The Shaman Page 2

tall as Joseph materialized, though not nearly so thickly muscled. He, like the man-child Lormond, wore full-body camouflage with the Nazi-Confederate Swastika flag covering the entire back. This Devil was a chief, though, for he wore the WWI pointed German helmet, which was the mark of a chief.

  ANow wipe the blade off, boy.@ The Devil tossed a heavily blood-stained cloth to Lormond. The boy held his prize up high for the other Devils slinking out of the woods, and the pickup that was just now skidding to a sideways halt on the road behind us, a cloud of dust in its wake. The half-breed placed his bloody scalp in a pouch on his black leather belt, as the White Devils= eyes shone, and their voices yelled and whooped unbidden. The tall one that had come out of the woods after the boy placed his giant gnarled hand on the boy=s shoulder, and smiled.

  ANow, my son,@ he said with savage pride, Ayou are considered a full-fledged member of the tribe.@ He turned to the others, and said in a loud voice, ALet the beatings begin!@

  They were on us like a pack of starving hounds fighting over some chicken-bones, except they were attacking the food instead of each other. In minutes we were bloody bruised heaps. Luckily, none of my bones were broken, and I assumed the same went for my Brothers. They were careful about that, as they always were.

  The boy Lormond gave me one last kick in the ribs, and said, AGit up, nigger. You boys got a lot more walkin= to do before sunset!@ He smiled, just like the others. His fellow Devils were trying, unsuccessfully, to smother their laughter. The chief gave >em a cold glare, but it didn=t seem to do much good. The boy seemed oblivious. Full-fledged member my ass. Poor, poor father. I looked up at the boy, looked into his eyes, and began to laugh just about as hard as I could. That seemed to open a floodgate for the Devils. Some of >em were even rolling around on the ground, holding their sides from the pain of their whoofing guffaws.

  The chief=s eyes blazed with stark cold hatred. They seemed to tear into my mind.

  AAlright everybody, back to work. Now Goddammit!@ he sputtered. You too, son. I=ll catch up to you later.@ It seemed he could barely control his rage. He managed to keep his shaking almost unnoticeable, until the truck roared away, and the rest of the Devils had melted away into the woods. He exploded. His bellowing wail was so torn and pained and full of unbridled spite that I couldn=t control the trickle of fear that began to spread its sharp, cold fingers through my body. When he was done, he took a long deep breath, and let it out with a huff.

  AIt=s not often that me and my boy get a chance to do anything together. He works, and I work, and we finally get a chance to have a little fun, and you go and fucking ruin it!@ He walked over to where I sat holding my ribs. He was almost controlled, almost calm. He pulled an unfamiliar pistol from its weatherbeaten holster, and pointed it at me for a long moment, and then he smiled. It made those cold fingers in my flesh spread even further, beyond my will to control. He flipped the pistol, caught the barrel, and slammed the butt into the side of my head, once, and returned the gun to its sheath. He took in another deep lungful of air, and released it with a slow sigh.

  Looking down at me again, he made sure he had my attention before he spoke.

  AYou=ll be the last one to go, you know.@ His eyes shone with pure, heartfelt glee. AThat=s when the real fun>ll begin.@ He chuckled, and unclipped one of his pouches from his belt. He tossed it to the ground. ATo make sure you make it. There=s a stream on up the road a few miles or so, near Odinvale.@ His smile left with a sharp twitch. AYou boys have a good day now, y= hear? He strode with a kind of cheerful eagerness into the woods, and disappeared, his odd chuckle fading with every crunching step.

  AI=m glad I ain=t you,@ said Leon through a mouthful of blood.

  As usual, Joseph=s eyes were lit with frustrated, simmering anger. He=d been told after his capture, as we all had, that if he fought back on the walk, then all of us would die at once. I still can=t remember how many of those Devils he killed after we ran out of ammunition, or how many arrows we had to pull out of him after he charged >em with his saber held high. . .

  Jumon licked his lips eagerly, his eyes on the pouch. AWhat=s in the bag, man?@

  I looked to the ground where the smooth leather pouch lay with exaggerated slowness, and pursed my lips. Then I slowly raised my head until my eyes met Jumon=s. ANuts.@ I said.

  Jumon=s eyes gleamed. ANuts? What kind?@

  I grabbed my ballsack with a smile. AThese nuts in you mouth, bi-yotch!@ We tried to laugh, but it hurt too much to give it a good run. Still, I managed to produce enough of a tear to wipe from my swollen, wincing eye.

  AHow the hell am I supposed to know what=s in the bag? Pick it up and find out.@ By now, we=d all managed to make it to our feet. This last beating seem much worse than the one we=d gotten a few days ago. Just when we=ve pretty-much healed. . .I still wonder why the hell I didn=t mutiny when the Commander gave the order to surrender. Fuckin= bitch-ass Mother-Fucker. . .I can=t say I was too torn up when they strung his naked bleeding ass from that tree. . .

  ABeef Jerky! I=ll be damned!@ Jumon generously wet his thickish lips, and tore into a strip of the cured meat.

  AMight wanna wait till we get to that stream before we start scarfin= down. . . Jumon?@

  Jumon was clutching at his throat, his eyes bugging from their sockets, his ghost-pale tongue flapping around like a beached eel. His body went stiff, and the life in his bug-eyes went dark. He fell hard to the dirt road, motionless, dead.

  ADamn!@ swore Leon. ASORRY CUNT-LICKIN= MUTHAFUCKAS! SORRY -- @

  An arrow thudded into a tree, after whizzing past his head. Muffled laughter could be heard from nearby.

  AHey, what=s wrong with a little pussy-eatin=?@ I asked no one in particular, amused. Hey, it was better to be amused by something, anything, rather than think about what had just happened to Jumon. Cold, useless fury had no place, for the time being.

  ADat=s what I=m talkin= >bout,@ rumbled Joseph.

  Leon shook his head and swore under his breath, and began to shuffle his way on up the road. Joseph and I followed, none of us bothering to look back at the remains of our fallen comrades. We knew they were dead, and knew well enough what death looked like. Who the hell wanted anything to do with it before his time?

  The miles drug on, the sun straddling the high treeline behind and to our right, changing its position with every curve of the road.

  After all the days he=d already survived, Leon was finally beginning to get a little shaky on his feet. So far, he=d managed not to stumble and fall, but you could tell that it was mostly and effort of will that kept him going. He never once, though, called for a rest. Of all people. . . Joseph noticed too, and beat me to calling for a break. We sat back against shaded trees, but we should=ve known better.

  AIf yer gonna sit, sit in the sun, boys,@ a hick voice cried from the thick-treed thicket. We knew better than to argue. We got up and moved to the sunny road, and sat again. Still, though, a rest was a rest. . .

  Something was different. The Devils were hovering around more than usual, and that made me feel creepy, like there was about to be one of those old-school drive-bys, and a car full of Niggas was about to open up on the house of a rival gang-banger, and I was just sittin= in my crib chillin=, and all of a sudden I felt a shot of white-hot pain in my back, and there was a big-assed hole in my chest, and everything got fuzzy, and I could hear a lot of guns, and somebody was yellin= my name over and over again. . .Jumon! JUMON!

  The world began to shake. I opened my eyes, to look at Leon right in my face, a hand on each shoulder, shakin= me so bad I wanted to stand up and go take a piss. Wooziness overtook me, and Leon wouldn=t let me up. His concern coated my face with flying spittle.

  AYou alright, man? Shit man, you looked gone, like you was really fucked up or somethin=. You hidin= some Chronic up yoe ass you ain=t tellin= us about?@

  ANaw, man,@ I said smiling, wiping spit out of my eye. ALet me up, nigga. I gotta go pee.@ He thought he had to help me stand, and the way I felt, maybe he did.

  Le
on sat back down, and I took care of business. The Devils let us sit there as long as we wanted, so we rested until Leon felt up to stretchin= his legs again. As we sat, I couldn=t get out of my head the crazy knowledge I had in it, that my recent dizzy spell seemed to amplify. I kept seein= a weapons depot, underground, with hundreds of guns and other weapons lining the walls, with a gleaming jeep parked in an adjoining room. It was a military jeep, so I couldn=t really tell its age. Could=ve been anywhere from ten to a hundred years old. They all basically look the same to me, or close enough. Joseph stood, and we began walking again, and I put it all out of my mind.

  We=d walked for all of two minutes when we heard the babbling of a brook. We stopped, looked at one another with sheer mock disgust, and broke into a run toward the stream, happy as can be!

  Leon fell to his knees, thrusting his head into the cool clear water eagerly. AAhh. . .@

  Joseph strode into the rushing water until it reached his knees, then lay back in it, his stubbly head submerged.

  I stepped into the stream ankle-deep, and like Leon, went to my knees. I don=t know how many handfuls I gulped down before I took a long, deep breath, sighing with gluttonous relief.

  AAh, glorious, sweet fresh water!@ beamed Joseph. AAs far as I=m concerned, dey can shoot me now. I=d die a happy man.@

  AYou