“Yeah and all the bodies were burnt close to them,” Ian mumbled then panned up and down the highway. “Why the fuck are they still there? Don’t they know it’s dangerous outside?”
“Only two of them are alive,” Lance said, looking at the group. “One is colder.”
Looking over his binoculars at the group, Ian shook his head. “They have radios; why haven’t they called for help? Think it’s a trap?”
“Maybe but I can’t see them using members of their group as bait.”
“Let’s move down where we crossed and get to that side before those dogs head this way,” Ian said, crawling back.
Grabbing his stuff, Lance crawled back to the trees, and then they ran to the buggy and noticed Dino looking behind them. “Fuck it, let’s go,” Lance said, jumping in the buggy.
Turning the buggy north, Ian moved parallel to the highway until they reached the curve they used to hide them from the group. Lance jumped out and looked around with the thermals then the NV scope. “Clear,” he said and jumped back in.
Stomping the accelerator Ian threw dirt up as he darted back across the highway.
“Don’t leave tracks going into the woods; slow down,” Lance said as they bounced over the second lane.
Not wanting to, Ian slowed and pulled gently into the woods. He drove back up the hill, and they got out, heading back to the gully they had used that morning. Grabbing the stuff, they moved back to watch the bikers that were left.
As they set up, Ian looked west and saw the pack of dogs taking down stinkers as they moved down the highway. “Dogs are coming.”
Lance swung the thermals to see the massive pack moving down the highway with a large group of stinkers behind them. “This isn’t the musketeers’ best day.”
When Lance pulled out an MRE and settled in, Ian did the same. It took half an hour for the pack of dogs to travel the mile to the curve, and the two musketeers a half a mile away saw the pack immediately. One brought a radio to his mouth as the other struggled to stand up, using a stick as a crutch.
“I stand corrected,” Lance mumbled, looking through the thermals.
The two hobbled, using each other to walk past the oil slick then onto the road. From the east, a pickup truck was hauling ass toward them. When the two got out of the ditch, the dogs saw them, and the pack took off. “Going to be close,” Ian said, moving from the dogs to the musketeers and the truck.
“No it’s not,” Lance said as one musketeer let the other go and trotted fast toward the truck, leaving the one with the improvised crutch behind. “Well, for one, it isn’t.”
The pack caught up to Crutch and just swarmed over him like water. Even from two hundred yards away and below them over the barking, they could hear him scream. Most of the pack had stopped at him, but many realized that wasn’t enough and took off after the other one.
That pause was all he needed as the pickup truck screeched to a halt and spun sideways across the road. The last musketeer grabbed the side of the vehicle and pulled his body into the bed. The driver stomped the gas, burning the tires on the road and pulling into the median as the pack reached the truck.
Over a dozen dogs leapt in the air, and half made it into the bed of the truck before it sped off down the road. Lance looked back at Crutch and didn’t see any dogs at the mutilated corpse. Lifting his thermals, he saw the entire pack chasing the truck, which was pulling away.
Turning back to crutch, Lance saw the stinkers that had been chasing the dogs were just passing the corpse, continuing the chase. “Ready to leave?” Ian asked.
“Let’s wait,” Lance said, studying the scene.
They sat for an hour, and the road was pretty clear. “How much longer, brah?” Ian asked, looking around through the spotting scope. “I really don’t want that pack to come back.”
“Get the sniper rifle, and cover me. I’m going down there,” Lance said, putting the thermals down.
“What the fuck for?”
Lance pointed at the motorcycles and the body beside them. “I want to see what they left.”
“I don’t think it’s worth it,” Ian said, moving up the gully to the buggy. He came back carrying the M14. Setting it up on the lip, he looked over at Lance. “You get me killed, and I’m kicking your ass.”
“Dino, stay,” Lance said as he went over the lip of the gully and down the hill. Staying inside the trees, he moved parallel to the road until he was beside the pile of bikes. “Clear,” he asked Ian over the radio.
“The musketeer on the road is a stinker trying to crawl around, but other than that, you’re good.”
Taking a deep breath, Lance eased out of the tree line into the ditch up to the body of the biker who died in the crash. A knife was sticking out of the man’s forehead. Kneeling beside the body, Lance flipped open the leather jacket and emptied the pockets. Finding drugs, money, cigarettes, and magazines for a pistol, he moved over to the bikes.
Going through the saddle bags, he found maps and a pouch. He opened the pouch and saw a shit load of memory cards. “So it was your job,” he mumbled and tossed it in the pile of maps. He found two pistols and a busted radio.
Grabbing the maps and pouch, Lance darted back into the trees. When he got back to Ian, he was panting. “Find anything good for that risk?” Ian said, lifting the sniper rifle.
“Don’t know yet, but let’s get the fuck home,” Lance said, grabbing his stuff.
Dino followed them out of the gully and waited as they loaded up. When they drove off, Dino took the lead. The sun was setting as they reached their sweep area. “We’re back at top of ravine. Any kitty kills?” Lance called on the radio.
“No action. Got you on motion detector,” Lilly called back.
“She’s fitting in rather well,” Lance said, looking around the woods.
“I’m glad for the extra help, and now, Jennifer has someone to talk to,” Ian replied.
When they pulled up to the gates, Jennifer opened the outer gate. They both gave a startle at the glare she gave them as they drove past. Passing Lilly, they both jumped when they saw her scowl. “I would like to revisit my remark,” Lance said as Ian came to a stop, waiting on Jennifer and Lilly to close the gates and ride to the back of the cabin.
When they climbed in the back, Lance turned around, looking at them. “What bug crawled up y’all’s ass?”
“Just go,” Jennifer said in a neutral voice, but her eyes bespoke hostility.
Ian drove around the cabin and stomped the brake hard. “Who did that?” he asked, pointing at the mini excavator. It was sitting on the hillside with half the hillside dug away where the greenhouse was to go.
“I did,” Lilly snapped.
“You know how to drive an excavator?” Lance asked, looking at the mound of dug-out dirt.
“Let’s get inside,” Lilly said quietly.
Lance climbed out of the buggy. “Leave the motherfucker right here, Ian,” he said, turning to face Lilly and Jennifer. “We have been in some shit today, so I’m telling you now,” he said, dropping his vest to the ground and taking off his helmet. “If you think you’re going to ream my ass, I’m here to tell you I will kick your ass all over this mountain!” he shouted, throwing down his helmet.
Lilly and Jennifer looked at him wide-eyed and slid out the other side of the buggy. “What, you think I’m playing?!” he shouted, walking around the buggy. They watched as Lance got in a fighting stance. “Now, I’m warning you. Neither of you are my momma, so don’t think I’m taking this ass chewing lying down. Go ahead; I dare ya.”
All the anger was gone from their eyes as they turned to look at Ian. “Hey, don’t bring me in this shit. You two are the ones that set him off,” he said and spun around, heading for the cabin. “I will warn ya; get him in a headlock, and Lance will bite the shit out of you.”
Lilly and Jennifer watched Ian walk to the door, pulling out his key. They turned to each other then to Lance, who was still ready to fight. “Okay,” Jennifer said
, raising her hand. “You win, but can we please talk inside?”
“I will still whoop your ass inside that cabin,” Lance said as he walked around the buggy and grabbed his stuff.
“Damn, he never did that before,” Jennifer said with a small grin.
“You’re smiling about that?”
“Yeah, he’s only done that to Ian,” she said, turning to Lilly, and the grin turned into a smile. “He sees me as part of the team and maybe you too.”
Shaking her head, Lilly said, “I doubt that because he was staring at you.”
“But he was willing to fight you as well,” Jennifer said, heading for the cabin.
“No, he was getting ready to kick my ass,” Lilly corrected.
“Yes, but that means they see us the same as they see each other,” Jennifer said with a bounce in her step. “I have to learn to fight better so I can go outside with them.”
Not so sure about that, Lilly pulled out her key. “Jennifer, one of them is stronger than both of us. Shit, you’ve seen the way they push weights. I don’t care if they are younger than you or I; they can kick our ass.”
“You’ll understand,” Jennifer said when Lilly opened the door. “When you fight a buddy, you’re not really trying to hurt them. I’ve seen them fight many times.”
Standing at the door, Lilly thought about that. “Shit, I would put them against grown fucking men in a fistfight,” she mumbled and turned to walk in. “Shit, is he so fucking hot,” she said under her breath.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lance and Ian got up when the alarm went off. The night before, they had eaten and gone to bed. Nobody said much of anything else. “I can’t believe you threatened to whoop Jennifer’s ass,” Ian groaned as he stretched out.
“Brah, if you would’ve done that to me, I would’ve threatened to whoop your ass,” Lance said, pulling on clothes he had laid out at the end of his bed.
“I know,” Ian grinned, pulling on clothes. “And I would’ve deserved it if I had continued.”
Five minutes after the clock went off, the two were dressed, and Lance opened the door. He jumped back, seeing Lilly, Jennifer, and the ladybugs dressed for morning gun training. “How long have you been up?” Lance asked, looking at his watch.
“Oh, four twenty,” Jennifer said with a grin. They had laid out their clothes the night before for training, workout, shower, and workday in neat stacks. Sitting down, she and Lilly came up with a routine that seemed promising. For the first time, she and the ladybugs were ready before the boys.
“Cool.” Lance grinned, dropping his arm.
“Wait,” Lilly said, stepping up. “Before we start, can we please explain about yesterday?”
Nodding, Lance set his airsoft AR down. “Sure, but the same warning applies.”
“We saw the camera you put up,” Lilly said quickly. “Lance going to those bodies was a huge risk. Feral dogs pose a greater threat than those tigers. I’ve climbed trees and hid in cars to get away from them. George and Judy have both killed feral dogs that tried to attack me.”
“I know, Lilly, but I needed to see what was left behind,” Lance said, picking up his airsoft rifle, and Lilly gave a sigh. “It was worth the risk to go back,” he said, looking up at her then over to Jennifer. “They are looking for all the sites they have stuff stored at. It seems from notes on a map I found, Bones was the only one who knew, and the last time we went there, it was packed with stinkers.”
Jennifer nodded at that. “Okay, I can see that was worth some risk, but Lance, that pack was huge.”
Turning around, Lance handed his airsoft rifle to Ian. Ian took it and looked around Lance. “Just to be clear, I didn’t think that was a good idea, but I backed Lance up anyway.”
“Keep on, bitch,” Lance told him and turned to Jennifer. “It was my call, and like I said, it was worth it. Shit, I still haven’t seen what was on those memory cards. Even if I wouldn’t have found anything, it would’ve been worth it. Then I would know they don’t plan shit. Now, do I need to step outside?”
“Okay, Lance,” Jennifer said, stepping back. “I’ll go outside with you, but first, you’re going to tell me how you blew up four of them.”
“Huh?” Lance said, tilting his head.
“Before the hounds of Hell ran down the road, Knuckle called over the radio saying someone booby-trapped a lookout. He said four were dead and another two wounded. I wrote their names down, and I could only find a picture of one from Bones’ computer.”
Lance turned around with a grin. “It worked,” he said to Ian, and they fist-bumped.
“Lance, how?” Jennifer said calmly.
“Hand grenade,” Lance shrugged, and Jennifer’s face hardened. “It was my risk, so don’t start, or we step outside.”
“Fine, motherfucker!” she screamed, tossing her airsoft rifle to Lilly and starting to unbuckle her vest as she walked to the back door. “You don’t know shit about hand grenades, and video games don’t count!” she bellowed, dropping her vest on the floor and pushing the back door open.
“Go on, brah, she’s waiting,” Ian said, walking around him. “Don’t hurt her bad. She hasn’t wrestled with either of us in a long time,” Ian said, putting Lance’s rifle on the sectional.
Lance spun on his heel and strolled to the door, taking off his vest. “I’ll be back,” he said, pushing the door open. The others ran over to the monitors and watched the camera over the backyard.
When Lance stepped outside, Jennifer dove at him. Lance caught her in the air and flipped her over his hip. Jennifer landed hard, and the air left her body as the jarring impact registered with her brain, telling her this wasn’t a good idea.
Pushing that thought aside, Jennifer threw her feet up and flipped up. Lance nodded at that and crouched down as she turned around and charged him. She skidded to stop before she reached him and threw a punch at his face. “You could’ve got killed, dumbass!” she yelled.
Lance barely blocked the punch, thinking she was going for the tackle. “It was my choice to whittle down our opponents,” he said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her toward him. Lance threw out his hip as he spun around, throwing her again.
“Oh shit,” Jennifer mumbled as she flipped over Lance’s hip. When she hit the ground, the air left her lungs, and stars filled her vision. Throwing her legs out, Jennifer twisted on the ground like a spinning top as she did a butterfly kick. Lance was closing to hold her down, and her spinning leg caught him in the knees, knocking him down.
Inside, Ian nodded. “She’s good,” he said with a grin. “That’s my girl.”
Finishing a full spin, Jennifer rolled to the right onto her knees as air slowly pulled back to her lungs. Blinking, she saw Lance getting up. “How did that happen?” she mumbled, getting up.
“Jennifer, I was willing to take the risk. I’ve read over the grenades, so I felt comfortable using them,” Lance said, crouching, determined not to underestimate her again.
Jennifer crouched down. “Lance, if we lose you or Ian, the rest of us will die. You two think of shit nobody else does. When we got here, Ian and you were terrified of moving around at night; then, you two started going out at night. You two went out knowing tigers were here. You two face your fear head on. I try, but I don’t want to see Allie and Carrie die because we couldn’t protect them. With Lilly here, our chances have improved, but without you two, our chances aren’t great.”
Standing up from his crouch, Lance nodded. “That I can understand,” he said. “I’m sorry, but you have to see it from my side. I don’t want anyone or anything near here that can hurt my group.”
Straightening, Jennifer smiled. “That I can understand,” she said then rubbed her back. “Shit, that hurt.”
“You need to learn to fall better,” Lance said, walking over and giving her a hug.
Jennifer looked up at him. “You mean there is a correct way to fall?”
“We’ll work on that this week,” Lance laughed, letting her go.
Jennifer rubbed her hip. “On the pads, please.”
Putting his arm over her shoulders, Lance led her to the back door. “We’ll put more down before we start.”
“Okay,” she said with a grin. “Lilly thinks you’re hot.”
Stopping in his tracks, Lance looked down at her. “She’s a woman,” he said. “She’s got to be ten years older than me.”
“Eleven actually,” Jennifer said, still rubbing her hip. “Just wanted you to know.”
“Women don’t have boyfriends a decade younger than them,” Lance said, continuing to the cabin.
“I didn’t say boyfriend. I said she thought you were hot.”
“Well, what does she think about Ian?”
Stopping beside him, Jennifer looked up with no trace of a smile. “She better think he’s a good friend, or I’ll kick her ass.”
Leaning over, Lance kissed her forehead. “Thank you for finally noticing. Ian thinks the sun rises only for you.”
“He needs to tell me stuff like that,” she huffed. “I’ve had a crush on him since he moved to the neighborhood.”
Pulling out his key, Lance shoved it in the door. “He did kiss you and not the frog.”
“Lance, if he would’ve kissed that frog instead of me, I would’ve shoved it down his throat.”
When they walked in, Ian ran over, grabbing Jennifer by the shoulders. “You need to fall better,” he said then hugged her. “That was a beautiful butterfly windmill you used to take Lance down.”
Not knowing what Ian was talking about, Jennifer just smiled and hugged him back. “Lance explained why y’all did that so you and I won’t have to go to the backyard later.”
Ian looked at Lance, confused. Lance held up his hands. “Ian, be glad you didn’t kiss the frog.”
Lilly gathered up Jennifer’s stuff and handed it over to her. She wanted to get Lance’s stuff, but Allie and Carrie looked at her with daggers in their eyes when she went to pick it up. When everyone was ready, they moved to the front yard, where a shooting course was set up. Lance opened a laptop and pressed play.
Forsaken World:Coming of Age Page 31