Flesh & Bone (Rot & Ruin, #3)(9)

Was it a memory? Or now that Benny stood at death’s fragile door, was it easier for Tom’s ghost to whisper to him from the darkness on the other side?

Benny, whispered Tom, I didn’t die to save you.

“I know that, Einstein,” Benny growled back as he ran.

No—listen! I didn’t die to save you.

A zom fell into the ravine directly in front of them, and the little girl screamed even louder. But Benny leaped over the awkward form before the zom could struggle to its feet.

I lived to save you, said Tom. I lived.

“You died, Tom!” Benny snarled.

Benny . . . back then, on First Night, I didn’t die to save you. I did everything I could to stay alive. For both of us. You know this. . . .

“But—”

Don’t die, Benny, murmured Tom from the deeper shadows in Benny’s mind. The sound of Tom’s voice was comforting and terrifying at the same time. It was wrong and right.

“Tom,” Benny said again as he wheeled around a sharp bend in the ravine. “Tom . . .?”

But Tom’s voice was gone.

The ravine sloped down, becoming deeper, and soon he realized that even the gnarled tree roots clinging to the edge of the cleft were too far above his head. He’d hoped for just the opposite, figuring once they were well clear of the zoms he could pass the kid up and let her pull herself out, then scramble up himself. That plan was hopeless now.

They rounded another bend, and Benny slowed from a run to a walk and then simply stood there. Ten feet away was a solid wall of dirt and rock. The entire ravine had collapsed beneath the weight of a massive oak tree whose root system had been undercut by runoff. There was no way through it, and the sides were far too steep to climb. He and the little girl were trapped. He had no sword, no carpet coat. Only a knife, and that would not stop the mass of dead things following them.

“Now what, Tom?” he demanded, but there was only silence from the shadows in his mind. “Really? Now you’re going to shut up?”

Nothing.

Benny glanced down at the girl. Could he lift her high enough so that she could grab one of the roots and climb up? It would be her only chance, but doing it would use up the last seconds he had and give him no chance at all. Even so, he thought, he had to try. Better to die trying to save a life than share a hideous death down here in the fetid darkness. He listened for some trace of Tom’s voice, but there was still nothing.

The first of the zombies rounded the previous bend. Five of them, with more behind. One of them broke from the pack and started running along the ravine.

Oh no, thought Benny, a fast one. Oh God!

It was horribly true. Lately some of the zoms they encountered were different. Faster, able to run. Maybe even smarter.

Benny set the girl down and pushed her behind him; then he drew his knife. It was hopeless, but he had to try. For the child, he had to try.

The zom raced toward him almost as fast as a healthy human could run. Its teeth were bared and its hands were outstretched to grab. Thirty feet, twenty.

Ten. Benny gripped his knife with all his strength.

Tom . . . I need you now, man.

And then a voice cried, “BENNY!”

Everyone turned and looked. Benny, the girl, the zoms; even the fast zombie slowed to a confused walk as it cast around for the source of the shout.

Suddenly something pale and lithe dropped into the ravine. There was a fierce war cry and a flash of silver at the end of a long pole, and then the head of the fast zombie leaped into the air and bounced off the wall.

“Lilah!” cried Benny.

The Lost Girl had found him.

A moment later another form dropped from the edge of the ravine above. Smaller, rounder, with masses of curly red hair and freckled hands that clutched the handle of a well-worn wooden sword with deadly competence. A long jagged scar ran from her hairline down her cheek almost to her jaw, but it did not mar the beauty of her face. Instead it made her look like a warrior princess out of an old legend. She looked at the zoms and then at Benny, and she grinned.

“I can’t leave you alone for a minute without you doing something stupid, can I?” asked Nix Riley.





FROM NIX’S JOURNAL

Ever since Tom died Benny seems to think that he has to BE Tom.

Is that normal grief? Or should I be worried?

I asked Chong, but for once he didn’t have any answers. I think he’s worried too.





8

“TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH,” SAID BENNY, WIPING SWEAT FROM HIS EYES.“I was getting bored down here.”

He tried to make it sound cool and casual. It didn’t.

Nix snorted and started to say something else, but then she caught sight of the tiny figure cowering in the shadows behind Benny.

“What—? Oh my God! Where—where—where—?” Her words disintegrated into a baffled stammer.

“Long story,” said Benny.

Nix bent over the girl, who was sniffling at the edge of full-blown tears. She touched the girl’s cheek and smoothed her hair. “Hello, sweetie. Don’t be afraid. Everything’s going to be okay now.”

A few yards away, Lilah looked over her shoulder to see what was going on, and her eyes bulged.

“Annie?” she murmured.

Even with everything else going on around them, hearing Lilah say that name came close to breaking Benny’s heart. Annie was the name of Lilah’s little sister. Annie had died years ago trying to escape from the zombie pits at Gameland, and Lilah had been forced to quiet her when she reanimated. Benny could only imagine what was going on in Lilah’s head—seeing another little blond-haired girl, here in a pit filled with zombies. It was weird enough to Benny; to Lilah it must be totally surreal.