Banshee Worm King: Book Five of the Oz Chronicles (13 page)

“What’s in it?”

“Pretty much anything that will ferment.”

Gordy’s wound was looking much better, but seeing it
reminded me of something Bostic had said.
 
“Why did they go after Gordy?”

“What do you mean?” Bostic asked.

“You said that they’d leave him alone because of his
wound.
 
I thought he would be safe.”

Bostic shrugged.
 
“Could be because his wound is getting better.
 
He doesn’t smell like death warmed over
anymore.
 
Could be because they got into
a feeding frenzy here.
 
This is their
grounds.
 
I told you I ain’t got all the
answers on those things.”
 
He stood and
headed for the kitchen.
 
“Tomorrow we
hunt.”

“We do?” Wes asked.

“That was the agreement.
 
I give you shelter.
 
You help me
hunt.”

“I remember,” Wes said, “but why tomorrow? From what I can
see, you’ve got plenty of food.”

“There’s been a patrol of Myrmidons camped out three ridges
over.
 
I’ve been watching them.
 
All but two leave the camp for hours every
three days.
 
They’re hunting for
something in this area.
 
Not sure what,
but it’s good for us.
 
We can take out
the two Myrmidons left behind to guard their camp.”

“Why would we want to?” I asked.

“What do you mean why?
 
For the meat.”

I looked at him horrified and then scanned the room to see
if the others had the same reaction.
 
They did.
 

Bostic noticed the expressions on our faces.
 
“What?”

“Myrmidons... they used to be people.”

He shook his head.
 
“I believe the key words there are ‘used to be.’
 
They’re beasts.
 
Beasts are meant to be eaten.”

“That’s disgusting,” April said.

Bostic pointed at Gordy’s leg.
 
“Ain’t you the one who did that?”

Her lips started to tremble.
 
“Not willingly.”

Bostic threw up his hands.
 
“I’m trying to survive here, folks.
 
Myrmidons are food.
 
Now, you
don’t have to eat them, but unless you want to sleep out in the great outdoors
with worms and monkeys all about, you will help me hunt them.”
 
He walked to the kitchen without saying
another word.

***

I fell asleep with thoughts of Kimball swimming around in
my head.
 
I couldn’t believe he was
gone.
 
Thankfully, the vision of him
being consumed by the worm wasn’t what I was thinking about.
 
I thought about when he was a pup.
 
He’d run so fast that he’d lose control of
his feet and slip and fall, tumble tail over head.
 

I woke up to what sounded like a door slamming shut.
 
I propped myself up on my elbows and looked
around the room.
 
Everyone else was still
asleep.
 
Just as I was about to write the
noise off as nothing to worry about, I heard the creak of a floorboard, like
someone was shifting their weight from their heels to their toes. But, I didn’t
know where it was coming from.
 
I sat in
the still silence and waited.
 
Nothing
came.

I scanned the room and counted the sleeping bodies.
 
Everyone was accounted for except Bostic.

The creak came again.
 
It was quieter than before.
 

If Kimball was alive, this wouldn’t be happening.
 
He’d be barking up a storm.
 
He’d have the creaker cornered by now.
 
The gorillas were snoring away near the
backdoor.
 
Fat lot of good they were.

I wanted to wake someone else up, but I didn’t want to
scare whoever it was away.
 
If it was an
intruder, I wanted to catch it and not have to worry about it the next time we
went to sleep. And, if it was Bostic, I wanted to catch him in the act of
sneaking around in the dead of the night so I could just come out and accuse
him of being the monkey-dude.

I lay back down and hoped the creaker would get the idea I
was going back to sleep.
 
I darted my
eyes to every pitch-black sliver of darkness in the room.
 

I spotted a shape that seemed out of place in the corner
nearest the front door.
 
It could have
been a head and shoulders.
 
It could have
been a shelf with a can or jar on it.
 
I
stared and stared and stared hoping my eyes would eventually see through the
darkness.
 

It moved.
 
Tilted to
the right just slightly.
 
Maybe.
 
It could have been a shadow.
 

Another creak.

I shifted to my left quietly to get a better look.
 

I heard a thump from behind me. Startled I turned quickly
to see Bostic standing at the kitchen counter staring at the same shape.
 
He must have sensed I noticed him because he
shook his head as if to say ‘there’s someone there.’

“I see you,” the intruder said in a low whisper. Too quiet
to disturb any of the others, but clear enough to send a shiver down my spine.

“I watch for you, bad Bostic.
 
Jubilee meat time.”

Ajax stirred.

The intruder stepped out of the shadows.
 
His face was hidden under a hooded
sweatshirt.
 
“Bad Bostic give us the
jubilee meat”

Bostic stepped forward.
 
I could see the hunger in his eyes through the darkness.
 
He wanted to tear the intruder into pieces.

Ajax quietly knuckle-walked towards us. He looked
puzzled.
 
I wasn’t even sure if he knew
we had an intruder.

The man saw the gorilla and reached for the door.
 
He turned before opening it and said, “Need
the meat!
 
Worm king!”

Ajax leapt forward and barreled toward the intruder.

The hooded man bolted out the door. By the time I stood up,
I could hear the sound of someone traveling across the zip line.

Wes snorted and sat up with a start, “What in tarnation?”

The others stirred.

“What’s going on?” Lou asked.

Before I could answer, Bostic chimed in.
 
“A Ratty-Bob stopped in to say hi.”

Lou stood and wiped the sleep from her eyes.
 
“What’s a Ratty-Bob?”

“A guy in a hoody,” I said.

“A Ratty-Bob is a name we came up with for a group of
mountain folk that pass in and out of this area on their travels.”

“This Ratty-Bob knew you,” I said.

“We’ve had our meet-ups.
 
Bound to happen.”

“He didn’t like you,” I said.

“Ratty-Bobs aren’t known for their friendly dispositions.”

“They make a habit of breaking into your house?” Wes asked.

“I’ve caught them helping themselves to my supplies when
I’ve come back from hunts.
 
They’re
harmless though.
 
We mostly steer clear
of one another.”

I didn’t know why, but I didn’t believe him.
 
Maybe it was the way he avoided looking any
of us in the eye while he dished out his Ratty-Bob story. Or maybe it was the
way he swayed as he spoke.
 
He just
looked uneasy.
 
I guess he had a right to
be uneasy.
 
After all, someone had just
broken into his house.
 
But my gut told
me that something wasn’t right.

“I doubt he’ll be back, but I’ll take watch out on the deck
for the rest of the night just to make sure,” Bostic said.

“Alone?” Lou asked.

“I can take care of myself,” he said.
 
“I’ve done it for a long time now.”

“Ariabod will go with you,” I said.

The large silverback was in the middle of a yawn when I
volunteered him to accompany Bostic.
 
He
growled and lumbered toward the front door.

“That’s all right,” Bostic said.
 
“I prefer to do it alone.”

“Nonsense,” Wes said.
 
“Why do it alone when you have a perfectly good go-rilla to keep you
company?”

An angry expression washed over Bostic’s face.
 
“I said no!
 
I’ll stand watch by myself. I ain’t a part of your group so stop trying
to tell me how to run my affairs.”

His shouting was so loud it made my ears ring.
 
He stomped through the house and went out the
door.

We all shared a worried look.

Gordy piped up for the first time.
 
“Dude, don’t make the giant mad.”

***

I woke up at daybreak.
 
I stepped over Wes on my way to the kitchen.
 
He was sleeping like a fat, snoring
baby.
 
I was surprised that Lou was still
asleep, too.
 

April greeted me with a smile when I sat at the
counter.
 
She was sipping on something
hot.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Bostic made it.
 
He
says it’s some kind of flower tea.”

The liquid in her cup was dark and rosy.

“Good?” I asked.

“Not especially,” she said, “but it’s warm.”

“Where is Bostic?”

“He went on a bread run so we can have some toast.”

I narrowed my eyes.
 
“Bread run?”

She laughed.
 
“I’m
joking.
 
He went out.
 
He didn’t say where, and I didn’t ask.”

“Oh,” I said with a forced smile.
 

“So, you like Lou, don’t you?”

“What?”

“C’mon admit it. I saw you guys out on the deck yesterday.”

I forced another smile except this one was goofy and
awkward.
 

“You’re allowed to like her, you know.
 
It’s not against the law.”

“I know,” I said shrugging. “It just feels weird.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve known Lou since this whole thing
started.
 
She was just a kid when we
met.
 
I was just a kid.”

“People grow up.
 
They make googly eyes at each other and kiss and hold hands.”

“Maybe,” I said.
 
“But I’ve known Gordy longer, and we haven’t made googly eyes at each
other.”

We both chuckled.

“Seriously,” April said, “what’s the worst thing that could
happen?
 
You smooch it up morning, noon,
and night.
 
Who cares?
 
It will be a great way to pass the time until
we make it back home.”

I soaked in her last words.
 
“What if we don’t make it back home?”

“Don’t make it?
 
What
are you talking about?
 
We’ll make
it.
 
Don’t say we won’t,” she said
sounding a little anxious.

“Okay, relax,” I said, “I’m not saying we won’t, but what
if some of us can’t go back.”

“Can’t?”

I sighed.
 
“Say you
liked Gordy.”

She rolled her eyes.
 
“I know I almost killed him, and I probably shouldn’t say this, but I
would rather die than say I like Gordy.
 
He’s a creep and a half.”
 

It was my turn to roll my eyes.
 
“Okay, but pretend he’s not.”

“Can’t do it,” she said.

“Fine,” I said frustrated. “Pretend we meet a guy tomorrow
who is the love of your life.”

She shifted her gaze up and tilted her head from side to
side. “Okay, okay, I’m there.
 
Go on.”

“Now let’s say you have a chance to go back to the way
things were, but the guy, the love of your life, can’t go.
 
In fact, he’ll die if you go.
 
Would you go back?”

“Die?
 
I just met the
guy and now he’s dying?”