by K. M. Fawkes
Chapter 20
“Brad!”
The voice was low but frantic. Brad was so tired and had been sleeping so deeply that it took him a while to realize that it wasn’t a dream. He struggled to respond.
“Mmm…what?” he finally managed to say. “What’s wrong?”
“The soldiers are here.”
Well, that information got Brad’s eyes open. Jamie was kneeling in front of the couch, pale as a sheet.
“What? What do they want?” Brad asked stupidly. He might have been awake, but he wasn’t quite firing on all cylinders just yet.
“I don’t know!” Jamie said frantically. “Maybe someone saw me! You’ve got to get up and let them in or they’ll break the door down! Christ, I’ve got to get out of here. They’ll search and if they find me here they’ll kill us both!”
Brad sat up and swung his feet to the floor, trying to comprehend all of the information Jamie had whispered at him. The knock on the door helped crystallize things. It was quick and authoritative.
“Hang on,” he yelled as he stood up.
Jamie was still whispering something but Brad didn’t know if the kid was talking to him or simply praying. Either way, he needed to keep quiet. He grabbed Jamie’s arm and hauled him down the hall, shoving him into the bathroom.
“They’ll search the apartment!” Jamie said frantically. “You have to let me get out a window or something! They—”
Brad yanked back the loose panel of the tub and pushed the boy in without letting him finish his sentence. “Be still and stay quiet, for God’s sake.”
Brad poured some water into the bath—just enough for it to look wet and recently used—then dunked his head in the bucket of water, catching his breath at the surge of cold. He roughly toweled over it and then yanked his shirt and socks off before he jogged back down the hall. He didn’t have much time left.
He could feel the tension in the air. Just as he reached for the doorknob, the butt of a shotgun crashed into his door in a much more emphatic knock. Brad yanked the door open quickly, trying not to look as sleepy and out of breath as he was.
“Sorry,” he said. “I was in the bathroom and I didn’t hear you. What’s up?”
“There have been reports of a stranger in the complex,” a soldier said, pushing his way inside. “We’re checking everyone’s apartment to make sure they don’t have any unauthorized guests.”
“A stranger?” Brad asked, following them as they began to search. “How would they even get in?”
“Someone could have let them in,” Mason said, casting a look Brad’s way.
Brad raised his eyebrows. He obviously wasn’t a favorite with the soldiers after his actions yesterday.
Some people might consider them leadership qualities, he thought.
“It’s nothing to smile about,” another soldier said. “The individual might be dangerous.”
“More dangerous than you guys?” Brad asked.
“Just shut up and stay where you are,” said the soldier that he’d pushed aside yesterday. “The Major might think that you’re useful, but I’m not convinced.”
“Lucky for me that it’s not up to you, then,” Brad said, walking into the kitchen and pouring a glass of water.
The soldiers were thorough. They looked through the living room first, checking behind and underneath furniture. They even tossed all of the cushions off of the couch and looked behind them. Once they’d ransacked his living room, they moved on to the kitchen. Brad couldn’t hold back a grin as they searched the cabinets.
“How big is this intruder supposed to be again?” he asked innocently.
“We were told to check every possible hiding place,” one of the soldiers said stiffly.
“I’m gonna check the bedroom,” Mason said.
The other man finished the last cabinet and moved to follow.
“Hey, you forgot something,” Brad said.
“What?”
“You didn’t check the fridge. I could hide someone in there if I took out the shelves.” The soldier opened the fridge and then glared at Brad, who went on speaking with a shrug. “I mean, I didn’t. But I could have. And I wouldn’t want you to get into any trouble.”
The soldier stomped into the bedroom after Mason. They were even more thorough and destructive in there, yanking his bedding off and pulling his mattress off of the bed frame. Once they’d tossed that into the corner, they grabbed the box spring and flung it after the mattress. When they could clearly see that no one was in the bed, they moved on to the closet.
Brad didn’t have much in there, but the old lady who’d lived in his apartment before did. The soldiers threw it all out into the room. Brad felt his fists clench at his sides. It wasn’t the worst thing that the soldiers had done, by far, it was just so needlessly disrespectful. A person had lived here. She’d made new memories and contemplated a long life lived here. And she’d died here. Wrongfully.
“Oh, are we pissing you off?” Mason asked mockingly.
“Which one of you shot the woman who lived here?” Brad asked.
The second soldier looked up. “What?”
“You heard me. Was it you? Or did you pull the trigger, Mason? Or does the Major like to handle things like that himself?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Mason hissed.
“Why? If you can do it, I would think you could talk about it. Or would you rather forget and pretend that everything is okay?”
Mason stepped forward, eyes blazing, but the other soldier held him back. “Settle down. Don’t let him goad you into making a mistake. Wait until the Major gets tired of him.”
Mason jerked away and walked into the bathroom. And all Brad could do was wait. It was a small bathroom. Even the soldiers couldn’t picture a fugitive hiding in the small cupboard under the sink. The only place they could check was behind the shower curtain.
Brad leaned against the bathroom door while they did that, praying as hard as he could that they wouldn’t see the small gap in the surround. When they pushed past him to go out, he was so weak-kneed with relief that he almost fell down.
“Don’t forget to be at HQ tonight,” Mason said as they left.
“I remember,” Brad said simply. He knew they would be waiting for him, looking for faults to point out to their commander. “I’ll be there.”
He stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of his house to watch the search party go into Neal’s place. They didn’t take as long there. Brad stayed where he was, waiting until the soldiers were done with his row before he went back inside. He locked the door carefully behind him and then walked into the bathroom. He pulled the surround back and helped Jamie out. The kid was shaking.
“Jesus, you really don’t care what they do to you, do you?” Jamie said, aghast. “Why would you say things like that to them?”
Brad pushed his hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I’m just tired of them having the upper hand, I guess.”
“They don’t have the upper hand,” Jamie said. “The Major has all the cards and you need to remember that. Don’t get distracted by their bullshit.”
“Okay,” Brad said, oddly comforted to have someone give him advice, even if that person was well over a decade younger than him. Jamie had experience navigating this place and he’d gotten out alive. “You’re right.”
Jamie smiled. “Thanks,” he said quietly.
“Sure. And you’re right about another thing, too,” Brad said. “If we don’t find my group tonight, you and I will leave tomorrow night. There’s no reason to stick around here. And with your help, maybe we can even manage to get our hands on one of the vehicles.”
“Really?” Jamie asked, his shoulders relaxing as relief crossed his face. “You promise?”
“I promise,” Brad said.
“Good,” Jamie said. “I’d rather freeze to death on the road than die here.”
“You’re not going to freeze to death on the road,” Brad said with much more confidence than he really fel
t. “I can teach you everything you need to know. You should have a pretty good handle on the shooting part of hunting, but there’s also tracking. And you need to know how to gut and skin your catch. You’ll be so good at surviving by the time I’m through that you won’t even need a group to survive. Here.”
Jamie followed as Brad walked down the hall again—this time, into his bedroom. He stepped carefully around the items that the soldiers had flung around. It took a few minutes, but he managed to find his pack at the bottom of a pile. After a quick rummage around in it, he pulled out one of his knives. “This was my dad’s. I wouldn’t leave it behind. I want you to hang onto it.”
Jamie nodded. “Okay. It’s a deal, then. And thanks. You need to go out there and act normal.”
“You’re sure you’ll be okay here?”
The kid forced a smile. “Sure I will. And hey, now I know where to hide.”
Chapter 21
Brad went out reluctantly. Something about the idea of leaving Jamie there by himself really didn’t sit well with him. He walked over to the animal pen, trying to convince himself that he was simply rattled from the revelations of the past two days.
That was partly true, of course, but his instincts screamed something more in spite of the fact that his house had already been searched. There was simply nothing else he could do. He had to go out with the search party tonight. This would be his best chance to have several people helping him, and a vehicle to load Anna and the kids into if he found them. If, God forbid, any of them needed medical attention, this would be the best place to bring them.
He could figure out all of the rest later.
“Hey, Ben,” Brad said as he walked up to the cow pen.
“Hey,” Ben replied, looking at him. “Did you hear that someone is roaming around the complex?”
Brad nodded. “Yeah, the soldiers looked through my place.”
“Mine, too,” Ben agreed. “I guess they searched everyone's.”
“That’s what it looked like.” Brad cast him a glance. “Do you think it’s one of the people who got evicted?”
Ben snorted. “No. They don’t usually come back.” He continued to look at Brad. “You’re a smart guy. You know what ‘evicted’ means.”
“And you don’t care?” Brad demanded.
“Fuck yes, I care,” Ben hissed. “But what am I supposed to do about it? I’m just trying to stay under the radar until spring.” He snapped his mouth closed as if he’d said too much, and then shrugged. “Hell, there’s no reason not to tell you. Once it warms up, I’m leaving. I’ve got my escape route planned. I just don’t want to turn into a popsicle over a situation I can’t change.”
Brad pushed his hand through his hair and let out his breath. Who the hell was he to judge Ben, anyway? “I get it, man,” he said. “I really do.”
“Just try to keep your shit together until spring,” Ben said. “It’s a hell of a lot better time to have morals.”
Brad gave a quick laugh and Ben smiled. It was gallows humor and they both recognized it. They were both equally hopeless and Brad realized that he’d miss Ben when he was gone. But the other man had a plan and Brad knew he’d never be able to talk him out of it. Ben was leaving in the spring. Brad was leaving tomorrow night.
He tried to go about his day normally, but it wasn’t easy. At dinner, Brad ate slowly, complaining that he felt sick. He took the remains of his ration back to the apartment, saying he’d eat it once he’d rested.
He walked in, happy to find Jamie was still there. He’d been afraid that the kid would run. Apparently, Jamie had thought about it. He had a bag packed and ready. But he’d also cleaned up Brad’s apartment. All of the previous occupant’s clothes were back in the closet.
“Wow,” Brad said, looking around. “Thanks, Jamie.”
“No problem,” Jamie said with a smile. “I didn’t have much else to do.”
“Either way, it was a lot of work,” Brad said. “I brought you something to eat.”
“Thanks!” Jamie took the bowl and gulped the contents down quickly.
“So, I guess you were hungry,” Brad said with a smile.
“A little,” Jamie admitted.
“What have you been doing all day?” Brad asked. “I mean, besides this.”
Jamie shrugged. “Not much. I read a little.” He gestured to a Sherlock Holmes novel he’d left in the kitchen. Then, he picked up the knife that Brad had given him that morning and twirled it, making it dance between his knuckles. Brad did a double take.
“What?” Jamie asked. “Don’t freak out; I’m not going to hurt myself,” he said.
“No, it’s not that,” Brad said. “It’s just that my old man used to do that.”
“Oh, yeah? I learned it from that guy who was with the group I was with. He could do it with a lighter, too.” Jamie pulled a silver-cased lighter from his pocket and repeated the trick. “See?”
“Tell me about that group again,” Brad said, trying not to sound too eager. “You still haven’t told me anything about them, or how you got here.”
“Oh yeah,” Jamie said. “I guess I should do that, huh?” He took a breath and began another story. “After I met Lee—”
“Lee?” Brad asked, trying as hard as he could to conceal his excitement.
“Yeah, he’s the one who saved me. Anyway, after I met him, he took me to meet up with a group of survivors that he knew.”
“I’m sick and damn tired of camping,” Lee muttered as he stared into the fire. “He’d have to be there by now.”
“Who?” Jamie asked. The others had noticed Lee talking to himself and it really bugged them. Jamie didn’t mind. It was tactical, not maniacal. He’d seen enough crazy to know the difference.
Lee looked up as if surprised to find him sitting there. “Don’t worry about it, kid,” he said. “It’s not a big deal.”
“You seem like you’re worried about it,” Jamie challenged. “Sometimes, talking it out helps.”
Lee gave a small laugh and leaned back. “I guess I’m having what you would call a moral dilemma,” he said, gesturing at the other survivors. There were seven of them. “See…” he chewed his lower lip for a minute and then said, “Fuck it. I’m gonna take a chance on you. I’ve got a place a few hours from here. Well, more than a few hours now that we’re stuck walking. But we could get to it in a few days. It’s a cabin, stocked to the rafters with stuff. Definitely enough supplies to last the winter.”
The older man glanced into the fire and rubbed his hands over his arms. “And I have a feeling it’s gonna be a rough one. The animals are acting weird.” He shook himself out of that thought and picked up where he’d left off. “I’m hoping someone will be there. So what should I do? Take everyone with me and have a really thin winter? Or just hit the trail without them because I’ve got someone I’m desperate to see?”
Jamie blinked at him, already shaking his head in a firm denial. “You can’t leave. You’re the best hunter we have! You’re teaching me to do all kinds of things!”
Lee smiled and shook his head. “Don’t worry about yourself, kiddo. You’re the one I’ve got no qualms about taking along,” he said. “But what about everybody else? What should I do?”
Jamie looked across at them as well. The seven of them had sort of formed their own group. They were content to let Lee use his skills and knowledge to keep them fed, but they saw no need to provide him with companionship. In fact, they seemed to look down on him, considering his knowledge almost strange. Since it had saved their asses time and time again, Jamie thought that was a little cold of them.
“I would leave—” Jamie began, but he never got to finish the sentence because gunshots filled the air.
He and Lee dropped down instantly as the soldiers pushed into the campsite, whooping and yelling as they shot.
“That’s the last time I saw him,” Jamie finished up. “We got separated during the attack and I got lost. I was just wandering around in the woods when the Major�
��s men found me.” He scoffed bitterly. “I thought I was finally safe. I just can’t help but wonder how it would have been if they’d listened to Lee.”
“What do you mean?” Brad asked. “Listen to him about what?”
He was dying to ask more about Lee, but he was almost afraid to. What if it somehow wasn’t the same guy? He didn’t think he could take it if it wasn’t. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to take it, even if it was. That would mean that his father had come to Bangor to look for him. That was why they hadn’t met up at the cabin. They’d probably crossed paths as Brad headed up to the cabin and Lee headed down to Bangor.
“He wanted to head into the country way before that night, but everyone else said he was crazy.” Jamie sighed heavily. “I really hope Lee got out to the country like he wanted. I was pretty relieved that he never ended up here.”
Bradley sincerely hoped that he hadn’t. If they really were talking about his father, and he went back to the cabin, he’d find nothing but a pile of ash. And who knew where the might lead him? For all Brad knew, it might lead Lee straight to the Family. His father was smart, but could he really stand against a whole cult? Especially if he discovered that they had ruined everything he’d worked so hard to build?
“It’s nearly sundown,” Jamie said after a few moments. “You’d better go. Just…be careful, okay?”
“Sure thing,” Brad said, patting Jamie on the shoulder. “I’ll be back soon. Don’t worry too much.”
“I won’t,” Jamie assured him. “I’ve got a book to finish. I’ll be fine.”
But Brad saw the worry in the boy’s eyes. He wished that he could think of any reason not to go tonight, but he knew that none of his reasons would matter anyway. He forced a smile, but he didn’t feel too great about walking out and closing that door behind him.