Pest and I sit quietly.
The Good Prince turns her cloudy eyes back to Eric. “When the old world died, it took with it a lot of things, but it kept the flags.” She sighs and then continues in a whisper, as if to herself. “What’d I’d give for a world without flags.” She says this last almost like we aren’t here. There’s a pause and in it, I can see her imagining what a world like that might be, how much more simple, how much safer, how much less complicated. Then she clears her throat, dispelling the moment, and says, “That ain’t the way of things.” She seems to study us. I can feel Pest squirm under her strange gaze. “I don’t think you can stay here for long,” she continues. “I wish it weren’t that way, but it is. Folk aren’t happy to have the Worm back here, and there’s rumors that the Worm is being spread by the Gearheads. I imagine there’s people here who think you are a spy, here to infect us. I don’t think many, but it don’t take many to scare people. I still have some clout in this community. They’ll listen to me but not forever. It’ll change when the war gets here. War brings out devils and demons, all the worst that humans got. You don’t want to be here when it comes.”
I hang my head in disappointment. All I had to do was wait here. Eric was either going to get better, or… either way, it’d be over. Now I feel the fear of the outside again. It leaves me cold and empty.
“But where are we going to go?” Pest asks. It’s the question I was about to ask.
The Good Prince shakes her head. “I don’t know.”
I look over to Pest helplessly. “I don’t know what to do. Being here was the best idea I had. I don’t know what else to do.”
“You got time to think it over,” the Good Prince tells me. “I can give you a week, but if I were you, I wouldn’t push much farther than that. I just wanted to tell you how things were.” She leans over and takes my chin in one of her warm, wrinkled hands. She holds it gently. “I’m sorry, honey. I done what I can.”
“I know,” I say. “Thank you.”
But as she raises herself from the chair with a groan and begins to walk out of the basement, I feel abandoned rather than grateful. Coming to the Good Prince was the only idea I had for Eric. I look over to him. Through the bars of the jail cell, I see him crouched down, face first in the corner. He’s wearing the robe, and for once, he doesn’t look half-bad. I feel like staying here is his best chance. I feel like if he’s going to survive this, he’s going to do it here and no where else. “I don’t know what to do,” I say. My voice sounds pitiful and small.
Pest moves his chair next to mine and puts his arm around my shoulders. I put my head on his shoulder. “We have time,” he says. “We’ll think of something.”
But looking at Eric, I doubt any amount of thinking will help him.
124
The next morning, just as we’re sitting down to breakfast, Randy comes to visit us. He sits down at our table and smiles his big-tooth smile. We eat and talk about simple things like the weather and how wonderful bacon is and how the maple syrup tastes a little different every place you go. Randy doesn’t ask about Eric, which I guess sounds weird, but it doesn’t feel weird. When so many people die around you, you get used to focusing on other things and ignoring everything else. Bad news comes easily all by itself. There’s no need to ask for it.
“Listen,” he says finally, his smile vanishing. “I have to go.”
I frown and Pest’s shoulders collapse. Randy was the only good luck we’ve had in a while. I think that if it hadn’t been for him passing through when he did, I’m not sure that Eric would’ve survived. I didn’t realize how close he came to death until I saw him naked, all bones. Now he is getting a little better every day, I can tell. His eyes are clearer, his breathing is less labored, and when he drools from his mouth, it isn’t as black as it used to be. These are good signs. If it wasn’t for Randy, Eric wouldn’t be improving. I owe him a lot.
“Why do you have to go?” I ask. “Isn’t it dangerous out there with the Worm and the war and everything?”
“It’s because of the Worm I have to go,” Randy says. He shrugs. “There’s a lot of communities out there that don’t know.” He fixes me with a serious look. “Someone has to warn them.”
“And the war?” Pest asks.
Randy waves a hand. “It’s still too far south to worry about.” He sees that Pest isn’t convinced and he laughs and gives him a friendly swat on his leg. “I can take care of myself,” he says.
I have a horrible feeling that I won’t see him again. Going out there again seems like suicide.
“You shouldn’t go,” I tell him. “It’s not the smart thing to do.”
Randy looks at me smiling. “You are Eric’s kid, aren’t you?”
A month ago, this would have infuriated me. Now, I feel proud. I lift my head.
Randy shrugs and looks at us with his shining green eyes. “Sometimes smart ain’t the way to go,” he tells us. He looks at me pointedly. “That’s what Eric never understood. I think maybe you do.” I meet his intense green eyes with my own. I want to challenge him on Eric, but I think he’s right. Maybe there are times when thinking doesn’t do you any good and you just have to act.
“Maybe,” I answer him. An idea suddenly lights upon me like a butterfly on a flower. I say it immediately. “Can we come with you?”
Both Pest and Randy look at me in surprise. Randy’s face goes from surprise to frown. “I think it’s best if you stay right here,” he says.
“The Good Prince told us we’re going to have to move on,” I insist. “This town doesn’t want us. It’s only a matter of time before they either kick us out or…” I let the thought straggle off.
Randy’s frown deepens. “I can’t go around with a zombie,” he states solidly.
“Eric isn’t a zombie,” I say angrily.
“Well, whatever he is,” Randy says with a scornful laugh, “no one will let me in their town while I’m dragging him along. No, no,” he shakes his head forcefully. “I can’t take you with me.”
“What about just me?” Pest asks, suddenly. I look at him in surprise. Pest turns to me. “Randy can show me a safe place for us, and then I can come back for you.” I don’t like the thought of us being separated.
Randy makes a gruff sound. He looks at the door of the church like he wishes he could be outside. I get the feeling he wishes that he never told us at all, that he just left Cairo without saying a word to us. It’s strange to see Randy with a big, shadowed frown on his face. It makes his face even longer and more horse-like than usual.
“All you have to do is show me a nice secluded spot, and then I’ll be out of your hair,” Pest cajoles. “I swear I won’t be any trouble. I can take of myself.”
Randy makes a sound, and then turns back to us. His frown turns into a thin, unhappy smile. “You’re just a kid,” he says with a laugh.
Pest’s face darkens with fury. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to be his age and stuck in the body of a child. Pest leans forward over the table. “I was out on the roads by myself for a long time,” he says in a low, barely-controlled voice. “I’m a lot tougher than I look.”
Randy and Pest glower at each other for a moment, and then Randy smiles widely, his teeth shining white. He jabs a finger toward me suddenly. “I’ll take her,” he says, still looking at Pest. “She can take care of herself.” He turns toward me. “Ain’t that right, Birdie?”
The sound of my name grates against me, but he’s right. “Yeah,” I say. “I can.”
Pest is quivering with anger, his lips tight. He turns away from Randy toward me. “I can go,” he says. “I can find us a place.”