“That explains the blast aboard her ship, if she asks, but how do you explain this one?” I pointed behind us as we gave some distance to the wreckage.
She gazed at my point. “We don’t. Topaz will lead Blondella to what’s left of her boat. All we’ve done is created a temporary diversion for you. Plus, she’ll now have to explain why she had explosives on her in the first place, and that, I suppose, will take a good bit of time.”
“And what if her guards warn her of our escape before she makes it to her boat?”
She smiled. “How will a bunch of zombies open the now-locked door they’re trapped behind?” Seems a certain drag queen or two had been busy during our brief incarceration.
Lola asked a question for a question. “And why free us now, so soon I mean? I thought Topaz was going to handle things, find out what she could and then put a plan into action.”
VaVa’s smile remained. “She did, she did, and you are.”
“Lost me,” I commented, not for the first time or the last.
“She handled things and is continuing to handle things, which is why she’s still with Blondella.” The smile briefly faltered as she said the vile zombie’s name. “As to the finding out what she could, the two zombies you seek have indeed been found. As to the plan, well, the ball is in your court, or so I believe the expression goes.”
I sucked in my breath, or at least tried my best to. Came out a nasty wheeze. Points for trying, though. “You found the zombies?”
Lola’s hand was still in my own. She squeezed it extra tight. “Where are they? Are they okay? When can we see them?”
VaVa was moving again, helping us across the rubble and to a waiting golf cart. It was slow going, but at least it was going. “All we know is where they are,” she told us. “Topaz, thank goodness, had an idea where to look.”
“But you haven’t seen them?” I asked, confused yet again.
Her smiled returned. “Seen, no?” she replied. “Smelled, well, to be honest, your kind isn’t exactly hard to, um, spot in that regard.”
“Tell me about it,” I said, glad for the first time ever for the stench of death and decay.
“Better yet,” said Lola. “Show us.”
Beat the Bitch
Along with the golf cart, VaVa had new wigs and sunglasses waiting for us. It wasn’t ideal, but it’d do in a pinch. Plus, the wigs were on the expensive side, one a flaming red, the other an incandescent blue. In other words, I wasn’t complaining. Though when Blondella passed us on the narrow road, I was holding my breath just the same, or at least making a valiant effort to do so.
“That was close,” said Lola as the two carts whizzed by one another.
I turned to my newfound friend. “She must have other things on her mind, like trying to think of a viable explanation as to why her vessel had explosives on it.”
VaVa quickly looked my way. “Why did she have explosives?”
It pained me to tell her the truth. “She means to destroy the island, or at least as much of it as she can. Best bet, she already hid much of her cache when she recently attacked you. Now she’s back to finish the job under the pretense of leading you to a brighter tomorrow.”
“But why?” VaVa asked. “We worship her. Isn’t that enough?”
I shrugged. “She’s demented, I suppose. That and you all are a reminder of what she no longer is and can never be again.”
Again VaVa glanced my way. “Is that a guess or . . .”
I looked off into the distance. “It’s hard to be with you, yes. It’s like standing outside in the cold and looking in through smudged windows, seeing a home you once lived in, the key to get inside forever misplaced.”
“And yet you live, pardon the wording, with humans. That’s how we found you.”
I turned back her way. She was frowning. “Strictly out of necessity.”
“Oh,” she ohed.
“Sad,” said Lola.
“You get used to it,” I lied.
Thankfully, my melancholy was short-lived, which made one of us, because soon enough we were pulling up behind the Ellis Island museum.
“They can’t be here,” Lola made note. “We already checked.”
“Where did you check?” asked VaVa as she clicked off the ignition.
“Inside,” I replied. “I even scanned around the nearby buildings.”
“Scanned?” the drag queen asked.
“Long story,” I remarked. “In any case, they weren’t here.”
VaVa extricated herself from the cart and then helped us do the same. “Inside, no,” she replied. “Around, no.”
“And, again, lost me.” She motioned with her brightly-manicured index finger for us to follow her, which we did, arriving around the backside of the museum before standing in front of the eternal flame. It was then that I smelled the familiar smell, one I’d long ago grown accustomed to. “But where is the aroma coming from?” I looked all around, but saw nothing, just the flame as is it sparked and flickered. “Wait,” I said. “Not inside or around, but—”
“Down!” shouted Lola. “The flame is fed below ground!”
“Of course!” I shouted in return. “Ginger told us that the fuel source is kept safely below ground.” And the smile I’d been smiling got wiped clear away. “Ginger, the keeper of the eternal flame?”