by Dulaney, C.
And she held a knife to Jonah’s neck. The tip of the blade stuck him just underneath his jaw.
“Put it down,” Kasey said. She and Michael stepped in opposite directions to put a little distance between each other, and kept their guns on the woman.
The woman didn’t answer, instead putting more pressure on the knife. The tip broke the skin and red beaded up, sliding down his neck almost immediately.
“Lower your weapon, now!” Michael ordered.
Kasey tightened her grip and slowed her breathing.
“You put yours down!” the woman finally answered. “Two strange men waltz into my goddamn bedroom, what do you expect me to do!”
Kasey’s eyes narrowed and she paused before inhaling.
“Kasey, don—” Jonah began.
She squeezed the trigger and the woman’s head snapped back with such force that she landed on the bed a couple feet behind her. She slid off and hit the floor with a thud. Jonah’s breath exploded from his chest and he crumpled forward on his hands and knees. Michael glanced at the woman but moved off to check Jake. Kasey kneeled next to Jonah and laid a hand on his back.
“Let me see it,” she said.
“It’s not that bad. I’m fine,” he gasped, still on all fours.
“Let me see it.” Kasey pulled a rag from his back pocket and wiped the blood from his neck. The wound was small and not very deep. She held the rag to it until the bleeding stopped.
“I got a pulse,” Michael said, “but he’s out like a light.” He moved the hair on Jake’s head to check the wound. His fingers probed the cut. “It’s superficial. He’ll be okay.” Michael rolled him over so he could breathe easier.
“Yeah,” Jonah whispered. “She cold-cocked him with the handle of her knife.”
Kasey checked Jonah’s neck one more time, then stood and walked over to the window. She couldn’t see much but the side of the house next door. “How the hell did she get the jump on you? Both of you?”
Jonah sat back on his haunches and looked up at Kasey. “She must’ve been hunkered down by the bed. I thought she was in the closet.” He jerked his chin toward the small opening next to the front door. A few shirts and a coat hung from a rod. A pair of boots sat on the floor. His eyes lingered on impressions in the carpet, shaped like small feet and outlined in a yellow glow. “I went over to check it, and the next thing I knew, I heard a thump and there was a knife damn near stuck in my ear.” Jonah let out a breath and got to his feet. “Let’s get Jake downstairs. The other two are disciplined, but that gunshot’s gonna worry ‘em.”
“Right,” Kasey said. “Michael?”
Michael nodded and hefted Jake up over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. He took the steps one at a time, and Kasey held Jonah by the elbow and led him down behind Michael.
“Dad said there was a path to the houses out back,” she whispered to him. “We’re gonna have to check them now.”
Jonah lowered his voice to match hers. “Or we could just leave.”
“We can’t ride in the dark. There might be more people like her out there.”
“More people like her, or more people like you?”
Kasey stopped halfway down the stairs and jerked on his elbow. “She had a knife to your damn throat.”
“She was scared.”
“Well who the hell isn’t?” She let go of him and started back downstairs. “And you’re welcome.”
Jonah growled and sat down on the step.
Downstairs, Mia unrolled a sleeping bag and Michael laid Jake down on it. Gus pranced over and promptly licked all over his unconscious friend’s face. Mia tried shooing him away, and it almost worked. Gus moved from licking Jake’s face to licking the palm of one hand.
Caleb hovered nearby and hurried over to Kasey when she entered the room. Leaning close, he asked, “What happened up there?”
Kasey took a step back and kept her eyes on Jake. “How’s it look outside?”
Caleb pursed his lips. “Quiet. No movement.”
“Good.”
Her dad reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “Kasey, I−”
She pulled away and strode across the room, taking up Mia’s spot by the front window while Mia fretted over Jake’s sleeping form. Michael motioned for Caleb to return to the back, then walked over to stand beside Kasey.
“Where’s Jonah?” he asked.
She pointed over her shoulder to the stairwell. “Sitting there, pouting.”
“Jonah doesn’t pout.”
She grunted in reply.
Michael waited for more, then finally said, “Probably a good idea to keep a watch tonight. I’ll take the first shift with your dad. You go get some rest.”
“I’m fine. You sleep.”
“Kasey, just do it. I’ll wake you in a few hours.”
She glared at him, then pushed past and went to her sleeping bag next to Jake and Mia’s.
“You too, Mia,” Michael said. “We leave at first light.”
Mia stretched out next to Jake without protest, and kept a sharp eye on the rise and fall of his chest. Kasey lay next to her and stared at the ceiling, with Gus snuggled up at her side.
✽✽✽
“Could’ve been the whiskey,” Jake sang. “Might’ve been the rye.” He swayed back and forth on his horse and rubbed his head.
The group left Betty’s Boulder as soon as the sun was up without looting through any of the houses. Michael was afraid of a repeat of the night before, but hadn’t told Kasey that. Jonah was relieved, for the same reasons.
“Head feels like a watermelon,” Jake sang, “think I’m gonna die.”
“Would you pipe down,” Mia said. “You don’t even know the whole song.”
Jake turned in the saddle and leaned toward Mia, who rode next to him. “Someone took a grapefruit,” he sang louder.
“And shoved it in your mouth. Shut up.”
Jake smiled, rubbed his head again, and shut up.
“How far to the next town?” Jonah asked. He and Michael rode behind the others. Kasey and her dog were out front with her dad.
“We should be there by noon,” Michael said.
“We’re gonna need water.”
“I know.”
An hour later, the mountain road turned steep and winding. Or, as Jake had proclaimed, “More curves than a bucket of worms.” After they rode down the other side, they stopped at a wide spot to rest the horses and their rear ends.
“Hey, Jake,” Michael said. He dismounted and rubbed his hip. “You and Jonah head out, find some water.” He looked around, then pointed towards the woods on their right. “We’re not out yet, but I don’t want to run dry before we start looking.”
Jake and Jonah gathered up empty bottles from the others, stuffed them in a plastic bag someone had pulled from a saddle pack, and headed off into the trees. The sharp inclines were rolling in this area, what folks called “hog backs,” and there was sure to be water running downhill in between. Those little runs would lead to a creek somewhere, but as far as they could tell, it wasn’t anywhere close.
Michael squatted and smoothed the map out on the ground. The other three gathered close, sipping water and wiping sweat from their foreheads. Caleb pulled his hair back and secured it with an old strip of leather. Kasey poured a little water into her cupped palm and let Gus drink.
“It’s been a long time since I was this way,” Kasey said, “but if I remember, this should be the worst part of it.”
Caleb agreed. “One more mountain and we’ll be in the next town.”
“Not far from that, we’ll be at the highway.” Michael pointed at a spot on the map. “We’re getting close to some cities, though.”
Mia stood and stepped away from them. She looked out into the woods, her eyes losing focus.
“Yeah,” Caleb continued. “Shouldn’t be an issue.” He leaned forward and gestured over the map. “We’ll be passing between, not going through.”
Mia walked out into the roa
d and looked first one way, then the other. Her brows pulled together, and she turned her head back and forth twice more. Then the color drained from her face and the muscles went slack. A breath rushed from her. Gus snapped his head around, and Kasey looked up.
“Hey, you okay?”
Mia simply stared down the road and couldn’t find the words to answer yet. Gus whined and danced over to her, tongue hanging and tail wagging.
“Mia,” Kasey said. Her knees popped when she stood. Her dad peered over his shoulder, then up at his daughter. Kasey shrugged and walked over to Mia. “Did you hear something?”
Mia took a deep breath. Her voice shook when she spoke. “No, nothing. Just…” She glanced down the road again. “Déjà vu or something.” She chuckled and waved it off. “Stupid. Don’t worry about it.” She leaned over and rubbed the dog’s head.
Kasey looked back at her dad, then again at Mia. “Alright. Whatever you say.” She tapped Mia’s arm. “C’mon. Drink some water.”
“No,” Mia said, “I’m fine. Just had some.”
“It’s hot as hell and I think the heat is messing with you. Drink it. We’ve got enough, and the boys will bring back more.”
Caleb didn’t wait. He walked over and shoved his water bottle into Mia’s hand, then stared at her until she relented. After she’d had a few drinks, he led her to the edge of the woods and sat her down in the shade. He didn’t say anything, just pointed a finger, indicating she was to keep her ass there until told otherwise. Gus thought Caleb was talking to him, so he sat his ass next to Mia to stay there until told otherwise. Caleb and Kasey rejoined Michael on the ground and waited for Jake and Jonah to get back.
When they did half an hour later, it was empty handed and drenched in sweat.
“Everything’s dried up,” Jake said. He pulled his shirt off and wiped his face with it.
The others grumbled and cursed. “It’s been awhile since it rained,” Kasey said, “but it’s cooler here, the deeper we get into the mountains. I expected there to be water somewhere.”
“There is. I just need to track one of these runs to the crick,” Jonah said. “That’ll take some time, but it won’t be dry.”
Michael shook his head. “No. We’re almost to the next town. The creek probably runs close to it. We’ll scavenge there, and you can head out and look for it then.”
Jonah dipped his head and the group saddled up. Kasey scooped her dog into her arms and let him ride with her. The next mountain was steeper, but thankfully not as long. Gus sat in front, stuffed between Kasey and the saddle horn. He kept his nose up, sniffing the air. She and Michael rode out front this time, Jake and Mia in the middle, Jonah and Caleb bringing up the rear. The downhill portion was mostly shaded. The woods were thick to begin with in this area, and without regular maintenance, had overgrown, their branches hanging way out over the road. Several limbs were down because of that, but the group didn’t come across any places that were completely blocked.
They hadn’t passed any houses since leaving Betty’s Boulder. That was another reason Kasey hadn’t traveled this way during all the scavenging runs. There was just hardly anything around. She would’ve had to have traveled into one of the nearby cities by way of the one or two county routes that cut off the road they currently traveled. Back then, that would’ve been suicide.
The air hung heavy around them. It was thick, so humid it was difficult to breathe. Odd for September, but not unheard of. Probably another reason why they hadn’t found water in the woods, and another reason Michael wasn’t particularly crazy about the idea of Jonah finding the creek. They’d be better off to find a store of bottled somewhere in the next town, or even make a quick trip into the nearest city for some. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, though; if nasty, stagnant creek water was their only choice, they’d just boil the shit out of it.
“We should have packed more,” Kasey mumbled.
Michael glanced over. “Huh?”
“Water. Should have filled the saddlebags with nothing but water. Who needs food?”
Michael chuckled. “We’ll be okay. Not like we’re traveling hundreds of miles. This is a short trip. The horses aren’t even spent. You’re just hot is all.”
“Yeah,” Kasey sighed. “Damn mountain roads make everything seem longer than what they are.”
“They really do.”
Jake suddenly appeared between Kasey and Michael, his horse just fitting into the space. “Hey, I think we might have a problem,” he said in a hushed tone.
Kasey jumped, but didn’t yell at him. Instead she said, “What’s wrong?”
Jake’s eyes barely moved, though it was enough that Kasey knew he was pointing out something behind them.
She whispered, “I’m assuming you don’t want me to look.”
Jake nodded once. Michael listened in, but kept his eyes on the road ahead.
“Someone following?” Kasey asked.
“No,” Jake said. “Somethin’ goin’ on with our girl.”
This time Kasey did look. She twisted so far and fast in her saddle that Gus almost vaulted out onto the road. Mia seemed fine. She wasn’t wobbling in the saddle, her face was alert, and she was keeping a good watch on the woods to her right. But her jaw was clenched, and her eyes looked glassy.
Kasey slid her gaze on back to her dad. He kept watch on the woods to their left. Jonah, however, stared at Mia. He caught Kasey’s eye and raised a brow, then tipped his head toward Mia. Kasey nodded, then turned back around.
“Why do you think something’s wrong?” she asked.
Jake snorted. “Well, for starters, she hasn’t told me to shut up since we got back on the road.”
Kasey rolled her eyes. “Jake.”
Michael smiled.
“No,” Jake whispered. “I’m serious.” He glanced over his shoulder. “She is not actin’ right.”
“Okay, okay,” Kasey said. “Just… keep an eye on her without pissing her off. Do you think you can do that?”
“I hope I do piss her off. Least I’d get a reaction. She’s freakin’ me out.”
Kasey pursed her lips and jerked a thumb over her shoulder. Jake mumbled, pulled on the reins, and slid back into position next to Mia.
“Probably just the heat,” Michael said.
Kasey ran a hand over Gus’ head. “Yeah.”
✽✽✽
“How big did you say this town was?” Kasey asked.
They’d started passing houses half a mile back, but had yet to enter the town proper. These homes were few and far between, each on large lots, and this was beginning to make Kasey wonder if they were headed for something much larger than they’d first thought.
“Couldn’t really tell, but the map doesn’t have it designated as a city. Look at the colors.” Michael flipped the paper and held it over so Kasey could see. “Same as the last one, and it was a hole in the wall.”
Kasey could see what he meant and had to agree. If this next place turned out to be opposite from what the map showed, it definitely wouldn’t be Michael’s fault. She turned and called her dad up.
He trotted his horse to her side and said, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she answered. “You know this area better than me. Know anything about this next town?”
Caleb shook his head. “No. We used to cut across Twenty-Seven.” He motioned behind them, where they’d passed that road before the last mountain. The map showed it was basically a short cut between the road they were on, and the closest city.
Kasey turned to Michael. “Why don’t we do that? Backtrack and take Twenty-Seven? We’re headed to the highway and Dad knows that road. It’ll get us there faster.”
“We’re not trying to get there faster,” Michael said. “We’re following in the scouts’ footsteps. Yeah, we want to find out what’s going on, but we need to find them, too. We start skipping around to save time, and we could miss them. What if they need help?”
Kasey frowned. “Yeah. Alright.”
“Don’t worry,” Caleb said. “We’re not going that far out of the way. Next time Michael pulls that damn map out, try actually looking at it instead of daydreaming.”
Kasey wanted to get mad, but oddly enough, the corner of her mouth twitched, instead. “Okay, Dad.”
Caleb paused, then fell back to the rear of the group. Michael gave Kasey side-eye and bit the inside of his lip to keep from smiling.
Good, he thought. Good.
In the middle of the group, Jake took turns staring at Mia and each house they passed. Mostly, he watched for standing water. Pools, bird baths, old tires, anything. Definitely not the cleanest, but they could take care of that. Instead, he started to see a pattern. He steered his horse over and slowed until Jonah and Caleb caught up. He fell in beside the cowboy.
“You notice anythin’ weird about the houses?”
“Mhm,” Jonah grunted.
“Shit. I was hopin’ it was just me. I can’t even remember how long it’s been since we saw a house that didn’t have all its windows busted out.”
“Least at ground level,” Jonah said. “Half the reason those terminators look like they been through a meat grinder.”
“Tell me about it. Always wondered why they didn’t just teach ‘em to open the fuckin’ doors.”
Jonah shrugged. “Just stay sharp for now,” he said. “Let’s see what town looks like.”
Jake hesitated. “You sure?”
“Yep.”
“You woulda been an awesome motivational speaker,” Jake grumbled, then spurred his horse forward and rejoined Mia.
They rounded a bend in the road and the “town” exploded into view.
“Uh, Michael?” Kasey said.
Michael pulled his horse to a stop and stared. “Well. Clearly this map is outdated.”
