by A. P. Madden
He scrambled to push himself across the seats and fumbled with the other door. “Leave me alone!”
“We’re not going to hurt you,” Naomi said. “We came here to help.”
The kid wasn’t listening. Luke walked around the back of the car, and stepped up to the door as the kid finally got it open and jumped out. He was underfed and skinny, and Luke grabbed him by the arms to stop him from running.
“Stop struggling. We’re here to help you.”
The kid kept struggling, and his clenched fists battered against Luke’s chest. “Let me go!”
“You’re Seth, right?”
The boy stopped trying to escape. “What did you say?”
“He called you Seth,” Naomi said. “That’s your name, isn’t it? We were sent here to find you.”
The boy frowned and his eyes darted between them suspiciously. “Who sent you?”
Luke decided that it was safe to let him go, so he released him and stepped back to give him some space. “So you are Seth.”
The kid shrugged. “Yeah. So?”
“Good,” Luke said. “I’m Luke. This is Naomi. Your uncle sent us.”
Seth’s eyes widened. “He’s alive?”
Naomi put her hand on his shoulder. “Yes, he’s alive. He’s in a safe place. We want to bring you there.”
“Why didn’t he come himself?” Seth asked.
“Good question,” Luke muttered.
“It’s complicated,” Naomi said, narrowing her eyes at Luke. “We can tell you about it on the way there. Will you come with us?”
Seth hesitated. “What if I say no?”
He was testing the waters, Luke realised. “That’s up to you,” he said. “If you want to stay here, we’ll leave.”
Naomi frowned at him, but she didn’t say anything.
Seth watched him for a moment, and then he shrugged. “Okay. I guess I’ll come with you.”
Naomi smiled and patted his arm. “Good choice. You’ll be with your uncle in no time.”
“How long were you in there?” Luke asked.
“A day or two, I’m not sure,” Seth said.
Naomi reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a protein bar. “Here, eat this.”
“Are you sure?” Seth said, but his eyes bulged at the sight of the food.
Naomi smiled. “I’m sure.”
The kid tore into the protein bar as they walked through the garage to get to the door that led inside the house.
Luke examined the blood on Seth’s shirt, hands and face, and he knew he had to ask. “Whose blood is that?”
Seth stiffened. “Why do you care?”
“If you’re injured, we need to know,” he said. The lie came easily - he could see that Seth wasn’t injured badly enough to bleed that much, but he needed to know if the kid had been forced to kill anyone. It was obvious that he had been through hell. They had to be ready for any potential breakdowns that might happen on the trip home.
Seth hesitated, then he pointed towards the house. “It’s not my blood. There were people who needed help, and they... It doesn’t really matter what happened. The short version of the story is they ended up bailing on the house, but one of them was bleeding out, and I tried... I tried to help him, but it was too much. There was too much blood, too much damage.” He took a deep, shaky breath. “It’s his blood.”
“I’m sure you did everything you could,” Luke said.
Naomi rubbed Seth’s back. “Do you want to say goodbye to him?”
“No,” Seth said, straightening up. “I don’t even know his name. I just want to get out of here.”
Luke nodded and led the way inside, moving through the kitchen. Seth steered clear of the staircase, so Luke assumed the body was upstairs. The kitchen was well-stocked, and they filled their bags with anything they might need for the trip back.
“I’ll just check the bedrooms for anything useful,” Luke said. “You guys stay here.”
Naomi checked out the windows for threats while Seth tried to hide his relief, and Luke made his way upstairs. The smell hit him before he reached the landing, and he pulled his shirt over his nose as he searched the rooms. The body was in one of the bedrooms, and he tried not to look at it while he made his way to the ensuite bathroom.
A few minutes later, he returned with an armful of toiletries and two packets of painkillers. He had also found a small gun in the master bedroom with a healthy supply of bullets.
“Nice haul,” Naomi said.
Luke started to reply, but he saw Seth looking at him with wide eyes. He was clearly thinking about the dead man.
“We should get going,” Luke said.
Naomi went to the windows and scanned the street. “Looks clear.”
Luke walked to the door and put his hand on the handle. “Be ready,” he said.
“I always am,” Naomi said with a smile.
Luke returned the smile, but they both knew his words weren’t meant for her. He was trying to prepare the kid for the world outside. There were a thousand unknown dangers that could cross their paths on their way back home.
If Seth freaked out, it could put all three of them in danger. They were a long way from safety.
***
Chapter 14 - Too Fast
Luke, Naomi and Seth got out of the house quickly. They made their way back to the vehicle, and Luke almost had his hand on the driver’s door when he saw something across the street. It was just a glimpse of movement at the corner of a house, barely a shadow. It could easily have been a trick of the light.
“Get in the car,” he said. “Now!”
Naomi and Seth took one look at his face and rushed to climb in. He was in the car and turning the key before his next breath. The engine roared to life.
Shouts rang out from the direction of the house, and Luke slammed on the gas as three men sprinted out from their hiding place. They missed the car by seconds, and all three of them raised weapons and started firing.
Bullets soared past the car and slammed into the metal.
“What’s happening?” Seth yelled.
Luke saw him in the rearview mirror, staring straight ahead with wide eyes and no blood left in his face.
“Put your head down!”
Seth ducked. Seconds later, the back window exploded. Shattered glass rained down onto him, but he was alive.
Naomi pulled open the glove box and grabbed the handgun. She risked a quick look at the men behind them, but they had stopped firing. An eerie silence filled the car.
“There are more of them,” Luke said quickly. “They wouldn’t have given up so easily otherwise.”
His instincts told him to keep the speed on and take the corner fast, but he forced himself not to. He slowed down as they came to the end of the street. It looked clear, but they could be hiding.
Just around the corner - barely out of sight from the first street - was another vehicle. There was a man with a huge assault rifle standing through the open sunroof, and another man hanging out of the passenger side with another gun. The other road was empty, but the men had a clear shot at Naomi or Seth.
Except... Only the man in the passenger seat was aiming his weapon at them, and Luke had an idea.
“Wave at them like you know them,” Luke said.
Naomi gave him a look that said are-you-insane, but she turned and lifted her empty hand to wave. After a moment, she forced a smile and waved again.
The men frowned, and both gunmen looked at the driver. The man riding shotgun started speaking to the driver, obviously confused.
The moment that they took their eyes off the car, Luke hit the gas again. They took off down the other road, and Seth and Naomi ducked down again as more bullets shot towards them. Luke crouched down as much as he could, but he needed to see over the dash.
“They must have seen us coming,” he said, yanking the wheel and hurtling down a side street. “Followed us here.”
“Who are they?” Seth asked.
; “Bad guys,” Luke said simply. He tried to remember the layout of this area to decide on a route, but stress and adrenaline were pumping through his body and he struggled to remember anything more than his own name. “Another group,” he continued, taking another turn. “Like ours, except their group is full of not-very-nice people. And their leader is someone you don’t ever want to meet.”
Every turn took them further away, but the other men were close behind, and Luke couldn’t shake them.
“They must have expanded their territories since the last time we met,” he said. “They shouldn’t be this far out.”
“We need to do something soon,” Naomi said. “I think one of the bullets hit our wheels. We won’t be able to outrun them like this.”
Luke had noticed, too. “There should be a short road up ahead,” he said. “If I’m right, we’ll be out of sight for a few seconds.”
“What’s your plan?” Naomi asked, peering at the corner Luke pointed out.
“There’s another street just like this one, running parallel to it. This small side road should join the two. I’ll take the turn, and then turn again to get onto the parallel street. When we get there, you guys jump out with our things and run into the nearest garden. Hide, and I’ll lead them away.”
“Wait-”
“Get ready,” Luke cut her off. “Ten seconds. I’ll ditch the car a few streets away and come back for you. Wait for me, and then we’ll sneak away on foot.”
“Luke, this is a bad idea,” Naomi began, but Luke jerked the wheel and they rushed around the corner. The force of the sharp turn pulled at them, and Seth slid across the backseat. Luke didn’t have time to shout at him about seat belts. They were already at the second turn.
Luke pulled the car around and slammed to a stop. “Go!”
Naomi cursed loudly and jumped out of the car. Seth did the same and the wheels scraped loudly against the ground. Luke sped down the street with his heart pounding inside his chest. His eyes were almost glued to the mirrors, watching Seth and Naomi throw themselves behind the low hedge of a garden.
The other car took the corner with a loud squeal of rubber against concrete and bulleted towards him. They didn’t stop. They didn’t even slow down when they passed the garden.
Luke let himself breathe again and focused on the road ahead. He veered wildly around a car parked in the middle of the road and fought the car for control. Releasing a stream of colourful swearing, he focused on what to do next.
The hard part was over, but he was far from safe.
***
Luke aimed at the gap between two houses and slammed the brakes at the last second. The car was going too fast, and his eyes widened. He cursed and jerked the wheel to the side. The car spun and Luke lost all control, and the back of the car slammed into the corner of the building. The crash sent a bone-jarring shock through the car, and Luke was thrown around like a ragdoll. His seatbelt saved him, pressing against his chest like an iron bar.
Stunned, Luke stared ahead for a moment. Move, he thought. You have to move, you idiot.
His hands finally responded, and he grabbed the door handle, but his seatbelt jerked him back into the seat.
“Too fast,” he muttered to himself as he reached for the seatbelt. “Car was going too fast.” He fumbled with it for a few seconds, but it finally opened and he forced the door open. By some miracle, the door wasn’t stuck. It opened and he jumped out.
He had messed up his judgement of the car’s speed, but his aim was right. The car blocked the little alleyway between the two houses, and he started running.
Luke heard the other car squealing to a stop behind him, and loud, angry cursing as the men piled out of the car. They were slowed down by his car. He got to the corner and glanced back. They were climbing over the smoking wreckage, and one of them caught his eye and smirked.
He ran before they could start shooting.
The houses were almost identical, and Luke lost himself in a maze of driveways, alleyways and gardens. He vaulted backyard fences and stumbled over garden furniture, ducked and ran and panted as he tried to escape. He didn’t know where he was going, he didn’t know what direction he was running, he didn’t even know if they were gaining on him. He didn’t look back. He couldn’t risk losing his balance or tripping on something.
He just ran.
Gradually, the noises behind him lessened. There was only one left, he guessed. Two at most. He had been sprinting and vaulting fences for several minutes, and his lungs threatened to give up on him, so he decided to make his stand.
He changed direction and went past two more houses until he spotted an open door. It was a sliding glass door in a backyard, and he almost cried in relief. It wasn’t unusual to see doors left open in places like this. A lot of houses had been abandoned when the owners or tenants died or evacuated, back at the end of the old world.
Noises behind him pushed him forward. There was a tall fence at the edge of the garden, and Luke ducked inside the house before he was seen. He heard heavy breathing and boots crunching onto the dry grass, and he slowly, carefully moved away from the open door.
He didn’t have time to close it, so he just had to hope the man would assume he kept running. There were a lot of open doors around here. Maybe he wouldn’t even look twice at it.
Luke couldn’t hear anything else from the garden, and he didn’t dare to take a look and risk being seen. He kept moving slowly through the house, glancing around for danger. There could be anything hiding in a house like this. Who knew how long that door was open? Anything could have wandered inside.
He made it to the front hallway without a problem. A quick glance out the window told him the coast was clear, and he decided to sneak out the front in case the other man realised he had lost Luke and came back to search the house.
Luke tried the door, but it was locked tight. There was no sign of a key, and he didn’t have time to search. He took a step back and got ready to knock it down.
“Don’t move.”
He froze.
“Turn around slowly.”
Luke kept his hands at his sides, slightly away from his body, and turned slowly. The man was big, bigger than Luke. He definitely weighed more than Luke did, and most of that was muscle. Not that it mattered. He was holding a gun, and it was pointed straight at Luke’s stomach.
“Why are you doing this?” Luke asked. He knew the answer. If he was right about what group these men were with, then they chased him for supplies, information or to force him to join their militia.
“You’re not in a position to be asking questions, boy.”
“Maybe not, but you haven’t shot me. I’m thinking there’s a reason for that.”
“Not supposed to kill you if we have a choice,” the man said, grinning at him. “Boss wants prisoners or recruits. I was hoping to catch the girl in the front seat of your car. Real pretty.”
Luke forced himself not to respond, even though he wanted nothing more than to put his fist through the man’s face.
“But I’ll still get the credit for bringing you in,” he said. He put his gun away and pulled out a long, serrated blade. “Don’t resist, or I’ll be forced to use this.”
He could probably take him, one-on-one, Luke decided, but he couldn’t risk him calling his friends, and the man looked like he was about to turn and shout for the rest of the men to join him.
“Don’t move,” he said, turning his head towards the open back door, but keeping his eyes on Luke. He took a breath, preparing to shout, and Luke stepped forward.
“Good idea. You should call for back-up,” Luke sneered. It was a risky plan, but he hoped he could goad the man into doing something stupid. “Without your buddies to back you up, you’re nothing but a scared little man. Go on, shout for daddy to come and save you. Maybe they’ll get here before I take that knife and shove it down your throat.”
The man’s grin dropped, and his eyes hardened. “You’re gonna regret those words, boy. You’
re mine.”
He started forward, and Luke met him halfway. A small table was standing nearby, and Luke lunged forward to grab the lamp sitting on it. He swung it wildly at the man’s head. He ducked, but Luke’s attack was cut short by the cord that was still plugged into the wall. The lamp jerked back and fell to the floor.
The man lifted his face and Luke punched him. He stumbled and Luke pressed forward, trying to keep the knife away from himself, but the man was slashing blindly to keep Luke away. The blade came dangerously close and Luke jumped back, giving the man a chance to recover.
He stabbed and Luke jumped back, and the man slashed and stabbed viciously. Luke backed up until he was almost at the door, and he knew he was out of time. When the man slashed again, Luke dodged and then charged at him. He collided with the bigger man and got lucky. He wasn’t expecting the attack, so Luke’s momentum took them both to the ground.
Luke ended up on top and he put his knees on either side of the man’s chest, pinning him to the floor. Hot pain flashed in Luke’s side and he grabbed the man’s wrist and pushed the knife away. He pinned his knife hand to the ground and put his weight on it to keep him from moving it. The man’s other fist came up and Luke covered his head with his arm, blocking the heavy blows that rained down on him.
The other man was bigger and stronger than Luke, and he was losing this fight. An idea flashed through his head and he dropped his arm, exposing his head. He ducked sharply beneath the next blow and fumbled at the man’s belt.
His hand found the gun and he pulled it out and shoved it beneath the man’s chin.
They both froze.
Luke stared into his eyes and the man stared back. They were both pale and panting and covered in sweat. Luke’s hand was still on the man’s wrist, and he could feel his pulse. It was racing.
He didn’t know his name. Luke didn’t know why that mattered, but it suddenly seemed important. This man, this stranger, he had a name and a life, but Luke didn’t know them. And he was about to kill him.
“You can’t do it,” the man said, but his eyes were wide and he didn’t move. “You won’t.”
