The Land of the Dead: Book Four of the Oz Chronicles Read Free

with Gordy. Lou was hurt. She wanted to spend some time alone with me, but we would talk strategy, and losses, and feelings. I wasn’t in the mood for those conversations.
    Gordy and I set up two chairs behind the register. Earlier, we had found a case of energy drinks in the manager’s office so we popped a couple open and sipped on the tangy drinks. They were awful, but they kept us bright-eyed so they served their purpose.
    “How’s your brain?” Gordy asked.
    “Huh? My brain?”
    “Dude, that shunter worked on you for a long time.”
    “Oh.” I reached up and felt my temples. “I’m a little fuzzy. Kind of feels like I just woke up from a deep sleep all the time.”
    “I’d kill for that feeling,” he said. He downed the last drop of his energy drink and tossed the can in a nearby trashcan. “You know what I really miss?”
    I shook my head.
    “Cheeseburgers. Big, thick, juicy cheeseburgers. Melted cheese, tomato. Slice of bacon.” He leaned back. “Oh, man. I’d fight a thousand wars to get back home and sink my teeth into a cheeseburger.”
    “Pizza for me, man,” I said. “Sausage, hamburger, and onion. Thick crust. Big cold glass of Coke. Crushed ice.”
    “Bread sticks,” Gordy said. “Gotta have bread sticks.”
    “With garlic butter dipping sauce.”
    “Sweet,” Gordy said.
    We both relaxed in our chairs and savored our imaginary meals. I think I may have even smiled. I breathed in deeply as if I could smell the melted cheese of my make-a-wish pizza.
    “Dessert,” Gordy said. “What about it?”
    “Shake,” I said. “Vanilla with a little cream soda mixed in. Something my dad used to make. Made it so thick, you’d have to eat it with a spoon. He called it heaven in a glass. He was a hundred percent right, too. It was.”
    “Brownie for me,” Gordy said. “Hot, chewy, thick, chocolaty. The smell… it’s like fresh… Man, I can taste it now.”
    We both relaxed, and didn’t take notice of it. If we had, we would have realized how absolutely special it was. The tension was gone. The fear was gone. The worry… gone.
    I leaned back in my chair. “What’s something you don’t miss?”
    “Huh?” Gordy said.
    “Seems like all we talk about is the stuff that was fun. There’s gotta be something you don’t miss.”
    Gordy thought. “I don’t think there is.”
    “C’mon.”
    He shook his head. “Seriously. I can’t think of nothing that’s worse than this. I mean my old man could get mean when he drank. My little sister was a royal pain most of the time, and I hated Mrs. Hurley’s little dog. Thing bit me three times. But I swear on a stack of Bibles I’d let that damn thing bite me a hundred times a day if it meant I could go home.”
    I nodded. “Yeah, I guess it was a stupid question.”
    Gordy shrugged. “I gotta admit it’s kind of nice not having to go to Ms. Paul’s house for piano lessons. She smelled funny.”
    I chuckled. “I didn’t know you were taking piano lessons.”
    “Just started. My mom made me. Wanted me to get some culture. Not even sure what that means.”
    “I think it means not telling people Ms. Paul smelled funny.”
    He waved me off. “Then culture ain’t for me.” He stood. “I gotta pee.”
    I set my energy drink on the floor. “I’ll go with you.”
    “I can pee by myself,” he said.
    “I don’t plan on helping you,” I said. “I just don’t want you to go outside alone.”
    He thought it over and then nodded.
    We moved around the counter and quietly pulled the door open. I took a quick look at the others. They were snoozing away. It was good to see.
    Outside, Gordy headed for the pumps while I wandered to the curb.
    “Tell you one thing I miss,” Gordy said.
    “What’s that?” I asked as I strained to see as far as I could down the dark stretch of road.
    “A working toilet.”
    The wind picked up. Black clouds raced across a dark purple sky. A grunt soared up out of the darkness, followed by a high-pitched