‘What the fuck was that hunk-a-junk doin’ blockin’ the fuckin’ road anyways?’ Dane said, watching the white van disappear behind the crest of a hill in his rearview.
‘Probably waitin’ for that pussy Billy to come git when the rain stops,’ replied Sam.
A few minutes later they turned in to Main Street, the Police Station and Courtroom were on their left, and on their right was the open shutter of the garage, which they were about to enter when Dane stopped the car. Both of them looked through the driver’s window at what they thought might have been the remains of Sheldon.
‘What the fuck’s that all about?’ said Sam.
Dane shook his head. ‘If it weren’t for the holes in his chest … I’d say Ella was mighty pissed at him. But somethin’s been hapnin’ here, Sam, don’t know what, but somethin’.’
‘Look at his face, there ain’t no skin on it.’
‘Yeah well, that little water problem will soon be a thing of the past.’
‘Whadaya mean a thing of the past?’ asked Sam, still gorping out at Sheldon.
‘Have you got absolutely no fuckin’ idea as to who we got in the back here?’
‘No, ya done told me fuck-all Dane. Ever since you took over the drivin’, y’ain’t told me shit!’
‘Well that’s a fair comment I s’pose, but ya gotta promise me, Sam, ya not gonna tell nothin’ to nobody, ya hear?’
‘How the hell can I be tellin’ somethin’ to somebody, when I don’t have somethin’ to be a tellin’, Dane? And no one here for me to tell it to? Even if I did have somethin’ to tell ‘em? Huh?’
Dane frowned. ‘What the fuck did you just say, Sam?’
‘I ain’t gonna tell no one, s’what I’m sayin’, Dane.’
‘Promise me, Sam.’
‘Okay, I promise.’
‘Right,’ said Dane, twisting in the seat to face him. ‘Remember when we got all those bags o’ blood? And after a while Ella warned us not to use it no more, cause they was taminated?’
‘Yeah,’
‘And do you remember that fire at the town hall, killed those three breeders, way, way back?’
‘Course I do, I helped put the fuckin’ thing out. Done burnt myself on the fuckin’ water doin’ it too!’
‘Well one o’ them girls, who was s’posed to have been killed that night, was Hal’s sister, Alice. Only she weren’t killed, somehow she got away. Nigh on seventy-years later, she comes back, makes some kind o’ deal with Ella regardin’ the blood, and almost wipes us all out!’
‘So what’s that gotta do with who we got in the back then?’
‘When Alice disappeared she was with child, ya know, pregnant? And the girl we got in the trunk, is her daughter, and accordin’ to Ella, she’s one of us. Only she can touch water, drink water, hell she can go for a fuckin’ swim if she wants to.’
‘Well forgive me for soundin’ a little, shit-fur-brains here Dane, but how the fuck does that help us make our “little water problem” a thing of the past?’
‘From how I understand it, Sam, with her blood, the Primary One makes this new formula, and we all get a dose.’
‘What? And we end up like she is?’
‘S’what Ella says. But keep ya fuckin’ big mouth shut, if she finds out I told you … well, let’s just say we’ll both be takin’ a premature swim.’
‘My lips are sealed,’ he said, emphasising his pledge by pretending to fasten a button on them.
After entering the garage, Sam climbed out and pushed the down button on the shutter. Then, after taking the keys from the ignition, Dane climbed out unlocking the hatched-back of the 4X4. Sam looked down to see a camera, a photograph, and a plastic bag, sitting on an oil drum by the shutter and started to pick them up.
A shout from Dane, and a girl’s scream made him twist round on the spot. The girl they’d taken from Lynchburg had sprung to life. She jumped out kicking and punching Dane, who was trying his best to restrain her.
‘Get the fuckin’ chloroform, Sam, and hurry,’ he shouted, parrying blows and trying to grab her thrashing arms.
Sam dropped the bag and camera back on the oil drum and went back to the 4X4 to get the chloroform and a rag. After soaking the rag, and spilling plenty of the chloroform over his hand, he joined Dane in the struggle, and between them they managed to subdue the girl once more.
With Sam’s help, Dane hooked the young blonde over his shoulder and made his way to the shaft. Sam picked up a large, square flashlight, from inside the confined compartment the girl had spent the whole journey in, then followed him.
But as Sam entered the shaft, he noticed the rubber tube from the oil truck hanging there, it puzzled him as to why, but as his attention span wasn’t that great to begin with, he simply pulled it out of the way.
‘Hold up,’ shouted Dane, stopping at the bottom of the shaft. ‘Sam, get down here with that flashlight.’
Sam left the wooden hatch open to join Dane at the bottom of the steps. ‘What is it, Dane?’ he said, but soon realised when he shone the flashlight by his feet. ‘Fuck, that’s Brett, what the hell’s been going on here, Dane?’
‘I don’t know, but I’m fucked if I’m gonna stand here and discuss it with you if the shooter is still about.’
‘Shit, right,’ said Sam, quickly moving on.
They headed towards the main tunnel with Sam holding the flashlight and continually talking about what he would do once he could touch water again. Brett and Sheldon had soon slipped from his mind. Dane repeatedly told Sam to forget what he’d said about the girl, or he’d drown him … personally.
