Born and Raised
Page 16
“It ain’t that that I’m worried about.”
“Then what is it?”
“They’re people, Luke. It ain’t the same as killing a deer. They got feelings just like you and me. And what if some of them are women? I can’t kill a woman.”
Luke grabbed his brother by the shoulder. “You listen to me, little brother. These people don’t give a shit about you and me, and if they get the chance they’ll slit our throats wide open and smile while we bleed to death. If you hesitate for one second it’ll be you lying in a puddle of blood instead of them.” He released his grip and Dan lowered his head. “Look,” Luke continued, “I know you’re nervous, and we swore we would never talk about it, but do you remember the moment when we lost Ma and Dad?”
“Luke, we made a pact.”
Luke nodded. “I know, Dan. But this is important, and you have to realize what really happened that day we were trying to leave the city. You were too far ahead to know, but I wasn’t. I saw everything. Ma was lagging behind, and a woman darted out from an alley and grabbed her by the arm. Dad ran back to help, but the woman wouldn’t let go.” Luke stared blankly at the grass. “Ma was staring at me while Dad tried to pull the woman off her. She looked terrified. And then more people started to come and Dad pulled harder, trying to get the woman to release her grip, but the woman held tight.” Luke looked at his brother. “All Dad had to do was pull out his knife and kill the woman, but he couldn’t do it. He hesitated. Just before the people reached them, Ma looked me straight in the eyes and yelled, run.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me the truth?” Dan said. “You said Ma tripped, and when Dad stopped to help her the people came.”
“Would it have been easier to accept if you knew our father was a coward?”
“Dad wasn’t a coward!”
“Oh, really? He had an opportunity to save his wife and family, but he didn’t have the guts to do what needed to be done. You need to understand something, Dan. Deep down inside we’re all just animals, and in a world like this, only the strong survive. If you don’t have the guts to kill when the time comes, you’ll be killed. It’s survival of the fittest, little brother.”
Luke and Dan turned toward the fence when they heard voices in the distance. They saw no one at first, but soon one head appeared over a hill, followed by another, and then another. Eventually, a line of people reached the top of the hill, marching in their direction. When they reached the fence their faces came into focus.
“I’ll be a sonnuvabitch,” Luke said, staring at the face of Thomas Steinberg through his rifle’s scope. “It’s Steinberg leading them.” Luke scanned the people standing next to Steinberg. “And they’re all carrying weapons.”
“They can’t get in, can they, Luke?”
Luke lowered the rifle and faced his brother. “The gate can only be opened from the inside. Steinberg designed it that way so nobody could pick the lock.”
“Then we don’t have anything to worry about, right?”
“Not unless they have a pair of bolt cutters.”
“What are they doing to the fence, Luke?”
Luke raised the rifle and looked through the scope. “Shit! They got bolt cutters!” He dropped to his stomach and aimed the rifle at the crowd. His first target was the guy with the bolt cutters slicing through the fence. He placed the laser’s red dot on the guy’s head and squeezed the trigger. The remaining people, including Thomas Steinberg, dropped to the ground when the guy’s head exploded. Within seconds another guy grabbed the bolt cutters and continued cutting the fence. After Luke dropped him, another took over and managed to finish the job before Luke blew a hole through his chest. The intruders rushed through the opening.
“Come on!” Luke yelled, jumping to his feet. “They’re inside. We gotta get in the house.” Dan ran for the back door of the house with Luke trailing behind.
Just as one of the intruders was about to throw an axe at them, an arrow pierced his eye and he fell to the ground.
From up on the master bedroom balcony, Colton retrieved another arrow from the quiver on his back and loaded it into the bow. It was a swift movement he had obviously performed many times. He dropped another man with an arrow through the jugular vein. As he continued firing into the crowd of intruders, Monica’s eyes opened from inside the bedroom. When she saw Colton on the balcony, she climbed off the bed and walked over to the window. The people in the yard below caught her attention. When she noticed one of them was her husband, she ran from the bedroom and down the stairs.
Dan ran so fast, he left his brother behind. When he entered the house, he saw Monica exiting the front door. “Monica!” he yelled, but she didn’t stop. “Dammit,” he said, and chased after her.
Luke tripped over a tree root trying to catch up to his brother, and when he turned to get up, Thomas Steinberg was leaning over him with a knife.
“Did you really think you could steal my wife from me?” Thomas said, inching closer.
Luke reached for the rifle, but Thomas kicked it away.
Thomas continued. “I’ve been waiting for this moment. You’re all I’ve been thinking about, Luke. You and that shit-ass brother of yours.” A crooked smile crossed his face. “I was thinking about how I would eventually kill you. With my bare hands, I initially thought,” he held up the knife and admired the shiny blade, “but I think this’ll do a much better job, don’t you?”
“Do it then,” Luke said. He tilted his head to the side, exposing his neck. “Well go ahead if you’re man enough.”
Steinberg raised the knife and stared down at Luke. He remembered the fear in a boy’s eyes, and the desperation in his voice, when he was looking for a place to live. He remembered all the lessons he taught him and the pride he felt when he realized the boy had grown into a man. His hand began to shake as he gripped the knife.
Luke wasn’t the type of man that would voluntarily give up his life, and really had no intention of doing just that, so when Steinberg contemplated what to do he took advantage of the opportunity. “You hesitated,” he said, kicking Steinberg’s legs out from under him.
Steinberg hit the ground hard, and dropped the knife. His vision turned white when his head hit the ground, and the air was forced from his lungs. He coughed and rolled to his side, struggling to breathe.
Luke stood and grabbed the gun. “If you’re gonna survive in this world, Tom, you should never hesitate. And that’s why I tried to stop you and your family from leaving the compound.” Luke was now the one staring down at Steinberg. “You just don’t have what it takes to make it on your own, let alone protect your family. ” When Monica appeared from around the corner behind her husband, his attention turned to her.
Steinberg grabbed the knife and jumped to his feet.
“Tom!” Monica yelled, excited to see him.
Startled, Steinberg turned quick and stabbed her in the abdomen. He released the knife when he realized what he’d done. “Monica?” he said, locking eyes with his wife.
Monica slowly looked down at the knife. She touched her stomach and held up her hand. The blood was warm. She looked at her husband before her knees buckled.
Thomas tried to grab his wife, but he was too weak from not eating in days. He guided her to the ground as carefully as he could.
AS DAN CHASED AFTER Monica, he could see the intruders in the distance, rummaging through the garden. He felt a sense of relief, if only momentarily, thinking it would distract them. It might buy him enough time to get Monica safely back into the house, he thought. When he came around the corner, he was confused to see her lying on the ground with his brother and Thomas kneeling over her. “What the hell happened?”
Luke slipped one arm under Monica’s legs and the other behind her back. “We gotta get her in the house,” he said, lifting her. A trail of blood followed, as he rushed to the door with Dan right behind him.
Steinberg hesitated before following Luke and Dan. He couldn’t digest the idea that he had just stabbed Mon
ica. He’d missed her so much, and longed for her and Josh every moment of every day he was imprisoned. And now he had not only lost his son, but he more than likely had killed his wife as well. He walked slowly to the door and just before opening it a voice called his name. When he turned, Nicolas and David were walking toward him.
“You’re not abandoning us, are you, Thomas?” David said. Nicolas pulled his knife from its sheath.
Steinberg eyed the door and then the two men. He wondered if he could make it before they got to him.
“Don’t even think about it,” Nicolas said.
“It’s my wife,” Steinberg said. “She’s hurt. I have to go to her.”
Nicolas and David stopped when a man stepped out the door with a rifle pointed at them.
“Get inside, Tom,” Dan said.
Steinberg walked a few steps backward, his eyes on David and Nicolas, and then rushed into the house.
“I suggest you leave,” Dan said.
“We’re not leaving without taking Thomas back with us,” Nicolas replied. “So just bring him out, and we’ll be on our way.” He stepped forward. “You won’t be able to shoot us both before reaching you.”
Dan thought about it and realized that was probably true. He stared at the two men, wondering what Luke would do. Luke would do something cool, he thought. He’d figure out a way to kill both of them, but he also realized he wasn’t like his brother. The odds are he was probably going to die, and his hands trembled as the men continued walking toward him. Think, Dan, think. He slowly backed up.
“We don’t have any quarrels with you, son,” David said. “Just drop the gun, and I give you my word as a Christian we won’t hurt you.”
Dan smiled, remembering what Luke had said. If you hesitate for one second it’ll be you lying in a puddle of blood instead of them. He was no longer nervous, and he knew exactly what to do. So what if he couldn’t kill both of them. At least he wouldn’t die a coward like his father had. When the two men lunged toward him he squeezed the trigger—hitting the one with the knife in the chest, and quickly raised the butt of the gun—smashing it against the other’s head. He stared down at the men as they lay next to each other on the ground and shrugged his shoulders. “That was easier than I thought it would be.”
Luke rushed from the house when he heard the shot. “Are you alright, Dan?”
“I’m fine, bro’,” Dan said, walking up to his brother. “I just had a few things to take care of. When he turned back, only one man was lying on the ground. “Hey, where’d the other one go?”
“LET’S GET OUT OF HERE,” David Crullen yelled, maneuvering around a trail of bodies as he headed back to the fence. Four women joined him, and five men eventually caught up. The remainder of his followers was spread out on the lawn with arrows protruding from their bodies: some in the head, some in the neck, but mostly in the chest.
Colton could have easily killed a few more as he watched them run to the fence, but it wasn’t in his nature to shoot a man, or woman, in the back. He stood on the balcony and watched until he was sure they were well on their way back to the city. When he heard the commotion coming from the first floor, he rushed back into the bedroom and down the stairs.
After Colton had gone, when all was quiet and the battle had ended, the barn door slowly closed in the distance.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“I ASSUME YOU FINISHED your duties at the kennel,” Carla said. Behind her stood Aaron, who lagged back, trying to camouflage himself in the crowd. April noticed him and instinctively cowered behind Calla, recognizing him as one of the two who removed the girl with the long brown hair.
“Yes, I did,” Sarah replied. “I got caught up, so I thought I’d take a break.” She glanced at Aaron, who turned his head.
Carla noticed Sarah staring at Aaron, and was more than anxious to show off her date. She grabbed Aaron’s hand and pulled him forward. “Come now, Aaron. Don’t be bashful, you remember Sarah.”
“Hi, Sarah.”
“Hi, Aaron.”
Calla thought she could slip her and April away without being noticed. She turned and took a step toward the exit.
“I see you brought some friends with you, Miss Weston,” Carla said, noticing Calla.
Calla stopped and turned back.
“You’re Don’s daughter, aren’t you? Calla’s your name, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Yes, ma’am. It is.”
“I’ve seen you around the kennels.” Carla noticed the girl standing behind Calla. “And who’s that with you?” She studied the girl from head to toe, unable to recognize her as anyone she had seen before. The girl looked strangely familiar, but she couldn’t place her face. Probably just one of many faces in a crowd, she thought.
“She lives on the other side of town,” Sarah said. Her name is April Hemingway.”
Carla pushed past Sarah and stood in front of April. “Quiet thing aren’t you? Can’t you talk?”
Calla squeezed April’s hand, trying to get her to say something—anything. She knew if April didn’t speak, Carla might think of the nutrimen. If April spoke, it would remove any suspicions that Carla might have. She smiled at April, and then at Carla. “She’s just really shy. Especially around strangers.”
Carla turned to Sarah. “What’s going on, Miss Weston? I demand to know who this girl is right now.”
Sarah stammered for words. “I, I...
“My name is April. My father named me that, because he said it was the prettiest month of the year.”
Everyone turned to April.
She continued, a dejected look on her face. “I never knew my mother; she died given birth to me.”
“Oh,” Carla said. “I’m sorry to hear that.” She turned back to Sarah. “Well you be sure and finish your tasks at the kennel, Miss Weston, before going home today. Come on, Aaron.”
Aaron nodded to each of the girls as he walked past. When April looked at him; her eyes were captivating. There was something about her, but he didn’t know what it was.
“Come on, Aaron,” Carla repeated, tugging him along.
And then Aaron remembered.
“THAT WAS THE BEST DAY ever,” Calla said, entering the kennel later that day. “Did you enjoy it, April?”
The three girls stopped in the hallway.
“I enjoyed it very much,” April said. “Thank you for sharing your world with me.”
“Did you see the look on Briggsy’s face when April spoke?” Sarah said. “It was priceless.”
“Oh my God, I was so nervous,” Calla said. “I didn’t think you were going to say anything, April. And what a great line of crap that was. Where’d you come up with that, anyway?”
April smiled. It was easy for her to imagine that she had a father, and it made her happy to think he would have named her after a pretty month. And as far as a mother, why couldn’t she have died giving birth? After all, she never met her.
“C’mon,” Sarah said. “We’d better get her back to her pen.”
April followed, compliantly.
FROM THE CONFINES OF April’s pen, Calla and Sarah removed all the characteristics of a normal girl from April—right down to the ponytail on the back of her head.
April shook her head after Calla removed the elastic hair tie. She was magically transformed back into a nutrimen—a Cinderella after the stroke of midnight. She sat on her bunk while Calla and Sarah packed away her secret identity, and with it, her fantasy. “What will you do now, Calla?” She asked.
“I guess I’ll go home and read a little before going to bed.”
“And you, Sarah?”
“Actually, Calla seems to have forgotten, but she and her parents are coming over to my house for dinner tonight.”
“Oh that’s right,” Calla said. “I did forget. After dinner we can hang out in your room and discuss what the next thing is we can do with April. And then we can give ourselves a makeover. Maybe we’ll dye our hair.”
“You’re crazy, Calla.
I’m not dying my hair.”
“That sounds fun,” April said.
“Sarah flung her bag over her shoulder. “Okay, I’m outta here. I’ll see you tomorrow, April.”
Calla followed her out the door. “I better get going, too.” She bent down and hugged April. “I’m glad you had a good time. Don’t worry. We’ll do it again. I promise.”
April nodded with a smile. “Goodbye.”
“Bye,” Calla said, locking the door.
April walked over to the door of her pen and pressed her forehead to the small window. She gazed past the yard at a world that was slowly being consumed by dusk. She thought of the cars racing down the streets, and the people walking busily on the sidewalks—all dressed in those wonderful colors. And then Calla and Sarah walked past the fence. Her soundproof prison blocked their voices, but she assumed they were talking about the day’s events by the smiles on their faces. She smiled as well, pretending to join in their conversation—at least until they vanished back into their world.
She moseyed back to the bunk and plopped down on her back. The kennel was becoming dark, and she longed to be outside of the fence again—to feel the warm summer air on her face and to hear the creatures of the night singing their songs. She saw pictures of the moon’s reflection on the ocean, but she wondered what it would be like to stand at the water’s edge to see it in person. It must be wonderful to live on the outside. Her eyes closed and then opened. They closed again, heavy with sleep, and then opened wide when the yard lights turned on. Calla came back, she thought, and ran to the door. But it wasn’t Calla who stared back at her through the small window.
Chapter Twenty-Five
THE THIRTY MEMBERS of David Crullen’s congregation who had stayed behind had assembled themselves in the church to pray that their brothers and sisters who left for battle would come back victorious. The old and the young sat side-by-side with bibles splayed open on their laps. The very young were held by their mothers, and the very old sat quietly, staring blankly at the floor or some other object for no reason at all, their heads shaking slightly in a continuous, rhythmic pattern. When a fellow member suggested they sing “Amazing Grace,” they all stood and held hands, except the very old—who never broke their trance.