Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse by Stephen King, George R. R. Martin, Cory Doctorow Read Free Book Online Page B

questions," said Deaver. "It's her job," said Rain.
    "I don't want anybody askin about everything I do," said Deaver.
    "Nobody has to ask," said Rain. "You always tell us whether we want to hear or not."
    "If you don't want to hear, you don't have to," said Deaver. "Don't get touchy," said Rain.
    "You guys are both gettin wet-headed on me, all of a sudden. Does the temple make you crazy, is that how it works?"
    "I don't mind my mom askin me stuff. It's OK."
    The ferries ran from Point to Bingham day and night, so they had to go north a ways before cutting west to Oquirrh Island. The smelter and the foundries put orange-bellied smoke clouds into the night sky, and the coal barges were getting offloaded just like in daytime. The coal-dust cloud that was so grimy and black in the day looked like white fog under the floodlights.
    "My dad died right there, about this time of day," said Lehi.
    "He loaded coal?"
    "Yeah. He used to be a car salesmen. His job kind of disappeared on him." "You weren't there, were you?"
    "I heard the crash. I was asleep, but it woke me up. And then a lot of shouting and running. We lived on the island back then, always heard stuff from the harbor. He got buried under a ton of coal that fell from fifty feet up."
    Deaver didn't know what to say about that.
    "You never talk about your folks," said Lehi. "I always remember my dad, but you never talk about your folks." Deaver shrugged.
    "He doesn't remember em," Rain said quietly. "They found him out on the plains somewhere. The mobbers got his family, however many there was, he must've hid or something, that's all they can figure."
    "Well what was it?" asked Lehi. "Did you hide?"
    Deaver didn't feel comfortable talking about it, since he didn't remember anything except what people told him. He knew that other people remembered their childhood, and he didn't like how they always acted so surprised that he didn't. But Lehi was asking, and Deaver knew that you don't keep stuff back from friends. "I guess I did. Or maybe I looked too dumb to kill or somethin." He laughed. "I must've been a real dumb little kid, I didn't even remember my own name. They figure I was five or six years old, most kids know their names, but not me. So the two guys that found me, their names were Teague and Deaver."
    "You gotta remember somethin."
    "Lehi, I didn't even know how to talk. They tell me I didn't even say a word till I was nine years old. We're talkin about a slow learner here."
    "Wow." Lehi was silent for a while. "How come you didn't say anything?"
    "Doesn't matter," said Rain. "He makes up for it now, Deaver the talker. Champion talker."
    They coasted the island till they got past Magna. Lehi led them to a storage shed that Underwater Salvage had put up at the north end of Oquirrh Island. It was unlocked and full of diving equipment. Lehi's friends had filled some tanks with air. They got two diving outfits and underwater flashlights. Rain wasn't going underwater, so she didn't need anything.
    They pulled away from the island, out into the regular shipping lane from Wendover. In that direction, at least, people had sense enough not to travel at night, so there wasn't much traffic. After a little while they were out into open water. That was when Rain stopped the little outboard motor Deaver had scrounged for her and Lehi had fixed. "Time to sweat and slave," said Rain.
    Deaver sat on the middle bench, settled the oars into the locks, and began to row.
    "Not too fast," Rain said. "You'll give yourself blisters."
    A boat that might have been Lake Patrol went by once, but otherwise nobody came near them as they crossed the open stretch. Then the skyscrapers rose up and blocked off large sections of the starry night.
    "They say there's people who was never rescued still livin in there," Lehi whispered.
    Rain was disdainful. "You think there's anything left in there to keep anybody alive? And the water's still too salty to drink for long."
    "Who says they're alive?" whispered