Free Darkness on the Edge of Town by Brian Keene Page B

guessing, really. But it ain’t good. And if you care about your child, you won’t risk it.”
    “But…” Her eyes flicked to the horizon and then back to mine. “What’s out there?”
    “The dark. It’s the dark.”
    The baby’s cries grew louder. She closed her eyes, hung her head, and reached for the keys.
    “I have to,” she explained. “I hear what you’re saying, but I’m so worried about him, and I just…I don’t know what else to…he’s sick…”
    I turned to Christy and motioned at her to get out ofthe car. She scowled at me as she climbed from the passenger seat.
    “I can’t believe you’re doing this, Robbie.”
    “Neither can I.”
    I tried to hold her hand, but she pulled away from me.
    The woman opened her car door and leaned into the back. “Can one of you help me switch the car seat into your car?”
    Russ and I glanced at each other and then shook our heads.
    “I can’t,” he apologized. “Sorry, but I won’t be a party to it. Especially not your baby.”
    She turned to me and I held up my palm.
    “I can’t either. I’m sorry.”
    “I’ll need your address,” she said. “To return the car when we get back.”
    “It’s on the insurance card, inside the glove compartment.” My voice was monotone.
    She thanked us profusely and then opened the Civic’s back door, talking to her baby and assuring him that everything would be okay. His cries gradually ceased. The pain in my stomach turned to stone when he cooed softly.
    The three of us started walking back to town. Behind us, I heard our car start up and drive away. Gravel crunched under the tires. Too late, I realized that I’d forgotten to get my CDs out of the glove compartment. Then I remembered that with no electricity, there was no way for me to listen to them back at the apartment anyway. I hung my head. My shoulders slumped. Christy and Russ cursed me out and told me what an idiot I was, and I didn’t argue with them. Russ insisted on knowing why I’d done it.
    “I don’t know,” I told him. “I honestly don’t. A feelingjust sort of came over me. That’s the only way I can explain it. I didn’t really think about it. I just did it.”
    “You don’t even know who she was,” he said.
    “No,” I agreed, “I didn’t. But she wanted help, and that was the only thing I could do for her. It was the right thing to do.”
    “The right thing to do?” Christy spat on the road. “You gave her our fucking car.”
    “I know. We’re in a crisis situation here, hon. We all need to pitch in and help each other.”
    “Oh, bull-fucking-shit, Robbie!” Russ threw his hands up in the air. “You sent that woman and her baby to their fucking death. How is that helping them?”
    “We don’t know for sure that they’ll die.”
    “Of course we do. You heard what happened to those firemen—and what happened before that. There’s something out there, and it’s not friendly. You knew, but you still let her go.”
    I wheeled on him and jabbed my finger into his chest. Fuming, Russ balled his hands into fists. Christy’s eyes went wide.
    “Well, I didn’t see you stepping in to stop her,” I shouted. “If you were so fucking concerned, then why didn’t you take the keys from her, or force her and her kid into our car and drive them back to town?”
    “Fuck you.”
    “No, fuck you. You’re just as much a part of this as I am, Russ. Whatever it was that came over me, it came over you, too. So drop the fucking holier-than-thou shit.”
    “I’ve got a better idea, Robbie. How about I just drop you instead?”
    “You’re welcome to try.”
    “Both of you stop it,” Christy yelled. “What the hellare you doing? Are you really gonna stand out here and beat the shit out of each other? How is that going to help us?”
    For a second, I thought Russ was going to hit me. His entire body tensed. His chest felt like a stone slab beneath my fingertip. Then he relaxed and took a step backward.
    “Jesus,” he