Everwild (Skinjacker 2)

Chapter 24 It's a Dog's Life

Nick could tell there was something wrong in Nashville.

A city this big should have had Afterlights, but there was not a single one to be found. They did find an abandoned Afterlight den--a crossed factory, filled with evidence of Afterlight activity, but not one soul remained.

"Maybe they all found their coins, and got where they were going," Johnnie-O suggested.

"Or maybe they were captured by Mary," Charlie said.

"Or maybe sumpin' worse," said Zin--and by Kudzu's reaction, everyone suspected she might be right. The dog wasn't exactly a bloodhound, but his senses were more acute than human ones--and the second he and Zin got close to the factory, Kudzu began to back off and howl. He wouldn't get near the place.

There was definitely a strange feeling in the air--the residue of some bitter circumstance. It called for a visit from the Sniffer.

The Sniffer was a kid they picked up in Chattanooga, whose sense of smell was so good, he could smell things that didn't actually have an odor. Like the scent of someone thinking too hard (smells like a burning lampshade) or the aroma of confusion (smells like rotisserie chicken). One might think he'd have a monumentally distorted nose, and yet he didn't. It was a dainty little upturned thing.

"It's not the size of your nose that matters," the Sniffer often said, "it's how deep your nasal cavity goes," and this kid was nasal cavity all the way down to his toes. In fact, when he sneezed, he could splatter an entire room in ectomucus--which was like living mucus, except that it never dried.

They brought him to the factory and, just like Kudzu, he wouldn't even go through the door--but at least he was able to tell them why.

"I smell misery," he said. "The place reeks of it." Then he pointed southwest, roughly in the direction of Memphis. "That's the direction the misery went."

"Just our luck," said Zin, still trying to calm down Kudzu, who had gone from howling to whimpering.

"Whatever it was," Nick said, "let's hope we don't run into it on the way."

And whatever it was, it was apparently strong enough to scare the Sniffer off. He deserted Nick's army, having no desire to follow the misery to Memphis.

Zin just wanted to leave Nashville. Kudzu's reaction spooked her, and the sooner they were on their way, the better. The Ogre, however, had his own agenda. They lingered in the city. He said it was because they were still looking for stray Afterlights, but that was a lie. They stayed because the Ogre had another secret task for Zin. This was the big one, and looking back, Zin realized this was the task he had been leading up to all along.

They were back at the train, and Zin couldn't find Kudzu. It wasn't unusual for him to explore on his own, but maybe she was smelling a bit of something now too. Something a little skunky. Something that reeked of bad intentions.

She finally found Kudzu in the parlor car--the Chocolate Ogre's private retreat. The dog was licking chocolate from the Ogre's hand.

"Kudzu! Come!" Zin said. The dog reluctantly turned and strolled over to its master.

"Kudzu's been a good companion to you, hasn't he?" the Ogre said.

"The best," answered Zin.

"I know you really care about him ... and I guess I can understand why you did what you did. Ripping him from an abusive owner, and all."

Zin knelt down and scratched Kudzu's neck. "Had to do it. I saved him from a fate worse than death."

"Maybe you did ... but that doesn't change the fact that you ripped a living thing out of the living world."

She looked up at the Ogre, who sat in his stained chair. Was it her imagination, or was there more of the brown stuff on him than yesterday?

"Let me ask you something, Zin, because it's important." He leaned forward. "When you ripped Kudzu, did you just rip his spirit, or did you rip the whole dog into Everlost?"

"I guess I ripped everything, sir," Zin said. "I mean it weren't like I ripped his little doggy spirit out of his body or nothin'; I grabbed him, pulled him into Everlost, and there he was. It's not like there was a dead dog left behind when I ripped him here--I ripped him body and soul." Kudzu lay down and rolled over, wanting a tummy rub. Zin obliged, and the dog purred like a kitten. "He didn't sleep for nine months, neither, on accounta he never officially died."

"So ..." said the Ogre, "somehow, he was flesh until you pulled him here ... and now he's not."

"That's right--he's an Afterlight just like any of us. He don't grow old, he don't get sick, he don't change, and he got the glow."

"Still, by taking him you did something very wrong."

Zin didn't like the direction this conversation was going. "No more wrong than anything else I done," she said defensively. "No worse than any of the things you made me to do," and then she added "sir," a little snidely.