Aftermath of the Reckoning

Chapter 29

The sun dipped lower in the sky. Anxiety clawed at Zoey’s gut as they approached the final mile to Zion Cemetery. Patch shuffled along to her left with his head bowed, he hadn’t spoken in over an hour. His hand felt clammy in hers and far too hot.

Why is he always the one to get sick? It’s not fair. I’d give anything to have his ability right now, to take this illness away from him.

Patch had refused to rest at several points along the way and he’d insisted on traveling all the way to the cemetery, in spite of the danger. Truthfully, Zoey didn’t fight him very hard on either point. They needed to complete this assignment quickly to obtain his medication and she would have had a very difficult time leaving him alone in some abandoned car or house.

Patch lurched forward again and Zoey braced, subconsciously leaning into her aspect to enhance her strength and keep him upright. “Patch, we need to sit down, just for a few minutes.”

Without looking up, he mumbled, “I’ll be fine, just one more mile. If I stop now, I won’t be getting back up anytime soon.”

Frustrated, Zoey stopped and turned around. Lucas still followed them quietly, with an almost imperceptible grin on his face. He flicked the Zippo and appeared to be enjoying the walk like an environmentalist hiking through a favorite natural reserve.

“Lucas, get over here!”

Lucas continued walking at a leisurely pace, seemingly unaffected by Zoey’s command. “Seems Mr. Patch ain’t doing too well, eh?”

“Wipe that smug grin off your face and help carry Patch the rest of the way. He’s too sick to continue without assistance.”

Lucas’ grin broadened. “Sorry babe, looks like that’s his problem. Not mine.”

“Lucas, I don’t know what you expect to get out of this, but as long as you insist on following us, you’re going to help. That is not an option. If you refuse, you will not continue to follow us. It’s that simple. And if you try…” Zoey’s eyes wandered to his knees.

Lucas’ grin disappeared. “OK OK! I’ll help for now. Give me his fucking arm.”

Zoey helped drape Patch’s right arm across Lucas’ shoulders. Patch simply continued to look down, appearing unaware of the conversation. He seemed only capable of putting one foot in front of the other, and barely even that at this point.

Lucas grimaced. “If he pukes on me, that’s it. I’ll drop him in the dirt.”

Zoey responded, “If you drop him, I’ll drop you harder. Now walk!”

They moved forward as a group, Patch moving his legs far more easily now that part of his weight rested on Lucas.

After a few minutes, Lucas said, “You don’t seem to have a problem using your aspect nowadays, I don’t see why you don’t just float him along.”

Zoey hesitated. She hadn’t really thought of that possibility. Occasionally she’d become aware of using her telekinesis to augment her own strength or slow Patch’s stumblings, like a reflex. She’d floated herself in the past, though for some reason it required more concentration and effort than moving other objects. She feared the possibility of accidentally dropping him or hurting him in some way, but she didn’t want to reveal that to Lucas. “I don’t want to risk getting drained before meeting with Nex.”

“You know, I only met this Nex fellow once. Doesn’t seem like the type of person you’d be interested in meeting.”

“I already told you, we’re going there only to get information to trade for the medication Patch needs.” Zoey had spoken with Lucas earlier in the day when questioned for more details on the nature of their mission.

Lucas smirked. “And if he doesn’t give you the information or doesn’t know the answer? What are you going to do sweetheart, break his legs?”

Zoey replied cooly, “You don’t want to know.”

“I always loved it when you got mean. Everyone else was scared of you, but not me. You remember that, don’t you Zoey?”

“I remember that you wanted to use me, just like everyone else who didn’t outright fear me.”

Lucas shook his head. “Naw, now that ain’t right. Sure I wanted to have a child with you but I cared for you too. Still do actually.”

Zoey laughed. “Still what? Care for me or want to have sex with me?”

Lucas smiled. “Both.”

“Well, it’s never going to happen.”

“You’d be surprised what persistence can accomplish.” When he didn’t hear Zoey respond, he said, “Now that you’re hand is free, how about coming over here and holding onto mine?”

“No.”

“Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

Zoey decided to waste no further time arguing with Lucas, she instead needed to devise a strategy to negotiate with Nex. The necromancer would likely be upset that she stole the Bloodflower in the first place.

Also, the fact that they drew so near his place of residence without encountering his pets struck her as odd. Had Nex been a normal human, she’d have expected heightened ‘security’. Surely he was aware of their presence by this point, especially after one of the embers encountered Patch yesterday.

As she watched Patch continue to step, one foot after the other she realized these oddities didn’t matter. If Nex had any information to share, he would do so. She would make certain of that.