It started with Wren waking up to total darkness. She checked her watch. 2 a.m. What had woken her? She heard voices!
She sat up, pushing off her sleeping bag, grabbing up her boots, then stopped. No – these were thoughts. She dialed in, tried to pick up what they were thinking, how many there were, but they were too far away. Still in stocking feet, she crept to the mouth of the cave and peered out. The river glinted through the veil of brush that screened the opening. There were more than one. There were men and women. There were … she strained to hear. Maybe five. Four?
They were walking along the river’s edge. She got the overwhelming message they were exhausted and hungry. As they grew closer, she picked up thoughts: That witch think she is, telling me what the hell. A woman.
She skipped away from that resentful mind to another. Todd needs to get laid, that’s all. Once he got laid, he’d calm the freak down. Another woman. Again, Wren exited.
…lay down and sleep for a week. In a real bed. With breakfast served in bed. Bacon. Eggs. Sausage. Orange juice, the real kind, not the frozen crap... She saw the woman this man glanced at. She was a sharp faced brunette, her thick, luxurious hair making up a lot for her skinny body. This guy, yes, it was Todd, was head over heels in love with her. Her name was … Kira.
The other two women’s names were … Andrea and Sandy.
Sandy looked matronly to Todd, Andrea was just plain ugly. Sandy was blonde, soft, sweet-faced and maybe a little dumb? No, that was wrong. Sandy was only shy. Andrea was built like a brick house and was the kinda’ girl you just didn’t cross.
Another brain took over now. There were fish in this water and we’re going to catch us some first thing in the morning. This guy was … she waited, saw Kira label this guy as Drake. Ah. Kira liked Drake. Back in Drake’s head, she heard him push away the image of the three girls he’d killed—.”
Wren shot out of Drake’s head. So, it was like that. Drake was the leader, Kira his sharp voiced enforcer; Todd was in love with Kira, so went along. Andrea was a bully for hire, going with the tide; whichever side appeared to be winning was Andrea’s side. Sandy? Well, Sandy was just grateful not to be alone.
Wren peeked back into Drake’s head for a few minutes, sizing up the group, a necessary exercise, though she hated being in there. Poor Sandy. She had no idea Drake was looking to get rid of her, then Todd, at the first opportunity. Drake had liked it better when it was just him and Kira. That girl could hump like a jackrabbit. His thoughts, not Wren’s.
She tiptoed back into the cave and slipped on her boots. Bringing her rifle back to the cave opening, she settled in for a long watch, allowing her exhausted family a few more hours of rest. No need for them to be frightened.
“I’m done,” Kira announced just below the cave. “Let’s rest here.”
Drake pulled up and wrapped her in his arms. “How done are you?” he murmured against her skinny neck.
She pushed him away. “Done, you idiot. Screw Sandy and leave me the hell alone. I need some sleep.”
Wren felt Sandy’s panic like a blade and winced. The poor girl was terrified of Drake.
Wren wanted to help her, but how? They couldn’t take on Drake. The guy was an alpha and had killed to stay that way. Bill had a heart condition. She was strong, could run for miles, carry a pack, chop wood, but she was not a fighter. The kids were still kids. The dog was out of commission entirely. They were no match for this hardened group. She had to hope they would pass on by.
How she wished she had the power to influence the minds of those she could read. She’d be urging them to move along, that this was a terrible place to sleep. She’d change Drake’s mind about Sandy, who was simply a gentle soul who was caught in a terrible situation. Unfortunately, Wren had no such power. Drake, Kira, Andrea, Todd and Sandy bedded down on the river’s edge, right below their salt cave.
She considered waking Bill, but decided against it. It wasn’t as if they had any life choices at the moment. They were trapped. Sleeping through this turn of events was the better option to staying awake with Wren.
Wren was relieved for Sandy when Drake elected to leave her alone. Feeling for the girl, she stayed with her, inside her head, as Sandy filled her mind with memories of her home, her parents, her best friend Melody Crane, and fell asleep, silent tears running unchecked from her eyes into her ears. God help me, she prayed, over and over. God help me.
When light began to filter into the cave, Bill stirred. Wren was ready, kneeling over him. As soon as he opened his eyes, she shushed him with her finger over her lips. He frowned and glanced at the kids, both still asleep. Wren whispered, “We have company on the beach, just below us. And they aren’t nice people.
He closed his eyes. “Ah, geez.”
“I know.”
“How many and how long?”
“Five. Dropped on by around 2 a.m. From what I’ve read, they don’t plan on moving ‘til they’ve caught some fish.”
Bill sat up. “And the chances of that being successful are …?”
“Slim to none. The one guy, Drake has a little fly-fishing rod. I’m thinking once they wake up, they’ll try fishing for a bit, then give up and move along. I judge Drake’s attention span to be around that of a preschooler when it comes to fishing. We’ll have to wait them out.”
Bill looked over at the sleeping children. “How much food did we bring in with us?”
“We have a little of the cooked rice left. I was saving it for hero’s pill and was hoping he’d eat a bit of it besides. He needs food. I have some protein bars in my pack from my dad’s that should get us through the day. We have the second pail of water from the river. We could drink it with the filtering straws. And that’s all.”
“It’s better than nothing.”
Bill got up and padded in sock feet to the mouth of the salt cave. Parting the brush carefully, he leaned out and gazed down the steep bank to the river’s edge. After a moment, he released the branches carefully and padded back. He sat, pulled on his boots and laced them up. “I see you’ve had the rifle with you.”
“Thought it was a good idea.”
“Yeah, well, you get some sleep now. I need you rested. I’ll take over for a couple of hours.”
She nodded and laid back down on her sleeping bag, keeping her boots on. She doubted she would sleep, she was too wired.
It was the sound of Rhea’s whispering that woke her. The sun was high in the sky, with a bright swath of light, filtering through the rustling leaves of their screening bush, dancing across the floor of the cave. She sat up, twisted toward the entrance. Bill, Wyatt and Rhea were sitting there, looking out. They all turned to look at her, their expressions solemn.
“Are they still out there?” she whispered.
They all nodded.
She checked her watch and was shocked to see it was almost one in the afternoon. She’d slept for hours! And she needed to pee in the worst way.
Rhea appeared by her side. “We have a bucket at the back of the cave. So, you can … you know.”
Wren smiled at the child’s thoughtfulness. “Thanks. That was my first thought.”
Rhea smiled her understanding. “I’m a girl,” she confided. “I know.”
Oh, how Wren wanted to hug this wonderful little girl.
After visiting the bucket in the back of the cave, Wren washed her hands in the small bowl of saved soapy water and attended to Hero. The dog’s face was alarmingly swollen. And so hot to the touch. She wet a gauze with antiseptic and drew it across hero’s swollen features, testing for where exactly the source of the infection was. Hero let her know at once when she’d reached the puncture in question. He jerked, and yipped.
“Oh, sorry, fella. I’ll try to help with that.” She turned to the mouth of the cave. In a controlled whisper, she called out to her family, “I need your help with Hero.”
The children returned to her; Bill stayed on watch. She told them softly. “Hero’s face is infected. We can’t leave it
like this. We have to drain the infection, and he won’t like it. It’ll hurt, but it’ll be so much better once it’s done. Can you help me?”
The children nodded in unison, their eyes serious.
“Okay. First, we need disinfectant wash. Lots of gauzes. A bag to throw the soiled ones into, and a flashlight so I can see really close. Oh, and antibiotic cream to cover it up when were done.”
They worked together, Rhea holding the light this time, and Wyatt holding the dog down. Once Hero understood what they were after, he began to struggle, moving his head away, fighting to get to his feet. Wren backed off, afraid he would whine and attract unwanted attention. But his face was so distorted now, his eye sticky and completely shut. They had to do this.
She hissed. “Bill, we need you, too.”
Bill moved silently into the cave and knelt beside them.
“I need you to hold him down while I open this scab. I think once it’s open, the infection will drain and he’ll feel better right away. If we do it quick, we might be able to avoid him making a ton of noise.”
Bill scrubbed at his face, the sound raspy from whiskers, glancing first at the cave entrance then to the injured dog.
“I’ll be fast,” Wren pleaded. “We can’t let this get worse.”
“I know.” He looked over the situation. “Okay, here’s what we do. Wyatt, you hold down his back end. Lay on him if you have to. Rhea, you’re in charge of lights and anything Wren needs. I’ll hold his front and head. But, Wren make it quick. He won’t take this lying down.”
They all looked at him for a moment, stunned by what he’d just said.
He snorted softly. “Okay—so he is lying down. Let’s do this thing.”
They assumed the positions assigned and Wren laid a soaked cloth on Hero’s face. She whispered, “The good thing is the water is cold. This has to feel better.”
“Not according to this end,” Wyatt puffed, struggling against Hero’s churning legs.
Wren lifted the cloth. “Okay. Light right here, Rhea.”
Rhea leaned in, training the light on the swollen scabby mound on the side of Hero’s face. Lit up this way, it looked horribly painful.
Wren lifted the edge of the black scab with her fingernail and pulled it away and off with one swift action. The dog jerked, but made no sound. The edges bled around the hole revealed underneath. “Okay,” she breathed, afraid of what she had to do next. “There’s the puncture. And here’s the part where he won’t like me very much.”
Holding a wad of gauze beside the opening, she gently applied pressure to the hard, swollen mound. Hero bucked in their arms, and whined. Nothing happened. Wren hissed through clenched teeth, sympathetic, not wanting to hurt the animal. “So sorry, Hero.” She drenched the gauze with water, soaking the whole puncture area to soften the new closure and pressed against the hard mound again. The dog bucked, yipping frantically. Suddenly a greenish pus, laced with threads of blood burst from the opening, pouring like a volcano, gushing out. Wren swabbed it as quickly as she could, using up hand-fulls of fresh gauze, tossing them into a bag Rhea held for her. Impossibly, the pus kept coming, the hard mound shrinking, the smell so putrid she gagged. Hero sagged in Bill’s arms and was quiet. Wren kept swabbing, cleaning with fresh gauzes, washing the area until there was nothing left but soaked fur, flaccid skin and a relieved dog. His eye was even part-way open now, and his tale thumped faintly against the floor of the cave.
“Good boy, Hero!” Wren whispered. “You are such a good, brave dog.” She washed her hands then unscrewed the top of the disinfectant bottle. “Now this will sting, but I need to do it.” Covering his eye with a clean gauze, she poured disinfectant into and around the puncture. The dog jerked for only a moment, then lay still. Wren sighed with relief. “It’s done. We’re all done.” She looked around at her helpers and loved them so much. “We did it. I think Hero will be okay now.”
“And he hardly made any sound,” Wyatt pointed out proudly.
Wren opened her shield and searched for thoughts. There they all were, down by the river, arguing about who did most of the work for the group. Drake and Kira were neck in neck with their intensity, Todd was putting up a token resistance, Sandy was keeping her mouth shut. And of course, it was decided that Sandy did the least of the lot. It was then decided she would be carrying all their packs from now on, to make up the difference. Listening in, Wren wondered how it was even possible for one girl to carry four packs. She had to help Sandy. Judging by the whirl of fury inside Drake’s head, Sandy would be dead within the week.
Why? Why did some people want—no, that was wrong. Why did some people need to destroy what they perceived as weakness? Because, Sandy represented the weakness inside himself, she knew. Drake had to kill the weakness inside himself, and that meant killing Sandy.
Wren smeared antibiotic cream over the puncture wound on Hero’s face, cleaned up around the dog, then washed up herself. Bill buried more aspirin inside a rice ball and offered it to Hero, who gobbled it up.
“He’s hungry,” Rhea announced happily. “He’s feeling better.”
Bill told Wyatt, “Give him the rest of the rice if he wants it.” To Wren, he asked, “Did you pick up anything from them?”
She smiled. “You can tell when I’m listening in?”
“Yes.”
She nodded. “They’re not moving along anytime soon. We’ll be here for the rest of the day, maybe overnight again.” She turned her face away from the children and added quietly so they wouldn’t hear, “But, Drake plans to kill Sandy and I can’t let that happen. He has a pistol. His new favorite daydream is blowing out Sandy’s brains. I want to try and separate her out and save her.”
Bill’s face went white. “Are you crazy?” he whispered. “We don’t stand a chance against that Drake guy. I’d have to kill him to make what you have in mind happen.”
She gazed steadily back at him. “Your point being?”
He blew air from his cheeks and said nothing.
Their chance came so quickly, they barely recognized it until it was almost too late. Sandy slipped away from the others to pee in the woods. Wren saw she was reluctant to return to the others for further abuse. She wanted to climb up high to see across the river, to see if there were any possibilities for her beyond this group. She was even entertaining the idea of slipping away after dark tonight. Sandy sensed Drakes fury and was afraid of him even more than before. Sandy’s mother had always told her to follow her heart and her heart was telling her to run for her life. But to where?
Wren heard all this. She signaled Bill she was going out and trod lightly along the ridge in front of the cave, turning to climb the steep edge beside it to stand above it. Here, Drake and the others would see her if they cared to look up, but they were too busy bickering now about their food supply, how it was being stretched beyond its limits and something had to give. Wren read what Drake and now Kira thought would be their food solution and was doubly afraid for Sandy.
Wren hid behind a tree and waited for Sandy to appear. It wasn’t long before Sandy climbed up the ridge south of the cave and walked over the top of it, gazing across the river longingly. Why did I agree to go with these people? What choice did I have? She was crying now. Wren jerked when the thought of throwing herself off this cliff and ending it all entered Sandy’s thinking, and was relieved when Sandy pushed that thought away. She hadn’t tried running yet. She could try it on her own first.
Only, she knew she wouldn’t make it on her own. She’d heard the wolves at night. She wasn’t alone; none of them were.
Wren stepped from behind the tree, catching her attention. Sandy yelped, her feet leaving the ground, and almost losing her balance. Wren rushed forward and grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the edge. “Ssshh,” she whispered, glancing at the squabbling group below them significantly. “Come with me. I can help you.”
“Did you hear that?” Todd asked, looking around. Wren pulled Sandy down, out of sight, holding her fi
nger to her lips for quiet. Sandy’s gazed drilled into hers as they waited to be discovered.
“Hear what, you moron. It’s that cow Sandy taking a dump in the woods.”
Sandy flushed and dropped her eyes.
Drake laughed. “Hey, maybe the bears’ll get her and we won’t have to drag her sorry ass along with us anymore.”
“We should get so lucky,” Kira snapped. I’d have Drake and Todd all to myself. Andrea doesn’t swing this way. Kira giggled out loud, stopping when she saw Andrea’s ugly mug look her way. Wren slipped out of her head.
Still crouched, Wren drew Sandy back with her to the tree line, where they wouldn’t be seen, and where their three ATVs were hidden. Standing up, Wren whispered, “Come with me,” leading the frightened girl into the woods and the Beast, rummaging for the first can she could grasp out of one of the boxes. She knew she had a can opener in the front dash compartment. Pulling out a can, she saw it contained corn. She held it up. “Interested?”
Sandy nodded vigorously. Wren read that Sandy took little when her group ate, hoping to not call attention to herself. Wren opened the can and handed it over. Sandy grabbed it, scooped corn with her fingers and shoved it into her mouth with a groan. The can’s contents disappeared in a wink, with Sandy staring regretfully at the empty can before handing it back with a tentative smile. “Thank you.”
“I’ve got to convince you to come with me, so I don’t have time to do this gently. I can read your mind. You miss your mother like crazy. You nursed her ‘til the end. You were never sick yourself. Your best friend’s name was Melody Crane. Your cat Ten-Toes disappeared when the virus started up.”
Sandy stared back at her in astonishment.
“You believe me?”
Sandy was slow to nod her head, but she did.
“Okay. I can read their minds too.” Wren gestured toward the river. “Drake plans on killing you with that pistol he’s so proud of. Kira is not your friend, and Todd’s a weak link they’ll shed when it suits them. Andrea. Well, Andrea will do whatever, whoever is in charge tells her to. You, however are in grave danger.”
Lost Sentinel: Post-Apocalyptic Time Travel Adventure (Earth Survives Series Book 1) Page 14