There Where the Power Lies (Monster of the Apocalypse Saga Book 2)

by C. Martens

  Randy valued that the young man made the effort. She knew that as time passed there would be one of two outcomes. Better to get the issue out and decided early. She was pretty sure that things would be fine with Em, but if they were not she would kick him out.

  Breakfast was pleasant, and both expanded on what they had already learned of each other. The apples proved to be delicious after the worms were removed.

  §

  The plate at the feet of the thin man was emptied. No one had fed him, so either he had eaten or there was something wandering around that they did not know about. Everyone was glad to see the empty plate. After several days of leaving evening meals at his feet, he seemed healthier. One day he rose and followed Becca as she went to her apartment. She showed him into one of the vacant apartments across the hall and left him there. The next day he was sitting in his usual spot, eyes vacant, but he was clean, and his clothing had been washed. The suit was wrinkled and looked like it had dried on him. They would leave his food at his feet, and it would be gone in the mornings. The door to the apartment was left unlocked, and although no one saw him use it, he remained clean. But he never did anything during the day except stare into space.

  There were chores assigned but mainly a lot of time to fill. The big dozer operator disappeared every day, most times to his project. Otherwise he invited someone to accompany him on what he termed “a shopping trip.” That would happen at least twice a week, and Emmett and Randy were his preferred companions, followed occasionally by Becca.

  Becca had been taking the morning shift at the security position. After Emmett arrived he started to call it “the guard tower,” and the name stuck.

  Emmett took over mornings from Becca, and she was freed to do other things. That meant he was on guard until one and Randy until seven, so they had to beg Becca to take a shift if they ever wanted to forage together. They developed a routine to bribe her with something they found on returning so she would indulge them, and she did, grudgingly to all appearances. They did not see how she smiled as she turned away with her loot. She was training them well.

  The land behind the parking lot was empty. Soon to be developed, it was in the preliminary stage of construction. The place had just been fenced. Not security fencing, it was still eight feet high. The enclosure was probably close to ten acres all told, and Emmett decided to prepare the area for the horses.

  Emmett found a big water trough at a farm supply on the edge of town. He also found an industrial tanker truck meant to keep dust down on construction sites. He emptied the tank, refilled it with fresh water, and then plumbed it to automatically fill the trough. Between the tank and the naturally occurring vegetation inside the fence, the horses were protected and supplied with the necessities. The farm supply provided extras like some bagged feeds, but Emmett was sparing in their use. He did not want to founder his ponies.

  Two more kids were discovered. They were hard to entice, having gone feral it seemed. Eventually, Randy hit upon a solution to their apprehensions. She started to read aloud from children’s books in a place they were known to frequent. Trying to be consistent, she would show up every day at the same time and read for an hour. The reading worked where candy and other sweets had not. The kids knew how to forage, too.

  They had survived perhaps because they had found each other. The boys were close to the same age, but they were very different in size. The big one had glasses and hung back while the small one approached. Once the kid made contact, curling up under Randy’s arm to listen, the big kid came out and did the same under the other one. They were starved but not for food. Leading them by the hand, they both tried to break away as they were led into the common room where everyone was gathered. The little one made it but stopped as his friend was detained in Randy’s embrace. She calmed him and turned to the small one, beckoning. He looked at the door she was obviously inviting him to enter, the one with people inside…strangers. Gradually he crept to her, and with his arms around her waist, he allowed himself to be pulled inside.

  Within days they seemed comfortable. They introduced themselves as Chet, the big one, and Cash.

  One day the thin man was found slumped onto the floor. There was a kitchen knife in his chest, and he was dead. The smaller newcomer would not look at him, although he had seemed interested in him before. He had even been reprimanded for shooting spitwads at him.

  Pretty sure that the kid had done it, Emmett considered what to do. Preparing a dinner plate for Randy and inviting himself to follow Brody so they could all talk together in the guard tower, he intended to voice his concerns.

  Small talk led to what they were all concerned with.

  “Look,” Emmett addressed them both, “I know the kid’s little, but he’s got a mean streak. You’ve seen it.”

  “Isn’t that normal, though, for a boy?” Looking troubled, Randy had a frown.

  Brody had just eaten, but he looked at Randy’s plate with greedy eyes. “Yeah, kids’re cruel. An ‘specially boys. This’un seems to have more’n ‘is fair share o’that.”

  Emmett doubted the others understood completely, and he expanded on his thoughts. “You can see him thinking about it. The kid’s wicked smart, and he looks at something and weighs whether he can make trouble or not and get away with it. Then he does it anyway. He’s not afraid of any consequences. It’s scary.”

  “Aw, c’mon. He’s not that bad.” Emmett had expected Randy to defend the child, but Brody was. “The lil’ guy was on ‘is own for months. There’s plenty o’time for ‘imta come roun’, an he will. Sure he gets inta trouble, but he’ll work stuff out.”

  Randy looked thoughtful as she spooned beans. “He is a little hell raiser. No doubt. He’s mean to Chet, too. I caught him kicking Chet in the butt, and Chet was on the verge of crying. It seemed like Cash was egging him on and wanted to see him cry. He’s cruel, but he waits until there aren’t any witnesses most of the time. He’s like a little dog that likes to torture a bigger dog and show it that he’s the boss.”

  “Geeze, guys, I’ve seen’im do’in stuff, but are ya sayin’ that he’s dangerous?” The big guy shifted in his seat. He looked troubled.

  “Yeah, Bro, exactly. Who do you think stuck the guy in the suit?” Emmett finally said it.

  “Whoa, there buddy. Whut’er ya sayin’?” Brody seemed surprised. “You think th’kid did it?”

  “Well, I don’t think the guy did it to himself, and who else would do it? The guy never insulted anyone. The only thing he did was eat what we didn’t, and he didn’t even eat all of that.”

  “There’s a long way between a kid being mean and being a murderer,” enjoined Randy. “He’s a kid. Are we going to condemn him without any evidence?”

  Starting to feel like he was trying to punch his way out of a paper bag, Emmett considered. He had planted a seed maybe, and his friends were only going to get defensive if he continued. Not wanting to drive any wedges into his relationships, he backed off. He was dismayed that they were in an automatic protective mode. They sounded like parents and the kind that would not hold their children responsible for their actions. They were acting like they were in a normal world and that this kid deserved every advantage. Emmett knew otherwise. His friends might think him harsh, but if the kid killed, Emmett would suggest that he be cut loose. They lived in a new world, and even that much empathy for a murderer of any age seemed strange. A kid growing up being a killer would be a problem in the future to others. What really surprised him was the former cop. This was the guy that had set up security for fear of what they would find in this lawless world. He was the one insisting on caution even though there were weeks, even months, between sightings of others, but he was turning a blind eye to a danger in-house.

  The conversation turned to other things, and Emmett decided to watch the kid.

  §

  A month passed. There were daily activities and no great tragedies, and as Emmett watched, the level of his apprehension increased.

 
Cash knew he was being watched. If he was careful, Emmett would catch the kid doing things on the sly. He tortured Chet without mercy. He even found a way to pick at the bigger kids. He would finagle a way for them to be aggressive toward him, defending themselves, but adults would never show up until the teenagers looked like they were abusing him. Then, they would get in trouble. Pretty soon they were avoiding him.

  Taking Sugar to ride the pinto often, Emmett caught Cash peering from hiding at what they were doing. The little girl had so far managed to be free of Cash’s machinations. She was always with an adult. Worried that Cash was intending harm to the horses, Emmett always made sure the gate was chained, and he foraged a lock and used it.

  The relationship between Randy and Emmett seemed strained. In the apartment, Emmett had mentioned the Cash situation again, just in passing, and his roomie looked at him strangely and was quiet around him later. The silence passed in a few days, but he was careful about what he said after that.

  One day, as he made his way to the horses after breakfast, he found the gate open. The two larger horses were placidly eating close to the gate where the tall grass grew, but the pinto was missing. Emmett wasted no time, and after corralling the bay inside the fence, he leapt to the bare back of the dun and started searching.

  Hearing his horse from a distance, Emmett jumped off the dun and threw the reins to the ground. He approached on foot. He wanted to catch the kid in the act, and he did.

  The little pinto was tied inside an enclosure meant to hide a dumpster. There was nowhere for him to go as Cash threw rocks at him. Worse, the rope was tied so the pony was sideways to the onslaught. His left side was taking a pounding. A broken stick lay on the ground.

  Surprising the kid, intent on what he was doing to the horse, Emmett grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. His anger boiled from him in great waves. His face was burning. This little beast was going to learn a lesson today. He picked the kid up and tore the shirt from his back. Cash screamed as he was carried toward the restaurant that belonged to the dumpster enclosure. A big bush, full of long, slender branches, loomed. It had exactly what Emmett had in mind.

  When Emmett returned, Brody was waiting for him. Cash had come home screaming, and the stripes on his back spoke for themselves. The cook and matriarch of the group, Becca, was there, too. They both lit into Emmett verbally, and the big man looked like he might physically as well. Emmett knew that Becca would, except her arms were occupied providing comfort to Cash. Every time she looked down at Cash, he howled, but when he put his head into her breast, the kid would look at Emmett with his exposed eye, and he was clearly gloating. He knew exactly what he was doing.

  Spinning around, Emmett marched from the room. They did not understand and were not in any mood to try.

  The little pinto gelding was where he had been left, tied to the fence. His head hung in dejection. Intending to wash his wounds and provide what comfort he could, Emmett had left him to get some water and rags from the kitchen. Now the young man picked up the lead rope and marched back into the apartment building, leading the pony. By this time Jered and Randy were there with the teenagers and Sugar. As Emmett and the horse gained the entry, there were loud voices. He did not try to decipher what they said. He was livid.

  The group was surprised as Emmett entered with the gelding. There were places horses were expected and places they were not. The dining area was a place not expected.

  Brody launched at him. His anger had grown with time.

  Jered stepped in front of Emmett in protection. Emmett was surprised, and so was Brody. It stopped him for the moment.

  Randy inserted herself as well, providing a phalanx of protection. As Brody stepped back, she turned to Emmett with anger.

  Before she got a word out, she gasped. The blood dripping from the pinto’s eye and down his nose to trickle to the floor stunned her. She moved forward and laid her hands over the many cuts, staying airborne, afraid to touch them. She was suddenly moved to tears and whirled on the kid that was enveloped in Becca’s arms.

  She screamed, “You little piece of shit! What kind of a monster are you? What did this animal ever do to you?” She was furious, her rage transferred to Cash.

  It was Jered’s turn to reach out and hold her by the arm. Otherwise she might have rushed the kid, regardless of Becca.

  Rising and carrying the boy, Becca exited the room. She was going to protect the boy.

  In recognizing what had set Randy off, Brody stepped forward and started to look closely at the little horse’s injuries. He questioned Emmett about the circumstances and made sure he understood that the kid had been caught in the act. Still, he seemed dubious.

  After that day relationships were strained. Every once in a while the kid would act like he was afraid of Emmett, running to Becca when Brody was there to see. By the end of another week, Emmett decided to move on. Cash was in control, and Emmett knew it.

  He told Randy one evening as they sat on the balcony, watching the road over a glass of wine. Surprised but understanding, Randy asked if he would mind some company.

  His turn to be surprised, Emmett was glad to accept. They spoke at length that evening, and Randy admitted that her previous silent treatment was because she felt conflicted and guilty over agreeing with his assessment of Cash. Her thoughts had not felt right to her emotionally, to be against a child, but for some reason they felt right intellectually.

  The next day they spent preparing after a short discussion about the mode of transportation. Randy suggested that they could turn the horses loose and make better time with a vehicle.

  “I’m just sayin’, there are other horses.” Randy looked at Emmett quizzically.

  The newly anointed horse owner balked, “Not for me. That little pinto saved my life. If it wasn’t for him, I might have taken a long swim.”

  Randy knew what that meant.

  “Well, then, how about we find a big rig and a trailer? We could be in Seattle in less than a day.”

  “If that’s what it takes to keep you interested,” Emmett prompted her, “then we can do that. But what’s your hurry? We’d just miss everything…just like we did ‘before.’ Remember? ‘Before’ we were always in a hurry because we had jobs, or school, or family expecting things of us. We were piled up with garbage that really didn’t matter, and we forgot to see what was around us. That’s another thing that little pony did for me. He changed my priorities. You want to hurry? Fine, we can do that. Or we can be on vacation until we get there.”

  The wisdom behind the words hit Randy between the eyes. It was her turn to have a shift in her perspective. She asked for some time to think about it.

  “Sure, Randy, no problem,” He leaned back in his chair on the balcony, grinning. “Just think about it. What did you used to do for fun? I mean, ‘before.’”

  In the morning the young woman woke and lay in bed thinking. She already had her answer, but the fun part was the anticipation. Adventure awaited, and Randy was one to always wonder what was around the next corner.

  There were some used saddles in a store they had come to know, and although there was a new one that Randy fell in love with, she took Emmett’s advice and chose one with some wear. After a few days she would be glad of the choice because her butt hurt enough with the old one.

  The next day they left, Emmett up on the bay with Joe following closely and Randy on the dun. Everyone gathered, and all but Becca and Cash offered their good wishes. Jered pressed a tied bundle into Emmett’s hand. Opening it, they found hard candy caramels.

  §

  Within the month two women wandered in to the apartments and the group remaining. One was about forty and was caring for the unrelated, much older one who appeared to have some mental issues. No one was sure what those issues were, but she had symptoms of mild dementia. She became the babysitter when needed.

  There was a project that Becca wanted done, and she needed help. Everyone except the old woman and the three children would
participate. Realizing that he would be left behind, Chet begged to come along. He had proven to be helpful because of his size before, and so Becca allowed it.

  When they got home with a box truck full of furniture to fill the apartments, the old woman had lost track of the kids.

  Brody found Sugar’s body next to the building with Cash alongside. He was leaning over her and looking closely at her face as Brody turned the corner. Surprised, Cash quickly sat, picking up one of her hands and started to bawl.

  Brody had been watching him with a different perspective since the horse incident. He picked the kid up and slung him over his shoulder, carrying him like a sack of grain to his truck. Cash screamed as he realized that he was not going inside to be comforted and to work the crowd.

  He was crying for real as he lied. “She fell, I swear she fell! She was playing on the railing! I didn’t touch her, I swear!” He gulped air as he panicked. “Becca! Becca! Don’t let him take me!”

  Opening the truck door, Brody fairly threw Cash into the cab. The kid tried to claw his way to the other side but the big man was too quick for him. He never made it to the door.

  They drove off as Brody held the screaming kid down.

  That evening, after he got back, Brody got out his gun oil and the rags. He cleaned the ankle gun first.

  Within a short time the group dissolved. One stayed behind, the cook, Becca. She made it clear that she preferred to be left hanging.

  The three drones that had been monitoring the group split up, each following different individuals and their paths. They communicated the death of the small female and the disappearance of the juvenile male and being inhuman made the assumption that the male child would be picked up soon on other cameras in the area.

  Chapter 24

  Allowing Emmett to direct their path, Randy concentrated on her horsemanship. She had not ridden for quite a while and never seriously.