Lilah pointed her pistol at his face.
“Yes you will.”
“Kill me and my reapers will tear you to pieces.”
Lilah shrugged. “So?”
“You’ve been told a bunch of lies,” continued Benny. “You’ve been forced to accept those lies as the truth. But they are lies. Here is the truth. A scientist named Dr. Monica McReady has developed a cure for the Reaper Plague. It’s not perfect, but it works. My friend was infected with an arrow shot by one of your reapers. He got the plague and almost turned, but then Dr. McReady gave him medicine and he’s right here with me.”
Chong raised his bow and waggled it.
“The world hasn’t ended,” shouted Benny. “There is a new government in Asheville. People are reclaiming the world. The mutagen—the red powder you have—is going to wipe out the dead. It makes them faster, but it will also make them decay. In a week your flocks will fall apart. The plague is ending. We’ve survived it. Mankind has survived it. You and me, we’
re going to be here when it’s over. That’s what we’ve all prayed for. That’s the grace of God, and it’s the work of good-hearted people. We’re being given a chance to make a new world.”
“You are wasting your breath,” said Saint John. Power was creeping back into his voice, and he still held Brother Peter’s knife.
“We need to end this war,” pleaded Benny. “You need to end this war. Lay down your weapons, tear those angel wings off your clothes, and walk away. On behalf of the Nine Towns I have been authorized to offer a complete and total amnesty. No questions, no punishments. Lay down your weapons and help us rebuild the world instead of helping a psychopath destroy it. Don’t be destroyed by his screwed-up view of the world. Open your eyes. Open your hearts. Be alive!”
None of the reapers moved. They stood in endless rows that faded back into the depths of the forest. No knives fell to the ground.
“I am offering you a chance. One chance. Walk away now . . . or burn in hell for what you’ve done.”
Benny lowered the megaphone.
Saint John smiled through his tears. “And you accuse me of being dramatic. ‘Burn in hell’?”
“I was in the moment,” said Benny, and he smiled too.
Neither smile held any warmth. Neither smile held a flicker of humanity.
“I’ll see you bleed,” said Saint John.
“I’ll see you in hell,” said Benny Imura.
Benny and his friends turned and walked away.
100
AS BENNY AND HIS FRIENDS walked toward the gate, he studied the faces of the Freedom Riders who waited for them. Solomon Jones was there, and beside him was a tall dark-skinned woman with a Mohawk and a matched pair of army bayonets strapped to her thighs—Sally Two-Knives. And dozens of others, some of whom Benny knew from Zombie Cards and the battle of Gameland; some of whom were strangers.
Solomon clapped Benny on the shoulder. “That was some speech.”
“It was my first one,” said Benny, “and it’ll probably be my last. I wanted it to stick.”
Solomon grinned. “It was better than the one I gave to the mayors of the Nine Towns the other night. When I told them what was coming and told them about your plan, they wanted to put me in a straitjacket and give me tranquilizers.”
“Yeah, well.”
“But you should have seen their faces when I told them whose plan this was.” Solomon chuckled. “Little Benny Imura. Half of them didn’t even know Tom had a brother, let alone one who could come up with a plan like this. If there’s anyone left to talk about this, then believe me . . . people will think you’re absolutely out of your mind.”
“He was born crazy,” observed Morgie. “He’s been losing ground ever since.”
“Nice to know I’m among friends,” said Benny. “Shame none of ’em are mine.”
“That ‘walk away’ part of your speech was nice,” said Sally. “You cribbed that from what Tom said before we blew Gameland into orbit.”
“As I remember,” said Chong, “it didn’t work then, either.”