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I have an idea.
Chapter 19
Doc
When I catch upto Stealth, he has the med kit from the truck slung across his body, and he’s carrying a half-full jug of water like a baby in his arms.
“Where’d you find that?” I’m out of breath from running up the stairs from the basement.
“Old water cooler in a doctor’s lounge,” he says. “It’s got to be old as shit, but it’s better than that puddle water.”
“Hell, yeah!” I take the jug from him and wheel around. “Come on. We got to get him out of here, you and me. He’s delirious. He might fight us.”
“I’m always up for a fight, bruh,” he says on a chuckle. “Seriously, though. I’m glad we found him alive. Looks like they just abandoned him down there.”
“Yeah. He’s been more than a week without food or water. He’s only alive right now because he’s a stubborn-ass bastard.”
We pound down the stairs and race to the cell where Cora’s babysitting Jud.
“It’s us!” I call out when we’re within earshot. “I got Stealth!”
“We got water,” he says, as we skid to a stop by the cell.
Cora’s right where I left her, kneeling in front of Jud.
Stealth is hot on my heels as we crowd inside. He crouches and opens the med kit while I tell Jud to drink.
When I trickle water carefully from the jug over Jud’s mouth, he jerks his head to the side. He wants nothing to do with hydration.
“Come on, Jud.” I try again. “You got to drink.”
Jud mumbles something I don’t make out, and he swats at the jug, but I’m not falling for that again. I hold tight and don’t let him knock it from my grip.
I pull back the water and lean closer to him. “What’d you say, Jud? I didn’t make that out?”
“Notthe Judge, anymore,” he growls.
“What are you talking about?”
He turns to me and confronts me with eyelids sunken into dark, scabbed-over holes. Even knowing it’s coming, the sight still makes my bile rise. Weakly, he points to his face. “No eyes. No Gift,” he says. “Not the Judge anymore. It’s just Rick, now.”
I sit back on my heels. He must think that if he has no eyes, he can’t possibly see into men’s hearts. He doesn’t think he’s the Judge anymore.
That must be why they did it, the sick bastards. They stole Jud’s Gift. They did the one thing they knew would break the leader of Eagle Peak.
The only sounds in the cell are me, Cora, and Stealth laboring to breathe in the toxic air in this cell. Mildew, mold, and human waste are a nose-clogging perfume. How long have Jud’s lungs had nothing to feed on but this foulness? How long has he been locked in the dark with nothing but his own thoughts poisoning his sense of self?
“Here.” Stealth must have some experience with medical treatment in the field, because he hands me an IV bag set up with a butterfly needle.
I clear my throat as I take it from him. “Thanks.” Jud needs these fluids, but I doubt he’ll let me get a good stick. It’s while I’m debating knocking him out so we can just lug his limp body out of here that Cora interrupts.
“Guys,” she says. “This is awesome. The water, the IV. But give me just a minute with him, okay?”
I stare at her. “We’ve got to get him out of here. He’s in bad shape.”
“I know.” Quietly, just for my ears, she says, “If he doesn’t take the first step, he’ll never be free from this place.” She holds my gaze, and in her dark-ocean eyes, I see a depth of experience that makes my heart shudder. If anyone understands what Jud’s going through mentally, it’s her.
“Okay,” I say, and I back off. “But try to get him to drink.” I leave the jug beside her.
