Quake (34 page)

    'I'll get dressed,' she said. 'Excellent idea,' she added, and sat up.

    She quickly twisted from side to side, looking both ways and behind her. She saw nobody. Then she spotted the overturned shopping cart far down the alley to her right. She looked away fast, but not quickly enough to miss a glimpse of the two shapes on the pavement near the cart. Her stomach went squirmy. Why did I have to look? 'Coast is clear,' she said.

    'Good,' Pete said.

    She crawled toward the front of the pickup's bed. At the edge of the tarp, she glanced back at Pete. He still lay on his side, legs together, knees drawn up. The ruddy print of her calf had almost faded from his buttocks.

    'You can turn around if you want,' she said. 'That's okay.'

    'You'd rather stare at the side of an old pickup than at me?'

    'I just think it's better this way.'

    'Okay.' On her knees, she peeled back the tarp. Her things were mixed together with Pete's.

    'I'll get dressed when you're done,' he said.

    She looked around to make sure nobody was in sight, then she stood up. Staying low, shifting from foot to foot, she stepped into her panties and shorts. She sat down to finish.

    'Your turn,' she announced. Leaning back, she stretched out an arm and picked up her forty-five.

    'Okay,' Pete said. But he didn't move.

    'You want me to leave?'

    'Maybe you could, like, stand guard in the alley.' She grinned and shook her head, uncertain whether to be amused or worried by Pete's behavior. All she knew was that she didn't want to give him any trouble. So she slung her purse strap over her shoulder and stood up. She went past him, climbed over the tailgate, and hopped down. Standing with her back to the pickup, she lifted the edge of her blouse and slid the Colt down the rear of her shorts. The muzzle shoved her panties down an inch or two. The cool steel felt good.

    'I won't look, promise,' she said. 'But I don't much wanta go out and stand in the middle of the alley, if it's all the same to you.'

    'You're fine right there.'

    She heard thumps and shuffling behind her back, as if Pete were racing to reach his clothes and get into them before Barbara might change her mind and look at him.

    'No big hurry,' she told him. 'Nobody's coming, and I promise not to peek.''Fine.'

    She dug into the bottom of her purse. A lot of junk down there: crumbs and gum wrappers, an old Bic pen, several paper clips and rubber bands. She came out with two rubber bands. Holding them between her lips, she reached again into her purse. She took out a small packet of facial tissues, tore away their cellophane wrapper, and folded the tissues in half. She placed the thick square against the gash on her arm, then took the rubber bands out of her mouth and slipped them over her hand. They caught and pulled at some hairs as she rolled them up her forearm, but she got them around the makeshift bandage. That oughta hold it, she thought. Hearing a thump of shoes, she turned around in time to see Pete swoop down for the rifle. He came up holding it by the leather sling. His shirt was on, but hung open. It billowed behind him as he planted a foot on top of the tailgate, leaped, and dropped. He landed on his feet and took a few rushing steps past Barbara before stopping himself. As he turned to face her, he hooked the sling over his shoulder.

    'Ready?' he asked. He was standing in the sunlight squinting at her.

    'Come here,' she said.

    'Shouldn't we get going?'

    'You owe me a kiss, remember?’

    'Sure, I remember.’

    'Now that we're dressed.’

    'Yeah.'

    'So, come and get it.'

    Pete suddenly hurried back to her, out of the sunshine and into the shadow of the car port where she waited, smiling. He slipped his arms around her. He pulled her against him gently, and kissed her. She eased her mouth away. 'Got something for you,' she whispered. Stepping back from him slightly, she thrust a hand down a front pocket of her shorts. 'Something,' she said, 'to help you remember about us in the pickup truck on the day of the big quake.'

    'I'm not about to forget about it. Are you kidding?'

    'Well, I think you should have a souvenir.' She pulled the crumpled wad of fabric out of her pocket and shook it open in front of him. He glanced at the dangling bra, then stared at her chest.

    'Oh, my God,' he muttered.'Take it.'

    'Thanks. Jeez.' He took it, and stuffed it into a front pocket of his trousers.

    'You sure it's all right?’

    'Huh?'

    'You don't…, you know, need it?'

    'Not much. Nobody'll even know it's gone.'

    'I sure know.'

    'You're supposed to. You'll cherish it, right?'

    He grinned.

    'Just don't wear it.'

    'Barbara!'

    'Except on special occasions.'

    He laughed.

    'What've you got for me?' she asked. 'Uh…' He shrugged and looked helpless. 'I need a souvenir, too.’

    'What would you like?’

    'Oh, maybe…'

    'Should've given her a twat-load of come when you had the chance, Pizzaman.'

    Pete suddenly looked sick.

    Stomach coiling tight, Barbara whirled around.

    Earl came strolling out from the far side of the Jeep Wrangler that was parked beside the pickup truck. Smirking, he sniffed and rubbed his nose.

    'You watched?' Barbara asked.

    'Had to. Oooo, Banner. Ooooo.'

    Nobody could've been watching! she told herself. I looked! I looked everywhere! You glanced around a couple of times, that's all. It's like some kind of damn conspiracy, she thought. Lee watched us in the pool, and now Earl… Is somebody always spying on us? 'Where?' she muttered. 'Where were you?'

    'Here, there.' Grinning, he halted a couple of paces in front of her. 'Close enough to touch you most of the time.'

    'No, you weren't.'

    Pete stepped up to Barbara's side. He held the rifle low by his hip, its muzzle toward Earl. 'Maybe you'd better out of here'

    'Oh, sure. What're you gonna do, shoot me? Give me a break. First off, you haven't got the guts to shoot. Second, that old mob would've had your asses except I heard 'em coming and warned you. Not to mention I stuck in the alley and ran off so as not to give you away. You owe me plenty, both of you.'

    Grinning, he rubbed his chin and glanced at Barbara's. She knew that she'd left the top two buttons of her blouse undone. Without looking, she started to fasten the top.

    'Nothing you gotta hide from me, babe,' Earl said. 'I've seen it all.' He raised his hand as if to stop her from protesting 'But you got no reason to blame me for looking. Shit, thought you were dead, both of you. I came circling back around once everything looked safe, and figured they'd gotten mean, took a look in back of the pickup, here, and both of you stretched out starkers and bloody. What was I supposed to think?'

    'You took us for dead?' Pete asked.

    'Sure.'

    Pete bumped Barbara softly with his arm. 'Guess it worked.'

    'It worked fine,' Earl said, 'till you sorta twitched ass, and then Banner tells you to stop it. That was a good giveaway.'

    'You were here then?' Barbara asked.

    'Standing right there.' He pointed at the tailgate. 'How come we didn't hear you?' Pete asked. 'I was being quiet, what do you think?'

    'Oh God,' Barbara muttered. 'You saw…, you watched everything?'

    'Ooooo, yes.'

    'Could you hear us, too?' she asked.

    'Every word.' Shaking his head, he laughed. 'You two are a real pair.'

    Barbara groaned.

    'Hey, don't take it so hard! You oughta be glad it was me caught you at it. Could've been a lot worse. A lot. All I did was watch, know what I mean? Didn't join in. Didn't take the guns. Didn't kill you. I was a real gentleman. All I did was enjoy the show.'

    'Well,' Pete said, 'the show's over. Now how about getting out of here?'

    'No, I don't think so. I'm sticking with you all the way.'

    'What the hell for?' Barbara blurted.

    He grinned. "Cause you're such a babe, Banner. And it's a kick to be around a couple of lovebirds like you and Pizzaboy. And you guys have all the guns.'

    'Why didn't you take them when you had the chance?' Barbara asked.

    'Too busy watching the fun.'

    'Sure.'

    'You want the honest truth, soon as found out you two weren't dead, I figured on sticking with you. So I figured why not let you keep on carrying the things?'

    'I've got news for you,' Barbara said. 'You aren't sticking with us.'

    Grinning, Earl glanced from Barbara to Pete, and back to Barbara. 'How would you like your folks to find out all about what you guys were up to? I mean like a blow by blow description, know what mean?'

    A terrible flood of heat surged through Barbara.

    'If you tell on us,' Pete said, 'we'll tell on you for Heather.'

    'Oooo, I'm scared. Big fucking deal. You tell what you wanta tell, and I'll tell what I wanta tell. No way you stop me, unless you shoot me, and you already decided against that.'

    'Don't count on it,' Barbara said.

    He laughed. She thought she might throw up. It was so easy to imagine Earl telling her parents every little detail of what she'd done with Pete in the back of pickup truck. And it would sound so bad, so dirty. They wouldn't understand. They'd blame Pete, and they'd hate him for it. And Pete's parents would probably figure she was some sort of slut, and hate her. Or maybe they all got killed in the quake, so there's nobody for Earl to tell. She felt a moment of relief at the thought, then despised herself for it. I didn't mean it. I want everybody to be fine. Please.

    'Okay,' she said. 'Let's all decide, right here and now, that we'll stick together and keep our mouths shut about everything. Is that how you want it, Earl?'

    'You got it.’

    'Pete?'

    'Yeah. Fine. But what if he tells on us, anyway?'

    'I won't,' Earl said. He grinned again. 'I might be an asshole, but I got my principles. I don't never go back on my word, no matter what.'

    Pete met Barbara's eyes, and nodded.

    'One more thing,' Barbara said to Earl. 'No more cracks about what just happened here. Pretend you never saw us or heard us. Erase it from your memory. This has been a real funny day, and I have a feeling that it wouldn't take much to make me go ahead and shoot you. I know you don't think I'll do it, but I'm not so sure.'

    Earl started to grin again.

    But only one corner of his mouth curled up, and it wouldn't let him look amused.

    'Okay,' she said. 'Let's get moving.'

***

    Mary had blubbered and sobbed and whimpered all the way down from the top of the landslide - a trip she'd made like a terrified kid, feet first and scooting on her rump.

    'Leave me!' she'd blurted when Clint had offered to give her help. 'I can't be touched! Nowhere! Nowhere! hurt! Everything hurts!'

    Matters had improved once they'd left the landslide behind. On the paved surface of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Mary had continued to shuffle along, trembling and wincing, but she'd cut out the worst of her crying and complaining. Clint walked ahead of her, Em by his side. For Mary's sake, he was careful to keep his pace slow. Very slow. He tried not to resent it.

    Mary and her damn fall. It wasn't her fault that she'd been startled by 'Mr Gooey' (as Em had taken to calling the poor guy), but she shouldn't have gone stomping up there in a huff ahead of everyone else. Clint was sure that the fall wouldn't have happened if she'd behaved herself. So much time wasted, because of it. Because she'd refused again and again to get off her back and start moving. Because, when she was finally ready to get up, she'd insisted on someone retrieving her shoes, so Em had gone back down the other side to find them. Then because she'd taken forever sliding down the hill on her rump. And finally because, reaching the road again, she'd been holding them back by hobbling along like an old lady. I could be home by now, Clint thought. Maybe not all the way there, but close. Except for Mary. She's such a bitch, but I've let her hold me back this way. It isn't right. Sheila or Barbara might be hurt or trapped or something, needing me. 'I should be there for them!Still, he wouldn't quicken his pace. Have to stick with her, he thought. Have to see her through this. God knows why.

    I wouldn't have gotten this far without her car, he reminded himself. It gave us a good start, way back at the beginning of it all. Maybe that's why. Or maybe it's just because she's a woman. If you're a guy, you've gotta take care of the women. It's just part of the deal, no matter what the feminists say. They're the damsels and you're the knight, whether you like it or not. He could see, just down the road, an intersection with dead traffic lights and lanes leading off to the left.

    'We're almost to Sunset,' he said.

    'Is that it?' Em asked.

    'That's Hollywood Boulevard. See the street sign? Sunset's just a little farther.'

    'That little thing is Hollywood Boulevard?'

    'Where it starts.'

    'Sure doesn't look like Hollywood Boulevard.'

    'Not much at this end. Just some apartment houses, condos. But you keep going, and you'll run into all the tourist stuff. The Chinese Theatre, the Walk of Fame…'

    'So, how far are we from your house?'

    He grimaced. 'Not far. From here, if we walked at a pretty good clip, we could be there in an hour.'

    'Hey, that isn't bad!'

    'The rate we're going, it'll be more like two or three.'

    She gave Clint her nose-wrinkled look as if something smelled vile. Then she glanced over her shoulder.

    'What's your problem?' Mary muttered.

    Em shrugged and shook her head and returned her gaze to Clint. 'Wanta ditch her?'

    'It's crossed my mind. Can't do it, though.'

    'Yeah, I know. She might end up Ms Gooey.’

    'That's right.'

    'Course, you could put Caspar and Loreen in charge of her.'

    Clint let out a laugh. 'That'd be a sweet thing to do.’

    'Serve her right.'

    'A lot of stuff might serve her right,' Clint said. 'But she's already paid a pretty high price. I wouldn't want anything else happening to her.'

    Em squeezed his hand. 'You're such a gentleman. My mom would absolutely despise you.'

    'No, she wouldn't.'

    'You're right. But she'd let on that she did.' The mischief suddenly fled from Em's face. 'I sure hope nothing's happened to her.'

    'She's probably free,' Clint said. 'Everyone's probably fine.’

    'Mr Gooey didn't end up so fine.'

    'But he's just one person out of what, twelve million? The odds are in our favor. Your mother, my wife and kid… They're probably all just fine.'

    'Yeah. guess so.'

    'We'll be fine, too.'

    'Except maybe for Mary,' she added, and a glint returned to her eyes. 'Who may or may not be dead meat, depending on whether you're a believer, or… '

    'Loreen doesn't know beans.'

    'If Mary is going to meet a bad end, I wish it'd happen soon so we can stop all this dawdling.'

    Clint scowled down at Em. She laughed and bumped her shoulder against his side.

    'Such a scamp,' Clint said.

    'I'm glad somebody's enjoying themselves,' Mary called from behind them.

    Em let go of Clint's hand and turned around. Walking backward, she said, 'How're you doing?'

    'Horrible.'

    'Is there anything can do for you?'

    'Yeah, turn around and leave me alone.'

    'Well, that's a sweet thing to say.'

    'How much longer is this going to take, Clint?'

    He looked over his shoulder at her. 'We're almost to Sunset.'

    'Oh. Just great. Loreen'll be happy about that.'

    Clint saw Loreen and Caspar walking side by side, probably fifty feet behind Mary. They were facing each other, gesturing and moving their mouths.

    'Nothing is going to happen at Sunset,' Clint said. 'If you don't count me getting killed.’

    'Including that.'

    'Like, you're gonna save me.'

    'Like, nothing's gonna happen. Stop worrying about it, okay?'

    'You'd be worried, too, if some fucking gypsy bitch said you were gonna die at Sunset.'

    'Nobody's gonna die at Sunset,' Clint said.

    'We'll see about that.'

    A few minutes later, Sunset Boulevard came into view. Em tightened her grip on Clint's hand, and halted.

    'Let's keep going,' Clint said, trying to keep his voice steady. m shook her head. She made a high-pitched humming sound, not quite a moan, not quite a whine.

    'It's all right,' he said. But he knew it wasn't all right. Not at all. He knew why Em wanted nothing to do with the intersection ahead, and why she was making such a frightened noise. He had a quick urge, himself, to squeal, 'Let's get outa here!' and whirl around and run away. It was the first major thoroughfare they'd encountered since Ventura Boulevard on the other side of the hills. Like Ventura, every lane was jammed with traffic. But the other boulevard had been alive. Not Sunset. Here, the vehicles didn't try to inch forward. None moved. Some had been turned onto their sides, others upside-down.

    Many were smoky, smoldering husks.No horns honked. There was nobody to honk them. Most of the cars and trucks and vans looked abandoned, as if their drivers and passengers had thrown open the doors and run for their lives. Many hadn't made it. There were bodies. Fifteen or twenty of them, at least, that Clint saw from where he stood looking down on the scene. Some bodies were slumped across car hoods. Most of the others were sprawled on the pavement, just this side of the road as if they'd been slaughtered while trying to flee toward Laurel Canyon. Mr Gooey must be the one that got away, Clint thought. But he didn't exactly get away, did he? They took what they wanted from him, and let the poor guy go. Who the hell could've done all this? Clint wondered. He saw nobody down there roaming among the cars. Nobody at all who didn't look dead. Mary staggered to a halt by his side. She didn't say anything. She stared straight forward and trembled. Soon, Caspar and Loreen arrived. Everyone stared at Sunset Boulevard.

    After a while, Loreen muttered, 'Blood on the face of the day. So much blood. saw…'

    'Stop it,' Clint said.

    'There's a police car,' Em said, pointing.

    Clint nodded. Like the patrol car at the other end of Laurel Canyon, this one had been parked broadside - stationed there to prevent vehicles from turning off Sunset onto the closed boulevard. Clint remembered the two cops at the other end. A young man and woman. They'd been friendly and helpful. He hoped they were still all right. These cops were probably not all right. Probably among the dead. None of the bodies scattered on the street near the patrol car wore uniforms. None wore much of anything. At this distance, the figures seemed to be made of bare skin and blood. Clint could see that some, at least, had been scalped. Several had been dismembered to one extent or another.

    'Shoot 'em full of arrows,' he muttered, 'and it'd look like an Indian massacre.'

    'We can't go down there,' Mary said.

    'I have to,' Clint said. 'Not me.'

    Em squeezed Clint's hand. 'I go where you go.'

    'Whatever happened,' Clint said, 'it looks like it's over. Whoever did this might be long gone, by now.'

    'They're waiting for us,' Loreen said.

    Clint scowled. 'Don't say it if you don't mean it.'

    'Don't say it, anyway,' Mary told her.

    Loreen shrugged her thick shoulders. 'I only tell what I see.'

    'Well,' Clint said, 'please don't. Unless you literally spot someone down there. Did you actually see someone?'

    'With the eye of my mind.'

    'Then we don't want to hear about it,' Clint told her.

    'When Loreen sees something "with the eye of her mind' Caspar said, 'it's usually there. We'd better turn back.'

    'No!' Loreen blurted. 'We cannot turn back. Going back is far worse than going forward. This, I know.'

    'Terrific,' Mary said. 'We can't go forward, we can't go back, where the fuck are we supposed to go? Not that it matters a hell of a lot, far as I'm concerned, seeing as how I've been pronounced dead already by this fat tub of…' She cut off her words and eyed Caspar. 'This delightful psychic,' she added.

    'I only tell what…'

    'Knock it off!' Clint snapped at Loreen. To Mary, he said, 'I know you're scared. We're all scared. I don't wanta go down there any more than you do. But my home is on the other side of Sunset, so I'm going across.'

    He reached into a front pocket of his pants and pulled out the paring knife he'd taken from Em's kitchen. 'Time for these,' he told Em. As he drew the blade from its cardboard sheath, the girl lifted the hanging front of her T-shirt and removed two butcher knives from the pockets of her shorts.

    'Give me one,' Caspar said.

    She shook her head. 'I don't think so.'

    'You don't need the both of them.'

    'One's for Mary. If she wants it.'

    'That makes no sense,' Caspar protested.

    'I hate to say this, Mr Blotski, but I'm not sure you're someone I'd trust very much with sharp objects, if you know what I mean.'

    'Me?' Eyebrows leaping up in shock, he pounded an open hand against his chest. Shiny waves of red silk rippled the front of his blouse. 'Me?' he blurted again. 'You don't trust me?'

    'You've made some threats,' Clint explained.

    'Besides which,' Em said, 'Mary was with us first. And she's the one Loreen says is in the most trouble around here, so she oughta have something she can use for defending herself just in case things get hairy.' She held one of the knives out toward Mary. 'You can have it if you want it,' she said.

    Mary looked from the knife handle to Em's face. 'Thank you,' she murmured. 'You… You really…, want me to have it? After everything '

    'Sure.'

    Mary's chin trembled. Tears spilled from her eyes and dribbled down her cheeks. 'Thank you.' She took the knife.

    'You're so nice to me. I don't deserve…'

    'You don't deserve!' Caspar assured her.

    Pounding his chest again, he gaped at Clint. 'I am a man. I should have a knife!'

    'Go find one,' Clint told him.

    'This is outrageous! This girl, this child, she has no right to decide who gets what! Are you mad?'

    'They're her knives,' Clint pointed out.

    'Fool!'

    'Settle yourself down, Caspar,' Loreen said, and put a hand on his shoulder. 'Look at you. And you wonder that little Em doesn't want to give you a weapon?'

    'She's a child. She knows nothing.'

    'Child,' Clint said, 'rip the tape off your blade. You too Mary. Then try to keep your knives out of sight when we go on. With any luck, you won't need to use them. If you do get attacked, though, don't let your assailant see your knife. Let him feel it before he sees it. Shove the blade in as hard as can, then twist it, rip with it. Do as much damage as as fast as you can.'

    Mary nodded and sniffled.

    'Where'd be the best place to stab somebody?' Em asked 'Wherever you can get to. Just get that knife into him fast and hard as you can. And don't worry…, either of you, I'll be there to help.'

    'What a mensch,' said Caspar.

    Clint faced him. 'We'll all help each other. There're five of us. We oughta be able to take care of trouble.'

    'I go first,' Loreen said. 'What?' Casper blurted.

    'You heard me, Papa. The madness cannot touch me. My aura will act as my shield. Those who would do us harm will be struck numb with awe. Thus will settle the turbulence and make the passage safe for you who follow.'

    Em wrinkled her nose, glanced at Clint and rolled her eyes. Mary made a snorting sound. Casper said, 'I forbid it.'

    'No harm will come to me,' Loreen told him, smiling with gentle confidence.

    Maybe she knows something we don't, Clint thought. Or maybe she's just nuts.

    'No,' Casper said. 'Let them go first, the Three Stooges. We'll wait and see what happens to them. If they get to the other side without…'

    'My way is best,' Loreen said.

    She took a step, and Casper blocked her way. They both stood motionless. Casper glared into her eyes, but slowly his fierceness faded and vanished. He moved out of her way, then turned and watched her walk past him. When he started to follow her, she raised her hand. He halted. She kept on walking, her peasant skirt swishing from side to side with the sweep of her broad rump.'Loreen!' Caspar called.