Fire and Ash (Benny Imura 4)

“No,” she said, a smile forming on her lips, “it’s not me. It’s nothing wrong.”

“Then—?”

She clutched two handfuls of his shirt with desperate excitement. “I figured it out, Peter,” she cried.

“You . . .”

“I know how to kill them.”

“Kill who?”

Sister Sun could feel the glorious madness blossom in her eyes. And from Peter’s reaction, she knew he could see it too.

“Everyone,” she said. “I figured out how to kill . . . everyone.”

FROM NIX’S JOURNAL

The day we found Sanctuary we also saw the jet. It landed on the airfield, but by the time we reached the base, the plane had been shut down, the lights and engine turned off. We never saw the pilot or crew.

Every time they bring me over to the blockhouse for an interview, I ask where the jet’s crew is, and they never tell me. All they’ll say is that they’re being debriefed—whatever that means.

Joe won’t tell us either.

What are they hiding?

36

“HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?” asked the voice.

“I’ve developed an irresistible hunger for human flesh,” said Benny.

There was a long, long silence. The interview cubicle was so dark that Benny could barely see the wall-mounted speaker. He bent close to listen. He could hear the interviewer breathing.

“Hello?”

The voice said, “When you say that you’ve developed a—”

“Oh, for God’s sake, it was a joke.”

After a moment the voice said, “A ‘joke’?”

“Yes. I’m sure even you lug nuts have heard that word before.”

“Mr. Imura . . . why would you make a joke about something like that?”

“Why not?”

There was no answer.

Benny knocked on the speaker. “Hey—you still there?”

“How do you feel today?” asked the voice, as if the conversation was just starting.

Benny sighed. “With my hands.”

“Mr. Imura . . .”

“Why don’t you tell me what you’re doing to help my friend Chong.”