{"sf1_id":8409,"sf2_id":"3eg0Q3jm","title":"Summer Vacation Of The Living Dead - book 4","author":"Alex Reynard","words":35685,"posted_at":"2005-12-15T18:29:00.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Bat","Cheetah","Coyote","Death","Feline","Ferret","Squirrel","Supernatural"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/8409-summer-vacation-of-the-living-dead-book-4","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/3eg0Q3jm","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=8409\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#4 of Summer Vacation Of The Living Dead","content":"  \nSummer Vacation Of The Living Dead  \na gruesome little screwball comedy by Alex Reynard  \n  \n  \n-~\\*BOOK FOUR\\*~-  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FORTY ONE-  \n  \nMost people don't know that zombies have some of the worst morning breath in all  \nof creation.  \n  \nMax came fumblingly out of sleep the following morning. Blinking gummily, he  \nrealized his milky left eye had fallen out of his head during the night and  \nsplattered all over his pillow. \"Aw, gross!\" He scraped the slimy retinal residue  \noff his cheek, trying to force as much of it as he could back into the socket.  \n  \nThankfully, it started to reform quickly enough. Amid various gooshy stretching  \nsounds, Max's eye pulled itself back together again. A few seconds later he  \nblinked a few times and found his vision once again binocular. His bleary eye had  \na bit of a hazy caul over it, but that was normal. Or at least as normal as he  \ncould really expect.  \n  \nHe glanced over at the clock on his bedside table and realized with minor  \nsurprise that he'd slept in almost till noon. He stretched a bit, and felt a lot  \nmore rested than he had in weeks. It wasn't just the difference between a bed and  \na wheelbarrow, he thought. It came from waking up here, in his own bed, in his  \nhouse, and knowing that at least \\*some\\* of his problems were finally solved.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; But none of this was nearly as important as the wave of scent that had finally  \nmade its way to his nose just then. It had been lingering in the air for quite  \nsome time now, but like a fluorescent lightbulb taking its own sweet time to come  \non, Max's nose hadn't been able to register it yet. Now he could, and his  \nsleepiness was gone in the flicker of a synapse. His eyes went wide and his mouth  \nwatered.  \n  \nMEAT!!!  \n  \nMax flung himself out of bed and hastily pulled some clothes on, dancing about  \nthe room one-legged as he yanked on his pants. He couldn't get downstairs fast  \nenough. Oh, there was meat down there! Lovely meat! \\*Cooked\\* meat! And lots of  \nit, he could tell! The little zombie flung himself out the bedroom door and ran  \nmadly down the hall, his stomach growling like a diesel engine.  \n  \nHe reached the staircase and unfortunately his eagerness to fill his tummy had  \ntaken up too much of the energy his brain usually relegated to common sense. Max  \nlet out a startled falsetto scream that was cut off sharply as he tripped on the  \nfirst stair and slammed nose-first into the boards. Completely unbalanced now,  \nthe poor little dead pup went sailing down the staircase in a series of an  \nextremely ungraceful somersaults.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Oof!\"  \n\\*WHACK\\*  \n\\*THUMP\\*  \n\"Aaaaa!!\"  \n\\*CRUNCH\\*  \n\"Fuck a duck!\"  \n\\*WHAM\\*  \n\\*SNAP\\*  \n\"Shit!!\"  \n\\*SQUOOSH\\*  \n  \nMartina looked up sharply from her skillet at the ungodly noises coming from the  \nstairwell. She stepped out of the kitchen, Tish peeking out from behind her, just  \nin time to see a raggedly mutilated pile of bones and fur fly down the hall and  \nsmash wetly into the livingroom wall.  \n  \n\"Max!!\" she shrieked, and ran to her son's side.  \n  \nSpeedy Tish got there first, squatting over the cringe-inducing mass of broken  \nbones and squished organs her brother had accidentally ended up as. She grimaced  \nas Max feebly wrenched his head around 180 degrees to look up at them.  \n  \n\"What's for breakfast?\" he asked, sounding bright and chipper.  \n  \nTish rolled her eyes. \"You colossal idiot.\"  \n  \nMax grinned.  \n  \n\"You- You're okay...?\" Mom asked, her paws cupped over her mouth in shock and  \nconcern.  \n  \n\"Oh, sure, yeah,\" Max tossed off, casual as ever. \"Didn't even hurt.\" With a  \nsound like stomping on a box of animal crackers, he deftly un-broke his left arm.  \n  \nIt ended up taking only a short while for Max to get himself reassembled again.  \nAs his mother watched worriedly, barely able to comprehend the fact that her son  \nwas even in such a predicament, Max untwisted himself and Tish helped him pop all  \nhis bones back in place. After a quick check to make sure that at least \\*most\\* of  \nhis insides were back where they should be, the little zombie hopped to his feet  \nand asked again what they were having for breakfast.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Oddly enough, his blithe, nonchalant manner helped reassure his mother more than  \nanything else that this fuzzy little pile of bones really was the same ol' Max  \nhe'd always been. Her son had always had such an amazing resiliency, able to  \nbounce back from anything life threw at him with a shrug and a laugh. Martina  \nplaced a loving paw on her son's shoulder as she led him into the kitchen. She  \nlooked into his eyes, lopsided as they were, and realized that, even if she  \ndidn't understand what in the world had become of her little boy, nothing could  \npossibly stop her from still caring about him. A mother's love is unconditional.  \nMax's physical self could have been changed into anything, anything at all, and  \nshe would always be able to see beyond it to his heart.  \n  \nAt the same moment, Max wasn't thinking anything so philosophical. His nose was  \njust about to explode from curiosity. When he finally saw the spread that was  \nlaid out before him on the kitchen table, he let out a whoop of sheer joy and  \nhugged his mom so tight he ended up rearranging his guts again. Tish had  \ninstructed her mother well on just what Max's stomach could handle. The two of  \nthem had been up for hours preparing bacon, sausage, hamburger patties, scrambled  \neggs and even a few pieces of fried chicken they'd found in the back of the  \nfridge. Smiling as big as the sky above, Max sat down and dove in. He shouted out  \nhis thanks inbetween messy mouthfuls of life-giving protein.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The girls sat down with him, each of them having already had a bowl of cereal and  \norange juice a while ago. Tish was happy just watching her brother eat. He looked  \nlike he was in heaven. They'd basically cooked up every last single bit of meat  \nin the house, and it had all been worth it. The smile on Max's face as he  \nshoveled down sausages was pure bliss.  \n  \nAs they ate, Martina asked her kits all sorts of questions about the hows and  \nwhys and whats of Max's new condition. Everything they hadn't talked about the  \nnight before; all the 'what nows'. Tish admitted that, unfortunately, she really  \nhadn't been able to come up with any long-term solutions. She was still just  \nlearning about what made Max tick. That, and worrying about the damned train. But  \nshe knew there had to be \\_something\\_ they could do. She wouldn't allow Max to  \njust fall apart and let him die again. Even if it meant going out and scavenging  \nroadkill herself, she'd be willing to do it to keep him with her. Max, touched by  \nher selflessness, patted her paw, getting it all greasy. She gave him a smile and  \nlicked her fingertips.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Javier came in a little while later, reeking of sweat and freshly cut wood. He'd  \nbeen outside most of the morning, getting rid of the ugly old stump that had sat  \nlike a tumor in the backyard for years now. Martina had initially insisted he  \ndidn't have to, but he explained that he was restless this morning, and needed  \nsomething strenuous to do with his body while his mind attacked its own problems.  \n  \nNoticing the remains of Max's banquet, Javier cast his eye on a lone remaining  \nstrip of bacon.  \n  \nMax gave him a sharkish growl, looking for a second like a mad dog protecting his  \ndish. Then abruptly he chuckled, and graciously offered the plate to his bat  \nfriend. Sharing was the polite thing to do after all. That, and his belly was now  \nso tightly stretched he looked like he'd soon be delivering quintuplets.  \n  \nJavier appreciatively accepted the little bit of meat and tossed his young undead  \nfriend a nod. Then he excused himself and went off to take a shower and think  \nsome more. He'd had the beginnings of an idea for a while now, and was just about  \nready to realize how to start bringing it into reality.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max got up and gave his mom a great big hug for such a wonderful meal. She  \ncouldn't help but notice his stench, but she did her best not to react to it. It  \nwasn't really too horrible, actually. Certainly, she thought, something she knew  \nshe could get used to with time. And the sweet smile on her little boy's face,  \nalong with his wagging tail, convinced her fully of that.  \n  \nAfterwards, Tish and Max retired to the livingroom. Max actually had to carry his  \nbulging tummy like a heavy package. He was almost afraid it'd split his skin and  \nflop out and go rolling down the hall if he didn't. He hadn't felt so satisfied  \nin quite some time, not even after the hamburger debauchery at Dooley's the day  \nbefore. That had filled him up nicely, yes, but now his belly was packed full of  \nreal home cooking, made with a mother's love, and that made a heck of a lot of  \ndifference.  \n  \nThe two young 'yotes plopped down on the couch to watch some afternoon cartoons  \nand let their minds rest for a little while. A lot had happened since the day  \nbefore. It was nice to just turn their brains off for a little while.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; During a commercial break, Max went back upstairs to get some of his toy robots  \nhe felt like playing with. As he ascended the stairs (much more carefully this  \ntime), he spotted a note stuck to his door that he had been in too much of a  \nhurry to notice before.  \n  \nHe pulled it down and read:  \n  \nMy little sun;  \n  \nSorry I have to go to work today. You know I'd much rather spend time  \nwith you. I've missed you so much. I can't wait to catch up and do all  \nthe things we used to do together again. It doesn't matter that you're  \ndead, you are my son, and I will \\_always\\_ love you.  \n  \nDad  \n  \nP.S. I'll be stopping off at the supermarket on the way home, and I'll  \nbuy you all the meat you could ever want! Yum yum!  \n  \nMax stood there in the hallway, silently, smiling. He very nearly cried. Every  \nlast little bit of loneliness he'd felt all these past nights, all by himself in  \nthe shed or out on the roads, was gone. Completely gone. He was home how. He  \nwanted to shout it out loud, at the top of his lungs. He was home now, with his  \nmom and dad and sister. And he was loved.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max got his robots and went to rejoin his twin on the couch. Out of the blue, he  \ngave Tish a big fat kiss on the cheek and wouldn't say a word about it  \nafterwards.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FORTY TWO-  \n  \nLater that day, Javier made a phone call.  \n  \nNearly two hundred miles away, in a dim, grey room that stank of gunpowder and  \ndubious chemicals, a phone rang, jolting the occupant of the house out of a deep,  \ndreamful sleep. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, alighting gently upon  \nthe heaps and mounds of empty cola cans, pizza boxes, wire fragments, bits of  \nmetal and unwashed clothing. A skinny form crawled out of bed and approached the  \nphone, cursing up a storm. He was a ferret. Light brown and off-white fur, small  \nblack paws like leather gloves, with a chest so scrawny you could count all the  \nribs in it like a xylophone. He was not malnourished; he'd simply been like that  \nhis entire life. Tall and gangly, with a huge head, long nose, and joints that  \nstood out awkwardly. He had the appearance of a child's mechanical toy, or a  \nslightly drunken scarecrow.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; He slipped his coke-bottle glasses up his face to read the caller ID, and what he  \ntruly was became clear in an instant: a geek. A complete and total geek.  \n  \nBut he was also a geek who just happened to be the number one supplier of arms  \nand equipment to monster-hunters of every stripe worldwide.  \n  \nStanding there in his underpants, the ferret brushed his sweat-dripping ginger  \nhair out of his eyes and squinted at the caller ID. Who the hell was this? He  \ndidn't know anyone named Lopez. Christallmighty, he had to be woken up for some  \ndamn telemarketer?  \n  \nHe glanced at the clock. Nearly four in the afternoon. Well, fuck. Admittedly, he  \nshould have been up by now already, but last night had been an absolute  \nbrainblender and he thought he deserved to sleep in as long as he damn well felt  \nlike. Neutron bombs didn't just build themselves, now did they?  \n  \nBesides, he'd been dreaming about that hot skunk chick down at the drug store.  \nThe one with the great bit ti-  \n  \nThe phone stopped ringing. The answering machine kicked in.  \n  \nHis own voice: \"Hi, I don't know how you got this number, so if you leave a  \nmessage after the beep I'll have to hunt you down and shoot you.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; He grinned like he always did. Okay, so his nasally voice didn't exactly exude  \nmenace, but it did seem to keep most nuisance calls away, and the friends and  \nclients who did have his number for real always got a kick out of it.  \n  \n\\*beep\\*  \n  \nA harsh, dark voice came through the tiny plastic speaker: \"Jeff. If you do not  \npick up the phone immediately, I will castrate you with a battle-axe while you  \nsleep.\"  \n  \nGrinning ear to ear, Jeff Windsor lunged for the receiver. \"Javier!? Jesus shit-  \non-a-shingle \\*Christ\\*, man!! I thought the beasties finally got you! How long's  \nit been, you airborne asshole?\"  \n  \nThe big bat bit back a chuckle. Jeff was just Jeff, and they were good enough  \nfriends that they could basically say anything to each other without worry. Jeff,  \nin fact, delighted in saying things to Javier that would get any other man alive  \na lengthy hospital stay in response. \"It has indeed been a while, you skinny  \nbastard. Fallen down any shower drains recently?\"  \n  \nJeff snorted out a loud, toothsome laugh, nearly tripping over the phone cord. He  \nbegan moving about his bedroom, trying to locate amid the clutter a pair of pants  \nthat didn't stink bad enough that they couldn't be worn one more day. \"No, but  \nI've been busy. Jesus, I've missed you. Where the hell are you? Who's Lopez?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I'm going to give you exactly three seconds to think about what just came out of  \nyour mouth.\"  \n  \nJeff blinked, bewildered for a second before he got it. \"Oh my god! Shit, man, I  \njust wasn't thinking! You mean Carlos? DAMN! I haven't seen him since he was...  \nWhat, thirteen? Does he even remember me?\"  \n  \n\"I'm not sure. You're ugly enough, it'd be hard to.\"  \n  \nJeff nearly choked laughing. He finally struggled his pants on and sat down on  \nthe bed, the phone cord stretching perilously across the whole length of the  \nsmall, humid room. He reached in his dresser for a pack of cigs and his trusty  \nbutane baby. He knew \\_exactly\\_ how stupid it was to still be smoking in a house  \nthat probably contained more explosives than a military bunker, but what the hey.  \nSome habits simply override common sense. He flicked the lighter and sucked a  \nnice, deep drag of wakey-wakey into his brain. \"That's true enough. So, what's  \nup? You haven't been over to that place since... Well, you know,\" he said  \nsolemnly.  \n  \n\"Yes,\" replied Javier. \"But some very strange things have been occurring recently  \nto my dear friend's children. I had to come.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Jeff wracked his memory. He exhaled, coughing a little. \"Uh, Max and Tina,  \nright?\"  \n  \n\"Max and Tish,\" Javier corrected. \"Yes. Max was hit by a train a few weeks ago,  \nand died.\"  \n  \nJeff sat straight up, like a metal rod had been shot up his ass. \"Seriously? Oh  \nshit! God, I'm sorry!\"  \n  \n\"That is not all. Tish found Maestra's journals.\"  \n  \nJeff went 'huh'. He bent forward again, trying to figure out what that had to do  \nw- \"Oh fuckarama.\" He sagged, eyes going wide in shocked dread. \"She didn't.\"  \n  \n\"She did.\"  \n  \nThe lanky ferret slapped a paw over his face. \"And you had to come out there to  \nput him back in the ground, right? Jesus, what a shitty thing to have to-\"  \n  \n\"No.\"  \n  \n\"No? No what?\"  \n  \n\"He came out different.\"  \n  \nJeff sucked in a deep breath. He'd known Javier long enough to be able to read a  \nhell of a lot into just they way his friend spoke a simple sentence. But still,  \nTHAT was most of the way to impossible... \"You don't mean... He's one of the  \nHalfway Souls now?\"  \n  \nJeff could practically hear Javier nodding.  \n  \nHe sat there on his grimy bed, cigarette dangling from his lip, in complete awe.  \n\"Dude, that happens only, what, maybe once or twice in a year? Worldwide? For  \nmaybe a few days maximum before they go all 'braaaaains! braaaaains!' again? How  \nlong's he been topside?\" He took another deep drag.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"A little more than a week now.\"  \n  \n\"You're shitting me,\" Jeff said flatly.  \n  \n\"Would I joke about something like this? I thought the exact same thing you did  \nwhen I first saw him. I put nearly a dozen arrows into him with no effect  \nwhatsoever.\"  \n  \n\"\\*My\\* arrows?\" he asked, incredulously.  \n  \n\"Yes. No effect. He said later that they itched a little.\"  \n  \nJeff looked as if someone had just told him that Santa Claus was real and that  \nElvis was alive and living in his basement. He let out a little 'my brain is  \nreceiving too much information' giggle. \"Christ! Usually they fuckin' blow up  \nwhen you shoot 'em with those! Poof! Then you get that neat little ash shower  \nthing. I love that. But anyway, so, uh, how the hell'd it happen?\"  \n  \nJavier shrugged. \"His sister simply followed the spell as best she could, and she  \ndid it out of love. Just like in the legends. She is more lucky than she can  \npossibly realize.\"  \n  \nThe ferret took a deep breath. He was staring off into space in sheer wonder.  \nWhat a helluva way to goddam wake up. \"So... Do you want me to come out there or  \nwhat?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"No. No need to. There is another problem I must deal with though, and something  \nI need you to research.\"  \n  \n\"No problem. You practically own my ass. Your wish is my command.\"  \n  \n\"I will need some supplies too. By that, I mean at least one of your \\*special\\*  \nsupplies. And preferably, a very big one.\"  \n  \nJeff arched an eyebrow. \"Shit. Well, those you'll have to pay for. 'Supplies'  \ndon't just grow on trees anymore. Not like back in the bad old days when you  \ncould practically buy 'em off little old ladies down at the hair salon. But you,  \nmy closest and dearest friend, get the discount rate.\"  \n  \n\"I am weeping, Jeff. I really am. Your generosity has touched my heart,\" Javier  \ndeadpanned.  \n  \nJeff giggled. \"Sorry, but my ass isn't getting any richer just giving the shit  \naway. Whatcha need? I can probably get it overnight mailed to you by tomorrow if  \nyou're desperate. Man, UPS'll send \\*anything\\*!\"  \n  \nIt was Javier's turn to laugh. \"I am not sure yet. Only that it has to take out a  \nvery large, very fast, very deadly moving object.\"  \n  \n\"What, like a tank?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"No, a train.\"  \n  \n\"A train!? Jesus! What kind of train? With people on it!? What the hell does that  \nhave to do with a zombie kid?\"  \n  \n\"Stop wailing like a little girl and I will tell you. But first, I want to ask  \nyou to do a bit of research for me.\"  \n  \n\"Fair enough,\" said Jeff. He tried to calm himself down, tell himself that his  \nbuddy Javier would never launch a bomb at a moving train full of regular,  \neveryday people. That thought had leapt into his mind and now he was trying to  \nbeat it back with a stick. The simple fact was, Javier really \\*wouldn't\\* ever do  \na thing like that, and he damn well knew it. There had to be something more here,  \nand knowing the type of adventures they usually got into together, it was bound  \nto be some mighty strange supernatural shit.  \n  \n\"I need to know,\" Javier said slowly, \"if you have ever heard of a man, an  \nentity, named Thanatos.\"  \n  \nJeff's blood went cold. \"How did you come by that name?\" he squeaked.  \n  \n\"I met him. Last night.\"  \n  \nThe ferret was sweating all over the receiver. \"Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.  \nYou're lying now, please tell me you're lying. Seriously, what in the name of  \nxylophone-buggery are you up to your elbows in this time, Javier?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I will tell you everything in good time. All I need to know right now is what  \nkind of being is he, and can I trust a single thing that he said to me?\"  \n  \nJeff took in a deep breath. And coughed again. \"Christ... Hold on, lemme get my  \ncomputer booted up.\"  \n  \nJeff and Javier ended up having a long and very interesting chat about the being  \nknown as Thanatos. He was, everyone in the close-knit little circle of monster-  \nhunting agreed, the Real Deal. There was not much known of him that was concrete,  \nnot even by their admittedly loose standards, but what \\*was\\* known, and what Jeff  \neventually described over the phone, pretty much jibed perfectly with everything  \nJavier had seen last night.  \n  \nSome other questions were answered too. No, there was no reason to believe the  \nbeing was an Evil One in disguise, even with his snotty attitude. Yes, it was  \nconfirmed that he had been witnessed cleansing undeads. \\*Many\\* of them. Yes, it  \nwas also rumored that he made deals with harmless spirits, and kept his word. One  \nparticularly observant fellow had even made mention on his website of a little  \nblack squirrel child.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Javier was not 100% satisfied, but he was satisfied enough for now.  \n  \nWith that out of the way, they began to talk hardware.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FORTY THREE-  \n  \nTish puttered by some time later, catching the tail end of Javier's conversation.  \nJust before he hung up, she could have sworn he'd said something about purchasing  \na shoulder-mounted missile launcher. She poked her head into the room. \"Uh, what  \nwas that all about?  \n  \nJavier grinned reassuringly at her. \"I know terrible, terrible people,\" he said  \ncasually. \"Let's just leave it at that.\"  \n  \nFiguring it was probably not any of her business anyway, Tish went on to the  \nkitchen to get some fruit snacks.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FORTY FOUR-  \n  \nWhen Carlos came home from work that night, Max ran at him like a charging bull  \nand the two of them swallowed each other up in a hug so powerful it was a wonder  \nit didn't cause a minor earthquake. Nuzzling his son lovingly, barely even  \nnoticing the smell, the big coyote told Max he'd been thinking about him all day  \nlong. Couldn't concentrate on a thing. The whole day was spent in waiting to come  \nhome and be with his wonderful son again. Max was so happy he thought his heart  \nmight burst.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Carlos had also fulfilled his pledge to, quite literally, bring home the bacon.  \nMax helped him unload the car. There was so much beautiful, luscious, red, bloody  \nraw meat inside, it took a Herculean effort on the little zombie's part not to  \njust devour it all right then and there. Max managed to keep his cool though, and  \nhe and Dad got it all inside into the deep freeze without incident (though he did  \nquite enthusiastically lick his fingers off afterwards). Martina pulled her  \nhusband aside and asked fretfully how much all that meat had cost. Carlos smiled  \nweakly, and would only say that it might not be a bad idea for the both of them  \nto work some overtime over the next few weeks.  \n  \nMax and his dad played around in the backyard for hours afterward. Tish would  \noccasionally watch wistfully from her bedroom window. Both father and son had  \nhuge, unrestrained smiles on their muzzles. Laughter and happy barking drifted up  \nto her window in a constant symphony. She was happy for them, and content to let  \nthem have their moment together without having to be a part of it. She half-  \nheartedly leafed through a book, while really she was listening to her father and  \nbrother playing catch and chase and roughhousing and rekindling the family spark  \nagain.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; At dinnertime, Martina called the boys in to a double batch of her special  \nhomemade meatloaf. Max was still a bit full from breakfast, so he ate only a  \nnormal portion. But it was so darn tasty, he thought for sure he'd have to have  \nsome later for a midnight snack. Javier popped in for a plateful, gobbled the  \nfood at alarming speed, thanked Martina grandly, then popped back out again just  \nas abruptly, explaining that he was doing a little 'research' at the moment. His  \nmanner suggested that the subject of his research would not make for polite  \ndinnertime conversation. Wisely, no one asked him any questions.  \n  \nThe Lopez family watched TV together for a while, but quickly lost interest in  \nit. Instead, they went back to talking. Max and Tish felt like they'd retold  \ntheir graveyard tale a dozen or so times by now. Not that they really minded  \nthough. Carlos and Martina, holding paws, let out how their half of the days  \nafter Max's death had gone. They told their dear son how much they had missed  \nhim, how every memory had hurt, and how beyond overjoyed they were now to be able  \nto hold him again. It eventually occurred to Max to ask what his funeral had been  \nlike, and they all told the tale for him. Tish even related some of the slightly  \ninappropriate things she'd done during the wake and the service, and even though  \nher parents blushed a bit, Max ended up laughing his tail off, which was exactly  \nwhat she'd hoped for. She remembered wishing more than anything to be able to  \nhear him laugh again, and thought about how she never in her deepest heart  \nbelieved her wish could really come true.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; When everyone was finally all tuckered out, Max and Tish went up to bed. That's  \nwhen Tish had another good idea. Since there didn't seem to be any reason why he  \n\\*couldn't\\* anymore, she suggested Max take a shower to try and get rid of some of  \nhis corpse-stink. Max felt an odd, ominous sense of doom at that, but agreed to  \nat least give it a try.  \n  \nMax entered the bathroom, and Tish stood outside the door. Ready in case  \nsomething went wrong.  \n  \nA whoosh of water. Shortly followed by several short, pitiful yelps and arfs of a  \nyoung zombie in serious trouble. Tish kneaded her tail, feeling worried for her  \nbrother and embarrassed for her 'brilliant' idea.  \n  \nPresently, the water cut sharply off. Soon after, the bathroom door opened. And  \nwhat Tish saw standing there before her was enough to propel one of the top ten  \nloudest screams in her life out of her mouth.  \n  \nThe specifics are much, much too gruesome to relate in graphic detail. Suffice it  \nto say, imagine what it would look like if you turned a firehose on a decomposing  \ncadaver. Yeahhh... Kinda like that.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; It took Max considerably longer to get himself back in one piece this time (and  \nto pick all the rest of his pieces out of the drain and off the floor).  \nAfterwards, as he slithered off to bed, he told Tish there were no hard feelings,  \nbut he was most certainly NOT ever taking a shower again for the rest of his  \nafterlife.  \n  \nAdmittedly though, he did smell a little better.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FORTY FOUR-  \n  \nBright and early the next morning, Max was skimming through the newspaper over  \nbreakfast (after reading the funnies, of course), and spotted the movie listings.  \nOut of curiosity, he scanned down the list, and then brightened right up. A rip-  \nroaring horror movie he'd been looking forward to for months was \\*finally\\*  \nplaying at the cheap theater downtown. It felt like he'd been waiting forever!  \n  \nIt the treehouse a month or so ago, he and Nick had thoroughly discussed seeing  \nit together. They both agreed that the director had done some great stuff in the  \npast, though they did debate a bit over which was the better picture: \"Gasp\" or  \n\"Wicked Night\". Nick preferred the tension and pacing of Gasp, while Max liked  \nthe fact that Wicked Night had contained \\_literally\\_ buckets and buckets and  \nbuckets of blood, plus some of the most startlingly creative ways to murder  \ncollege students he'd ever seen.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Either way, this new one, \"Razor Smile\". looked to be both suspenseful AND  \ngratuitously, chunk-blowingly violent. Who could possibly turn down a flick like  \nthat?  \n  \nOf course, plans to go see it together had kinda fallen by the wayside. What with  \nhim dying and all.  \n  \nBut Max couldn't think of a single reason why they shouldn't be able to go see it  \ntoday.  \n  \nWell, okay, there was a relentless demonic train engine after him.  \n  \nAnd yeah, he wasn't sure how they'd actually get over there and back without  \nbeing noticed.  \n  \nAnd too, he'd probably stink up the theater pretty bad.  \n  \nAnd too, if any of his old classmates saw him, they'd probly shit cinder blocks.  \n  \nBut aside from all that, he thought it was a good idea.  \n  \nThe first order of business was, naturally, to make sure Nick was even  \n\\*available\\* to go to the movies. It was early enough that if they went right now  \nthey could easily catch the early-bird show (which was only fifty cents; wotta  \ndeal), but not so early that his cheetah pal wouldn't have already woken up yet.  \nMax tore across the livingroom to get to the phone so fast he ended up breaking  \nfour toes (not that he even noticed; toes were too trivial to get worried over  \nany more. He went through about a dozen a day). He punched Nick's digits, leaving  \nlittle zombie-smears on the keypad, and twirled the cord nervously, lariat-like,  \nas he listened to the receiver ring.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; A split-second before the phone picked up, Max realized he had done something  \nthat could potentially be really, really stupid. If Nick picked up, everything  \nwas fine. But if either his mom or dad did; \\_problem\\_. How exactly was he  \nsupposed to explain to them that he'd come back from the dead to ask Nick to go  \nsee a movie with him?  \n  \nThankfully though, fate decided that Max had been through enough recently and  \ngave him a break. A sleepy, familiar feline voice came over the line. \"H'lo?\"  \n  \n\"Chainsaw!\" Max shouted exuberantly.  \n  \nAcross the phone lines, Nick registered surprise. \"Max!\" He lowered his tone to a  \nconspiratorial whisper. His parents were just a room away. \"Uh, hey. What's up?  \nSorry if I sound kinda dea- oops. Sorry!\"  \n  \nMax just chuckled.  \n  \n\"I just got up, like, five minutes ago. I'm eatin' Froot Fings right now.\" To  \nprove this assertion, a loud sound of cereal-crunching filled Max's ear for the  \nnext few seconds.  \n  \n\"No problem. Can you get yourself un-sleepied and meet me over here in, like...\"  \nHe glanced at the hall clock. \"As soon as possible?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Cronch cronch cronch. \"Maybe. Why?\"  \n  \nMax grinned like Mephistopheles torturing Harlequin Romance novelists. \"Razor  \nSmile is at the V6,\" he purred wickedly.  \n  \nNick did a minor spit-take, sending tiny droplets of milk all over the  \ntablecloth. \"Holy shit!! I totally forgot! It's on today? Can we get there in  \ntime for the early show?\"  \n  \n\"Yes, yes, yes!\" Max reassured. \"Calm down, amigo. Just finish your Froot  \nWhatevers and bike your butt on over here. I'm not missing this flick for  \nanything. Heck, I woulda crawled up outta my coffin just for this!\"  \n  \nNick laughed as he wiped up his milk explosion with a napkin. \"Okay. I'll be  \nthere in... Gimme fifteen minutes. Tops.\"  \n  \n\"I'll be timing you with a stopwatch.\"  \n  \n\"Won't need to.\"  \n  \nBoth boys laughed, full of good cheer and excitement. They said their goodbyes  \nand hung up.  \n  \nMax wrung his paws like a stereotypical cartoon mad scientist. \"Now for phase  \n\\*two\\* of my evil plot! Muah-ha-ha-ha-haaa!\" This of course meant squeezing some  \nmoney out of mom and dad. They were in the livingroom, just about ready to leave  \nfor work. 'Perfect,' Max thought. 'Not only a day when they're both working, but  \nthere's not enough time to argue with me! Score!'  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; He walked up to his dad, tail between his legs, ears drooped, eyes at maximum  \ncuteness. \"Father... Oh, dear father...\" he pleaded, sounding like the most  \npathetic creature on the face of the Earth.  \n  \n\"You want money,\" Carlos deduced.  \n  \nMax grinned Cheshire-style. \"Yup!\"  \n  \nA resigned sigh. \"What for?\"  \n  \n\"Honey, come on. We're going to be late,\" Martina noted.  \n  \n\"Dad, there's this super-important horror movie Nick and I both have to see today  \nor else we'll become depressed and bitter and hate the world and sulk in our  \nrooms and never see the sunlight again,\" he beseeched rapidly.  \n  \n\"Oh really now?\" said Carlos.  \n  \n\"Plus, it's at the cheap-o theater.\"  \n  \nRolling his eyes so hard Max could practically hear them grind, Carlos reached  \nfor his wallet. \"Oh all RIGHT,\" he snarled. But underneath, he was smiling. He  \nwas only playing a game of 'stern daddy' anyway. He remembered Max and Nick  \ntalking about this movie before... well, before that idea had suddenly became an  \nimpossibility. Regardless, it was possible now, and there was no way he could  \npossibly deny his son this pleasure. He handed the boy seven dollars. \"Here, get  \nsome popcorn too.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I can't eat popcorn anymore, Dad,\" Max reminded him. \"I'll ralph all over the  \nseats.\"  \n  \nA chuckle. \"Well then, buy a side of beef instead, I dunno.\"  \n  \n\"Thanks, Dad!\" Max said gratefully, hugging his father's pant legs. Carlos  \nruffled his son's headfur.  \n  \n\"Darling, seriously. Go-time,\" Martina reminded him.  \n  \nHe nodded. \"Allright, my love.\" He turned back to Max, looking serious. \"Are you  \nsure you'll be safe?\"  \n  \nMax nodded. \"Nick'll be with me. Thanatos said that freakin' train can't get me  \nif there's any mortals around.\"  \n  \nMom overheard. \"If you think I trust the word of some ghost you met in the  \nwoods...\"  \n  \n\"We'll be late, darling,\" Carlos singsonged.  \n  \nShe gave him a look. Then she bent to give Max a hug of her own. \"Okay, sweetie.  \nI trust you to stay out of trouble. Not that you ever do anyway,\" she lightly  \nteased. Max giggled. \"Stay with Nick, and come straight home afterwards, you  \nhear? I'd tell Javier to go with you kids but he's vanished. I haven't seen a  \nhair of him since last night. Anyway, be safe.\"  \n  \n\"I will, Mom,\" Max pledged.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; She stood again, thinking that when Max was born all she'd had to worry about  \nwere diaper rash and covering electrical outlets. Now she had to worry about  \ndecomposition and killer trains and the nutritional benefits of roadkill. Dr.  \nSpock had sure never said anything about THAT shit. \"We finally ready, hon?\" she  \nasked Carlos.  \n  \nHe answered with a crisp nod.  \n  \n\"Off we go then. See you later, my little sun,\" said Mom.  \n  \n\"Have fun!\" Dad wished.  \n  \n\"Bye! Bye!\" Max cried out.  \n  \nThe door shut.  \n  \nMax's grin spread like a virus. Success!!!  \n  \nThen, suddenly, he was interrupted by a melodramatic wail of despair coming from  \nthe staircase.  \n  \nHe turned around to see Tish standing there in her pajamas (and where Martina had  \never found jet-black girl's pajamas, no one knows), looking forlorn.  \n  \n\"Betrayal!\" she shouted theatrically. \"My own beloved brother is going off to the  \nmovies with his best friend, without even telling me, leaving me here to rot in  \nboredom and pick my nose!!\"  \n  \nMax rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. \"Aw, geez. I just forgot. You can  \ncome too, I'm sorry.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Tish waltzed over and slugged him on the arm. \"Just kidding, idiot. Yeah, I wanna  \nsee it too, but I can wait 'till it comes out on video. This is a you-and-Nick  \nthing. I understand.\"  \n  \nMax gave her a quick hug for her thoughtfulness. \"Thanks, sis. And I promise I  \nwon't say a word about it when I get home.\" This was important. The last time he  \nand Nick had seen a movie together, they'd been blabbing about it in the tree  \nhouse and Tish, having left for lemonade and then returning up the rope ladder  \nminutes later, had had the ending completely spoiled for her. She'd practically  \nwrung the boys' necks right then and there.  \n  \nTish had a twinkle in her eyes. \"You better not. And by the way, I have an idea  \nthat's just perfect for you to try out today.\"  \n  \n\"What, train-repellant?\"  \n  \nShe snorted. \"No! I wish, though. I got an idea on how you can disguise yourself  \nin case you run into anyone you know at the theater.\"  \n  \nMax cringed in dread. \"Fuck no. I ain't dressing up like an Eskimo again.\"  \n  \n\"Relax! That was a bad idea. I admit it, I'm sorry. I shoulda known all that  \nclothing would just make your stink worse. That was dumb and I apologize. This  \nidea's much better.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max, understandably, was dubious.  \n  \nEight minutes later, beating his estimate of fifteen easily, Nick pulled up  \nbeside the Lopez's front porch. He swatted the kickstand down with his sneaker  \nand went up the porch steps to knock on the door.  \n  \n\"Hello? I'm ready! I've got money! Can we go now?\"  \n  \nThe door opened, and Nick did a double take. He had no idea who the hell he was  \nlooking at for a moment.  \n  \nThen... \"Max?!?\"  \n  \nA grin that could only be from his coyote buddy. \"In the rotting flesh!\"  \n  \nTo everyone's surprise, Tish's new idea had not resulted in comic failure, but  \nsurprising success. First off was Max's wardrobe. She'd scavenged it from all  \nparts of the house, creating as unMaxlike a look as she possibly could. Her  \nbrother was bedecked in a coral-red baggy T-shirt she'd found in the back of his  \ncloset, jean shorts, sandals she'd never wore before, a pair of Dad's sunglasses,  \nand a backwards baseball cap. She had also sprayed him with a shitload of aerosol  \nair freshener.  \n  \nThe really impressive part of the transformation was Max's new dusty-orange fur.  \nFrom a distance, he could even pass for an oddly-shaped fox.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"How the heck did you...\" Nick sputtered.  \n  \nTish appeared in the doorway, brandishing a box of Salon de Scream Orange  \nNightmare Number Five. \"I saw this at the drug store a few days ago when mom and  \nI went out for some toothpaste 'n shit. At first I was just wandering around,  \nlooking at stuff, and I saw the fur-dye and thought it might be kinda fun to dye  \nmyself electric blue for a few days. Y'know, just for a goof.\"  \n  \n\"You'd look good in blue,\" Nick noted.  \n  \n\"Thanks!\" she said sparklingly, deciding maybe she would go through with it after  \nall. \"Anyway, it said on the box that a lot of how we see ourselves and other  \npeople has to do with fur color. It can make an immediate first impression, or  \nchange a furson's whole persona. Total eureka moment. I had just enough on me to  \nbuy a box of orange for Max. Now you two can go to the show incognito,\" she said,  \nunintentionally rhyming the last bit.  \n  \n\"My sister is a genius,\" Max stated without a hint of exaggeration.  \n  \n\"Definitely!\" Nick agreed.  \n  \nTish flashed a dazzling, cutely smug smile.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Mindful of time's relentless passage, Max and Nick were soon enough straddling  \ntheir respective bikes and ready to head off to the theater. Tish waved from the  \nporch as they started off. She headed back inside to make herself some breakfast,  \nhaving absolutely no idea of the mess her brother and best friend would find  \nthemselves in later on that afternoon...  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FORTY FIVE-  \n  \nThe Village Six's name was sort of a joke nowadays.  \n  \nIt had been around since the late sixties, a homey, funky, welcoming little movie  \njoint that had always been popular with the youth crowd. The theater's prices had  \nalways been low, and the place was always exactly the same every time you dropped  \nby, like some kind of deathless temporal standstill. The owners had never, ever  \nchanged their drab brown and faded orange color scheme that alternately made you  \ngiggle in disgust and yet also made you feel right at home.  \n  \nBack in the mid-eighties, a fire had erupted after a bad electrical storm,  \ncompletely gutting the back end of the town's beloved moviehouse. The owners,  \nwith the support of the whole community, made a revolutionary decision to, rather  \nthan close the theater and rebuild, simply lop off the entire ass end of the  \nbuilding entirely. And thus, the Village Six was changed into the Village four.  \nThe name, however, never changed. Everyone was already so used to saying it that  \nswitching to the more logical epithet seemed weird. Thus, the joke. There was  \neven a silly high school urban legend that occasionally, some kid wandering  \naround looking for the bathroom in the middle of a feature would find their way  \ninto one of the two lost theaters and be lost forever. Oooh, spooky.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The story never kept anyone away though. In fact, the V6's longevity was directly  \ndue to their high customer loyalty and their dirt-cheap prices. You could come in  \nat any time, any day of the week, and see a movie for a single buck (with the  \nexception of the even better half-price early bird show each morning), so long as  \nyou didn't mind waiting a month or so for the flick you wanted to see to finish  \nmaking the rounds of the big, chain theaters. The seats were sticky, the floors  \nwere worse, and the screens were a little on the small side, but hey, just about  \nANYTHING is worth seeing for fifty cents.  \n  \nThere was even the Customer Appreciation Value Card. This little square of yellow  \ncardboard was given out to hardcore film fans and would be punched every time you  \nbought a ticket there. If you could demonstrate you'd seen at least two movies a  \nmonth for a full year, you'd get a shiny plastic Golden Pass, good for three  \nmonths' worth of unlimited free movies. Max would have almost certainly been  \nparading around with one of those by Christmas, were it not for the unfortunate  \nhappenstance of being run over and hurled into a telephone pole.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max and Nick chatted eagerly as they biked downtown to the V6. The ride was  \nmostly uneventful, save for Max once accidentally amputating his left foot when  \nthe pedal snapped back on him. No worries though; he just coasted until it  \nblorbled and oozed and regenerated back to normal.  \n  \nThe two boys parked their bikes about a block from the theater, locking them  \nsecurely. Nick did a quick recon, checking to see if anyone they knew was in  \nline. Luck was with them again: nothing but college kids and a few old ladies.  \nProbably not all there to see the same movie though.  \n  \nThe ticket taker at the Village Six was a proudly pudgy armadillo lady who smiled  \ntwenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. She was a total sweetheart. Always  \nfriendly, helpful and speedy, and she got to be on a first-name basis with a lot  \nof the regular customers almost effortlessly. Max and Nick speculated that she  \nmust live in her little booth, since she was always there no matter when they  \nshowed up, day or night, every day of the year.  \n  \nShe was also as fond of they boys as they were of her. She knew Max, Nick and  \nTish on sight. Polite kids. Always had their money ready, never left trash in the  \naisles. She'd been letting them all sneak into R-rated movies since they turned  \nten. She could tell they were all intelligent enough to separate fantasy from  \nreality. (Unlike that fat little white mouse kid who always threw a tantrum when  \nshe wouldn't let him in to see some bloody murderfest he had no business seeing)  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; This was the reason for Nick getting in line alone while Max watched silently  \nfrom an alley a little ways away. As the queue of patrons inched towards the  \nticket booth, Nick got his cash ready, as well as his Customer Appreciation Value  \nCard.  \n  \n\"Well, hello!\" the armadillo cried out as soon as she set eyes on him. \"I haven't  \nseen you for the longest time. I heard about your little coyote friend too,\" she  \nsaid sadly, shaking her head. \"Mmm mmm mmm. An awful shame.\"  \n  \nNick nodded solemnly. \"Two tickets please.\"  \n  \nHer sunny smile reappeared again. \"I bet I can guess what you want to see. Razor  \nSmile, right, hon?\"  \n  \n\"You got it. My friend'll be along soon. I'll just get his ticket and wait  \ninside.\"  \n  \n\"Alright then. That'll be one dollar even.\" Nick handed her the greenback, plus  \nhis card, which she faithfully punched. \"I'd love to chat more, but the line's  \nbackin' up behind you, sweetheart. Go on in now and enjoy the show.\"  \n  \n\"I will. Thanks Ma'am,\" the cheetah said cordially, tipping her a smiling nod as  \nhe stepped out of line. Max took that as his cue to pop up out of his hiding  \nplace and join his friend inside, dashing in quickly past the ticket booth.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Nevertheless, the wise armadilloess caught a good glimpse of him, and was  \nmomentarily frozen stiff. She'd read the story in the papers, seen the kid's  \nobituary... And yet she thought his nose had been pressed up against her glass  \nenough times that she ought to be able to recognize that boy's face. Even if it  \nwas currently orange...  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FORTY SIX-  \n  \nThere were no words in Heaven or Earth to describe how much the movie \\*rocked  \nass\\*.  \n  \nIt hadn't been one of those new-school, high-tension nerve-chewers, the ones that  \nsuck you into a paralyzing fear of dread for two hours until you just want to die  \nso you won't have to keep watching this torturous movie anymore. Neither was it  \njust some mindless killfest with a lot of bad overdone special effects and even  \nworse overdone acting. It wasn't ripped off from anything else. It wasn't too  \ncruel, it wasn't too silly. It wasn't too this, it wasn't too that.  \n  \nIt was perfect.  \n  \nShitloads of gore, engaging characters, a great villain, snappy dialogue,  \ncreative use of woodworking implements on cheerleader flesh, and plenty of  \nmoments where the whole theater all jumped and screamed at the same time and  \npopcorn went flying everywhere. It was the kinda movie where some guy could yell  \nout, \"Don't go in there, stupid! You're gonna die!!\", and no one would shush him  \nbecause it was what everyone else was thinking anyway. Everyone in the whole room  \nwas locked into one single wavelength, all of them separately experiencing  \nsomething as a perfect whole. Max absolutely loved that feeling.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The two boys sat in their seats, winded and panting from such a wild ride,  \nwatching the credits roll up the screen as the rest of the moviegoers filed out.  \nThey waited, not only so that the risk of being spotted by someone they knew  \nwould be diminished, but also to check out the cast list and the soundtrack.  \n  \n\"That was the best movie I have ever seen,\" Nick uttered, in a profound state of  \nawe.  \n  \n\"Hell yes,\" Max agreed. The two of them slapped palms. Max's wrist hung at a  \ncrooked angle for a few seconds afterwards. \"You know what I liked best?\"  \n  \n\"The bit with the jackhammer?\"  \n  \n\"No, but it was cool how it went sailing across the room like that, right into  \nthe cop's head!\" He giggled at how comically gruesome the shot had been. Plus,  \nthe cop was one of those characters that everyone wants to see die anyway, so the  \nwhole audience had laughed at that part along with him. \"No, what I liked best  \nwas that all the characters who were honorable lived, and all the cowards died,\"  \nhe said sagely.  \n  \nNick arched an eyebrow. \"I hadn't noticed that. But yeah... Now that I think  \nabout it... But wait, what about the ice cream truck driver? He was a good guy,  \nand he got machete'd in half at the end.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Yeah, but remember earlier, how he ran away when the killer was throwin' all  \nthose girl scouts in the tree shredder? But after he's chopped in half, with his  \ndying breath he helps set What's-her-face free, and she goes and helps the chick  \nwith the glasses get rid of the killer for good. So, in his death, he redeems  \nhimself.\"  \n  \nNick was rather impressed. \"Damn. How do you pick up on all this stuff? I never  \ndo until, like, the fifth time I've seen something.\"  \n  \nMax shrugged. \"Dunno. Call it a gift.\"  \n  \nWhen the house lights finally came on, the two friends got up and headed towards  \nthe side exit, chatting incessantly all the way. They came out into a narrow  \nalley at the side of the building and a blast of hot air ran up and tackled them.  \nThat happened nearly every single time they came here, and it \\*still\\* always  \ncaught them off guard. The benefits of air conditioning do come with certain  \nperils.  \n  \nAs they exited the alley onto the main road again, heading towards their bikes,  \nMax suddenly felt the fur on the back of his neck prickle up. Like someone was  \nwatching him.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Cautiously, he turned around.  \n  \n\"Oh shit.\"  \n  \nNick spun around at hearing the cold dread that had enveloped his friend's tone  \nso abruptly. \"What is it?\"  \n  \nMax pointed down the street. \"Can you see it?\"  \n  \nNick looked, but was confused by what he saw. There was no one on the street  \nexcept them and the usual downtown crowd. Nothing that really stood out, except  \nfor that... Well, it must have been a circus truck or something. Whatever it was,  \nit was a block or so away, as big as a semi, and covered up in a great big red-  \nand-white tarp. Almost like it was wearing a costume.  \n  \nNick's expression went from puzzled to flat-out petrified in half a second as he  \nrealized exactly what Max was really seeing. \"It's that train, isn't it?\"  \n  \nMax nodded. He was completely motionless. He knew that if you ever came across  \nsome big, dangerous wild animal in the woods, you were supposed to stay as still  \nas possible and hope that they wouldn't notice you because of your lack of  \nmovement. But whether or not that worked on a supernatural mechanical being, he  \nhad no idea. \"Just keep calm. Maybe it hasn't seen us.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The jaunty striped tarp quivered and black smoke boiled out from beneath it. The  \ntrain made a sound like it was chuckling at their foolishness.  \n  \nIt didn't matter if they moved. It could smell them. It was proud of its idea.  \nSome local furniture store had been having a tent sale. \\*Had\\*, past-tense, being  \nthe key word. The train had crept right up to the giant striped covering and  \nwriggled itself underneath. Oh, the noises those mortals had made when their tent  \nstarted running off all by itself! It had laughed at them. They could do nothing  \nto stop it, and what was even better, they were looking Right At It, and unable  \nto see a thing!  \n  \nJust days ago, the train would have never been capable of this level of trickery.  \nBut something was beginning to happen to it. It had been on the hunt for much  \nlonger than any bewitched object ever should be. When life is bestowed upon an  \nunliving thing, it has a way of spreading. Growing like a virus. The train was  \nbecoming more than it had ever been programmed to be. It was beginning to feel  \nemotions. It was beginning to strategize. It was beginning to \\*reason\\*.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; And thus, it was becoming more dangerous by the second than even Thanatos could  \nhave ever predicted.  \n  \nWhat no one realized was that, soon, if it was not stopped in time, it would lose  \nits fear of being seen by mortals entirely. And if that happened, there was no  \nlimit to the lives it would gleefully end in its pursuit to eradicate its prey.  \n  \nAnd after it had accomplished that... If it simply decided that it did not want  \nto cease to exist after it had fulfilled its function...  \n  \nThen no man could imagine the horrors that would follow.  \n  \nMax and Nick stared movelessly at the gaily garbed nightmare.  \n  \nThe young cheetah bravely took a small step forward and locked his arm around  \nMax's. \"It can't hurt you if we're together, right?\"  \n  \nMax broke his gaze with the hellish thing and turned to look in his best friend's  \neyes. Nick was scared, oh yes, terrified, but there was also a steely resolve in  \nthe depths of his gaze, and Max suddenly knew that Nick would do anything to keep  \ndeath from taking his best friend away a second time. Even if that meant  \nsacrificing himself.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Seeing that, Max felt strangely ashamed. And he realized that it was because Nick  \nshouldn't \\*have\\* to feel that way. None of this was Nick's fault. He'd gone  \nthrough enough without having to be dragged into this insanity too. No, Max knew  \nthis was \\*his\\* fight. His and Tish's. Nick's quiet bravery amazed him, made him  \nrealize how true a friend he really was. But it also made him realize that if any  \nharm came to the young cheetah because he'd gotten sucked into a mess that wasn't  \nhis, Max would feel like his whole second chance at life had been nothing but a  \nfailure. A joke. Because of Nick's bravery, Max had to be brave too.  \n  \n\"Nick, take my bike and go home,\" he said softly.  \n  \n\"What!? It'll come after you!\" Nick sputtered.  \n  \nThe young zombie nodded. His face was calm and determined. \"I don't know what  \nthis thing can do. I don't want you to get hurt. This is just something I gotta  \ndeal with. But you shouldn't have to.\"  \n  \nNick looked confused, almost hurt. \"Screw that!\" he said, much more forceful than  \nusual. \"I'm not gonna just bike home and then Tish'll call me up later and tell  \nme how you're just a stain on the sidewalk now!\" He was close to tears, knowing  \nhow real that possibility was and not wanting to face it entirely.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max abruptly stepped closer and hugged Nick. He gave him a manly series of back-  \npats. \"Dude, you're the best friend I'll ever have. I'm not gonna die. Don't  \nworry. Just go home, or even better, go back to my house. But no matter what,  \ndon't go the same direction I do. We have to split up.\"  \n  \n\"But then it'll chase you, and it might get you,\" Nick said, his voice quivering.  \n  \nMax smiled his usual, devil-may-care smile. \"Of course it \\*might\\*...\" Something  \nwas changing inside of him, and he could feel his fear being melted down into a  \nblade of raw confidence. Could feel it building up inside of him. Could feel it  \nhelping him believe he could do anything at all. \"...but if I outran it once, I  \ncan outrun it again, right?\"  \n  \nNick blinked, then slowly smiled too, warily. He gave Max another big hug, a  \nquick one, then stepped away. \"Are you sure?\"  \n  \nA nonchalant shrug. \"Not really. I'll probably get creamed. But fuck it, I'd  \nrather die running than spend my whole life locked up in the damn toolshed.\"  \n  \nNick chuckled. Max's confidence was starting to rub off on him a little too.  \n\"Alright. I'll meet you back at the house then.\" He bent over to undo their bike  \nchains. \"Fifteen minutes tops, right?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Try five and a half,\" Max said, feelin' cocky now.  \n  \nNick nodded and got on his bike, holding Max's beside him. It wasn't all that  \neasy to control two bikes at once, but they'd both had plenty of practice before.  \n  \n\"Wait till I start running, then go. I want to make sure it'll chase me and not  \nyou.\"  \n  \n\"Okay. Bye, Max.\" Nick's voice cracked a little. His mind was telling him that  \nthis might very well be the last time he'd ever lay eyes on his best friend ever  \nagain. But his heart was insisting that that was nonsense. Max would find a way.  \nMax would beat the odds and come out on top like he always did. Because Max was  \njust Max. And when he grinned, the universe bowed down at his feet.  \n  \nNick watched silently as Max turned and began walking down the street towards the  \nmonster.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN-  \n  \nIn the last handful of seconds, something had happened inside of Max.  \n  \nHe felt like he was made of molten gold right now. Like his blood was full of  \nelectricity. Like he was the strongest man in the world. Like he could just walk  \nup and \\*punch\\* this goddam pesky engine and it would shatter into a million  \npieces.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; An almost divine power seemed to surge through the young coyote's veins as he  \nstrode fearlessly towards the hunk of metal that had killed him and ruined his  \nparents' happiness and made Nick cry and made Tish come up with such an insane,  \ndangerous plan to bring him back to life. All that misery, because of this stupid  \npile of junk. This fucking train.  \n  \nAnd now it wanted to finish the job, run him down, put him back in the ground  \nagain.  \n  \nMax was not about to put up with it any longer. This crap had gone on long  \nenough. He was tired of feeling like a freak, like a monster, like something  \n\\_wrong\\_ that should not exist. \\*This\\* was the monster, not him. This smoke-  \nbelching, gear-grinding, mindless, soulless, asshole-on-eight-wheels. It was time  \nto stop being scared of it. It was time to fight back.  \n  \nIt was time to stand up and not be bullied anymore.  \n  \nMax walked across the street, as if no one else in the world existed, and stopped  \njust a few feet away from his nemesis.  \n  \n\"Hey, train!!\" he hollered.  \n  \nIt snorted at him.  \n  \n\"Do you have any idea how fucking \\*gay\\* you look in that circus tent!? You look  \nlike you're wearing a dress! You got on a pair of panties to go with it!?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The train began to swivel, turning to face its prey, its metal wheels sending up  \nsparks as it gouged deep ruts in the concrete. Had it had a face, it surely would  \nhave been slack-jawed with dumb astonishment. This was wrong! The prey was  \nsupposed to \\*fear\\* it, not be standing there making loud, angry noises at it!  \n  \n\"I'm not scared of you! HA!! Why should I be? All you can do is run me over  \nagain, and you couldn't even do that right the first time! Look at me! I take a  \nlickin' and keep on tickin', shithead! Try it! Just fuckin' try it!! I dare you  \nto smear me again! I'll bet it \\*tickles\\*!\"  \n  \nThe train was not used to emotions, and now it was feeling a great many of them  \nall at once, and none of them pleasant. This puny meat-thing was acting all  \nwrong. This was not what was supposed to happen. This was \\_incorrect\\_. This was  \nstrange and inappropriate. Totally unsuitable. This had to stop.  \n  \nMax put his hands on his hips, grinning, tail wagging, not even caring about all  \nthe people in the ticket line staring at him. Then he dropped the big bomb.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Yo momma was a handcart.\"  \n  \nFor reasons unexplainable, the train somehow \\*knew\\* that whatever had just been  \nsaid to it, in that idiotic meat-language of the mortal creatures, was just about  \nthe worst insult it could ever possibly imagine. Its sides shook with rage. Its  \nwheels began to churn up the street like cottage cheese.  \n  \nAs the train began to rev up its engine, Max revved his up too. He started  \njogging in place, then sprinting, then flat-out running. His eyes never left the  \nbulge the train's headlamp made behind the red and white striped tent. His feet  \npounded the pavement, moving faster and faster, becoming a blur. Blood began to  \nspeckle the ground from where his paws bled. He felt nothing. Only glee. He knew  \nhe was about to run faster than any living thing had ever run before in the  \nhistory of the world.  \n  \nThe train's wheels were screaming, its engine huffing, the sides of the tent  \nbillowing, looking like a titanic pair of lungs.  \n  \nThe people on the street all stopped, unable to do anything but stare at a sight  \nso beyond their comprehension it paralyzed their minds. What in God's name was  \ngoing on here?  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The bleeding stopped. Friction smoke began to rise in thin streams from Max's  \npistoning, machinelike legs. The thuds of his footfalls on the street blended  \ntogether into a dull roar. Cracks actually started to show in the concrete  \nbeneath his paws.  \n  \nThe train bore down on him, emanating purest hatred. The sound of its churning,  \nstorming engine was like the bellow of a berserk giant, hellbent on destroying  \nall in its path. The rumbling shook the length of the street and vibrated up the  \nspines of every mortal present, even causing one unfortunate woman to lose her  \nbladder control right in her pants.  \n  \nThe little zombie had clouds of hot steam rising up from his lower body, which  \nhad become nothing more than a vibration in the air. Motion so fast it actually  \nhurt to look directly at it. His bottled-up kinetic energy would have easily  \nkilled anyone else in a fraction of a second.  \n  \nHe was ready.  \n  \n\"Chase me, stupid,\" Max taunted darkly.  \n  \nThen he took off faster than a bullet fired from a gun.  \n  \nOne second the boy was there, the next he wasn't. The air actually \\*sizzled\\* from  \nhis mind-bogglingly fast launch. Bewildered by the seeming disappearance of its  \nprey into thin air, it took the train a second to realize that Max had actually  \n\\_run\\_ off. It blew its whistle in an earsplitting shriek of mad fury and tore off  \nafter him.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The chase was on.  \n  \nMax screamed down the street, feeling the wind beating at his face and arms  \nharder than an astronaut breaking free of Earth. His fur felt like it was about  \nto catch on fire at any second. He thought it wouldn't surprise him a bit if he  \njust suddenly \\*exploded\\* into a misty hail of blood and chunks.  \n  \nBut that wasn't what was gonna happen. No way, Jos‚. He had never felt stronger.  \nIt wasn't anything like the first time, running through the woods with Tish under  \nhis arm. Now, he felt like he really \\_could\\_ keep this up forever. Just keep  \nrunning around the globe again and again until time finally stood still. He felt  \nlike he could dash across the surface of the ocean. He felt like if a car hit  \nhim, the steel would melt like hot butter and he wouldn't feel a thing. He felt  \nlike if he stuck out his arms, he'd be flying.  \n  \n\"Ha! Catch me if you can, you lumbering piece of junk! You suck! I'm not afraid  \nof you!!\"  \n  \nBut Max had not expected that his opponent had grown in skill as well. Despite  \nits prey having a major head start, the train was steadily picking up the pace,  \nmoving at speeds it had never been designed for. Indeed, if anyone had ever  \nseriously suggested to the train's original architect that it would someday go  \nfaster than an Indy 500 racecar down the middle of a paved road, they surely  \nwould have been laughed right out of the room.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max could sense it approaching. It wasn't just the sound of that relentless  \nchugga-chugga-chugga-chugga pounding in his ears, but the almost tangible sense  \nof \\_rage\\_ the thing was giving off. It was \\*furious\\* at him. It was angry beyond  \nsanity that its prey would dare challenge it like this. Max somehow knew this,  \njust like how he sometimes knew what Tish was thinking too. Predator and prey had  \nboth been borne out of the magicks of the Beyond, and they were more similar than  \nthey could ever fully realize.  \n  \nThe tent was only made to house great deals on armchairs and armoires, and was  \ncertainly never meant to withstand speeds of a hundred miles an hour or more. It  \nfluttered violently, held on seemingly just by sheer will. Its frayed ends  \nflapped like fantastic bird wings, making the train look like some horrific  \nreject from Hell's carnival.  \n  \nMax felt the air around him change, getting thicker, like he was propelling  \nhimself through water now. He realized the air pressure on his body must be  \ntremendous, like what a jet airplane might go through when it tries to break the  \nsound barrier. He had no idea how his fragile little dead body was holding up. A  \nhug could break his ribs and a bike pedal could snap his ankle. And right now he  \nwas enduring, effortlessly, without any pain, forces so great they'd rip any  \nnormal boy his age to shreds in seconds. He didn't know how it was possible, and  \nyet he did have a strong intuition that it came partly from just \\*believing\\* that  \nit was possible. His confidence was protecting him. It had become as real as a  \nshield in front of him. Fear would make him weak, but belief would keep him  \ninvincible for as long as it held out.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max tossed back his head and laughed. The G-forces ripped his floppy tongue right  \nout of his mouth, but he didn't care. He just laughed some more and grew another  \none. The little scrap of himself flew back and plastered itself mockingly over  \nthe front of the train's grille.  \n  \n\"Have a taste, numbnuts!\" Max called out gaily. \"You'll never get the rest of me!  \n  \nBut as much as confidence fueled Max, rage was what fueled the train. It put on a  \nnew burst of speed, enough to bring it finally within reach of its prey's  \nlightning-quick feet. Just a few inches more, and it would gobble him up. Chew  \nthe insolent little thing beneath its wheels, then back up and flatten him  \nfurther. Savor the taste of the prey's blood. Teach him a lesson.  \n  \nMax could hear everything, feel the heat behind him, and did not allow himself to  \nfeel the slightest bit of worry.  \n  \nHe closed his eyes, and trusted in himself.  \n  \nThe train let out a shocked and murderous whistle shriek as the little zombie  \nsuddenly turned around and ran all the way \\*around\\* it in a circle, emerging in  \nfront and picking up an absolutely \\*unthinkable\\* burst of acceleration!  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Blazing off ahead like a little furry cruise missile, Max shouted behind him,  \n\"You're slower than a pair of eighty-year-olds fucking doggy style!!!\"  \n  \nThe train exploded out an almost bovine howl of unearthly anger and \\_forced\\_ out  \nmore speed of its own.  \n  \nAs Max zipped along, not even able to feel his lower half anymore, he caught his  \nfirst glimpse of the house off in the distance. If he could just make it there,  \nhe'd be safe. Home free, he thought with a smile.  \n  \nThe metal of the train was hot enough to cook dead animals on. The raggedy  \nremains of the tent finally caught fire, and soon flames had engulfed the  \nscreaming engine, turning it into a blazing charnel house on wheels. A nightmare  \nimage to turn any sane mind into mush. Anyone who happened to look out their  \nwindow would see a tiny flash of motion, followed closely behind by a gigantic  \nfireball churning straight down the street faster than a meteor. Among the  \nunlucky few who did catch a glimpse of such a sight, one gave up marijuana  \nforever, three entered therapy, and another had a mild heart attack on the spot  \nand after recovering realized that the eye they had been blind in since childhood  \ncould now miraculously see again.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max sprinted merrily along the road. He felt no pain, only joy. He felt sure he  \ncould soar as fast as his heart could dare dream.  \n  \nThat is, until a rather unpleasant realization crashed down on him.  \n  \n'Oh crap. If I get home, there's nothing there to stop it from just plowing  \nstraight through the house after me. Mom and Dad aren't there, Javier probably  \nwon't be, and I know Nick hasn't gotten there yet. Tish is all alone in the house  \nand it's not scared of her! It'll smash right through the front door and probably  \nsplatter her like a cockroach!!'  \n  \nEven more alarming than these thoughts were, Max also realized that his speed was  \nstarting to slip. Like oil running out of a skillet, he was incrementally losing  \nground, making the gap between him and the train narrow with each passing second.  \n  \n'No!!' he screamed at himself. 'I can't doubt! I have to keep being confident!  \nIt's the only way I can keep ahead of this damn thing, otherwise it'll grind me  \nup like a ripe tomato!'  \n  \nMax found himself doing something he didn't think he'd ever done before;  \nappealing directly to whatever force had helped him out of so very many tight  \njams and stupid decisions all his life. He closed his eyes, feeling the wind  \npounding against his eyelids. \"Fate...\" he muttered beneath his breath, \"or  \ndestiny, or God, or whoever you are, I want to live. I don't want my family and  \nmy best friend to lose me and be sad all over again. I need everything to just  \nsuddenly work itself out like it's always done in the past. I'm sorry if I'm  \nbeing selfish, but I gotta ask. Thanks for all the times you busted me outta shit  \nbefore. I really am grateful. I just need it one more time. I won't ever ask  \nagain, at least not if I can help it. Please. If not for me, then for Tish.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max opened his eyes again.  \n  \nHe looked, and home was closer than he could have ever hoped for.  \n  \nHe looked back, and without even realizing it, he'd put a quarter of a mile  \nbetween him and the train.  \n  \nHe grinned, his eyes starting to water, but not from his speed. \"Thank you,\" he  \nsaid softly.  \n  \nThe train, completely fed up with all this ridiculousness, screamed and whistled  \nand thundered and tried everything it could to pick up speed. It crept closer,  \nbut deep inside it knew it could never keep up. It only hoped that once the  \nzombie made it to the house, it could figure out some way to turn that to its  \nadvantage.  \n  \nMax blasted up the hill, not feeling the incline at all. He could see his house,  \nhis beautiful house, coming ever closer. Just a little bit more. He just \\*knew\\*  \nsomething good would be waiting for him there.  \n  \nThe howling inferno chasing Max roared in the first pain it had ever felt as it  \nforced every last drop of energy into picking up just a little bit more speed...  \n  \nMax crested the hill into his driveway, and came within a split second of  \ngruesomely killing Javier. Had he not been able to wrench himself to a dead stop  \nin time, he almost surely would have run straight through his bat friend,  \nobliterating him in an explosion of bloody chunks.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Instead, Javier merely leaped out of his skin in panic as a steaming, pulsing,  \n\\*vibrating\\* young zombie seemed to almost materialize out of thin air not two  \nfeet in front of him. Milliseconds later, a superheated blast of hot wind nearly  \nknocked him off his feet a second time as it finally caught up with Max.  \n  \nThe train hit the rise of the hill, sensing that its prey had come to a stop, and  \nknowing now that victory was within its clutches.  \n  \nBut when its 'radar' scented out the scene around the boy, it wailed in  \nuncontrollable despair, a sound so full of righteous disappointment it nearly  \nsplit the air itself. Mortals were there! Mortals were with the prey! And as much  \nas it longed to, desperately, to just mow them down as well and be done with it,  \nto feel all their blood squishing deliciously under its wheels, it could not yet  \nbreak free from its most deeply embedded instinct.  \n  \nHeading up on a diagonal like it was, there was nothing else for it to do but  \nperform an impossible backflip and dive straight down into the street, through  \nthe concrete, to bury itself in the soil. It wept bitter tears of oil and grease.  \nIt cursed the world, the universe, and even the Beyond that had spawned it.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; It Was So Damned CLOSE This Time!!!  \n  \nThe train burrowed deep into the dirt, losing itself in its unholy tantrum.  \nKnowing that \\_next\\_ time, it would not fail. Next time, it would win. It would  \nkill the prey, and this time it would slaughter any mortal that got in its way...  \n  \nMeanwhile, above ground, Jeff was backed up against his car, his heart pounding  \nlike a triphammer, a tiny wet spot appearing on the front of his jeans. \"What in  \nthe everliving fuck WAS that?!?\" he thundered.  \n  \n\"That?\" said Max, brushing himself off. \"Oh, that was nothin'.\"  \n  \nTish burst out the front door. She'd heard all those terrible blaring, howling  \ntrain sounds and thought the world was coming to an end. Instead, she saw Javier  \nstanding out in the driveway, along with some weird nerdy guy she'd never seen  \nbefore, who'd apparently just pulled up in his car a few moments earlier.  \n  \nShe also saw Max, standing proudly, looking like he'd just kicked some serious  \nass without breaking a sweat. Steam was coming off of him. His clothes were  \ntattered and singed. And most shocking of all, every last bit of the fur dye  \nshe'd put on him (and the box said it was guaranteed to last three days at  \nleast!), had been scorched right off of his body. He was whole and healthy and  \nback to his regular coyote colors again.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"M-max...\" she stuttered. \"What the hell happened to you!?\"  \n  \nHe smiled beatifically. \"I decided to jog home from the V6. The movie was really  \ngood, by the way.\"  \n  \nThen they all just stared at him for a few minutes or so.  \n  \nMax chuckled. \"Hey, is there any meat in the fridge? I'm kinda hungry.\"  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT-  \n  \nAs Nick slowly and laboriously pedaled up the rise to Max and Tish's house, the  \nfirst thing he noticed was a strange car in the driveway. It was a little blue  \nhatchback that had obviously seen years of use, but was still clinging stubbornly  \nto life. It was missing a hubcap. It was also sporting several humorous bumper  \nstickers:  \n  \n'I brake for Cthulhu'  \n  \n'The only thing you can do about evolution is try not to be stupid'  \n  \n'The weatherman predicted twelve inches... IN MY PANTS!!!'  \n  \n'I only kill things on days that end in Y'  \n  \n'Life is just a bowl of cherry bombs'  \n  \n'My dick is so big it can give itself blowjobs'  \n  \n'Growing up is a disease'  \n  \n'Enjoy life, or it will enjoy YOU'  \n  \nAnd, next to a picture of the Bible: 'Keep out of reach of children'  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Nick didn't have time to read all of these, mostly because the bulk of his  \nattention was focused on the porch, where Tish was conversing leisurely with two  \nvery strange-looking men. He tossed both bikes aside on the lawn and ran towards  \nthe house. \"Tish! Where's Max? Did he get home safe? Who are these guys!?\"  \n  \nTwo of his questions were automatically answered when Max's head suddenly poked  \nup over the porch railing like a jack-in-the-box. He'd been lying down on the  \ncool wood, giving his throbbing legs a chance to rest and stretch out.  \n\"Chainsaw!\" he shouted happily.  \n  \nThe two boys instantly ran together and collided in a clumsy, laughing hug.  \n  \n\"You did it! Oh man, I was so worried about you!\" Nick cried out, nearly in tears  \nwith relief.  \n  \n\"I beat the bastard! I ran faster than lightning straight here. Aw, it was  \ngreat!\" Max told him, almost glowing with pride. \"Where's the bikes?\"  \n  \n\"Just over there,\" Nick pointed out.  \n  \nTish hopped down the steps to greet the cheetah too. \"Hey, Nick! You like the  \nmovie?\"  \n  \nHe nodded vigorously. \"It was \\*awesome\\*! There was this one part where the guy  \nshoves an icepick-\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Tish shot out a paw and clamped it over his lips. \"I haven't seen it yet,  \nremember?\" she said with icy menace.  \n  \nNick grinned sheepishly when his muzzle was released. \"Heh heh... Sorry.\"  \n  \nMax slapped Nick on the back (breaking his own pinky finger in the process) and  \nmotioned for him to join them on the porch. \"Since you asked, this is Javier and  \nJeff. Javier's been here since Sunday, and Jeff just showed up a few minutes  \nago.\"  \n  \nBoth men held out their paws to Nick and they all exchanged hellos. Nick took a  \ncozy seat beside Tish in the wicker porch swing. Max collapsed on the floor  \nagain. Javier was leaning up against the doorjamb, and Jeff was perched nimbly on  \nthe porch railing in a ferrety way. His glasses made his eyes look like tiny  \nblack dots.  \n  \n\"Hope I'm not interrupting anything,\" said Nick.  \n  \n\"Nope,\" Max reassured. \"The fun's just starting.\"  \n  \nJeff flashed Javier an uncertain look. It was weird enough discussing his  \nbusiness in front of kids, and now \\*another\\* one had just shown up. His  \nexpression clearly asked, 'Is this kid trustable?'  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"You're too paranoid, my friend,\" Javier said lazily.  \n  \n\"'It's not paranoia if they really ARE out to get you',\" Jeff recited. \"Or, if  \nthey can bust your ass to the fuzz.\"  \n  \n\"Are you talking about Nick?\" Max asked with irritation. \"Don't worry. Nick's  \ncool. He's the coolest guy I know. He's 100% trustworthy. Right, Chainsaw?\"  \n  \nNick nodded. \"Sure. But what \\*are\\* we talking about?\"  \n  \n\"Things that go boom,\" said Tish.  \n  \nJeff was nothing if not adaptable. And he'd done a lot crazier things in his  \ncareer than pulling off an arms deal in front of a bunch of grade-schoolers. He  \nsighed melodramatically. \"Okay. Fine. Back to business. How much cash do you have  \nto spend?\" he asked Javier.  \n  \n\"That depends entirely on how much you have to sell,\" the bat replied coolly.  \n  \n\"Fair enough.\" The ferret hopped gracefully off the porch. \"Y'wanna come see? I  \ngot everything you asked for in the car.\"  \n  \nJavier nodded, and followed Jeff to the hatchback. Max and Tish followed, and  \nNick picked up the rear.  \n  \nJeff dug around in the dozen-or-so pockets of his khaki shorts for a moment  \nbefore finding his keys. He popped the lock of the car's trunk, and let them all  \nsee what was inside.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Holy SHIT!\" said Nick.  \n  \nMax's tail wagged furiously.  \n  \nTish's eyes gleamed.  \n  \nJavier did not look impressed. \"This is it?\"  \n  \n\"Come \\*on\\*!\" Jeff wailed melodramatically. \"You \\_know\\_ business sucks these days!  \nI risked the hell out of my ass just bringing this much. Besides, any more and  \nthe back of the car'd be draggin' on the road. This is exactly as much as I could  \nsafely bring with me, and even a little more, just because you're my guy.\"  \n  \nThe back of the unassuming little blue hatchback was filled to capacity with  \nthings that would indeed go boom. Homemade bombs, spy stuff, military-grade  \nexplosives, incendiary devices, improvised tactical charges, all of that and  \nmore, all tossed in a heap amongst the cigarette wrappers and empty cans of Hyper  \nCola. If Jeff were to flick an errant cigarette butt back here, the resulting  \ndischarge could have made the hill they were standing on into a valley in a  \nsplit-second.  \n  \n\"What the heck's all this stuff for!?\" Nick asked the twins worriedly, starting  \nto freak out a bit.  \n  \nTish put her paws on his shoulders. \"Relax. This is for the train. We're gonna  \nget rid of it, and then Max won't have to worry about it anymore.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"But how?\" the nervous feline queried.  \n  \n\"Javier has a plan, and it sounds really cool,\" Max replied.  \n  \nThe two adults were now bickering viciously over prices. Inbetween dollar  \namounts, they were also shouting back and forth some astoundingly virulent  \ninsults. Swearwords were bandied about that even \\*Max\\* had never heard before. As  \ntheir volumes escalated and the words came at a fever pitch, the vampire bat and  \nferret looked like they were mere seconds away from lunging at each other and  \nbiting out throats.  \n  \nThen suddenly, Javier boomed, \"Deal?!\"  \n  \n\"Deal!!\" Jeff blasted back.  \n  \nWith that, the two old friends grinned and shook hands, smiling like they'd just  \nplayed a really good game of tennis.  \n  \n\"Man, I am so letting you break my balls,\" Jeff said.  \n  \n\"Considering all the times I've saved you from being torn limb from limb by the  \nundead, I think I have earned a discount by now.\"  \n  \nThe ferret smirked. \"Right. Like I \\*haven't\\* returned the favor as many times or  \nmore. Cheapskate little punk.\"  \n  \nSmiling too, Javier suddenly engulfed his much smaller companion in a death-grip  \nheadlock. \"Would you care to repeat that?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Being that ferrets are basically narrow bags of fur filled with water anyway,  \nJeff seemingly collapsed his skull and slithered out of the vampire's clutches in  \nthe blink of an eye. \"Cheapskate little punk,\" he echoed in a self-satisfied  \nvoice, readjusting his glasses.  \n  \nNick turned to the twins. \"Reminds me of you two.\"  \n  \nMax held him down while Tish gave him a brief but sufficient noogie.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FORTY NINE-  \n  \nMom and Dad returned home at the same time (they carpooled whenever possible),  \nonly to discover that four extra large meat-lover's pizzas had already been  \ndelivered without their consent, and that Tish, Max, Nick, Javier, and some  \nscuzzy nerdish fellow were all clustered around the kitchen table, drawing up war  \nplans with greasy fingers.  \n  \n\"What the hell IS all this?\" Martina shrieked.  \n  \nCarlos gave Javier a withering glance. \"Who said you could order pizza?\"  \n  \nThe big bat pointed instantly at the twins.  \n  \n\"Hey!\" they protested.  \n  \n\"He paid for it,\" Nick pointed out, indicating Javier.  \n  \nCarlos let out a sigh of total resignation and went to go hang up his jacket.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The trenchcoated vampire stood up and took Martina's paw. \"Se¤ora Lopez, I would  \nlike you to meet my dear friend, Mr. Jeff Windsor. He is here at my request.\"  \n  \n\"Bullshit,\" Jeff said as he stood up. \"I drove all the way out here because I  \nwanted to see you again, ya big turd.\"  \n  \n\"What a charming fellow,\" Martina deadpanned.  \n  \nJeff turned to her, flashing his most charming smile, which was spoiled by all  \nthe tomato sauce smeared on his teeth. \"Enchant‚, madam,\" he said smoothly, and  \ntook hold of her paw for a brief kiss, leaving a little orange ring behind.  \n  \nMartina quickly licked her paw off.  \n  \nCarlos came back into the room and Jeff extended a paw. \"Hey there. I have no  \nidea if you remember me or not. We were both barely teenagers then. I'm Jeff.  \nRemember? The barn that blew up? All the ghosts and chickens runnin' around?\"  \n  \nA spark fired, and Carlos' muzzle drew up in a smile as he gave the ferret a  \nhearty handshake. \"I \\*thought\\* you looked familiar! You were skinny as a  \ntoothpick back then. Your glasses were the biggest thing about you.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Jeff rolled his eyes. \"Yeah, yeah. The more things change, right?\"  \n  \nCarlos pulled up a chair for Martina and the two of them joined the already dense  \ncrowd around the kitchen table.  \n  \n\"So, what are all you males planning?\" Mom asked.  \n  \n\"The mother of all panty raids,\" Max quipped.  \n  \nMom tried hard not to laugh, but couldn't.  \n  \nTish lightly smacked Max upside the head. They both giggled.  \n  \n\"Well, it seems this afternoon, your son had another encounter with the train he  \ntold you about the other night,\" Javier said.  \n  \nMom and Dad were instantly concerned. \"When? What happened? Are you alright?\"  \nthey both burst out at roughly the same time.  \n  \nMax reassured them with a calm nod. \"Everything's okay. I outran it. Easily. And  \nit felt really good, too.\"  \n  \n\"You shoulda seen it, Mrs. Lopez,\" Jeff said. \"Kid ran up so fast, I woulda swore  \nhe teleported.\"  \n  \n\"Then there was that freaky noise the train made. It sounded almost like it was  \nalive,\" Tish interjected, her skin crawling a bit just from the memory.  \n  \n\"That's exactly what it might be becoming,\" Javier told her darkly, in all  \nseriousness. \"But \\*that\\* is exactly why I contacted Jeff,\" he explained to Carlos  \nand Martina (who had both grabbed slices of pizza by now to nibble on). \"Jeff  \nis... To put it gently, he is in the business of making problems go away by  \nmaking them explode.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I got nuclear weapons in my livingroom,\" the ferret said with a smug grin,  \nmaking it sound like a pick-up line.  \n  \n\"You're joking, right?\" Martina asked him.  \n  \n\"I just sold Javier here enough explosives to turn this entire house into  \nconfetti in a quarter of a second,\" he said, then took a sip from his can of  \ncola. \"Think I'm kiddin' now?\"  \n  \nBoth parents gave Javier a vicious look, both of them thinking the same thing;  \n'How dare you endanger our children like this!'  \n  \nJavier, not to be intimidated, glared right back at them. \"Do you want Max to die  \nagain?\" he asked them pointedly.  \n  \nThey went silent, but not without anger. That wasn't a fair question.  \n  \nNick cautiously reached for another slice.  \n  \n\"You have not seen it, but I have,\" Javier told his best friend and his wife. \"It  \n\\_will\\_ kill Max if it is not stopped, and there is a strong likelihood it may  \ntake Tish with it as well. Or even \\_all\\_ of us. From what Max told me this  \nafternoon, it seems to be getting smarter, and this is a very bad thing. It must  \nbe stopped, and immediately would be the best time to do it.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Besides,\" Jeff said in as reassuring a tone as he could force out, \"I've been  \nbuilding and selling crap like this since I was in college. I still have all my  \nfingers and toes, plus my tail and my-\" He pointed down at his crotch and made a  \nlewd sound effect. \"That oughtta tell you something.\"  \n  \nMartina ran a paw through her hair. She did not feel reassured in the slightest,  \nbut she did realize that Javier was right. They could wait and be careful and  \nhope the problem would go away on its own, and if they did, Max would be dead  \nagain before any of them realized it. Her entire quiet life had been turned  \ntotally upside down in the past few days, the whole past month to be honest, but  \nas a mother, she knew it would all be worth it if she could just have Max back  \nthe way he was before. Or at least a close approximation thereof.  \n  \nCarlos drew in a deep breath. He looked troubled, but accepting. \"Tell me please,  \nwhat exactly is it you're planning?\"  \n  \n\"We're gonna kick the train's ass to Timbuktu and back,\" Max summarized neatly.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Specifics, please,\" Carlos grunted.  \n  \n\"Happy to provide them,\" said Javier. \"I'm sure you've noticed that I have not  \nbeen around the house much since the night I arrived. I have been out scouting,  \nlooking for an acceptable battleground, and I believe I have finally found it.\"  \nHe swept aside some of the pizza boxes to reveal a grease-ruined paper map of the  \ntown and surrounding areas. His thumbclaw stabbed the western quadrant of the  \nmap. \"Here.\"  \n  \n\"But there's nothing out there,\" said Martina.  \n  \n\"Exactly, Mom,\" said Tish. \"It's all just deserts and mountains and stuff out  \nthat way, once you get off the interstate. Javier was telling us about it just  \nbefore you came in. We draw the train out there and that way it won't be shy  \nabout not letting any mortals see it, and we also don't have to worry about any  \ninnocent bystanders gettin' run over and squooshed.\"  \n  \n\"How are you going to lure it out there?\" Mom asked.  \n  \n\"It'll go wherever I go,\" said Max.  \n  \nShe opened her mouth to protest, but then forced herself to bite it back. She  \nknew this wasn't just some big game. This was a battle, a battle for Max's life.  \nAnd her son was going to be in danger no matter what. She tried to feel faith in  \nJavier, knowing he had sworn his life to protect her family, and that to Javier,  \nhis word \\*was\\* his life.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Don't worry your pretty little head, Mizz Lopez,\" Jeff stepped in. \"We ain't  \ngonna be sitting ducks. Not with \\_this\\_ little cutiepie...\" He pointed behind him  \nat a gigantic steel suitcase that was leaning up against the refrigerator at the  \nmoment.  \n  \n\"What is that thing?\" she asked.  \n  \n\"Shoulder-mounted, surface-to-air, heat-seeking missile launcher. Top of the  \nline. Paid for by the good ol' U.S. Government and stolen my li'l ol' me.\"  \n  \nCarlos arched an eyebrow. \"\\_Stolen\\_?\"  \n  \nJeff shrugged. \"I intercepted a CIA shipment a few years back, bound for some  \nshithole little west African country where the resident evil dictator would've  \ngleefully used everything inside on his own people. It might have caused a bit of  \na ruckus when the stuff didn't show up, but I didn't bother to check.\"  \n  \nAll of them looked at Jeff strangely, except of course for Javier.  \n  \nThe big bat just chuckled. \"Jeff is a bit of a pacifist. When he sees weapons  \nbeing used to harm innocent people, he finds ways of taking them for himself, so  \nthat people like me can use them instead to blow up zombies.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I've always done everything possible to make sure my weapons are never used to  \nkill anyone who isn't already dead,\" Jeff stated solemnly. Then he chuckled.  \n\"Ironic, ain't it, that now this same stuff's gonna be used to save one's life?\"  \n  \n\"Cool,\" said Max. He'd grown to rather like Jeff in the short time they'd known  \neach other. Not only because the lanky ferret swore more colorfully than anyone  \nelse he'd ever met, but because he was really just a big, geeky kid at heart.  \nThat, and anyone who claimed to be able to diffuse an atomic bomb blindfolded in  \nunder five minutes was certainly worth something in terms of entertainment value.  \n  \nCarlos and Martina looked uncomfortable.  \n  \n\"But that's not all, folks!\" Jeff piped up, grinning like an infomercial  \npitchman. \"Act now and you'll also get six incendiary bombs, five slabs of C4, a  \nMausland Cluster Grenade, seven sticks of DHP-9, and a brand new shiny Blood Bath  \nBitch-o-rama!\"  \n  \n\"And what, pray tell, is a Blood Bath Bitch-o-rama?\" Martina asked with narrowed  \neyes.  \n  \n\"Something homemade,\" Jeff explained. \"I've only whipped up a half-dozen of 'em  \nso far, but man, they are \\*seriously\\* cool. You got the equivalent of sixty hand  \ngrenade's worth of a special chemical mixture of my own devising, I call it  \n'Sayonara', in a specially-sealed central container. Wrapped around that with  \nduct tape is three pounds of six-inch steel screws. Those things'll go straight  \nthrough your forehead and out the back like a bowl of soup. Then, surrounding  \n\\*that\\*, are twenty vials of Holy Water; guaranteed to bitchslap the forces of  \nevil back to the stone age. Add a few TNT-pouches for garnish, wrap the whole  \nthing up like a bigass aluminum football, and you have got yourself the most  \neffective undead-beastie-slaughtering tool ever made on the face of the earth.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Kickass...\" said Tish, swooning like a teenage girl at a boy band concert.  \n  \nJeff reached into his vest pocket and fumbled around a bit. \"I also got a few  \ndrops of this stuff,\" he said, mostly to Javier. \"You were bitching about my  \nprices so much, I didn't get a chance to tell you about this. Consider it a  \nlittle bonus present for bein' my best bud.\" He reverently extracted a tiny glass  \nvial filled half-way with an unassuming yellow liquid, and held it up to the  \nlight for everyone to see.  \n  \nNick 'ooh'ed. \"What is it?\"  \n  \nFor the first time in quite a long while, Javier's stony exterior shattered and  \nhe became an awestruck little boy. \"Is that what I think it is?\"  \n  \nJeff nodded. \"Mmmm hm.\"  \n  \n\"What IS it?\" Nick repeated.  \n  \n\"This, my young friend, is the single most precious substance known to any man  \nwho stands against supernatural foes,\" the ferret explained loftily. \"It is so  \npotent, if you were to place a single drop on the edge of a sword, you could drop  \nan entire \\*army\\* of evil ghosts or zombies just by \\*swinging\\* it at 'em. This  \nshit is like, if you were to take Holy Water and multiply it by about a million.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"How in the devil's name did \\_you\\_ get it then!?\" Javier demanded.  \n  \n\"I got a contact at the Vatican. He owes me. Big-time.\"  \n  \nCarlos got a flash of insight. \"Then that's... It's not... is it?\"  \n  \nThe canny ferret nodded, grinning. \"Pope piss.\"  \n  \nTish and Max burst out laughing so hard they were insensible for a few minutes.  \n  \nJeff returned the precious vial to his pocket. \"The really fun part is imagining  \nthe guy who had to hang out under the pontiff's plumbing with a little dixie cup  \nin his hand to get it.\"  \n  \nAt that, Nick joined the twins in giggle paralysis.  \n  \nCarlos just shook his head. He turned aside, to Javier. \"Just when do you intend  \nto mount this attack of yours?\"  \n  \n\"Tomorrow,\" the big bat said solemnly. \"Early morning.\"  \n  \nThe coyote closed his eyes and sighed heavily. His faith in his friend was  \nstrong, but knowing his son would be put in harm's way made his every fatherly  \ninstinct shudder.  \n  \n\"I'm also going to need to borrow your car,\" the big bat added reluctantly.  \n  \n\"I thought you didn't drive anymore.\"  \n  \n\"That will be Tish's job.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Carlos' face hardened into a murderous 'you have got to be kidding' look.  \n  \nJavier grinned reassuringly. \"Just joking. No, I may be out of practice, but I am  \nsure I remember enough. I will be behind the wheel.\"  \n  \nCarlos nodded, taking a bite of pizza.  \n  \n\"...Tish will be in charge of the missile launcher.\"  \n  \nCarlos spat chewed-up pepperoni and cheese all over his wife.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FIFTY-  \n  \nThat night everyone went to bed early. They would need their rest for the coming  \nday.  \n  \nNick had called home to ask his parents if they'd mind him sleeping over. They  \nmade sure it was okay with Tish's parents first, then gave him the okay. Nick  \nblew them kisses over the phone and told them he'd see them tomorrow.  \n  \nJavier had been sleeping in the only spare bed the Lopezes had, so they were at a  \nbit of a loss as to where Jeff was going to spend the night. He was a bit floored  \nby their generosity and insisted it was no trouble at all for him to go out and  \nfind a motel for the night. But Carlos insisted he stay. If for no other reason  \nthan if anything happened to go wrong with Javier's purchases, he wanted the  \nweaselly little geek right here to be held accountable. Jeff gave the big coyote  \nhis most convincing businessman's smile and promised that not only was Javier  \nfully proficient in the use of such items, but that all his wares had been  \npersonally checked for quality assurance. Nevertheless, upon thinking it over, he  \nagreed it might not be a bad idea to stick around. He told them the couch would  \nbe fine for the night, since that's where he slept at his own place a third of  \nthe time anyway.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; After the three cubs' teeth were brushed and they were all in their jammies, Mom  \nand Dad gave them all kisses and sent them off to bed, both of them giving Max an  \nextra special hug before they let him go. Tish and Nick noticed and did not mind  \na bit.  \n  \nAs they headed upstairs to the bedrooms, Tish told Nick that he could have her  \nbedroom all to himself, since she wanted to spend the night with Max. It was a  \ntwin thing, she explained. Mutual moral support. Nick nodded in understanding.  \nThey said their goodnights in the hall, and Nick entered Tish's room, feeling a  \nlittle funny and a little excited about getting the chance to sleep in a girl's  \nbed.  \n  \nWhen Max and Tish entered the bedroom, they were anticipating turning out the  \nlights, crawling under the covers together and having a long talk about what  \nwould come tomorrow.  \n  \nInstead, they were both mildly shocked to find a shimmering, semi-transparent  \nyoung squirrel boy lounging on Max's bed, leafing through a comic book.  \n  \n\"Oh, hi,\" Croak said shyly.  \n  \n\"What are YOU doing here?\" Tish asked. \"It's not more bad news, is it?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The little rodent sheepishly hopped down off the bed and walked over to them,  \nshaking his head to dispel her worries. \"Nuh uh. Nothing like that. Um... Well,  \nbasically, I had some time off and thought I'd come by and visit.\"  \n  \nMax was a little puzzled. \"Why?\"  \n  \nCroak came closer to him, his ebony form slightly more visible now in the dim  \nlight of the bedroom. His sparkling blue eyes were still his most striking  \nfeature though. He stared at Max in quiet astonishment. \"Frankly, I've never met  \na Halfway Soul before, and I'm just really curious.\"  \n  \n\"Halfway Soul?\" Max asked.  \n  \nThe little squirrel nodded. \"That's our word for what you are. A soul that's  \nhalfway in and halfway out of death. One foot in the grave, I guess you could  \nsay.\" Croak's manner was peculiar. He looked and acted like any other eight-year-  \nold boy, but yet he spoke eloquently, using grownup words and concepts with no  \ndifficulty at all.  \n  \nMax walked over to his bed and sat down, a little unnerved by Croak's rapt gaze.  \n\"So, what're you curious about?\"  \n  \n\"Oh, just stuff. What's it feel like? Is it scary? Are you afraid to die again?  \nThings like that.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Tish climbed up on the bed too, and Croak joined them. She could sense he was  \nreally trying to be likable and not give off a spooky vibe, even if he wasn't  \nsucceeding all the way. And he \\_was\\_ really cute.  \n  \nMax scratched his head. \"I dunno. I feel about like I used to before it happened.  \nI got the hang of this body now, mostly. It doesn't hurt. It's a little weird  \nhaving body parts fall off all the time, but that can be fun too.\"  \n  \n\"Has your... \\*thingy\\* ever fallen off?\" the little specter asked gently.  \n  \nMax glared. \"I am NOT telling you that!\"  \n  \n\"Sorry, sorry!\" Croak squeaked, backing up timidly.  \n  \nTish tried hard to stifle a guffaw.  \n  \nMax sighed, remembering Croak's other question. \"As far as being scared to die  \nagain... Yeah, I am. I mean, it's not like I'm worried about \\*me\\*. I know I'll be  \nokay.\"  \n  \n\"What do you mean?\" Tish asked him.  \n  \n\"Well, think of it this way: I know for sure that we don't just blink out of  \nexistence when we die. I mean, my soul had to go \\*somewhere\\* in order for it to  \ncome back, right?\"  \n  \nThey both looked to Croak for confirmation, but the little squirrel just  \nfidgeted. \"Um, I'm not really allowed to say; there's rules about keeping the  \nafterlife a mystery for mortals.\" He paused, and considered. \"But, well, you guys  \nalready pretty much know. So okay. Yeah. Heaven and Hell are real, but that's all  \nI can say. I don't want to get in trouble.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max did already believe in a world after death, but it was still a small relief  \nto get confirmation from an inside source. \"So, yeah, I know I'll be okay even if  \nI do get squished. I just don't want to die again because I don't want everybody  \nto be sad over me again,\" he said quietly. \"Especially you, Sis,\" he told Tish.  \n  \nShe gave him a sisterly nuzzle between his ears.  \n  \nCroak nodded understandingly. \"Well, if it's any consolation, I've spent enough  \ntime in the afterlife to know it's a pretty cool place. Even if you did end up  \nthere early, there'd be lots of people there to help you settle in and feel  \nbetter. And, of course, everyone dies eventually. It's a lot easier to meet up  \nthere with people you've known in life than you'd think. You gotta remember that.  \nDeath is never a permanent goodbye, just an 'I'll see you later'.\"  \n  \nThinking about it that way, it seemed at least a little bit less scary. It did  \nhelp to put things in perspective like that. Max and Tish both smiled bravely. If  \ntheir plan didn't work tomorrow, they knew that losing each other would be  \ndevastating. But knowing it wouldn't last forever would help them both to get  \nthrough it, in time.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Croak pulled himself up into a little ball of fur, resting his chin in his paws.  \n\"Sometimes, when I've got some time to myself like this, I like to go down to the  \nabyss and watch new arrivals get reunited with their loved ones.\" A warm and true  \nsmile came across his young face. \"It makes me feel really good inside. I like  \nknowing me 'n Thanatos are a part of it. That what we do is important.\"  \n  \n\"What's it like workin' with Thanatos anyway?\" Tish asked, knowing she could  \nnever put up with anyone that snotty for more than an hour or two, maximum.  \n  \nCroak's young face lit up. \"He's the best boss ever! I love him like a dad!\"  \n  \nThis was a surprising answer, given their impressions of him from the day before.  \n  \n\"You don't know him like I do,\" Croak said defiantly, seeing their awkward  \nreactions. \"Yeah, he's got a temper, and he talks a whole lot, and he's angry a  \nlot of the time. But he's never like that to me. Not ever. He's just got, like,  \nthe shittiest job in the whole Beyond. Think about what it'd be like if day after  \nday, you had to not only fight zombies and ghouls and wastelings 'n stuff, but  \nalso have people scream at the sight of you, and try to run away from you, or  \nhurt you, or just basically treat you like you were evil. He's really a good guy,  \nand without him the whole universe would collapse. I wish people'd stop being so  \ndamn mean to him all the time.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Looking at it that way, both Max an Tish did find a bit of sympathy in their  \nhearts. Tish remembered thinking about the grim reaper, and how sad he must be to  \nhave a job where everyone hated him. She felt a little bad about feeling the same  \nway towards Thanatos.  \n  \nMax was thinking much the same thing, but then his mind caught on a word he'd  \nheard twice now and had no idea what it meant. \"Hey, what's a 'wasteling'  \nanyway?\"  \n  \nCroak went right into authoritative mode, sitting up sharply and speaking like he  \nwas reading out of an encyclopedia. \"Wastelings are one of the rarest of all  \nundead beings. They are created when a furson is completely cast aside by  \neveryone around them. When they die, their souls become bonded to filth and  \ngarbage and are unable to pass on to the next plane of existence. Sometimes  \nthey'll just lay there for centuries until we find them and rescue them. Or  \nsometimes they can be awakened, and become Halfway Souls like you, only made out  \nof garbage instead of meat.\"  \n  \nMax went 'hm'. \"I've never heard of one before.\" Tish hadn't either.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Like I said, they're rare,\" Croak went on. \"There are maybe only four or five on  \nthe whole planet right now, and that's not counting the ones whose souls are  \nstill trapped in the trash. There's way too many of those. It's actually really  \nsad.  \n  \n\"We met some a few months ago. Two trash-zombies, I mean. A rat and a wolfox;  \nbest friends actually. They weren't bothering anyone, and they already had a good  \nhome and were being taken care of by a nice skunk guy, so we had a fun little  \nchat with them and let them stay aboveground. Sometimes our job can feel really  \ngood when we meet nice undeads like them. And like you,\" he added.  \n  \nMax smiled. \"Thanks.\"  \n  \n\"You're welcome,\" Croak said affably.  \n  \n\"Um, can I ask something?\" Tish piped up.  \n  \n\"Sure.\"  \n  \n\"How old are you?\"  \n  \nThe squirrel shrugged. \"Geez, I dunno. Thanatos found me when I was eight, and  \nI've been eight ever since. Time's kinda weird in the Beyond; that's where we  \nlive. It's a place inbetween your world and the afterlife. It's where all the  \nbehind-the-scenes stuff goes on.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Basically, a really long time ago, I used to be a kid just like you two. I died,  \nbut I don't even remember how now. I don't even remember what my real name useta  \nbe. But my old life must've been real bad, since the very first thing I \\*can\\*  \nremember is agreeing to let Thanatos erase my memory. I've asked him about who I  \nused to be a few times, but he won't tell me. He said I begged him not to. Made  \nhim promise. All I know is, I was really scared back then. Terrified. And when he  \nfound me as a ghost, he was so nice to me. I was crying a lot, and he picked me  \nup and held me in his warm cloak and I felt better then.  \n  \n\"Ever since then, I've been his assistant. I like my job. I like helping him out  \nwith stuff, and even though he doesn't say it too often, since he's always trying  \nto look important and intimidating, I think he's really glad he found me too.  \nSometimes he'll come home after a really rough day, and he'll see me, and right  \naway he'll smile. I like knowing I'm there to cheer him up.\"  \n  \nTish smiled softly. \"That's really kind of you.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Croak smiled proudly. \"Thanks. Me 'n Thanatos, we need each other. He makes the  \nworld run smoothly, and I help him chill out.\" He chuckled. \"That, and I'm always  \nthere to listen when he gets in one of his rants. He'll pace around the room,  \ngoing on and on about how dumb some mortals can be, and I'll just nod and smile  \nuntil he's done. He says if I'm smart, I should get a desk job when I grow up;  \ncustomer service sucks.\"  \n  \nMax and Tish both laughed.  \n  \nThe small squirrel, who had seen many aeon's worth of experience, but was still a  \nchild in his heart and mind, felt happy to hear the sound of their laughter. As  \nmuch as he loved tagging along with Thanatos, it got lonely in the Beyond  \nsometimes. It was nice to be able to sit and talk with someone a little closer to  \nhis own age.  \n  \n\"So, um, I know it's late, but I don't get too much free time,\" Croak said  \nsoftly. \"Would you mind just hanging out together for a while until I have to go  \nhome?\"  \n  \n\"Sure,\" Tish said warmly. She sat up and pulled the small specter closer. \"We  \ndon't mind, do we Max?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Naw,\" He reached over to give the li'l guy a soft noogie.  \n  \nCroak giggled.  \n  \n\"Hey, I got a question,\" Max said thoughtfully.  \n  \nCroak perked up.  \n  \n\"Is El Chupacabras real? I remember hearing about that thing on some late-nite TV  \nshow.\"  \n  \n\"Yeah, the Goatsucker!\" Tish added.  \n  \nThe little black squirrel stared at them for a few seconds, then suddenly burst  \ninto broad chuckles, as if he could not believe what an inane question he'd just  \nbeen asked. \"Of \\*course\\* they're real! Duh! I can't believe you mortals haven't  \neven caught one yet! There's nothing even supernatural about them! They're just a  \nbreed of vampire bats that live on the ground, don't fly anymore, and are about  \nthe size of housecats. You should ask Javier about them; he used to keep one as a  \npet a few years ago!\"  \n  \nMax blinked, dumbfounded.  \n  \n\"Really?\" said Tish. \"Dang, now I kinda want one.\"  \n  \n\"We could name it Fluffy,\" Max suggested.  \n  \nThey all laughed and talked and had fun together for a long time afterwards.  \nUntil Carlos finally came upstairs and pummeled on the door and threatened to  \nship them all off to the zoo if they didn't quiet down and get to sleep. This  \njust made them giggle more.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FIFTY ONE-  \n  \nMax woke before dawn the next day.  \n  \nHe blinked the sleep-dirt from his eyes and felt his second-rate body  \nbegrudgingly becoming animate again. He had not told anyone else this yet, not  \neven Tish, but he'd begun to notice something new and frightening about himself.  \nIt was taking longer every morning to wake his body up from slumber. His mind  \nwould awaken the same as usual, but trying to force motion from his limbs  \nrequired a greater effort each successive morning. It was subtle, yes, but by now  \nit had become too noticeable to ignore. Max was getting worried. What if, he  \nwondered, one of these days he woke up and his body just wouldn't obey him at  \nall, no matter how hard he tried? What if his mind ended up stuck in this  \ndecaying hunk of meat until he finally rotted away to nothing? These thoughts  \nsent chills down his spine. He knew something would have to change soon.  \nSomething more than just exterminating a train.  \n  \nHe could feel Tish snuggled up behind him. She had put her arms around him like a  \nteddy bear and had been cuddling him all night long. Her nose was nuzzled up  \nbetween his neck and shoulder, and her smile was sweet. She did not mind his  \nsmell at all now. It wasn't bad anymore. It meant Max, and so it gave her  \ncomfort.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max wriggled slowly and carefully out of her grasp, figuring that since she was  \nalive, she probably needed more sleep anyway. When he stood up and turned around,  \nhe saw her expression change from contented to confused. Her arms twitched,  \nbelieving they ought to be hugging something. Thinking quickly, Max placed his  \nwolf plushie Thunder into her arms. Tish's smile returned quickly. Max replaced  \nthe blanket over her, and she slumbered on.  \n  \nPadding silently, Max walked over to the window. It was still dark out, but he  \ncould see someone out there in the backyard. Javier. Silently sitting cross-  \nlegged, facing east.  \n  \nCurious, Max pulled on some clothes and slipped downstairs to join him. He  \nsnagged a few hamburger patties from the deep freeze on the way, for breakfast.  \n  \nThe grass rustled ticklingly on his feet as Max stepped out onto the lawn.  \nJavier's ear twitched, but otherwise he gave no sign at all he knew the boy was  \nthere. And yet, Max just sorta \\*knew\\* that he knew.  \n  \nQuietly as he could, feeling that this moment was somehow sacred, Max approached  \nhis protector and sat down next to him. He crossed his legs too, making the pair  \nof them a mirror image.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Javier's eyes were closed and his face was still. He looked at peace. For a few  \nmoments, all was silent.  \n  \nThen the big bat smiled slightly. \"You're not really going to eat those like  \nthat, are you?\"  \n  \nMax looked down at the frozen circles of meat. \"Well, sure.\"  \n  \n\"They don't hurt your teeth?\"  \n  \n\"No. I don't bite 'em, I suck on 'em. Like meatsicles.\"  \n  \nA tiny chuckle from Javier. \"Clever boy.\"  \n  \nMax nibbled and tasted his breakfast, feeling his body take in the luscious  \nprotein and use it to shore up his steadily collapsing self. \"So, what're you  \ndoing out here?\" he whispered.  \n  \n\"I am being quiet.\"  \n  \n\"Oh...\" Max said, a little embarrassed, and shut his mouth.  \n  \n\"No, no. Do not misunderstand. I said 'quiet', not 'silent'. We can talk. In  \nfact, I would very much like to talk with you, young one.\"  \n  \nThe little zombie smiled. \"Okay. What about?\"  \n  \nThe morning darkness was losing strength, giving way to a soft greyness out on  \nthe horizon. The sun was approaching.  \n  \n\"How do you feel about today?\" Javier asked.  \n  \nMax broke off a little bit of hamburger, chewed it a bit, and swallowed. \"I feel  \npretty good.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Confident?\"  \n  \n\"Yeah.\"  \n  \n\"Do you believe we will be victorious today?\"  \n  \nMax nodded. \"I hope so.\"  \n  \nThe big bat shook his head, just slightly. \"No. That is not enough.\"  \n  \nMax made a little 'excuse me?' sound.  \n  \n\"Just hoping is not enough,\" Javier explained, his eyes still closed. \"I have  \ngone into battle a thousand and one times. On many occasions, the odds have been  \nagainst me. My fight has been impossible. And yet I won nonetheless. How did I do  \nthis?\"  \n  \n\"I dunno.\"  \n  \n\"Because, young one, I \\_knew\\_ that I would win. I knew, as much as I know that  \nthe sky is above me and the ground is below, that the only possible outcome to my  \nbattle was success. I would be the victor, as surely as the sun will soon rise  \nbefore us.  \n  \n\"Do not confuse this with overconfidence. No, that is something you must \\_never\\_  \nlet yourself slip into. You cannot expect a victory and then do nothing on your  \nown to bring it about. But if you believe in your heart that you are on the side  \nof righteousness, and that fate will deliver victory into your hands, then you  \nmust be prepared to work as hard as you can to \\*seize\\* that victory.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"See your battles as a road, young one. A long, hard road, with many obstacles.  \nBut at the end of that road, there stands an angel. She is holding out a sword of  \ntriumph to you. The sword is there. You can see it every step of the way. You  \nknow it is there. But it is up to you to fight your way towards it, never giving  \nup, never doubting, never weakening, until finally you can take it in your hands  \nand raise it high above you and know that you have won. Know that you have won,  \nbecause you have earned it.\"  \n  \nMax sat silently for quite a while. He stared off into the growing dawn, watching  \nas grey became purple and purple became red, feeling Javier's words take root  \ndeep within him.  \n  \nFinally, he turned to his companion, looking up into that gnarled, scarred,  \nserene face.  \n  \n\"That was probably the coolest thing I've ever heard anyone say,\" he uttered with  \ntotal sincerity.  \n  \nJavier chuckled. \"Cool? I am not sure if I am 'cool' or not. I just hope that  \nmaybe I can fulfill my promise to protect you, not just with my actions, but by  \nhelping you become stronger as well, Young Master Max.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max smiled. \"Thanks.\"  \n  \n\"Now, I will ask you again,\" said Javier, \"do you believe we will be victorious  \ntoday?\"  \n  \nMax smiled, feeling strong and right and brave. \"I don't have to,\" he said.  \n\"We've already won.\"  \n  \nJavier opened his wise eyes to regard his small compatriot. He put his wing  \naround the boy. \"I am very proud of you.\"  \n  \nWithout a word more, they watched the sun rise. Watched the gorgeous colors  \nslowly reaching up and out from the horizon, to make the morning sky into a work  \nof art. A mural, painted with colors too rich for any mortal artist to ever  \ngrasp.  \n  \nMax knew in his heart he was ready.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FIFTY TWO-  \n  \nMax gently tugged on Tish's pajama sleeve.  \n  \n\"Huh?\"  \n  \n\"Wake up, sis. We've got a train to catch.\"  \n  \nTish sat up and yawned, then leaned over to give her brother a hug.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FIFTY THREE-  \n  \nThey found Jeff asleep on the couch in such a gruesomely contorted position, it  \nwas nearly impossible to believe that he actually still had a spine, that someone  \nhadn't snatched it out of him while he slept.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Martina winced. \"If he wasn't snoring so loud, I'd think he was dead.\"  \n  \nJavier grinned. \"Jeff is just very, very flexible. One time I stuffed him into a  \nduffel bag. You know, for fun. He liked it.\"  \n  \nCarlos was not much surprised by this.  \n  \nThe twins were running about like two little furry streaks of lightning, checking  \non this and reminding each other of that. They both felt refreshed and full of  \nenergy. You'd think, just by looking at them, that they were getting ready to go  \non a field trip rather than an nigh-unwinnable fight to the death. Their  \nconfidence was so strong it was almost tangible. Like a nimbus around an angel's  \nhead in a renaissance painting.  \n  \nBeing a feline, Nick wasn't really a morning furson. He was currently slumped in  \nhis seat at the kitchen table, stuffing his face with Sugar Bonks and blinking a  \nlot.  \n  \nJeff was snoring like a hacksaw pulled across corrugated cardboard. Javier  \ndecided to solve this little problem directly, by tipping over the couch and  \nletting his friend flop clumsily out onto the livingroom floor.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Wutthefuckyshitnipples!?\" Jeff blurted incoherently.  \n  \n\"Rise and shine, mi amigo!\" Javier said jauntily.  \n  \n\"Fuck you and everybody who looks like you,\" Jeff replied. The rattled ferret got  \nblearily to his feet and cast about for his glasses. \"In fact, fuck anyone who's  \never spoken to you, ever looked at you, or even has the same first name as you.\"  \n  \nThe big bat smiled rapturously, taking in a deep breath. \"Ah yes, it is a  \nbeautiful morning, is it not?\"  \n  \nJeff gave him the evil eye, having finally found his glasses. \"Until I get some  \ncoffee in me, ain't nothing's beautiful.\"  \n  \n\"I shall get you some then. Regular, or decaf?\" he teased.  \n  \nJeff gave him a look like he'd just compared his mother to a street whore.  \n\"DECAF?!? Don't even kid around like that, man!!\"  \n  \nJavier couldn't resist a chuckle. \"Sorry. You are just so very easy to tease, my  \nfriend. And besides, I had to wake you since you still have the vial on you, and  \nI would have felt strange about patting you down for it\"  \n  \n\"Oh, yeah, right... Gimme a second.\" Jeff searched himself thoroughly before  \nfinally coming across the all-important quantity of papal effluence. \"Here ya go.  \nNow get me some mothertruckin' coffee.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Always knowing exactly how far to push his ferret friend, Javier took the vial  \nfrom Jeff, gave him an obsequious nod, and headed for the kitchen.  \n  \nOn the way, he intercepted Max. \"I think you should hang on to this,\" he said,  \nholding out the vial.  \n  \nMax looked down at the golden droplets. \"How sure are you this stuff will work?\"  \n  \n\"Very,\" Javier replied. \"But even if it doesn't, it is always a good idea to be  \nmore prepared than you think you need to be.\"  \n  \nThe little zombie considered that, then nodded and stuffed the vial deep within  \nhis jeans pocket.  \n  \nA few moments later, Jeff gratefully received his coffee, and went over to sit at  \nthe table with Carlos and Martina, all of them sipping from their mugs like babes  \nfrom their mother's teats.  \n  \nMeanwhile, Tish was trying to spark some life in Nick.  \n  \nThe little cheetah growled softly every time Tish poked him in the shoulder. \"I'm  \nnot waking up any faster with you doing that,\" he groused.  \n  \nShe pulled her chair closer, and laid her head on his shoulder, looking up at him  \nwith her wide green eyes. \"Sorry, Nick. I'm just all revved up for what we're  \ngonna do today, and I want you to be excited too.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; He arched an eyebrow. \"Why? I mean, I'm not even going along with you 'n Max. You  \ndon't really need me for anything.\"  \n  \nShe seemed shocked to hear him say that. \"We do too, Nick! You're our best  \nfriend! It'll be enough just to know that you'll be here waiting for us to come  \nback.\" She snuggled up to him again. \"We \\_always\\_ need you, Nick,\" she told him  \nearnestly.  \n  \nAt that, the young feline really did feel better. He turned in his seat to give  \nTish a hug, and was utterly floored when, out of nowhere, she kissed him on the  \ncheek.  \n  \nAfter everyone had gotten all breakfasted up, the final arrangements for the day  \nwere made. Jeff, Javier and Carlos went out front to transfer all the weaponry  \nfrom Jeff's blue hatchback to Carlos' black sedan. When the coyote asked the  \nferret why he wasn't willing to risk HIS car, Jeff told him that risk didn't have  \nanything to do with it. Simply put, his near-terminal little car hadn't seen  \nseventy MPH in three years or so. It would be like riding into battle on a  \nskateboard with three wheels.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; All the gear was checked, re-checked and triple-checked. Jeff called Tish outside  \nand gave her a lesson on the finer points of using a heat-seeking missile  \nlauncher. Just point and shoot, he said. Easy as taking a Polaroid. Tish accepted  \nthe deadly mantle, mildly awestruck, and shivered at the sheer weight of it on  \nher shoulders. It was like the greatest Christmas present ever.  \n  \nJavier did some last-minute preparations as well. Finding a moment to quietly  \nslip away, he stole around to the other side of the house and found a shady spot.  \nHe knelt and prayed, asking the forces Beyond, and the spirit of his mentor, to  \nguide him on his path today. So that three would go out, and three would also  \ncome back.  \n  \nFinally, at close to nine A.M., everything was ready.  \n  \nThey gathered on the porch. Carlos and Martina hugged their precious children  \nagain and again, whispering words of love and encouragement in their ears and  \nbegging them to be careful, to be thorough, and to come home safely. Nick piled  \non plenty of hugs as well, promising his friends that he would be here waiting  \nfor them to return. The normally unsentimental Jeff even broke down and held his  \nmost trusted comrade in a tearful embrace for a few moments. True, he and Javier  \nhad cheated death many, many times in the past. But never before had they gone up  \nagainst an enemy they knew so little about. The big bat patted his friend on the  \nback, and told him he had 100% faith in the 'supplies' he would be using. Carlos  \ncame over to give his best friend a 'good luck' hug as well. Eventually, everyone  \nthere ended up hugging everyone else at least once.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; But the inevitable can only be prolonged so long, no matter how many hugs are  \nexchanged. Tish, Max and Javier stepped down off the porch and headed for the  \ncar, feeling fear but also bravery in their hearts. For what is bravery but  \nfeeling fear, and then doing what needs to be done anyway?  \n  \nThe four on the porch waved to the departing three as they climbed into the sedan  \nlike astronauts entering the space shuttle. Carlos and Martina hoped they would  \nsee their cubs again. Nick hoped he would see his best friends again. And Jeff  \nhoped he'd see again the only man alive who could possibly put up with his  \nbullshit for any length of time without strangling him.  \n  \nMany, many goodbyes were exchanged.  \n  \nJavier shut the door behind him. The silver suitcase was in the passenger seat  \nnext to him. Tish and Max were in the back. \"Are we ready?\" he asked them.  \n  \nTish nodded. \"Hell yeah.\"  \n  \nMax nodded too. \"Yeah, but do you think we could make a quick stop first?\"  \n  \n\"Where?\" Javier asked.  \n  \nTish suddenly knew, and grinned. \"Of course...\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR-  \n  \nA handful of minutes later, they were pulling up in the parking lot outside  \nDooley's.  \n  \nA giant vampire bat in a trenchcoat entered, followed by two small coyote  \nchildren, one of whom smelled rather ripe.  \n  \nThe paper-hatted peon behind the counter looked wary.  \n  \nJavier's resonant voice spoke softly. \"I would like twenty hamburgers, please.\"  \n  \n\"Uh, sir, we don't start serving burgers until noon. Would you like to try our  \nHot 'n Yummy Sausage Muffin Sandwich instead?\"  \n  \nJavier leaned in very, very close to the trembling cashier. He placed his right  \nwinghand in his pocket and grinned charmingly. \"Let me make things very simple  \nfor you. I would like to order twenty hamburgers. Please. You can put anything  \nyou like on them, I only care about quantity. I have plenty of money, I have very  \nlittle patience, and I also have these...\" When he withdrew his winghand and held  \nit less than an inch from the cashier's face, it was \\*crawling\\* with an  \nimpenetrable crust of live, writhing scorpions. \"My little friends here also have  \nvery little patience.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Coming dangerously close to shitting his pants, the cashier managed to squeak  \nout, \"And would you like fries with that, sir?\"  \n  \nMax and Tish smiled pleasantly. Who said customer service was dead?  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE-  \n  \nMax ate as they drove, losing himself in carnivorous ecstasy. Tish, packed into  \nthe back seat next to him, daintily nibbled away a burger of her own in about the  \nsame time it took Max to down five. She didn't mind the occasional flying  \ndroplets of spit or ketchup. The limitless glee on her brother's face was well  \nworth it.  \n  \nJavier was not much of a fan of fast food, but he occasionally picked at a single  \nburger of his own as he piloted their vehicle down the long and linear highway  \nout of town. The road was growing ever more empty with each passing turn of the  \nodometer. Soon, the little gas stations and restaurants that speckled the route  \non either side would disappear completely, and they would finally be all alone.  \n  \nTelephone poles zipped by like an endless zoetrope loop. The early day outside  \nwas so silent, they could just as easily have been on the moon. Large birds  \ncircled overhead sometimes. And the sun beat down on the little black car. Not  \nmenacingly, but as it it were aware of their reason for travelling, and was  \nhelping to make sure they would all be warmed up for their mission.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; When the Dooley's debauchery was over, Tish had eaten two, Javier one, and Max's  \ngut was now swollen with a grand total of seventeen. His face was locked in a  \ngoofy, blissful grin. He played bongo drums on his taut belly and felt good. He  \nwadded up all the extra buns, lettuce, tomatoes and whatnot up in the wrappers  \nuntil he'd created a greasy paper volleyball. Naturally, he and Tish took turns  \nhurling it at each other and giggling.  \n  \nJavier glanced at them from the rear view mirror and smiled. He would not in a  \nmillion years have told them to quiet down and act serious. No, he knew well that  \nlaughter is a powerful force. It uplifts the spirit and imparts confidence.  \nLaughter was good. And too, it is hard to laugh and be frightened at the same  \ntime.  \n  \n'Hard, but not impossible,' he noted internally. 'Something to keep in mind.'  \n  \nWhen there was nothing but desolation and tumbleweeds as far as the eye could see  \nboth ahead and behind, Javier idled down and checked the map. Good. They were  \nalmost certainly out far enough by now. He spun the wheel to the left and drove  \nthem off the paved path. The sound of crunching gravel under tires sprang up  \nimmediately.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The noise sobered Tish and Max up a bit too. They were driving across bare earth  \nnow, leaving the road behind. They were really doing this. They were really  \ndriving out into the middle of nowhere, literally, into combat with the thing  \nthat was trying to kill them all.  \n  \nBut that alone wasn't enough to dampen their high spirits. The twins got up in  \ntheir seats and poked their muzzles out the windows, looking around in wonder at  \nthis alien landscape that was their home.  \n  \nThe sand was every color of the sunset. Tan in places, deepening to brown and  \neven red here and there. Cacti stood about in aloof groupings, like snooty guests  \nat an elegant dinner party. Rocks of every size, colonization and shape dotted  \nthe landscape. Some were small enough that little creatures were using them as  \ntanning beds. Some were so huge they suggested mammoth shapes, like a child  \nlooking for images in clouds. A giant fist, half of an ambulance, an old lady's  \nknee, a crouching spider...  \n  \nOut on the horizon, Max and Tish could see a jagged line of red mountains. They  \nlooked surreal, like a gigantic illustration painted on the sky itself. Nearer  \nbut still far away were ridges and cliffs, making the land look like the sandbox  \nfor a thousand-foot-tall toddler.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Just as many New Yorkers have never been inside the statue of liberty, Max and  \nTish had never really paused to appreciate the beauty of their own home state.  \nOut here, it was easy to believe they were the last living beings on earth. That  \nthis red Marsscape stretched on outwards into infinity. It was a rare instance of  \nboth twins becoming absolutely silent for an extended period of time.  \n  \nJavier, of course, was not nearly as awed as the cubs, but could still appreciate  \nthe majesty of the land surrounding him (that, and the smooth handling of Carlos'  \ncar). The desert was his home. His friend. Someone he understood. When the train  \ncame, it would not realize that it had been brought to fight in Javier's natural  \nelement. That is one of the elementary rules of battle; get home-court advantage  \nwhenever possible, and make good use of it.  \n  \nFinally, after an hour or so of driving (which hadn't seemed nearly that long),  \nJavier felt something click into place within his soul. This was the spot where  \nit should happen. He felt sure. He pressed down on the brake and slowed the car  \nto a stop. It still felt odd to him to be operating a machine like this. He  \nprobably could have flown here in the same amount of time. But he had to admit,  \nthough somewhat foreign to him, cars were indeed very useful for transporting  \ncargo and companions.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; He turned around in his seat to face the young ones. \"We are here.\"  \n  \n\"How do you know?\" Tish asked.  \n  \nHe shrugged. \"I just have a feeling. I have spent many years learning how to read  \nthe desert. This place feels lucky to me.\"  \n  \nTish nodded, then looked out the window at the miles and miles of nothing all  \naround her. A slow breeze rustled her fur. \"Geez, how're we gonna find our way  \nhome afterwards?\"  \n  \nJavier gave her a crafty, mock-insulted smile. \"Do not ever question the  \nnavigational aptitudes of a bat, Young Miss,\" he said with a flick of his ears.  \n  \nShe chuckled. \"Okay, sorry.\"  \n  \nMax was about to add something, but as soon as his mouth opened, a thunderous  \nbelch escaped that shook the doors on their hinges.  \n  \n\"Oops,\" he squeaked.  \n  \n\"If you have another one of those left in you,\" said Javier, \"we may not end up  \nneeding any of Jeff's supplies at all!\"  \n  \n\"Yeah, we could just have Javier point you at the train and you could \\*burp\\* it  \nto smithereens!\" Tish said gleefully.  \n  \nMax snorted with laughter, trying to picture such a scene.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Javier leaned over the passenger seat and unlatched the big silver suitcase.  \nLittle metal sounds accompanied his skilled reassembling of the weapon inside.  \n  \n\"Whatcha doin' now?\" Tish asked, peeking over the seat back.  \n  \n\"I am getting ready, and you should do the same.\" He popped the trunk latch. \"Go  \nand bring me some of the incendiary bombs, please,\" he asked her. Tish saluted  \nhim and skittered out the door.  \n  \n\"I hope I don't have to do any runnin' around. Y'know, at mach speed,\" Max said,  \nrubbing his round belly. \"I'm starting to feel kinda full from all those  \nhamburgers.\"  \n  \n\"No worries, Young Master,\" Javier told him as he slid the last piece of his  \nexplosive puzzle into place. \"You are, in a sense, our bait. Your job is to sit  \nback and relax and draw it near, so that we then can kill it.\"  \n  \nThe little zombie frowned in mock-disappointment. \"In other words, you 'n Tish  \nget all the fun. Hmph!\"  \n  \nJavier chuckled. \"Do not worry, Max. If you think our plan is going to go off  \nexactly as we have envisioned it, you will undoubtably be proven wrong. Nothing  \never goes according to plan. It is simply how the world works. Nature abhors two  \nthings: a vacuum, and the plans men make.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max pondered that.  \n  \nAnd what Javier was not aware of was the fact that his words were already coming  \ntrue, even as he spoke them.  \n  \nTish returned with the incendiaries and Javier explained what he planned to do  \nwith them. The three hunters all began to settle in and begin waiting. They kept  \ntheir eyes peeled, always looking around. They were out in the middle of nowhere,  \nwith nothing to hide behind. When the train came, they would see it from a mile  \naway and be ready.  \n  \nOr so they thought.  \n  \nFor they had forgotten something very important about it.  \n  \nThey had forgotten that it could \\*tunnel\\*.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FIFTY SIX-  \n  \nIt was already in the earth.  \n  \nIt could feel them up above, and knew it was drawing nearer to them. It was  \nlaughing in the cold, hard dirt, ramming forward at an obscene pace, never tiring  \nor resting.  \n  \nGetting closer every second.  \n  \nIt had them now. All three: the prey, the thing that smelled like the prey, and  \nthe bothersome mortal that had vexed it before. But now it knew better. The  \nmortal could be dealt with too. It had all become so simple, so clear. Its  \npurpose, its very reason for being, was to eliminate the prey. And how could it  \npossibly be expected to do its job effectively if it was hindered by such  \nnonsensical restrictions as 'Must Not Kill Mortals'?  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Well, no longer. It would not allow itself to be bound any longer by silly rules  \nthat made hunting inefficient. In order to kill the prey, it would kill them too.  \nIt would wring the life from them slowly, and then drape itself in their pelts.  \nThe ragged remains of their pathetic flesh bodies would hang from its strong  \nmetal sides like a royal robe. And the head of the prey would dangle, silent and  \nstinking, from its headlamp. Its light would shine gloriously through those open,  \nforever-dead eye sockets.  \n  \nThe train laughed and laughed.  \n  \nCloser still.  \n  \nCloser still.  \n  \nUntil it was right underneath them, and they didn't suspect a thing.  \n  \nIts front end swung up and then it was burrowing upwards like a rocket. When it  \nbroke through the soil into the sunlight, it would catch their wheeled metal cage  \non its grille and send it flying up into the air, then pile-drive them all back  \ndown into the earth, crushing them like overripe fruit, smearing their blood,  \nseeping their lives from their red husks.  \n  \nAnd then, it would finally know joy.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN-  \n  \nIt was Javier's species that saved them.  \n  \nMost bats are not blind, contrary to popular belief, but many people seem to  \nthink so because their ears are so sensitive, a bat's eyes become a secondary  \nsense. Some species' ears are so attuned that they simply use them in place of  \ntheir eyes altogether. Vampire bats are not quite this skilled, but their hearing  \nis still very, very good.  \n  \nAnd what Javier heard was a low, evil rumbling. He thought at first it was coming  \nfrom somewhere off in the distance, but a split-second later he was able to  \npinpoint it exactly. It was coming from below. Directly underneath. And in that  \ninstant, he realized he had underestimated his opponent.  \n  \nHe screamed a booming spanish expletive and jammed the key in the ignition.  \n  \nMax and Tish felt the rumble only when it was almost upon them. Their fur stood  \nstraight up and they clutched their seats in a death-grip.  \n  \nAnd then the train emerged.  \n  \nBellowing, howling, steaming, it exploded up out of the earth like a whale  \nleaping gracefully out of the sea. But this sight was not one of awe, it was one  \nof abject screaming insanity. Dirt showered down like brown fireworks. The  \ndeadly metal missile propelled itself thirty feet in the air or more and realized  \nonly too late that it had not caught the prey on its face as it had planned. Its  \nrage-roar shredding the sky, it turned at its apex and plunged back to earth  \nagain. If it could not swat them, it could certainly dive-bomb the filthy  \nfleshsacks.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Javier had had just enough time to start the car and slam his foot down on the  \naccelerator. When the train had ambushed them, it had succeeded only in rising up  \nthe car's back end about five feet or so, and, ironically, helping give them just  \nenough of a push-off to escape its attempt to crash down on top of them. The  \nbehemoth crunched gracelessly down a few scant feet behind them and bleated in  \nanger and frustration. The big bat had his foot jammed down on the pedal so hard  \nhe thought he might end up with a permanent impression of it branded onto his  \nsole.  \n  \nAgain, the chase was on.  \n  \n\"Tish!\" Javier shouted. \"Find me something to force the accelerator down!\"  \n  \nTish dutifully cast her eyes about the backseat, Max helping her look, and came  \nup with a canister of some kind of liquid explosive. It was sealed tight enough  \nit could handle a bit of rough treatment. Tish pitched the small cylinder into  \nthe front seat and Javier wedged it in good without even having to look.  \n  \nMax turned around to see out the back window. It was right behind them, and  \ngaining. That murderous silver face, glaring at him without eyes. Wanting to eat  \nhim.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Even with the speedometer needle stuck way past the limits it had been designed  \nto measure, there was simply no way the black sedan could match the train's  \nvelocity. The beast had them now, and it knew it. It decided to play with its  \nfood a bit before chowing down. It revved up and tapped their back bumper, just  \nenough to let them know it was there. It backed off, a dark giggling sound coming  \nfrom somewhere deep inside its engine, and then rammed forward again, sending the  \ncar fishtailing wildly.  \n  \nFor someone who was out of practice with automobiles, Javier was doing a  \nremarkable job of keeping them steady. Of course, it helped immensely that there  \nwas nothing to crash into out here for miles but a cactus or two. The way ahead  \nwas smooth and even, so long as he could keep them there.  \n  \nMax watched the horrid thing gaining on them, ready to snap at their heels a  \nthird time. Panic was starting to set in.  \n  \nBut then he got an idea.  \n  \n\"Javier! Pop the trunk!\"  \n  \n\"What are you planning, young one?\"  \n  \n\"No time! Just do it! And the sunroof too!\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The vampire had confidence in his young companion. He could feel Max's heart  \nbeating, feel the strength within the boy. Max knew what he was doing, and so  \nJavier obeyed.  \n  \nAs soon as the sunroof started to open, Max shot out his paws, starting to claw  \nhis way up through it. Tish was terrified for him, but helped him squeeze up  \nanyway. He did not have to tell her his plan, she already knew that whatever it  \nwas, he believed in it. And that was good enough for her too.  \n  \nMax scrambled out onto the sedan's roof. The desert wind whipped at him, tearing  \nloose scraps of fur and skin. He fought to keep his balance as he pulled himself  \nforward towards the trunk.  \n  \nThe train stared at him, and would have been grinning if it had possessed a  \nmouth. 'What do you think YOU'RE doing, little meat-thing? How can you possibly  \nhope to challenge me?'  \n  \nMax forced his head up, tears and hot air stinging his eyes, to stare into that  \nsole headlamp.  \n  \n\"Go fuck yourself,\" he spat.  \n  \nBracing himself with his back paws, he reached out to get his fingers underneath  \nthe trunk lid. \"C'mon, don't snap off...\" he begged his digits. But his brittle  \nbones held, and the trunk lid popped up so suddenly and violently, Max lost his  \ngrip and tumbled off the roof of the car entirely.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Tish screamed, and the memory of watching him die the first time lunged out from  \ninside her mind.  \n  \n'Minor setback. Nothing serious.' Max was hanging onto the side of the car now,  \nthe intense speed making him dangle diagonally like an antenna pennant.  \n  \nTish finally saw him, and let out a whoosh of relief. She poked her head out the  \nwindow, wondering why in the hell backseat car windows only came down halfway  \nanyway. \"Max!\"  \n  \n\"Hey sis!\" he called back cheerfully.  \n  \n\"Can I help?\" she fretted  \n  \n\"No, just relax! I'm gonna try something really stupid and see if it works!\"  \n  \n\"Okay!\" She watched him claw his way, paw over paw, up the back of the car and  \nslither into the trunk. Her heart felt like it was about to rip itself out of her  \nchest at any second. But she had faith in her brother. His whole life had been a  \nsequence of trying stupid ideas to see if they'd work. And, more times than the  \nlaw of averages could ever possibly allow for, everything had worked out just  \nfine. Max made the impossible happen, just because he refused to \\*believe\\* it was  \nimpossible.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The little zombie collapsed in the trunk, landing hard and uncomfortably on top  \nof the remaining explosives. He winced, but more out of apprehension than pain.  \nThankfully, his scrawny body didn't weigh enough to make anything detonate.  \n  \nHe stood up on the edge of the trunk, paws and feet both clinging to the metal  \nedge like steel clamps.  \n  \nMax closed his eyes.  \n  \n\"Please let this work,\" he asked the universe. \"Please let me be able to save  \nJavier and my sister, and hopefully me too.\"  \n  \nA snide little inner voice laughed at him. 'Ha! Your legs are gonna rip right off  \nand be shredded like paper the nanosecond they touch the ground! What the hell  \nare you thinking?'  \n  \nMax growled. 'Flake off, no-dick. Everything's gonna turn out skippy.' \"Javier!!\"  \nhe shouted at the top of his lungs.  \n  \nTish poked her head out again. \"He says he can hear you just fine!\" she relayed.  \n  \n\"Okay then,\" Max hollered, \"I want you to put the car in neutral on the count of  \nthree!\"  \n  \nJavier's eyes got wide with worry. The open trunk lid blocked his vision, so he  \nhad no idea what the boy was planning. \"Are you sure?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Are you sure!?!\" Tish echoed.  \n  \n\"Completely!!\" replied Max, hoping he could fake all the confidence he didn't  \nreally feel just yet. But this had to work. It had to, right?  \n  \nThe train was breathing down his neck. Black clouds of smoke rose up behind it,  \nalong with twin streams of sand. Its tracks vanished mere seconds after they had  \nbeen created. Heartless, grinding cackles emanated from deep within as it  \nprepared to ram the sedan once more and rid itself of Max for good.  \n  \nThe young coyote steeled himself.  \n  \n\"One!\" he shouted.  \n  \n'This is so fuckin' dumb!'  \n  \n\"Two!!\"  \n  \n'Yeah, but how cool's it gonna be when it actually works?'  \n  \n\"THREE!!!\"  \n  \nJavier wrenched the shift lever down.  \n  \nMax jumped off the back of the car.  \n  \nTish peed a little in her pants.  \n  \nAnd Max hit the ground running.  \n  \nIn a blaze of dust, the car shot forward like the engine had just gotten a blast  \nof nitrous oxide. Max's legs became an instantaneous blur. His mind went blank.  \nHis only thought was: 'FAST!!!'.  \n  \nThe train saw what was happening but could not believe it. It sputtered, it  \nmewled, it shuddered. Its whistle blared like the shriek of Godzilla, but it  \ncould only watch, helplessly, as its prey actually \\*pushed\\* its vehicle ahead of  \nit, far surpassing the train's speed, putting them safely out of danger.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The train roared and screamed and just generally had a hissy fit.  \n  \nTish, the wind whipping her hair and ears about wildly, watched the miracle  \nunfolding before her and was struck dumb. 'Holy shit, Max!!' her brain sent out.  \n  \n'Is it working?' Max sent back.  \n  \n'Damn straight it's working! Our speed just doubled! Probably tripled! How the  \nhell are you doing this!?'  \n  \n'I dunno!' he thought gleefully. 'But who cares? It's working, isn't it?'  \n  \nTish joined him in raucous laughter.  \n  \nHaving felt the car rocket forward to a safe distance away, and hearing the  \ntwins' celebration behind him, Javier finally realized what was going on behind  \nhim. His smile drew up in wonder. Max was doing this! How, he had no idea, but it  \ndidn't even matter. \"Go, young one, go! Vaminos, vaminos!!\" he shouted joyfully.  \n  \nMax heard him loud and clear, and kept running. His legs felt super-strong, like  \nthey were made out of titanium, or adamantium. He wasn't running as fast as he  \nhad been yesterday, but this was still a pretty damn impressive clip for a  \ntwelve-year-old kid. And such speed as this was becoming more and more  \neffortless. He felt like this was what he had been \\*born\\* to do. That his legs  \ncould just keep on going forever and ever. The train didn't even have a chance.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Javier felt it was time for the first part of his plan to begin. \"Tish!\"  \n  \n\"Aye-aye, captain!\" she shouted.  \n  \n\"You're going to have to take the wheel for a few minutes.\"  \n  \n\"WHAT!?\"  \n  \n\"Don't worry. I'm sure Max is fully in control of our speed. All you need to do  \nis steer. Keep us going straight, that's all.\"  \n  \n\"So what are you going to do?\" Tish asked, leaning over the front seat, her  \nmuzzle almost poking his shoulder.  \n  \nThe big bat's eyes drew hard and sharp. \"I am going to go annoy the train,\" he  \nsaid grimly.  \n  \n\"What does that mean?\"  \n  \nJavier picked up the cluster of incendiary bombs. Moments before, he had strung  \nthem together with a long piece of wire like a bunch of grapes. He looped the  \nround little fire-bringers around his neck and held out a winghand to help Tish  \nover the seat, into his place. \"Quickly, my little one.\"  \n  \nTish did as she was told, maneuvering clumsily into the passenger seat, on top of  \nthe silver suitcase. The missile launcher was assembled and ready to go, resting  \non the floor at her feet.  \n  \n\"Now take the wheel,\" Javier instructed.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Tish did so, her paws shaking noticeably. Sure, she'd had fantasies before about  \ndriving the family car, but certainly not under these conditions!  \n  \nJavier unlatched the door, and pulled hard to keep the wind from ripping it  \nstraight out of his grip. \"Don't worry about me. I will be fine,\" he told Tish  \nfirmly. \"All you need to do is keep the car steady. Then, I will cause a  \ndistraction. You will know it when you see it. As soon as it happens, stop the  \ncar, use the emergency brake if you need to, and get the missile launcher. I am  \nsure you will know what to do then, my dear.\"  \n  \nHe reached up to run a slender, leathery wing-finger along her cheek. \"Your heart  \nis very strong, little one, and you are braver than you even know yourself. Show  \nthat bravery now. Believe in it. You will not hesitate. You will not worry about  \nme. You will be victorious.\"  \n  \nThose powerful, heartfelt words reached deep down inside the small coyote girl.  \nLike a magic elixir, she could feel them giving her strength. She took her  \ncourage in her paws and embraced it. Looking into Javier's dark eyes, she nodded  \nsolemnly.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"We will win, together, young one,\" Javier told her.  \n  \nThen, in the blink of an eye, he leaped from the speeding car.  \n  \nThere was a rustle of leather and skin, and then his wings caught the wind and  \nheld him firm in its tenuous grip. He steeled his gaze, made his heart that of a  \nkiller's, and shot straight towards the monstrosity that pursued them.  \n  \nTish's heart was thumping like an electrified bullfrog. She fixed her gaze on the  \nview through the window and kept the wheel steady. She couldn't see Max now, and  \nthat unnerved her. But she could still feel him nearby, and she did her best to  \nhold onto that. She spotted Javier, just a dark, fluttering form in the side  \nrear-view mirror, and wondered what in the hell he was doing.  \n  \nMax felt something dark whoosh past him. He swiveled his head around backwards,  \nand wondered briefly if Javier was deserting them. But no, that was ridiculous; a  \nhell of a lot more impossible than a zombie pushing a car faster than three  \nhundred miles an hour. He realized Javier was going to confront the monster, and  \nhis heart soared. How kickass was that? A lone bat, flying towards certain doom  \nin the form of a maddened metal gargantua, and yet Max had absolutely no doubt in  \nhis mind as to which one of them would prevail.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Javier made himself a bullet.  \n  \nWind howled past his flattened-back ears as he used his years of flying skill to  \nshoot forward, straight towards the train, hellbent on giving Tish the chance she  \nwould need to destroy it forever.  \n  \nThe train saw the bothersome mortal approaching, floating through the air no  \nless, but it was not concerned. After all, what could this tiny being possibly  \nhope to do to hurt it?  \n  \nJavier hovered, circling the engine's smug face. \"You are very annoying, do you  \nknow that?\"  \n  \nIn reply, the train blasted out a thick cloud of sick grey smoke and charged at  \nthe bat, trying to knock him out of the air.  \n  \nJavier was much too quick for a clumsy thrust like that. Instead, he turned it to  \nhis advantage and let himself fall forward, landing painfully, but in one piece,  \nupon the face of the monster. \"Ha-HA!!\" the big bat boomed. \"Who has caught whom  \nnow, you demonic sonofabitch!?!\"  \n  \nIrritated all to hell, the train whipped back and forth, bucking and thrashing in  \na futile effort to dislodge its sudden passenger.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Javier's feet were designed by eons of evolution to cling tenaciously to rocks  \nand trees and never, ever let go. The train's little tantrum had absolutely no  \neffect. Javier may as well have been glued in place. He grinned triumphantly.  \n\"You will have to do much, much better than that, mi amigo.\"  \n  \nNow that he was here, he first had to solve the problem of how he was going to  \naccomplish his diversion. He thought at first it might be possible to smash the  \nengine's windows and toss the bombs in that way, but he was not in a position to  \naccomplish much leverage, and trying such a risky maneuver could leave him  \ndangerously unbalanced. No, there had to be another way.  \n  \nHarsh winds blasting his back, making his trenchcoat whip wildly about and sting  \nhis legs, Javier looked all around, his mind whirring, until his keen eyes spied  \nthe open windows on either side of the cabin. He grinned.  \n  \nOn the train's next buck, he allowed himself to be thrown. He was cast off into  \nthe welcoming arms of the open air, and his spread wings quickly caught hold.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The train guffawed, thinking, mistakenly, that it had scored a minor victory.  \n  \nIn fact, it was doing exactly what Javier wanted. The swarthy bat dive-bombed the  \nside of the train and pulled up just in time to latch on tight. Though it felt  \nlike his feet and thumbclaws were about to be ripped from their sockets, Javier  \nhung on. His face was inches away from the open window now. Perfection.  \n  \nThe meat-creature was back! The train gruffed and snorted and shook back and  \nforth. It was not scared, at least not yet, but it was wary. It sensed this one  \nwas clever, and that maybe it did have something to fear from it after all.  \n  \nEven as the impossible velocity threatened to tear him off the side of the train  \nand dash him to bits against the rough sand below, Javier withstood the pain and  \nheld on. He had to. Victory was already his. He just had to get himself there to  \nseize it.  \n  \nCarefully, carefully, he unslung the loop of bombs from around his neck and fed  \nthem through the window into the empty cabin. Inside, controls and levers were  \nworking themselves; a very eerie sight indeed.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; With the last of the bombs in his palm, Javier stared down at the fuse. Normally,  \none would light the end with a match, or cigarette lighter, and hurl it as far  \naway as possible. Javier had neither of these things, but he did have his own  \nspecial gifts.  \n  \nHe made his mind a blank. Shrank his universe down to one little piece of black  \nfilament.  \n  \nHe thought: 'Fire'.  \n  \nAnd there it was.  \n  \nThe fuse sparked and caught, the flame taking hold with a vengeance and chewing  \nits way eagerly towards the bomb. Javier allowed himself a proud smile. An easy  \ntrick, but certainly a useful one.  \n  \nOf course, now it would be a good idea for \\*him\\* to get as far away as possible.  \n  \nThe train was as unaware of its newly-acquired surprise as any living furson  \nwould be unaware of a single dust-mote landing on their sleeve.  \n  \nJavier allowed himself to be thrown off once again, but was unprepared by how  \nforceful the train jerked this time. His wings failed him, and he went tumbling  \nthrough the air in a ball of black fur.  \n  \nMax saw this and he screamed in panic. \"No! Come on, Javier! You can do it! Fly,  \ndammit, fly!!\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; As far apart as they were, Javier still heard the boy's cry, and smiled to  \nhimself. He knew he was in no real danger anyway. A fumble such as this was easy  \nto pull out of long before he'd find himself in any real danger. But it still  \nfelt good to know the boy was cheering him on.  \n  \nJavier spread his mighty wings and righted himself. He fluttered back, getting a  \ngood distance away. But he kept his eyes on the train. Soon. Soon, Tish would  \nhave her distraction, and he knew she would pounce upon it like a good little  \npredator.  \n  \n\"Get ready, young one...\" he whispered to her, feeding her his faith. He was  \nready.  \n  \nTish was keeping everything steady. Glancing back every few seconds or so between  \nthe windshield and the mirror. She was ready.  \n  \nMax wasn't sure what exactly, but he could feel something coming too. He was  \nready.  \n  \nThe train, alas, was not.  \n  \nFlame suddenly erupted from its brain like a million billion bees had all stabbed  \ntheir stingers into its mind at once. It screeched in agony and disbelief. Its  \ncabin erupted in red-hot fire, sending flames shooting up into the air all  \naround. It bucked and jumped and howled and tossed itself about in mindless  \npanic, desperate to get away from the great red pain in its head.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max's eyes lit up with fire and he laughed his tail off. Bizarrely, the train  \nalmost looked like it was wearing a great big orange clown wig now.  \n  \nThis was it. Tish heard the explosion ripple through the ground, through the  \nwheels, up the steering column and into her paws. She saw the blaze in the rear-  \nview mirror and slammed on the brakes, knowing that Javier had succeeded.  \n  \nMax was not prepared for the abrupt stop, and went crashing into the trunk lid,  \nbreaking at least thirty percent of his bones in the process and making his  \nbrains squirt like ham spread out of his ears.  \n  \n\"Ow! Shit!\" he shouted, landing wetly on the pile of explosives below him and  \ndripping all over them. \"No problem!\"  \n  \nThe car spun around in a perfect two-and-a-half donuts, ending up facing the  \ntrain head on as it lumbered, screaming, towards them.  \n  \nTish was up like a shot, grabbing the missile launcher and thrusting it up  \nthrough the sunr-  \n  \n\\*thunk\\*  \n  \n\"Oh fuck!!\"  \n  \n'don't panic, don't panic, don't panic,' she told herself. It wasn't stuck, she'd  \njust tried to shove it through at the wrong angle. Nothing to worry about. Plenty  \nof time left before the flaming train smashed into her and turned her and her  \nbrother into thick pink goo. Nothing to worry about at all!  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Desperately trying to keep herself calm, Tish slowly backed the launcher up, then  \neased it carefully through the hole in the roof. Smooth sailing this time. She  \nlet out a puff of relief.  \n  \nThe train was barrelling at her wildly, unseeing, reeling in its pain. It  \nshrieked and jerked and twisted itself hideously. Its mind had transformed into  \none single all-encompassing thought: Must Escape Pain.  \n  \nMax was busy reshaping his skull and torso. Once most of his face was back in  \nbusiness, he looked up and saw his nemesis drawing perilously nearer. But he also  \nsaw his sister, cool as a cucumber, raise the missile launcher to her shoulder.  \n  \nTish looked through the crosshairs at the yowling red behemoth. All she had to do  \nnow was pull the trigger.  \n  \nTime seemed to slow down as she spoke the words she had rehearsed in her mind  \nover and over again, for many nights now:  \n  \n\"My name is Tish Lopez. You killed my brother. Prepare to die.\"  \n  \nShe squeezed the trigger like crushing a bug in her fist.  \n  \n\\*FFFWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSHHH\\*!!!  \n  \nFor a first-timer, Tish's shot was actually pretty good. The recoil did knock her  \nstraight off the side of the car and into the dust below, and her trajectory was  \nquite a ways off, but the whole point of a heat-seeking missile is that it does  \nall the hard work for you.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max was most of the way back together now. Tish scrambled to hoist herself up  \nonto the roof again and the two siblings watched silently as the shiny arrow of  \ndeath twisted in the air and made a beeline for their enemy.  \n  \nJavier grinned.  \n  \nThen, the whole world blew up.  \n  \nThe explosion was so loud, it wasn't even noise; just a shockwave that made the  \nground shake like jello and knocked Javier straight out of the sky on his ass.  \nMax and Tish were both blown backwards off of the car like paper dolls.  \n  \nThe light from the explosion was so bright it made the fire before look like a  \nfourth of july sparkler. The train simply became a humongous red flower,  \nblossoming up towards the heavens.  \n  \nShrapnel flew in every direction and sent skids of sand up into the air wherever  \nit struck.  \n  \nJavier was momentarily deafened, so he couldn't hear his own jubilant laughter.  \n  \nA baker's dozen extra booms and bangs went off before the train was completely  \nstill. Flames danced crazily over the blackened husk of wreckage that remained.  \nIt was like the whole top half of the engine had been sliced away by a titanic  \nknife.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Lumps of fiery metal crashed down all around them like meteorites.  \n  \nTish and Max gingerly peeked out from behind the car to see what they had done.  \n  \nThe train was dead. No question about it. It looked like the one burger at every  \ncookout that gets left on the grill too long. Javier was off to the side, rolling  \non the ground and whooping in delight.  \n  \nSlowly, the twins looked at each other.  \n  \nMax gave his sister a gigantic grin.  \n  \nHe pounced her like a kitten on a ball of string, wrapping her up in a massive  \nhug. \"You did it, Tish! You did it! You saved our butts! Holy crap-in-a-basket!  \nYou did it!\"  \n  \nTish sang out laughter and hugged her wonderful brother right back. \"I did it! Oh  \nMax, we're safe now! I did it! WE did it!!\"  \n  \nMax locked eyes with her, smiling warmly, out of breath. \"You're the best sister  \never, Tish,\" he told her.  \n  \n\"And you're the best brother,\" she replied, giving his nose a 'beep'.  \n  \nMad giggling sounds were approaching. The twins looked up to see Javier, limping  \na bit but still in one piece, coming towards them. \"Excellent shooting, Young  \nMiss!!\" he bellowed heartily, then descended again into fits of merriment.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Thanks!\" she called back. The two coyote cubs got up and ran towards the  \nbedraggled bat, adding him to their hug.  \n  \nJavier dropped weakly to his knees and embraced the cubs in his wings. \"I am so  \nproud of you both! There are not words! You are warriors now, little ones. You  \nhave vanquished evil. How does it feel?\"  \n  \n\"Pretty damn good,\" Tish assessed, and Max nodded.  \n  \n\"Welcome to what I do for a living,\" he told them with a chuckle.  \n  \nMax perked up. \"Hey, um, once all this is over, I mean, once we figure out what  \nwe're gonna do about me still being dead 'n all, do you think you might have an  \nopening ready for an apprentice?\"  \n  \nJavier arched an eyebrow. He stroked his chinfur foxily. \"Hmmm... No, I do not  \nthink so.\"  \n  \nThe twins felt a small dip of disappointment.  \n  \n\"...I think I have room for \\*two\\* apprentices!\" the big bat clarified, and hugged  \nthem both again. Max and Tish giggled joyfully and hugged him back.  \n  \nAnd then the train growled at them.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT-  \n  \nThe three furs turned, in shock, and looked with horror on their faces at the  \nunholy scene before them.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; There was something they all did not know about bewitched objects. Something  \nThanatos had forgotten to tell them, and something he would later deeply regret  \nnot telling them. It was this: if you are going to try to dispose of a bewitched  \nobject, one must never, EVER do the job halfway. The object must be dealt with in  \none fell swoop, or not at all.  \n  \nFor like a wounded animal, if you merely injure them, they become twice as mean  \nas before.  \n  \nThe train was now a black, crusted slab of creaking, screeching metal. Most of  \nits wheels were fused together, but not all of them. Its top half had been  \nsheared to shreds, and now it was using that to its advantage. The shreds had  \ncurled and curved around into leg-like projections. Just like Max, it was  \nrebuilding itself. Only it had a new image in mind now.  \n  \nWhat was slowly wrenching itself back to life before their eyes looked  \nterrifyingly like a two-ton, black-and-silver metal spider.  \n  \nIt rose up on its chaotic collection of unfinished legs to look at them, and  \nhissed.  \n  \n\"Oh, we're fucked,\" muttered Tish.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Even Javier was at a loss.  \n  \nBut inside Max, a burning streak of anger was being rekindled. The same powerful  \nforce he had felt inside of him the day before, when he had run faster than he  \never would again in his life, was inhabiting him anew. He felt the same emotion  \nas when he'd realized that Nick should not have had to be a part of this  \ninsanity. And now he knew; Javier and Tish should not have either.  \n  \n\"We gotta get back to the car,\" he said, hard and low.  \n  \nThey followed him.  \n  \nKeeping their eyes on the still-rebirthing horror before them, knowing it would  \nbe ready to chase and kill them any moment now, the trio backed up towards their  \nvehicle. Nice and slow.  \n  \n\"Javier,\" Max whispered, \"did you see anything in the trunk like a bag? A  \nbackpack, or any kind of container like that?\"  \n  \n\"A duffel bag,\" the vampire remembered. \"Jeff brought it.\"  \n  \n\"Cool. That's good. When we get there, I want you and Tish to put all the other  \nexplosives in it.\"  \n  \n\"What're you gonna do, Max?\" Tish asked. But he was her brother, and she thought  \nshe already knew.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I'm bait, remember?\" he said.  \n  \nThe train heaved and squirmed obscenely. Eating itself, digesting itself and  \nrebuilding itself with what it had eaten.  \n  \nThey reached the car. Tish peripherally noticed that the whole front end was now  \nriddled with shrapnel, and that of course meant that Dad was going to kill them  \nall when they got home.  \n  \n\\_If\\_ they got home, she corrected herself.  \n  \nJavier rooted out the duffel bag. He held it open and motioned for Tish to start  \nfilling it. Her small paws were better suited to this task than his bulky wings.  \n  \nMax kept his gaze on the monster, never wavering.  \n  \n\"Almost done?\" he asked Tish.  \n  \n\"Almost...\" The bag was bulging. She couldn't fit everything in, but she thought  \nshe'd done an okay job of choosing the most deadly-looking bits of the bunch. Any  \nmore now and she wouldn't be able to close it. \"Okay, it's ready.\"  \n  \n\"Zip it up and put it on me,\" said Max, reaching out his arms behind him to  \naccept the straps of the bag.  \n  \nSomething in Tish's heart broke. She understood fully now. \"No...\" she whimpered,  \nher eyes beginning to tear up. Just when they thought they'd won...  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I gotta,\" her brother said softly, in resignation. \"I have to save your lives.  \nIt wouldn't be fair for me to just let us all die.\"  \n  \nJavier came close, and threaded Max's thin arms through the duffel straps. He  \nleaned in close to whisper in the boy's ear. \"I have never, in all my years, met  \nanyone so brave as you, Young Master Max. Go. Do what you must. See the angel  \ndown the road, and take the sword that is rightfully yours.\"  \n  \nMax nodded. \"I will.\"  \n  \nTurning away from the train for the first time, he looked back into his sister's  \ntearful eyes.  \n  \n\"Goodbye, Max,\" she said, her arms wrapped around herself and shivering.  \n  \nHe forced himself not to cry too. He even, through sheer force of will, managed a  \nlittle smile. \"Not goodbye, sis. Just, 'I'll see you later'.\"  \n  \nTish nodded, remembering what Croak had told them the night before. \"I'll see you  \nlater too.\"  \n  \nJavier patted him on the back. \"You still have the vial?\"  \n  \n\"Yup,\" said Max.  \n  \n\"Use it.\" he said. \"And good luck, young one. Do not die unless you have to.\"  \n  \n\"Roger that.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max turned back, staring at the spider-thing the train had become. It was  \nstanding tall now. It looked ready.  \n  \nIt took a shaky step towards them.  \n  \nThen a more confident one.  \n  \nShouldering his highly combustible ersatz backpack, Max took in a deep breath,  \nfelt it whistle through his dry, tired body, and strode towards his final fight.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER FIFTY NINE-  \n  \nIt stared at the prey.  \n  \nIt had lost most of what passed for its growing mind, but that didn't matter now.  \nThe prey approached, head down, accepting its fate. It was giving itself up to  \nsave the other meat-beings. How touching.  \n  \nThough of course it didn't matter. As soon as it had eliminated this stubborn  \nlittle impediment, it would go back for the others and crush the life out of them  \nas well. And then it would return to the house they had come from and dispose of  \nanything living it found there. And then it would have a delightful time in town,  \nshowing every mortal it caught just how very much it disliked their weak and  \nfilthy kind. By day's end, it would be covered in thick red gummy blood. Sweet  \nblood. And its rampage would have only just begun.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The former train, now an insectile nightmare beyond any sane mind's description,  \nrose up to its full height to look down upon the nearing boy.  \n  \nMax looked up at it. He could feel his heart beating. It didn't need to, but he  \nwanted it to anyway. He wanted to feel it now. Maybe because this would be the  \nlast time he'd ever get the chance.  \n  \nFor several moments, the two combatants were silent and still. Each waiting for  \nthe other to make a first move, or to decide how this last clash would begin.  \n  \nAnd then Max got another one of his really, really good ideas.  \n  \nA grin spread across his face like dawn sunshine.  \n  \nIt wouldn't end here. Not yet at least. And maybe this even meant he had a tiny,  \ninfinitesimal, million-to-one chance to still be in existence when it was all  \nover with. Who said he had to walk up and detonate himself? There were other ways  \nof winning after all...  \n  \n\"Sorry, you lame-ass buttheaded shit-bitch cocksucker,\" he told his foe, \"but  \nyou're gonna have to chase me again.\"  \n  \nHe stood straight up, feeling himself fill with every last spark of energy he  \ncould gather. For a heartbeat, he seemed to actually glow.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; His foot came down...  \n  \n...And he was gone.  \n  \nWWHHHHHHHOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  \n  \nThe sound was pure suffering. The train-beast's ear-bleeding cry translated  \nloosely as, 'NOT AGAIN!!!'  \n  \nTish and Javier watched a little boy-sized cloud of dust speed off across the  \ndesert, in the direction they had driven from. They felt a tiny bit of hope, and  \nheld each other closer.  \n  \nMax's feet pounded good and hard on the rough sand below. It was a great feeling.  \nEven better than running on asphalt. He was made to run like this, out here in  \nthe desert. He had no idea why, and did not even think to ask. This was his gift,  \nand it was now that he realized how he could use it to finally get rid of that  \nfucking train once and for all.  \n  \nHis eyes were closed serenely. He simply \\*knew\\* which direction to run.  \n  \nThe train lurched after him, clanking across the desert sand like something from  \na bad dream that would make H. R. Giger piss his pajamas. If there was a single  \nword to describe it; its bulbous, streamlined arachnid shape, the gangly way it  \nmoved, it's uneven legs all churning at a different pace, that word would be  \n'unholy'.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The sounds it made drove every living thing for miles completely mad. Birds  \ndropped out of the sky like lead. Lizards convulsed on the ground. Coyotes ran in  \ncircles. Even the cacti shivered. It was like the entire world understood that  \nsomething fundamentally \\*wrong\\* had been spawned here, and was now on the loose  \nwith nothing to control it.  \n  \nMax could hear its wheezing, drilling, venom-filled howlings, but paid them no  \nmind. It was just the same old crap all over again; 'You damn meat-thing! I'll  \nget you! I'm so pissed off! Blah blah blah!' The fact that he was actually  \nbeginning to understand what it was saying didn't register. And if it had, Max  \nstill probably wouldn't have been as deeply disturbed by that as he should have  \nbeen.  \n  \nInstead, he kept running.  \n  \nThere were still miles and miles to go before he reached the point he was  \nshooting for, but that barely mattered. He could run forever and ever if he had  \nto. He knew that as deeply as he knew the sky was blue and the grass was green.  \nExcept over by the toolshed where he'd puked so much it had all gone yellow.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; But that was beside the point. What mattered now was something he'd seen out the  \ncar window earlier. He had seen rock formations and mountains and cliffs. Cliffs.  \nIn fact, he had seen one big mutha cliff back there that, judging by what the  \nlandscape looked like beyond it, must have had one hell of a drop. That was  \nexactly what he was hoping for.  \n  \nBehind him, the train-beast thundered. Each one of its chaotic footsteps shook  \nthe earth.  \n  \n\\*THUD\\*  \n\\*CLANK\\*  \n\\*SMASH\\*  \n\\*THWACK\\*  \n\\*THUD\\*  \n\\*SLAM\\*  \n\\*CRASH\\*  \n  \nThere was no pattern to its gait, only a hellish speed that defied explanation.  \nMax was sprinting along at a leisurely 257 MPH, and the charred spidery bogeyman  \nwas gaining on him.  \n  \nMax could feel it coming closer, but would not let himself worry. He increased  \nhis speed a bit. Slowly, carefully. 'No need to rush,' he thought to himself with  \na laugh.  \n  \nHe opened his eyes and could see the cliff in the distance. Much closer than he'd  \nexpected. He could feel the weight of his explosive cargo on his back, but as far  \nas hindering his speed, it might as well have been a feather. Max could not reach  \ninto his pants pocket now; his legs were moving so fast he was sure his hand  \nwould be ripped straight off if he so much as tried, but he could feel the little  \nbulge of Jeff's golden vial nonetheless. He hoped he'd get the chance later on to  \ntell the geeky ferret whether it or the explosives had had the greater effect.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The train-beast could sense the cliff up ahead, and realized its prey's plan. It  \nscoffed. How completely ineffective! It knew it could fall from a thousand cliffs  \nin a row and just reshape itself again after every impact. And if the prey though  \nhe was just going to dart out of the way and his nemesis would stumble clumsily  \nover the edge, then the prey had no idea of just how powerful this new body  \nreally was. In retrospect, they had done it a \\*favor\\* by blowing it up! They had  \nfreed it to construct its own new form. One which was much, much more efficient  \nfor hunting and stalking and killing its hated prey.  \n  \nIt would catch up and, cliff or not, it would taste the boy's insides and laugh  \nat his screams.  \n  \nDimly, in the back of his mind, Max could \\*feel\\* it thinking these things. As  \nthey came closer and closer to mutual annihilation, they were also coming closer  \ntogether in their minds. Max just prayed the train couldn't read him yet too. But  \nif the gnarled, base thoughts he was receiving were correct, than he knew he had  \nnothing to worry about. Javier had warned him against overconfidence, and now he  \nwas seeing firsthand why it was such a dangerous thing. You had to work for your  \nvictories, he knew. Just expecting everything to turn out your way wasn't enough.  \nYou had to help fate along, help it give you what you wanted. Believing victory  \nwas yours was only half the fight. The angel would not hand you the sword; you  \nhad to take it from her.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max looked out across the cliff, and thought he really could see an angel there,  \nwatching him, cheering him on.  \n  \nWorried for a second he might be hallucinating, he blinked, and looked again, and  \nsaw it really was an angel after all.  \n  \nThe angel of death.  \n  \nSuspended hundreds of feet above the ground, clouds passing through their  \ntransparent forms, Thanatos and Croak were observing his last run. Croak was  \ngoing nuts, waving his arms about wildly and shouting encouragements he could not  \nhear. But the Lord of Death was merely grinning that strange feline grin of his.  \n  \nThe edge of the cliff was only a hundred yards away now. Max could see that it  \nwould most definitely be a fatal fall all the way to the bottom.  \n  \nAnd then Thanatos' voice was in his head. 'Don't you dare think I'm here to  \ncollect your soul, boy. You still have much to do right here on Earth.'  \n  \nMax laughed. 'Screw that! I wouldn't let you take me if you tried!'  \n  \nThe Lord of the Dead smiled proudly.  \n  \nThe train roared like an electric power plant exploding. It reared up, ready to  \npounce, ready to follow the prey over the cliff if it had to. Anything, ANYTHING,  \nso long as it could finally end the chase and feel the prey's body crush beneath  \nits sharp metal jaws and feel that final moment of horror when the weak meat-  \ncreature finally realized who had truly and forever won.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max stopped short right at the edge of the cliff. His skidding paws sent a small  \ncloud of red dust over the edge, down, down, down, a hundred feet below.  \n  \nHe turned around to face his tormentor, the wind whipping through his fur. \"Come  \nand get me, fuckball! I'm waaaaiting!!\"  \n  \nThe train-beast screeched in insectile triumph and pounced.  \n  \nMax took one step backwards, into nothingness.  \n  \nAnd as he did, he reached up and grabbed ahold of his head, wrenching it off his  \nneck with ease.  \n  \nThe train realized its prey's plan too late.  \n  \nMax blew a raspberry at it.  \n  \nAnd just as he had thrown his sister to safety before, he hurled himself, with  \nall his might, to victory.  \n  \nThe train-beast reeled and thrashed, shrieking shrilly, but its forward momentum  \nwas too great. It could not halt its fall, and soon there was nothing below it  \nbut unforgiving air, and a canyon of jagged rocks below.  \n  \nThanatos laughed and laughed.  \n  \nIt doesn't matter!, the train thought desperately. It could just pick itself up  \nafter the crash, pull itself back together and go after the boy again. It wasn't  \nover! Nothing was over! This was just a temporary setback! In the end, it would  \nprevail, because it had to! It just HAD to!  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Mere seconds before impact, the beast looked down and saw that Max's headless  \nbody was holding something in its left hand. A vial, containing some kind of  \nyellow liquid.  \n  \nIts right hand was giving it the finger.  \n  \nThe train did not have time to comprehend the significance of this gesture.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER SIXTY-  \n  \nThe impact was simply beyond comprehension.  \n  \nMax's limp little zombie body struck first and bounced, and it wasn't until the  \ntwitching, squirming spider-like-thing crashed into it that the real fireworks  \nbegan.  \n  \nIf the missile strike had made the incendiary bombs' explosion look like a  \nsparkler, then the combined result of everything in the duffel bag (including  \nJeff's homemade Blood Bath Bitch-o-rama) detonating all at once was like the  \nfiery vengeance of God.  \n  \nA vertical plume of white flame sheared up into the sky, higher than a  \nskyscraper. The earth shook for miles around. At least a hundred other smaller  \nexplosions shouted and burst and colored the morning on their own, as if in  \ncelebration of finally fulfilling their purpose.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The holy liquid in the vial did its job too. A nimbus of blue-white lightning  \nerupted from the crash site in a circle, looking a lot like a sun going  \nsupernova, and blasted the everfucking shit out of the train-beast's burgeoning  \nconsciousness.  \n  \nThe earthquake rumbled up the side of the cliff and great huge chunks of rock  \nbegan to splinter off and come crashing down into the still-blazing inferno  \nbelow. Huge earth-torpedoes came loose and dropped down upon the carnage like  \nmegaton icicles. Later on, after everything had quieted down, a curious  \narchaeologist would look up at the newly altered cliff face and catch a glimpse  \nof the mostly-complete skeleton of an entirely new species of dinosaur. But that  \nis another story entirely.  \n  \nThe booms and bangs continued on for what felt like forever. Impact upon impact  \nupon impact. Blast after blast after blast. The explosions walked and talked and  \ndanced their groovy dance for all to see.  \n  \nWhen it was all finally over, the largest surviving piece of the train could have  \neasily been balanced upon the tip of a young child's pinky. And all the remaining  \nfragments were now buried under a hundred tons of crumbled rock.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; In short, it really did work this time.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER SIXTY ONE-  \n  \nJavier, with Tish in the passenger seat, drove maniacally up to the edge of the  \ncliff, not daring to hope, but also not daring to \\*not\\* hope.  \n  \nThe car was, to put it mildly, fucked-up. Aside from the dozens of little pock  \nmarks and slashes across the grille and hood where it had met the shrapnel, it  \nhad simply been driven half to death. It hadn't entirely given up the ghost yet  \nthough. It would get them home safely, but just barely.  \n  \nJavier stopped the car, and he and Tish got out.  \n  \nThe air was finally still. The explosions had gone on for nearly five whole  \nminutes, and even from up above they had been loud enough to rattle the glass and  \nmake the car's two occupants bobble around in their seats.  \n  \nBut now it was over, and it seemed impossible that anything of either Max or the  \ntrain could possibly have survived an armageddon like that.  \n  \nTish's tail was tucked between her legs. She toddled towards the cliff face, just  \nenough to peek over and see the edge of the burning black scorchmark below that  \nstretched out for hundreds of feet in all directions.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Javier came close and put a winghand on her shoulder.  \n  \nThey were silent.  \n  \nAfter a long time, Tish raised her paw to dry her eyes. She looked out across the  \nrusty land and the blazing blue sky above. \"You did it, Max. You saved us. But I  \nreally wish you hadn't blown your own dumb ass up too. Now I'm gonna be sad all  \nover again. Thanks a lot.\" Her sobs betrayed her sarcastic words, and soon she  \nwas shuddering in Javier's gentle embrace.  \n  \n\"Nnnrf!\"  \n  \n\"What the heck was that?\" Tish asked, her ears perking up. No way... It couldn't  \nbe... But it HAD to be!  \n  \nJavier came dangerously close to the edge of the cliff (like it would matter any  \nif he fell off), and cast his eyes and ears about.  \n  \n\"Mmrrr! Fft rr nnnm!\"  \n  \nThe big bat's face lit up with joy. \"He's alive!!!\"  \n  \nJust barely though. Max, or rather what was left of him, had been lucky enough to  \nroll down to a small outcropping that had somehow survived being shaken loose by  \nthe blast. Still, he wasn't about to believe he was in the clear just yet. He was  \nholding on to a jutting ridge of stone with his teeth, and he wasn't about to let  \ngo for anything.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Yrff!\" he shouted to them. Finally, they'd shown up! \"Rrff nn mmgh mrr nm  \nrrrrrr!!\" He'd started to think he might end up spending forever hanging here, or  \nor least until the crows got him.  \n  \nTish was jumping up and down and freaking out in total and complete relief.  \nJavier lunged off the cliff, spread his wings and soared in like an eagle. With  \nperfect timing and skill, his nimble footclaws clasped Max's head and airlifted  \nhim to safety.  \n  \n\"Thanks!\" Max spat a few times. \"That rock tasted like crap!\"  \n  \nJavier laughed and tossed the little coyote head to Tish like a basketball. She  \ncaught him gracefully and hugged him so hard he thought he'd pop.  \n  \n\"MaxOhMyGodIThoughtYouWereReallyDeadForRealThisTimeI'mSoHappyILoveYouSoMuchMaxYou'reSoFuckingBraveICan'tBelieveItThatWasTheCoolestGoddamThingI'veEverSEEN!!!\" She  \npoured out her love at a million miles a minute and nuzzled her zombie brother's  \nhead and covered him in kisses.  \n  \nMax just chuckled and waited for it to be over so he could get a word in  \nedgewise.  \n  \nJavier made a flawless landing and came over to check on Max's current condition.  \n\"You're just a head!\" he stated. A bit redundant, but under the circumstances it  \ncould be forgiven.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"That's right,\" Max replied. \"And it feels really, really weird! I can't feel my  \ntail, my arms and legs, my butt, my thingy, \\*anything\\*! I'm seriously freaked out  \nhere.\"  \n  \n\"But you're still alive, that's what's important!\" Tish reminded him. \"And you  \ncan just grow everything back, right? Right?\"  \n  \nMax shrugged, or tried to without the use of shoulders. \"I hope so. Though we  \nshould probably stop at Dooley's again on the way home.\"  \n  \n\"Dooley's!?\" Javier snorted incredulously. \"You, Young Master Max, are a hero.  \nAnd heroes do not eat merely hamburgers! We shall stop at every food market we  \nsee along the way, and I shall fill you with so much fine steak and other rare  \ncuts that you will weigh as much as a small planet by the time we reach home!\"  \n  \nMax laughed out loud. \"Cool! Thanks, Javier! That'd be great!\"  \n  \nThe big bat reached out and gently took Max from Tish's hands. He held the boy up  \nhigh and let him see over the cliff at the ultimate destruction below. \"Look,  \nyoung one, upon your victory. We have truly triumphed this time, I have no doubt  \nin my heart. We have won. \\*You\\* have won. And you have done so in an amazingly  \ncreative way too! Whatever possessed you to come up with such an idea?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max smiled modestly. \"I dunno.\"  \n  \nJavier smiled too. \"Sometimes the greatest strategy is the one we think of at the  \nlast second. Maybe the knowledge that we are mere moments from oblivion gives our  \nminds the motivation to be at their best. Regardless, you, my bodiless friend,  \nare a genius.\"  \n  \nMax chuckled.  \n  \n\"I think so too,\" Tish insisted, and gave him a friendly little noogie.  \n  \nJavier handed Max back to Tish, who recoiled a little when his flesh touched her.  \n\"Ouch!\"  \n  \n\"What's wrong?\" Javier asked.  \n  \nTish very carefully turned her brother's head upside down, and they could both  \nsee the familiar green foam was already beginning to blossom from his severed  \nneck.  \n  \n\"Oh, cool!\" she said. \"I think you're gonna be just fine, Max.\"  \n  \n\"I hope so,\" he replied. \"Now could you turn me back rightside-up? All the  \nblood's rushing to my... Well, you know.\"  \n  \nTish laughed and spun Max's noggin around to give him another nuzzle between his  \nears.  \n  \nTogether, the trio walked back to the car to begin the long drive home.  \n  \nAs Javier had prayed for, three had gone out, and three would come back.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; For now, it was over.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER SIXTY TWO-  \n  \nFour extremely worried fursons sat on the porch of the tall house up on the hill,  \nall waiting and fretting and not speaking a word.  \n  \nHours had passed. None of them had any idea of when to expect the others home, or  \neven when it would become late enough that hope should be abandoned.  \n  \nBut then, much sooner than any of them had anticipated, they looked out at the  \ntown below and saw a battle-scarred black sedan slowly, painfully limping its way  \nhome.  \n  \nGreat whoops of joy filled the air.  \n  \nAs the car pulled into the driveway, it was immediately surrounded by love. When  \nthe doors opened, Javier, Tish and Max were all instantly swallowed up in a sea  \nof hugs.  \n  \nLaughter exploded like fireworks and tears fell like rain. Carlos and Martina  \nheld and cuddled their precious cubs with all their hearts. Nick cried copiously  \nand nuzzled his two best friends. And Jeff gave Javier a full-on kiss on the lips  \nwithout even realizing it.  \n  \nThere was so much relieved celebration going on, that no one noticed for quite  \nawhile that Max's lower body was completely missing.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Martina let out a little yelp when her paw suddenly wrapped around a thick, pink  \nloop of coyote intestine. She jerked back and saw that Max appeared to have had a  \nbad run-in with a table saw. But at least he'd been well fed beforehand, since  \nhis stomach was absolutely bulbous.  \n  \nWith another of his effortless grins, Max told her there'd be plenty of time to  \ntell their tale when everyone was inside.  \n  \nHis mother forced down her quease and replaced it with more of her joy at seeing  \nboth her babies return alive, if not entirely unscathed.  \n  \nThe victorious trio were given a hero's parade back into the house. Javier lifted  \nMax up onto his shoulders, and Carlos did the same for Tish. Their hearty hurrahs  \ncarried far down the hillside to anyone who cared to hear.  \n  \nOnce inside, Carlos gently let Tish down and hung back while the others went into  \nthe livingroom. He snapped his fingers softly to get Javier's attention, and  \nmotioned his best friend closer.  \n  \nJavier approached, his face a curious pout.  \n  \nCarlos simply pointed outside, at the dying heap of scrap that had once been his  \npride and joy. \"I am very grateful to you for protecting my children, but do you  \nthink you might have also been able to spare my car as well?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The big bat just chuckled. \"Sorry about that, my friend. Casualties of war.\"  \n  \nThe coyote sighed sadly, and nodded.  \n  \nJavier got a glint in his eye. \"My friend, close your eyes. And count to ten...\"  \n  \nA surge of hope filled Carlos' heart. He eagerly squinched his eyes shut, and  \ncounted out loud, like a small boy.  \n  \nHe heard not a sound, until Javier said, \"Open them.\"  \n  \nWhen he looked, the car was in just as bad a condition as it had ever been.  \n  \nCarlos cast hurt, uncomprehending eyes at his friend.  \n  \n\"Eh, my magic is not quite so far advanced as that. Although I do know a very  \ngood mechanic who will give you a very big discount because of me,\" he said  \nhopefully.  \n  \nCarlos rolled his eyes. Audibly.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER SIXTY THREE-  \n  \nThanatos finally put in an appearance at 11 o' clock sharp that evening.  \n  \nNick had gone home several hours previous, but not before gathering with the  \nothers in the livingroom to hear Max, Tish and Javier speak vividly of their  \nadventures. Hearts pounded and tails frizzed up. Max provided many amusing sound  \neffects. It was a little weird for Nick to watch Max flopping about the room and  \ntalking rapidly with his legs still sluggishly reforming and trails of green foam  \nappearing all over the carpet, but when you're best friends with someone, you  \ntend to overlook their various little peculiarities.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; There was an improvised party afterwards, to celebrate their freedom from the  \nterror of the train. Martina procured big bowls of snacks from the kitchen and  \nput on some loud, festive party music. Everyone danced their good fortune and  \njoy, and when Max was finally all back together again (and had put some pants on)  \nhe joined in enthusiastically. And no one was at all surprised to discover that  \nJeff was very, very good at limboing.  \n  \nAfter the sun had gone down and many hugs had been exchanged, Nick hopped back on  \nhis bike. He hadn't been home in two days, and going back there after  \nexperiencing so many fantastical adventures seemed almost more surreal than the  \nadventures themselves. Still though, reality has its benefits, and his own soft  \nbed was one of them. (That, and earlier that morning, he'd come within seconds of  \nputting on a pair of Tish's panties before realizing to his horror what bedroom  \nhe was actually in.)  \n  \nMax and Tish waved goodbye to their cheetah friend as he pedaled off down the  \nhill and gradually vanished into the cool, gentle darkness of the summer night.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Much later, when bedtimes were already past, the Lopezes were readying themselves  \nfor a welcome sleep after such a long and nerve-wracking day. Just before Javier  \nwas to turn in, he remembered that Jeff had gone out quite a while ago to put  \nwhat remained of the explosives back in his car, and had never come back.  \n  \nWhen he peeked out the porch, he saw Jeff's little blue hatchback with its front  \ndoor open, the dome light on, and its owner sprawled unconscious inside.  \n  \nUpon closer inspection, they found the ferret draped half-over the front seat,  \nsnoring away, in a sleeping position so cringe-inducing, Tish felt sure she  \nwould've preferred the wheelbarrow out in the shed. Javier quietly shut the door  \nand told the Lopezes there was nothing to worry about. Jeff was not only a heavy  \nsleeper, he was an abrupt one as well. They all felt kinda weird about just  \nleaving him like that for the night, but Javier assured them it was perfectly  \nnormal, and Jeff wouldn't care a whit when he woke up, so long as he was swiftly  \nprovided with coffee.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; When they all returned to the house, they found two spirits waiting on their  \ncouch.  \n  \nActually, 'sitting' is not entirely accurate. Since Thanatos and Croak had no  \ntangible forms in this realm, they merely hovered in the air and appeared to be  \nsitting. They'd both gotten quite good at creating the illusions of standing,  \nlying down and walking, too.  \n  \nRoils of thick white fog spewed silently from beneath the Lord of the Dead's  \ngrand purple robe, looking quite eerie in the lightless room. \"Well done, little  \nzombie,\" he said quietly.  \n  \n\"Um, thank you, sir,\" Max replied, a bit startled by their sudden presence. Then  \nhe grinned, as he remembered something he'd been meaning to ask Thanatos for a  \nwhile now. \"Say, do you by any chance have a chauffeur named Charon?\"  \n  \nThe Lord of the Dead groaned. \"Ugh. Points for knowing your mythology, but none  \nfor originality. I've heard a thousand and one variations on THAT one.\"  \n  \nCroak giggled nonetheless.  \n  \nCarlos and Martina both looked spooked as hell. Tish stepped out in front of them  \nand made the introductions. \"Mom, Dad, this is Thanatos. He rounds up dead  \npeople. And the little guy is Croak; his assistant.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"How do you do,\" Croak said gentlemanly, giving them a salute-like flick of his  \nlong tail.  \n  \n\"You're not here to 'collect' Max, are you?\" Martina worried.  \n  \nThanatos stood up, the ends of his gravity-ignoring hairdo nearly brushing the  \nceiling. A small grin, sly but not malicious, was on his ivory feline face. \"Far  \nfrom it, Mrs. Lopez. In fact, your extraordinary son finds himself in the rare  \nposition of being owed a favor from me. I mean none of you any harm.\"  \n  \nMartina and Carlos exchanged quick glances of relief. They held paws, unnerved,  \nbut trying not to show it in the face of a seven-foot-tall semitransparent  \nspecter in their livingroom.  \n  \nThanatos began to pace thoughtfully. \"I'm sorry it took me so long to arrive. I  \nam a busy man, and so long as stupid people have the capacity to do themselves in  \nand then not realize it, I shall always remain busy. Though Max's case is  \nspecial. Due to a blunder in my office, your son was put in the unfortunate  \nsituation of having to destroy a nearly undestroyable extermination machine  \nbefore it destroyed him. A task I would have surely took on myself were it not  \nfor the fact that I have no power over anything in the material realm.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Croak got up and dutifully illustrated this point by passing various parts of  \nhimself through the furniture.  \n  \n\"Thank you, Croak,\" said Thanatos.  \n  \nThe little squirrel nodded smartly.  \n  \n\"Anyway,\" the Lord of the Dead continued, \"to put it bluntly, your son was forced  \nby circumstance to clean up a mess that was entirely mine. For that, I am both  \ngrateful and ashamed.\"  \n  \nTish, Max and Javier all looked a little surprised at that. The Thanatos they  \nwere seeing now was much humbler than the one they'd met before.  \n  \nAs if hearing their thoughts, he explained. \"Normally, I would not go so far out  \nof my way to make restitution. By nature, I am not the most forgiving being in  \nall existence. But as someone who hates inefficiency, sloppiness and most of all,  \nlaziness, I would be a hypocrite and a fool not to try and set things right.\"  \n  \n\"I kinda told him he had to,\" Croak spilled.  \n  \nThanatos narrowed his eyes murderously at his assistant, but could not really be  \nangry with him. After all, one of the biggest reasons he appreciated the boy was  \nfor his role in providing him with a conscience when his own one slipped.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Croak smiled innocently. Thanatos eventually smiled, genuinely, back.  \n  \nJavier did not entirely trust Thanatos' altruistic disposition. \"So, you have  \ncome just to tell young Max, 'Thanks for doing my dirty work'?\"  \n  \nThe white cat scowled. \"No, and if you'd let me finish, you would already know  \nthat.\"  \n  \nJavier mock-yawned. \"Sorry, I got tired from waiting.\"  \n  \nTish bit her lip to keep from giggling.  \n  \nThanatos let out an exasperated grunt. \"I dearly hope you find yourself still  \nstuck on this Earthly plane after you perish, Mr. Villareal. It will be my great  \npleasure to drag you down to the abyss by your ear like a toddler.\"  \n  \n\"At least you will have plenty to grip,\" the big bat said cheerfully.  \n  \nThis time, both Tish and Max had to bite their lips. So did Croak.  \n  \nThanatos made the kind of sour expression that only a cat can when they find  \ntheir dignity being assaulted. \"MY POINT IS,\" he rumbled, \"that I have taken time  \nout from my incomprehensibly busy schedule to give the boy a gift, and some  \nunfortunate news as well.\"  \n  \nMax became alert. \"'Unfortunate'?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Thanatos nodded, and his face became deathly serious. \"Yes. You see, the train  \nwill eventually come back.\"  \n  \n\"WHAT?!?\" bellowed Max and Tish in unison.  \n  \n\"We went through all that crap for \\*nothing\\*!?\" Tish exploded.  \n  \n\"Max \\_still\\_ isn't safe!?\" Carlos roared.  \n  \nJavier gave Thanatos a look of pure iced fire.  \n  \nThanatos sighed unhappily. This was not going well. He cast a glance at Croak,  \nhoping for help, but the little squirrel only shook his head. \"You broke it, you  \nbought it, Boss,\" the boy uttered reproachfully.  \n  \nDamn. As if he didn't \\*already\\* hate trying to explain things to mortals.  \n  \nSeeing though that all of Max's fur was standing on end and he looked as if  \nsomeone had just stepped on his pet frog, Thanatos' better nature got the better  \nof him. This \\*was\\* his fault, and consequently, it was his responsibility to fix.  \n  \nHe came closer, knelt, and appeared to put a paw on the young undead's shoulder,  \nthough of course Max couldn't feel a thing. \"Max, please listen carefully,\" he  \nsaid, as gently as he could.  \n  \nMax took a deep breath and shrugged off his shivers. \"Okay, what?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"I do not mean that the train will reappear tomorrow, or even the day after that.  \nBut you must understand, the whole point of a bewitched object is to fulfill its  \npurpose. Trying to stop it from doing so would be like me asking you to stop  \nbeing Max.\"  \n  \n\"So, all we did was just slow it down,\" the little zombie said glumly, his ears  \ndrooping.  \n  \n\"Well, you did slow it down quite a bit, admittedly,\" Thanatos replied, trying  \nhis best to smile warmly. \"But the 'magic' as you would call it, that we in the  \nBeyond use is more powerful than you could ever dream. When we want something  \ndone, it \\_will\\_ be done, and no force on earth can counteract it. The train will  \neventually reform itself and come back again someday.  \n  \n\"But take heart. It will have to reassemble itself from millions of pieces, some  \nso small they can not even be seen with the naked eye. It will have to pull  \nitself together through a thousand tons of rock. If, like you said, you've only  \nslowed it down, then you've slowed it down by a decade! At \\*least\\*!\"  \n  \nMax shrugged. \"Well, that's something, I guess.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The feline's tone grew fierce with importance. \"Listen to me, Max. What you and  \nyour sister and your large, sweaty, flying friend have done is nothing short of  \nmiraculous. I doubt even \\*I\\* could have come up with a plan as daring and  \nremarkable as yours.\"  \n  \nThat did make him feel a little better. Especially coming from such a gigantic  \nego.  \n  \n\"Simply put,\" said Thanatos, \"the train will return to life again and again, no  \nmatter what you do, so long as you exist.\"  \n  \nTish gulped for air. \"Dammit, I TOLD you I wasn't gonna let you take Max away!!\"  \nshe shouted ferociously.  \n  \nThanatos gave her a long-suffering smile. \"No one ever lets me finish. Though I  \nadmit I do have a bit of a flair for the dramatic. What I should have said was,  \n'so long as you exist ...In This Form'.\"  \n  \n\"But what does that mean?\" asked Carlos.  \n  \nThanatos stood up to meet the father's gaze. \"It means,\" he said, \"that I am  \noffering your son the chance to Change.\" He looked down at Max again. \"Tell me,  \nwhen a fox is being pursued by hounds, how does he shake them off his trail?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max blinked, puzzled by the apparent non-sequitur. \"Uh... He jumps in the river,  \nif there's one nearby. Or he runs across some rocks.\"  \n  \nThanatos grinned. \"And why, exactly, does he do this?\"  \n  \n\"To hide his scent,\" Max answered.  \n  \nThanatos grinned even more. \"\\_Exactly\\_.\"  \n  \nCroak came closer. \"So long as the train can 'smell' you, it'll try to come back.  \nSo what we have to do now is change your scent.\"  \n  \nA flutter of comprehension sparked inside Max's mind. \"Do you mean...\"  \n  \nTish heard his thought, and finished it for him. \"...You could bring him back to  \nlife again?\"  \n  \nThanatos smiled modestly. \"Well, I AM the Lord of the Dead, after all.\"  \n  \nMax let out an unrestrained yodel of joy and he and Tish flung themselves at each  \nother in a giddy hug. \"Oh WOW! Finally, I won't have to worry about stuff falling  \noff of me anymore!\" he shouted.  \n  \n\"And no more roadkill buffet!\" she added.  \n  \n\"And I won't stink so much either!\"  \n  \nTish pouted. \"Aw, and I was starting to like your smell!\"  \n  \nMax gave her a little shove. \"You're weird!\" They both giggled like idiots.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Martina and Carlos also embraced their son. All of them had felt a dim but  \ntenacious hope in their heart that somewhere at the end of this long, long  \njourney, Max would be able to return to his former self. They had all held on to  \ntheir belief, and all knew that somehow this moment would eventually come.  \n  \nJavier was still a bit suspicious though. \"How?\" he asked pointedly. \"I have seen  \nmany, many fursons come back from the dead, but never all the way. I have thought  \nuntil now that it could not be done. So, how do you intend to perform the  \nimpossible for Max?\"  \n  \nThanatos gave him a withering smirk. \"My dear Javier. We may be in the same line  \nof work, but you could never possibly hope to know all my secrets. There is a  \nway. But it is a dangerous one. And it means the rest of the family will have to  \ndie in his place.\"  \n  \nAs one, the Lopezes all looked up, shocked beyond words, at that last sentence.  \n  \nThanatos held up his paws. \"Only a little bit,\" he reassured.  \n  \n\"What the heck does THAT mean?\" Max asked frantically.  \n  \nThanatos took a deep breath. \"What I am about to tell you now, no other living  \nmortal knows. It is the very secret of life and death itself. It is something you  \nmortals are not \\*meant\\* to know, and for good reason. But as I am in your debt, I  \nfeel I must reveal it.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Well, get on with it,\" Tish said impatiently.  \n  \n\"I am,\" Thanatos said warningly. \"You see, there is more to life than just the  \nbody and soul. These two components are well known, but what gets ignored is a  \n\\*third\\* element; a silent partner. A simple binding agent that makes the other  \ntwo possible in the first place.  \n  \n\"This element, is the Whisper of the Beyond.\"  \n  \nPuzzled looks all around.  \n  \n\"It is the unseen. The unknown. It is what I and Croak are made of at this very  \nmoment. What none of you realize, or ever would have realized without me, is that  \nall living beings carry around a tiny, shining piece of the Beyond inside them.  \nYou all possess a sliver of the very dimension that birthed you and your entire  \nuniverse in the first place.\"  \n  \n\"Wowww...\" said Max. He didn't quite understand it, but it sure sounded cool.  \n  \n\"This energy,\" Thanatos continued, \"Is what holds the soul and body together.  \nTrying to meld matter with non-matter otherwise is futile. It is why the living  \ncan never return entirely from the dead. The spell that's holding you in one  \npiece, young Max, is the best you people have. And as I'm sure you know, it is an  \nextremely shabby excuse for the real thing.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max nodded. True, true.  \n  \n\"Life on Earth is not possible without the Whisper. And each living being's  \nWhisper is unique. Once it is gone, it is gone forever, back to its source.\"  \n  \n\"So, you can't just get Max a new one?\" Tish ventured.  \n  \n\"No,\" said Thanatos, \"But I can try to \\*make\\* one.\"  \n  \nHe gazed at the family grimly. \"This is where you come in. If you will allow me  \nto take your lives, all of you, for merely a moment, I may be able to meld your  \nthree Whispers together and then separate them again into four.\"  \n  \n\"Whoa, like ABC gum!\" marvelled Tish.  \n  \nThanatos had no idea to what she was referring. Croak did though, and chuckled.  \n  \n\"The choice is up to you, Max,\" Thanatos told him. \"It is not without risk, but  \nit is also your only hope.\"  \n  \nMax thought hard. \"You mean, there's a chance Mom 'n Dad and Tish could die for  \nreal? Forever?\"  \n  \nSilently, Thanatos nodded.  \n  \nHis face set in a stern frown, Max paused for a moment. And then he said, \"No.\"  \n  \nMartina dropped to his side in a heartbeat, putting her arms around him.  \n\"Sweetie! What do you mean? Don't you want to be alive again?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; He looked deep into his eyes, his gaze determined, but also sorrowful. \"Yeah,  \nMom. Of course I do. But I can't ask you guys to risk yourselves like that. It  \nwouldn't be fair.\"  \n  \nCarlos knelt by his son's side as well, patting him paternally on the back. \"You  \ndon't have to ask us anything, my little sun. I would die a thousand times for  \nyou. It is what a parent is for. We make hard decisions, and give of ourselves to  \nmake sure our children are safe.\"  \n  \nMarina nodded agreement. \"I'm willing to risk it. For you, Max. I want my little  \nboy back the way he was. You deserve that, honey.\"  \n  \n\"And you know I will too,\" Tish added. \"And even if we did die, that wouldn't be  \nso bad, would it? At least we'd all still be together. And if we all went to  \nHeck, I'm sure there'd be all sorts of cool trouble down there we could get  \ninto!\"  \n  \nMax chuckled, picturing his sister's words. \"Yeah, they'd probably kick us out  \nafter a while,\" he said, and they both bumped foreheads and laughed.  \n  \n\"So, are we agreed?\" Thanatos asked. \"The risk is minor. Even though I have only  \ndone anything like this a pawful of times before in all my eons, I am well  \nacquainted with the matter at hand. I owe you a favor, Max, and this is the very  \nbest I can do.\" His tone was genuine, and almost pleading.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Max looked up, bravely. \"Okay then. I guess.\"  \n  \nTish hugged him. \"You're gonna be okay, Max. We all are.\"  \n  \n\"What part do I play in this? \"Javier asked. \"Would you have more luck with four  \nWhispers than three?\"  \n  \nThanatos gave him a bittersweet smile. \"Though the offer is admirable, it would  \nnever work. Yours is simply too different. I can see it within you. These three  \nare family, and that is why I believe there is even a chance at all. Though, for  \nall the help you've unwittingly given me over the years, consider it my gift to  \nyou to allow you to sit and witness something no other mortal has ever in all of  \ntime beheld.\"  \n  \n\"Fair enough,\" said Javier. \"Should I go wake Jeff?\"  \n  \n\"Don't push it,\" Thanatos cautioned.  \n  \nMax was surrounded in hugs as his family fed him their love and their devotion.  \nAs much as he hated knowing they were risking their lives for him, he also felt a  \nwonderful bliss at knowing that they even \\*would\\* do such a thing for him. That  \ntheir love was really that strong. It felt good to feel loved.  \n  \nHe looked up to the Lord of the Dead. \"When can we do this?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Right away.\"  \n  \nMax nodded. \"Cool. Then let's.\"  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \n-CHAPTER SIXTY FOUR-  \n  \nThanatos led them outside, to a dark, cool place out near the woods. A shy green  \nclearing where the wind felt right.  \n  \nThe family marched along in the softly rustling grass, heading either to their  \ndoom or to their deepest wishes fulfilled.  \n  \nThanatos bade them sit down in a circle, Max with his back to the east and facing  \nhis mother. Carlos on his left, Tish on his right.  \n  \nThey did. The night air ruffled their grey fur.  \n  \nThey were silent.  \n  \nJavier stood a distance away, observing.  \n  \nAt a nod from Thanatos, Croak stepped into the middle of their circle. The little  \nsquirrel looked calm, but deeply solemn. Ready for something magical, something  \npowerful, something not of this world, to come over him.  \n  \nThanatos closed his eyes, and began to alter reality.  \n  \nCroak stood up ramrod-straight, as if electricity were being passed through him.  \nHe began to change.  \n  \nTish was staring in wonder, but Thanatos told her sharply to close her eyes, make  \nno sound, and to keep as still as possible.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Tish obeyed. They all obeyed.  \n  \nJavier was the only one who saw Croak's transformation. The little squirrel began  \nto flicker alarmingly, like a TV with a glitch. His fur grew lighter. His form  \nseemed to melt and sharpen.  \n  \nSlowly, he became a pillar of purple flame.  \n  \nLike the color violet made solid, the thing that Croak had transfigured into  \nflickered like fire but kept its shape like a crystal. It lifted off the ground  \nin a silent hover.  \n  \nIt began to spin.  \n  \nFaster and faster it twirled, like a pendant on a string, drawing the wind into  \nit.  \n  \nCarlos, Martina and Tish began to feel something tugging at their insides. Not  \ntheir guts, but their souls. Something was trying to pry free the glue that held  \ntheir flesh and essence together.  \n  \nMax could feel nothing. Except fear.  \n  \nTish cried out softly in an emotion that was not quite pain. The purple flame  \nwobbled off course for a second, but then righted itself and stayed true.  \n  \nAs Javier watched, the flame took hold of their Whispers and \\_pulled\\_.  \n  \nHe saw it first as a thin mist, seeming to pulsate like a wispy tongue out of  \ntheir chests. Then it grew longer, appearing more solid and handkerchief-shaped,  \nbut still only a swirling silver fog.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The three coyotes shuddered as emotions they had never felt before coursed  \nthrough them. They could all feel an bottomless sense of loss, of losing  \nsomething infinitely precious, and were seized by a desperate urge to wrest it  \nback in before it was too late.  \n  \nBut they also knew that, for Max, they must resist that urge.  \n  \nJavier forced himself to stand idle too, as he watched the family he had sworn to  \nprotect die before his very eyes.  \n  \nTish went first. Her whisper jerked free elastically, like a long stand of bubble  \ngum breaking, and was slurped up eagerly by the spinning purple flame. She  \nuttered a short, guttural moan and fell over backwards in the grass. Still as a  \nstone.  \n  \nMax gasped as he felt his sister's presence simply wink out like a light.  \n  \nCarlos was next, and Martina shortly after. Their souls were older and more  \nstubborn, and could cling harder. But eventually their Whispers were torn free  \ntoo, and they also fell back, silent and motionless.  \n  \nMax could \\*feel\\* their deaths. Cold tears ran down his cheeks and he fought  \nharder than ever to keep himself silent.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Thanatos floated closer, his eyes blazing with immortal concentration. He reached  \nout his long, agile hands into the heart of the spinning flame...  \n  \nAnd \\*clenched\\*.  \n  \nThere was an absolutely noiseless explosion of light. For less than a second, the  \nnight became illuminated with a great blue flare. Max could see it easily through  \nhis closed eyelids. If Javier had not turned away at just the right moment, he  \ncould have easily been struck temporarily blind.  \n  \nLuckily though, he only had to blink away several precious seconds' worth of  \nspots from his vision, before he could behold what Thanatos was doing now.  \n  \nIt seemed he had gone mad. He was wrestling with the flame now, seeming to  \nstrangle it. He pounded it, swore at it, shaped it, tore it. But it was not Croak  \nhe was doing these things to. Croak was only the vessel. Thanatos was fighting  \nthe contents inside. Stretching and molding them in ways the universe had never  \nintended.  \n  \nHe fought with the fury of one thousand demons.  \n  \nAnd in the end, the Whispers gave up first.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; All of a sudden, they simply lost the will to protest any longer, and became  \ncompliant and pliable in Thanatos' hands. He grinned victoriously, looking quite  \ninsane in the violet firelight, and lifted his hands to the sky.  \n  \nFour blazingly bright silver balls of pure, chimerical energy rose at his  \ncommand, swirling around and around in a glowing circle.  \n  \nThanatos brought down his hands like a conductor ending the symphony of his  \nlifetime.  \n  \nMax shut his eyes tight.  \n  \nThe four Whispers slammed hard into their new homes, at first fighting the  \nplacement, and then taking hold ferociously.  \n  \nThere was another otherworldly flare of light, this time so bright it really did  \nblind Javier.  \n  \nHe could not see what happened next.  \n  \n  \n~\\*\\*\\*~  \n  \n  \nEND OF BOOK FOUR  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Summer Vacation Of The Living Dead","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/8408-summer-vacation-of-the-living-dead-book-3.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/8410-summer-vacation-of-the-living-dead-book-5.json"}}