“But they died!”
“Sure. Like Aunt Cathy and Mr. Mitchell. ”
“No … Aunt Cathy got cancer. Mr. Mitchell died in an accident. ”
“Sure, but if someone in town hadn’t quieted them, they’d have become living dead, too. Don’t even pretend you don’t know that. Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about that happening to Aunt Cathy. ” He nodded down the hill. “Those two down there caught a disease. ”
Benny said nothing. He’d learned about it in school, though no one knew for sure what had actually happened. Some sources said it was a virus that was mutated by radiation from a returning space probe. Others said it was a new type of flu that came over from China. Chong believed it was something that got out of a lab somewhere. The only thing everyone agreed on was that it was a disease of some kind.
“That guy down there was probably a farmer,” Tom said. “The girl was a waitress. I’m pretty sure neither of them was involved in the space program. Or worked in some lab where they researched viruses. What happened to them was an accident. They got sick, Benny, and they died. ”
Benny said nothing.
“How do you think Mom and Dad died?”
No answer.
“Benny—? How do you think?”
“They died on First Night,” Benny said irritably.
“They did. But how?”
Benny said nothing.
“How?”
“You let them die!” Benny said in a savage whisper. Words tumbled out of him in a disjointed sputter. “Dad got sick and … and … then Mom tried to … and you … you just ran away!”
Tom said nothing, but sadness darkened his eyes, and he shook head slowly.
“I remember it,” Benny growled. “I remember you running away. ”
“You were a baby. ”
“I remember it. ”
“You should have told me, Benny. ”
“Why? So you could make up a lie about why you just ran away and left my mom like that?”
The words “my mom” hung in the air between them. Tom winced.
“You think I just ran away?” he said.
“I don’t think it, Tom. I remember it. ”
“Do you remember why I ran?”
“Yeah, ’cause you’re a freaking coward is why!”
“Jesus,” Tom whispered. He adjusted the strap that held the sword in place, and sighed again. “Benny, this isn’t the time or place for this, but sometime soon we’re going to have a serious talk about the way things were back then and the way things are now. ”
“There’s nothing you can say that’s going to change the truth. ”
“No. The truth is the truth. What changes is what we know about it and what we’re willing to believe. ”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. ”