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“Way I heard it,” said Redhead, “is that you lost your nerve, that you’re running from White Bear. White Bear says this whole area is his now. He’s bringing in more muscle than you can handle, so you’re cutting out to save your butt. The jet thing is just a cover story to save face.”
“Anyone really believe that?” Tom asked, amused.
“Doesn’t matter. With you gone, the Bear will own the whole Ruin, and folks will believe what he wants them to believe. Bear’s like that.”
“Everyone needs a hobby,” said Tom neutrally.
“What is it you want to know?” asked Stosh. “To let us walk?”
“First, I want that piece of paper,” demanded Tom. “It’s a bounty sheet, right? Give it to me. Don’t get cute about it either. Put it on the ground, weigh it down with a rock. Then step back.”
Redhead did as he was told. He backed up until Tom ordered him to stop. Tom stooped and plucked the paper from under the rock and glanced at it. There were four sketches on the sheet. The text read:
Reward for Four Murderers
Payment on Delivery at G
Nix Riley: ALIVE (one year’s ration dollars);
DEAD (one month’s ration dollars)
Benny Imura: ALIVE (one year’s ration
dollars); DEAD (one month’s ration dollars)
Lilah (aka the Lost Girl): ALIVE (two years’
ration dollars); DEAD (one month’s ration
dollars)
Tom Imura: ALIVE (five years’ ration dollars);
DEAD (one year’s ration dollars)
Tom stuffed it in his pocket. “Who’s looking?”
“Everyone’s looking,” said Redhead. “Whole Ruin’s filled with hunters working your trail.”
“You’re the first I’ve seen. Except for Stosh’s dead friends.”
“Then you’re looking in the wrong place. Everyone knows the routes you usually take, and we got word from town that you were heading out yesterday. Everybody—and I mean everybody—knows that White Bear’s got a stack of cash on this.”
Tom considered. He’d taken Benny and the others out on a route he hadn’t used in months. His intention had been to keep the kids away from the areas of heaviest zombie infestation, but now it seemed as if that decision had saved all their lives. At least so far.
“Paper says ‘payment at G.’ G for Gameland?”
“Yeah. This is all off the record, so to speak,” said Stosh, grinning at Tom with uneven yellow teeth. “From what I heard, they’ll pay double if the young’uns are brought to Gameland with some spunk left in ’em. People say you’ve been training ’em a bit. That means they’d last a whole week, maybe two in the pits. There’s serious money in the Z-Games.”
“This is a lot of money. What’s White Bear’s stake? Especially if I’m leaving?”
Both men looked momentarily confused. “What do you think, man?” asked Stosh, totally perplexed.
“If I knew, I wouldn’t ask,” said Tom. “And you’re wasting my time.”
“Oh man,” said Redhead, “this is great. This is like those old comedy shows from back in the day. This is fricking hilarious!”
And suddenly Redhead made his move. He kicked a baseball-size rock at Tom and charged forward in a powerful tackle. They must have shared some kind of signal, because Stosh was only a half step behind him. Redhead caught Tom around the chest, and Stosh slammed his shoulders into Tom’s thighs. The three of them crashed backward into the bushes in a cloud of torn leaves, dust, grunts, and yells.
