Chapter 70 Chapter 69

Whitney Hogan finds Lloyd in his room.He was lying on the big round bed that he had shared with Dana Jürgens before.He had a large glass of gin on his chest and was staring dreamily at his reflection in the overhead mirror. "Come in," he said when he saw Whitney, "don't stand there, don't knock." "Are you drunk, Lloyd?" Whitney asked cautiously. "No. Not yet. But soon." "Is he there?" "Who? The Fearless Leader?" Lloyd sat up. "He's gone somewhere. The Midnight Wanderer." He laughed and lay down again.

Whitney said in a low voice, "Be careful what you say. You know it's not good to talk nonsense, in case he..." "Went to his." "Remember what happened to Heck Drogan? And Stretton?" Lloyd nodded. "You're right. Walls have ears. Fucking walls have ears. Have you ever heard that?" "Well, heard it once or twice. It's true here, Lloyd." "Of course," Lloyd sat up suddenly and threw the glass out.The glass was broken. "It's for cleaning, isn't it, Whitney?" "Are you all right, Lloyd?" "I'm fine. A gin?"

Whitney hesitated for a moment. "No, I don't like water without lemon." "Hey, my God, don't say that, I have lemonade. Get it out of the little plastic bottle." Lloyd went to the bar and pulled out a plastic bottle. "Does this taste like lemonade?" "Of course," said Lloyd, frowning. "What do you think it tastes like? Have a drink? Have the courage to have a drink with me." "okay." "We drank by the window while looking at the scenery." "No." Whitney flatly refused.Lloyd was walking towards the bar when he stopped and suddenly turned pale.He looked at Whitney, and they stared at each other for a moment.

"Okay," Lloyd said, "I'm sorry, man. It doesn't taste good." "fine." It's not good, they both know it.The woman Flagg dubbed "The Bride" had fallen from a height the previous day.Lloyd remembered Ess Hay saying Dana couldn't have jumped off the balcony because the window wasn't open.But the top floor has a sunbathing level.They figured no one would roll off.They know a lot of inside information. He poured Whitney's drink, and the two sat and drank in silence for a while.Outside the sun was setting like a red flame. Finally Whitney said in an almost inaudible voice, "Do you really think she danced by herself?"

Lloyd shrugged. "What does that matter? Of course, I think she jumped. What would you do if she married you? Another drink?" Whitney looked at his glass, somewhat surprised to see that he had already had a drink.He handed the glass to Lloyd, who took it to the bar and poured a glass with the other hand.Whitney's head was buzzing. They drank in silence for a while, watching the sun go down. "What did you hear about Tom Curran?" Whitney asked finally. "No. I haven't heard anything, and Barry hasn't heard anything. No word on 40th, 20th, 2nd, 74th, all searched but nothing. He's somewhere in the desert. If he If he keeps going by night and day and keeps going east, he'll get away. What does that matter? What can he tell the people down there?"

"I have no idea." "I don't know either. Let him go, that's my opinion." Whitney felt uncomfortable.Lloyd is dangerously close to criticizing his boss again.His head was louder, but he was happy.Maybe he will soon find the words to lead to what he wants to say today. "I'm going to tell you," Lloyd said, leaning forward, "he's deserted. Have you heard? It's round eight and he's deserted. And nobody else wants to do anything for him." "Lloyd, I..." "Continued Cup?" "Of course, I guess." Lloyd refills the drink.He offered Whitney a glass.

"Betrayed," said Lloyd, returning to his subject, "first Dana, then Colum boy. His own wife—if she was—was killed. You think it's a game?" ?” "We shouldn't be talking about that." "And Garbage Bug. Look what that guy did. What about friends, but enemies? That's all I know." "Lloyd..." Lloyd shook his head. "I couldn't figure it out at all. Everything was working fine until that night when he came and said the old lady was dead in the land of the free. He said the last obstacle was cleared too. But from then on it got weird and ridiculous."

"Lloyd, I really don't think we should..." "Right now I don't know anything. We could have a ground attack next spring, I guess. I'm sure it won't be sooner. But next spring, God knows what tricks they'll play. We could have caught them off guard, but now Nope. Besides, for goodness sake, there's Garbage Bug to think about. He's wandering the desert, and he's damn sure..." "Lloyd," Whitney lowered his voice, "listen to me." Lloyd leaned over and asked with concern, "What? What's the matter, old man?"

"I don't know if I should ask you," Whitney said.He gripped the glass tightly. "Me and Es Hay and Ronnie Sykes and Jenny Earnston, we're going to get out of here. Do you want to participate? God, I must be crazy to tell you this, and you and He's so close." "Get rid of? Where are you going?" "South America, I think. Brazil. It should be far enough there." He paused, then continued, "A lot of people have left. Well, probably not many, but quite a lot, and increasing every day. They think Flagg can't care so much. Some people are going up to Canada. It's too cold for me. But I have to go out. If they take me, if I'm sure we can make it, I will go east." Hui Turney stopped suddenly and looked at Lloyd painfully.It's the face of someone who knows they've gone too deep and gone too far.

"You're right," said Lloyd softly. "I won't tell you, old chap." "Everything sucks here . . . " said Whitney, distressed. "When are you planning to leave?" Lloyd asked. Whitney watched him warily. "Well, I didn't ask," Lloyd said. "Another drink?" "No," Whitney said, looking at his glass. "Me too," he said, walking to the bar, his back turned to Whitney, "I can't." "Ok?" "No!" Lloyd said flatly, and turned to Whitney. "I owe him. I owe him a lot. In Phoenix he pulled me out of trouble and I've been with him ever since. It seems longer than it is. Sometimes it seems like life.

"yes." "And not only that. He brought me a new life, made me a better person or a character. I don't know what it was, but I wasn't the same person, Whitney, not at all. In… ...he was... I was worthless. And now he puts me in charge here, and I'm doing a good job. Looks like I've matured. Yeah, he's made me better." Lloyd peeked from his chest He lifted the black stone, looked at it a few times, and then put it down again.He rubbed his hands together as if he had touched something dirty. "I know now that I'm not a genius. I have to write down what I'm going to do in a notebook or I forget. But with him behind me I can call the shots and get things right most of the time. Before, all I All I can do is follow orders and get stuck, I've changed...and he's changed me. Yeah, it seems like it's been longer than it really is. "When we came to Vegas, there were only 16 people here. Ronnie was one of them, and Janney and poor old Heck Drogan. They were waiting for him. When we came into town, Janney Ernston got down on his knees and kissed his boots. I bet she never told you in bed." He grinned at Whitney. "Now she wants to get away. Of course, I don't blame her or you. But it's easy to be unhappy with an action, right?" "You decide to stick with it?" "Hold on, Whitney. What's his is mine. I owe him." There's nothing else to say, he still has a sliver of trust in the man in black, and he believes that Whitney and the others will be hard to escape.There are other reasons.Here, he was Flagg's second in command.And in Brazil?Why, both Whitney and Ronnie are smarter than him.It was not to his liking that he and Es Hay would become insignificant characters.He may not care for a while, but things have changed.And when the mind was changed, he found that it was likely to change the life. "Well, we'll probably all make it," said Whitney feebly. "Of course," said Lloyd, thinking: I won't excuse you if word finally gets to Flagg.I won't excuse you when he finally has time to notice you and he goes south to Brazil.You probably don't worry about the road... Lloyd raised his glass. "Cheers, Whitney." Whitney raised his glass. "Nobody's going to get hurt," Lloyd said. "It's my blessing. Nobody's going to be hurt." "Man, I'm drinking this," Whitney enthused, downing both. Whitney left shortly afterward.Lloyd continued to drink.He passed out around 9:30 and fell asleep on the round bed.Slept soundly and had no dreams. As the sun rose on September 17, Tom Curran was bivouac a little north of Gourauk, Utah.The weather is very cold, and I can see my breath coming out.His ears were woody and cold.But he feels fine.The night before he had come to an abandoned road, and he had seen three men sitting by a fire. All 3 were armed with guns. Tom Curran was about to make his way around a tangled woods—he was now in the western Utah Badlands—and suddenly he stepped on a small pebble, and the pebble groaned and rolled down the valley.He went cold with fright.Bits of hot stuff dripped down his legs, but he didn't notice until about an hour later. All three turned their heads, and two of them raised their weapons.Tom's clothes were thin and could not keep out the cold.He was in the shadows again.The moon is covered by a cloud.If the moon comes out at this time... One of them breathed a sigh of relief. "It's deer," he said. "They're pretty common here." "I think we should do some reconnaissance," said another. "Go scouting yourself," replied the third, and let it go. They sat by the fire again, and Tom began to crawl forward, taking every step carefully, watching their fire die slowly. From time to time, there were some noises from the bottom of the valley, and finally they all disappeared. He felt that a big burden had been unloaded.He starts to feel safe.He was still out west, and he knew he had to be careful, but the danger was less imminent, and it was full of Indians and fugitives. Now, as the sun comes out, it's time to crawl into a bush and curl up in a ball for sleep.Gotta get a blanket, he thought.It is getting colder and colder.As usual, he fell asleep immediately. He dreamed of Nick.