Dust & Decay (Rot & Ruin, #2)(122)

Knocking on the door was stupid. It was a futile act, and he knew it.

He knocked anyway.

The house was small, but he could hear the three knuckle raps echo off the wooden walls.

No one answered.

Morgie turned around and leaned his back against the door. He slowly slid down to the floor. Larks sang in the trees and dragonflies chased each other through the grass. Morgie Mitchell bent forward as if caving in over physical pain. He laced his fingers over the back of his head and sat there as the world turned and turned. His lips moved, saying two words over and over. They might have been I’m sorry, but there was no one there to hear him.





-4-


They buried Tom in the field and built a cairn of rocks over him. No one read a service. They were no preachers among them. Most of them prayed, some of them just wept. Benny endured it all, and Nix was at his side.



When it was over, Sally Two-Knives came over with Tom’s sword in her hands.

“This is yours now.”

Benny took the weapon. With it Tom had killed zoms and evil men. And with it Benny had ended the reign of terror that was the Matthias clan. He held it out with both hands and bowed to it in the old samurai fashion; then he slung it the way he had seen Tom do a thousand times.

Seeing this made Sally cry, and she kissed Benny and turned away.

Benny walked over to the wall of the building where he had sat with Tom. He took off his sword and laid it on the grass and went inside. He emerged a minute later with a can of black paint and a brush. He used his knife to pry open the lid.

“What’s that for?” asked Chong.

Benny dipped his brush into the paint. “I want to leave something behind.” He used the brush to write on the wall.

GAMELAND IS CLOSED.

THAT IS THE LAW.

—T. IMURA

He considered what he had done, and then added his own name below Tom’s.

Dr. Skillz took the brush from him, dipped it in the can, and wrote his name below that. Then J-Dog, Chong, Lilah, Solomon Jones, and everyone else did the same. When they were done, they looked at the wall.

“Someone else might try it again,” said Lilah. “Somewhere else.”

“No,” said Sally, “not when we tell what happened here.”

“Will it make a difference in Mountainside?” asked Nix.

“Yeah,” said Solomon, “it will. After this … I think it’ll make a difference everywhere this story is told. Tom just became a legend. That’s the only thing more powerful than a hero.”

“He never wanted to be a hero,” said Benny softly.

“It’s not a matter of what he wanted, little dude,” said Dr. Skillz, “it’s a matter of how it is. The big kahuna is riding a permanent wave.”

Benny nodded. He understood that.

At noon the bounty hunters began preparing to leave. They tried to get Benny and the others to come with them back to Mountainside, but that was a fight they were never going to win.

“What about you?” asked Sally as she stroked Chong’s scarred and bruised face. “This wasn’t even your journey.”

“It’s my journey now,” Chong said, glancing at Lilah, who looked confused. The Lost Girl blushed and turned away, but she was smiling as she did so.

“What am I supposed to tell your folks?”

As he thought about that, Chong touched the line of stitches Sally had sewn across his chest. “Tell them that I love them … and tell them that I’m alive.”

“They won’t understand. They’ll be devastated.”

“I know … but this is something I have to do.”

Sally sighed and nodded and limped away to find her horse. The other bounty hunters made their good-byes. Before they left, each of them gave some supplies to Benny and his friends. Weapons, food, tools, and advice to help them on their journey. Nix thanked them. Benny said nothing. He stood facing the east.

When the others were gone, Nix came and took Benny in her arms. She hugged him and kissed him. “I love you, Benny.”

Benny gently touched her lips with his fingertips. “I love you.”

It was only the second time she had said those words to Benny. Hearing them, and saying them back, made Benny feel truly alive. It made him feel powerful.

He bent and picked up Tom’s sword. Tom had used that weapon to save them both on First Night. He felt Nix watching him. “Tom told me that samurai believed these swords carried their souls. I don’t know if that’s true … but I think for Tom it was. He didn’t leave us, Nix. He’s always going to be with us.” He cut a look at her. “Sounds corny, I know, but …”

“No,” she said honestly. “It’s beautiful. And I think it’s true.”

Benny nodded and slipped the sling over his head and tied the sword in place the way he had seen Tom do every time he prepared for a journey into the Ruin.

He turned to Nix, Lilah, and Chong. “Tom kept his word,” he said in a strong, quiet voice. “I’m going to keep mine.”

Each of them nodded.

“Warrior smart,” said Chong, meaning it.

“Warrior smart,” agreed Lilah.

Nix sniffed back the last of her tears. Her red hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her freckles were like bright fireworks on her face. Her eyes, though, were older than Benny remembered. “Warrior smart,” she said.