to end it. But I’d have to wait. The time wasn’t right.

  “Come on,” I said to Jade and Ramos. “Let’s see what’s got Jake all jumpy.”

  “You sure about this?” Ramos asked. “Sorenson isn’t going to be happy about us taking a detour.”