Queen of the Dead by Ty Drago Page B

Die.”
    Helene!
    The word filled my mind, pushing away everything else. Sharyn lay unmoving near the entrance to Cell Block Six, with Katie cradling her head. Burt and Chuck flopped on the floor like landed fish, their chests heaving as they tried to convince their lungs to expand and let in air.
    And Helene hung helplessly in the giant’s grasp, her eyes wide, her face going purple.
    Again, I tried to find my feet. My head felt twice its normal size.
    You just got a bad bump! I told myself. Most of it’s shock. Move!
    I staggered a step. Two. It was like navigating one of those moon bounces.
    Move! Or she’s gonna die!
    I moved, one foot in front of the next, with the prison hub pitching and yawing around me like a boat on rough water. Finally, I saw the giant’s huge, broad back looming before me. Only then did I realize I had no weapon. My pocketknife was God knew where, lost someplace in the room. My Super Soaker was history. And something told me my fists weren’t going to do a thing to this Dead Superman.
    Then I spotted Vader.
    It lay where Sharyn had dropped it, just a few feet away. I reached for it, leaning over, struggling to keep my churning stomach in line as my trembling hand closed around its hilt. When I straightened again, the room was still spinning, though not quite as badly.
    At least I could keep my balance, which was good because I needed it.
    Helene had stopped gasping. I couldn’t even hear her struggling anymore.
    Oh God…
    I raised the sword, and with a great heave, I drove its point into the base of the giant’s skull. I heard a scrape that set my teeth on edge as the blade glanced off his collarbone. But I kept going, getting my shoulder under the sword’s guard and pushing upward with my knees.
    Corpses don’t feel pain. That’s both an asset and a liability. Pain, you see, has a purpose.
    It tells you when you’re in trouble.
    But this giant felt nothing at all as Vader drilled all the way into his brain.
    I heard rather than saw Helene fall to the floor, felt rather than saw the giant topple sideways. He hit the floor so hard that the impact vibrated up through my shoes. I almost fell too, but after some struggle, I managed to step forward over the helpless giant and catch the wall with one hand. It steadied me.
    â€œSharyn’s hurt bad!” I heard Katie yell. But at that moment, I didn’t care. Well, I cared. I mean, of course, I cared. It was just that—
    â€œHelene?” I croaked.
    I slid my back down the wall until I sat right beside where the girl lay. Trembling, I put a hand on her shoulder and shook her.
    She didn’t move.
    Oh God. Please…
    â€œHelene!” I coughed, a bit louder this time. Then I shook her again.
    With a loud gasp, she sat bolt upright and drew in a mighty lungful of air. Her face, despite the cold, appeared soaked in sweat, and the eyes that found mine looked glassy.
    â€œYou okay?” I asked—pleaded, really.
    When she replied, her voice sounded raspy. “Think so.”
    My heart started beating again.
    â€œJeez!” Chuck moaned as he and Burt finally caught their breath. “What a freak that dude was!”
    I managed a nod. “My pocketknife’s…over there,” I said, pointing to where I thought it might have fallen.
    â€œI’ll look for it,” Burt said.
    Chuck came over to us. “You two okay?”
    â€œI’m good,” I said. And I was. My stomach had settled, and the room wasn’t spinning anymore. Well, not much. “Helene?”
    â€œI’m good too,” the girl replied. Then she fixed me with her hazel eyes. I noticed that one of them had some blood in its white part, probably from the near strangling. “Thanks, Will.”
    I nodded, feeling vaguely uncomfortable and almost faint with relief. We helped each other to our feet and staggered over to where Sharyn lay, her head resting in Katie’s lap. The