Free The Undertakers by Ty Drago

her hands in the air. “They’re out there right now. Hundreds of them! Maybe thousands! And by this time, every one of them knows what you look like! How many did you run into? Well? How many?”
    With an effort, I found my voice. “Just one.”
    â€œWhere?”
    â€œLaun…Laundromat.”
    Helene blew out a sigh. “You got that far? Good. At least they didn’t close in on you too close to here .” She stomped away, back toward my cot. With a groan of effort, I straightened.
    She said sharply but with less anger, “Will, if they’d caught you, they’d have made you lead them right back here. Don’t you realize that? If the Corpses ever find out where we are…” Her words trailed off. “I’m sorry I hit you,” she said after a long moment.
    â€œMe too,” I replied.
    At that she almost smiled. She had a nice smile, but right then, I wasn’t interested in it or her.
    Helene sighed again. “I guess I…kind of forgot what it’s like on your first day. You okay?”
    â€œYeah.”
    She conjured up an awkward laugh. “Hey—I hear you had some fun with Steve earlier. Here’s a tip: don’t test anything he gives you unless you’ve seen at least three other people test it first.”
    Then when I didn’t reply, she made an exasperated face. “I said I was sorry.”
    â€œI know.”
    â€œWill you please talk to me?”
    â€œI wanna go home, Helene.”
    â€œI know how you feel.”
    â€œNo, you don’t,” I said.
    â€œYeah, Will, I do. What do you think—that I was born here?” Helene stepped up to me and took my arm, looking dismayed when I flinched. She led me to my cot, sat me down, and then settled herself beside me. Quietly she explained, “I grew up in Allentown. That’s about an hour northwest of here. Ever hear of it?”
    I took a deep breath, still hugging my stomach. “It’s where Dorney Park is,” I remarked. That was a local amusement park.
    She nodded. “We used to go there a lot when I was a little kid.”
    â€œHow’d you end up here?” I asked.
    â€œOne morning I started Seeing dead people. Not a lot of them—just a few here and there. Scared the crap outta me! I told my mom and dad. They thought I was nuts. Gave me all these tests—all these pills. That’s happened to a lot of kids around here. Of course, none of it did any good. The Corpses were still there.
    â€œSo they stuck me in a nuthouse—only they called it a hospital. Doctors would jab me with needles and ask me about my dreams. I was there about a month when a new nurse showed up: Mrs. Greer. But Mrs. Greer wasn’t alive.” She looked pointedly at me. “Can you guess where I’m going with this?”
    I nodded.
    Helene continued, “I found out later that the Corpses infiltrate nuthouses that handle kids. They’re looking for Seers like us—the ones who get locked away for saying that they can See the Corpses for what they really are.”
    â€œWhat do the Corpses do when they find one?”
    She grimaced and then ran a finger under her throat from ear to ear.
    I swallowed dryly. I didn’t want to believe this.
    Helene went on. “One night after lights out, Mrs. Greer came after me—ready to put a pillow over my face and then fake some kind of accident or something. All of a sudden, this boy and girl, both dressed like orderlies, burst through the door. The boy shot a water gun into Mrs. Greer’s face and then the girl chopped her head off with a sword! I never saw anybody move so fast!
    â€œThen the boy said to me, ‘Helene, you’re not crazy. And if you don’t want to die, come with us now.’”
    â€œTom and Sharyn?” I asked.
    â€œYeah. Back then they still did a lot of the Seer runs themselves. See, the Undertakers watch the nuthouses for the same reasons