Jeremy Chikalto and the Demon Trace (Book III of The Hazy Souls) (11 page)

"Look here." A male voice called out from
inside one of the ransacked stores, but the speaker was hidden.
"Tryin' to get killed, boy?" He laughed.

Jeremy stuffed his map back into his pocket
and turned to the voice. "I'm not really worried about you killing
me. Just point me in the direction of Columbia University,
please."

"Some kind of smart ass?"

Jeremy took a step towards the store. An
emaciated rat scuttled across his foot and he jumped. "Nevermind
that. I just need to go north. Where's Connecticut, do you
know?"

"Ya lookin' for the doc, smart ass?"

"Dr.
Tomerson
—
"

"You'll be dead before they let you join
'em."

"How do you know?"

The man laughed. “Know anything about
cannibalism?”

Jeremy ignored him and tried to make sense
of the store fronts.

"If I'm in front of the Donegall Estate,
then that should have been the deli. This subway would be the
southbound entrance, so..." Jeremy pulled his map back out of his
pocket and started to cross the street. With so many buildings
leveled, Manhattan was an unrecognizable wasteland.

"Hey," called the familiar voice from behind
him. A large man in a gray hoodie and matching gray cargo pants
emerged from the rubble. Large clumps of brown greasy hair shot out
from his hood. He smiled and Jeremy saw that a tooth was missing.
The man blended in well with the environment. "I'm not done with
you yet. Give me that map."

Jeremy stopped. "Nope."

"Give me the map." The man raised a pistol
and pointed it at Jeremy.

Jeremy raised his hands in surrender.
"Poof." He smiled at the man and then disappeared back into the
Haze.

Jeremy shuddered in the purple ocean, but
not because of all of the demons circling him like sharks. Was the
man in gray a cannibal? What about the residents at Dr. Tomerson's
compound? He felt something wet press against his heel. He recoiled
at the sudden dampness, but sighed with relief when he saw that it
was Lyrna pressing her nose into him.

"Meow."

"Still no dead coming through?"

"No." Lyrna bobbed up and down on a purple
ray of light.

"It's not like people aren't dying."

"Bring dead into Haze?"

Jeremy scratched his head and grimaced.
"Maybe? I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, I have to find
this doctor."

"Meow."

Jeremy popped out again
and was delighted to see a road sign that read, "Stony Brook
-
10 miles."

It only took two brief whirls in and out of
the Haze to land Jeremy inside Dr. Tomerson's compound. The
hospital loomed large on one side of the street and on the other
sat one-story medical buildings, which had apparently been
converted into housing. A laundry line stretched from the Ear, Nose
and Sinus Center to the E&M Radiology. A young woman tugged a
t-shirt and jeans from off the clothesline. Just beyond the medical
buildings stood a tall barbed-wire perimeter fence, similar to the
one at General Forero's compound.

"Excuse me, can I offer my assistance?"

"Huh?" Jeremy turned to the voice. It
belonged to an older man with a neat comb-over.

"Where are you supposed to be?" The man
lifted up a notepad.

"Um, just going to get my clothes."

"Okay," said the man slowly. "And your name
is?"

Jeremy ducked out into the Haze and
reappeared around the side of the hospital. He needed antibiotics.
Jeremy looked around at the tree branches, and then at a pointed
rock. "Too dull." He walked to the side of the building and found a
drain pipe. Jeremy slid down to the ground and gripped the pipe. He
fired a surgical stream of energy onto it, cutting the end into
jagged spikes, and the shower of sparks attracted some nearby
attention. A police officer crossed the street towards him. Jeremy
ducked down a side street.

"Stop!" yelled the officer, and Jeremy knew
he was being chased.

After Jeremy turned a corner, he disappeared
back into the Haze and then reappeared on the opposite side of the
hospital. He lifted up the metal drainage pipe and turned the sharp
end towards his skin. Jeremy ripped it down his arm and blood
squirted onto the pavement. Still, the wound looked too clean.
Jeremy grabbed some dirt and rocks and rubbed it into the wound,
wincing. His arm throbbed. Jeremy raked the ragged edge of the
drain pipe over his arm again and again, shredding his skin until
it was unrecognizable. The pain made him glow blue and crackle with
electricity. "Ah!" He concentrated on his breathing. Slowly, the
glow faded and, trembling, Jeremy hobbled into the emergency room.
"Help!" he called out. "I'm bleeding pretty bad here!"

A nurse ran to him from down the corridor.
"What happened? What's your name?"

"Apollyon," he blurted out. He immediately
wanted to take it back.

"Excuse me?"

"Is it bad? Am I going to lose it?" Jeremy
tried to seem as frantic as possible and pulled his shredded arm to
his chest. But the loss of blood was real and Jeremy was beginning
to feel it. "I'm going to faint."

"We'll just be up here." The nurse placed a
hand on his back and led him further down the hallway, but then
stopped. "And, I hate to ask, but what's you're assignment?"

Jeremy couldn't take it
much longer and grabbed the nurse and pulled her into the Haze with
him. He stared down at his arm and watched it heal, the blood and
grime dissolving into the Haze. But the spirit animals were
stalking towards him, eyeing up the woman.
His demons, too, drew close to the life-force.
Jeremy pulled the nurse out from the Haze and sat
with her in an empty room. "Hello," he greeted her when her eyes
fluttered open.

She slid away from him on the floor. "What
happened?"

"I'll tell you what's going to happen.
You're going to show me where you keep the antibiotics."

The nurse's eyes widened
as she tried to make sense of recent events.
"But
—
your arm!"
She gasped at the sight of his healed flesh.

"Yes, I know. But where do you keep the
antibiotics." Jeremy was growing impatient.

"I can't tell you that. What is your
assignment?"

Jeremy palmed his forehead. Why do people
insist on the hard way? "Lady, I don't belong here. I'm a thief.
I've come from outside your walls, and I'm going to steal some
antibiotics." He frowned; his presentation was all off.

The nurse scrambled to her feet. "Just let
me go, please." The nurse reached for the door, apparently about to
let herself go.

Jeremy ran over and slammed his hand on the
door to keep it sealed. "Consider this a hostage situation."

"If I tell you where the antibiotics are,
will you let me go?"

"You'll tell me the wrong location, so
no."

"Are you going to hurt me?"

Jeremy's dance wasn't going anywhere, so he
decided to escalate things. "Appear, demons." A circle of dark
figures appeared around Jeremy and his hostage. She screamed and
crumpled into the fetal position on the floor.

"I control these demons. Tell me where the
antibiotics are or I'll have them rip you to pieces." Jeremy
strained to keep his words and his will separate, lest the demons
act on his empty threat. "I'll know if you're telling the
truth."

The woman was wailing now between irregular
breaths. Jeremy leaned in. "I'll let you go if you tell me where
the antibiotics are."

"They're down the hallway!
There's a storage closet on the left
—
the light should be on! There'll be
guards! Please let me live!"

"There won't be guards, trust me." Jeremy
stepped over the woman and walked out into the hallway. He was met
by a wall of running guards. They lifted their guns to him, but
Jeremy simply willed a wall of demons forward and the guards broke
ranks, a few firing a shot before they scurried away. Soon the
hallway was empty. Jeremy jogged over to an unmarked door. The
light was on. He opened it and stared in wonderment at all the
shelves, intricately organized yet completely foreign in content.
He began to read the labels on the medicine containers until he
recognized one. "Amoxicillin, perfect." Jeremy swiped an armful and
then tossed them behind the air and into the Haze. He hesitated for
a second and then began tossing medicine at random into the Haze.
The other side of the room had gauzes and medical tape, so Jeremy
availed himself of the opportunity. That's when he heard a whimper.
He stopped and looked around.

The whimper stopped briefly, but he had
already spotted the pharmacist's shoe poking out of a large
cabinet.

"Hey, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you,"
said Jeremy.

"I'm sorry," said the man. "I'm sorry about
your people."

His people were doing pretty well. Supplies
were just running low. "Thanks," said Jeremy. "I'm sorry about...
your people too. If there's anything you need, like a specific type
of sandwich or shoes or something?" Jeremy cringed at his
words.

A siren rang loudly throughout the compound.
Jeremy and the pharmacist covered their ears. Jeremy looked out the
window. "I guess that's my cue." But he could see now that the
siren wasn't meant for him. The fence had been breeched. The side
behind the Ear, Nose and Throat residence had been flattened and an
army was running through the compound. In the daylight, the
invaders looked like ghouls, gaunt with sallow skin and tattered
clothes. Behind the front line were families, mothers carrying
babies. Jeremy withdrew from the window. But a new round of shots
made him leap up again. "What are they doing?"

“Oh God, they're here!” cried the
pharmacist.

Without thinking, Jeremy pulled through into
the Haze and then wove in and out of the sky above the army, just
as he had back at his own compound. He emitted a brilliant
aura.

"Listen to me!" he bellowed.

The shots trailed off, and there was
screaming and crying. Then everyone cowered. A pregnant silence
followed.

"You will all stop this senseless death.
Whatever you need, I can provide it. Food for the hungry. Medicine
for the sick." Jeremy allowed a blue light to emanate from his
eyes. "Don't hurt these innocent children." He hovered to the
ground, flickering in and out of the Haze, the air crackling, and
the crowd parting before him. He landed softly and walked to a
woman cradling a toddler. "What do you need?"

She cried and hugged the child. "I need
food.”

Jeremy squatted beside the woman and brushed
his hand across the girl's face. He disappeared into the Haze, and
the crowd murmured. A minute went by, and people were shouting now.
But then Jeremy flashed into sight again, and everyone was quiet.
He handed the small child a plum, which she began to devour.

Jeremy found the power in his voice. “Follow
me, and I will provide what you need. You are all brothers and
sisters now, and a man who kills his brother will be exiled.”

Then he pulled through to the hospital and
broke into a vending machine, spilling its contents out onto the
floor. He grabbed a nearby tray, scooped up the snacks, and then
reappeared outside. "Here," he said handing the woman cookies, two
fruit grain bars and two water bottles. "And here," he turned to a
father and his daughter and handed them crackers, fig bars, and a
soda. Jeremy continued to place food and drink into the now
outstretched hands until he ran out. "If anyone spills a drop of
blood while I'm gone, they'll answer to me." He crackled in
emphasis. "Be patient."

Jeremy went back and forth into the
barracks, feeding those with outstretched hands, raiding the
pantries of houses, until the dark of night crept into the sky. But
his work wasn't done. He gathered his constituents together.

“From now on, you'll all be responsible for
more people. Family will be paired with family, and they are your
new charges.” And he went into the people and paired the strong
with the weak, so that the whole of every group was greater than
the sum of its parts. Then they all took an oath that they would
protect their new siblings.

Jeremy arrived exhausted back at General
Forero's compound, to find Maren waiting up for him. She was
sitting out on their balcony, her keen eyes set on the gate at the
front of the compound. Jeremy sighed then tapped her on the
shoulder.

"Hey,” she said. She pulled her legs to her
chest and wrapped her arms around herself.

"It's pretty bad out there." Jeremy drummed
his fingers on the table. “People need my help. If I could just
harmonize this one microcosm, maybe the rest of the world will
follow.” He straightened. “Get your ass out of here, Maren, before
I spank it.”

“I thought you might want to talk.” Maren
frowned. “You're despicable.” She left him alone on the
balcony.

Chapter 21

Consuming

Jeremy spent the next few days at Dr.
Tomerson's compound.

Maren splashed water on her face. It was
getting dark out and Jeremy still wasn't home.

Frisky and Tina barged into her room and
dragged her out. “Still moping? He'll come when he comes. But we
found mint leaves!” Frisky led Maren outside and Tina followed,
calling out to anyone who would listen. “Mint tea, bitches!”

They followed the cement path past the
bunkers and then veered off towards the wooded area of the
compound. There, the perimeter fence had just been pushed further
out, and orange flags marked the newly conquered territory. Soon,
the trees would be cleared. Patches of green, lush mint leaves grew
in small clusters at the base of the fence.

Maren crouched down to inspect the
leaves.