“They just fired in the air,” the soldier told him. “The assholes were just playing with you.”
“No,” Blackstone shook his head and stood upright, “they ain’t playing.”
He pulled out his phone and dialed Mayor Russo.
*
Richard roused from sleep and opened his eyes. He flinched in fright at the sight of someone standing over him. As his eyes grew accustomed to the dim light, he made out the shape of a rifle over someone’s shoulder and peered at the face to see it was Josh.
Abbie stirred at Richard’s flinching, but didn’t awake. Her head lay on Richard’s chest, her arm across his waist, her warm body against his. His own arm was draped around her shoulders, holding her to him. It’s how they’d fallen asleep after talking, after he’d comforted her. Leaning back against him, she’d fallen asleep, and Richard, tired also, had slowly brought his legs up onto the couch and gently brought her down to lie alongside him.
Josh’s eyes appraised them both, lying together on the couch like that. Richard studied him, trying to read his face, trying to gauge what was going on in his mind; wondering if Josh and Abbie were together or whether this guy just wished they were.
Josh’s face was hard, his eyes even harder.
“She was scared,” Richard whispered quietly, not wanting to wake Abbie. “Your friends threatened her,” he said accusingly, unable to stop his own face from hardening.
Josh didn’t respond, he just eyed the two of them lying together. His face was angry, his eyes hurt. He gave Richard a cold look, then turned to leave.
“Josh!” Richard whispered after him.
The young man swiftly swung back and pointed the rifle in Richard’s face, the barrel a fraction of an inch away.
“Don’t talk to me,” he hissed quietly, then pressed the barrel hard into Richard’s cheek. “You stay away from me, Clean Skin.”
Richard’s heart pounded in his chest as he watched Josh walk out the door, slamming it shut behind him. Abbie jolted awake, her hand grabbing onto Richard’s side, making his body flinch.
“What? What is it?” Abbie asked groggily.
“It’s okay,” Richard told her, sliding his hand onto her forearm. “It must be the wind or something.”
Abbie took in the sight of them lying together, then looked into Richard’s face. She awkwardly pushed herself up and away from him.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.
“Don’t be,” he said, dropping his legs to the ground and sitting up. “I needed the company too,” he smiled. Where she sat, the streetlights shining in around the curtains illuminated her face in a soft glow. The half-light shadows hid her welt and he could tell what she would look like without it.
Beautiful. Just as she was with the welt.
She stared back at him for a moment, then said, “Thank you. For being there, for listening.”
“You can only bottle it up for so long, Abbie,” he told her. “You’ve been so brave for everyone else’s sake, soldiering on, it’s time someone was there for you.”
She looked down at her lap briefly. “You’re going to make me cry again.”
“Sorry,” he said softly.
Her face broke into a beautiful, rather sad, smile. Then she reached out from the shadows and slid her hand onto his. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He curled his fingers around hers, gripping them reassuringly. “Any time.”
She gave his hand a squeeze, offered one last smile, then rose and disappeared upstairs to her bedroom. Richard watched her go, exhaling and running his hand through his hair. He felt strange inside. Torn. Developing feelings for Abbie wasn’t something he’d planned on. But the truth was, he could’ve lain there with her all night. Something just felt so comfortable, so right about it. And as much as she’d needed someone, the truth was, he’d needed someone too.
Was he falling for his muse because of this phenomenon? Was he just falling for the person who embodied the hope he held for the future? Or was he falling for her. He pictured Josh standing over them with his rifle, and his face hardened a little at the thought of what he and his friends might do.
He heard the stairs creak and looked up to see Dr. Pellan descend. Richard looked at him questioningly.
“Kaitlyn was scared. She couldn’t sleep,” he explained. “I stayed in her room until she did. I guess I fell asleep as well.”
“Same here,” Richard said, eyeing the empty couch. He stood and moved over to the basement door. “After you,” he gestured to Dr. Pellan. The doctor smiled and disappeared through the door. Richard took one last look around the house, moved over to lock the front door, then followed Pellan down into the basement.
*
Deputy Leo Cann spat more blood on the ground. Austin had a mean right hook.
“C’mon, Leo,” Roy said, standing behind Austin. “I know you know more than you’re letting on.”
Leo looked up at him, face bleeding, cheeks swollen, jaw hurting.
“What plans does the chief have?” Roy asked. “He must’ve discussed possible tactics with you if things turned to shit. How many military they got on standby?”
Leo spat again. “You starting to realize you’re out of your depth, Roy?”
Austin looked at Roy, who gave a nod of approval. Austin swung another crunching punch at Leo’s face. The pain radiated out over the whole side of his face, sending blood splattering across the floor. Leo groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take.
But he’d try, praying that Earl would get him out of there soon.
*
Abbie sat up in bed at the sound of a loud banging on her front door. She looked out the window and saw Austin standing there. Langdon and Trent were further back on the lawn, scanning the street. He banged again then stood back and spotted her at the window.
“Let me in!” he shouted a whisper. “It’s Josh!”
Abbie’s breath caught. She threw back the sheets, pulled on a jacket and exited her room.
“Who is it?” Kaitlyn asked.
“Go back in your room. Stay there!” she said, pushing Kaitlyn back and closing the door. She ran down the stairs as Austin banged again. “I’m coming!” she called out, reaching the bottom of the stairs.
“Abbie!” Richard whispered, peering out through a crack in basement door.
She quickly moved over and pushed him back too. “Get inside! It’s Austin! Be quiet!”
“Abbie!” he tried to argue, but she closed the door on him and locked it.
She moved over to the front door and opened it. Austin barged in, splatters of blood on his pale-blue T-shirt.
“Where’s Josh?” she blurted, eyeing the mess on Austin. “What happened to him?”
Langdon and Trent followed Austin in, eyes darting around, casing the place out.
“Where is she?” Austin demanded.
Abbie froze.
“Upstairs,” he ordered the other two. “Go!”
“No!” Abbie stepped forward to stop them, but Austin grabbed her and held her back. She watched in horror as an armed Langdon and Trent ran up the stairs.
“Austin, no!” she begged, trying to pull away from him. “Don’t do this!”
Josh burst through the door then, puffing and sweating like he’d been running to catch up. “Austin! What are you doing?”
“We need more leverage!” Austin spat back at him, as Kaitlyn’s screams rang out from the second floor.
“If you hurt her, they’ll kill us!” Josh argued urgently.
“They won’t touch us if we have hostages!” Austin said.
“We’ve already got Deputy Cann, we don’t need another!”
Austin stepped his larger form up to Josh. “Do you have a problem?”
“No, I just—”
“They’re Magnus’ orders!” Austin stabbed his finger into Josh’s chest.
Abb
ie watched in horror as the two men dragged a crying Kaitlyn downstairs, while she held a screaming Charlie in her arms. Abbie tried to move toward them, but Austin caught her by the hair and pulled her back.
“Stop it! Leave her alone!” she yelled, struggling to free herself, but was cut short as a crack of pain spread across her cheek and suddenly found herself on the floor.
“Hey!” Josh shouted, moving toward them.
“Whose side are you on?” Austin yelled, throwing Josh back against the wall. “We need this Clean Skin for leverage! Cann is striped, he ain’t worth shit, but she is! They won’t risk her!”
Abbie, still on the floor, cheek throbbing, watched Kaitlyn struggling with the two men as she begged them to let her go. “Please! Don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt me! Please!”
“Shut her up!” Austin yelled, and Langdon punched her hard in the face. Kaitlyn fell limp, smacking her head on the banister on her way down to the floor. Abbie held her breath and watched in horror as Charlie fell from her arms. Thankfully, Trent scooped him up before he hit the ground. Then she watched as Langdon grabbed Kaitlyn and threw her over his shoulder.
“Let’s leave the kid here!” Trent said, putting Charlie on the ground.
“No!” Austin said. “He may be striped, but he’s still a kid, and the military don’t like shooting kids!”
Trent gave a nod and picked Charlie up again.
“Get out of here!” Austin ordered and his two accomplices made their way out the front door. Austin then grabbed Josh’s shirt in his fist. “Are you with us or against us?”
“I’m with you,” he said, although Abbie could hear the terror in his voice, and saw his chest rising and falling rapidly.
“Good!” Austin exited the house and Josh looked at Abbie. She pulled herself up off the floor, as they heard her neighbor’s voice berating the intruders.
“Stop! What are you doing? Put her down!”
Josh and Abbie raced through the front door to see Shonda-May standing on her front lawn, phone in one hand and baseball bat in the other, as some of their other neighbors’ lights flickered on at the sounds breaking the night.
“Put her down or I’ll call the cops!” Shonda-May said again. Abbie’s heart lifted.
Austin raised his gun, but Abbie ran out with her hands in the air. “No! No! No!”
“Mommy?” Shonda-May’s little boy came running out of the house. Shonda-May’s dark face turned pale. “Cassius, no! Back inside!”
“He’s a Clean Skin!” Trent said, pointing.
“Well, well,” Austin grinned. “Look at that, more leverage.”
“Cassius, inside. Now!” Shonda-May scolded.
“Don’t move!” Austin held his gun on her, reaching out and grabbing Charlie from Trent with the other. “Get him!” He motioned for Trent to move, and he did so, marching over to grab the little boy.
“Oh, no!” Shonda-May’s eyes flew wide. She swung the bat at Trent and they began to scuffle. Abbie tried to rush to her aid, but Josh held her back.
“No!” she struggled against him. “Austin, don’t do this! They’re innocent! They never hurt anyone!”
Trent managed to disarm Shonda-May, but she continued to fight, clawing at him and smacking him with the phone, but he swiftly cracked her over the head with his gun and Shonda-May fell to the ground in a heap, unconscious.
“Let’s go! Quick!” Austin whispered, running off into the darkness with a shrieking Charlie. His two accomplices followed, Langdon carrying an unconscious Kaitlyn and Trent carrying a screaming Cassius, who was calling for his mother.
“NO!” Abbie screamed, trying to free herself of Josh’s hold. He stood behind her, arms tightly wrapped around her, but he didn’t let her go. More lights flicked on in the street.
“Abbie, stop it!” Josh begged, cheek pressed against hers, mouth to her ear. “They’ll kill you!”
Abbie landed an elbow into Josh’s ribs. He groaned and let her go and she scrambled to her feet. “We have to stop them!”
“What are you going to do?” he yelled at her. “They’re heavily armed, Abbie! What are you going to do?”
They both stopped as they saw the porch of Josh’s home light up. They looked across the street and saw Peter’s shadow through the screen door.
Josh raised his hands to his head, pulling at his hair. His eyes were panicked. “I have to get my mother out of here,” he whispered.
The sound of banging from inside her house caught their attention then. Someone was trying desperately to break through the basement door.
*
Richard rammed the door with his shoulder, groaning at the pain it sent through his arm.
“Abbie!” he called desperately. He no longer heard the voices of Austin and his friends, or the screaming of children, and Kaitlyn’s screaming had stopped earlier. Richard’s heart pounded like nothing he’d felt before, trapped in the basement, unable to do anything to help.
“I’m sorry,” Dr. Pellan said, stepping back from him. “There was nothing we could have done. They would have killed us.” Dr. Pellan had stopped Richard from trying to break out of the basement. The doctor, stronger than he looked, had thrown his hand over Richard’s mouth and pulled him back from the door. Richard fought at first, but Pellan’s whispers had somehow broken through to his common sense.
“It’s no good,” he’d begged. “They will kill us. We can’t help them like this. As soon as we walk out that door they will shoot us like dogs!”
They heard the basement door unlock. It opened and Abbie stood there, distraught, her cheek swollen and pink.
“They took Kaitlyn and Charlie,” she said, shivering with shock. “They took the neighbor’s little boy too. He was a Clean Skin as well.”
Richard latched onto her arms, moving them out into the living room. “Where did they take them?”
“The hardware store, I think.”
Dr. Pellan emerged behind them, his hand held out placatingly. “They were going to use them as leverage. We heard. It’s okay, that means they will be safe for the moment. They need them alive.”
Richard held his hand up to Abbie’s swollen cheek. “Are you okay?”
“Shonda-May!” she suddenly said, turning for the door. “She’s unconscious.”
They turned to see Josh carrying the woman inside. He placed her on the couch, then threw Richard a savage look as Abbie moved to her neighbor’s aid.
“Did you know they were coming here?” Richard asked Josh accusingly.
“If I did, I would’ve told them about you,” Josh said through his tight jaw.
“Josh!” Abbie looked at him shocked.
He threw her a dark look, then moved for the door. Abbie went after him.
“What are you going to do? You’re not going back there?”
“No,” he shook his head hopelessly. “The chief came to speak with Magnus and Roy. He knows they have Deputy Cann. It was their last chance. They’re gonna send in the military now. Magnus sent Austin to get Kaitlyn to hold them back. They have the deputy, but the more hostages they have the better.”
He turned to leave again, but she stopped him. “So what are you going to do?”
Richard saw the serious, tense look Josh gave her. “I’m getting my mother the hell out of here before they come back.”
“Josh, it’s too dangerous!” Abbie latched onto his arm.
“She can’t stay!” he argued, pulling his arm away. “How long do you think it will be before Kaitlyn gives up those two?” He pointed to Richard and Dr. Pellan.
“She would never—” Abbie countered.
“Magnus and Roy will get it out of her! They gave the deputy a beating, trying to get information out of him. Did you see Austin’s shirt? That was the deputy’s blood!” he said. Suddenly a thought seemed to dawn on him. Josh angrily pushed her back against the opened door, his arm scrunching her shirt in his fist. “She knows about my mother, doesn’t
she!”
Richard quickly stepped forward and threw his arms between the two, pushing Josh away from Abbie. Josh threw a punch at him, but he moved so it caught his shoulder.
“Stop it!” Abbie begged, as Richard raised his fists up in defense. He was by no means a fighter, but he’d do it if he had to.
Josh swiftly pulled his gun and aimed it at Richard, but Abbie knocked it away.
“What are you doing?” She pleaded for him to come to his senses.
“I’m telling you, when they find out, they will come back for those two!” Josh said. “If they realize you’ve been hiding them as well, they will punish you, Abbie! And if they realize they can’t trust you, they won’t trust me. I have to get mom out of here before they find her too!”
“How Josh? Between the military and Magnus’ men, how?”
“We’ll go south-west while they’re busy with their hostages. I’ll make sure they get through! Dad’s striped, so he can walk around freely.”
“Don’t do this!”
“Come with me!”
“What?” A furrow crossed Abbie’s brow.
“Ditch them and come with me!” Josh said, leaning closer to her.
Abbie stood, speechless.
Richard exchanged an uneasy look with Dr. Pellan, who stepped forward. “If the military come in, they will end things, Josh,” he said quietly. “We just need to be patient.”
“Not now Magnus has leverage,” Josh said, shaking his head. “This could go on for days.” He looked back at Abbie. “Come with me.”
Abbie glanced at Richard, then at Dr. Pellan, then back at Josh.
“We have to hurry, Abbie!” Josh insisted. “We have to go now!”
She shook her head. “I can’t leave, Josh. What about Kaitlyn, Charlie,” she glanced at Richard and Dr. Pellan, “them?”
“They’re as good as dead, Abbie,” he said desperately. “Come with me! We’ll hide out west.”
“Hide where? We can’t hide from the aliens, Josh,” she said softly. “There’s no hiding from anything any more.”
“We stand a better chance than we do here!”
Abbie shook her head and stepped back from his grasping arms. “I’m sorry, Josh. I can’t just leave Kaitlyn and Charlie to a fate decided by Magnus Bracks. I won’t leave them.”
The Time of the Stripes Page 32