“Thatch?”
“Thatch, can you hear me?”
When my eyes opened, a giant bat hovered over me. Enormous wings spread wide and flapping. We were under water and the bat stared down at me, screaming my name over the thunderous sound of the pounding waves at the surface.
“Thatch!”
I blinked.
Not a bat.
Dunk.
Dunk standing over me with his jacket open, holding both sides out to block the rain.
“Don’t move, Jack.”
“They hit…”
“I saw.”
“We need to get help!” Willy said from somewhere behind me. “He needs an ambulance!”
Dunk leaned in closer. “Can you hear me, Jack?”
I nodded.
“Can you say my name?”
“Yeah.”
“Say it.”
“Why?”
Duncan slapped my cheek with the open palm of his hand. “Say it!”
“Duncan Bellino.”
“What year is it?”
“1988.”
“Who’s the president?”
“Oh, come on.”
“Say it?”
“Ronald Reagan.”
I tried to sit up, fell back down, my head splashing in the muddy earth.
“He shouldn’t move. Don’t let him move until we get someone out here,” Willy said. “I’ll ride back out to Brownsville and find help.”
“Where are they?” I said softly.
“Gone. They ran you off the road and didn’t even slow down. I lost track of them after they turned the corner up there.”
