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Chapter 39:- Searching for Water
“I think he might be right,” Ethan said, his lips curling downward, his eyebrows gathering towards the bridge of his nose. “I'm not sure what it would want or need an army for, but it's entirely possible.”
“Do you think,” I said, staring out the window, “that it's some sort of simple answer that we're all doomed to overlook? I mean, right up to the point where a thousand of them swarm the city and bust their way into this place?”
“No,” he said. “I think you already just said it, to be honest.”
“Said what? You don't really think...”
“It wouldn't come here alone because that's just not how we operate, Addison. It's probably not going to go looking for a fight all on its lonesome. But if it had backup, then it would be easy.”
“Why would it need that much, though? Wouldn't one or two, hell, even a dozen, be enough? Why make so many of them?”
“It could be that it's planning something or it could be that it just really likes making them,” he said, shrugging. “Who knows.”
“Well, what do you suggest we do now?” I peered across the table and gave him a sheepish smile. “I mean, you'd know better than I would what to do about this.”
“To be honest, I'm not really sure. I think the first thing we should do, before we even consider confronting it anywhere, is find out where it's hiding. There has to be somewhere in the city where it feels safe, at least safe enough to let its guard down enough to sleep or eat or do whatever it needs to do in order to blend in. This is especially certain if it plans on spending any length of time inside one body longer than a few days. It had to do that, seeing as how you saw it in the same body twice.”
“Ragged have apartments?” I ran a hand through my hair, yanking my nervous fingers through tiny knots. This was going to be way tougher than I thought it would be. In a city with thousands upon thousands of residents, and almost as many businesses and office buildings, our search would take forever.
“Something like that, yeah,” Ethan said. “More like safe houses, but if it's trying to stay in a body without tipping off that person's family or friends, it will be in the host's home. Otherwise they're more than likely to choose a place that's low traffic, sheltered from prying eyes and close to water.”
“Water? Why water?”
“You saw the Ragged itself, right?”
“Yes,” I said, cringing.
“Well, they can stay outside of a host body for a short period of time, maybe a few days or so, if it finds a way to stay, uh, moist.”
“Ew, they're like slugs,” The Ghost exclaimed, rolling about inside my brain until I could hear him curled up somewhere on my left side. I tapped my temple and shook my head from side to side, disoriented by the sudden movement. I'd thought his hyperactivity had been cured or at least dampened by the somber situation we'd found ourselves it, but apparently not entirely. His voice was dripping with disgust. “Ethan's a slug on the inside, then,” he said. “That's so incredibly nasty.”
“Shut up,” I whispered, aware that Ethan was peering across the table at us with a curious look on his face. “It's nothing,” I said, waving my hands and grimacing.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I'm sure. So, we have to find water? There's more than one river in this city, and tons of creeks. God, we must have over a hundred bridges here, not to mention ponds, swimming pools, reservoirs and the like. How are we going to narrow it down?”
“It's not going to be easy,” he said.
“Do you think it's still at the aquarium?” I rested my chin on my knuckles and went back to staring out the window. People walked by with shopping bags and children, portable music players and cigarettes, all unaware of the weird girl, the ghost and the body snatcher chatting it up at the cafe table just a few feet from them. “There's a ton of water there. Could it have been hiding in one of the exhibits, maybe off in a corner somewhere?”
“It's possible,” Ethan said. “I mean, you said there were new displays under construction. It could have been in one of those.”
“Do you think it's still there?” I asked him.
The Ghost piped up again. “Addison. Hey. Are we going to go back to the aquarium again?”
I shook my head. “I don't know, why?”
“What's he saying?” Ethan asked.
“I want to go back,” The Ghost said. “I want to look at some stuff one more time, and maybe ask them a question. It's something I've always wanted to know. I probably should have tried to find out if I was still alive, but I never thought about it at the right time.”
“What question?”
“I want to know if crabs fart. It seems unlikely, but they eat things, right? So, do they? It could be one of the last great mysteries of the sea.”
“Whose body are you in?” I said, raising my voice.
“Yours,” The Ghost said.
“And who would appear to everyone else to be asking this question?”
“You,” he whispered.
“Do you really think I'm going to go up and say that to some kind of biologist?”
“If I asked nicely, maybe.” It sounded like he was laughing, which irritated me even more.
“Fat chance.”
“What did he say?” Ethan asked.
“Nothing. It was incredibly stupid.”
“If you say so,” he said.
“Addison,” The Ghost said. “Hey. Hey.”
“Nope,” I said. “Not happening.”
“I don't want to talk about farting crabs.”
“Good, because neither do I.”
“Okay, seriously, this is important. Hey. Addison.”
“What?”
“You see that girl out there? On the sidewalk?”
“What girl?” Outside of the shop, a girl was walking by, her head angled towards the concrete. She looked sick, her greasy hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, her skin shiny with sweat on a day that could only be described as mildly balmy. She looked like she was running a fever, and she was favoring one leg over the other, almost dragging herself along. I was concerned for a moment that she'd keel over and hit the pavement, and we'd have to go running outside and scoop her up and call for an ambulance. I wasn't too keen on getting involved in any more trouble, but if I had to, I would.
I was pushing myself up from the table when The Ghost started hissing. “Sit down! Better yet, turn your head away from the window. Don't let her see you.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Did you get a good look at her?”
“No,” I said, stealing a glance in her direction. She was wearing a wrinkled t-shirt with something written across the chest. “'Without Me It's,'” I read. “I can't read the rest of it.”
“'Just Aweso.' Lame freaking joke, right?”
“Yeah, but-”
“We've seen that before. That exact shirt.”
“We have?” I tried to remember where I could have seen something so stupid before and yet not remember it, and it took me a few moments before my brain clicked and I knew exactly who that girl was.
“She was near the stairs,” The Ghost said.
“Yeah,” I said. “I know.” Turning to Ethan, keeping my face angled from the glass, I said, “That's one of them. One of it's little zombie things.”
______________
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“I think he might be right,” Ethan said, his lips curling downward, his eyebrows gathering towards the bridge of his nose. “I'm not sure what it would want or need an army for, but it's entirely possible.”
“Do you think,” I said, staring out the window, “that it's some sort of simple answer that we're all doomed to overlook? I mean, right up to the point where a thousand of them swarm the city and bust their way into this place?”
“No,” he said. “I think you already just said it, to be honest.”
“Said what? You don't really think...”
“It wouldn't come here alone because that's just not how we operate, Addison. It's probably not going to go looking for a fight all on its lonesome. But if it had backup, then it would be easy.”
“Why would it need that much, though? Wouldn't one or two, hell, even a dozen, be enough? Why make so many of them?”
“It could be that it's planning something or it could be that it just really likes making them,” he said, shrugging. “Who knows.”
“Well, what do you suggest we do now?” I peered across the table and gave him a sheepish smile. “I mean, you'd know better than I would what to do about this.”
“To be honest, I'm not really sure. I think the first thing we should do, before we even consider confronting it anywhere, is find out where it's hiding. There has to be somewhere in the city where it feels safe, at least safe enough to let its guard down enough to sleep or eat or do whatever it needs to do in order to blend in. This is especially certain if it plans on spending any length of time inside one body longer than a few days. It had to do that, seeing as how you saw it in the same body twice.”
“Ragged have apartments?” I ran a hand through my hair, yanking my nervous fingers through tiny knots. This was going to be way tougher than I thought it would be. In a city with thousands upon thousands of residents, and almost as many businesses and office buildings, our search would take forever.
“Something like that, yeah,” Ethan said. “More like safe houses, but if it's trying to stay in a body without tipping off that person's family or friends, it will be in the host's home. Otherwise they're more than likely to choose a place that's low traffic, sheltered from prying eyes and close to water.”
“Water? Why water?”
“You saw the Ragged itself, right?”
“Yes,” I said, cringing.
“Well, they can stay outside of a host body for a short period of time, maybe a few days or so, if it finds a way to stay, uh, moist.”
“Ew, they're like slugs,” The Ghost exclaimed, rolling about inside my brain until I could hear him curled up somewhere on my left side. I tapped my temple and shook my head from side to side, disoriented by the sudden movement. I'd thought his hyperactivity had been cured or at least dampened by the somber situation we'd found ourselves it, but apparently not entirely. His voice was dripping with disgust. “Ethan's a slug on the inside, then,” he said. “That's so incredibly nasty.”
“Shut up,” I whispered, aware that Ethan was peering across the table at us with a curious look on his face. “It's nothing,” I said, waving my hands and grimacing.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I'm sure. So, we have to find water? There's more than one river in this city, and tons of creeks. God, we must have over a hundred bridges here, not to mention ponds, swimming pools, reservoirs and the like. How are we going to narrow it down?”
“It's not going to be easy,” he said.
“Do you think it's still at the aquarium?” I rested my chin on my knuckles and went back to staring out the window. People walked by with shopping bags and children, portable music players and cigarettes, all unaware of the weird girl, the ghost and the body snatcher chatting it up at the cafe table just a few feet from them. “There's a ton of water there. Could it have been hiding in one of the exhibits, maybe off in a corner somewhere?”
“It's possible,” Ethan said. “I mean, you said there were new displays under construction. It could have been in one of those.”
“Do you think it's still there?” I asked him.
The Ghost piped up again. “Addison. Hey. Are we going to go back to the aquarium again?”
I shook my head. “I don't know, why?”
“What's he saying?” Ethan asked.
“I want to go back,” The Ghost said. “I want to look at some stuff one more time, and maybe ask them a question. It's something I've always wanted to know. I probably should have tried to find out if I was still alive, but I never thought about it at the right time.”
“What question?”
“I want to know if crabs fart. It seems unlikely, but they eat things, right? So, do they? It could be one of the last great mysteries of the sea.”
“Whose body are you in?” I said, raising my voice.
“Yours,” The Ghost said.
“And who would appear to everyone else to be asking this question?”
“You,” he whispered.
“Do you really think I'm going to go up and say that to some kind of biologist?”
“If I asked nicely, maybe.” It sounded like he was laughing, which irritated me even more.
“Fat chance.”
“What did he say?” Ethan asked.
“Nothing. It was incredibly stupid.”
“If you say so,” he said.
“Addison,” The Ghost said. “Hey. Hey.”
“Nope,” I said. “Not happening.”
“I don't want to talk about farting crabs.”
“Good, because neither do I.”
“Okay, seriously, this is important. Hey. Addison.”
“What?”
“You see that girl out there? On the sidewalk?”
“What girl?” Outside of the shop, a girl was walking by, her head angled towards the concrete. She looked sick, her greasy hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, her skin shiny with sweat on a day that could only be described as mildly balmy. She looked like she was running a fever, and she was favoring one leg over the other, almost dragging herself along. I was concerned for a moment that she'd keel over and hit the pavement, and we'd have to go running outside and scoop her up and call for an ambulance. I wasn't too keen on getting involved in any more trouble, but if I had to, I would.
I was pushing myself up from the table when The Ghost started hissing. “Sit down! Better yet, turn your head away from the window. Don't let her see you.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Did you get a good look at her?”
“No,” I said, stealing a glance in her direction. She was wearing a wrinkled t-shirt with something written across the chest. “'Without Me It's,'” I read. “I can't read the rest of it.”
“'Just Aweso.' Lame freaking joke, right?”
“Yeah, but-”
“We've seen that before. That exact shirt.”
“We have?” I tried to remember where I could have seen something so stupid before and yet not remember it, and it took me a few moments before my brain clicked and I knew exactly who that girl was.
“She was near the stairs,” The Ghost said.
“Yeah,” I said. “I know.” Turning to Ethan, keeping my face angled from the glass, I said, “That's one of them. One of it's little zombie things.”
______________
Like Rain? Want to be a part of the Facebook community? Rain's official home can be found at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119444154606
