“She?”
“Yeah. She.”
“Oh,” Millard said, turning back to the window. “So what happens when she shows up? We just give him to her or something?”
“Mason says to stay out of her way. We’re just here to make sure he doesn’t run off again.”
“What about them?”
“They’re here to make sure he doesn’t run off, too.”
“I doubt he’s going anywhere. The guy looks like a bad extra from The Mummy.”
“Yeah, well, he’s done it before. So we just sit tight until she shows up.”
“Freaky,” Millard said. He looked at Will again. “I don’t know what you did, buddy, but you must have fucked up bad.”
Will chuckled.
That prompted a glance from Rick. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” Will said.
Rick walked over and crouched about a foot in front of him, leaning the rifle across his knees. Will fought every instinct to grab at the weapon. It was so damn close…
“Come on,” Rick said, “I wanna hear what the dead man thinks is so funny.”
“Have you ever met her in person?” Will asked.
“Who?”
“Her.”
Rick and Millard exchanged a look.
I guess that’s a no.
“She’s not like the others, you know,” Will said. “She’s different from the ones outside.”
“Yeah, we know,” Millard said. “Blue eyes, right?”
“That’s right.”
“What else do you know?” Rick asked him.
Apparently more than you.
“They like to play,” Will said.
“Play?” Millard said. “What the hell does that mean?”
He thought about Harrison and how the blue-eyed ghouls had toyed with him. Then there were the people from Mississippi who had suffered the same fate. Gaby had also told him and Danny an interesting story about a man named Peter, whom she had escaped L15 with. Peter had fled the town because he was afraid for his life, because men had a bad habit of going missing, never to be seen again.
And there it was.
He had been searching for a way out ever since he opened his eyes, and it was right under his nose the entire time. Now all he had to do was tell a convincing enough story because his life depended on it.
“It means she’s not going to just come and take me,” Will said. “It’s not how this works.”
“‘This’?” Millard said. “What’s ‘this’?”
“This is Mason, leaving you here for a reason. This is Mason, offering you up to her.” Before they could respond, he added quickly, “You’ve heard the stories, haven’t you? About people going missing in the towns? Men who are never seen again?”
He watched their reaction: The way they exchanged another quick glance, the way their shoulders trembled ever so slightly, and the way they gripped their rifles as if their life depended on it, because maybe it did. They didn’t really understand their ghoul overlords, he realized now, but they had heard the whispers. The rumors. Maybe they’d even talked about it amongst themselves in quiet rooms when they were certain no one could hear.
God, I hope this works.
“You’ve heard the stories,” Will said.
“Maybe,” Millard said hesitantly. “Guys have said they’ve seen some crazy things.”
“About the blue-eyed ones.”
“Yeah…”
“The stories you’ve heard? No matter how crazy they sound, I can tell you this: They’re not even close to the real thing, because the truth is worse.”
“Bullshit,” Rick said.
“When she comes, it won’t be just me that she takes,” Will said, keeping his focus — directing everything out of his mouth — at Millard, and Millard only. He could feel Rick staring at him, but he ignored the other man. He didn’t have to convince both of them — he just needed one of them on his side. “The ones outside? Those are pets. The blue-eyed ones are the masters. And masters take what they want. Me, I’ll survive this, because she wants me to. But you two? I don’t see it. You’re not here to protect me, or to keep me from running off. Look at me. I’m not going anywhere. You two are here for a reason. You’re snacks.”
“He’s lying,” Rick said. “Don’t listen to him. He doesn’t know anything.”
“Where’s Mason now?” Will said, pressing on as if Rick hadn’t said anything. “Did you ever wonder why he left just the two of you behind? Let me guess. You got on his bad side recently? Maybe talked back one time too many?”
“How do you know all this?” Millard said. His mouth twitched, which was either a sign Will was getting to him or…the guy just had a twitch.
“I’ve been around,” Will said. “I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe. I’ve fought the blue-eyed ones. More than once. And I’ve lived to tell the tale. What about you two? You really think you’re supposed to survive this? Wake up.”
“Shut up,” Rick said. Then to Millard, “Don’t listen to him. We’re rejoining Mason in the morning.”
“Where?” Millard said. “Where’s Mason now?”
Rick didn’t answer right away.
“He doesn’t know,” Will said.
“He’s at Lake Charles,” Rick said.
“He’s lying,” Will said. “Look at his face.”
Millard peered at Rick in the semidarkness, almost leaning forward with his entire body. “He’s at Lake Charles?”
“Yes,” Rick said. “He told me himself.”
Will laughed. Loudly. When both men looked back at him, he said, with all the conviction in the world, “You’re a shitty liar, Rick. Mason’s gone. He never told you where he went because you didn’t need to know. Because he won’t see you or Millard again after tonight.”
Millard looked at Rick, then at Will, then back at Rick. “He’s in Lake Charles right now?”
“That’s right,” Rick nodded. “He’s just messing with your head. Don’t listen to him. Mason told me to be careful with this guy. He’s slippery.”
Will snorted at Rick, then smiled at Millard. “What did you do?”
“What?” Millard said.
“You must have done something to piss Mason off.”
“I didn’t—” He paused, then seemed to think about it. “I had no choice.”
“What did you do?” Will asked again.
“Don’t tell him,” Rick said.
Millard ignored him, said, “Back at Route 13. When those people from Dunbar attacked us. There were too many of them, and they had a machine gun. I…ran.”
“Mason doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who forgives something like that,” Will said. “No wonder he sent you here.”
Almost there, Will thought when he saw the conflicted look on Millard’s face. Just a little more…
“Stop talking to him,” Rick said. “He’s just filling your head with lies. I should have left him bleeding on the floor instead of saving his life.”
“What were Mason’s orders?” Millard asked Rick.
The question caught Rick by surprise. “What?”
“What were Mason’s orders?” Millard repeated, his voice growing slightly in volume, almost threatening. “He didn’t tell me. He just said to stay here with you. But he never told me how to reach him in the morning.”
“I told you, we’re supposed to meet up with him at Lake Charles tomorrow,” Rick said, looking noticeably more irritated by the second.
There was a flicker of movement outside the window. It was the ghouls. They seemed to be reacting to the growing agitation inside the store. It was just a slight tremor that rumbled across the field of black pruned flesh. Will wouldn’t have noticed it at all if they hadn’t been so still just seconds ago.