Chapter 9
Slab
Heading back to the surface was not easy. The feeling of the whips on their back was horrible.
"Why do they believe this will do any good," protested Alexander.
"They're humans," snarled Tremor. "It's in their nature to be stupid. We should know."
"That's not true," cried Alexander. "My mama wasn't." He began to think about all the times he disobeyed his mother only to be proven wrong, but this had to be the worst time to be wrong.
"If my mother was so smart, she wouldn't have met dad," said Lampwick.
"Are you saying you wish you weren't born?" said Tremor.
"I do now," sighed Lampwick.
"'Cause no matter what your dad did, blaming him ain't gonna make this better for you."
When they stepped out into the open it was evening. They looked around the site. Lampwick and Alexander recognised Ken coming out shaft A. They could see that he was in a bad way. No one seemed to care least of all Ray Bothmaron. He simply looked in each cart and smiled at the result.
"Great, at the rate we're going we'll meet this weeks quota. Slab," he looked at the enormous man who had been with Lampwick, Alexander and Tremor. "How were Tremor's new friends?"
Slab simply threw back his whip and brought it down with a huge crack in front of Alexander. He sniggered evilly as the little donkey backed away in fright.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," drawled Bothmaron remorselessly. "I'll say it again for you Slab, I proved those quacks at the Institute for the Criminally Insane wrong when I said I could find a use for your… um… tendencies."
Slab started chuckling like an overgrown three-year old. Bothmaron reached into his jacket and pulled out a cuddly toy rabbit.
"Aren't they a bit old for playing dolls?" sniggered Lampwick. But the smirk was wiped off his face as Bothmaron threw the toy like a man playing fetch with a dog, and like a dog Slab tore after it. He started whipping and beating it savagely, until the toy was barely recognisable. The workers flinched at the scene before them but Bothmaron just watched. Slab then pointed to the woods some way off.
"Sure, Slab, go ahead and have some fun, just as long as your back by six in the morning. But remember… if you're going to bring back souvenirs again, wash them in the river first."
Slab grunted and nodded. He looked towards the three donkeys. Lampwick and Alexander were terrified. But Slab seemed to be looking towards Tremor. The old donkey stared back at Slab fearlessly, the eye contact with those eyes of the monster of a human in front of him, never broken. Slab grinned maliciously, his teeth and gums rotten and he thundered off towards the woods.
"Alright, everybody," called Bothmaron, "get the donkeys back to the corrals. I've never been more excited about meeting our quota, so as of tonight whichever team brings out the largest amount of salt by the end of Sunday's shift will be promoted."
"You mean… office duty?" said a worker excitedly.
"Office duty," said Bothmaron in the same tone. "If you do real good, I might consider a vice presidential role."
The workers erupted into cheers and applause. They talked loudly as they sent the donkeys back to the corral and went to their bunkers. Lampwick, Alexander and Tremor walked to the shelter.
"Why did Slab look at you like that?" asked Lampwick.
"Oh, he's had it in for me since he first came here," grumbled Tremor contemptuously. "He's always trying to get me to drop… dead!" he added noticing the confused look on their faces. "He only lays off me on special occasions ."
"What kind of occasions?" asked Alexander.
"Christmas and Thanksgiving, to name two. Those two morons in the woods, Thunder and Clay, they bring back a live turkey, and Bothmaron leaves Slab to do the rest. He also lays off me when… someone's about to drop."
Alexander and Lampwick gasped.
"He has some sort of sixth sense. He knows when someone's close to death and he just loves to watch it happen."
Alexander could not stand to listen any longer and began to cry.
"Let it out kid," said Tremor. "If you live as long as I have, it doesn't make you cry as much. I saw it happen to my three best friends… slow and humiliating."
"There's gotta be something we can do," sobbed Alexander.
"It's no use crying about what you're not gonna get, kid," said Tremor settling down to sleep.
"I always believed that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true," sniffled Alexander.
"Alexander, let's just be realistic now," said Lampwick. "That's only a fairy tale and fairy tales are not gonna help us."
As Alexander finally settled down, Lampwick walked outside and looked up into the night sky. There it was… the wishing star. But what good would it do, every night he used to wish for his life to get better, and nothing happened. There was only one time when he nearly believed his wish was coming true… he went to Pleasure Island.
The next morning, Lampwick, Alexander and Tremor were to go into shaft G.
"This one was started recently, so we should be a little more near the entrance," explained Tremor.
Lampwick and Alexander noticed that Ken still looked ill. When they entered the shaft, they realised that Slab wasn't there. What Tremor said last night, hit them hard, "He only lays off me when… someone's about to drop." It felt like something cold went down their throats… because it was incontrovertible who he had gone after.