Howlers

“I want out!” Lacy said. “Let me out! He’s crazy!” She let go of Bell’s hand and reached for the car’s door handle but it was locked.

“Honey, you can’t go out there. They’re out there. Shit. Don’t act crazy,” Sue Ling said. The girl’s pretty young face wore a look of honest concern.

She might only be sixteen or seventeen years old, Bell realized.

“Your call,” Joh

Lacy looked at Bell, her hand on the door’s lever.

“We can’t get out here,” Bell said. “We’ll die. I promised your father I’d look after you.” Bell turned and looked at Joh

“So are you in, or are you out, bitch?” Joh

Lacy stared at him. “In,” she said finally.

“Right. Okay.” Joh

It was while they were driving down the driveway, Joh

The Howlers had already visited the hotel, and probably not that long ago, Bell thought, as they pulled into the elegant well-lit turn around, a majestic pine tree in the center of it. A bellman—his head pulled off his shoulders, exposing a blunt-looking spinal column—lay in the middle of the driveway. Expensive suitcases were scattered everywhere. Some had been opened and their contents scattered by the mindless creatures. Guests had been unloading, it seemed, as an extra-long stretch limousine was parked in front of the Bell Captain’s station, with all its doors left wide open. The limo’s back window was smashed in. The limo driver was hanging out of the driver’s side door; a large stone had split his skull wide open, the stone still protruding from the dead driver’s head.

“Je-e-sus,” Sue Ling said. “Look at all those clothes, babe!”

“Bonanza!” Joh

Bell watched Joh

“I’m staying here,” Lacy said.

“No. Everyone out,” Joh

“At least give us a weapon,” Bell said. “They could still be here, the things.”

“Well, just give us a shout if you see one,” Joh

A man pushed through the doors of the honey-colored, log-cabin style lobby. He was in his forties, wearing smart ski gear. He looked terrified. “Thank God. Can you help us? My wife is sick. Please. Can you help us? We need a doctor. I’ve been trying to call out for an ambulance, but my cell phone doesn’t work.”

Joh

The man stopped walking, stu

“Any cops here?” Joh

“What?”

“You know, security? Guys with fucking guns?” Joh

“I didn’t see any,” the man said.

“Where’s your wife?” Joh

“Room 214. She’s very ill—I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I need help—the things. It’s terrible what—”

“Help?” Joh

“Can you take us to a doctor?” the man asked. He glanced at Bell and Lacy, looking to the two of them for help.

“Oh, a doctor. Sure.” Joh

“Thank you. I told my wife that—”

A loud shot rang out. The high-velocity bullet hit the standing man dead in his face. It blew the back of his head off, knocking him backwards as if he’d been hit by a bat. The shot reverberated around them.

Lacy screamed and Bell grabbed her, turning her away from the awful sight of the man’s skull broken open and his jerking feet. The contents of his skull spilled across the ground behind him.

“See if he’s got a wallet,” Joh

The girl ran over to the dead man, rifled his jacket pockets and came up with a wallet and a cell phone.

“Bingo,” Joh

“You’re a murderer,” Lacy said in a quiet, horrified voice, turning toward Joh

“You figure that out on your own?” Joh

“Can’t do it without a weapon,” Bell said. “Those things could be anywhere around here.” He tried to keep the anger out of his voice.

“Go,” Joh

Sue Ling ran over to her boyfriend and tossed him the dead man’s wallet. “One,” the girl said, smiling and seemingly unaffected by the brutal murder. The two hugged.

Bell saw the girl had a diamond belly button piercing when she reached up to kiss her boyfriend. She’s a psychopath, Bell thought.

“You’re both insane,” Lacy said.

“You get us ten thousand dollars cash, and we’ll take you to that ranch. That’s how insane we are,” Joh

Bell wondered why they’d been kept alive, and now he understood. It was dangerous going into the hotel. Why not send them in to do the dirty work? If they were killed, what would it matter?

“How do I know you won’t just kill us?” Bell said.

“Well, you don’t. Do you, Sport?” Joh

“Give me a weapon and I’ll do it,” Bell said. “I’ll get you the money.”

“Okay. Give him the shotgun we got from the old guy’s place,” Joh

Sue Ling looked at her boyfriend, thinking it might not be such a good idea.

“Go on! He’ll do it. I know his type. Military boy, he’ll do it. And he’ll wave the fucking flag while he’s doing it.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let him kill you,” Sue Ling said, going to the back of the Land Rover. She ran with a semi-auto style shotgun over to Bell and smiled. “I think you’re cute, and I’ll get mad at him if he shoots you. Maybe we could have sex sometime?”

“Give him a whole box of shells—might as well,” Joh