A Powerless World | Book 2 | Survive The Lawless

by Hunt, Jack

  With a large gap in age between Miriam and her sisters, she’d found it difficult to have anything in common with them, whereas Hazel’s youngest daughter was only a year older.

  She swerved onto Arthur Road. Her eyes scanned two homes on either side of the road that belonged to the Stricklands. One belonged to Luke. As she passed it, Miriam noticed there were several trucks outside, and a group wearing black and drinking. They looked as if they’d just come back from a funeral. They saw her pass and immediately threw insults her way. One tossed a full beer bottle. It smashed a few feet from her back tire. She sped up. She didn’t look, she never looked. That’s what Hazel had told her. Just ignore them.

  Still, with what she now knew, a shot of fear ran through her. Miriam looked over her shoulder just to make sure they weren’t following. There were a few routes to get to Hazel’s home, but this was the fastest. If her mother knew she’d taken it, she would have been given the belt, eighteen or not. Ten years of no killing didn’t mean they hadn’t been at odds, and with three now dead, they would feel the ripples of this for some time. The only thing that gave her some sense of peace was seeing a deputy riding toward her. She smiled, and he returned the gesture. Miriam slowed, and pulled to the edge, and looked back. The deputy swerved into the Stricklands’ residence, hopefully, to put one or more of them away, or at least give them a stern warning.

  Had he seen what happened? Heard the insults?

  A few houses down, nestled in the woodland at the far end of Arthur Road was Hazel’s two-story abode. It was beautiful. A nice wraparound porch, white siding, dormer windows, and brown shingles covered in solar panels. Towering behind it was a wind turbine that was used to create electricity for the home whenever they had a power outage. She didn’t want to know how others fared without such things.

  The driveway veered around to the right and came up to the huge home with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a long glass greenhouse outside.

  It had been her aunt’s pride and joy for many years. When she wasn’t working at the theater she usually had her hands in soil. Even in the winter months, she was found tending to her plants, and vegetables. It’s meditation, she said. Everyone needs to spend some time in nature. Miriam couldn’t agree more. Most kids her age spent their time gawking at a smartphone. Not her. Her mother hadn’t even bought her one. It was a distraction. A waste of time.

  She was far too controlling.

  As Miriam came up the driveway, Hazel’s dog Jasper, a huge golden retriever, came barreling out, all full of beans and moxie. “Hey, Jasper.” She swung herself off the bike, and let it drop on the ground before getting down and embracing the huge mass of fur. “Whoa, slow down.”

  “Jasper. C’mon. Give her some space, you crazy dog.” Hazel stepped out of the house, wiping her hands on a towel. She was the spitting image of her mother. Twins. Though she’d purposely dyed her hair and kept it short to avoid being mistaken for Martha.

  Miriam shrugged off her backpack. “Brought you some eggs.”

  “Come on in, sweetheart.”

  She glanced back toward the road, expecting to see the Stricklands, but it was empty. Hazel noticed. “You didn’t have any trouble, did you?” she asked, holding the storm door open.

  “Oh, you know how they are.”

  Did Hazel know about the death of the three brothers?

  Inside it was warm and inviting. Runners covered rosewood flooring, lush green plants were dotted in every corner of the house, and the smell of baked goods dominated.

  “Lilly and Kelly in?” Miriam asked.

  “Out with their father. You want a drink?”

  “Sure,” she said. She unzipped her backpack and took out the eggs. “You know you really should think about having your own chicken coop.”

  “Too much hassle. Besides, that’s what family is for,” Hazel said with a wink as she collected a canned soft drink and handed it to her. Miriam rubbed Jasper’s jowls and buried her face in his fur as he sat beside her, waiting for one of the homemade cookies that Hazel had set before her.

  “Come on, Jasper. Leave her alone. You’ve had your fill for the day.”

  Hazel tossed a dish towel over her shoulder. “How’s your mother?”

  “Good,” she said with her mouth full. “She’s a little high strung these days, but that’s not any different than usual.” She got up with her can and walked over to the window. “Have the police been around here?”

  “They’ve dropped by. Just to let us know they are patrolling. There’s been an increase since that break-in at the grocery store. I gather that was your brothers?”

  Miriam shot a glance her way. “At her request.”

  Hazel shook her head. “She’ll be the death of you all.” Hazel had always been against the feuding. Although Miriam’s parents had instilled an us-against-them mentality in their kids, her mother had failed to do that with her own sister. Hazel was all about change. Being a better person. Trying to break the mold so that everyone could live in peace. Miriam respected that but she had to wonder if she was being a little short-sighted.

  “Have you thought more about coming up to the farm? There’s plenty of room.”

  “I appreciate that honey, but we’ll be fine here.”

  “We can’t protect you down here.”

  “That’s your mother speaking, Miriam. Not you. Remember what I told you. A fear mindset perpetuates fear even if it isn’t true. Don’t allow her to shape your mind. Think for yourself. Never stop asking questions. And never assume you know all the answers. You’re your own person. Make wise choices.”

  She nodded. “I know.”

  Hazel grinned. “You do, do you?” She laughed. “So any word on Colby?”

  “No. I don’t think he’s coming.”

  “He’s smart not to. Learn from him, Miriam. I wish all your brothers were like Colby.”

  “You know about the Strickland three?” Miriam asked.

  “Is that what they’re calling them?” She gave a despondent look and turned to dry a few dishes. “I’ve heard.”

  “I expect there will be some backlash.”

  Miriam chewed on a cookie.

  “How about we don’t discuss it? Okay? While you’re here we don’t need to.”

  Miriam nodded. As she took her plate over to the sink, Hazel caught sight of the Ruger LCR she’d stashed inside the backpack. “What’s that?”

  “What?”

  Hazel pointed.

  “Protection.”

  “From who?”

  “I think you know,” Miriam replied.

  Hazel placed both hands on her shoulders. “You go swinging that around, you’re liable to end up in jail or dead. Neither of which would make me happy. Come on, Miriam. I taught you better than this.”

  “What? I’m old enough. It’s just a gun. I’m not a child.”

  “No, you’re not. But if you want to live to be old enough to see your grandchildren, you’d do best by not getting caught up in your mother’s asinine world. And that means staying clear of trouble.”

  Hazel set the gun on the table, and Miriam placed it in the bag and zipped it up. “I respect your views, Auntie, I always have, but my mother never told me to take it with me. I decided. I know you don’t like all the feuding, but it is what it is, and you’d do well to take it seriously too.”

  She snorted. “You’re telling me now?”

  Miriam knew she’d hit a sore point. She’d stepped over a line.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I think you should head home. Thank your mother for the eggs.”

  She’d pissed her off. It took a lot to get her riled up, and she didn’t think for one minute that Hazel was mad at her. She was angry at her sister.

  Miriam hugged her, told her she loved her, and then headed out.

  Climbing back on her bike, she pedaled away, feeling her aunt’s disapproving eyes boring holes into her back. She rode down to where the street forked, and stopped, considering heading th
e long way home instead of passing the Stricklands again.

  The long way would take her up through Alderpoint, a lonely stretch of road. If anything happened along the way, no one would hear her cries. Instead, she opted to go back the way she came. At least there she knew cops were patrolling. As soon as she was behind her aunt’s home, it would be a clear shot up into the hills.

  Ten minutes tops and she would be out of Garberville. She adjusted her backpack, tightened it, and lowered her head to the breeze as she made her way out.

  Passing the Strickland home, she was relieved to see the group was no longer outside.

  Miriam made it out of Arthur Road, crossed Alderpoint Road, and veered off onto Timber Lane, a short dirt road that would take her through the woodland. She hadn’t made it but a few yards when the sound of a truck’s engine roared behind. A nervous glance over her shoulder revealed an old 1970s 4 x 4 barreling toward her.

  She couldn’t see the driver, but with all the hooting and hollering they were doing, it was clear who they were.

  The Stricklands.

  She picked up the pace, pedaling as fast as she could.

  There was nowhere to go except forward or back. Her heart pounded in her chest as she swerved around giant potholes. If she could just get to the end of the dirt road, they wouldn’t be able to…

  The bumper hit her rear tire, and the next thing she knew, she was forced into a large pothole. The front end slammed hard against the rim, and she was thrown over the handlebars, landing hard in the ditch.

  NINE

  Colby

  Merced County

  The fifteen-year-old was every bit as rambunctious as she appeared.

  Colby had pulled her inside an unlocked mobile home and sat her down so she wouldn’t run. He wanted answers. She kept eyeing the door as she explained. He learned that when she said the residents were gone, she meant that the residents of Santa Nella had been transferred to Los Banos under an evacuation order. The city was located twelve miles east, a sprawling community of forty thousand people.

  “It’s where they always go when there are forest fires. They have a hospital there. We have nothing here.” She was right. Santa Nella was a pit stop along the main highway, a growing community that was still lacking in amenities. “All we have is a fire station, the elementary school, a liquor store, the market, and a few fast-food joints. The place sucks, and I had every intention of getting out until…” she trailed off, looking more angry than sad.

  Colby looked out the window.

  It was quiet.

  “Why are you still here?” he asked.

  “My sister. Those assholes took her.”

  Colby frowned. “The men I shot?”

  She nodded.

  “And your parents?”

  “They stayed behind, a few other families did, but I think they’re gone now.”

  He nodded. “Can’t be easy being here alone.”

  She shrugged.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Eva. Eva Nixon.”

  “And so where’s your sister, Eva?”

  She pointed east. “The hotel. That’s where he holds them.”

  “He?”

  “Spider. Yeah. He took a few women from here, folks who stayed behind. That’s why I cut my hair, and found these boy’s clothes in my neighbor’s home, figured I might be able to slip by them.”

  “Why haven’t you gone to the police?”

  She laughed. “The police are too busy dealing with the larger cities to care about this place. We’re a speck on the map. That’s why they evacuated people to Los Banos. They don’t want to be running back and forth.”

  “Come on. You’re telling me this guy is using a hotel to run some kind of trafficking business? Please. They wouldn’t allow that.”

  “Who wouldn’t? Look around you. You see anyone else here?”

  “The police.”

  “Speak to them. They’re in Los Banos. Not here. That asshole didn’t move women to that hotel until everyone had evacuated.”

  There was a break in the conversation. It made sense. No one around. No reason to return. Little to no transportation. A guy like Bill could run quite a lucrative enterprise. The question was what was he gaining from this?

  Colby had to see this for himself. Sure, Jeb had told him that Bill had got mixed up in the trafficking business. But there had to be more to this. No one in their right mind would take these kinds of risks eleven days into a disaster. Police were still out there. They might not have been patrolling this community but someone would speak out, someone would say something. No amount of lawlessness would stop the cops from putting a dent in a trafficking organization.

  “Slip by them. You said you plan to slip by them?”

  “Yeah. To get her back.”

  “Come on, Eva, you’re just a kid.”

  “And?”

  Colby shook his head and looked out. The streets were empty. “How many women are in that hotel?”

  “How the hell would I know?”

  “You’ve been spying on them, haven’t you?”

  “Yeah, but they don’t hang around outside. They have guys patrolling.”

  “So how did you intend to… slip by them?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I was biding my time. Waiting for the right moment.”

  He snorted. “Uh-huh? And these other families that stayed. You know them?”

  “Like I said, I think they’re gone now.” She paused. “There is one guy at the far end of town who used to work at the hotel but he’s a loon. You don’t want to go anywhere near him. The guy is off his meds. Anyway, who cares. Who are you? Where are you from, and are you in the habit of kidnapping fifteen-year-old girls? What do you plan to do to me?”

  “I…”

  “Oh so I have to answer twenty questions but you don’t?”

  He chuckled. “I’m not going to harm you. Have you seen me before?”

  “No.”

  “What about a woman and a dog?”

  She narrowed her eyes, looking as if she was mulling over the question.

  “I might have. What’s it to you?”

  “I wish I knew.” Colby took a deep breath. “All right. How about you show me where this guy lives?”

  “The loon?”

  He nodded. She immediately threw up her hands. “Hell no. You don’t want to go over there. There’s a reason why he’s still here and everyone else has left.”

  “Except you.”

  Her features twisted.

  “Just show me.”

  She threw up a finger and jabbed it at him. “All right. But I warned you.”

  They exited the mobile home and he followed her south on Comet Road. The street took them beyond low-budget mobile homes into cookie-cutter neighborhoods. “Did you go to that school?” he asked as they got closer to the elementary. She didn’t answer.

  They continued past empty houses. It was odd. The whole town had an eerie feeling to it. Like a forgotten world or a test site for a nuclear device.

  Colby contemplated what Jeb had said about Spider — that he’d gotten caught up in the sex trafficking industry and had been using hotels to pimp out girls online. The whole thing made him sick to his stomach. One look at the kid ahead and he couldn’t imagine why anyone would do it. Where was their empathy? It couldn’t have all been about money. No one could want money that bad. Or maybe that wasn’t what they were being used for. In the back of his mind, a memory stirred from the muck of amnesia.

  Young people trimming marijuana.

  Why am I seeing this?

  “So why do you want to see this guy?” Eva asked.

  “I was here four days ago. I was told I broke down but I don’t remember that. I figure he might know something. I figure he might be able to help.”

  “With what?”

  “What do you know about the house north of here? A single two-story.”

  “Oh… those two crazy fuckers? I dodged the bullet with them a
few days after the evacuation. Tried luring me in with food. Yeah, I saw through that ruse. They don’t live there. The owner of that house was Terri Jones. She was shot in a home invasion in the first week. All I know is they have something to do with that hotel. I’ve seen them coming and going from it.”

  “Did this Terri have a granddaughter?”

  “No. She worked for the school. No kids.”

  Colby squeezed his eyes shut. No wonder that goth girl had said nothing. She was more frightened of what they’d do to her than of him. Now he had to wonder what else they’d lied about. What had happened that night he was picked up? And what were those guys talking about — a woman and a dog. Who were they?

  “Oh shit,” she said. As they made their way down Luis Avenue, Eva quickly darted sideways and climbed over a fence, dropping down behind it.

  He followed, assuming she’d taken a wrong turn.

  She hadn’t.

  “Eva. What the…?”

  She put a finger up to her mouth as an old truck came rumbling around the corner. “They patrol the streets every few hours.”

  “Looking for what?”

  “Me of course. I’ve been a thorn in their side since they arrived.” She took out a knife. “I’ve stabbed a few tires, helped one girl escape by creating a distraction.” She looked at him as if expecting a pat on the back. As soon as the truck was gone, they climbed over and continued.

  “So how come they haven’t bothered this guy?”

  “They have. You’ll see.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Hector. He’s missing a few screws, that’s for sure.”

  Hector’s home was one of two located in a developing cul-de-sac on the southwest side of town. It was surrounded by desert plains. Nothing more than wiry California shrubs and undulating landscape. There was construction machinery nearby, and piles of dirt where they were building new homes. All of it had been abandoned. The closer he got to the house, the more Colby could tell it was unlike any others he’d seen. It wasn’t so much the house was different as it was its surroundings.