Armageddon's Children - Terry Brooks [174]
There were no answers. He slipped the finger bones into his pocket and lay back, weary from all he had experienced. Maybe, he thought, Logan Tom would come for him as he had said he would. Maybe he just needed to have the faith his mother’s words suggested.
But he was powerless within this dark room, behind these compound walls and in the hands of people who hated and feared him. He didn’t feel like anything special, whatever his supposed origins. He was just someone who had tried to find a home and a family to belong to.
What more was he supposed to be?
Trust in me, he heard his mother whisper one last time.
Then he fell asleep.
* * *
LOGAN TOM STOOD with Panther in the deep shadows just inside the building doorway that fronted Pioneer Square. The others were upstairs completing their preparations for leaving. When informed of her plans, Logan had agreed with Owl; whatever happened, it was time for them to get out of there. She had told him about the giant centipede, a creature he had never even heard of, let alone encountered. Too many strange things were coming into the world, and Logan knew what that meant. If there was to be any civilization in the future, any human presence, it was time to start thinking about how they would make it happen.
“This is what you are going to do,” he told Panther. “After we get in sight of the compound, you will walk up to the front gates and start yelling for them to let Hawk out. Stay well back when you do. Don’t do anything to suggest you are carrying a weapon. If they even think you have a weapon, they will shoot you. All you have to do is yell at them for about five minutes or so. Got it?”
Panther nodded. “What’s the point?”
“While you’re yelling at them, they’ll be looking at you. That will let me get through the rubble to the underground tunnel Tessa used to meet Hawk. That’s how I’m going to get into the compound.”
The boy shook his head. “That door gonna be locked. Plus, they might see you anyway.”
“Let me worry about that. All you need to do is keep their attention for those five minutes. Then get out of there. Don’t stand around waiting for something to happen. If you see them start to come out or do anything that even looks like they might be coming out, you run for it.” He paused. “No wild stuff.
No heroics.”
The boy grinned. “So where do I run to?”
“Back to the edge of the square so that I can find you again when I’m done.”
He reached down to button the heavy jacket he was wearing and turned up the collar. The day was growing chilly. He crooked the black staff in his arm as he straightened his clothing. Panther glanced at the staff, then at him. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Where’s your weapons? You ain’t going in there with no weapons, are you?”
Logan almost smiled. Once, he would have carried a Tyson Flechette, a brace of Arrow Stunners, and a K-Bar Classic. He would have worn body armor and a helmet with night vision built into the visor. But that was a long time ago, before he became a Knight of the Word.
He took the staff out of the crook of his arm. “This is all I need. Let’s go.”
The sun was already sinking into the far reaches of the western sky as they walked out the door and into the street. They would have perhaps another two hours of light, two hours in which to get to Hawk and Tessa before the death sentence was carried out. Logan knew it was barely enough time, even if things went the way they should. They would have to hurry.
He said a quick good-bye to Owl, mostly to reinforce his earlier instructions. She was to make certain that the Ghosts left Pioneer Square as quickly as possible, taking whatever they could either carry or haul in the