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"Not yet," Nick told her. "But soon. Very soon."
Nick would have hugged her if he thought he could do it without covering her in stains.
Chapter 22 Cram That Sucker
Zin was a good soldier, and proud of it. Being a ripper didn't leave a person with much self-respect, so Zin squeezed all the self-respect she could out of her military service. The Chocolate Ogre was now her general, and she would do her job to the best of her ability. A good soldier follows orders. A good soldier doesn't ask questions. But she couldn't help but wonder about some of the requests the Chocolate Ogre made of her. Particularly the secret ones he called "special projects."
The first request involved an all-day sucker. The kind as big as your face, all colorful and sticky, that gets stuck in your teeth when you bite it, and makes your molars hurt. This sucker had crossed over with a little kid who had probably been working on it since the day he crossed over. The thing was half-eaten, and would stay half-eaten no matter how much the kid licked it.
The Ogre took Zin and the sucker-boy to a candy shop-- not an Everlost one, but a living-world shop, where fleshies went about their business buying and selling sweets.
"I want you to rip him a new sucker," the Ogre ordered. Zin couldn't see why, as this sucker wasn't going anywhere, but she followed orders.
"Yes, sir. A' course, sir."
There was a stand that held suckers like a little metal tree. Zin reached into the living world, and ripped the kid a brand new sucker that was bigger and better than the one he started with. Then she proceeded to rip the old sucker from the boy's hand--something only she could accomplish--and replaced it with the new one. The boy acted like a kid in a candy shop, which, in fact, he was.
But then things started to get weird.
After the boy ran off hopping and skipping with his new sucker, the Ogre pointed to the old one in Zin's hand and said, "Now that he's got a better one, I want you to put this one back."
Zin was confused. "What do you mean 'put it back'?"
"I mean exactly what I said. Rip a hole, and put the sucker back into the living world."
The suggestion just made Zin mad. What, was he stupid? Ripping stuff out was one thing, but putting something back? Whenever Zin ripped, she always kind of felt like a midwife, helping someone give birth. To her, the living world was truly that--a living thing, that could feel everything that happened to it. You don't put back stuff that gets born. "Sir, you can't take sumpin' that crossed into Everlost and shove it back into the living world--that ain't the way it's done."
And then the Ogre asked, "Have you ever tried?"
Zin was about to explain to him just how ripping worked, but her words caught in her throat, because she realized that she never had tried. The idea of putting something back had never occurred to her. Why should it? It was all about taking.
;Speak for yourself," Zin said. "Everybody's gots their own reasons for the things they do. Alls that matters is that your reasons and mine carry the same flag."
"We don't have a flag," Nick pointed out.
"I could make one."
"Just as long as it's not Confederate."
Zin thought about it. "Whacha say I rip some fabric into Everlost, and come up with sumpin' brand spankin' new?"
"Great--you could be our own Betsy Ross."
To which she replied, "Betsy Ross was a Yankee." It was a strange thing to build an army when they had no idea where to find the enemy. "I've heard rumors that Mary's gone west," Johnnie-O told Nick. "Maybe even across the Mississippi--but I also hear there's no way to cross the Mississippi, so who knows?"
"D'ya think she's afraid to come this far south?" Charlie asked.
"Mary's not afraid," Nick told him. "But she is cautious--which means she'll only come after us when she feels she can't lose." He wondered if she knew where he was right now, and what he was doing.
"What d'ya think's gonna happen when you finally come face-to-face with her?" Charlie asked. It wasn't the first time Nick had been asked that question, and his answer was always the same.
"I don't try to guess at things that haven't happened yet."
But that was a lie. Nick couldn't deny that he had fantasies about their destined meeting. In one fantasy, he would defeat her--but he would show such mercy that Mary would break down in his arms, admit she was wrong about everything--and that admission would heal him, sending every last ounce of chocolate into remission. Then, hand in hand, they would hold their coins and step into the light.
In another version, Mary would win the battle, but be so moved by Nick's valor, and by his passion for freeing the souls she had trapped, that she would finally listen to reason, and allow Afterlights to choose their destinies for themselves. Then together they would lead Everlost into a new age.
All his fantasies ended with him and Mary together one way or another. This was something he couldn't share with anyone, for how could they trust a leader who was in love with the enemy?
