Blaze of Glory

CHAPTER 25

"I've been thinking, Mr. Adamski."

Both MacHenry and Buckley turned to where the kid stood.

"What about the freezers?"

"Freezers?" MacHenry repeated.

"Yeah. How long does it take for them to cool off? I wonder if some of the restaurants still have food in them."

"Like this one," Buckley said in an almost reverent whisper. "Just think, kegs of BBQ sauce and freshly thawed racks of ribs. We could have a BBQ. Sure would do a lot for our morale."

"Are you kidding? We're only taking a break, not a sabbatical." Looking up and down the street, then at the afternoon sky, MacHenry added, "A caddie could come along any minute, and between you and me, I don't want to be out here come nightfall.

"Yeah. I know. I was just dreaming is all."

"So we're not going to check the freezer?" Little Rashad asked.

Buckley shook his head. "Probably rotten by now."

"Probably?" MacHenry scoffed. "Does the pope wear bunny slippers?"

"You know, I liked you better when you cared for fuck. Love and living has made you cynical," Buckley said.

"We have a problem you boys are forgetting," Gert said crossing the street to where the men stood.

"What's that, dear?"

"We didn’t pack any food," she said with arms crossed.

Buckley and MacHenry stared at each other, then cursed simultaneously.

"Freudian," Buckley murmured. "Like our subconscious knew we didn’t plan on living."

"Suddenly I'm real hungry," MacHenry said.

"A side effect of staying alive is hunger."

"I can live with that kind of side effect as long as I get a sandwich."

Buckley stared hard at the window of the BBQ joint. "Freud might know what's inside our heads but he can't make a sandwich."

MacHenry caught Gert's wave out of the corner of his eye. He raised his eyebrows, looked from Buckley to Gert, then seemed to make a decision. "We’re gonna be here for a few minutes, right?"

Buckley laughed. "You're asking me? I think so."

"Good." MacHenry hurried across the street to join Gert.

Buckley's jaw dropped. "Now?"

MacHenry turned and glared at Buckley as if the man had been smoking some of Grandma Riggs’ crack. "What? We're supposed to do it later?"

Buckley tried to make his mouth form a word, any word, finally he gave up as all it could manage was an exasperated Puh-lease!

MacHenry snatched Gert into his arms, whispered in her ear and kissed her along the length of her neck. She twirled his hair in her fingers as she hugged him close. After a moment, they grabbed some freshly-filled Super Soakers and entered the building nearest them.

Buckley sighed.

Little Rashad pointed to the doorway the pair had just gone through. "Where are they going? They getting some food? They getting something to eat?"

Buckley glared at the doorway, then at Little Rashad. Sissy walked across the street about the time he answered the boy's question. "You want to know where they're going? They're going to have sex. Hot, passionate and amazingly inappropriate S — E — X!"

Sissy gaped. "What? You didn't just tell-"

Little Rashad’s face reddened.

Buckley shrugged dramatically. "What?"

"What?" Sissy repeated. "Isn't he a little young?"

"At this point what does it matter? If they didn't want him to know, they shouldn't have been cavorting like a couple of frenzied, fucking rabbits."

Sissy looked at Buckley much like his mother used to when he'd done something wrong and he just didn't realize it. Then she sighed, and moved over to Grandma Riggs where she wiped drool from the side of the woman's face.

"I see Twinkies," Little Rashad said.

Buckley's stomach jerked and his eyes shot wide. "No you don’t."

"Yes I do."

"I’d kill for a Twinkie."

"It's right there," pointed Little Rashad. "I don't think you'll have to kill anybody."

Buckley followed the kid's arm and saw the golden, finger-long snack cake and decided right there and now that if Gert and MacHenry could have crazy, end-of-the-world, monkey sex, then he could at least have a Twinkie. He snatched one of the Super Soakers from the sidewalk, checked to make sure it had been freshly reloaded, then cocked it until there was enough pressure to fire. Grabbing a flashlight from his waist, he turned it on. With flashlight in hand and the rifle cocked on a hip, he turned to Little Rashad. "I'm going Twinkie hunting. Who's with me?"

Sissy rolled her eyes, but Little Rashad brightened and jumped at the chance for sugary sweets. He handed Sissy his trumpet, grabbed a Super Soaker of his own, pumped it like he saw Buckley, then fell in beside the older man.

"I'm with you, Mr. Adamski."

"Good boy. Cover my back and I'll catch you a Twinkie."

Without waiting for an answer, Buckley strode into Pauline's Place. Most of the tables were still standing. Only one body littered the floor, but flesh and maggies were long gone. Whoever had been the unlucky soul, he'd been picked clean and rendered skeletal. A pinball game with the words DEATH RACE 2000 and a garish depiction of David Carradine mowing down an old lady with a shopping cart squatted near the door. Beside the long counter that separated the serving area from the cooking area stood a tall rack of plastic encased confections. It was to this rack they strode. When they arrived, both Buckley and Little Rashad stopped and stared. There wasn't just one Twinkie, there were dozens- a virtual Twinkie Eldorado. Buckley grinned from ear to ear.

Each of them ripped one open, stuffing the golden cakes into their mouths, the white filling squishing free. Buckley grabbed two more, and shoved them one after the other, until his face was chipmunk full.

When he finally swallowed, he shook his head and smiled. "Let's get these out of here. I bet the others will want some."

They began stacking Twinkies into their arms and were about halfway done, when a sound intruded upon their gluttony.

"Did you hear that?" Little Rashad asked.

Muffled pounding from deep inside the restaurant.

"There it was again."

Buckley heard it this time. He dropped his cache of Twinkies and snatched his Super Soaker from where it leaned against the counter. "Who goes there?"

Little Rashad had paused in mid-bite. A half-eaten Twinkie poked from his mouth as he stared at Buckley. Several seconds passed as Buckley scanned the back of the store. Seeing nothing, he lowered the weapon.

"What was it?" Little Rashad asked, from around the edges of the confection.

"Dunno. Thought I heard something." Staring at the pile of half-crushed Twinkies on the floor, Buckley sighed and bent down to retrieve them. "Give me a hand. I can't pick up all of-"

The sound of pounding erupted from the back.

Buckley whirled to the sound, his rifle leveled.

Little Rashad gulped the remains of the Twinkie and fumbled with his own rifle. By the fear etched on his face, it was clear that he'd never meant to trade his safety for a golden sponge cake with creamy filling.

"This time I know I heard something," Buckley said. "What about you? Did you hear something?"

Little Rashad nodded rapidly.

Buckley switched the flashlight back on. Holding it over the barrel of the Super Soaker, he panned it across the back of the store. The light illuminated a wall locker, a walk-in freezer and a back door. The light danced back and forth between these three things as Buckley edged slowly forward.

"Who’s there?" he called again.

Creeping only an inch at a time, he arrived at the door to the outside first. Checking it, he discovered that the deadbolt was set from the inside. Nothing could get in that way unless he opened the door, something he didn't plan on doing. He placed his ear to the wood as he panned his light back to where the boy stood at the front of the store. Buckley raised his voice, packing as much authority into it as he could. "Come on, if you’re here, let us know. We’re not going to hurt you."

Nothing.

After several seconds he moved on. Next in line was the walk-in freezer. Checking the door, he saw that the latch was engaged, promising that whatever was inside, if something was inside, was locked inside. He placed his ear against the cool metal of the freezer door, listening for any whisper of noise, any indication that something was inside.

"Olly Olly Oxen Free," Buckley screamed as he grinned at Little Rashad. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

Five seconds passed. Just as he was about to pull away, Buckley jerked back as pounding from the other side of the door erupted. He spun, slipping and twisting as he went down in a pile of broken plates and crashing silverware. A brace of pans clattered to the floor with a deafening chorus of rings and clangs. Buckley spun reflexively and fired a burst of water at the metal freezer door. The water dribbled harmlessly to the floor.

Over his shoulder Buckley whispered, "Get Sissy in here."

"I’m here. What’s going on?"

Buckley swung the light to the doorway and illuminated Sissy. She'd come a long way this journey. No longer was she the wilting wallflower. She'd become something else, something more mature. She was GI Barbie, with kung fu grip and ready for combat, crouched in the doorway, sighting along the length of her Super Soaker.

"Find some Maggies?"

Buckley swung the beam back to the freezer door. "I don’t know what I found."

"There’s something in there," Little Rashad whispered. "And it knocks."

Sissy stood straight and began to walk into the room. She lowered her rifle. "Then there's no problem."

Buckley eyed the door. "How do you know?"

"Maggies don’t knock."

Buckley blinked twice, then stood slowly. "Very true."

"Well?" Sissy asked. "Are we going to open it?"

Buckley watched as a Maggie popped free of his trigger finger and fell to the floor. He stomped it. "Yeah. You better cover me just in case, though."

Sissy sauntered over to the island where the dishes had been stacked and took up position. On her knees, she rested the barrel of the Super Soaker across the metal surface, aiming directly at the door. She snapped her flashlight on and set it on the counter beside her, illuminating the latch. "You open the door, Mr. Adamski, and I’ll squirt whatever’s inside. If it’s human, they won’t mind a little salt water. If it's something worse, well, let's hope they have the same aversion to salt as the maggies."

Not sure if he liked the new Sissy, Buckley stepped back to the door. He gripped the latch, careful to leave Sissy a line of fire. He took several deep breaths.

"On my count of three," Sissy said. "Ready?"

Buckley nodded as sweat and a pair of maggies dripped from his forehead. Ignoring them, he remembered the last time they opened a door with someone knocking on the other side.

"One."

Buckley, Samuel and Bennie prepare to open the door. MacHenry holds dead Lashawna. Sally Struthers’ screams can be heard from the other side.

"Two."

Bennie opens the door revealing Sally Struthers, her face a colander of maggie holes. Blood and skin drip from her body as she’s consumed and crazed.

"Three."

Buckley flung open the door and pinned himself to the wall behind it. A tiny creature stood in the doorway, illuminated by Sissy's light. It screamed. Blonde hair and blue eyes, she couldn't have been more than seven years old.

Aiming like a sniper, Sissy squirted salt water directly into the girl’s face. The screaming stopped as the little girl began to gasp for air.

There was no sizzle.