“Damage detected.” A female voice spoke. “This vehicle contains defective components that may cause injury or death. It has been deactivated for your safety. Please remain calm. Help is on the way.”
A crazy laugh crept up Selene’s throat and erupted. The guys looked at her like she was insane.
Wasn’t she?
Of course there was an alarm. Of course help was on the way.
Just not for her.
The boys started to look just as panicked as she felt. Selene edged around them, keeping her weapon aimed at them until she was ahead of Dion and the truck.
The computer continued repeating its warning on a loop.
When she’d put enough space between herself and them, she reholstered her weapon.
As she sprinted across the road, the boys shouted over the truck’s insistent warning.
“Throw the bottles in the woods! Get rid of ’em!”
Selene left them behind, sprinting in the direction she hoped she’d finally find home.
The dawn sky was streaked with purple and orange by the time Anders found Selene’s home. He parked his bike at the end of the long dirt drive and sauntered up to the gate. The fence around the property was peeling, with loose boards in some places and a few fresh boards in others. It was high enough that he couldn’t see over it but low enough to jump. Not his first choice.
Off-gridders didn’t like people knocking on their front doors. It’d be a good way to find himself on the business end of one of Uncle Jay’s trades. Anders checked his bag and quickly turned off his radio. Wouldn’t be good if it started beeping while he was trying to talk to Selene.
A light breeze coursed through the trees, carrying the faint scent of wood smoke. He walked carefully up to the fence and found a knothole near the gate to look through. Small clapboard house, peeled and practically falling down where it stood. If there hadn’t been chickens pecking in the dirt and visible signs that the fence had been recently repaired, Anders would have thought the house abandoned. It certainly didn’t look like a place people could be living in.
Anders’ pulse picked up as he checked the gate, lightly shaking it. Locked.
He rapped on it. “Hello?” He tried again, shouting a little louder. “Is anyone home? I need to talk to you.”
He waited another minute, then shrugged and started walking the perimeter. Jay had been clear. Anders had to get this taken care of as soon as possible… before his dad did anything stupid. If Lydia wouldn’t let him in, he’d have to let himself in. She’d understand once she heard what he had to say. Besides, his dad would have no problem busting down the fence if he came out here.
Anders reached the back of the small property and glimpsed a shed roof on the other side of it. He tested the fence to make sure it was sturdy enough to jump, then slung his backpack over it.
The fence shook beneath his weight as he jumped it, but he made it over, landing in a crouch on the other side. As he stood and turned, he found the barrel of a gun aimed at his chest.
The woman holding it was five foot nothing with blue eyes and short wavy white hair. She was dressed to work, in jeans and boots, and her fierce gaze and stance belied her age.
Not the grandmother he’d been expecting, but this was much more interesting.
Adrenaline surged through Anders as he raised his hands and offered her a smile. “Good mornin’, ma’am.”
Lydia’s intelligent eyes narrowed. “Not anymore. There’s a strange man on my property.”
“You don’t need that gun. I’m just here to talk to Selene.”
The woman took a deep breath, and her sharp eyes scanned him. “Name,” she snapped.
“Anders. I’m a friend—”
“Thought so.”
Anders tried to look charming and trustworthy. “So you know who I am then. What’s your name?”
“Why the hell are you here?”
“I just came by to talk to Selene.”
“And why would I let the sheriff’s son do that?”
Anders blew out a breath. “It’s kinda hard to chat with a gun aimed at my chest.”
“It’ll be harder with a bullet in your heart.”
“True.” He studied her face, the way she held her gun. His gut said she wouldn’t shoot. She was no murderer, and she hadn’t managed to disappear with two kids on her own without being smart.
“Why are you here?” she demanded.
“Did Selene tell you what happened yesterday? She tried to use some counterfeit bits, and I kept her from being arrested.”
“Start at the end.”
“I’m trying to help. My dad’s required, by law, to confiscate those bits. So he needs Selene’s bitstorage card… but I don’t want him coming out here to get it. If he sees you’re here without an exemption—”
“How did you find us?”
“Does it matter? If you don’t let me talk to Selene, my dad’s gonna find you.” Anders gave her his best, most sincere smile. “I really like Selene and Eli. And I want to help.”
“I can see why Selene got stupid around you…” Lydia stared at him for another moment, then got a glint in her blue eyes. “But this ain’t my first rodeo.”
“Excuse me?”
“You want to help? Fine.” She gestured toward the yard. “Leave your bag here. And head over to the porch. You try anything, I’ll shoot.”
Anders slowly lowered his hands and headed in the direction she gestured. This wasn’t going quite how he’d imagined it, but at least he was getting closer to the house.
When he emerged from behind the shed, he had a full view of the backyard. A few raised beds ran along one side of the fence, but the plants didn’t look healthy. In fact, they looked like they’d been trampled. Anders ducked under the clothesline and noticed the car right behind the back porch. An ancient Tesla was connected to a small solar array by a half dozen wires. The back seat of the car had a pile of belongings—a quilt, a box, and some other things he couldn’t make out. He glanced at the root cellar as he passed it. The doors were open, but it was dark, and he couldn’t see inside it. Were they running? Disappointment tugged at Anders.
“You guys goin’ somewhere?” he asked. “You don’t have to. If you give me that bitstorage card—”
“Walk. Get in the house,” Lydia said, no emotion in her voice.
The porch steps creaked under Anders’ boots as he climbed them, then passed through the screen door to enter the kitchen.
The interior made his chest tighten. He hadn’t seen many off-grid homesteads outside his uncle’s, but even his tenants lived far better than this. How long had Selene and Eli been living in this dilapidated house?
There was a single worn couch and cracked trestle table in the living area and ancient chipped counters and peeling linoleum in the kitchen.
The cupboards were open and bare. They were definitely running.
“Move quietly, and don’t try to call for Selene,” Lydia said, her voice low. “Turn left at the hall, and go to the room at the end. Then step inside, and leave the door open.”
“Got it.” Anders kept his arms raised and walked very carefully down the small dark hall. He passed a door on his right. Were Selene and Eli in there, still asleep? If Anders could get one of them to come out here… he could get the grandmother to back down.
He pushed open the door at the end and found a small room with a single mattress inside—no sheets or quilts.
Lydia stopped short of entering. “Open the closet door and roll out the cart. Slowly.”
An old TV was in the closet on the stand, and he wheeled it out and looked at her with raised brows.
“Lift the TV, and place it on the floor.”
“If you needed help moving, all you had to do was ask.”
“Shh!”
He sighed and hefted the TV, grunting against its heavy weight. As he lowered it to the floor, Lydia snatched a thin silver case from the stan
d and slid it into her pocket. It looked like a mini holotab cover. Why had it been hidden beneath the base of the TV?
Anders wiped his dusty hands down his jeans. “Can we talk about this now?”
“Nan?” Eli stepped out of the door down the hall, rubbing his eyes. They widened as he saw Anders standing there.
“Hey, Eli! Can you get Selene for me?”
“She’s…” Eli looked at Lydia and realized she was holding a gun in front of her. “What are you doing, Nan?” he said, his voice cracking. “I told you—he’s good! He helped us.”
“Get back in your room, now,” Lydia said through gritted teeth. “Now, Eli.”
“But—”
“Now!”
Eli’s lip trembled as he stepped into the bedroom, but he didn’t shut the door all the way.
“You don’t have to run away and leave here,” Anders said loudly, hoping Selene or Eli could hear him. “The police just want that bitstorage card. I can try to help so they don’t bother you—.”
“Shut up.” Lydia’s face fell, and she stepped into the room, getting behind him so her gun was pointed at his back. “Get outside.”
In the yard, a light drizzle had begun to fall, and dark clouds gathered in the skies to the west. This was not going at all like Anders had hoped. He kept walking until he reached the Tesla.
“Stop!” Lydia said.
Anders looked casually over his shoulder at her, then down at the open engine. “If you’re not gonna give me any information on those bits… then my dad’s coming after Selene. Looks like you already knew that, though. You really gonna run?”
She raised the gun. “Step away from the car.”
“Looks like you got a burnt-out battery hook-up.”
“I’m aware.” The grandmother’s mouth rose in an unsettling half smile.
Anders shrugged. “Luckily for you, I know how to fix those.”
The grandmother gave him a long look. “Luckily for me, I also know how to fix those. You rode up here on a bike, didn’t you? Your key in your backpack or your pocket?”
Oh, crap. Anders sighed and glanced toward the back porch, wishing Selene would wake the hell up.
“Where’s your key?”
Anders carefully reached into his pocket and pulled out the round metal disc that activated his bike.
“Drop it on the ground.”
Anders did what she said and started to worry for the first time. Every electric vehicle had interchangeable battery components… including his bike. She was going to steal the component from his bike and leave him stranded here.
“Thanks for all your help, Anders,” Lydia said with a slight smile. “Now, get into the root cellar.”
“Wait a minute,” Anders said, “I’m sure we can work this out.”
Lydia gestured her gun toward the root cellar. “No. Get down there.”
Frustration churned inside him as he started for the cellar, but he couldn’t help but admire Lydia. She’d pwned him. He’d tried to swoop in and save the day, and here he was, going down in flames instead. The look on his dad’s face when he or some of his officers found him locked up in that root cellar… Anders let out a laugh. Things were about to get real awkward.
“Go on in.”
“You’re really gonna lock me down there? It’s not necessary. I’m not gonna follow you.” A drop of rain hit Anders in the forehead. “But I could help you guys.”
“Oh. But you have helped.” Lydia flashed him a smile and stooped to grab his bike’s key off the ground. “Now get in the cellar.”
“Nan!” Eli was standing on the porch, a book clutched to his chest.
“You stay right there, Eli.”
Anders gave him a friendly wave. “Can you go get Selene?”
Eli shook his head. “Stop it, Nan!”
Nan ignored his pleas and gestured with her gun to the open root cellar. “Get. In.”
Anders shook his head but descended. He bumped into a light bulb hanging from the ceiling, and he pulled the string, lighting the space up. The shelves were completely bare.
“Hey!” Anders called. “Tell Selene I’m sorry I didn’t get to see her again. I was really hopin’ to get to know her better.”
The grandmother slammed one door shut, blocking out half the light.
“Wait, Nan!” Eli’s high-pitched voice rang out. “Wait a second.”
“Get back on the porch!”
“Why are you doing this? He helped us!”
“I’m not hurting him.” Lydia grew quiet, but Anders still made out some of the words. “…to leave. …where we’re going.”
“What about Selene?” Eli sounded upset, like he was about to cry.
“Can I say good-bye?” Anders called.
They spoke more words he couldn’t make out.
“That’s the only one you have left.” Lydia said.
Eli pushed past her and sent his book skidding down the cellar stairs. He had tears running down his face.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.” Anders said, smiling up at him. “What’s this for?”
“So you won’t be alone down there.”
Lydia pulled him out of the way and slammed the second door shut.
“Thanks,” Anders shouted, then glanced down at the book. Greek Myths.
Wasn’t this one of the books he had paid for at Penn’s yesterday? His chest went tight as the sound of a chain rattled above. Light still filtered through a few cracks in the door, so he wasn’t in any danger of suffocation… though if that rain got worse, he might end up sitting in a puddle.
Anders went back up the stairs, pressing his ear to the door to see if he could make out any more of their conversation… or hear Selene’s voice.
After what must have been ten minutes, he heard the distinct hum of an old model Tesla as it started up.
They were getting away. Well, his dad was shit out of luck, but Anders wasn’t worried about himself. Penn could out him, could embarrass his dad, but the most Anders would get was a slap on the wrist. His father could tell the Coalition there had been a glitch in the feed. Or that Anders had misunderstood.
It would all work out. He gave the cellar door a good rattle, tried to see if there was a way to break through, but Lydia had done a good job securing it, and the wood felt solid.
Anders laughed at himself again as the sound of the car faded and there was nothing left except the light rain hitting the root cellar doors. He descended the steps and sank down onto the dirt floor. On one hand, it was easy to laugh at his predicament, and he was glad that family would be gone before his dad screwed up their lives. But on the other… he had wanted to see Selene again. Maybe he still would. Maybe his uncle would know where an off-grid family would flee to next, and he wouldn’t tell his dad once this all blew over.
Anders leaned forward to grab the Greek Myths book, and a red rectangular piece of plastic slipped out and fell to the ground.
Anders’ heart rate picked up as he held the card up to the light and grinned. Achievement unlocked. “Thank you, Eli.”
It was the bitstorage card Selene had tried to use at Penn’s.
Things were definitely looking up.
Anders slipped the bitstorage card into his back pocket and felt paper. He pulled out the picture he’d snagged from his uncle’s box, worried it would get wet if that rain made it down here. His mother stared back at him, laughing. He turned the picture over and found a date in Jay’s scrawl. 2058. The year of Telmont’s last epidemic. Citizens had gotten the worst of it, because the Coalition had claimed there was a medication shortage, but Anders didn’t believe it. Anders, Uncle Jay, his mother, and his father had all survived that epidemic thanks to illegal Haven-sourced meds.
But the meds hadn’t arrived in time to save all the off-gridders around here. Anders couldn’t remember half the kids in this picture… They’d probably died. Like Anders’ grandparents and other uncle.
<
br /> His mother hadn’t ever recovered from losing them all.
Loras Johansen would always be a hypocritical traitor, no matter what Jay believed. Withholding medication was murder, which meant the Coalition had killed all those people… and they’d killed Anders’ mother the same way a year later.
What would she have thought about all this now? About the sheriff and the things he’d done? According to his uncle, his mother knew everything about Haven, yet had never trusted his dad enough to tell him about it.
Anders wished he’d been smart enough to never trust his dad, too. He let out a heavy sigh and carefully slipped the picture into the back of Eli’s book to keep it safe. The rain was falling harder now, and rivulets were starting to work their way down the stairs. Good thing his backpack was waterproof.
His dad would show up soon, and if he didn’t, well… his uncle would notice when Anders didn’t call in. Someone would be here soon enough to get him out of here.
Anders flipped Eli’s book to a page in the middle with a colorful illustration of a woman with long, flowing brown hair, a painted jar in her lap, and a shimmering blue beetle-like creature in the palm of her hand.
He began reading a random paragraph as thunder boomed outside his temporary prison.
Zeus gave Pandora and Epimetheus a gift. It was a beautiful lidded jar, painted in the finest colors.
“Do not ever open this,” Zeus told them. But he knew Pandora’s curiosity would grow to be too much.
Pandora, she of earth and water, felt an affinity with the clay jar and yearned to discover what lay inside. One day, after Epimetheus had left their house, she peeked beneath the lid. Before she could do anything to stop it, a black cloud erupted from the jar, whirling around her, blinding her.
Zeus’s laughter echoed through her mind. “You have unleashed horror on Earth. The world will remember who was responsible for this. And they will curse your name for eternity.”
The black cloud cleared, fleeing Pandora’s home, and she slammed the lid back onto the jar.
But it was too late.
When she gathered the courage to peek once more, it was empty. Except for a small, dead insect at the bottom.
Defective (Fractured Era Book 1) Page 19
