Sawtooth snorted a quick breath. “What? That the desert turned to ice?”
“No. That’s not it at all.”
Right then Nomad bent down on one knee and bowed his head as if he were showing reverence to Destiny, his new queen.
CHAPTER 44
Destiny ran it all through her head a second time and still, the facts were almost too much to believe.
“What’s going on, boss?” Shotgun said.
“We’re fucked, that’s what’s going on,” Sawtooth said, his rifle still trained on the people standing across from them.
Destiny ignored her men, deciding to take a step forward as her heart filled with more pressure than she thought it could stand.
Granted, it had been over ten years, but the frizzy-haired girl’s eyes, her nose, and the upturn of lips—they all fit the image that had been stored deep inside her memories. “Summer? Is that really you?”
“Yes, like I said. My name is Summer. Who are you?”
Destiny removed her goggles and then the hood to set her blonde hair free and reveal herself. She smiled, unable to hold back what she was feeling inside. “It’s me.”
Summer shook her head. “What?”
Destiny tugged at her hair, making sure Summer factored it into her assessment. “Don’t you recognize me?”
Summer did not respond as her eyes narrowed and her face pinched. She stood there for a good ten seconds, then the tension in her face released all at once. “Hope?”
Destiny held out her arms. “Yeah, sis. It’s me.”
“Oh my God,” Summer said before her feet engaged, sending her forward in a sprint.
“Summer, wait,” Krista said, making a grab for the girl but missing.
Summer arrived in only seconds, hurling herself at Destiny.
Destiny caught Summer in midair and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing tight.
“I can’t believe it’s really you,” Summer said, her voice full of emotion. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“I know, baby girl. Me too.”
Their hug continued for another minute before Destiny looked at Sawtooth.
When he locked eyes with her, she said, “Lower your weapon. We’re among friends here.”
“No. Not a chance. Just because your sister shows up out of the blue doesn’t mean these assholes are our friends.”
Destiny let go of Summer. “I said, put the weapon down. That’s an order, Sawtooth.”
Nomad stood from his kneeling position and came forward in a purposeful step.
Sawtooth turned his rifle a bit, aiming it at Nomad. “Don’t come any closer, dickhead. I swear, I’ll shoot.”
Destiny lunged for Sawtooth and latched her hands onto the rifle just as he pulled the trigger. A gunshot rang out, blasting her eardrums in the process.
Nomad arrived a second later, landing a firm jab on Sawtooth’s chest.
“No, wait,” Destiny said as Sawtooth flew backwards, landing on his backside in a plop.
When Destiny looked at her hands, she realized she was still holding Sawtooth’s rifle. Then, somehow, it started moving on its own, aiming its sights at Nomad.
Summer flew to her right and stood between Hope and Nomad, only a foot beyond the end of the barrel. “No, Hope. Don’t. He’s my friend.”
“Actually,” Nomad said in a voice buried under a ton of gravel, his hands coming up to his mask, “I’m more than that.” His fingers peeled the headgear off to reveal his face, what was left of it anyway.
Destiny didn’t want to stare at his burns, but she couldn’t help it. The man had been disfigured beyond belief. It looked as though someone had held his face in a blast furnace until the skin had almost melted off.
Even his neck was a train wreck. Probably the reason his voice was completely jacked.
Right then was when her logic returned, replaying the man’s last words. “What do you mean, more than that?”
Summer must have had the same question, too, because she stepped aside, then brought her eyes up to the towering man with an inquisitive look on her face.
Nomad peered over at Summer, then at Destiny. “I know my face is not what either of you remember—”
Right then, a new revelation stormed into Destiny’s thoughts, almost knocking her over. The burned man’s voice wasn’t what she remembered, and neither was his face. But somehow, she just knew, deep down, as if she had just connected to his soul. “Blaze?”
Summer muttered something as she grabbed onto Destiny’s arm, stumbling a bit, her eyes as round as apples.
Destiny thought she had a firm hold of Summer, but then the girl’s legs gave out and down she went, with her knees smashing into the dirt. Tears stormed out of her eyes.
“Who the hell is Blaze?” Sawtooth asked, pressing to his feet.
Summer remained there, crying, all the while shaking her head. “Oh my God, how can this be?”
Krista arrived. “I thought your brother was dead. Isn’t that what Edison said?”
Summer’s voice cracked. “That’s what I thought, too. Edison lied to me, Krista. He lied. All this time, Blaze was alive.”
Nomad put his hand out to Summer, palm up and fingers outstretched. “I wish he hadn’t put you through all that.”
“It was you the whole time?” Summer asked, wrapping her fingers in his before he pulled her to his feet.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you initially.”
“So tell me. When exactly did you?” Krista asked.
“When I passed Summer in the corridor of the silo. Even though she’s all grown up now and looks completely different than I remember, I recognized her voice and her body language. That’s when I knew.”
Krista’s face looked numb when she asked, “And yet you’ve been in the area all this time?”
“After I was injured and discharged, I had no place else to go. Returning home seemed like the right thing to do. I had nothing else. That’s when I decided to venture out and help those in need, which in turn led me here.”
“So let me get this straight,” Krista said. “You return home after a decade and instead of helping your sister, you decide to help a bunch of Scabs?”
“Like I said, I didn’t know it was Summer. She’s changed so much since I’d seen her as a little girl. I figured she was gone, along with the rest of the planet. Though maybe, somehow, I knew deep down that she was around somewhere. Or that maybe I would run into her someday. Not sure. But something brought me here. I just figured it was loneliness.”
“Or guilt,” Krista said.
Nomad didn’t respond.
“Oh, yeah,” Krista said. “You’re hiding something, that’s for sure. I don’t know what it is yet, but I’ll figure it out. And I’m guessing it has something to do with your burns. Nobody just shows up after the world ends and decides to become a vigilante for the less fortunate. There has to be a reason, and guilt is the most likely one.”
“Think what you want. My intentions have always been honorable.”
Summer raised her hands and made fists, smashing them into Nomad’s shoulders, chest, and face as she cried out. “You asshole. Why didn’t you say something?”
He just stood there, taking the pounding as she whaled on him, looking like a pissed-off drug addict on crack.
Tears flowed from Summer’s eyes as her voice went up in volume, her hands pounding on him even harder now. “I thought you were dead, Blaze. Dead. How could you do this to me? Do you know how much I’ve missed you? Do you know how lonely I’ve been? I thought my whole family was dead. And then you show up with Scabs?”
CHAPTER 45
Destiny stood firm as Summer continued her beating on Nomad, figuring he had it coming.
Plus, it wasn’t her place to intervene.
She really didn’t know either of them anymore.
They were strangers.
Not just in how they looked, but in every respect, except for their DNA.
Another thi
rty seconds drifted by before Krista finally stepped in and latched onto Summer’s arms and pulled her away.
The two of them dropped to the ground as Summer cried into her shoulder for what seemed like five minutes.
The strange thing was nobody moved during that time. Nobody said a word, as if everyone knew Summer needed to let it all out in peace.
Then, as if on cue, Nomad broke the tension by dropping his eyes and focusing them on the ground when he said, “I’m sorry, Summer. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how. I figured the last thing you needed was to see your big brother like this.”
Destiny was about to join Summer and Krista in a support hug, but stopped when two more doors on the visitors’ vehicles opened and more people got out.
She counted a handful of skinny women with hair like Summer’s. Plus there was one younger version of them, and a dog and an older guy with a sag to his build.
As the women and the younger girl drew closer, Destiny realized none of them had noses. “Oh my God.”
Krista let go of Summer and stood up, turning to look in the direction Destiny was pointing, then brought her eyes back. “It’s okay. They’re with us.”
“Who? I mean, what are they?”
Summer got to her feet and wiped her eyes, her chest still heaving with emotion. “Scabs. But they’re good Scabs, mostly.”
“What?”
“I take it you don’t have Scabs where you come from?” Krista asked.
“No. We don’t have Scabs, whatever that means,” Destiny replied, realizing that was what Nomad and Krista were sparring about a few minutes earlier.
“Well, we do. Normally, their kind would be attacking.”
“But not these women,” Summer added, her tears now gone and her tone even.
“Nomad brought them to us. Uninvited, I might add,” Krista said, flashing a look Nomad’s way.
Destiny could not take her eyes off the women, seeing their weathered faces and scarred bodies. “What happened to them?”
“It’s a long story.”
Destiny shook her head. “I’m guessing you have a lot of those. Long stories, I mean.”
The golden-haired dog arrived and snuggled in next to Summer. She bent down to give him a hug. “This is my special friend, Sergeant Barkley.”
Destiny smiled, unsure what else to do. Her mind was having a hard time processing everything going on in front of her.
So many revelations.
So little info.
First, the Scab women and their missing noses.
Then some random dog with an odd name.
Plus Nomad and his swords.
Then her sister showing up and beating the shit out of her long-lost brother.
She didn’t know where to start.
The older guy from the truck arrived, along with the two men who had been standing guard on the far side of the visitor’s trucks. One of them was older and the other was a blonde-haired boy with the face of an underwear model. Again, more blood on their clothes.
Krista grabbed hold of the old guy’s arm and stopped his approach, then turned to Destiny. “I’m guessing you know who this is, right?”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“You and your team have been secretly communicating with him.”
“You just won’t let that go, will you?” the old guy snapped at Krista. “Despite all the evidence to the contrary, you just simply cannot let it go.”
“Shut up, Lipton. I don’t want to hear any more bullshit from those lips of yours or so help me—” Krista said, raising the back of her hand and holding it in a striking position.
“I don’t know what you think is going on here,” Destiny said, “but we don’t know this man. Hell, we really don’t know any of you, and I can say that applies to my sister and brother as well. What’s going on here? Really?”
Krista laughed, though it sounded less than genuine. “There’s no reason to deny any of it, Destiny, or Hope, or whatever your name is. We already know.”
Destiny turned to her sister. “Help me here, Summer.
The older guy answered before Summer could muster the first syllable of her response. “In case you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m Dr. Benjamin Lipton, PhD. You ordered a critical thinker and here I am, with multiple post-graduate degrees in all things necessary. You said you had a scientific problem and needed help. So bingo, these cretins drag me all the way out here in the middle of nowhere and offer me up like some kind of chattel.”
Destiny heard his words, but there were too many of them coming at her too fast. “Okay, but—”
Lipton continued, not missing a beat. “They—well, actually Krista—think you and I have been secretly planning this little get-together. As if this is some kind of ruse.”
“Ruse?”
“A trap.”
Destiny shook her head. “Uh, this is no trap. We came here in good faith. I don’t have any idea what you people are talking about.”
“That goes for the rest of us,” Flipside said, breaking his silence. He was huddled with Sawtooth and Shotgun.
Summer latched onto Destiny’s arm and pulled her from the group.
The dog followed along, never drifting more than an inch or two from Summer’s feet as they traveled about thirty feet away.
Destiny had to force her words to remain calm, because every cell in her body wanted her to scream at her sister. “Please. Tell me I haven’t made a huge mistake by coming here.”
“How can being reunited with your family be a mistake?”
Destiny brought her arm up and swung it in a wide arc, not aiming at anything. “Look around, sis. None of this normal. We should be running for hills right now.”
“And yet you’re not.”
“I know, and it scares me to death.”
“It’ll be fine. Just let me explain. Okay?”
Destiny held for a few moments, then nodded. “Yes, but first, I need you to know that we never met that man before. I hope you believe me. We came here to trade. Nothing more.”
“So did we,” Summer said, turning her back to the others.
“Then your people back there, they need to stop accusing us of whatever. We don’t deserve that. You don’t know us.”
Summer wrapped her arm around Destiny’s shoulder and spoke in a guarded whisper. “I know. I get it. Trust me. Especially about Krista. But you really need to cut her some slack. She’s former Army and always on edge. It’s just who she is. I’m sure you’ve seen your share of stone-cold warrior types. They need a fight to feel connected to the cause, or something like that. Please don’t put too much stock in what she says. She’s suspicious of everyone. I’m sure you know the type.”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Destiny said, thinking of Sawtooth. “But I still have to ask, why do you have her in charge?”
“She’s not in charge. I am.”
“You’re in charge?”
“Yes, just like you, apparently.”
“That’s not how it appears, sis.”
“Well, to be honest, it’s a work in progress. But trust me, I’m in charge.”
Destiny nodded but didn’t respond.
“You know what’s kind of amazing?”
“What?”
“The Lane sisters. Both of us kicking ass and taking names. Who would have ever thought that?”
Destiny didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing.
“I think Mom and Dad would have been proud. Of all three of us. Somehow, we’re all still alive despite the end of the world. And now we’ve persevered long enough to find each other again. That’s a good thing, right? It doesn’t matter how we got here. Just that we did.”
Destiny nodded. “Family is the most important thing.”
“That’s what I always say, too. You see, it’s like we’ve never spent anytime apart.”
“Then why did you do all that to Blaze back there?”
“I don’t know. It just came out. He should have told m
e the second he knew. He didn’t, so I’m mad at him.”
“But he’s still our brother, sis.”
“Yes, and we love him. I know the drill, Hope. No need to start preaching like Dad used to do.”
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
“Still, let’s not ruin the moment.”
“I agree.”
“Then that’s a good start.”
“All I know for sure is that I’m glad you’re here,” Destiny said, wrapping her arms around Summer one more time for a lingering hug. “It’s just hard to take all this on blind faith. Especially some of your people.”
After the two of them let go of each other, Summer nodded and said, “Look, the bottom line is that I count on Krista to run security and keep my people safe. Sometimes that means we have to put up with the occasional overreaction or wild conspiracy theory. But in all honesty, most of the time she turns out to be right. So I usually just try to go with it and not rock the boat too much. Especially after all we’ve lost.”
“Yes, we’ve all lost so much. The entire planet has.”
“Yeah, but I’m guessing you still have a home to return to. I just found out a little while ago that our camp was overrun, and everyone was killed. We had kids there, Hope. Kids. They were slaughtered like it was nothing.”
“I had no idea. I’m sorry,” Destiny said, wondering if that was where all the blood on their clothes came from.
“I still see their cute little faces when I close my eyes. So if we’re a little on edge, now you know why. It’s hard to trust anyone these days.”
“Okay, I get that. We’re basically the same way. But what about those Scab women?”
Summer huffed. “That’s going to take a lot more explaining, I’m afraid. There’s so much you don’t know.”
“Well then, you better get started because we have a lot of figuring out to do.”
CHAPTER 46
Ben Lipton ignored the look he just received from the former cook sitting across from him in the back of the second Nirvana truck.
Watson could gawk all he wanted; it wasn’t going to deter Lipton from speaking his mind. Some men—and women, for that matter—just didn’t fathom it. Not on any level.
Silo Page 24
