his screaming, a scream of horror, loud and high and terrible. His cheeks were taut, stretched, drawn back like the astronauts’ during blastoff. When he spotted the girl at the curb, ready to step into the street, in the path of the car, his scream rose an octave and his eyes leaped in their sockets, threatening crazily to spill out onto his lap. The girl stepped
off the curb, not fifty feet ahead, the car hurtling toward her, impossible to stop the car, Jesus, the horn howling now although he wasn’t conscious of blowing it and the girl looking up as the car hurled toward her, her mouth an oval of astonishment, her
…
Barney found himself clutching the fence, his legs scissored against the rough wood. His fingers trembled as he loosened his hold. His breath came in terrifying gasps and his heart threatened to explode from his body. He tore his eyes away from the MG in the junkyard. A voice reached him dimly, Billy the Kidney’s voice: “Get down from there, Barney. Barney, get down.” He looked down to see Allie Roon still grinning at the bottom of the fence. Gaining confidence, he swiveled to search for Billy the Kidney, saw him in the wheelchair, his mouth open and his voice reaching Barney like an echo in mountain passes. “Come on, Barney. You’ll catch holy hell.…”
Barney needed no further urging, because he wanted to get down from there and feel the earth beneath his feet, feel his heart getting back to normal, feel his breathing becoming regular. Slowly, methodically, moving one hand and one foot at a time as if he were descending a precipice, he managed to reach the bottom without emergency. His heart was still beating very hard, though, dancing in his body the way Allie Roon danced as they made their way to Billy the Kidney in his wheelchair.
“Jesus,” Billy said. “You looked like you were frozen to the spot up there. What were you doing, anyway?”
“I spotted a car in the yard. An MG. It looked almost like new. I was studying it,” Barney said, grateful that his breath was coming regularly now and his heart was slowing down.
“It’s getting cold,” Billy said. “Let’s get inside.”
Barney looked back at the fence and shivered, a chill rippling across his flesh. He had had the nightmare before, the car and him in it and the car slanting down the hill headed for the girl, but it had never happened in the daytime, not while he was awake. Was it possible to have a nightmare while you were awake?
Allie Roon danced ahead, but slowly now, in a sad parody of a waltz. Billy the Kidney brooded in the wheelchair as Barney pushed him along.
“You sure nothing happened to you up on that fence?” Billy asked.
“Nothing,” Barney said, making his voice flat, final, so that Billy would stop asking questions.
But he knew he had seen something.
What he didn’t find out until later was that he had seen the Bumblebee for the first time.
2
M AZZO would probably die first, but there were no guarantees. Actually, it was a toss-up among all of them—Mazzo and Ronson, then Billy the Kidney and Allie Roon. Surprisingly enough, Ronson was responding to the merchandise while the others remained unchanged. There wasn’t supposed to be any response, of course, in the sense that improvement could be expected. And a cure was out of the question. Looking at Billy the Kidney, Barney often winced at the fact of Billy’s imminent death, the certainty of it, the complete absence of hope.
Observing Ronson now in Isolation, still in the Ice Age, silent and unmoving, all the wires and doodads intact, Barney was depressed. He pictured in his mind Ronson in the ring, sleek and slender and swift, jabbing away at an opponent, connecting with a right and then a left as the crowd cheered, and later standing with his hands over his head, the winner.
Turning away, he encountered Bascam, who had padded through the doorway, a computer printout in her hand. She ignored Barney as she studied Ronson on the table
off the curb, not fifty feet ahead, the car hurtling toward her, impossible to stop the car, Jesus, the horn howling now although he wasn’t conscious of blowing it and the girl looking up as the car hurled toward her, her mouth an oval of astonishment, her
…
Barney found himself clutching the fence, his legs scissored against the rough wood. His fingers trembled as he loosened his hold. His breath came in terrifying gasps and his heart threatened to explode from his body. He tore his eyes away from the MG in the junkyard. A voice reached him dimly, Billy the Kidney’s voice: “Get down from there, Barney. Barney, get down.” He looked down to see Allie Roon still grinning at the bottom of the fence. Gaining confidence, he swiveled to search for Billy the Kidney, saw him in the wheelchair, his mouth open and his voice reaching Barney like an echo in mountain passes. “Come on, Barney. You’ll catch holy hell.…”
Barney needed no further urging, because he wanted to get down from there and feel the earth beneath his feet, feel his heart getting back to normal, feel his breathing becoming regular. Slowly, methodically, moving one hand and one foot at a time as if he were descending a precipice, he managed to reach the bottom without emergency. His heart was still beating very hard, though, dancing in his body the way Allie Roon danced as they made their way to Billy the Kidney in his wheelchair.
“Jesus,” Billy said. “You looked like you were frozen to the spot up there. What were you doing, anyway?”
“I spotted a car in the yard. An MG. It looked almost like new. I was studying it,” Barney said, grateful that his breath was coming regularly now and his heart was slowing down.
“It’s getting cold,” Billy said. “Let’s get inside.”
Barney looked back at the fence and shivered, a chill rippling across his flesh. He had had the nightmare before, the car and him in it and the car slanting down the hill headed for the girl, but it had never happened in the daytime, not while he was awake. Was it possible to have a nightmare while you were awake?
Allie Roon danced ahead, but slowly now, in a sad parody of a waltz. Billy the Kidney brooded in the wheelchair as Barney pushed him along.
“You sure nothing happened to you up on that fence?” Billy asked.
“Nothing,” Barney said, making his voice flat, final, so that Billy would stop asking questions.
But he knew he had seen something.
What he didn’t find out until later was that he had seen the Bumblebee for the first time.
2
M AZZO would probably die first, but there were no guarantees. Actually, it was a toss-up among all of them—Mazzo and Ronson, then Billy the Kidney and Allie Roon. Surprisingly enough, Ronson was responding to the merchandise while the others remained unchanged. There wasn’t supposed to be any response, of course, in the sense that improvement could be expected. And a cure was out of the question. Looking at Billy the Kidney, Barney often winced at the fact of Billy’s imminent death, the certainty of it, the complete absence of hope.
Observing Ronson now in Isolation, still in the Ice Age, silent and unmoving, all the wires and doodads intact, Barney was depressed. He pictured in his mind Ronson in the ring, sleek and slender and swift, jabbing away at an opponent, connecting with a right and then a left as the crowd cheered, and later standing with his hands over his head, the winner.
Turning away, he encountered Bascam, who had padded through the doorway, a computer printout in her hand. She ignored Barney as she studied Ronson on the table
Similar Books
Fortunes & Failures - 03
T. W. Brown
The Temple of Indra’s Jewel:
Rachael Stapleton
Communion Town
Sam Thompson
Flesh Cartel, #8: Loyalties
Rachel Haimowitz, Heidi Belleau
Star Wars: Scoundrels
Timothy Zahn
The Jade Boy
Cate Cain
The Truant Officer
Derek Ciccone
And Then There Were None
Agatha Christie
The Mortal Bone
Marjorie M. Liu
