Snow

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

A look of total resignation overcame Bruce’s face. His whole body appeared to deflate. On her cot, Molly’s eyes darted back and forth between Bruce and Todd.

“The square?” Molly said. Defeated, she slumped back against the wall.

“We’ll just have to go back and get it,” Todd said.

“But Tully said—” Molly began, before Bruce spoke over her.

“The square is like ground zero, Todd. That’s where they’ve all been congregating. Not to mention, I caught sight of that electrical eye in the clouds while we were out front, burying the bodies. That eye is seated directly over the square right now.”

Kate frowned. “So what does that mean?”

“It seems to attract them, gives them strength,” Bruce said.

“Just like last night, back at the church,” Todd said. Too clearly, he could recall last night’s escape from the church, and how one of those things had gotten inside Chris while, unbeknownst to the rest of them, another had gotten inside poor Meg. And once they’d exited the church, there had been all those townspeople—what Tully had succinctly dubbed “skin-suits”—standing there as if awaiting instruction.

Instruction from that glowing eye in the sky, Todd thought now.

“Where exactly in the square is this computer of yours?” Bruce asked.

“If it’s still where I left it, it’s inside the Pack-N-Go.”

“If the Pack-N-Go is still there, too,” Kate added, attracting an impatient glare from Molly.

Bruce sighed. The halogen lamps gleamed off his scalp. “Well, then, I guess we don’t have much of a choice.”

“We can make torches,” Kate suggested. “They kept away from the torches last night. And when one of those snow-things rose up out of the ground, I think I burned it.”

Bruce was shaking his head. “A torch might scare one off, or even injure it if you really nail ’em, but chances are it’ll get away and will only come back with friends. When they’re in groups, they swoop down over you and generate enough wind to extinguish any small flames.”

“We’ve learned that the hard way,” Molly added.

“So what do we do?” Kate said.

“We travel as incognito as possible,” Bruce said. “Same way Tully got you both here, I’m sure. Far as I can tell, they don’t have any extraordinary senses. No amplified sense of sight or smell—not like a dog or a wolf or anything—so it’s our best bet just to lay low.”

“All those guns out there against the wall,” Todd said. “I assume you’ve got more than enough ammo?”

“Yes. And Tully had another flamethrower. It’s upstairs in one of the offices. We can take that, too.”

“We should probably go sooner rather than later,” Kate said. “No sense waiting around till nightfall.”

“Kate,” Bruce said. “We’re gonna need you to stay here.”

“No. I can help.”

“You can help here.”

“No.”

“Kate.” Todd put a hand on her shoulder. “He’s right. Someone needs to stay here with Molly and the kids.”

“Brendan can stay.”

“Brendan knows the town. It makes no sense leaving him here when he could be more helpful to us out there.”

“Brendan’s not going anywhere,” Molly said. “He’s staying right here with me.”

“See?” Kate said. “Brendan’s not going to want to leave her.”

As if summoned by the repeated mention of his name, Brendan appeared in the doorway. “What about me?” he said, popping the last of a hot dog into his mouth. Charlie and Cody scampered into the room, looking more contented than they had when they’d left.

“They’re talking crazy, Brendan,” Molly said. “They’re talking about sending you out there!”

Around a mouthful of hot dog, Brendan cocked an eyebrow and said, “Huh?”

“Todd’s computer,” Bruce explained. “It’s back at the Pack-N-Go, Brendan. The three of us have to go get it.”

“Out there? At the Pack-N-Go? But Tully said the square—”

“I know what Tully said,” Bruce barked, “and he was nowhere near the square when he died an hour ago. If Todd’s computer actually still works, we can use it to contact the outside world.”

“It’s our only chance of getting out of here,” Todd added.

“But what if it doesn’t work?” Molly demanded. “The three of you will be going out there and risking your lives for nothing.”

“Come on, Molly,” Bruce said. “It’s our only shot.”

Molly looked pleadingly at Brendan. “Bren…”

“It makes sense, Molly.” But Brendan didn’t sound too confident.

“We’re gonna need the guns,” Bruce told Brendan. “And Tully’s extra ’thrower, too.”

“Like, now? We’re going now?”

“Brendan!” Molly cried, cradling her belly, in case Brendan had somehow forgotten about the state she was in.

“We should go soon,” said Bruce. “But first I want us all to go upstairs so I can show everyone here what to do with the computer once we bring it back.”

“Why won’t you just do it yourself, Bruce?” Brendan asked…but then turned his eyes down toward the floor when he realized the motive behind Bruce’s suggestion.

“All right,” Bruce said, adjusting his gear belt. “Everyone upstairs. You, too, Molly.”

“It’s simple, really,” said Bruce. They were all crowded around the desk in the computer room while Bruce held up a rectangular black box. “This is the modem. I assume we all know at least the fundamentals about computers and how the Internet works?”

“Not me,” said Cody. Some tired laughter circulated around the group. Cody smiled uncertainly, embarrassed.

“Look.” Bruce pointed to a thick white cable that trailed from the rear of the black box and into the wall behind the desk. “The modem’s already hooked up to the fiber optics. It can also be connected to a power source—a battery—to give it juice. Watch.” He plugged a brick-sized battery into the modem. Lights lit up on the modem’s faceplate. “See those lights? That means you’re in business. If you’ve got no lights, you’ve got no power.

“When we’ve got the computer, we hook that to another power source”—he waved one arm at the shelves across the room, laden with, among other things, portable batteries—“then connect the computer to the modem with another cable. Okay, watch again—I’ll show you.” He demonstrated with the laptop that was already on the desk. “From there, with any luck, it’ll be no different from logging onto the Internet from your home computer. Any questions?”

“Seems too good to be true,” said Brendan.

Bruce rolled his heavy shoulders. “As long as we’re able to get the computer back here, plugging it in and dialing it out should be a piece of cake.”

“Yummy,” Cody said. Kate smiled and rubbed the girl’s head.

“Just one more thing,” Todd said. They all looked at him. “The operating system on my laptop is password-protected.”

“Good thinking,” Bruce said. “What is it?”

“Turbodogs,” Todd said. He offered them all a meager grin. “It’s my son’s favorite cartoon. About a bunch of dogs who race cars.”

Young Charlie nodded and quite matter-of-factly said, “Yeah, that’s a good show.”

Todd’s grin widened. “So I’ve been told.”

“Anyway, Kate was right,” Bruce said. “No sense sitting around here wasting time. You two good to go?”

“Good to go,” Todd said.

“Good to go,” Brendan said, too. Yet his eyes, which never left Molly’s, told a different truth.