Sky on Fire

17 DEAN

‘I GOT A PHARMACY FULL of Robitussin,’ Jake bragged to Payton. ‘We had some whiskey, but I drank it.’

‘I like you more and more, Jake. I am glad you’re considering entering the academy. You should do it,’ Payton asked. ‘I’ll get you in my squadron. Would you like that?’

‘Sir, yes, sir!’ Jake responded.

Payton turned to the cadets, who were still awaiting his orders.

‘Well, you heard me. Fan out! Use your lights and be thorough.’

So how much respect did I have for Jake? Before this… meh. Not very much. I liked him. You had to like Jake, because he was an affable, charming guy. Everyone liked Jake. Even when I hated his guts and wanted to kill him, I liked him.

But with the drugs and the way he just got so lost and depressed and the fact that he’d left us? Well, he’d fallen really far in my eyes.

Now, seeing him play this game with Payton and watching him carefully bluff and negotiate his way through this nightmare – he was kind of my hero.

My shoulder was out. Every step was agony for me. I wasn’t going to be able to fight these guys. If we were going to make it through this alive, Jake would be the one saving us.

‘Too bad you have no lights,’ Payton said. ‘Kind of grim in here, all dark like this.’

‘Yeah,’ Jake said. ‘But we got a lot of flashlights. And, hey, you should see our campfire!’

Jake led Payton to the Kitchen.

I got his strategy. With the fire going, it looked right. It looked cozy and cheerful. You could believe that it was our campsite. As long as they didn’t look for our beds.

The cadets started coming back, listing what they’d found. Greasy found the chainsaws and the patched hole in the wall. A thin, twitchy guy they called ‘Jimmy Doll Hands’ reported in on the water and remaining drinks near the Food aisle (and, yeah, his hands were weirdly small). They were fairly thorough. Zarember even found and reported on the oil stain on the linoleum and the tyre marks from where the bus had stood before it left.

But somehow, they didn’t see the House.

The last cadet came back to report, a strong, burly black kid named Kildow. He looked like the most menacing of the cadets and carried a semiautomatic. At least, I think it was a semiautomatic. I’d only ever seen them in adventure movies.

Was he going to say he’d found the House? If he did, Jake could still play it off – like he was going to tell Payton, but hadn’t gotten around to it.

Were Astrid and the kids hiding there?

I hoped they were up in the roof tiles by now…

‘Anything to report?’ Payton asked Kildow.

‘Nope,’ he said. ‘Except a lot of crap in Tupperware in the back corner. I mean crap, literally.’

‘Aw, sorry about that,’ Jake said. ‘That’s the Dump.’

‘You sure you don’t have a girl or two around here?’ Payton asked.

‘You saw our girls,’ Jake said sadly. ‘They went and left us.’

‘Well, all right.’ Payton sighed, throwing himself down in a berth. ‘Let’s party, I guess.’

How do you throw a party for five crazy air force cadets and their mascot little girl in a superstore with no electricity?

Rekindle the fire in the fire pit.

Cook up some Jiffy Pop on the flames.

Crack open a couple dozen bottles of Robitussin.

That is what we did.

‘Your arm’s all wrong,’ Payton observed, examining me across the fire.

‘I hurt my shoulder when I fell,’ I said.

‘Let me see that,’ Payton said. He got up and came over to me. I was sitting in a booth, my back to the wall. ‘I can set it for you.’

‘No, no, please. I’m okay,’ I said.

I tried to catch Jake’s eye. He was off telling Greasy and Zarember about what the earthquake was like in the store.

‘Don’t be a sissy,’ Payton said. ‘It’ll only take a second.’

‘It’s fine,’ I lied.

Dear God, I prayed, please keep this thug off me.

I was scared he’d make it worse and it already hurt more than anything I’d ever experienced.

‘Come on, it’s just a little pop. Zarember, Kildow, get over here.’

‘Please, please, please no!’ I shrieked.

Payton grabbed my hair and brought his forehead up to mine.

‘Look, Dean. I know you’re scared. I respect that. And you think I’m going to hurt you. But I’m not. I’m going to help you. And once your shoulder’s back in the socket, you’re gonna be grateful. And that’s how I’m gonna get you on my side,’ Payton murmured to me.

‘See? It’s not even about you, really. It’s about this gang. My little gang of cadets. See, we’re recruiting!’ He threw his arms out wide, like he’d announced a new national holiday. The cadets cheered.

‘I’m gonna recruit you by setting your shoulder, Deano. I’m going to take care of you and Jake. You’re my doolies now! Get him up,’ he commanded Kildow and Zarember. They hauled me to my feet.

‘Please, don’t,’ I begged. ‘You don’t need to set my shoulder! I’m recruited! Please.’

But he pulled my arm so that my elbow bent and it was at a ninety-degree angle. He pushed my hand toward my other arm, across my body, then away, then toward it again while I screamed and my vision went electric and then God had mercy on me and everything went black just as I heard a POP.