Free Banshee Worm King: Book Five of the Oz Chronicles by R.W. Ridley Page B

smile changed to a confused grin.   “Of course I would.”
    “Even if going back meant that you wouldn’t know any of us;
Wes, Tyrone, Ajax... me?”
    “We were meant to be together... all of us, I mean.   I just know it.   We would find each other eventually.”
    I shrugged.   “But
what if some of us couldn’t go back with you?”
    “What do you mean?   Why couldn’t you go back with me?”
    I shook my head.   “Never mind... I should check on Gordy.”  
    I headed for the door, but stopped when she said, “I
wouldn’t go.”
    I turned to her.
    “I couldn’t go without you.   You’re not just someone that survived the end of the world with me.   You’re why I want to survive the end of the
world.”
    “You mean all of us, right?”
    She nodded. “Yes, but mostly I meant you.”
    I stood and stared at her.   A breeze blew her hair across her face.   Her eyes were startlingly blue, and with the exception of her lips, her
cheeks were naturally redder than the rest of her face.   “I remember when I first saw you.   You were this dirty little mute kid that
annoyed the crap out of me.”
    “Well, if I remember right, you were stealing our
Pop-Tarts.”
    “You took to Nate right away.”
    She smiled.   “I was
terrified for him because it was pretty obvious you didn’t know how to take
care of a baby.”
    I laughed.   “That’s
true.”
    “Look at us now.”
    “Yeah,” I said, “look at us now.”   Before leaving I looked her square in the
eyes. “This might be wrong to say, but...” I hesitated.
    “Say it,” she said pleaded.
    “The fact that the world ended wasn’t all bad.”
    A startled expression spread across her face again. “What
do you mean?”
    “I got to kiss you.” I left before she could respond.

 
    Six

 
 
    That night I saw Ajax sitting by himself in the corner of
the room.   He was gone, lost in his
thoughts, and I knew what he was thinking about.   He was replaying Kimball’s last moments in
his head.   I knew that’s what he was
doing because I had been doing the same thing right up until the point I
noticed him.   I blamed him for Kimball’s
death, and I had a pretty good idea he blamed himself.
    I suppose if I wanted to be fair I would have realized that
there wasn’t anything Ajax could have done to save Kimball.   It all happened so quickly.   But I wasn’t interested in being fair.   Right or wrong, I wanted to blame
somebody.   Ajax was right there.   He saved me.   Why couldn’t he have saved Kimball?
    A horrible thought hit me as I stared at Ajax.   I wasn’t just mad at him.   I hated him.   I knew it was wrong.   He was
Ajax.   I owed him my life, many times
over.  
    That didn’t matter to me.   What mattered to me is that I looked down by my feet and my dog wasn’t
there, sleeping away, snorting and huffing in his sleep, dreaming about chasing
rabbits and playing in the backyard of our old house.   He wasn’t there.   He should have been.
    I stopped looking at Ajax because part of me thought he
could feel the hatred I was sending his way.   I didn’t like feeling the way I felt about him.   I was hoping it would pass, but I didn’t
think I would ever be able to forgive him.
    Wes was sitting on the floor propped up against the wall
next to Gordy. His eyelids looked heavy, and he struggled to keep them open.
    Lou sat on a chair next to him staring at the front
door.   She was worried about Tyrone.   All of us were worried and mad.   He was a selfish jerk for taking off like
that.   I didn’t care that he was
grief-stricken about Valerie.   That was
no excuse.  
    I looked to the other side of the room and saw April and
Bostic huddled close together over what looked to be two piping hot cups of
tea.   If I didn’t know better, I would
say they were two old friends hanging out in a coffee shop talking about their
day.   I don’t know why, but I didn’t like
them being so chummy.
    A loud thump outside