All The Broken People (The Dread Series Book 2)

by Jonathan Yanez

  PJ gave Taylor’s group one last skeptical look. “All right, but you have to leave your weapons in the cars.”

  “Done,” Taylor said, before Jason or Lu could argue.

  ***

  The party was a mismatched bunch of survivors from all ages and walks of life. Taylor led the way with PJ, Susan, and Cidney. Frank, Melissa, Lu, and the captain moved in the middle of the pack with the other members of PJ’s group, while Jason brought up the rear.

  The terrain was something out of a nightmare. Black shells of trees remained scarred and broken. The sky was clear of any smoke, however, their feet kicked up soot and ash into the air with every step. The sun’s rays were extinguishing again, although that didn’t seem to bother PJ and the rest of the kids.

  “So you’re like a superhero or something?” Susan asked. The rifle slung over the young girl’s shoulder was almost comical, the barrel extending over her head and the stock of the gun nearly touched the ground.

  “I wish I knew,” Taylor said, tempted at that moment to try her telekinetic gift on a tree branch or bush. She was itching to see if her lapse in power was temporary. The pain in her body had subsided, now questions were left in its wake. Thinking the use of more abilities would only frighten their companions, she refrained.

  “I think she’s like a superhero,” Cidney said. “You said there was someone else who passed by here with abilities too?”

  PJ and Susan shared a look.

  “It’s okay,” Taylor coaxed with her best attempt at a smile. “You can tell us. Was he the one that set the fire?”

  “He wasn’t like you guys at all,” PJ said with a furrowed brow. “He was one of them. He moved through here with an army of Dread. They set fire to the woods for no reason. We hid but when the fire started we couldn’t do anything.”

  “It was horrible,” Susan said, grimacing as she remembered the past. “The heat, smoke, it was like we were living in Hell.”

  “The fires burned out and we were able to keep our home. I’ll never forget the blackness that came out of his hands,” PJ said with a shudder.

  “Blackness?” Taylor echoed.

  “Yeah,” PJ said, his expression turning from fear to embarrassment. “That’s what I thought you were going to do with your hand when I—I shot you. He had these inky black tendril things that moved from his palms.”

  Taylor thought about what it could mean. The only thing she could come up with was that he was another lieutenant in the Dread army.

  “His name is Liberty Echo,” Lu said. “He’s one of the Dread’s lieutenants, maybe something more.”

  How long Lu was there listening disturbed Taylor. Not that she had anything to hide, but the idea that someone could sneak up on her so easily was unsettling. Lu wasn’t an ordinary human. Still she made a mental note to be more aware of her surroundings.

  “What do you mean?” Taylor asked Lu.

  Lu shrugged his large shoulders. “I wish I knew more. When I left I started in New York and worked my way across the upper part of the United States. I ran across an outpost in St. Paul, and another in Helena he had been through. I found a handful of survivors at each that called him Liberty Echo. The stories were the same. Each location was a haven for humans. Fortified structures, like the Ark. They both fell when he arrived.”

  The group grew silent as Lu’s words died in a cold wind.

  “Do you think there’s hope?” Susan asked, first turning to PJ, then Taylor for answers. “We need hope. My mom said we would always have it, I’m not so sure anymore, things keep getting worse and worse.”

  “We’ll be all right,” PJ said, slinging an arm around the girl in a protective manner. “We have each other. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”

  Soon the party met a welcome change in scenery. The burned brush gave way to a stream that had marked the end to the fire’s reign. On the other end of the churning water was the same lush green Taylor had grown accustomed to seeing.

  PJ led the group, wading across the icy water. The stream wasn’t deep but it was wide. Taylor clenched her teeth together as she entered the liquid’s cold embrace. The water was deep enough to crest the tops of her combat boots and soak her socks.

  She thought she heard another low growl from Lu as they exited the frosty water.

  A few minutes later PJ stopped, “We’re here. Home sweet home.”

  It was dark enough now that Taylor had to squint through the gloom to see what he was talking about. The group had come to a spot where two thick trees grew on either side of a large rock.

  “Is this kid on drugs?” Frank asked, joining Taylor at the front of the group. “That’s a rock.”

  “Look closer,” Lu said, his eyes practically glowing in the light from the clear sky’s moon and stars.

  Taylor leaned forward taking a closer look. Sure enough Lu was right. To any passerby the rough gray exterior of the cave would have looked like a solid rock wall. Only when someone was looking directly at the spot could you see depth to the cave entrance.

  “Felicia,” a voice challenged from the cave entrance.

  “Sullivan,” PJ called back.

  A moment later a scrawny looking boy came into the moonlight. His face was covered in dirt like some kind of crazy war paint. He lifted his weapon, a handgun, in a salute. His eyes grew wide when he took in the group of strangers. “Hey, PJ, who’re they?”

  “Friends,” PJ said, looking at Taylor with a hint of a smile. “They’re friends.”

  Chapter 8

  The cave was deeper than Taylor would have guessed. It sloped down and gave way to a wide room filled with stalactites and stalagmites, providing the chamber with the appearance of a gigantic creature’s maw.

  A fire burned in the center of the room, smoke rising in wispy curls that disappeared into small openings in the cave ceiling.

  All in all, the youths had chosen a secure place to make their home. Blankets and sleeping bags were spread on one side of the room where a handful of children too small to be on their own examined Taylor with untrusting eyes.

  “How many of you are there?” Taylor asked PJ.

  “Fourteen,” PJ said, the shadow of sadness drifting past his eyes. “There used to be more.”

  Taylor’s heart fell in her chest. She couldn’t imagine what these kids had been through. Every one of them was malnourished, filthy, and tired. “Let’s open up that food shall we?”

  The captain and Frank lowered the rucksacks of canned goods to the children’s delight.

  “Easy, easy,” Cidney rebuked as they scrambled toward the ground where the cans had been emptied from their bags like candy from a piñata. “There’s enough for everyone.”

  Taylor’s own stomach was starting to ache from lack of food, though instead of giving into her desires she removed herself from the chaos to stand by the cave entrance. Cidney, Melissa, and even Frank were helping the younger children open the canned goods. There by the light of the fire Taylor couldn’t help but think, This is how the world should be, the older helping the younger, those with something giving a hand to those who’ve lost everything.

  By no means did she believe in giving free handouts to those who could help themselves, however, the world had changed. Not only were these kids, but anyone in this post-apocalyptic world ruled by the Dread who needed help should have somewhere to turn.

  “So I guess lifting things with your mind is out of the question and bulletproof skin took its place,” Jason said joining her. “Just when we thought we’d figured out your powers.”

  “I guess so,” Taylor said, looking down at her leather jacket where PJ’s bullet had punctured her clothes. “How about you? You seem to be doing better. You’re talking less crazy now and at normal speed instead of like a crack addict.”

  “Yeah I guess I am.” Jason grinned and scratched the top of his head. “I feel great. You were right by the way.”

  “Right about what?”

  “About helping these
kids,” Jason said. He motioned with his chin to the smiling faces and laughter that came in the wake of full mouths and delighted taste buds. “Do you think we’ll ever get back to anything resembling a normal life again?”

  “I don’t know,” Taylor said. “I think we might have to redefine ‘normal’.”

  “Times were easier before,” Jason said. He looked into the glowing fire that painted the walls of the cave in dancing shadows. “When I was your Operator and you were my Cleaner, I mean. That was a time I took for granted.”

  “What?” Taylor said. “You can’t tell me you actually liked being voices on the ends of calls, cleaning up Lazarus Pharmaceutical’s messes?”

  Jason shrugged. “I liked it better than this. You were the best Cleaner there was. You’re an even better person, maybe the best person I know.”

  Taylor wasn’t sure how to respond, so she didn’t. The two stood staring at each other for a moment.

  “Hey, if you guys want to grab something I think the feeding frenzy is beginning to die down,” Melissa said.

  “Yeah, I’m coming,” Jason said. “You want anything?” he asked Taylor.

  “I’ll be there in a second,” she replied.

  Jason gave her a smile before joining Melissa and the others at the fire.

  “Boy Scout smells wrong,” Lu said from the mouth of the cave entrance.

  Taylor spun around, angered that once again she had failed to notice his presence. “Do all Elite humans have the tendency to sneak up and eavesdrop on private conversations?”

  “I don’t know.” Lu moved to stand beside Taylor. “I do know that if we’re going to have a shot at surviving we need you to figure out what’s going on with your abilities.”

  “You too, huh?” Taylor said. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

  “We’re traveling to a place called the Vault, where the Reckoners sold a large group of human slaves to the Dread to build something we can only guess is diabolical. You’re going to have to do better than ‘I don’t know’, Glowey.”

  “Glowey?” Taylor said, surprised to find herself amused by Lu’s latest nickname for her. “Where did that come from?”

  “I saw your hands when you got out of the SUV and tried to move those trees. They glowed a dull white. I think maybe your powers are evolving like the Dreads’.”

  “The bulletproof skin would make sense,” Taylor said, shaking her head even as the words left her mouth.

  “What?” Lu asked.

  “In what world does someone say ‘bulletproof skin’ and ‘make sense’ in the same sentence? This is getting out of control.”

  “The world’s already twisted out of control,” Lu said. He motioned for Taylor to follow him outside the cave. “It’s up to us to be the hammers needed to bend it back in shape.”

  ***

  “So what happened?” Lu asked again. The two had walked a few yards from the cave entrance alone with the chill in the night, a half moon, and an armada of stars overhead. “I need more to work with here.”

  “I had a killer headache that ramped up during the day. Then my body felt like I got hit by a truck,” Taylor said, pulling her jacket around her tight against the chill. “You saw the rest. I tried to lift things with my mind like I’ve been doing for the last year and a half. There was nothing besides that faint glow on my hands.”

  “And the fact that we think you have impenetrable skin,” Lu said. He leaned down to pick up a baseball sized rock.

  “You think I have impenetrable skin? It could have been a one off fluke. Stranger things have happened.”

  Without warning Lu threw the stone at Taylor.

  His act was so unexpected, the rock flew through the air so fast, that Taylor didn’t have a chance to react. The stone struck her in the chest. On impact it shattered into a hundred different pieces.

  Taylor stood with her mouth open. Although she hadn’t felt so much as a twinge of pain from the stone, she was beside herself with indignation. “What are you thinking!? What if it had actually hurt me, you idiot!”

  “I was willing to take that chance,” Lu said with a grin. “Once you calm down you’ll see that at least we have more information now. You’re immune to gunfire, flying objects and…” He shook his head. “The lord of the flies and his gang made me leave my saber with the rest of the weapons in the SUV. Tomorrow we’ll see if you’re immune to blades as well.”

  Taylor’s temper was still raging. “Of all the stupid things, I should be able to throw a rock at you and see how you do.”

  “I’ll do you a solid and let you try that white hand thing at me instead,” Lu said. He squared his stance, pointing to the center of his chest. “Right here, come on you can’t hurt me. My advanced healing abilities will practically bring me back from the dead.”

  “Has anyone ever told you that you’re cocky and not easy to get along with?” Taylor asked, her hands on her hips. “I’m not using you as a target, as tempting as that may sound. I’m not trying to do whatever is I can do now, it could be dangerous.”

  “Give me a break, Glow. It would take you and a Dread army to take me out.”

  “I told you, my name is Taylor!” She extended a hand out on instinct out of anger. Out of her extended palm an orb of white energy appeared. The force shot forward in a bright stream of light, striking Lu in the sternum. It exploded on impact and sent him reeling into the dark woods.

  Taylor’s jaw dropped as she brought back her smoking hand. No pain had come with the action. The bright light that had shot forward vanished and made her wonder if she had imagined the whole thing. Taylor looked from her palm to the woods where Lu was launched.

  Worry lacing every stride she ran forward in the general direction Lu’s trajectory took him.

  “Lu? Lu?” Taylor called with worry, squinting through the darkness in search of the Elite human. “Lu, are you all right? Where are you?”

  Barely enough light shone through the dense foliage for Taylor to see a clump of bushes rustle. A hand shot up from the brush.

  “I’m okay,” he said. Soon his head and the rest of his body appeared. “I’m going to need another shirt and a reminder not to piss you off again, Glow.”

  The relief at finding Lu alive turned to ash in Taylor’s mouth. He stood from the bushes on unsteady feet. Like something out of a nightmare he stalked forward from the shadows into the light the moon provided. From the top of his chest to his belt line he was a mess of red blood, bones, and what Taylor guessed were his intestines.

  The gore was something she could handle; the fact Lu was standing and only slightly wincing was something her mind was struggling to grasp.

  “Give me a sec,” Lu said, holding up a hand. “I’ll be fine.”

  She was about to offer help but the words caught in her mouth as she witnessed the impossible. As if some hyperactive sower was stitching him back together, Lu’s skin began to fold back in place. Intestines withdrew into his body, even bone regrew, forming his ribcage. A thin, shiny pink layer of skin topped off the impossible. It all happened so fast Taylor was wondering if she had witnessed it at all.

  Lu let out a big breath of air. “It’s not painless, but after a few thousand times I’ve gotten used to bearing the suck.”

  “I—I’m so sorry.” Taylor managed to shake herself from her shock long enough to form an apology. “I didn’t mean to vaporize your torso. I don’t know how I did it at all. I’m sorry, I could have killed you.”

  “Unlikely,” Lu said, running a hand over his bare chest as he made sure everything had settled back in place. “Stop apologizing. I was trying to get you to use your new abilities. As for how you got them and what they are, I can make a guess.”

  Taylor stopped looking at Lu’s chest and met his eyes. “You know? How?”

  “I said I could guess. Hey, eyes up here,” Lu said when Taylor’s focal point migrated to his chest once again.

  “Sorry, it’s still so crazy to see human tissue regenerate at that
level.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure that’s what it is,” Lu said with a raised eyebrow.

  “What, you think I want to see you with your shirt off?” Taylor laughed. “Pump the brakes, Romeo. Let’s move from imagination land and get back to your theory on my evolving powers.”

  “Whatever you say, Glow Stick. A bullet nicked you when we encountered the Reckoners. Your telekinetic ability was enough to shield you and your friends at the beginning of the fight, however, you couldn’t mount an offensive at the same time. I think this is your body’s way of learning and evolving past that.”

  Taylor took a long minute to think on Lu’s words. She made a mental effort to look him in the eyes and not stare at his torso. “You know what, you’re not as rabid as you look. You might be on to something.”

  “Oh thanks,” Lu said, rolling his eyes.

  “I can’t move things with my mind anymore. Does that mean when I gained these abilities I lost some as well?” Taylor thought out loud.

  “Well, it doesn’t seem like your old abilities are working but—”

  “Hey, what are you guys doing out here,” Cidney said, exiting the cave entrance. Her eyes widened when she saw Lu without his shirt and the new pink skin still growing. “Why are you getting naked? And why do you have baby skin?”

  “Well that’s an interesting story,” Lu said, giving Taylor a mischievous sideways glance. “You see, little one, when a girl likes a guy—”

  “That’s enough,” Taylor said, staring daggers at Lu. “We were going over the game plan for tonight and what we plan on doing tomorrow,” she said to Cidney.

  “Oh, really,” Cidney said, glancing behind her at the empty cave entrance. “Are we taking PJ and the other kids with us to the Vault?”

  And there it was, spoken out in the open, the question Taylor had been wrestling with since she saw the children’s dilapidated state. While she knew she had to do something, taking the band of kids with them into what was a dangerous situation at best didn’t seem like a choice at all.

  “We’ll have to figure that out in the morning, Cid. Let’s get some sleep.”