Page 18 (1/2)

By the tiain, there were only ninety ht Jack Crow But he kept it to hi

The trouble was, they had had so hts

Two extra spotlights to protect those that were smashed

A new cable

They had removed as left of both elevator doors

They had fixed the front door

And of course they repaired the walking wounded Cat’s nose was broken Jack had sutures on his cheek Felix had a bandage on the edge of his forehead And Carl Joplin had damn near lost all his teeth

He hadn’t lost a one yet But he should have Seeirl out, she had just torn the Blazer’s rear bumper completely off The second ti the cable around the engine block and getting aalmost twenty miles an hour when he ran out of slack

But she had stopped the police car dead and Carl had gone right through the windshield and his face was cut in what looked like a hundred different places and his lips were split and all his front teeth were loose to the touch Soed to keep his lead foot on the throttle through the whole thing and, therefore, saved their lives

Or at least kill her, which hat counted

Cat still rily snarled back that he had changed cars and gotten oddamn seconds and let’s see Cat do it that fast and Cat had asked him if he kne far a vampire could move in thirty seconds?

"How far?" he snorted

"Nobody knows, Joplin," Cat shot back, "because there’s so many oceans in the way!"

And it was hed because they were all going to have to do it again two ht this was going to work

Jack knew this, saw it in their faces, and didn’t care, didn’t give a shit because there was no other choice!

So, "Rock and roll," be barked and got his cast inside again, into the dusty glare of the spolights and the cool dryness Of the air conditioning, which had stayed working all along soot into their positions, Jack walked over and looked at the elevator car Pig’s blood and broken glass were all over the walls and ceiling There was a large pool of it on the floor

Jack had nothing to replace their bait No ht, fro frenzy, that just that pool on the floor would be enough to entice

Or arette What does itto die anyway," he ht himself Did he say that? Hell, did he say that out loud?

And he turned and looked at the others, at Cat cla back atop the elevator, at the priest with his crossbow and the deputy with his puny pike and at the gunht

He thought: Why are we doing this? Why? This is crazy!

And that scared him most of all because he had never, in all the fears and kills and slaughtered friends, had such thoughts And he wondered if he was going soft and then another part of his head stepped forward and quietly whispered that anyone can be pushed too far and there is such a thing as toohe thought he would weep

But he did not

Neither did he work it out Not at all He just stood there for a few seconds to be sure the tears had stopped welling and then h thelike a cheat whenever he ain unless they thought he believed and Did he?

"Rock and roll!" he rily one more time, because none of this shit really mattered, because it still had to be tried, because

Because well, because "Rock & Roll," dammit!

And he looked around and o and then he just da the cells were clear of streaks or ghostlyaround down there, so Jack reached forward and flipped a switch to send the elevator down a second ti tofrom the battered elevator car but it started down Without doors on it, all could see itpass the floor, see the cables and wires sprouting fro twisting metal

And stay stopped, within six inches of the floor

Jack ain The car acted like it wanted toin place, but it basically wouldn’t budge Jack sighed and flipped the switch off

"You want me to call Carl?" asked Father Adam

Jack stood up from the screens "I don’t know Hold a second"

"I think," offered Cat from his perch atop the elevator shaft, "that it’s just stuck on soht"

He walked around the TV screens, still carrying his crossbow, and went over to have a look With his free hand he picked up one of the spotlights and took it with hi dryly behind hiot there and pointed down at a corner of the shaft

"Looks like it’s ja up in there soarette

"It’s never worked really great," offered the deputy from just behind him

Crow turned to the voice and saw that everyone, even Felix, had crowded up behind him to see

Are we undisciplined? wondered Crow to hi, just puffed on his cigarette

It was al them not to do this

Well, fuck that!

"Here," he said to Cat, holding out the spotlight, "hold this"

Cat took the light, frowning "What are you gonna do?"

"I’rowled Crow and stepped up to the edge