The Dark Rift: Redemption (25 page)

Jodie laughed. "Yes, I do, Chuck. As I seem to recall, they were sprayed with fish fertilizer and paint. Someone had tampered with the pump system, but they never found out who. Why would you bring that up now?"

Smiling at her, Chuck said, "I didn't like the way those kids treated you."

Momentarily baffled by his statement, Jodie slowly came to the realization that Chuck had done that for her. In the biggest game of the year, he'd rigged the football field irrigation system so it sprayed the entire team and a great deal of the fans with a mixture of fertilizer and multi-colored paint. He'd also fixed the pump house door so that no one could get in and turn off the system. She heard herself let out a small gasp.

“They almost killed my friend, Joe, during a football game, you know. I didn't like the way they treated me, either, or Debi," Chuck said.

Jodie thought of Debi from the diner, Chuck's loyal friend from Mountain City. Suddenly, she found herself laughing so hard that tears streamed down her face. Chuck laughed with her, his eyelids now able to blink away the tears. "The multi-colored paint, that was your idea, too?"

"Yup," Chuck said. "It looked and smelled so disgusting for so long. When I first went back to Mountain City after Police Academy, the bleachers still had a rainbow tinge to them. I think I could still smell the fish. That was, like, four years later."

"Oh, my God," Jodie said, reaching over to grab a tissue. "I had no idea. You know, that was the last day any of those guys bothered me."

"Me, too," Chuck said. "Most of them went right home after school and didn't mess with me anymore."

"Probably to bathe," Jodie said, starting another round of uncontrollable laughter.

The door opened behind Chuck. "What's so funny?" Hana asked, rolling the med cart into the room.

Fester saw the gas station sign glowing in the distance as Nick made the turn around the last switchback. The side of the roadway sloped abruptly to a ravine and Fester could see the dim outline of high peaks in the dark shadows of the night.

"Well, it looks like we're here for the night," Nick said. "It's closed," he said, turning into the lot, pulling behind the building, and shutting off the engine. The spot they sat in was surrounded by trees on two sides, and the gas station on another, shielding the camper from view.

"Fester, why don't you come with me and see if we can find anyone at home?" Nick asked.

"Sure," Fester said, getting up out of the chair.

Noah started to follow him, but stopped when Nick called to him. "Noah, will you help your mom and Evan find whatever we can to eat or drink in this thing?"

"Yeah, but I --," Noah started.

"We'll be back in a minute," Nick said.

Fester opened the side door and stepped down to the gravel. He watched as Hunter ran past him, sniffing at the edge of the trees. It felt good to stand up and stretch for a change.

Nick came around the side of the camper holding the automatic weapon Fester had shot earlier. Images of the thing Isaiah turned into flashed through Fester's mind and he had to turn away. "Let's go check it out," Nick said.

Fester nodded, wondering why Nick had picked him to go instead of Noah. As they turned the corner of the building, he found out.

"I noticed you staring out the window a lot on the way here," Nick said. "You must be pretty upset about your folks."

Fester gave half a nod and kept walking. He didn't want to talk anymore. He wanted to do something about it and this -- riding around in the mountains -- just seemed like a waste of time. He felt himself being pulled from his thoughts as Nick grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"I know you must want to get back at them. I would if I were you," Nick said, looking past him for a moment. "I'd want to get revenge.”

How could Nick be reading his thoughts so clearly? He hadn't told anyone he wanted to go back, yet Nick knew. Fester said nothing and looked up at Nick, who reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Now’s not the time for that, though,” Nick said.

Fester didn’t want to give away his thoughts, but what Nick said was making him angrier and even more committed to what he knew he needed to do. If not now, when would be a good time? When it was convenient? When the entire earth was swallowed up by Gypsum’s plan?

“Well, we should check it out, okay?" Nick said, gesturing to the building.

"Yeah. Sure," Fester said, continuing on. They turned the corner and walked in front of the convenience store. Security lights illuminated the building. Fester leaned against the glass, looking in, seeing the usual racks of convenience store junk food. The next rack held basic camping supplies. He spied a backpack that he knew would likely come in handy.

Walking a step further, what he saw scared him a little. A rack of DVDs tipped over, a bag of charcoal torn and strewn across the floor. Packages of cigarettes had been flung across the entire back of the store. The front door was a few steps ahead and Nick stopped him before reaching it.

"Better let me go first," Nick said, flipping the gun's safety off and pushing the barrel into his shoulder. "You open the door for me and wait until I tell you it's okay to come in."

Fester nodded and grabbed the door. Nick went in, moving to the right, walking perpendicular to the aisles. Fester watched through the glass as he made a loop around the interior of the store, checked the restrooms, and finally ending up at the front of the store again. “Looks like no one’s here.” Setting the gun down, Nick grabbed the door and looked at the damage by the lock. “Somebody must have needed food or something.”

“They’ve got power, though. Wouldn’t there be a security system?” Fester asked.

“Could be a silent alarm,” Nick said, walking back inside. He bent down to read a newspaper sitting on top of a stack lying near the door. "The date on here is from the day after the first quake hit. It says the president is urging calm. I bet he's never been shot at by someone in a black helicopter, though."

Fester headed for the front counter and leaned over to look behind it, finding the cash register drawer open and emptied. On the shelf below sat a handgun. Fester walked around the counter and pushed the gun out of sight. "They were after money," he said, waving Nick over.

Nick's foot kicked an empty bottle as he approached the counter. "And liquor, apparently," he said, looking down at the vodka label. He leaned under the counter, coming up with a set of keys. "I bet one of these works the gas pumps out there."

Fester wondered what Nick was saying. Was it okay, now, to just steal things from people, to take without asking? "We can't do that," Fester said.

Nick nodded. "Yeah, I know what you're thinking, Fester. I'm thinking it, too, but we might not have a choice. We need food, too. We can wait until morning, but then we have to go. In the meantime, we can take things and keep track of what we owe. If there's no one here in the morning to pay, we'll leave a note."

"I don't think that's right," Fester said.

"You're right, it isn't. But it's what we have to do to survive," Nick said, thumbing through the keys. "I think this one is it." He inserted the key into a panel and the lights on the pumps came on. "Go tell Evan to bring the camper around."

Realizing he had no choice, Fester walked out of the station to get Evan. It might be better this way, anyway, he thought. He could pack up whatever he needed and leave a note, like Nick said. Then, he could go back down the mountain in the middle of the night without anyone knowing.

* * *

Jodie watched as Chuck walked down the hallway. She hoped she'd see him again, but she knew in her heart that what they would do next was bigger than any of them. Bigger than her, Chuck or Mei. Bigger than a handful of scientists depending on her help. She'd find a way to obliterate the facility and incinerate what was left of Gypsum. Then, the nightmare would be over.

She winced, pulling the needle from her arm. "Bag's empty," she said as Hana approached her with a cartful of medications and medical records.

"You'll have to follow up with these," Hana said, handing her a bottle of pills. "Two, twice a day, until they're gone. Better start right now.”

"Great," Jodie said, grabbing her glass of water and downing the two pills. "I mean, thanks. Got everything else you need?"

"As much as I can carry. It's a shame we can't bring more. So many years were put into this. We have a state of the art facility. So much could come from our research in the future. I don't mean to be insensitive to the situation, but are you absolutely certain that we need to do this?"

Jodie was losing her patience with Hana, but she realized what Gypsum had done to keep people from exposing their secret was to keep them in the dark about all of their other operations. She told herself that Hana likely knew nothing about the bigger plan, so it was only natural that she would question what Jodie's intentions were.

"Yes, I'm sure. We don't have time enough for me to explain completely, but what you think you know about Gypsum isn't the truth. They're responsible for what happened to San Francisco and the east coast. They've killed millions of people and they'll kill the rest of us by the time they're done. We have to destroy this facility."

Hana's expression revealed she was incredulous at what Jodie was saying. “Gypsum, responsible for earthquakes? That … that sounds ridiculous.”

Jodie didn't know why, but suddenly, she didn't trust Hana. “Tell me something, Hana. Who were you talking about when you were arguing earlier?”

Hana stared at her.

"You know, when you were talking about the innocent people who would be killed. You were arguing with someone about it." Jodie noticed Hana starting to fidget, taking a half step back.

She looked down and away for a moment. "I was talking with Ted about the test subjects," she said.

"By Ted, I assume you mean Ted Renfro, correct?" Jodie asked, waiting for Hana to respond. "Test subjects?"

Hana’s expression showed surprise. “Yes, Ted Renfro and yes, test subjects" she said. "The ones who are still alive. Your mother's failed experiments.”

Jodie felt her jaw drop as questions formed in her mind. "Let's go. You can tell me on the way to the chemical storage wing. And, Hana? No more secrets."

* * *

Fester grabbed the backpack off the shelf and filled it with energy bars, packages of nuts and water. He looked for and finally found a carton of Three Musketeers bars, just in case Chuck was running low. He walked over behind the counter and bent down, looking at the shelf under the cash register. He reached out, feeling around in the dark. His hand came across the cold steel of the handgun and he pulled it toward him and slipped it into the backpack.

As he was leaving the station, he picked two bags of chips from the rack. One for him, one for Noah. He hoped his friend wouldn't be mad at him for too long. In the end, he knew Noah would understand. If what happened to his family had happened to Noah's, Fester was sure his friend would want to get revenge, too.

Fester left a note next to the cash register, promising to pay back the owner for what he took. He sneaked around the side of the station and hid the backpack behind a dumpster where he could retrieve it later. Heading back to the camper, Fester heard someone calling him. About to turn the corner, coming face to face with Noah.

“Where were you? I was looking for you,” Noah said.

“I had to go to the bathroom,” Fester lied. "I got us some chips from the store, though." He held the bags up for Noah to see.

“Is it okay to take those?” Noah asked. "Nick said we were only gonna take what we needed and we'd pay them back."

"I left a note with my name on it," Fester said. "I'll pay for them."

Noah shrugged. "Well, give 'em here," he said, reaching for the bag. He looked past Fester. "What's Hunter got there?"

Fester turned to see Hunter sniffing in the area where he'd left the backpack. “Probably just smelling the dumpster. C'mon, Hunter,” he called to the dog. “Let's go. Race you back to the camper.” Fester took off running, only to be overtaken by both Noah and Hunter a few steps later.

“You're gonna lose,” Noah said as he ran past.

Fester stopped. "Noah,” he called, watching his friend run away.

Noah stopped and turned. “What? I thought you wanted to race.”

What Fester wanted was to tell his friend what was on his mind. “I . . . nothing,” he said, starting to run toward Noah. “Fooled ya,” he laughed as he ran past.

“Cheater,” Noah yelled after him.

Noah caught up with Fester and Hunter just as they reached the camper. A campfire was burning and Fester looked up to see Noah's mom approaching it with a plate of frozen hamburger patties. He felt his stomach begin to tighten at the sight of the red meat.

“Oh, no, you guys. No potato chips before supper,” she said. “You put those on the table inside and go get washed up.”

For just a moment, Fester thought it felt like old times at Noah's house. But that feeling faded away quickly when reality crept back into his mind. It wasn't the same. He shoved his sleeve up and grimaced at the sight of the scars on his forearms. They were a constant reminder that he had no family to go back to, no mother to care for him, no father to look for in the stands at baseball games. Even though his dad had never participated in his life to the extent he wanted, he still had a father, still had hope that things could change. Now, that hope was gone, though, taken away by the Gypsum Corporation. He felt his eyes start to burn.

"You coming, Fester?" Noah called from inside the camper.

“Yeah,” Fester said, bending down and pretending to tie his shoe so Noah's mom wouldn't see him wiping his eyes on his shirt. “Be there in a minute.”