by Dani Worth
Cadmar put his hands on the back of Chase’s seat and stared out the windshield too. “It does look like someone’s been keeping it back, but I think I know the culprit. Or culprits.” He pointed at a family of goats peeking back at them between two of the buildings. Someone banged on the door and before he could worry, Jenna’s laughter spilled into the RV as she swept the door open.
“Holy shit, this place is rank, but look! Chickens! And goats! We have to stop back by here and take some with us before we go home.” She lifted one long, jean-clad leg and propped her foot on the step. “Dorian is already working out how we can catch a bunch and transport them back. You have no idea how much we’ve wanted to find chickens. Now if we could only find a few cows.”
“There used to be a whole pasture of them.” Cadmar pointed back the way they’d come. “This place is too stinky to be a raider hangout, but now that I’m thinking about it, they’d probably come here anyway for the chickens and goats. Especially if all our cows are gone.”
She frowned. “I remember you saying you had two cows.”
Cadmar tilted his head. “I said two milk cows. We had a pretty decent herd of beef cattle. Too many for my family and the few raiders left there to go through in a year.”
Dorian stepped up behind Jenna, put his hand on her shoulder, then stroked it down her back. He had his other hand over his nose. “The cows could have gotten sick, picked up parasites…anything could have happened. Let’s not think the worst.”
“Yeah, Caddie, let’s not.” She smiled and the nineteen-year-old turned slightly red.
Tripp stretched out one leg and lightly kicked Cadmar in the butt. “How about you help me catch some chickens?”
Chase waived Jenna and Dorian inside. “I think it’s too late to chase the stink back out, but why don’t you all come inside and we’ll figure out our next move.”
Jenna nodded and stepped inside.
Dorian followed, then turned once to look outside. He shook his head and closed the door. “I thought he was going to wait for us, but I guess not. Ross wanted to scout the area to make sure we’re completely alone. He seems to think the goats wouldn’t have been enough to keep the grass down like this.” He squeezed into the booth next to Jenna, put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
“Oh trust me, they are.” Cadmar pushed Tripp’s legs up on the couch and plopped down by his feet. “I spotted three, so there’s bound to be more out there and goats can clear sections fast. My dad used to borrow four or five from a neighbor and pen them into a spot on our land when he wanted it cleared. They even trimmed all the lower limbs off trees, making it easier for us to mow later. But they’re usually smarter than these seem to be. Why they’re hanging in such a dangerous spot is a little surprising. I’m sure the chickens attract every predator in the area.”
“Maybe we don’t need to take goats back with us.” Jenna looked out the small window over the booth table. “Wouldn’t want them to get into our gardens. And knowing Georgia, she’d turn them into pets and we couldn’t eat them.”
Dorian turned, kissed her cheek. “Oh, we want to take goats. There’s also milk and cheese to think about.”
“But we’ll have cows—assuming there are any left and Caddie’s family decides to go with us.”
“They’ll go,” Cadmar assured them. “And Dorian is right. You’ll want the goats. They’re hardy and easy to feed. Plus, my mom knows how to make the best cheese. We only had two milk cows and the goats will breed.”
“Okay, I’m sold. We’ll just have to build a strong pen for them or something.” She placed her elbow on the table and propped her chin on her hand. “We’re going to need another vehicle to transport all these animals.”
Keera had swiveled her seat to face the others and she propped one foot up in it. “So how far is it to your farm?”
“We have close to a hundred acres about three miles from here.” Cadmar chuckled. “Well, I guess we have whatever-sized land we want now. But originally it was that much. We raised cattle, chickens and had a decent-sized farm.”
Dorian leaned back in the booth. “I’m surprised more survivors didn’t join you,” he said.
“They did. At first. Most of them moved on, though. Rumors of settlements would trickle in and they’d decide they needed more. Not much to do on a farm with a long-time married couple and two young boys.”
“A farm and cattle ranch sounds like heaven to me,” Tripp muttered before propping his feet on Cadmar’s lap.
Chase had to stop himself from lifting an eyebrow in shock. His brother was coming out of his shell faster than he could ever have expected. Warmth filled his chest only to be doused pretty fast when he spotted Ross out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look through the windshield. Ross motioned for him to come outside. The big man pointed toward one of the buildings and Chase nodded. “Be right back,” he told the others.
“Gotta take a leak?” Tripp grinned.
“Nice. Real nice.” Chase shook his head and grabbed one of his old T-shirts out of the cabinet. He tied it around his head, hoping it would alleviate the worst of the smell.
“Wuss,” Ross said under his breath when Chase caught up to him. “I’ve never smelled anything this rank and I’ve been in some bad spots.” He shuddered, then lost all hints of humor. “There are boot tracks all over this place and there’s fresh blood on the backside of this building, so someone is coming here—fairly often and recently because the blood hasn’t had a chance to turn brown.”
Chase walked to the edge of the asphalt and saw what Ross was talking about. He knelt, pushed aside a few weeds the goats hadn’t munched. He stood, followed some of the tracks and stopped where five chicken heads had been left next to a blood-covered bench. The stench here, strong enough to get through the T-shirt, made him want to gag. Something caught his attention and he walked a few feet out. One of the braver goats, who’d been creeping close out of curiosity, obviously lost its nerve because it took off. Chase squatted and looked at a shallow water trench. Several buckets rested near the water and tracks led from them down a hill to what he assumed was a pond or stream.
“They’re bringing water up here for the animals.” He stood and looked around to make sure Cadmar hadn’t followed them. Meeting Ross’s eyes, he lowered the T-shirt. “Did you take a closer look at the tracks? There are at least six different kinds.”
“Think it’s Cad’s family?”
Chase watched a frog jump along the edge of the puddle. “No. I doubt the raiders let them out of their sight. So we can assume there are at least six raiders there now. What’s worrying me is Cadmar said his family had a decent-sized herd of beef cattle in a pasture we passed. All gone.”
Ross crossed his arms and his jacket opened up enough to show the butt of a gun in a holster on his belt. “So we can assume MacKenzie was telling us the truth. With a spread like that, it’s probably turned into a stopover point for raiders. Feel like scouting out tonight for a little reconnaissance?”
“Just you and me?” Chase chuckled. “We might get a little negative feedback on that one.”
“No doubt. Our entire group is full of stubborn, headstrong people. It’s great isn’t it?” He grinned as he looked back toward the RV. “But I don’t want Cadmar coming. Just in case, you know? And the others will stay to protect him and Keera.”
“I notice you didn’t put Jenna in that list.”
“Jenna kicks ass.”
“Trust me, so does Keera. She may be small but I’ve seen her take on raiders twice her size. She’s tough.”
“She’d better be,” MacKenzie said as she walked around the side of the building.
Chase had his gun out and on her so fast she blinked.
“How the hell did you get here?” he asked.
“You really should check inside the back of your truck more often,” she told Ross. “Also, ya’ll picked the worst possible place to stop. The men come up here daily.” She pointed to
the fresh blood. “Looks like they already did today, though, so it’ll work for one night.” She scowled, crossed her arms. “That is if we can take the stink.”
“Ross and I planned to scout out things tonight. Wanna go?”
She nodded. “Why wait? We can go now. There’s an unused fence line on the property that has high weeds. If ya’ll don’t mind braving the snakes, it’ll be enough cover to get a good look at what’s going on there. And besides, there are a couple of people I really want to check on.” She stared at the gun. “This is going to take a really long time if you insist on keeping that pointed at me.”
Chase met Ross’s eyes and the other man quirked his lips. Chase lowered the gun. “Just so you know, I can have this back on you pretty damned fast.”
“Yeah, I saw that,” she muttered as she stomped off, shaking her head.
Dorian closed his eyes and took a long whiff from the mug he cradled between his hands. They hadn’t braved a fire and had only lit a couple of oil lamps on low and placed them beside the RV where they were wrapped up in blankets. “Keera, this tea blend is fantastic. I taste the lemon verbena, but what’s the minty sort of menthol flavor?”
“Yerba buena. I grow it inside with the lamps. We’d have wild ginseng too, but I was distracted by bad things when I went out to get more.” She grinned at Chase. “And good things.”
“Hopefully, I was the good part of the distraction,” he said.
“Oh yeah, you’re the good part.”
Jenna cleared her throat and Keera was glad it was so dark because she knew she was blushing like a teenager over the throaty voice she’d just used with Chase.
“So,” Jenna continued, her tone laced with humor. She glanced over her shoulder at the tall woman standing under a tree. “MacKenzie rode in the back of our truck all the way here—which had to suck with those roads.”
MacKenzie lifted an eyebrow, then shrugged and nodded.
Jenna chuckled. “And she’s willing to go inside the farm alone. Any more to this plan?”
“Too bad we don’t have a plague-ridden dog leg to throw into the water supply.”
When everyone looked at Tripp in confusion and dismay, Keera chuckled. “You’ve seen Flesh + Blood?”
He nodded. “My sister had a thing for the young Rutger Hauer.”
Chase shuddered. “The movie embarrassed Tripp to death.”
“And yet you’re the one squirming over there.” Tripp shook his head. “Luckily her copy of Ladyhawke broke. Never been so sick of a movie in my life. But then, she started watching that series about the gay guys with Jeff and Mooch. If the characters in the show weren’t dancing at some bar with a bunch of half-naked men, they were sharing everything they did together. I mean everything. Damn. Mooch loved that show. And Maggie, she was something else. Didn’t have a shy bone—” he broke off, looked away from everyone.
The silence was only broken by the clamor of insects, the click of a hoof on old asphalt and the slight rustle of clothing as MacKenzie moved a little closer to the group.
Cadmar rushed in to fill the awkward moment. “I wanna see the movie that embarrassed you. Or the dancing show.” He bit his lip, looked down at his hands for a moment, and Keera got the feeling he was blushing like crazy. Lucky for him it was too dark to tell. “Is it one of those tapes you have?” he asked Tripp. “I loved The Mummy and Jurassic Park.”
Chase nudged Keera. “Thanks again for the VCR.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Tripp said, his voice a little rustier than before. “And no, that show isn’t on the tapes. It was on discs, but I didn’t bring those because we don’t have a player in the RV.”
“I want to watch Rambot, First Blood Part Two next. No man, no law, no war can stop him. That’s what the cover said.” Cadmar got up on his knees and leaned toward Tripp. “Do you have Rambot One?”
The look that passed over Tripp’s features had Keera hiding her face. She felt Chase chuckling quietly next to her. She peeked at Tripp and the true affection he had building for Cadmar surprised her. But then, in a way, it didn’t. The boy was really sweet.
“Nah, sorry. I don’t have Rambot One. Chase played it too many times and it broke.” He sent a cheeky grin to his older brother. “Plus, it sucked.”
“No, Rambot Two sucked,” Chase deadpanned.
Ross, Jenna and Dorian gave in and laughed then. Jenna leaned into Ross’s lap, her laughter infectious. The big guy stroked her hair, smiled at Dorian then looked at Cadmar and Tripp. “I believe we have Rambot One on disc at home. So if you want to wait until you can watch them in order you can.”
“Yeah, we have all the Rambots.” Dorian used his shoulder to wipe the tears off his face as he kept laughing.
Cadmar’s mouth twisted as he sat back down and crossed his legs. “It’s not called Rambot, is it?”
This sent Jenna off again.
“You all suck,” he said, frowning.
MacKenzie picked that moment to remind everyone that she’d been quietly standing away from them. “Fun as this all is, do we want to put together a plan for tomorrow?”
Ross sucked in a deep breath, hugged Jenna to his chest before helping her sit back up. “She’s right. We watched them for a while. There were too many for us to just run in shooting. Besides, it looked like they were better off weapon-wise.”
MacKenzie crossed her arms, nodded toward Tripp. “The kid had a good idea.”
Tripp scowled. “I’m twenty-three. And what was a good idea? The dog leg? Far as I know, there is no plague now.”
Dorian got up to pour another mug of tea, set the Thermos down, then startled them all when he made a whooping noise. It wasn’t too loud, but loud enough to make several of them jump.
“What?” Ross asked.
“There are things out here that could make them sick. I don’t know a lot about what grows naturally in Louisiana, but there are bound to be some kind of toxic plants around here.”
“We passed a thicket of yellow jessamine,” Keera said, her voice low. She didn’t look up. Couldn’t. She was too horrified at herself for even suggesting it.
“You saw them from the RV?” Tripp asked.
“They flower early and are easy to spot.” She bit her lip. “Jessamine is highly toxic—especially the roots. We’re talking dangerous toxic.”
Silence fell over the group. Keera’s stomach cramped and sweat popped up over her lip. It made her skin sting from the cold. She knew they were all thinking what she was. Could they do such a thing?
Dorian sat back down by Jenna, leaned forward and buried his face in his hands. “No, we can’t.”
“I know,” Keera whispered, her voice catching. “I’m sorry I brought it up. It’s the only poisonous plant I know that’s easy to find because it sometimes blooms in January. Plus I saw it earlier. But you’re right. It’s a bad idea. An awful one.”
“Why?” Ross asked. “Will it make them so sick they can’t fight?”
Dorian lifted his head, the stark dismay on his face blatant even in the moonlight. “For sure it will. But mostly it will kill them. Cause paralysis that can sometimes last for a long time before they die.”
“It’s torture.” Keera hugged herself. “I’m sorry I brought it up. We can find something else.”
“No.” MacKenzie came closer to the group. “You said paralysis. That’s perfect.”
Keera shook her head. “We can’t. Can’t kill that many people and in such a horrible way.”
Jenna cleared her throat, slid her hand into Dorian’s. “Is it possible to give them just enough to make them sick so they recover?”
“Maybe,” he answered. “But there’s no way to make sure. We’d have to put it into food or drink and somehow keep Caddie’s family from ingesting it. We don’t know how diluted it would be, who would drink how much. Some could get hardly any and we’d still end up fighting.”
“Fighting some is better than fighting all of them.” Jenna put her other hand on top of their entwined hands.
“We have to do something, Dorian.”
“You have to kill them,” MacKenzie insisted. “If you don’t, they will track you. Some of them have become experts. They will track you and they will destroy everything you love.”
Keera studied her. The woman was speaking from experience. Hard times lived in her features. She was probably only a few years older than Keera, but everything about her spoke of a life lived in Hell. Tripp would seem like a kid to her.
Ross scooted closer to Jenna and Dorian. “Remember the ones who tracked us? We killed them. We can’t afford to have a larger group find us.”
Dorian shook his head. Hard. “That was different. We were defending ourselves and they fired first. We’re discussing poisoning—in a torturous way—a lot of people. We’re talking massacre.”
MacKenzie walked to Dorian and squatted in front of him until they were eye to eye. “Most of those people have killed and killed often. They’ve tortured people, raped people. They. Have. Massacred. They are also holding that boy’s family and have for a year. I’ve been there and refuse to go into details, but trust me. They deserve to die.”
Cadmar made a sound that tore into Keera’s heart like a spike. She sucked in a deep breath and must have made a noise of her own because Chase lifted his blanket, put his arm around her and pulled her close to his side. He was warm and he smelled good, so she burrowed close.
MacKenzie looked at Cadmar. “We kept them off your brother.”
“Who’s we?” he asked, his voice shaking.
“Me and a couple of others. Some of them aren’t so bad. They just fell into the wrong group and couldn’t find a way out.”
“Like you?”
“Like me. We do what we can to keep the killing down and some of us offered ourselves up whenever the young ones started catching eyes. I will tell you that your mother has done the same.”
Cadmar stood, took two steps back, then rushed out of sight.
