Clark went on. 'Denver was lost because the dead somehow managed to organize their behavior enough to get over a ten-foot fence. Disease spread through the relocation camps far more quickly than any of our models can account for. There's a deeper game at work here than we think.'
'And you can win it? I'm truly sorry,' the Civilian said, pausing to hiccup, 'if you feel like you're being shorted here. But tell me, how much should I trust a by-the-numbers Captain of the Guard who comes busting in here telling me that he and he alone can save the world? Come on, walk a mile in my shoes. Hmm.' He looked down. 'I could use a shine, actually. Get 'em shined while you're walking in them, willya?' He giggled and nearly choked on another hiccup. 'Seriously. I can't just authorize you to go bomb the hell out of the Rocky Mountains without some kind of justification. How am I supposed to sell this thing?'
'Well,' Clark said, feeling his heart pound in his chest, 'I am the Hero of Denver.'
'George Fucking Washington's ghost! I thought you'd never get the hang of this.' The Civilian held his beer out toward Clark in salute. 'Oh, and I'm coming with you.' He smirked when he saw the look that brought to Clark's face. 'You think'hic'I want to stick around here and wait for Purslane to lose us this city, too?'
Monster Nation
Chapter Fourteen
SOS DAUGHTER SICK HELP ANYBODY
[Message mowed into a field of corn in Iowa, 4/12/05]
It had happened so quickly, Nilla hadn't really thought it through. Blood was everywhere. It had pooled beneath the boy, ruining his clothes. He stirred with a spasmodic movement beneath her and she felt his dark energy like an ice pack pressed against her flesh. Nilla recalled waking up in a puddle of her own blood. Not so long ago.
Behind her the dog barked up a cacophony of irritation. She wanted to enjoy the feeling the boy's energy gave her, the feeling like she was alive again. The dog wouldn't let her do that. She reached for its collar, intending to shut it up, and stopped herself.
Mael might own most of her soul, she decided, but not all of it. The dog had done nothing to hurt her. She wouldn't kill it just for being annoying.
Still. The damned dog wouldn't stop barking. Someone would come looking to find out what was going on.
She got up and she moved, taking the boy's brown baseball cap with her. She thought it would shade her eyes and help hide her face. She moved quickly, almost running'faster than she'd been, more nimble than since the day she died. The boy's life energy thrummed through her, his gold coursing down the wires of her nerves. She stuck to the shadows, trying to look inconspicuous whenever she passed through a patch of streetlight.
Behind her in the darkness the dog stopped barking. She heard gunshots'the boy. They had found the boy she'd eaten, what was left of him, and put him down like a rabid animal. She only hoped no one had recognized him before they started shooting.
She felt an irrational urge to go back and check. Stupid, she knew. She kept moving, though she spared a glance over her shoulder to see if anyone was pursuing her. Nothing there but dim shadows and the watery reflections of streetlights in dull windows, the orange pulse of aDON'T WALK signal that suddenly turned white. She turned around to get moving again and'
'Hey! Hey, you, come over here!'
Nilla froze in place.
Three men wearing brown caps stood at the back of a panel truck. The lettersLVCC had been stenciled on the driver's side door. Two of them men wore surgical masks and latex gloves. The other one was staring at her with hot eyes.
'I fucking told you, get over here! I'm not waiting around all night while you figure that one out, asshole. Come on.'