Eleven.
Howard was bored and felt a little guilty about it. The whole notion of boredom felt foreign to him, considering how abnormal his life had become over the last year or so. He strolled the halls of the hotel and tried to think back to a time when he was truly bored and not in some stage of fighting for survival or living in sheer terror.
Then again, he didn"t get bored very often back then either. Most of his free time was spent in a booze-induced haze. As long as his right hand held a can of beer, he always had something to do. Howard found he could spend hours at a time watching drivel on TV as long as he was half in the bag while doing so.
It felt like he was thinking about a different person, some poor slob on one of those intervention reality shows, not Howard Bell of the past. He really did feel like he had left that old life behind and was starting fresh. AA had nothing on the way he got sober. Still, the twelve-step program didn"t involve manslaughter, life sentences, aliens, or pandemics. It would make for a pretty interesting AA brochure though.
The temptation was still there and it irritated him to no end. The hotel had four bars stocked with enough alcohol for a bender of world-record proportions. It didn"t help that they were stuck in some sort of limbo, half of them wanting to stay and go east, the other half wanting to go west and onto a boat. In the meantime, they had all just wandered the hotel aimlessly for the last few days. Eating, sleeping, eating some more.
He rounded the corner and entered the lobby. A hot, steady breeze came off the sea through the open patio doors. Soo sat in one of the deck chairs on the patio, looking down at a book from the hotel"s library. She looked up and smiled at him when he walked out, sending shivers down his spine and a flutter through his chest. Another thing to feel guilty about, but he couldn"t help it.
"Howard!" Emily came running up out of nowhere, waving her arms. "Look! Look!" She held out her hands and wiggled her fingers, each nail glistening with a brilliant shade of yellow.
"Wow! Those are pretty."
"Soo painted dem for me. Look down here too!" She held out one foot to show off her matching toes, partially obscured by sand.
He sat down in the chair beside Soo. "Yeah, those are something else. I"ll be able to see you coming from a mile away."
Soo swatted his arm, releasing a fresh batch of shivers. "Stop it! I asked her what color she wanted and she insisted on yellow. We happen to think it"s beautiful."
"Yeah, booootiful!" Emily jumped off the edge of the patio and ran down the beach to the water.
Soo laughed and crossed her legs, bouncing her foot up and down while she went back to her book.
"Looks like you had a little manny and peddy yourself," he said, pointing at her toes.
Soo looked at him over the top of her sungla.s.ses and raised her eyebrows. "Manny and peddy?"
"Hey, in case you didn"t notice, I"m a hip guy. That"s what you call it when you"re out on the town with your gal pals, isn"t it?"
She tilted her head back and laughed. "Most of my gal pals consisted of overworked and overtired nurses in scrubs. We spent our free time eating hospital cafeteria food and gossiping about other nurses."
Howard looked at her toes again. "Well, I"m disappointed you didn"t go with Emily Yellow but they"re lovely all the same."
"Thanks."
Emily ran up and down the beach, dragging a large stick in the sand and drawing pictures with it.
"You know," Howard said, "I have to admit I"ve been thinking about the whole boat thing. It seems crazy, but I can"t help but wonder if they really are doing better back home. I"m worried about Emily. She"s been through so much already and I really want what"s best for her, you know?"
Soo closed her book and turned toward him. "I know we could do it. I just wish we could convince Dave."
"The thing is," Howard looked away at the ocean. "If things are better, I mean really better, that might not be such a good thing. For me."
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about...your past."
"Technically, I was sentenced to life. No parole. And I deserved it. I"m not saying I think I have the right to be a free man just because all this happened. I dunno, I"m just thinking from Emily"s point of view. We"re the only family she has now and if we go back to the States only to have her taken away from me..."
"Howard, whatever happens, whether we stay here or go anywhere else, I"ll always look out for Emily."
She placed her hand over his and gave it a little squeeze before taking it away. Howard desperately wanted to grab it and not let go. They sat in silence and watched Emily play at the water"s edge. She held the stick like a spear and chased after the schools of small fish swimming around her feet.
"Can I ask you something personal?" Soo said. "Why were you sent to prison?"
Howard sighed and looked down at his feet. He knew it would come up eventually but he had hoped it wouldn"t be Soo who asked.
"You don"t have to tell me..."
"No. You have the right to know, I guess. It"s okay." Howard took a deep breath and told her everything. His heavy drinking, his daughter Lilly"s death, his failed marriage. By the time he got to The Day and described his confrontation with Steve Creighton and the bloodbath that followed, he couldn"t stop. He held nothing back and described everything in great detail. It was horrifying, yet oddly liberating at the same time, to hear his downfall narrated by his own voice.
Soo just listened and stared at the water. Howard couldn"t read her reaction behind her dark sungla.s.ses. He talked about the farm, the mine, and the ship. He replayed the confrontation with Carl before Carl tried to rape Liz, and his gruesome death that followed. Lastly, he told Soo about finding Emily after the crash and helping her to safety, despite almost being killed by a psychotic drug dealer. It wasn"t what Soo asked about, but he threw it in as a desperate attempt to convince her he wasn"t a complete criminal monster.
With his story complete, Howard rubbed the back of his neck and risked a glance at Soo. She continued to stare at the horizon, still not saying a word. She finally nodded her head and turned to him. "Thank you. I know that couldn"t have been easy for you."
Howard was at a loss for words. He wanted to jump up and throw himself at her feet. He ached to shake her shoulders and beg for forgiveness. He wanted to let her know he"d never hurt her or the others and that more than anything, he didn"t want to lose her. Instead he sat and stared at a crack in the patio.
He was about to get up when a shrill scream snapped him out of his self-pity haze. They both jumped to their feet.
Soo scanned the beach. "Where"s Emily?"
Howard shouted her name and looked around, not seeing her anywhere. Another scream came from around the side of the building.
"Oh G.o.d, that"s her!" They jumped off the edge of the patio and ran for the side of the building.
Twelve.
She-ra held her sword high as she entered the haunted jungle and crossed over a small wooden bridge. Tiny lizards scattered at her feet but She-ra took no mind. After all, she was Adora, He-man"s twin sister and defender of the Crystal Castle. It would take more than a few spiders and lizards to scare the mighty She-ra.
An explosion of noise a few feet away broke the silence as a bird flew from the brush. Emily jumped and dropped her stick on the stone path. She muttered about the stupid bird and picked up her sword, picturing her long blonde hair cascading over her shoulders and touching the ground as she bent over. Just outside the trees, her beloved steed, Spirit, stood watch while she entered the woods to battle the evil forces of Horde.
Emily"s friend Jackie had a color television and a VCR. Her family had a small collection of tapes, but the only one Jackie and Emily ever watched was She-ra: Princess of Power. They must have watched all four episodes on that tape a hundred times and knew every line by heart. When they weren"t watching the tape, they were in the street or the alley next to Jackie"s house reenacting their favorite scenes.
Since Jackie was four whole years older, she always got to play She-ra, leaving Emily to play Madame Razz or Kowl. But now that Emily was on her own, she didn"t have to be stupid Kowl anymore.
Emily continued to explore the junglea a garden in the corner of the resort"s property. The narrow path led her past a small pond to a gazebo hidden in the trees. A hot tub sat under the thatched roof. She stirred the water with her stick, wrinkling her nose at the stinky water. It was green and full of leaves and dirt.
"She-ra, She-ra," Emily whispered as she left the hot tub behind and walked deeper into the jungle. "I am Adora, He-man"s twin sister."
She pa.s.sed a tiny hut no taller than she was, and did a double take at a face in its window. It wasn"t real, just a pretend lady made out of plastic.
"Defember of de Crystal Castle."
Maybe it was time to go back to the beach.
"This is Spirit, my *loved Steed."
Emily knew it was just a pretend jungle, like the pretend lady in the window, but it was still sort of scary."Fabilus secrets were revealed to me."
The bend in the trail lead to another little bridge.
"The day I held *loft my sword and said..."
It crossed over a narrow strip of water to a large koi pond. A few fish swam lazily around beneath the murky surface.
"For de Honor of Greyskull."
Another little hut on the left, this time with no pretend people in the window.
"She-ra, She ra..."
A large cage on the right. Two brightly colored bird carca.s.ses lay on the bottom of the cage. Emily knew they weren"t pretend. Those were real birds that died because n.o.body fed them.
She didn"t feel like playing She-ra anymore. She dropped her sword and ran down the path the way she had come, over the bridge and around the bend. The jungle suddenly seemed very dark and she wanted to be out on the beach where the sun shone bright and Soo watched her from the patio.
She ran past the hut with the pretend lady and the hot tub full of green water. She could see the opening to the jungle and the bright green lawn beyond. Emily was certain something was on the trail, chasing her from behind. Her eyes started to water and she fought hard not to cry like a baby.
Just when she was about to make it out of the dark jungle onto the nice bright gra.s.s, her foot caught the edge of an uneven paver and she landed face-first on the trail. She rolled over, ignoring the pain from her skinned knees and hands, and saw nothing but empty trail behind her.
Emily looked down at her b.l.o.o.d.y knees and started to cry. She slowly got to her feet, wailing louder, hoping one of the grownups would hear and come running. She wiped her cheeks and caught movement out of the corner of her eye, out in the lawn. It wasn"t one of the adults coming to see what was wrong. It was one of the monsters from the city, coming straight for her. It spotted Emily and squealed. Two more emerged from the foliage on the far edge of the lawn, shrieking in return. Emily screamed as loudly as she could and ran down the path, away from the monsters and into the jungle.
Howard ran down the lawn, past the boarded up end of the hotel, and turned the corner. Soo was right on his heels. He called out Emily"s name but got no response as they weaved their way through the tables and chairs in the outdoor dining area of the old ballroom.
Howard skidded to a stop on the lawn in front of the hotel. Two of the creatures were on the far side of the lawn, trotting toward the large garden in the corner of the property. They both paused and looked directly at Howard and Soo.
"Oh, s.h.i.t." He looked down at his empty hands, realizing he was unarmed.
Soo grabbed his hand. "I left my gun back at the patio," she whispered.
"Emily must be in there."
"Okay." Soo"s breath grew shallow as she clamped down harder on Howard"s hand. "Okay, okay. Here"s what we do." The creatures crouched down and squealed, preparing to charge. "We run in different directions. Hopefully they"ll stay together and follow just one of us. Whoever doesn"t get chased, goes for Emily. The other goes for my gun." Soo took a couple of steps away from Howard.
"What if they split up?"
The creatures charged.
"Then we wing it! Go!" Soo took off for the driveway, Howard ran back the way they came. He glanced back and saw both of the creatures go out of sight as they ran after Soo. He ran directly into one of the hard metal chairs on the ballroom patio and tumbled to the concrete, smashing his head against another iron chair on the way down.
Howard untangled himself from the chair and ran back toward the garden and, hopefully, Emily. He felt about as slow and uncoordinated as humanly possible. He glanced to his left and saw no signs of Soo or the creatures. With no time to worry about her, he concentrated on reaching the garden. He slowed to a trot as he hit the trail and called out Emily"s name, not hearing anything over the blood pounding in his ears.
Feeling as if his head were on a swivel, Howard kept heading down the trail, calling out her name. The garden was dense and dark. Panic started to rise as doubts crept in. What if Emily wasn"t in there at all and he was wasting precious time? He couldn"t imagine she would have wandered in there alone. Even he was getting creeped out.
The urge to turn around and search another part of the property was so strong he almost turned back. Then he heard another scream. With a burst of adrenaline, Howard sprinted down the trail into an open area. Emily was up to her neck in the middle of a pond. One of the creatures stomped around and squealed at the water"s edge but didn"t go in. Emily was just out of reach of its long barbed appendage. Howard allowed himself to feel relieved for half a second when he realized this thing was not a big fan of water. That little pond had saved Emily"s life, and he couldn"t believe she had the guts to jump in it.
Emily saw him and screamed his name. He scanned the ground looking for anything he could use as a weapon and had a flashback of the shed back at the research station. This time, there were no handy pipes lying around he could use to bash this thing"s brains in. He picked up a tree branch near the trail but it crumbled in his hands.
"Hey!" He clapped his hands over his head. "Over here!"
The beast considered Howard, conveniently not neck deep in water, and snarled at him.
"Emily, stay there! Don"t move an inch!" He waved his hands over his head and slowly moved back. Emily nodded at him but looked more terrified than ever. The creature stomped at the edge of the pond one more time, careful to not get wet, and backed off.
"That"s it, baby. Come on." Howard clapped again and kept walking backward.
The creature finally chalked up Emily as a loss and charged at Howard. He spun around and once again sprinted down the trail. The beast behind him made a horrible racket as it smashed through the brush behind him, ignoring the trail.
Howard reached the edge of the garden and sprinted across the lawn toward the beach. His lungs burned for air and his muscles were quickly turning to jelly but he couldn"t slow down. He could hear the thing pounding across the gra.s.s behind him and closing the distance between them quickly.
As he reached the patio, he weaved through the tables and chairs, praying not to get tripped up and fall again. This time he would receive more than skinned knees. Gunshots rang out around the corner on the far end of the hotel a music to his ears. He hurdled over a chair, dodged a table, and turned the corner, just inches in front of the alien chasing him.
Soo ran across the vast lawn. The blades were long and coa.r.s.e, spoiled by weeds and rodent holes after months without professional care. She ran as fast as she could, mentally preparing herself for the possibility of stepping on something unpleasant or painful with her bare feet. She reached the driveway without incident and chanced a quick glance behind her. Both of the creatures were closing in. She caught a glimpse of Howard"s bright T-shirt before he was swallowed by the dense garden.
Knowing the front doors were locked, she sped past them to the side gate by the pool. The lead alien"s sharp hooves and claws slid like chalk on a blackboard behind her as they reached the driveway. She reached the low wall by the pool, planted both hands on the top, and vaulted over to the patio on the other side. One of the creatures leapt over the wall behind her, squealing like a pig as it flew through the air. But it had jumped too far and caught the lip of the pool with just one leg before plunging into the stagnant water. It let out a horrific shriek as it thrashed about in the pool.
The other creature, after observing the demise of its hunting partner, vaulted the wall with more care, allowing Soo to gain some breathing room. She turned the corner of the building, screaming for help the entire way. She just hoped one of the others was close enough to hear.
Soo got to the patio and saw her gun, just where she had left it on the table next to her chair. She picked it up in what felt like slow motion. It was taking too long, she didn"t have enough time. The beast was almost on her now, making that awful clucking noise with its mouth and the clicking of hooves and nails on tile.
Dave"s training kicked in. In one fluid motion, Soo pressed the slide release lever with her right thumb, pulled the slide back with her left hand, and chambered a round. The hammer locked back into the firing position. She clicked off the safety and spun around, leveling the front sight at the creature now just fifteen feet away and closing.
Soo yanked on the trigger, fighting the recoil and keeping the gun level as she fired six rounds into the creature. All of them found their mark and the hollow point bullets Dave chose for her pulverized the creature"s torso. It tumbled as it fell forward, just missing Soo as she jumped out of the way. It tipped over the chairs she and Howard had been sitting in just minutes before and came to a stop.
Before she could even catch her breath, Howard came sprinting around the corner with the other one close on his heels.
Unlike Soo, Howard was in lousy condition and had no business running for his life. The adrenaline was quickly fading and his legs were starting to betray him.
Soo pointed the gun directly at his face and screamed at him to get down. Simply by dumb luck, Howard tripped on a coiled garden hose lying out on the patio and went airborne. Soo fired. Howard landed right on his diaphragm, knocking the air out of himself and slamming his cheek into the tile floor. A second later, the alien fell on top of him, a small hole in its forehead and another in the back of its head the size of a grapefruit where the bullet had exited.
"Howard!" Soo ran for him, careful to keep the gun trained on the creature. Howard wasn"t moving. Behind her, Dave, Tre, and Ann came running out onto the patio, wide-eyed and startled by the sudden chaos that had exploded from the back of the quiet resort.
Soo pushed the dead thing off Howard"s back and started crying in relief when she saw him trying to catch his breath. She helped him turn over and wiped the alien blood off his face with her hands. "Are you okay?"