Gwendy’s Final Task

It was Farris’s voice, Gwendy thinks. I don’t know how or why—he must be dead by now—but it was. Then she remembers the last time she saw him, on her porch in Castle Rock. I’ll help if I can, he said that night.

“Think about what you’re doing, Winston. For God’s sake, think.”

“I have. And I know when someone is trying to fuck with my head. Let’s get a look at this fabled button box. Sit where you are, Senator. You won’t get a second warning.”

Of course not, Gwendy thinks. The only reason I’m still alive is because he needs to make sure he has it. Once he does, he’ll point that tube at me and—

“Ah,” Winston says. He’s peering at the safe, which puts him between Gwendy and the door. “The reset combo is 1111. I believe even someone who’s losing her mind could remember that one.”

He removes the LockMaster and pushes the combo—beep-beep-beep-beep. She hopes the gadget didn’t work, that the safe will remain shut, but the door swings open when Winston pulls the handle. Out comes the steel case with CLASSIFIED MATERIAL stamped on it. “I don’t need to consult your little notebook again for the code to this one,” Winston says. “One look was enough. Unlike yours, my memory is in perfect working order. People are amazed at my recall.”

“Don’t sprain your shoulder patting yourself on the back,” Gwendy says coldly.

Winston laughs. Now that he has the case Gwendy swore to protect with her life, he seems quite cheerful. Perhaps he’s thinking of his diamond mine. Or having a ménage à trois with two beautiful young women. Or a tickertape parade in one of his fine new cities with thousands of people shouting his name. Gwendy could tell him about the black button—the Cancer Button that supposedly ends everything—but would he listen? No. He is Alexander, with a new world to conquer.

“1512253 … and presto!” He opens the steel box. He looks inside. His eager smile dissolves. “What … the fuck … is this?”

He takes out a white feather. When he lets it go, it floats in front of his face. Winston bats it away. He turns the security case so she can see inside. With the feather now out of it, the case is completely empty.

“Surprise, Mr. Winston,” Gwendy says, and the slack-jawed shock on his face makes her laugh. But then shock is replaced by a look of fury Gwendy hasn’t seen before. Suddenly she can see the Gareth Winston who lives inside, and he’s no laughing matter.

I’m looking at a human wolf, she thinks.

Then he grins, which is even worse.

He lets go of the CLASSIFIED case, leaving it to float near the longtime talisman she calls her magic feather. He glides across to her. She shrinks back involuntarily and raises her hands to protect her throat.

“Oh, I’m not going to choke you,” he says, still smiling. “I might kill you …” He raises the green cylinder. “… but it won’t be a hands-on affair. And it will be very unpleasant.”

Gwendy thinks, The black button is the Cancer Button and that green thing is the Tube of Death. I’ve wandered into a fucking comic book.

He shows her the ring on the bottom of the tube. “If I twist this all the way while it’s pointed at you, the disintegration of your organs will be instantaneous. I know, because I’ve tried it.”

“On one of your subjects,” Gwendy says. Her voice sounds far away. “In Genesis.”

“You are a bright one, at least when you’re in your right mind. Too bright for your own good. The point is, my dear, that if I twist the ring slowly … a teeny tiny bit at a time … you’ll die in excruciating agony. You may actually feel your heart come loose from its moorings and drop into your stomach while it’s still beating. Wouldn’t that be something to experience!”

Yes, it’s a comic book, all right, she thinks. Too bad I can’t just shut it and toss it in the UV waste disposal. Too bad it’s actually happening.