“Nope. This is a real deal, straight up and hand to God. You ring that bell and we pull you out of there and put you on the road. No weapons or rations or none of that stuff, but you walk free.”
That seemed to catch Nix off guard, and she turned sharply to Benny. “Is he telling the truth?”
“I … think so,” Benny said quietly. “What’s he got to lose? If we die, then Preacher Jack proves to the crowd that we’re sinners. If we make it out and they let us go, Preacher Jack and White Bear prove that their word is good. Either way they win.”
Nix chewed her lip. He stepped closer and touched her cheek.
“Hey … are you okay? No, wait—that is the stupidest question ever asked. What I mean is—”
Nix blinked and smiled, and for a moment she was back. The old Nix. Strong and smart and sane. She grabbed Benny and gave him a fierce hug, and in a tiny whisper filled with enormous emotion said, “I don’t want to die down here, Benny.”
“Hey!” yelled White Bear. “When you two lovebirds are done making out, can we get a move on? Lot of people paid good money for this.”
Benny and Nix made the same obscene gesture at exactly the same moment. White Bear laughed out loud, and the audience applauded.
Before Benny released Nix he whispered, “We can do this. Find the bell, get out.”
“Warrior smart,” she said.
“Warrior smart,” he agreed.
“Hey!” yelled Nix. “Aren’t we supposed to have weapons or something?”
Preacher Jack leaned out over the edge. “The Children of Lazarus carry no weapons, and yet they strike with the power of the righteous. How would it be fair to arm you against them?”
“Okay,” said Benny, “then are we going to face two zom—I mean two Children—who are the same size and weight and age as us?”
The smile on Preacher Jack’s face was truly vile. It was filled with everything polluted and corrupt and unnatural that could show through smiling lips and twinkling blue eyes.
“Prayer and true repentance are your true weapons,” he said.
He stepped back, and other faces began filling the edge of the pit. Torches were placed in stands mounted on the rim, and their light turned the maze into a dim eternity of dirty yellow shadows.
Nix suddenly grabbed Benny’s arm, and he turned to see that the shadows were not empty. Things moved down the twisted tunnels. Stiff figures shuffled toward them through the gloom, and then they heard the low, hungry moan of the living dead.
73
CHONG STOOD IN THE SHADOWS AND WATCHED TOM IMURA WALK UP onto the hotel porch. There were two guards there, both of them armed with shotguns. They stiffened as Tom mounted the steps. One guard gestured for him to stop on the top step.
“If you’re here for the games,” he began, “you need to go around—”
Those were his last words. Chong never saw Tom’s hand move. All he saw was a flash of bright steel that seemed to whip one way and then the other, and suddenly both men were falling away from Tom. Blood painted the wall and door of the old hotel.
It was the fastest thing Chong had ever witnessed, and on a deep gut level he knew that it was necessary, but it was also wrong. These men were part of Gameland, they were forcing kids to fight in zombie pits, and yet their lives had ended in the blink of an eye. They were discarded. Tom used chiburi—a kenjutsu wrist-flick technique that whipped all the blood off his sword blade. The sword gleamed as if it had not just been used to take two human lives.
Tom turned as Chong crept up the porch steps. He looked sad. “Sorry you had to see this, Chong.”
“Me too,” said Chong sadly. “Guess we had no choice.”
“Not if we want to save Benny and Nix.”
“This is war,” said Chong. “And these people are monsters.”
Tom put his hand on Chong’s uninjured shoulder. “Listen to me. There are good people too. No matter how bad this gets, kiddo, never forget that. There are more good people than bad.”
Chong said nothing. He absently touched the bite on his other shoulder. “Aren’t you going to quiet them?” he asked.
“No. We need all the help we can get. Let them wander around and confuse things. I’ll take care of them later if there’s time. Right now we have to find Benny, Nix, and Lilah.”