by Harley Tate
“I could have helped. Done something.”
“You have a cure for cancer?”
Dani dropped her gaze. “I could have made you more comfortable.”
Gran squeezed her hand. The gesture was feeble, but it meant so much. “I love you, Danielle. I’m sorry I haven’t always been there for you.”
“Gran, stop it. You’re here now.”
Her grandmother swallowed and closed her eyes. “Not for long.”
“What?” Dani leaned closer. “Gran, no!” Clutching her grandmother’s hands, Dani leaned closer.
Her grandmother fixed her eyes on Dani, fierce and bright beneath her wrinkled brow. “Be careful, Dani.”
Dani blinked. “What?”
Her grandmother’s voice dipped lower, turning almost guttural as she ground the words out. “Your mother can’t be trusted. Neither can these men. Find Colt. You can trust him.” She exhaled and a calmness came over her. “He’s a good man, Danielle. Like my Ricky.”
Dani opened her mouth to ask what Gran meant, but the old woman collapsed back onto the bed, her breathing labored and shallow. Spinning around, Dani found the soldier standing beside the door, more guard than anything.
“There’s something wrong! Call a doctor.”
The soldier didn’t move.
“Didn’t you hear me? She’s sick. She can barely breathe. Call a doctor!”
He cast a lazy glance in her direction. “There’s no doctor available.”
“That’s ridiculous. The army transferred her here so she would have better care. There has to be a doctor.”
The soldier exhaled and finally looked her way. “No doctor can help her. The only people who get sent to this part of the hospital are ones who don’t make it out. The higher-ups don’t want to waste the power on them.”
Dani’s eyes widened as she stared at him. The whole thing had been a lie? They weren’t going to help Gran get better? Dani spun back around to face the only woman who mattered in her life.
She looked so peaceful on the bed, eyes closed, lips curved in a slight smile. Dani leaned forward. “Gran? Gran are you all right?”
When her grandmother’s eyes didn’t flutter and her lips didn’t move, Dani leaned closer, practically crawling on top of the bed to feel her grandmother’s breath. There wasn’t any.
No. No way. This isn’t happening.
Dani grabbed her grandmother by the shoulders and shook, gently at first, then harder and harder until the old woman’s head wobbled around like a bobblehead on a runaway car’s dash.
“No, Gran. No! I need you.” A cry tore from Dani’s lips, rising up her throat like a freight train full of grief and sadness. Gran couldn’t leave. She couldn’t leave her all alone with no one but her mother.
She shook her again, messing up her grandmother’s hair, tossing her lifeless hands about the bed. But it was no use. Gran was gone.
Dani choked out a sob and took hold of the roll bars on the bed to clamber over the side. She made room for herself next to Gran. Her body was still warm. Dani snuggled in so close.
Her tears ran over her cheeks and onto the sheets, soaking them as she held onto Gran’s arm. Dani cried and cried until there weren’t any tears left in her body. She didn’t know why the soldier left her there, clutching at her grandmother like she could will her back to life, but Dani didn’t care.
She wouldn’t leave until someone dragged her away. Dani could pretend they were sleeping like they used to do on the couch in the living room after her mother had gone away. All those nights when Dani never slept because she couldn’t trust the night.
The night was when the monsters came. When her mother’s boyfriend showed up and pumped her full of drugs and chased Dani around the house.
Dani closed her eyes. She would take a little nap and they would both wake up. It was all just a nightmare.
Memories of being very small and curling up just like she did now filled her mind. Little snapshots of a time before she understood life….
The smaller she curled up, the harder she was to find.
Dani closed her eyes tight, squeezing until colors danced across the blackness. If she lay very still, the monsters couldn’t find her. Small and quiet like a little mouse. She could ignore the rumble in her belly, the thirst down the back of her throat, the things that crawled across her legs in the dark.
Hide, Dani, hide.
She twisted even tighter, knees bumping her chest, arms wrapped like wires around her shins. Don’t cry. Don’t even breathe.
“Dani!”
Her mother couldn’t find her.
“Dani!”
She wouldn’t find her. Not today.
“Dani!” Hands gripped her shoulders and hauled her up. Dani lashed out, screaming and punching. They wouldn’t take her. They wouldn’t.
“She’s dead, Danielle!”
Dani blinked her swollen eyes open. She wasn’t a little girl anymore, hiding in the back of her closet. She was fifteen and the only woman who ever loved her was gone.
A soldier dragged her off the bed and tossed her into a vacant chair. She pushed her matted hair off her face and watched in horror as the man unceremoniously kicked off the brake on Gran’s bed and wheeled her lifeless body out the door.
Only then did she notice her mother. She sat in a chair across the room, looking every bit as phony as a three-dollar bill. The clothes and the shower and the self-righteousness didn’t hide a thing.
Dani scrubbed at her tear-stained cheeks. “How could you do this?”
Her mother glanced at the empty doorway and shrugged. “I needed you.”
Dani started. “What did you say?”
“The soldiers wanted you.”
That didn’t make any sense. Dani didn’t have anything they could want. She was just a kid. “Why would they want anything to do with me?”
Her mother leaned back in the chair and crossed one leg over the other. She flicked her foot up and down like the whole situation bored her. “At first it was just payback for breaking that guy’s knee.”
Dani swallowed. “And then?”
“Once they found out you were with that guy, what was his name… Cash, Cole…?”
“Colt.”
Her mother snapped her fingers. “Yeah, that’s it. I knew it was weird. Anyway, after they found out you were with him, they wanted you for a whole other reason.”
This was all about Colt? Dani sucked in a breath to keep from screaming. “Gran was fine in the nursing home. If you hadn’t brought her here… If you had just stayed the hell away from us… She would still be alive.”
“Pfft.” Her mother waved at her like she was an annoying gnat buzzing around her head. “Did you see her, Dani? She’s been dying for years. The cancer never really went away.”
Dani froze, her fingers splayed on the arms of the chair, unable to move. That couldn’t be true.
“Didn’t she tell you?” Her mother shook her head. “That’s so like Dorris to keep secrets. The fact she hung on this long has been a miracle. Think about it, Dani. If she’d been healthy, she’d have gone home. I wouldn’t have been stuck with you all these years.”
Stuck with me? Dani glanced out the window and tried to pull herself together. Her mother had said worse, done worse. This was nothing new. “Gran loved me.”
“And now she’s dead. You need to get over it and grow up.”
Dani leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms. “Like you give a shit about me.”
Her mother said nothing. The silence was damning.
After a few minutes, Dani pushed the stabbing pain in her heart down so far it only ached. “What do they want?”
“To know where that guy is hiding.”
“And if I refuse to tell them?”
Her mother smirked. “I’ve heard they can be real persuasive.”
Dani snorted in disbelief. “What’s in it for you?”
“A clean record. A new place to live and new clothes. All the foo
d and water I want. And this.” She rolled up her sleeve to show off a clear, square patch.
“A nicotine patch?”
“Fentanyl.” Her mother beamed like she’d won first prize in a baking contest. “All the fentanyl patches I could ever want.”
Dani rocked back in the chair. Drugs? The army offered to dope her mother up just for the chance to get Colt? “Why do they want Colt so bad?”
Her mother lowered her sleeve. “How the hell should I know?”
Colt had walked out of the college campus a free man. Okay, so maybe he’d relieved a soldier of his weapon to do it, but no one chased him down then. They couldn’t be so hot to get him because of a simple sleight of hand, could they?
Dani chewed on her nail as she thought about Gran. Dorris Weber loved her more than anything else in the whole world. Gran told her not to trust anyone around here. Not her mother, not the soldiers.
Only Colt.
Gran had always been right before, so she had to be right now. Dani needed to warn Colt, but they would never let her leave. As she thought over what to do, a commotion sounded in the hall. Her mother stood up. “Look alive, sweetheart. It’s time to talk.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
DANI
52 Houghton Street, Apartment 310
Eugene, Oregon
4:30 p.m.
With every stair, Dani made a point of stomping. Her sneakers slammed into the steps so hard, her feet ached, but she didn’t care. The louder, the better. A bruised foot was nothing compared to whatever these guys had in mind for Colt.
The soldier ahead of her twisted around and glared, but she ignored him. If Colt was inside, she would give him fair warning they were coming. No way would she be a surprise attack.
When they reached the top floor, Dani pointed at the apartment door. “It’s that one.”
The soldier cast her a sharp glance. “You’re not playing us, are you kid?”
“No.” She kicked at the ground, pretending not to care. “What’s the point?” If they thought she was a sullen, insolent teenager, maybe they would give up and let her go. She could play that part. All she had to do was act like her mother.
The soldier unlocked the door with the key Dani had found inside the apartment the day before and entered, gun up and ready. Two other soldiers brushed past Dani and followed the first inside.
After a handful of minutes, they gave the all clear and Dani walked in with the older soldier from before following behind. The other men kept calling him “colonel.” From his pompous attitude, Dani assumed he was in charge.
A young soldier spoke up. “He’s not here.”
“Thanks for the obvious report, Sergeant.” The colonel walked around the space, his hands clasped behind him as he took it all in. He addressed Dani. “How long were the two of you here?”
“Only a day.”
“You both planned to stay here?”
Dani nodded. “Colt slept on the couch.” She didn’t know why she volunteered that last little bit, but she couldn’t help it. Colt was a good man. They should know that.
“Where could he be, Danielle?”
“I don’t know.” She turned to the windows and looked out on Eugene, still as quiet as ever. “He’s probably out gathering supplies. Or maybe he’s gotten wind of you and he’s already on the run.”
“We know for a fact that isn’t true.”
Dani spun around, her anger finally bubbling to the surface. “This is ridiculous. First you lie to me and tell me my grandmother will get the best care with you, then you pump my mother full of drugs so she’ll do whatever you want, now you want me to tell you where to find Colt? Are you crazy? The man hasn’t done anything to you.”
“On the contrary.” The colonel stepped close enough for Dani to see the lines around his eyes. He had to be in his early fifties. “This morning, he killed four of my men, set their truck on fire, and disappeared.”
Dani stumbled back. She’d watched Colt kill the motorcycle guys in the street, but he’d done it to protect her. “There had to be a good reason.”
“No.” The soldier shook his head. “No reason. He ambushed and killed them. It’s that simple. One got away and reported the entire thing. He murdered my men for no reason.”
Colt would never do something like that. If he killed those men, they deserved it. “I don’t believe you.”
The soldier shrugged. “Believe what you want, but you will help me find him.”
“Colonel Jarvis, sir. I found these clothes in the bathroom hanging up to dry.” The soldier held up some of Colt’s things. “They must be his.”
“Good work, Corporal.” Jarvis glanced at Dani. “Is that true?”
Dani nodded. “Yes. Those are his.”
“Good. Then we’ll just have to wait him out. Men, set up a temporary base camp. Move whatever you have to move, do whatever you have to do, but I want this place up and running in the next hour. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!” All three men shouted out in unison and rushed off to do the colonel’s bidding.
Dani kept her expression even, but on the inside she was freaking out. They couldn’t stay in her apartment. With all the windows, they would spot Colt coming before he made it inside. They would be ready and waiting and he would never have a chance.
She had to do something. Chewing on her lip, Dani thought it over. What could she do? There had to be a way to warn him. Dani glanced around the apartment, eyes flitting over the desk, the couch, the rug, still rolled up and shoved out of the way.
Then she saw the empty bag of sunflower seeds. She turned around. “Colonel Jarvis?”
“Yes?”
She chose her words carefully. “Were you telling the truth about those men? Colt really did kill them for no reason?’
“Yes, child. That’s the truth.”
She nodded like she’d come to a decision. “Then I’ll help you. I know how to get in touch with him.”
The man inhaled, his chest swelling out in satisfaction. “Tell me.”
“I just need some masking tape and a clean window.”
Five minutes later, Dani stepped back from the window and exhaled. The masking-tape X took up all of the pane and Dani was sure it could be seen from a few blocks away.
“That’s it? Tape in a window?”
She glanced back at the colonel. Had he never watched TV? “It’s from a show we both like.”
Colonel Jarvis snorted. “And it will work?”
Dani kept her smile to herself. “It’s our signal. If he sees it in the window, he’ll come. It’s just a matter of time.”
The colonel smiled at her. “Good work. I like it when my subordinates think on their feet.” He glanced at the soldiers busy converting the kitchen table to a mobile work area. “After you boys are set up, make sure this girl gets some dinner, will you?”
“Yes, sir!”
Dani glanced back at the window. She hoped Colt would understand. His life depended on it.
After a meal of another MRE and a bottle of water, Dani curled up in the papasan chair in the corner of the living room. With her hood pulled up over her head and a blanket draped across her middle, she could keep watch over the soldiers as they worked.
At first, they spoke in low, hushed voices, glancing up every few sentences to check on her. She never moved. Half an hour into her routine, they stopped paying her any mind. Their voices grew louder and Dani listened.
“So far the platoon has cleared sections one through seven.”
“How many casualties?” Colonel Jarvis stood beside the kitchen table, staring down at a large map. Dani couldn’t see it from across the room, but the way they talked, it had to be Eugene.
“Thirty-four, sir, if you include our own.”
Dani swallowed down her shock. Thirty-four people were dead? From what?
“Any riots? Pockets of organized resistance?”
“Not more than a few houses, sir. Over on Julep Street, a group of homeowners banded
together and tried to hide in a cellar. The place had been stocked to the gills with canned goods and paper products.”
“Where are the homeowners now?”
The soldier paused. “Dead, sir.”
Dani shuddered and the colonel glanced her way. His voice dipped and she strained to hear the words. “Tell them to proceed with the remaining sectors. Once the neighborhoods have been disarmed, we can work on processing through the stores. The important thing is removing the weapons.”
“Yes, sir.”
Nothing the colonel said made sense. They were going door-to-door and disarming civilians? Why?
The colonel leaned over, his palms resting on the table. “How are we on converting the freshman dorms to housing?”
“Good, sir. The initial clear out is complete. Once we’ve added beds to a few rooms and shut down the bathrooms, we should be good to go.”
“Excellent. Start bringing in the eligible residents as soon as possible. The faster we can contain them in our environment, the easier they will be to control.”
“Sergeant Ferguson, talk to me about the fuel situation.”
“It’s going well, sir. We’ve drained all the cars within a two-mile radius and are expanding from there. We have enough supply to run the generators for about two months and all of our requisitioned vehicles.”
“We need more. Tell the supply soldiers to double their efforts.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dani clenched her fists beneath the blanket to keep from shaking. These weren’t orders from the state or the federal government. They couldn’t be. Stealing from the residents in town? Shooting those who resisted? Rounding everyone up and putting them in dorms?
She thought about all the lies they told. They weren’t relying on nearby wind turbines or helping keep the town safe. They were organizing a militia. A full-on military dictatorship with Colonel Jarvis in command. She had to warn Colt. They had to find a way to get out of there.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
COLT
Eugene Corner Pharmacy
Eugene, Oregon
5:30 p.m.
Knife wounds hurt like an SOB. Colt leaned back against the exterior wall of the pharmacy, breathing in and out until the wave of pain passed and he could walk again. He’d made it about a half a mile carrying two packs and a barrage of weapons until the pain in his leg made walking impossible.