The remote control for the bomb around my waist reappears. It floats into view above me as I lie on my back, staring up at the sky.
I've been worrying about what Quincy said about Amish Amos talking through me. The symbol I drew on the back of my arm—a question mark combined with a crucifix—matches the one on the wall of the bloody church in my vision.
But the bomb remote takes my mind off all that. I thought Quincy had taken it while I was blacked out.
But it's Jeremiah Weed who's dangling it over me.
"I'm done waiting," says Weed. "Get 'em up here now, or I'll push the button."
He gets my attention.
Weed makes some more threats, but I just lie on the ground a minute more, thinking things over. One problem still stands in the way of my plan, and its name is "Knox," as in "Knox won't come out and play."
The good news is, I have an idea for turning him up.
With Weed still standing over me, I toss and groan in the dirt. I roll my head from side to side and make my eyes flutter like I'm having a seizure.
Weed backs up fast. Probably thinks I'm going to try to jump him. "Settle down, War!" He waves the bomb remote. "I swear, I'll push it!"
"I'm not War." I roll my eyes back so only the whites are showing. "My name is Amos."
"What the fuck?" says Weed.
With my eyes still rolled up to the whites, I flop my head to one side so Quincy can see my face. "Quincy?" I make my voice a little higher, though it's only a guess at what "Amos" sounded like. "Quincy, it's me. I'm in control again."
Quincy says nothing for a minute. And then he speaks.
"Amo-o-o-s?" His voice is a ghostly moan. "I'm ba-a-a-ck."
And I know I've got him. What I couldn't accomplish by kicking his ass, I made happen through trickery.
Knox Pittenger has returned.
Now to put him to good use. "Come with me, Knox." I get to my feet and then help him get to his. "It's time to go fishing."
"He's caught something," said Hannahlee. "His side's infected."
She gave Dunne and Gowdy a look at the sewn-up wound in Leif's side, which was oozing between the stitches. "We need to get him out of here."
Gowdy's hands jittered as he fiddled with the ruby frames of his glasses. "How soon?"
"ASAP." Hannahlee shot him a look, then bent to affix a fresh dressing to Leif's wound. "Unless you've got a stock of I.V. antibiotics on hand down here."
Gowdy shook his head. "I guess we'd better get moving."
"Hold on." It was the first thing Dunne had said in a while. He was still shell-shocked from Gowdy's Godseye blitz of information, not sure if he was more pissed off at Gowdy and Hannahlee for keeping secrets or revealing them...but his personal turmoil would have to wait. "Does the exit lead to Waystation Cemetery, like on the show?"
Gowdy looked relieved that Dunne was talking again. "Yes, it does. The cemetery's right above us."
"You have a camera up there, right?" said Dunne. "Let's take a look."
Gowdy headed across the cave. "You think Lou's waiting for us?"
"He doesn't know much about the tunnels, apparently," said Dunne. "He didn't follow us down here."
"I'm the only one with access." Gowdy hurried to a bank of video screens mounted on a rack against the far wall. "And I'm sure the layout's a blank to him. He didn't see the Weeping Willows episodes that showed it. He's never watched the episodes he didn't appear in."
"I still say be careful," said Dunne.
Gowdy pressed buttons on the control board built into the rack. One of the screens flared to life, displaying a black-and-white image from the outside world.
Dunne immediately recognized the location as Waystation Cemetery. He also recognized the human figure in the middle of the shot.
"Quincy!"
The ponytailed giant waved his arms at the camera. He was shouting, though Dunne couldn't hear what he said.
"So that's your partner," said Gowdy. "Good to see he's alive."
"But he looks bad," said Dunne. Even in low-resolution black-and-white video, Quincy looked beaten and bedraggled. His clothes were torn, his face bruised and bloody, and he was limping. "Where's the audio?"
"I'm trying." Gowdy flipped switches and slid fader bars up and down on the board. "The mic's dead. Let me switch to another pickup." Gowdy punched a button and slid a fader bar with finality. "There we go."
Quincy's voice filtered from a speaker, sounding distant and strange. "...can you hear m-e-e? I got away. I ha-a-ave the car..."
"He's in a daze or something." Dunne squinted at the screen. "He must've really taken a pounding."
"I'm waiting for yo-o-ou," said Quincy. "We need to go before they fi-i-ind me."
"We should get up there," said Gowdy.
Dunne kept staring at the screen. "What if he's not alone?"
Gowdy also leaned in to stare. "I don't see anybody."
"Do you have more cameras up there?"
Gowdy hit a series of buttons on the board. The screen changed to snow...then went back to the original shot of Quincy. "None that are working."
"Hur-r-ry," said Quincy. "We don't have much ti-i-ime."
Dunne frowned. He went over every millimeter of the image on the screen but saw nothing suspicious.
"So what now?" said Gowdy.
"We go." Hannahlee had crossed the cave and was standing behind them. "Before the patient gets worse."
Dunne looked over at Hannahlee and Gowdy. He couldn't believe they were his parents. It didn't seem possible. "Can we wait just a little? See if anything changes up there?"
Before Hannahlee could answer, Quincy let loose a howl, and all eyes turned to the screen. Quincy staggered in a circle, dodging tombstones, then dropped to the ground. He lay there, wailing and twitching under the blazing New Mexico sun.
"Does that answer your question?" said Hannahlee.
Dunne sighed. "We have to help him." Even as he said it, his heart pounded faster. They were going to leave the safety of the Burrow.
"He could be faking the seizure," said Gowdy. "At gunpoint."
"We can't take that chance," said Hannahlee. "We have both him and Leif to think about."
Dunne felt cold sweat trickle down his sides. He wished he could argue with her, but he couldn't. Quincy was a human irritant, but he was also part of the team. He had been on the quest from almost the beginning, through all the ups and downs and deadly dangers.
And somewhere along the way, though Dunne hated to admit it, he had turned into a friend.
"Okay then." Dunne looked at Gowdy, his newfound father, and forced aside the mixed feelings roiling within him. "We need two things."
"Shoot," said Gowdy.
"Exactly," said Dunne. "Where do you keep the guns?"
"And a stretcher," said Hannahlee.
"You read my mind," said Dunne.
"See?" Gowdy chuckled and swatted Dunne's arm. "I told you we were a family. We even think alike."
"I hope not." Dunne scowled. "Because I don't think you'd like what I'm thinking about you right now."