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| The Return of the Gov'na part five |
Mimi spent the whole day waiting for Davis to do something, but he made no move to go to Utah. He mostly talked with Cade, who was still hanging around, and Yolei and Cody. It was like he never got the message from Utah. Kari's probably dying out there and we're just sitting here, she thought, walking through a park. I just wish we were back in Maine, and never knew about the Tongue Ring. The Tongue Ring. Mimi had completely fogotten about Kat and Sora, even though they were the most important people. She wondered where they were, and if they were dead, and why hadn't they made it to Nevada yet? She sighed and sat in the brown grass by a halfway frozen pond. She was alone. So totally alone. Kari was in Izzy's Father's City Hall room again, sitting on the floor in a corner, listening to what was going on, forgetting how tired she was. Izzy's Brother and Joe talked a little while Izzy's Father listened. Then Izzy's Brother looked at Kari. "It's kind of funny," he said. "This isn't the first girl from Maine that I've seen." Joe gasped, and choked on his cigarette smoke. He shot a look at Kari, and she stopped from blurting out questions. Izzy's Father looked at the two, rather confused. Then Izzy's Brother told them of his journey down south when he met Kat, looking at Joe, but occasionally glancing at Kari. Kari herself was watching Joe, and noticed that his cigarette just sat in his mouth, burning away, and he seemed to sit on the edge of his chair. He looked scared, almost. "They said something about going by Oasis," Izzy's Brother was saying, trying to think harder about that day. Joe snuffed out his smoke. "When was that? When would they get to Oasis?" Izzy's Brother thought hard. "Uh ... it was the morning of the fifth when they left us. Normally, I'd say they could get to Oasis later that day, but circumstances are rarely normal anymore." Izzy's Father couldn't stand it any longer. "I see what's going on!" he said. "I saw how you watched Joe, seeing if you were saying the right thing. You don't hide things from your father! But I think I can guess at what it is. It's just too bad that Izzy is gone." "What, do you wish that I died and he lived?" "Yes. Because he would've brought it to me." Kari felt a little uncomfortable listening to this. Joe also didn't like the way things were going. "Oh, shut up!" he said to them. "Izzy is dead, and he can't bring it to you. And he wouldn't have, either. He would've kept it for himself." "You don't know that." "Yes, I do. Even if you kept it hidden in Salt Lake City, it wouldn't have worked. I don't trust you with it. Hell, I don't even trust myself with it, even when it was offered to me." Izzy's Father stared at Joe in anger for a while, then turned to his son. "What are the holds like at Four Corners?" he asked. "Awful," Izzy's Brother replied. "It's not like it's near Salt Lake City anyway. Can I go now? I'm really tired." "Fine, you lazy, good-for-nothing bum." Izzy's Brother got up and left the room. Joe and Kari headed back to the cop shop. "Do you suppose," started Kari, "that there's any hope for Kat?" "Not any real hope," Joe replied, lighting a new cigarette. "In fact, it was downright stupid of us to put hope in someone like Kat. But what's done is done. I just hope the people from Wyoming get here quick, before it's too late." "But what about CAC? How could they follow him?" "Uh, by staying behind him wherever he goes." "No. I mean, how can they trust him enough to let him guide them?" "I don't know. I did know that CAC and Kat would meet one day before this was all over. Whether that be for good or evil, I do not know." He tossed the cigarette butt on the sidewalk and crossed the street. "Good-bye, Kari." Kat opened her eyes to a very bright sun. She sat up and looked around. Sora was gone. Kat stood up to see if Sora was taking a piss behind a bush somewhere, but nothing could be seen. "Well, fuck this," she muttered, spitting in the sand. She wondered what time it was. The sun was already burning on her face. Was she even going the right way? Kat put the sun to her back, then realized it was right above her. "Fuck, shit, fuck!" she yelled, punching the nearest thing. It happened to be a cactus. Kat plucked the prickers out of her hand and decided to follow the Interstate, like she had been doing the whole time. She still had something to do, even if Sora wasn't going to help her anymore. A figure appeared on the horizon, coming closer to her. Kat felt in her pocket for the Tongue Ring. It was still there, but she didn't use it. As the figure approached, she saw it was Sora, who was running towards her. "Guess what!" she cried as she came to a stop, panting. "What." Kat wasn't at all excited. "I found an empty car!" "Well ... good for you." "No, seriously. It has keys in it and everything. It's not even a mile away." Kat let Sora drag her down the Interstate at a run, until they came to a white Lumina sitting on the side of the road. Four sets of footprints led away from it into the desert. It was an eerie sight. Kat glanced at Sora. "So this is technically a death car?" "No." Sora went to the passenger side and opened the door. "They obviously died in the desert, not in the car." Kat was still hesitant, but got in and turned the key. Nothing. She tried again, but with no luck. "You seem to have forgotten," she said, chucking the keys at Sora, "that immense heat will do things to a car's engine." Sora touched her cheek where the keys had gouged her. "I'm bleeding, you bitch." "Just shut up." Kat got out of the Lumina and kicked it. Hard. Then, for some reason, she opened the hood, even though she knew nothing about cars. Sora came over and punched her in the face. "Hey!" Kat threw one of her own. Soon, they were both punching, kicking, pulling hair, and screaming at each other. Which is why they didn't hear the old school bus come to a stop in front of them until a Plastic Surgery Victim yelled at them. "Thought you could take yer own car, eh?" he mocked. Kat quickly pulled her beanie lower on her head and closed one eye before turning around. Sora also pulled her cap down and lifted the corner of her mouth into some weird snarl. The bruises from the punching helped make them look somewhat like Plastic Surgery Victims, too. "Aye," Kat growled, trying to think of something to say without giving them away. Plastic Surgery Victim #24 grabbed them both and herded them into the back of the bus. They drove west for a long while and Sora wasn't sure if her face would ever be the same. Kat's closed eye kept fluttering. The sun started to set when they finally stopped. Everyone got out of the bus and stretched. The Plastic Surgery Victims passed around some whole wheat 7-grain bread, but Kat and Sora ate it hungrily. Two more school buses were coming down the exit ramp (no one really bothered with road rules anymore) and also stopped. Soon, as Plastic Surgery Victims always do, they ended up getting in a fight. Sora pulled Kat behind the bus and they quickly crept across the median and in the ditch on the other side. From there, they crawled, frightened of being caught, and eager to go further west. The bus ride with the Plastic Surgery Victims had certainly helped them, as nervous a ride as it was. They snuck into the town of Golconda, somehow without any Plastic Surgery Victims seeing them. There, they found a deserted house to get food and water. "Tap water is better than nothing, right?" said Kat as she filled up a glass from the sink. Sora was rubbing her face. "Just don't blame me if it gives you mad diarrhea." She sat down in a chair. "You do know that we went past Battle Mountain, don't you?" Kat spun around. "What?" "Yeah. I saw the sign go past about an hour ago." Kat set her glass down and hoisted herself onto the counter. "Well, now we just have to go back, I guess." She tossed a dishrag at Sora. "Clean up your face." Sora caught the rag on her face and used it to dab away the crusted blood from her cut. "I say we rest here for a while and leave while it's still dark out tonight. It will be cooler and we'll be more hidden." "Then why didn't we do that in the first place?" "I dunno." They decided it'd be safer to sleep in the same bedroom, and did not hesitate to fall into unsettling dreams. Izzy's Brother decided he needed to go to Four Corners (running away, no doubt), and left with his guys in the black Hondas. Everyone else in Salt Lake City was armed for war. The reports had come in saying Plastic Surgery Victims were on the way, and everyone was in a hurry to get ready. Kari was having to deal with the extra calls at the reception desk, and it didn't help that she hadn't memorized her codes yet. Apparantly, the people were in a panic, vandalizing and smashing store windows as if a meteor were to hit. That evening, the Hondas came back, very badly hurt. Or it could've still been from the Grim Reapers' attack earlier that day. Taven was helping carry an unconscious Izzy's Brother into City Hall. People gathered to see what had happened to the Lieutenant Governor's son. They brought him to Izzy's Father. He stood from his chair when they walked in. "What happened here?" he demanded. It was hard to hear him because of the Grim Reapers flying overhead and giggling. "Your son has returned," Taven said. "There was a 12-car pileup on the way to Four Corners, and we, uh, accidentally ran him over. We came back right away." Izzy's Father told them to set his son on the desk and covered him with a blanket. There, the Lieutenant Governor stayed. The cop shop was bustling at about eight o' clock. Kari rolled her chair over to see if she could find Bear. She saw him coming from upstairs and yelled at him. Of course, it was at that second that the Grim Reapers stopped giggling, so she ended up yelling louder than she thought, and everyone in the office turned to look at her. Bear came over. "It seems we're finally under attack," he said. "The Plastic Surgery Victims are in sight." He sighed, and his eyes caught something to his right. "There haven't been any signs of the Wyomingans, have there?" "Uh ... "Kari had had a hard time paying attention to the calls the last couple hours. "I think they called to say they're on their way." "Oh, it woudn't matter now. It's too late for them to help." To the soldiers standing watch at the wall, it seemed as if the enemy was a ball of fire, for all they could see were great fires the Plastic Surgery Victims set while coming down the road. It was too dark to see how many there were, but they knew it was too many. And, they seemed to be on ... foot. A young man leaned over to his friend. "Maybe this will be easier than we thought." |