Sudden Independents

by Ted Hill

  Scout dropped to his knees and gripped Hunter’s boots. He heard Catherine say again, “He did this to me.”

  Jimmy rolled over to his stomach. He dragged his legs up under him with his face flat on the concrete floor of the garage. “Then you can stop him. But not with me.”

  Ginger scooted closer to Jimmy, “What are you doing?”

  Slowly, and with unbelievable will, Jimmy’s infected body stood. His breathing was loud and harsh in the garage and the strain for him to stand there was incredible to witness. He stepped towards the light outside. “I love you, Ginger. I always did.”

  Scout scrambled to his feet. “Jimmy, it’s too late.” The words almost choked him on the way out. “Hunter’s gone. Let Catherine heal you, man.”

  Jimmy stumbled two more steps and leaned on Scout. His body was on fire and sweat smothered Scout like Jimmy just climbed out of a hot bath in hell. Jimmy’s hands fumbled over Scout. “Take care of them, Scout. Get them all home safe. You’re in charge now.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Jimmy shoved Scout into Catherine. Scout twisted in midair with the little girl in his arms. He fell hard with Catherine on top of him and without plowing his head into the concrete. His breath rushed out from the landing. He lay on his back, trying to suck in air and watched Jimmy lope sideways, zigzagging and staggering to the Escalade. Scout moved Catherine off and patted his pocket.

  Scout looked up at Ginger who was standing there staring as her departing boyfriend reached the Escalade. “He’s got the keys!”

  She snapped her attention at Scout and then whipped it back to Jimmy, who slid around to the driver’s side door and was struggling to open it. For a second, it appeared he wouldn’t be able to do it. Then he was inside and the Escalade’s engine turned over with a deep rumble.

  “No!” Ginger sprinted for the Escalade and dove into the open back hatch as the big SUV lurched forward, crashed through a corner of the wooden fence and tore through the alley out of sight. Jimmy was gone.

  Scout finally caught his breath, jumped to his feet and ran to the alley. The Escalade was nowhere in sight and with a squeal of tires, the roar of the engine quickly faded from earshot deep into the neighborhood. The surrounding space fell silent except for the singing of birds.

  “Scout, we need you over here!” Molly yelled from the garage.

  Scout ran back and found everyone huddled around Hunter’s body. Molly’s hands rested on the sides of Hunter’s head. Billy held one of Hunter’s hands and Raven held the other.

  Catherine knelt next to Billy on the right side of Hunter’s chest. She glanced at Scout with her shoulders drooped and sorrow lining her face, but he saw the determination set in her blue eyes.

  “Can you bring him back?” Scout asked.

  “He’s not that far away yet. I need all of you to help me pull him back.”

  Amidst the tears, everyone nodded. Scout took the open spot at Hunter’s feet again and grabbed hold. Losing two friends in one day was not an option he wanted to live through.

  Light flowed from Catherine’s palms and Scout bowed his head. The little girl’s power spread beneath him and brightened in blinding intensity. He tightened his eyes shut as the radiance coursed through the garage and everyone within, crackling like a livewire, pulsing with energy and force.

  Fearing for Hunter and especially for Jimmy, Scout did the only thing he could, no matter how little he thought it would help. He prayed.

  Scout asked for forgiveness for his many wrong-doings, including his absence, and then he asked for blessings upon those around him, the two that had left, and those that were back in Independents, and finally he accepted God’s will. Amen.

  The searing light hummed in a renewed crescendo, the vibration pressing against his eardrums. Once more, Scout felt the tug to his inner essence. His emotions tumbled out of control. He laughed hysterically without knowing why, and then felt crushed into the ground by grief. Unexpected sensations invaded him: the smell of summer flowers in a wide open meadow, the crunch of autumn leaves underfoot, the cold taste of winter snow on his tongue, and the patter of spring rain splashing around him. The pull of Catherine’s will, drawing more power nearly ripped him across Hunter.

  Someone cried out, but Scout couldn’t be sure who. At this point, the cry could have come from any one of them as Catherine took what she needed to heal Hunter’s broken body so his spirit could return.

  Hunter’s feet jerked with spasms like he’d been plugged into a socket. Scout thought about the things they had shared, the good and the bad, the many times they argued and fought, along with all of Hunter’s glorious crashes. They had lived through so much together, so many experiences. He wanted his best friend back and allowed Catherine access to everything he could spare to make that happen.

  A final brilliant flash clapped like an up close supernova. Total darkness doused the light. Scout fell over exhausted and passed out.

  The motorbike raced beneath her, threatening to throw her off and she wrapped her arms tighter around Hunter. She faced the coming wind as the sun’s heat lathered her skin from up high. They climbed a hill that overlooked a green valley. A solitary tree stood tall in the mid-morning sunshine, casting its shade across the valley. Hunter rolled to stop.

  Ginger drove up beside them in a yellow jeep with a rusty front bumper. Her seatbelt strapped low beneath her growing belly. Billy and Catherine were buckled in the back for safety and when Catherine saw her tree, she rocked forward like she was seized with an urgent need. If her power and ability allowed it, and Molly thought it just might, she would have teleported them the rest of the way.

  “What are we waiting for?” Molly asked, shaking Hunter’s shoulders and sharing in Catherine’s eagerness.

  Hunter twisted his head and nodded at Catherine.

  She smiled at him and pointed. “That’s it! That’s it right there! Let’s go already!”

  Hunter laughed and revved up his motorbike that drowned out the little girl’s pleading cries. He popped the clutch and guided the group the rest of the way before cutting the engine.

  “Catherine, wait!” Ginger yelled. “We haven’t stopped yet.”

  The little girl rushed past Hunter and Molly, bounding through the green grass like a deer heading for fresh berries. She hugged her tree and squealed. “Hello, tree! Did you miss me?”

  Molly hopped off the back of the big bike. Hunter swung his leg over and removed his Ray-Bans with the scratched up lenses. The scratches were worse on the left side, but the eye was no longer there to make a difference.

  Hunter walked over to the tree and threw his arms around it, pressing his cheek against the bark. “Hello, tree.”

  Molly giggled. Her boyfriend had been changed by the events in Denver. She felt blessed for everyday they were together.

  Catherine seemed very pleased. She hugged Hunter. “Thank you so much for bringing me here. I’ve missed my tree an awful lot.”

  “I know. You’ve told me.” His face tightened and he hissed in a breath. “Be careful, I’m still not a hundred percent.”

  Catherine released him and placed her tiny fists on her hips. “I wish you’d let me finish?”

  “The pain helps me remember. I want to remember.”

  Catherine wasn’t able to save his eye or the teeth that he lost in the fight. She did bring Hunter back from Death’s door and Molly was grateful for that. Nothing else really mattered, except for the price that Jimmy had paid a mile away in the front seat of the Escalade with Ginger in his arms. Hunter didn’t need the pain to remember. Molly guessed he wanted it so he didn’t feel the guilt. Jimmy wouldn’t have wanted that either, but Molly was having an impossible time convincing her stubborn boyfriend.

  Ginger waddled over with Billy holding her hand, helping her on the uneven terrain. “Catherine, how many times do I have to tell you to wait until we come to a complete stop and I turn off the car before you unbuckle?” Ginger’s maternal instincts had shif
ted into overdrive when she found out she was pregnant.

  Catherine sidled closer to Hunter. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Ginger held out her free hand and Catherine hopped over and took it.

  Molly grabbed Hunter’s hand and tugged. He pulled her close and smiled brightly at her. Her cheeks warmed all over. She loved his smile even more now. He was quite beautiful with those couple of missing teeth.

  “Tree,” Catherine said, “You remember Hunter. These are my other friends Billy, Molly, and my roommate Ginger. Ginger’s pregnant and it’s a boy!”

  “Catherine! I didn’t want to know that!”

  “You didn’t?”

  “No,” Ginger said, placing her hands protectively over her stomach. She looked down and the corners of a smile twisted up. “Is my baby really a boy?”

  Catherine stared at her with her lips pressed tightly shut. A squirrel chattered at them from a branch high above.

  Ginger looked up. “Well?”

  Catherine mumbled as she gripped the green grass between her toes.

  “Speak up. I can’t understand what you’re saying?”

  “You said you didn’t want to know.”

  Ginger glared, which was kind of funny seeing Ginger glare. She’s as threatening as a basket full of puppies.

  Billy smiled up at her. He had assigned himself her personal protector after they buried Jimmy in the corner of the cabbage field outside of Independents.

  Molly pressed her face against the tree’s rough bark. “Hello, tree.” She was submerged in happiness like she just slid into joy’s bathtub. Hunter gave her a hug when she let go and a big kiss followed.

  “You sillies sure do kiss a lot.”

  They smiled at Catherine and she looked at Billy with a giant grin on her face. Billy scooted around Ginger and hid.

  They ate lunch and talked to the tree, sharing all the news that had happened in Independents since their flight from that awful place. Two months after their return, Vanessa turned eighteen and survived. Catherine was on hand just in case, but she said that Vanessa would be okay because she was touched. Molly was thankful that she was also touched, but worried for her brother and Samuel and the others in the world. Maybe it had been selfish of Jimmy to get up and walk away just to save Hunter. Or maybe everyone followed a larger plan without knowing why.

  Scout now preached sermons every Sunday in the newly renovated church with the fresh coat of white paint. His services maintained a steady attendance that included Hunter and Molly in the front pew.

  Catherine and Billy always sat together in the balcony writing notes to each other. Billy loved to write. Hunter taught Billy how to ride a motorbike, but the boy was more excited about what Vanessa taught him at school.

  The warm sun checked into afternoon and it was time for them to leave. Everyone hugged the tree and said their goodbyes. Catherine promised to visit again real soon, with a hopeful glance at Hunter who nodded and smiled.

  Hunter started his motorbike with the blaring echo bouncing around the valley. Molly climbed up behind him and squeezed. It would be a long trip back to Independents, but she knew they would survive.

  Hunter teetered on the edge of teeth-gnashing insanity from the pain in his shoulder. Most of the time his shoulder felt numb and he was able to cope. Other times, like this one, he wanted to rip his arm right out of its socket and beat the pain to death.

  The pain sparkled as he climbed the rusty ladder to the grain elevator’s roof in Cozad, Nebraska. A mid-summer thunderstorm lashed upon him violently and sheets of water cascaded down the white concrete wall, making the climb more treacherous than he had anticipated. At least the rain provided good cover; the kid up top would be oblivious to Hunter’s approach in this mess.

  Hunter reached for the next rung and his foot slipped, his body dropped and his left arm took the weight; pain seared through his shoulder. He clamped his other arm around the ladder tightly, trembling with fear from the thought of ping ponging down the safety cage. Rain pelted the hood of his waterproof jacket, loud and harsh in unison with his terrified panting. The ground waited to catch him a hundred feet below; another hundred feet of climbing and he’d reach the top where the sniper roosted.

  Four months ago when Hunter had died, all of his cares and worries had been washed away. He was saved when his older brother, Jimmy, had made the ultimate sacrifice. That gift would be in vain if he fell now and crash-landed on his head.

  Earlier that day, Hunter had slowed his motorbike up towards Cozad, visiting as an emissary from Independents to find out if Cozad’s food crops were also fighting a disease. That’s when the shots rang out, throwing up clouds of dirt from bullet impacts. Hunter had understood the message; go away.

  Even if they had just been warning shots, he was still ticked off. Jimmy hadn’t given up his life so some yahoo could take Hunter out by accident or otherwise. Whatever the reason the kid had for scoping him with daddy’s deer rifle, he was about to learn the terrible consequence of jacking with people in the Big Bad.

  With his grit back in check, Hunter climbed the rest of the way with no more thought about his shoulder. He peeked over the top where a hundred yards of puddles collected the rain over the flat surface. Thick drops clattered the metal roof of a narrow building that ran down the middle length of the grain elevator. No one was in sight.

  Hunter stepped up and moved from the edge quickly before he was blown off like a kite in the gusty wind. He huddled against the narrow building and worked his bad shoulder, lifting up his arm and making small rotations. It still hurt, but that was expected. He could manage.

  A taller out building at the other end of the grain elevator was barely visible through the curtain of rain. Maybe the sniper was inside cleaning his gun? Or maybe the kid went home at night? And maybe Hunter would just have to wait till morning before teaching his lesson? He’d been through worse weather out in the open.

  Hunter caught a rotten whiff and pinched his nose. Whatever remained in the grain elevator had definitely turned. He crept alongside and peered with his left eye into the window of the lower building and saw only darkness. He lost his left eye the day he had lost his brother. He’d gotten used to the change of depth perception, but still struggled with the absence of Jimmy. That was going to take awhile.

  He closed within fifty feet of the other end where a dark form huddled on the edge. A loud, thunder-like crack reverberated around the top of the elevator. Hunter saw the brief fire-flash and realized he’d been shot as the bullet ripped through his stomach and knocked him back against the building. He lifted up his shirt in startled amazement. The bullet hole closed without one drop of blood escaping.

  When Hunter had been beaten to death, like the broken, bleeding and checking out for good kind of whooping, the ultimate sacrifice his brother had made involved Hunter being healed by a little girl named Catherine. Right then, Hunter thought the healing had some residual affect. Cool for him, bad news for whoever just shot him.

  He advanced on the sniper and another shot fired, catching Hunter in the bad shoulder and spinning him to the ground. Hunter landed in a giant puddle and screamed in pain for one excruciating moment before the pain ceased. His shoulder reverted back to its normal dull ache, with no blood and no hole from the bullet’s entry or exit. The only thing he felt was a blood boiling desire to kill.

  Hunter leapt to his feet and sprinted for the kid, but something wasn’t right. He skidded to a stop on the wet roof and wiped water from his eye. The boy’s clothes were drenched and his exposed skin rippled like ever changing waves on a pond; he stared at Hunter with milky eyes and a tail swished behind his back.

  “You!” the thing hissed. “How did you get here? You won’t stop my master.”

  Hunter wiped his eye again. Sure enough, he’d been shot by some kind of gun-toting demon-kid. If little girls can heal people back from the dead and some kid can unleash a plague that kills every adult around the world, then demons—why not. Hunter looked up for
a guardian angle and was rewarded with a drop of water in his eye.

  “You just shot me, twice.” He poked his belly, then his shoulder and frowned at the holes in his jacket. “Look at what you did to my brand-new coat!”

  “That is nothing compared to what my master will do. He will rend your flesh and eat because he hungers. He always hungers.”

  “Sounds like your buddy needs a pizza. Sorry, I don’t deliver. How about you drop the gun and go tell your master we got enough troubles without his baggage weighing us down.”

  The creature rushed for Hunter, wielding the rifle like a club. Hunter ducked as the swing cut through the rain above his head, and he lifted the thing up, plowing it against the metal building where a nice demon-shaped impression was left.

  The demon sank its teeth into Hunter’s bad shoulder and tore away a bloody chunk of skin. Hunter screamed, more from horror than the quickly subsiding pain. Again his body healed but now he had an even bigger hole in his jacket.

  He gripped the thing by the throat and bashed it in the face repeatedly before releasing it with a final punch. The little demon scrambled away from the sudden fury, but Hunter yanked hard on its cable-like tail and started kicking.

  “You ruined my brand-new coat my girlfriend made me. Now I’m going to hear all kinds of crap about how I never appreciate anything she does for me. Why couldn’t you just be some normal tool instead of a freak show?”

  Hunter dragged the monster to the edge. He gripped the back of the demon’s shirt and lifted. The rain pounding down on him washed away some of the madness, and Hunter hesitated. With inhuman speed, the creature bounded off the ground, flipped behind Hunter and shoved him from the roof. Hunter caught the edge and his shoulder popped. Dangling and barely hanging on, he watched the demon pace above in quick, tight circles. It smiled and its forked tongue lashed out, flicking blood at Hunter.

  “You haven’t found your wings. The fall won’t kill you, but it will hurt.”