Flesh Worn Stone (31 page)

There wasn’t any way he could have killed the girl, and somewhere deep inside he’d known that all along. He didn’t even think he could have killed his wife, because somewhere, also hiding deep within his soul, he knew he still loved her. He couldn’t watch her battle on the screen for her life and the life of the Game. He still loved her. He’d always love her.

Mia didn’t struggle this time as he took her by the hand and led her out of the Castle. He expected some resistance, but there was no one around, and he could only assume that if there were more employees of the Castle, they were at whatever other residences there were on the island. He was sure there were some lodgings near an airstrip that the elite spectators stayed at. And he was equally sure there was probably an air plane there, with a pilot. He imagined forcing the man, at the end of the shotgun, to take them to Texas, but he knew that not only would there be issues upon arrival with a hijacked plane, he wouldn’t be able to stay awake the entire trip as exhausted as he was. And if he couldn’t stay awake, the pilot could easily get rid of him and the girl.

Mia was going to the real world, he’d decided. That was the most fitting punishment for his wife. He was going to make sure she had a chance at an actual life.

The ship was the only other option, and he opened the door to the still running truck, and helped Mia in. He turned the big rig around and headed down for the dock where the cruise ship was already docked. Workers were filling up the garbage bins with refuse from the cruise. They looked on in utter shock and surprise at the arrival of Steven and Mia.

He couldn’t blame them. He couldn’t imagine what the two must look like with his scraggly beard, long hair, and both of them covered in dirt and grime.

“Hey…are you all right?” a young man in a crisp uniform asked, rushing to them.

“My little girl and I…we got stranded here while sailing. We’ve been here for weeks…we really need to,” he paused dramatically, looking back towards the direction of the Cage, “we need to get out of here.”

“Where is Jackson?”

“Who’s Jackson?”

“He’s works for Island Waste and usually meets us here to help offload the garbage. It’s all dumped in a big hole at the top of that mountain. Surely you’ve seen him? He would have helped you off the island.”

“No…there isn’t anyone. We found this truck up by the dump and drove it down here when we saw you were coming. I don’t know. Maybe something happened to him. Maybe he fell in that hole?”

The crewmember nodded in agreement. “I always told him working out here alone like that was dangerous. He wrapped his jacket around the girl and began leading her up the stairs. “I’m guessing this young lady can probably use some ice cream and cookies, correct?”

Steven doubted she even knew what ice cream and cookies were. He started to follow her up the gangway, but paused, again looking toward the Cage.

“Sir…aren’t you coming?”

The missing fifth mark burned on his forehead, and the four that were there felt wholly incomplete.

“I…I just don’t know.”

END