Délon City: Book Two of the Oz Chronicles (23 page)

He cocked his head to the right. He was mulling over my sign. What was I forgiving him for? I bowed my head. If he only knew.

The crowd of Délons parted, making way for his entrance. I smiled and nodded before I bolted through the cleared pathway back toward the general and the others.

General Roy watched me approach with a confused look on his face. He wanted to know what I had been up to. I ran up to him.

“Save the dramatics,” I said. “I know everything.”

“Everything?” He squinted his dead eyes.

“Pepper Sands is Ajax’s opponent.” I pointed to the tunnel where Pepper would soon emerge. “Newell is behind that crowd of freaks.” I pointed to the Délons standing in front of us. “And a little farther to the right are my friends. Like I said, I know everything.”

He was angry that I had ruined his surprise. He wanted to ask how, but he didn’t want to give me the satisfaction. So I offered up a lie to get under his skin a little deeper.

“The Pure knows all.”

He shook with anger.

Having sufficiently pissed him off, I quickly moved to the other tunnel. I fought my way through the Délons to the tunnel opening. This was going to be harder. I had to say goodbye to a dead man.

Hollis greeted me with a startled expression as he saw me approach. “Oz?”

“Dr. Hollis.”

He smiled. “Well, I’ll be. It is you.” He stepped toward me, not knowing whether a hug or handshake was appropriate. At the last second, he opted for the handshake. I grabbed his hand and shook it firmly. “How about that? You’re about an inch taller, but it’s you all right. Hey, Pep, look who it is.”

The beefed up Pepper stepped out of the shadows. He peered at me with his open eye. The veins on his forehead were throbbing. His lips had a blue tint. He was shivering. He was freezing inside. It was painfully obvious.

“Pepper,” I said.

He nodded his head. I’m not sure he recognized me.

“It’s Oz, Pepper,” Hollis said. He turned to me. “He’s not really himself right now. They...”

“Marked him,” I said pointing to my once swollen eye.

Hollis’s shoulders dropped. He knew what my marking meant. I was to become a Délon. “They do it before every match. He’s a crowd favorite.”

“And you?” I asked. “What’s your function here?” It came off as accusatory when I didn’t mean it to be.

“I’m his handler. Pepper worked out a deal with the Délons. He’ll be their champion as long as I’m spared,” he pointed to my eye. “You know.”

“Yeah,” I said.

Pepper stared at me.

“October 2004,” I said. “Against Tampa Bay, you had two sacks, a fumble recovery, and an interception return for a touchdown. You were a one man wrecking crew.”

He managed a smile. “Still am, kid. I still am.”

“Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy,” I said.

It was Pepper’s turn to cock his head in confusion.

“You told me that once,” I said.

“F. Scott Fitzgerald,” he said.

I nodded.

“Today’s not my day for a tragedy, kid.”

I smiled feebly. “You’re Pepper Sands!”

“I’m Pepper Sands!” He barked back. He pounded his chest with his fists.

I wanted to tell him to turn and run, to get the hell out of the stadium, Délon City, the United States, hell, to get off the damn planet, but I couldn’t. His fate was sealed, and there was nothing I could do about it.

***

General Roy had prodded me to join him in the luxury box before the match officially got underway, but I rejected his offer for many reasons. Not the least of which was that my parents, or what used to be my parents, were waiting for me up there. I couldn’t stand to see them again. It would have been yet another reminder of how badly I had failed.

After Devlin was revealed to me this time, Newell was dragged out in front of the Délons, and beaten severely. The crowd cheered uproariously with each blow he received from his two Délon escorts. It was sickening. I knew that Newell had the power to stop it, just as he had done before, but he didn’t. He took the beating because it was part of the story. He was willing to die if meant ending the coming of all seven races of Destroyers. I got a lump in my throat as I realized for the first time what a real hero was.

The general allowed Wes, Valerie, Tyrone, and Kimball to stay with me on the edge of the clearing. I’m not sure why exactly. Part of me thought he was a little afraid of me now that he thought I was in communication with the Pure. But only a little. He was beginning to believe as Reya did, that it would be safer to kill me so that the Pure couldn’t use me to find the Source.

Before the fight began I turned to Lou. “Do you remember any of Ajax’s sign language?”

“Some,” she said.

“What about this?” I repeated the sign Ajax had given me in the tunnel.

She thought it over, repeating it several times herself. “Oh,” she yelped as it came to her. “Brother.”

I stared at her in disbelief. “Brother?” I whispered.

“Why?” she asked.

I didn’t answer. Did Ajax consider me a brother? What was he telling me?

The Délons still had Ajax on his chains. He was more agitated than he had been before. He was ready for a fight.

Pepper stood stoically. Hollis was saying something to him. Trying to get him to visualize every aspect of the fight, I imagined. Trying to predetermine Pepper’s victory. It wouldn’t come.

Lou saw me staring at Pepper. “How are we going to stop this?”

I didn’t acknowledge her.

“Oz, how...”

“We’re not!” I barked.

She was hurt by both my tone and my answer. “What do you mean?”

“Just what I said.”

“But Ajax will kill him.”

I thought of Newell taking the beating when he didn’t have to. I thought of a thousand other sacrifices that I had heard about in my lifetime. They all were about men and women sacrificing themselves for the greater good. I couldn’t recall one story where someone let their friend die for the greater good. It was a far greater sacrifice.

“Oz,” Lou continued.

“What can I do?”

“What...” She bit her lip. “Don’t you remember the comic book? Stevie made you a hero.”

“That was a different time and a different story. I’m not the hero here.”

As the words left my mouth, the four Délons holding onto Ajax’s chains let go. He immediately leapt on one of them and broke its neck in the blink of an eye. He turned his fury on the crowd of Délons behind him.

“Hey!” A shout came from the other end of the clearing. Pepper stepped forward.

Ajax turned toward him. Rage and fury rose from him like heat waves from a searing blacktop. I felt the feeling rise in me as well. Again, I was able to call up the rage and strength I had endured and demonstrated immediately after my marking. I fought it. It would drive me to interfere, and I knew I couldn’t.

“You big dumb ape,” Pepper shouted. “The fight’s over here!”

Ajax spun around and let out a tongueless roar that sounded like a lion with a gag over its mouth.

Lou grabbed my arm. She was looking to me for strength when all I wanted to do was turn and run like hell.

“Lord help me,” Wes said. “This ain’t a fight. It’s an execution.” He was still holding Valerie in his arms and, at that moment, she buried her tear-stained face into his shoulder.

“Ajax won’t kill him,” Tyrone said. “He’s a good guy.”

I envied his hope and innocence. I wanted to believe in the good in Ajax desperately. But I knew now that good warriors are forced to do bad things in the name of the mission. The mission here was to save the world from the Destroyers and bring everything back to the way it was. Pepper’s death would bring us closer to that.

Pepper rushed Ajax and grabbed one of his chains. He tried to pull him to the center of the clearing, but Ajax pulled back on the chain and sent Pepper flying into the crowd of Délons to the side. Ajax leapt into the crowd after him and they both momentarily disappeared into the swarm. It wasn’t long until Délons were flying everywhere, discarded like the trash they were.

Ajax and Pepper tumbled out of the Délon horde. Their arms were locked. Ajax could have easily snapped Pepper’s arm in half, but he didn’t. In fact, Pepper tossed Ajax back into the wall of Délons, and in doing so took out more of the purple pukes. This was the theme of the match, both fighters would manage to toss the other into the Délons, and squash as many in the crowd as they could. This went on for what seemed hours, but in reality was ten minutes tops.

I glanced at the luxury boxes and could see the displeasure on the general’s face. Délons were not to suffer at the hands of their champions, yet here they were falling like pins in a bowling alley. And nothing could be done because it was collateral damage.

Hollis stepped out and with both palms facing up, and both hands bent, he brought them downward on each side of his body.

Lou and I both saw him at the same time. She spoke the sign out loud “Now!”

The fighters didn’t see him immediately. They continued to pummel each other to force one another into the Délons. It was Pepper who spotted him first. He freed himself from Ajax and bolted for the middle of the clearing. Ajax didn’t follow. He jumped to the edge of the clearing, and shook his head violently. Why didn’t he follow his opponent? He let out a pained cry.

Pepper stood and faced him. He was bruised and battered. His chest was rising and falling rapidly as he fought to catch his breath. He himself gave Ajax the “Now” sign.

Ajax stood on two legs and pounded his chest. He shook his head again. Pepper repeated the sign. The crowd began to stomp and sway. They were growing impatient.

Hollis fell to the turf in tears. What was going on? It was as if Pepper was giving up. More than that, it was as if... he, Hollis, and Ajax had planned it.

Ajax slowly, hesitantly made his way to the center of the clearing. The Délons were growing more and more impatient. They sensed a kill, and they were screaming for blood.

I watched slack jawed as Pepper gave the sign for “Brother.”

With one horrifying blow with the back of his massive hand, Ajax sent Pepper flying backwards and tumbling to the turf. Ajax had done what he was supposed to do. He killed his brother and fellow warrior.

SEVENTEEN

The man in the white coat does not know how to react. I brought myself out of hypnosis. I had watched Pepper die, and he would not be the last. I didn’t want to be in the story any more. I didn’t have the heart for it.

He scribbles something on a piece of paper. “Chester is on his way. He and I will escort you to your room. We’ll stop along the way at the pharmacy. I have a new prescription I want you to try.”

“Drugs?”

He raises an eyebrow as he peers up from his clipboard.

“Medication. To make you better.”

“Why do you use that word?”

“What word?”

“Better. Better than what?”

He smirks. “What a strange question. You’re sick, Oz. I’m

trying to make you better.”

“You’re not really.”

“Of course I am.” He becomes uneasy. “Why else do you

think you’re here?”

I sit up. “You want to know the Source.”

Chester enters the office. “You rang, Doc.”

The man in the white coat keeps his eyes on me. “Mr. Griffin

will be going back to his room.” He stands, and I notice his hands are shaking. “I’ll be coming with you. We need to stop at the pharmacy along the way.”

Chester approaches me. “With or without restraints, Doc?” “Dr. Graham,” I say.

“Yes,” He says as he turns to me.

“Nothing,” I reply. “I just wanted to say your name out loud.” “No restraints,” Dr. Graham says to Chester.

“You sure? The pharmacy is down by...” He looks at me and

then back at the doctor. “You know.”

“It will be fine.”

Chester puts a hand under my arm and helps me to my feet.

He is a huge man. He was hired for his size not his brains. I had heard him say so on many occasions, although I’m not sure where or when. I’m not sure of anything.

We exit the office. Chester walks on my left still holding onto my arm. Dr. Graham walks on my right. There is something about their walks that catches my attention. It’s so uniform. They have almost identical walks. I find this odd, although I’m not sure why.

There are lines painted on the floor, a yellow line, a green line, and a red line. The sign above us breaks the building into sections. Yellow is pharmacy, women’s dorms, and examination rooms. Green is detention ward, treatment room A, and group room. Red is cafeteria, recreation room, treatment room B, and men’s dorm. We follow the yellow line.

As we pass people in the hall, I can’t help but recognize their faces. I don’t know how I know them, but I do. Some look at me with an angry glare, others an encouraging smile.

I am struck with the feeling that none of us belong here. My problem is that I don’t know if my feelings can be trusted. Maybe I do belong here, and I’m just looking for a way out.

Dr. Graham is in front of me. I watch the back of his head as he leads us toward the pharmacy. I wait for the first spider leg to pop out. He is a Délon. He has to be. Don’t trust ‘G.’

I pass a woman standing in the doorway. She is old, too old to be alive by the looks of her. She raises her right arm. Her hand is missing.

At the pharmacy, I wait with Chester while Dr. Graham enters the small room. The people passing us in the hallway look like the living dead. They walk, heads down, shuffling their feet.

Two orderlies approach pushing a gurney, a body under a sheet. Chester forgets about me and joins his coworkers.

“Who kicked it?”

“Sands,” the younger of the two orderlies replies.

“He had some help,” the older orderly replies.

“What do you mean?” Chester asks.

“They found the new patient from 22A in his room.”

“The deaf mute – big hairy guy?”

“Yeah, man,” the younger orderly replies. “He was huddled in the corner grunting like a gorilla.”

“No way! I always miss the fun,” Chester laments.

I listen to their conversation in disbelief. At one point, I cover my ears. They aren’t real. None of this is real. I have to keep telling myself this place isn’t real.