by Christa Lynn
“So they shoot first and ask questions later,” I state firmly, and he nods.
“Once the sun went down, we slowly exited the alley, our eyes planted on the iron fence that surrounded the compound. We had no idea if this fence was an electric fence or not, we just knew that was the only way out. Either way, we were going to die trying. We slowly creeped around the edge of the property, trying to stay out of sight, but one of the guys stepped on a branch and …”
“And then what?”
“And then hell broke loose,” he said, his body shaking in fear. His mind has taken him back there and the emotions are rocking his very being. “The sky lit up in gunfire, bullets racing past our heads so close you could feel it. So we ran, we split up and ran and left each other behind, fighting for our own lives. I eyed a small opening in the gate at the opposite end of the lawn and ran for it, at one point an arrow flew by me, its head sinking deep into the grass. These men had everything, from AKs to primitive bows and arrows, and they weren’t afraid to use them. It was then I wished that I had some sort of weapon to protect myself as well as the other guys. But the others were dropping like flies. All I could hear was the sounds of gunfire and bodies hitting the ground, their cries of pain filling the void. I was determined to get out alive, though at this time it didn’t appear I’d make it. But I ran and ran until my legs were burning and weak.”
“You made it,” I say quietly.
“Yeah, I was the only one. As I slithered through the small opening the gate I looked back and there were bodies all over the yard, blood oozing from their heads and chests. One guy, Mike, had an arrow through his skull.” He shivers. “I said a quick prayer for their souls and kept running until the adrenaline ran out and I collapsed in the forest,” he finishes as he sits down and puts his hand into his face. “I didn’t protect the others, I was so selfish and …”
“You stop that right now,” I say, standing up. “The way it sounds, you had no choice. If you had stayed with them, you wouldn’t be here right now.”
“Yeah, but I’d be happy in Heaven and away from the Hell of a world we live in. My body wouldn’t be hurting, and I’d be with my family.”
“But you aren’t, you’re here. And there’s a reason you’re here. We may not know what that reason is, but we’re going to find out. Can you get us inside?”
“I can try, but that all depends on what they’ve changed since then. This was a long time ago,” he says. “Like I said, they change it up.”
“Well, I can imagine the lawn is still the same, and maybe that opening in the gate is still there and we can find that alley. If you got out that way, then we can get in,” I say as I find a piece of old torn paper. I grab a small knife and sharpen the nub of a pencil and hand it to him. “How are your drawing skills?”
He laughs. “They suck.”
“Well, see if you can draw a rough outline of what the compound looks like. We can then figure out the easiest way inside.” He closes his eyes and thinks, then starts to draw a rough blueprint of the compound, marking each entrance and exit with an ‘X’ and placing an arrow next to the location of the alley.
“This is as good as I can get,” he says.
“It’s good enough, Henry. Thanks. Now, let’s go to the arms room and shoot up a few things, I want to see what you can do with an Uzi.”
“You have an Uzi?” he asks, standing up.
“Do I have an Uzi? I have several, amongst others. I want to see what kind of aim you’ve got.” He follows me out and we cross the lawn, and I see the girls over by the river scrubbing out laundry. They’re on their knees and their asses up in the air. Henry stops in his tracks and stares.
“You’ve got women here?”
“A couple.” I chuckle. “Let’s go,” I say as I nudge his arm. His eyes are fixated on Emma’s ass. I stand and watch him watch her and think deep inside there’s no way he’s got a chance with that one. “She’s pretty unstable, man, it might benefit you to stay away from her,” I say.
“Unstable, why?”
“Both of them came out of Brampton.”
“Fuck,” he groans. “But I guess most women that we might see have been there, or a similar place at one point or another. How’d they get out?”
“Some were thrown out, some escaped. Most didn’t make it.”
We walk on toward the arms room, Henry constantly turning his head to look back at Emma. As we step inside, he stops and takes in the large room, full of weapons, ammo and targets. I look down and see one target is in shreds. “I wonder who was in here,” I say as I walk toward the cloth target and pick the shreds up.
“Someone with good aim, apparently,” he says coming up behind me.
“You got game like this?” I ask Henry, who has walked over to the arms rack.
“Been a while, but I’ll give it a shot. I used to hunt a lot as a kid, so I’m familiar with a gun.”
“Well, let’s see what you’ve got,” I prompt as I hang a new target. I walk up behind him as he scans the gun rack, his fingers dragging across the cold metal of the AK. “You ever shoot an AK?” He shakes his head.
“Well, let’s go for the 12 gauge to start with,” I hand him the simple, black shotgun. He takes some ammo and loads it, cocking it back and holding it in place. I can sense he’s familiar with this weapon, so I’ll see what he’s got before I hand him something more powerful.
He holds the gun up and eyes down the barrel before pulling the trigger, the sound echoing through the metal building and his shot going right through the target. “Nice shot.”
He cocks it again and pulls off another three shots before setting the gun down, “What else you got?” he asks.
“Try this,” I say, handing him the AK. I quickly show him how to use it and he stands back, the first shot flying east. “Easy, it’s got more kick than the 12-gauge.” But he doesn’t give up, and before long, he’s blown the target away. “Good, you’ve got this. Now let’s go build a barn,” I say as we put the weapons away and step back outside.
The air is thick and humid and I can sense a storm coming. “I hope this storm isn’t like the last one,” I say. I know that we need to get on the road soon, as winter is brutal and I want to take down Brampton before the snow starts. We have some time, but we need more men first, and that could take time.
We walk back toward the destroyed barn and kick around pieces, hoping to find enough to salvage to start the rebuild. We stack up a few pieces and pile the others up nearby to stash in the woods. I’d burn it, but smoke tends to draw attention. Not that all attention is bad, but I know the Heretics aren’t far away, and I don’t need to lead them right to us before we’re ready.
We walk toward the storage shed to get tools and Jo and Emma come toward us, their arms full of more laundry as they head toward the riverbank. Henry stops and watches them walk by, but he and Jo make eye contact this time, and that has my blood boiling. “She’s mine,” I growl as I walk on.
He stays put and watches, his eyes on both girls at this time. I stop and watch, and plan to attack if he tries anything. He’s still new here and until he’s proven himself to me, he’s the enemy. Everyone is until they’ve established that they can be trusted. For all I know, he’s a Merc, and by the way he’s looking at Emma and Jo, I start to wonder.
He steps closer to the river, watching. His eyes darting back and forth between Jo and Emma, and I start to feel a bit uneasy about this guy. I wait it out, because jumping to conclusions isn’t good, either. I remember his story about escaping Brampton and his body language told me he’s not a Heretic, but he’s also not a Merc yet.
Jo sets her armload of laundry on the ground. “I’ll go back and get the rest of it so we can finish up,” she says to Emma as she turns around. She glances over at Henry as she walks toward me, a smile on her face. But suddenly, she stops and turns, her gaze going to Henry and the jealousy that seeps up my spine is an unfamiliar feeling. They stare at each other before recognition hits them both
, right about the same time.
“Josie? Is that you?”
“Oh my God, Hank!” she squeals and runs to him, jumping into his arms and he spins her around, grunting in pain and quickly setting her back on the ground. “Oh, God, let me look at you!” she cries, tears streaming down her face.
“Hank?” I ask Jo as I march right up to them, trying to tamp down my jealousy.
“Yes, my brother! I can’t believe it, where did you find him?”
I step back, soaking in the fact that I haven’t told her that we went to her farm and I know she’s going to be pissed.
“Kane here found me in the bunker, at home.”
“Home? You told me you went to OKC? You lied to me,” she yells at me, not letting go of her brother. “Holy shit! I thought you were dead,” she cries, her anger with me taking a back seat.
“I thought the same about you. Wait, you were in Brampton?”
“Yeah, they let me go not long ago, Kane found me too,” she says, the anger leaving her eyes as she takes all of this in. “Where’ve you been all these years?” she asks, walking away arm in arm with her brother, leaving me in the cold.
I look over at Emma and she’s standing there watching them walk away, her eyes darting to me. I shrug my shoulders and follow them into the house, Emma quickly catches up to me leaving the laundry beside the river.
Jo
The moment I laid my eyes on the new guy, I knew something was different. The eyes were familiar, and I saw my brother instantly. Only, after thirteen years, he didn’t look the same. I guess none of us do, though. We’ve all aged in a way no one should ever have to age. The lines on his face tell me he’s been through Hell over the years, but he looks good. Scruffy, but good. His short hair is messy and he hasn’t shaved in a while, and I giggle at that thought. He was only ten last time I saw him, and he’s a man now, no longer a boy, and suddenly, I’m sad that he missed his teenage years.
We sit down at the kitchen table and stare at each other, in awe of what we’re looking at. Kane and Emma walk in behind us and I glare at Kane. “Can we have a few minutes to catch up?” I ask, turning back to Hank. “It’s been thirteen years; I think we’ve missed a lot of each other’s lives.”
“Can I talk to you first?” Kane asks me. I don’t respond, because the next time I talk to him, I’m gonna let him have it. He told me he was going to take me back to the farm, and then he went without me. I’m so angry with him right now, but so excited to see Hank that my brain is in overdrive and I can only deal with one thing at a time—right now, it’s Hank. “Jo, please?” he pleads.
“I’ll deal with you later,” I growl, turning back to Hank and taking his hand in mine. I can almost feel the anger rolling off of Kane, but I ignore him. It’s hard, as his presence fills the room. I can hear him breathing, and if I looked closer, I could probably see steam flowing from his ears, but he’s not important.
“Where’s Mama?” I ask Hank, Kane just standing back in the corner watching. “Do you mind?”
“As a matter of fact, I do mind.” Kane responds stepping forward.
“Well, tough shit. We’ll talk later, right now I want to find out what happened to my mama,” I respond looking at Hank.
“I’m sorry, Josie. She didn’t make it.” His eyes are downcast at the table. “After the Heretics took you, she collapsed a few days later. I couldn’t revive her.”
“Fuck,” I cry. I knew deep inside that she didn’t survive the first few days of the war, but I also never gave up hope. It was a long shot, but without hope we’ll never survive this war.
“I tried, I really tried, Josie, but she was gone before I could help her. I don’t know if she had a stroke or a heart attack, but she went quickly and peacefully.”
“She died of a broken heart, Hank.”
“I suppose so,” he says as a stray tear runs down his cheek. I reach out and brush it away, looking deep into his eyes.
“Mama depended on Daddy too much, and when the bomb took him …”
“I found his body, about a hundred feet from the bunker when I climbed out about a week after mama died. I buried them side by side in the back of the property.”
“Oh, Hank, I’m so sorry you had to go through that alone,” I say.
“It’s okay, not like you had a choice. And for the record, I tried to stop them from taking you. I even shot one of them in the head, but I left him for the vultures.”
“You killed someone?” I ask, the guilt overtaking me.
“More than one, Josie. I was determined to not let them take you, but I wasn’t strong enough.”
“Well, you are now,” Kane interrupts. “Which is why you’re going with us.”
“What are you talking about, Kane?” I ask, annoyed that he can’t let my brother and I catch up.
“We’ll talk later, right?” he growls as he stomps out of the kitchen back outside, like an errant child.
“You’re with that guy?” Hank asks with one eyebrow raised.
“Apparently, he seems to think so,” I respond, realizing that Emma is still huddled in the corner. “Emma, this is my brother, Hank. Hank, this is Emma. She’s also fresh out of Brampton.” Their eyes meet and Emma moves slowly to sit down across from us, and if I’m not mistaken, she blushes a little. I look back at Hank, and even his eyes are sparkling now. I smile inside, but I’ll need to warn Hank about her later, to go easy on her or she’ll snap. “She had it a little harder in there than I did,” I say, though I let it go when she gives me an evil eye. “Well, it’s true. What was Kane talking about?” I ask Hank.
“I’d better let him tell you, he seemed pretty pissed.”
“He’ll get over it, and he’s got no right to be pissed. He’s the one that lied to me,” I say, the anger getting to me again. “He pushes me to trust him, then he pulls this,” I say, standing up. I look outside the window, and I see him slinging wood and debris from the barn, obviously angry. I’m not sure why he’s angry. I didn’t lie to him, he lied to me.
“Well, I’m going to go take a shower and then a nap,” I tell Hank and Emma, the two of them obviously smitten with each other. “Hank, we’ll catch up more later, right?” I say as I wrap my arms around him, a low groan exiting his lungs on a rush. “What’s wrong?” I ask, letting him go.
“Got a few bruised or broken ribs, but I’m fine.”
“How did you do that?”
“I ran across some Heretics back at home, they kicked my ass and left me for dead. If it weren’t for Kane and his crew, I’d still be laid up in the bunker.”
“He saved your life?”
“Well, I think I would have survived, but he did get me out of the bunker and brought me here. And he saved my sister, so I guess he did.”
“Why were the Heretics after you?”
“I guess since I escaped Brampton.”
“Wait, you were there too?”
“Yeah, I was recruited by some asshole named Vic,” he pauses as Emma jumps. “When I didn’t do what he wanted, I escaped. Though …” he pauses again as Kane walks back in and grabs the moonshine from the cupboard, taking a large gulp.
“Though, what?”
“One of them kept telling me it was payback, that I’ll pay for what ‘she’ did,” he said, using his fingers as quotation marks. “I’m not sure what ‘she’ means, but they beat my ass because of her.”
I freeze, and Kane looks at me.
“It’s because Jo is on their shit list,” Kane says. I cut my eyes at him and hold my finger up to my lips in a futile attempt to get him to shut up.
“Why are they after you? I thought they let you out?”
“They did, but …”
“She killed one of their men,” Kane says.
“You killed one?”
“I’ve actually killed two, but that’s another story.” I grin. “I’m proud of it, actually. After years of being abused, verbally and physically, slashing that glass through his throat was liberating.”
> “You killed him with glass?”
“Yeah, not long after I got out of Brampton, I was in an old abandoned store looking for food, he found me and tried to attack me. I was unarmed, except for a chunk of glass lying on the floor, so I grabbed it and prayed. Thankfully, I have good aim.” I remember as I went for the jugular, his blood pumping out of his neck.
“No wonder,” Hank says.
“And, they’re close to the compound. I had a run in with some Heretics upstream, so we can’t stay here much longer. We need to get it together and head toward OKC.”
“No, you’re taking me home. You promised,” I scream, my anger and anxiety finally taking over.
“Jo, we can’t. It’s too dangerous, and they know where you are now,” Kane says quietly.
“I’ve spent the last thirteen years being told what to do, I’m sick of it!” I say as I storm off. I know I’m overreacting, but I’m not in the mood for Kane’s demands right now. I’m overwhelmed and sad and excited and about to lose my fucking mind.
I hit the stairs two at a time and enter the bathroom, slamming the door and turning the water on as hot as it will get and climb in with my clothes on. They need to be washed anyway, so I stand under the stream and watch the material cling to my skin.
My parents are dead, my brother is alive, and the Heretics are after me. I have a demanding and overpowering, but gorgeous and sexy man fighting for me as well as a weak and sad woman pining over me. I can’t take it; I need to get out of here. Escape, as far from here as I can, if only for a little while. I need to get my shit together before I completely lose it. I’ve been too strong for too long, and I’ve lost myself along the way. My tears are like a waterfall as I slide down the back of the shower into the tub and tuck my head between my legs, the hot water beating on my head and back as the sobs overtake me.
I curl up in the tub in the fetal position and cry it out, my body shaking in grief. Too much has happened in a short time and I’ve had enough. I cry and cry until I can’t cry anymore, and then a warm body lifts me out of the now ice-cold shower and pulls me into his arms.