Strays

by Justin Kassab

  She just had to keep the devil at bay.

  * * *

  Kade and Jem lifted a large beam that used to support a deck out of the driveway. Jem’s ear-to-ear grin hadn’t left his face since he rejoined Kade.

  Yuzuki and Mick were grabbing a quick sleep while Kade and Jem cleared the path. That would allow Jem and Kade to nap during the first part of the drive, assuming everything went smoothly.

  They dropped the beam into the alleyway. Soot covered Kade’s white shirt.

  “Might be the most dressed up I’ve ever seen you,” Jem said as they headed back for the next pillar.

  Kade just nodded. He couldn’t stop thinking about the possible outcome of sex. Tiny was pregnant. He was going to have a kid.

  “Did you use protection?” Kade blurted out.

  They grabbed opposite ends of the next pillar and hoisted it.

  “I forgot my condoms back in the POW camp,” Jem said.

  Scooting along, they shuffled the pillar clear.

  “What if she had something?”

  “You’re sounding like my mom. I think I have bigger things to worry about than herpes right now,” Jem said.

  “Herpes is for life, and so are babies.”

  Jem dropped his end of the pillar. The thud echoed through the ghost town.

  “What is up with you? Isn’t this the part where you are supposed to high-five me for breaking my months-long slump? This is the first time I had any since my going-away party. I expect this stuff from Mick, not from you.”

  “Just . . . in your condition, should you even be doing that right now? Look at you—you’re like some modern art exhibit.” Kade dropped the pillar.

  Jem clenched his fists, then slowly relaxed his hands. “Am I in pain? Yes. Breathing hurts. Moving these beams hurts. Everything I do hurts. But hurting is a lot better than being dead. For the past week I’ve been thinking I was going to die any minute. I didn’t think I could be saved. I didn’t think I would be saved. Now here I am, still living. Yuzuki and I both needed something to remind us we’re living. Maybe this isn’t what you’d have done, but it’s what I needed to do.”

  “Sorry, bud, I am happy for you. She is more than welcome to stay with us in Houghton.”

  “Kade, this wasn’t about feelings. We were both so grateful to be alive. That being said, she is resourceful, so I hope she stays,” Jem said.

  “Wasn’t trying to push her on you,” Kade said.

  “And if she did have a kid and I was aware of it, I’d raise it. That’s what normal people do,” Jem said.

  Kade turned his back to hide his face, but made it look like he was going for the next pillar. The only issue was they had just moved the last one. He searched for something to make himself look busy.

  He spotted a hose. They still needed to syphon gas. Picking up the end of the hose, he reached for his sword to cut himself a length, but the sword wasn’t there. The hose became the scapegoat of all his emotion as he whipped it off the side of the house.

  “Shit,” Jem said. “She’s pregnant, isn’t she?”

  “That’s what Zack said. Tiny hasn’t told me yet,” Kade said, pressing his forehead against the brick siding.

  Tiny should have been back in Houghton by now, where she should have enough medical attention not to be in any danger. He’d have to bring her the bad news about Zack, the man who had saved all of their lives—even harder than telling her that he knew she was pregnant.

  Jem leaned his back against the wall next to Kade. “Talk to me, Goose.”

  “I’m shit-my-pants scared,” Kade said, feeling a lump catch in his throat.

  “It isn’t what you planned, but you’re going to be a dad. You’ve got to be at least a little bit excited?” Jem said.

  “Dying aside, who says I’ll even be a good dad to her?”

  “Her?” Jem asked.

  “If it’s a girl, she’ll have Huntington’s,” Kade said.

  Jem put a hand on Kade’s shoulder. “You’ve taken care of all of us for as long as I can remember. You’re going to be a great father.”

  Kade choked on the lump and tears flowed down his cheeks. “I’ve got five years left—if I’m really lucky, ten. She won’t even remember me.”

  “Now, that one I have to call bullshit on. You’re Jesus, we’re the apostles. Even if she doesn’t get you for long, she’ll still know you. Your legacy will continue as long as any one of us is still breathing. Come with me. I know what you need,” Jem said.

  Kade followed Jem around the corner and into the town house. They were as quiet as they could be as they passed Mick on the pullout couch on the first floor and Yuzuki on the couch on the second. Entering the kitchen, Jem turned the small TV on the counter toward the two-chaired breakfast table.

  “Sit,” Jem ordered.

  Kade did as he was told, and watched Jem retrieve the six-pack from the trash bag. He pulled out a bottle and positioned the cap on the granite countertop. With a swift hit he knocked the cap free. He repeated the process with a second bottle, then brought both of them to the table. Kade took one of the beers, and they clicked bottles before taking a swig.

  “My favorite kind of beer—the type with alcohol,” Kade said.

  “Shhh, you’re going to miss the movie,” Jem said.

  Kade stared at the blank TV screen. They had no electricity. He looked at Jem, who was leaning back in his chair watching the TV like it was magnetized. The possibility that Jem wasn’t recovered from his drug trip crossed Kade’s mind.

  Then Kade smiled. He understood. They were watching their favorite movie that had marked every important occasion of their lives. The same one with the alien robots they had watched the day Jem left with the National Guard. The same one that Kade had finally understood after his fight with Sarge.

  He knew they should be preparing to leave, but Jem was right. This was what he needed. Taking a swig of his beer, he watched the opening titles.

  * * *

  Ashton was getting them close to Houghton. On two occasions their pursuers had rammed their rear end, but John was able to deter them with a bullet through the windshield. Sadly, he hadn’t been able to hit the people inside. Ashton was getting the idea that their pursuers were just waiting for John to run out of bullets, which wouldn’t be much longer at this point.

  “Franklin, I’m going to need you to call for help,” Ashton said, and the kid pulled the walkie from her belt. He kept his left hand on the gearshift and used the walkie with his right.

  “Ashton, John, and I are in trouble.”

  “You could make it sound a little more dire,” Ashton said, amused by the kid’s matter-of-fact delivery.

  Her amusement disappeared as the plow rammed into them again. Judging by the absence of gunshots, John’s gun must have been empty. She was beginning to wonder why no one had answered them yet when the walkie chimed.

  The voice belonged to Emma. “What’s wrong?”

  Emma, Grace, Victoria, Damian, Wright, and an unconscious Meredith. Ashton was leading two lions straight to a flock of lambs. Grace was tough, but she wasn’t a warrior like Tiny. Victoria was the most threatening of all, and she was hardly someone Ashton wanted to take into a fight.

  “We’re being chased by two people in a truck. We are out of ammo, and I think Miss Ashton has a broken arm,” Franklin said.

  “How far away are you?”

  Franklin looked to Ashton for the answer and then relayed that they had about four minutes until they reached the last bridge. Emma told them to stay their course. When Ashton tried to pass more details to Emma through Franklin, no one responded.

  She gave up trying when John tapped on her window. Propping the wheel with her knee, she lowered the window.

  “Next time they get close, I’m going to board them,” John shouted over the rushing wind.

  “You’re not a pirate. Just stay down. Home knows we’re coming,” Ashton replied.

  “I think we have a better chance if I board the
m,” John shouted back.

  Though Ashton didn’t disagree, she didn’t see that plan working out for John. Back on campus, they would have more options and could get their pursuers to make a mistake.

  “Hang tight,” Ashton ordered as they approached the slalom of cars.

  Their fate now rested solely in her hands since they wouldn’t need to shift through the slalom. She swung the truck side to side, dodging cars and keeping a steady rhythm.

  They emerged out of the first set of blockers, and she swung the truck as close to the bridge as she could before they entered the second obstacle course of cars. Just passing the first car in the second set, she saw sparks fly all around the devil car as it skidded out of control, plowing into the car Ashton had just passed.

  When she saw a man wearing a black cowboy hat heading for the hell-spawned truck, she lost all focus on driving, and even though Franklin attempted to keep them downshifting, she was no longer using the clutch. They sputtered to a stop.

  She threw her door open and hopped out, and was immediately reminded of her injuries. Catching her breath, she hobbled toward the wreck. John landed beside her and looked torn between helping her and getting into the fight.

  There was no mistaking the cowboy. Xavier, her dark knight, had come to rescue her again.

  John put a shoulder under Ashton’s good side and helped prop her up.

  “Oh no,” John said as his face went white. Ashton followed his eyes to where Emma was perched on the bridge with a rifle. John’s eyes never left the end of Emma’s gun. Emma fired at the truck, and the windshield exploded in a spray of blood and matter.

  The passenger door flew open, and the man with the Red Sox hat ran out, trying to put distance between himself and X. It was no use. X leapt onto the back of the truck, used the winch as a swing, and landed right behind the man. John moved Ashton to cover behind the car, but she made sure she could see X. His bladed knuckles were already donned when he lunged for the man, sinking the curved blade into his back. The two toppled to the ground, and X pulled the bloodied blade clear. He turned the man’s head to the side and delivered a solid blow with the spiked knuckles.

  “You. Do not. Fuck with. My girlfriend.”

  The final blow ripped the flesh and shattered the bones in the man’s face, leaving no trace of his features. X left the body and rushed over to Ashton.

  “Was that all of them?” X asked, taking Ashton from John.

  “Yes,” John replied.

  “I’m going to take her back. Can you clean this mess up?” X asked.

  Ashton wanted to protest, but she needed to be examined. Even if he did just save her, she wasn’t ready to forgive X. He had left her, after all.

  “Yes, sir,” John said.

  “Thanks. When you finish, come find me.” X helped Ashton back toward Lambian, while Emma went to help John and Franklin.

  The entire way back X tried to talk to Ashton, but she ignored him. Giving him the silent treatment was difficult since she wanted to know what had happened with his mission but, she thought, she could find that out from someone she didn’t want to harm.

  X was persistent, trying to talk to her until she was laid in the gurney. Ashton hoped she might be able to get the information she wanted at the top of the pulley, but when she was hauled through the window, it was by Grace and X, and she intended to keep her vow of silence. Grace and X each took a shoulder and assisted her to the medbay while Fenris and Rex stood in the doorway, watching the procession.

  “Did you get your tongue cut out?” Grace asked after X concluded his one-sided tirade of apologies.

  “No, I’m just not talking to X,” Ashton said.

  “Then X, can you stop trying until she forgives you? It’s annoying,” Grace said.

  “Can you just tell her—”

  “No,” Grace replied as they entered the room they used for their medbay.

  Ashton’s excitement made her forget about her pain when she set eyes on Tiny. She pushed away from Grace and X, hoping to get answers, but then realized Tiny was a patient, not the doctor. Tiny was sleeping heavily on one of the white-sheeted beds, her chest clad in just a sports bra. Her side was covered with a reusable cold compress, but all around it was a deep purple bruise that resembled a blooming violet.

  “What happened?” Ashton asked. Her injuries struck back with more pain than she’d ever remembered. The shock caused her to stumble forward, but X, her ever-watchful guardian, caught her under her good arm and supported her.

  Number Five, who had been making up the second bed, was the one to answer her in a whisper. “She has a concussion. It would be best not to stimulate her.”

  X guided Ashton to the second bed, and she remembered the last time the two of them had been in this room. It was the first time the man she loved had informed her of his feelings. Ashton felt bad about her chilly resolve, but she had told him when he left he couldn’t expect her to just be waiting for him upon his return. If she caved in now, it would prove the threat empty.

  He helped her get situated, then went to the doorway. “Can you let me know what her injuries are?”

  “I’ll keep you updated,” Number Five said.

  X tipped his hat, took one last look at Ashton, and then left the room.

  “Would you like me to stay with you?” Grace asked, but Ashton shook her head.

  Grace followed X out the door, leaving Ashton alone with Number Five and Tiny.

  “Is Kade back? Did they save Jem and Mick?” Ashton whispered.

  Number Five went over to the dresser and jotted something down on a notepad. “Why don’t you tell me what happened to you?”

  She showed the notepad to Ashton. Drew dead. Zack captured. Tiny shot. X and I sent back with her. Kade still trying. Don’t say anything.

  Ashton looked up from the paper wanting to ask more, but Number Five turned her eyes across the room to Tiny. Fury boiled inside Ashton. If she hadn’t been so stubborn, X could have filled her in before she was in the room with Tiny. Now she was stuck in silence, with more questions than answers. The only thing she could do was get her wounds mended.

  “I got hit with a metal bar. I think my arm is broken, and a few of my ribs aren’t feeling friendly,” Ashton said.

  Number Five inspected her and went about testing the damage, all while Ashton wondered where her brother was and if he was still alive.

  * * *

  Alpha lay with Pepper in his normal hiding spot under the deck of his winter home. Between defending his spot and the run-in with the others, he had lost nearly half his pack. Fewer members meant they needed to find less food, but they also only had half the hunters.

  He needed to strengthen his pack, which would be dangerous. He’d soon have to patrol a larger area looking for small packs to induct—which was a risk because it would involve leaving Beta behind and in charge. The one thing he did have going for him was Pepper. He knew he could count on her loyalty and, occasionally, her judgment over his own. The feelings he had for her were very different than they were for any other pack member. She was different to him, but he wasn’t sure how.

  Chapter X

  Vanessa P.

  Kade wanted to sleep, but the seat in the Jeep felt worse than a bed of rocks. The Jeep looked large from the outside, but the seats had almost no mobility and were tightly cramped. Jem didn’t seem to have the same problem and was snoring in the next seat over.

  After they finished the movie, the two had salvaged as much gas as they could from the other town houses. Their main issue wasn’t the gas, but a lack of containers. They had a total of six gallons stored among a five- and a one-gallon container. They debated whether or not to use containers not suited for carrying gas, but in the end they decided it would be safer to find a refilling area than risk destroying the engine.

  They had a dinner of soup, rice, and Gatorade. Kade hadn’t realized that he hadn’t eaten since he started his walk-up-to-the-front-door plan. They ended up eating every ounce of s
oup and the last grain of rice. He knew that, in all of their states of deprivation, eating that much was a risk, but they would likely have eaten him for dinner if he’d tried to stop them.

  The trip had been slow so far. The entire city had been wrecked, so they were constantly avoiding debris and having to find ways around blocked routes. Their gas supplies were hardly enough to get halfway home without detours.

  “Stop the car,” Yuzuki said.

  Mick did as she said and parked the car in the center of the road. That’s when Kade heard the whooping of the helicopter.

  “I thought you said that was a once-a-day thing,” Kade said.

  “The patrol is, but if you didn’t notice they lost a few prisoners recently,” Yuzuki said.

  They watched as the helicopter passed above the city.

  “I can’t believe they’d waste this much fuel on us,” Jem said, having been awakened by the quick stop. “They are doing low, fast passes—means they have an idea where we are, but not exactly where. We can wait it out and hope they don’t stop, or we can give them something to look at.”

  “What would draw their attention?” Kade asked.

  “Sound and motion do a pretty good job,” Jem said.

  “I know just the trick. Jem, Kade, with me. Mick, keep the car running,” Yuzuki said.

  “You’re aware I am burning a ton of gas not moving,” Mick replied.

  “Keep it running,” Yuzuki repeated as she drew the bottle of vodka out of the bag. Kade grabbed his Dora pack, and the three got out of the Jeep.

  Yuzuki took off running; Kade and Jem chased after her. They rounded a block and cut through a burned-out building, then emerged into an open lot that housed a two-story cinder block building. Half of it was nothing more than strewn rubble, but the half still standing had two large bay garage doors.

  Yuzuki took them through the rubble and into the still-intact garage of what was once a firehouse. The entire garage looked like it had puked all of its contents inward.