by R A Doty
Just before reaching the concrete wall and the iron door that led to her house, Calla stopped and looked at April. “You look too good to be homeless.”
“What do you mean by homeless?” April said.
“Part of my story is that you’re homeless and you don’t have anyplace to live. But if you were homeless you wouldn’t look so clean. You’d be living in the streets, digging in garbage cans for your meals.”
“That sounds sad and disgusting.”
“I know, but for us to pull this off, you have to fit the part.” Calla noticed a rotted log near the shoreline. “Come ‘ere,” she said, walking toward the water. She stopped at the log and waited for April.
April stepped off the sidewalk. She stopped immediately, the sensation of the sand under her foot feeling odd. Other than the grass she had stepped on when she previously went with Calla and Sarah, the concrete floor of the kennel was the only surface she was accustomed to walking on. She took another step, her foot sinking slightly. She looked at Calla.
“It’s okay,” Calla said. “It’s only sand.”
And then Calla had an idea. She ran over to April. “Sit down on the sidewalk.”
April sat while Calla removed her shoes.
“Now get up and walk,” Calla said.
April stood and stepped off the sidewalk again. The sand was hot and felt odd against her bare feet. She smiled as it squished between her toes.
Calla quickly removed her shoes as well and stood beside April. “Come on,” she said, “let’s take a walk.” She held April’s hand and led her to the water.
When they reached the ocean, April backed up when the surf crept up to her feet.
“It won’t hurt you,” Calla said, rolling up her pant legs and stepping into the water. She held out her arm for April to grab. “Roll up your pants and come here.”
After pulling up the legs of her pants, April stepped forward and grabbed Calla’s hand. She smiled when the water surrounded her feet and climbed past her ankle.
Calla tugged her forward. “Let’s go out further.”
The water was cold as it neared April’s knees. Waves crashed against some rocks by the shore, and the ocean glistened with sunlight, too bright to look at in some spots. April took a deep breath. The air smelled clean and pure and salty. She held up her arms and looked toward the sky. She was free.
“Isn’t it wonderful?” Calla said, now ten feet away.
When April looked at her she noticed the beach in the background and the wall of concrete that separated Ancada from the rest of the world. Everything looked so far away and her body began to tremble when she realized how far into the ocean she was. She was surrounded by water and when she turned in the other direction, it was all she could see. Water everywhere. She imagined being swept away, far out to sea. There was nothing to grab and no place to run. Her heart thumped and her breathing quickened. Never in her life had she felt so small.
“Are you okay, April?” Calla said, stepping toward her. “Your face looks flushed.” She grabbed April’s hand. “Let’s go back to the shore now.”
Calla led April back to the beach, and they sat on the sidewalk to put their shoes on.
“So, what did you think of the ocean?” Calla said.
“It was beautiful at first, but then it turned frightening. There is so much water.”
Calla stood and walked back to the log she had seen earlier. “Okay, it’s time to get back to work. Come here, April.”
April walked over.
“You probably won’t like this but trust me, it has to be done, Calla said.” She bent down and rubbed her hand on the log—slimy black goo covered her palm. When she reached for April’s face, April backed up. “You have to hold still, April.”
April remained still as Calla stroked her face. Calla’s hand was wet and cool, and the odor made April hold her breath.
Calla bent down and rubbed the log again, with both hands. This time she soiled the front of April’s T-shirt. After a few more attempts to make April look homeless by wiping her hands on every inch of April’s clothing, and parts of her exposed skin, Calla stood back, admiring her work. “There. Now you look like a bagabond.”
April held up her hands. Black streaks from Calla’s fingers ran the length of her arms. “I think you mean, vagabond.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Calla said, gently slapping slime on April’s face. She screamed a laugh when April grabbed her arm and pulled it against her shirt. “April, don’t!”
The two girls laughed, as April chased Calla around the beach.
“April, stop! I can’t get dirty or it’ll ruin everything. My parents won’t believe you’re homeless if I’m dirty too.”
April stopped running. “Okay, I’ll stop.”
When Calla felt as though she was far enough away, she stopped and looked back at April. “You promise?”
April smiled. “I promise.”
“I don’t trust you.”
April extended her arms, her hands opened upward. “What? I said I promise.”
Calla slowly walked forward. “I mean it, April. You have to stop.” When April lunged at her, she screamed and held her arms in front of her face.
April stopped just in front of Calla. “I was only kidding. I’ll stop.”
Calla smiled. “You’d better. Now come on, let’s go to my house.” Calla started walking with April right beside her. She nudged her away. “You smell. Don’t stand so close.” April reached for her arm. “Don’t even think about it,” Calla said.
When they reached the wall, April watched as Calla punched in the code *5309* on the keypad. The metal door opened. She broke the numbers down methodically in her head. Five and three equals eight. Eight and nine equals seventeen.
Calla climbed the stairs and waited at the top for April. She realized immediately by the inquisitive look on April’s face as she stared at the first step that they faced their first challenge: stairs. “Come on, April.”
While grabbing onto a metal railing mounted to the wall, April placed one foot on the first stair tread and then the other beside it. She repeated the process, glancing occasionally at Calla, until she reached the top. She smiled having made it without falling backward.
“It gets easier the more you do it,” Calla said. “Some of the stores in town have stairs that bring you to the top automatically. All you have to do is take the first step and ride to the top.”
The thought intrigued April.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
FOUR DAYS AFTER THE battle, Dan and Colton finished burying the last of the bodies in a makeshift graveyard near the pond in the middle of the field.
“They don’t deserve to be buried for what they tried to do to us,” Dan said, patting the last shovelful of dirt on top of a grave.
“Everyone deserves a decent burial,” Colton said. “Man isn’t born evil. Society makes him that way.”
Dan stared at the graves all lined up in two tidy rows. He took a deep breath. “I suppose you’re right. You can go on back to the house, Cole. I’ll put the shovels in the barn. I just wanna take a walk first. To clear my head.”
Colton patted Dan’s shoulder. “I’ll see you inside.”
WHEN COLTON GOT BACK to the house, Luke and Thomas were seated at the kitchen table. He walked over to the sink to wash his hands. “Fortunately, we didn’t suffer too much damage,” he said. “Dan said a dairy cow is missing, though.”
Thomas worried that the city people may come back. “Is the fence repaired yet?”
“Dan repaired it right after the battle, when we were tending to Monica. Did a hell of a job, too. He knows his way around a welder.”
Thomas nodded. “Dan’s a good man. Much better than I ever gave him credit for, I’m sorry to say. It’s a shame something like this has to happen before you realize a person’s true identity.”
“Amen to that,” Colton said, drying his hands on a towel.
“Where is Dan, anyway? Luke asked.
&
nbsp; Colton walked over and sat at the table. “He’s putting the shovels away. Said he’ll be in, in a while.”
“I can’t thank you enough, Colton, for helping my wife,” Thomas said. “She probably would have bled to death if you weren’t here.”
“There’s no need to thank me, Thomas. I’m glad I could help. But she’s not out of the woods yet. If that infection gets any worse she’ll be in trouble. Do you have any penicillin in the compound?”
Thomas shook his head. “No. I wish I did. I’d appreciate anything you could do for her. If I lose her after—” Thomas lowered his head and choked down a swallow. “—after losing Josh, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“Monica didn’t tell you?” Luke said.
“Tell me what?”
“Josh isn’t dead. Colton saw him when he was on his way here.”
Thomas turned to Colton. “You saw my son?”
“According to your wife it was him. Small build, dirty-blonde hair, scar under his eye.”
“That’s Josh! Where’d you see him?”
“He was with a man named Gabriel, and they were headed south. I told them of a family I know that lives along the coast. They may have went there.”
“Can you take me there?”
Colton scratched his beard. “I don’t think it’d be wise to go anywhere right now until your wife begins to recover. If they did meet up with my friends, Josh’ll be fine for a while. They’re real nice folks—give you the food outta their mouths if you needed it.”
“I hope you’re right, Colton, and my boy’s okay. God I hope you’re right.”
Colton stood and pushed his chair under the table. “They’ll take good care of him, Thomas. Don’t you worry about that. If you fellas don’t mind, I’m gonna head upstairs and check on Monica.”
“Okay, Colton,” Luke said.
“Thank you, Colton. For taking care of her.”
“I’m glad to help.”
When Colton left, Thomas sat quietly, thinking about Josh. A slight smile crossed his face, knowing that his son was still alive.
“You know, Tom,” Luke said. “I know you probably won’t believe me, but we never laid a hand on Monica.”
Thomas slowly raised his head and looked at Luke. “I know, Luke. Before she went under she assured me you didn’t.” A faint smile crossed his face. “She could always tell what I was thinking.”
DAN LEANED THE SHOVELS against the oak tree by the pond and headed toward the gravel bank. The sky turned ominous with dark clouds following overhead. He looked up and continued walking. Thunder rumbled in the distance. When he reached the gravel bank, he stopped at the edge and looked down. There was too much death in the air, and burying all those people made him think of his father. He remembered how his father had taught him to drive in a gravel bank not unlike this one. Slow down, Dan, his father had yelled. You trying ta kill me?
Dan smiled, remembering the expression of fear on his dad’s face. “Sorry, Dad,” he said aloud.
Lightening flashed at the end of the field, followed by a loud clap of thunder. Within seconds, heavy raindrops began to fall all around him. He ran to grab the shovels and headed to the barn. By the time he reached the door, rain was pounding the ground. He pushed it open and ducked inside. After hanging up the shovels, he went back to the door and stared out at the rain. Thunder rumbled all around him and the sky had turned dark gray. He didn’t notice the first drop of water landing on his shoulder, but he raised his hand to his head when the second one trickled down his forehead. He looked up at the floor to the hayloft above him.
He then walked over to the workbench and grabbed a flashlight. A beam of light with the intensity of a laser pierced the shadows as he headed to a wooden ladder leading to the barn’s second floor. A pigeon cooed from the rafters, as he poked his head through the entrance hole to the loft. He shined the light at the underside of the roof, where the drip was coming from. When he saw another drip, he climbed through the square hole. He nearly dropped the flashlight when a bale of hay moved to his right.
“Is somebody there?” he said, shining the light in that direction. He gripped the flashlight tighter when another bale moved. “Come on out. I know you’re there.”
COLTON QUIETLY WALKED up to Monica’s bedroom and gently tapped the door. “Are you okay, Monica?”
There was no answer.
He slowly pushed the door open. “Ma’am. Are you awake?”
Still no answer.
He entered the room and walked up to the bed. Monica’s face was shining with sweat, and her hair was soaked, some strands clinging to her forehead. Colton brushed it away with the back of his hand and noticed her temperature. Her fever had worsened. He left the bedroom and headed down the stairs. When he entered the kitchen, he was shocked to see what Dan had brought home.
“Look what I found in the barn,” Dan said.
A girl about nineteen years old with short, mousy-brown hair, that looked as though it had been chopped off with a machete, tugged at his arm, trying to escape. The storm had soaked her clothes and her black T-shirt clung to her body, revealing her figure.
Dan released her and blocked the door. “She was hiding in the hay loft. Scared the heck outta me, she did. She also had this on her belt.” He held up a twelve-inch Bowie knife, which Luke walked over and took. Luke examined the knife and then glanced at the girl.
The girl stood in the center of the kitchen. She studied each of the three men as hard as they were studying her.
“What’s your name, child?” Colton asked, standing in the doorway.
The girl glared at him and turned away.
“I’ll make her talk,” Luke said. He pulled the knife from its leather sheath.
“Alright! It’s Janette. But you can call me—FUCK-OFF.”
“Hey!” Dan said. “Watch your language.”
The girl glared at him.
“Well alright then, Fuck-off,” Luke said. “What are you doing here?”
“Luke!” Dan said. “Why’s everyone swearing?”
“She swore first.”
“Just put the knife down, Luke.”
“Not until we find out why she’s here.”
“Why are you here, Janet?” Dan said. “Were you with the city people that tried to break in?”
“It’s Janette, perve. And my face is up here. And don’t even think about calling me Jan—like we’re gonna be best buds someday. I’ll punch your face.”
“I’m not a perve.”
“Oh really? What color are my eyes?” Janette closed her eyes.
Dan didn’t have a clue. He just assumed they would be the same as her hair. He did like her name, though. It was pretty and it fit her, he thought. He stared at her face, as she stood before him with closed eyes. It was perfect. “They’re brown.”
Janette opened her eyes. “Wrong, dick-wad.”
“Well maybe if you didn’t wear such revealing clothes I wouldn’t be looking.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll run right over to the store and pick up something more appropriate so your perverted alter ego won’t come out.”
“Luke, will you just remove her from my property,” Thomas said, seated at the table. “Throw her back outside the fence where she belongs.”
Luke walked over, bent down real close to Steinberg’s face, and answered in a low, commanding voice. “Let’s get something straight right now, Tom; this isn’t your property anymore, remember? You gave it to me and Dan. And I don’t work for you anymore either, so next time think twice before barking orders at me.” He stood erect and faced the girl. “He’s right, though. You have to go.” He grabbed Janette by her upper arm.
She pulled away. “No, wait! Don’t put me back out there. I’ll talk. What do you wanna know?”
“Well,” Luke said. “For starters, what are you doing here? Were you with the city people?”
Janette nodded. “You’re not gonna kill me, are you? You don’t need food. I saw all the animals, and the
garden is loaded with vegetables.”
“So you’re the one that’s been stealing my tomatoes,” Luke said. “ I thought the crop was a little on the weak side these past few days.”
“I remember her,” Thomas said, studying the girl. “You were always with that big brute of a guy. Cain, I believe his name was.”
“Not by choice,” Janette said. “And I remember you, too. Saying how you’re gonna kill the guys that took your wife and house. Begging David like a little bitch to let you live.”
Luke turned to Tom. “Is that true? Did you say you were gonna kill us?”
“I was angry, Luke. You would have said the same thing under the circumstances.”
“No, I wouldn’t have.”
“She should still go,” Thomas said. “I saw how dangerous these people were, and she can’t be trusted.”
Luke thought about it and then grabbed the girl by the arm and held tight with two hands. “For once I agree with you, Tom.”
“Wait! I’ll do whatever you want. Please don’t send me back to them.”
Luke pulled her toward the door. “You can’t be trusted. You came here to kill us, so why should we let you stay?”
“So did he,” Dan said, pointing to Steinberg. “But you’re letting him stay.”
Luke stopped at the door. “What are you saying, little brother?”
“I just don’t think it’s fair that he gets to stay and she doesn’t. You said so yourself, Luke, this is my house too, and I say she stays.”
“This is crazy,” Thomas said. “She’s a city dweller. And she’s dangerous—”
“Shut up, Tom,” Luke said. “You don’t have a say anymore.” He looked at his brother. “Is this really what you want?”
Dan turned to Janette. Her face had changed from tough to frightened. For the first time he noticed her blue eyes, and they were filled with fear. “It is. I’ll watch her and if anything happens, I’ll take full responsibility.”