Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone)

survival mode. If he thinks Brother Rei will help keep him alive, well, that means Linc’s likely to find his words more magnetic than ours.”
    Luca was quiet a while, then finally said, “I already looked in his mind when he was in here. He’s okay. He’s trying to think of a way to help us. He and Mary, both.”
    “Mary is going to do something? You talked to him? He heard you?” Desmond said.
    “He didn’t hear me, I don’t think. I was tuning into him,though. And Mary asked for his help. He told her yes.”
    “How’s he gonna help us?” Desmond asked.
    “Not sure. Anyway, it might be best if we told him what to do, right? I’m gonna try to find out from Will what he wants Linc to do. I’m going to try and push a thought into Linc’s head. Not sure if it will work, but I’ll show him where the bag of guns is outside.”
    Desmond cringed. It was one thing trusting Linc to go along with his plan, but another altogether to tell him where the guns were. That was their last line of defense. But then again, that defense was nothing if they were chained up in the hole. Desmond was about to ask how far away Will was   when the door up top opened again. Rei stepped into the chamber and began to slowly pace the room.
    “How are you boys getting along down here?” Rei looked up at the light, “Ah, I see that someone left a light on for you. How thoughtful. Who was it?”
    Desmond didn’t want to get Linc in trouble, so he kept his mouth shut.
    Rei approached Desmond, “I asked a question. I expect an answer. Have you so quickly forgotten what happens when you don’t obey me?”
    Desmond met Rei’s eyes. He would sell his soul to the Devil right now to break free the chains and put an end to the weasel’s smile.
    “I think it was Linc,” Desmond said.
    “Ah, Linc. Your friend, Linc, right?”
    Uh-oh.
    “How cozy are you and Linc?” Rei asked. “What sorts of things does he tell you?”
    “Nothing,” Desmond said. “He’s pretty much ignored us ever since we got here. He’s a traitor as far as I’m concerned, to let you hold us down here like this.”
    Rei stared at Desmond as if trying to decipher what was true and what was lie.
    Rei began to pace again. “You see, Brother Desmond, I hate to think that my fellow brothers are sneaking around like rats behind my back. I don’t like rats very much.”
    Desmond nearly laughed at the irony: a weasel that didn’t like a rat, but the pain in his body told him to resist the urge. They only had to last a little while longer until Will, and maybe Linc, would help them break free.  
    Keep your mouth shut, and try not to piss Rei off. Just wait him out.
    Rei kept pacing, saying over and over, “I really, really don’t like rats.”
    What’s he getting at? What does he know?
    Suddenly Luca was in Desmond’s head, “ Oh no. ”
    “ What? ” Desmond thought.
    And then it happened.
    Carl opened his mouth.
    “They’re planning an attack,” he sputtered. “The old man is coming back!”
    Rei’s eyebrows rose as he looked from Carl to Desmond, to Carl again, and then back to Desmond. “Is this true?” he said.  
    Desmond was stunned silent. He and Luca had been talking about everything out loud, without any thought that Carl might betray them.
    “ I didn’t even think to look in Carl’s mind to see if he was on their side, ” Luca thought to Desmond. “ I’m so sorry. ”
    Rei’s eyes went back to Carl. “Go ahead, Brother Carl, I’m listening.”  
    “The creepy kid can do stuff with his mind. Said he was talking to the old man a while back, and to Linc just now.”
    Rei smiled, chewing the delicious news. “Well, how about that? So, Linc is working with you?” He stood just inches from Luca. “So, you have a window to the whispers in our minds? Pray tell, boy, what am I thinking?”
    Luca closed his eyes tight and said nothing.
    After a minute of mutual silence, Rei turned to Carl. “What else did they say?”  
    “Luca said that Will is gonna help them break out of here. And Linc is gonna help them. And something about a bag of guns or something.”
    Brother Rei kept smiling, telling Carl he’d done excellent work, and that it was always a glorious day at The Sanctuary when the Good Lord’s work was done. The flock was never prouder than when one of its own learned a valuable lesson and chose virtue over sin.
    Rei unfastened Carl from his restraints, then handed him a pistol from beneath the folds of his robe.