Fending Them Off

by Max Lockwood

  Chapter Five

  The others remaining in their group returned, and it took a bit to explain the whole situation to them. Then, the despair set in.

  There was plenty of cursing the bastards that had run off and left them alone, and, though some stood stronger than the rest of them, she noticed a few of them had teary eyes.

  By the time they were all back, all with no luck, Tessa had yet to wake up.

  “Felicia, what’s wrong with her?” Clara asked, frantic. “Is it a concussion?”

  Felicia shook her head, her lips tight. “She’s hurt, I can tell you that much, but I’m not sure how badly. They hit her hard, enough to break the skin, but the blood clotted up in maybe a minute, or less. Head wounds tend to bleed a lot, and there isn’t a lot of blood.”

  “But there being blood in itself is bad, isn’t it?”

  “Well, it could be a good thing,” she muttered. “The real problem would be if the blood clotted inside the skin, and I can assure you that didn’t happen. We need to clean the wound, though, and cover it with something so we don’t risk her getting an infection. That would be bad.”

  Clara glared off into the distance, giving up on worry for a moment. If she could, she would retaliate against every one of the idiots that did this. Did Tessa try to stop them? Was that why she got hit? Or was she just in their way, and they did it before she knew what they were planning, so they could leave her behind?

  She couldn’t help cursing herself for leaving her sister behind, alone with strangers.

  “Don’t sweat it so much, Clara,” Felicia said, her voice sounding tired. “They’re gone and there’s nothing we can do about it. We should be grateful they left your sister alive, you know? They were all armed.”

  Clara felt the blood drain from her face. She’d forgotten that. “How many guns do we still have?”

  “I checked, at least they didn’t take any of our guns. We have more than enough to protect us, but now… with no tire, we’re stuck here. That’s my biggest problem.”

  Yeah. Clara guessed it was a problem for a lot of them. She could hear the murmurs starting up in groups.

  “Maybe… if we stick around and keep trying with the towns’ people, we can still get that spare tire. The car still has some gas.”

  “Not enough to get us very far,” Felicia said.

  Clara shrugged. “Any distance would be good. We just need to find somewhere better to settle. For now… we don’t have much of a choice, so we need to stick around here.”

  The only big immediate problem was how everyone else was going to react to being left behind and stabbed in the back. There wasn’t much she could do if some of the other guys decided they were better off leaving the group, too. There wasn’t anywhere they could go, but if they asked for a part of the supplies, or just tried to take them, a fight might actually break out.

  Clara didn’t feel too confident about breaking up a fight at that moment. The most she could hope for was that people would behave.

  “We need to decide what we’re going to do,” Felicia told her, voice quiet. She turned to look at her, and noticed she wasn’t really doing anything besides just sitting there.

  “First of all, how’s Tessa?” Clara asked.

  “She’s fine,” Felicia said measuredly, only to ruin it by adding, “I think. It’s hard to tell right now, but we need to wait for her to wake up. Sleep is the best thing for her right now, and it will heal her body a bit. I do have some drugs I carried with me, maybe they didn’t know, but either way I’m just glad they left my stuff alone.”

  Clara sighed, relieved. Having some medicine would be helpful, for Tessa, at least.

  “Now, about the other problem,” Felicia probed.

  Clara glanced around at everybody else. They were all sitting near the sidewalk where there was a bit of grass, but it was still hard ground. Felicia was kneeling on the sidewalk, and Clara was crouched with her back to the car, until she realized her thighs ached, and she sat down, holding her knees to her chest.

  She didn’t miss that Felicia’s voice had gone quiet again, like she wanted to leave it as a private conversation.

  “There isn’t really much we can do,” she muttered. “What decisions? There aren’t that many options. If the people of this town don’t give us a free tire, we’re stuck here. And even if they have food, I somehow doubt they’d be willing to share that. They’d probably run us out of town if we even tried.”

  “I don’t think continuing to look for a tire is a good idea, either,” Felicia added. At Clara’s frown, she continued. “We don’t need them finding out we’re stranded here and the perfect targets, Clara. Maybe if we leave them alone, they’ll assume we all left, and they’ll leave us alone. We have some guns, but our numbers have gone down.”

  “Not by a lot, though,” Clara muttered. “We’re going to have to think of something to do with the food shortage. We can't stand to have any more internal arguments, or it’s going to get dangerous.”

  Things turning violent was what she was most worried about. None of them were in any condition to fight. Physically, they weren’t so bad off, they still had some food. But when people got desperate, they did stupid things, and Clara could picture a lot of people getting hurt in this.

  “Someone will have to stay up nights,” Clara said finally. “Someone we trust, just to be sure.”

  “You mean all your friends, right?”

  Clara nodded. “Yeah. Tessa obviously can't do it, but Cooper is definitely trustworthy.” He’d be more likely to carry Clara and Tessa off than outright betray anybody, anyway. “I will do my part, too, of course.”

  Felicia nodded. “My sister will volunteer. She feels really bad about what happened. She’s probably blaming herself for all of this.”

  Clara shook her head. “Talk to her, tell her not to worry. Those guys were selfish, and they might have done it impulsively because the opportunity was there, but it just means they would have screwed us over sometime later.”

  She couldn’t say she was glad they were gone, but that was less of a threat they had to look out for. And Felicia was right, Tessa was alive, and they’d lost a few supplies, but they could still find a way out of the newest hole they’d fallen into. No matter what it took, Clara wasn’t going to give up.

  “I’ll start for tonight,” she said decisively. “I want to wait up for my sister, see if she’ll wake up.”

  But Felicia was frowning at her. “You can't, Clara.”

  “Of course I can.”

  Felicia shook her head. “I know you want to, Clara, but you’re stressed.”

  “Because of that, I don’t think I can sleep.”

  “But it would be better if you tried. I’m fairly sure Tessa won’t be up until sometime tomorrow. You may not see it that way, but a lot of the people here are actually following you, your directives. We need to have you awake with the rest of them as much as possible. Hopefully, you’ll have an effect.”

  Clara frowned. That was the last thing she wanted to hear. If these people thought she was responsible for them, then they might start to blame her. If she was attacked herself, she wasn’t sure how much she could do with Tessa this vulnerable. She needed to focus on her sister, there wouldn’t be much of her attention left to devote to her own safety.

  Felicia probably noticed.

  “Clara, I know you really want to help. That’s fine, but trust me on this. You can go to sleep, and I promise I’ll keep your sister safe. And when I can't, I’m sure your friend Cooper wouldn’t mind helping.”

  Clara sighed. They would both volunteer to do it, she knew, and it would have to be enough for now. It did make her feel a little better that Tessa had more people to look after her than just her. Because, the truth was, Clara was exhausted, though it was more emotional than anything. Along with everything else, getting the flat, going through the town when it ended up being pointless, then getting betrayed and her sister getting hurt… it was all bound to get to her.
>
  “Fine,” Clara muttered, conceding. “But if anything happens with Tessa, please wake me up?”

  Felicia nodded and gave her a light nudge. “I promise.”

  And the thing was, Clara trusted her. Felicia had been there, helping Clara out of tough situations, vouching for her when she didn’t have a lot of people on her side. Even though their first meeting hadn't been that great, Clara had come to consider the other woman a close friend. She did as Felicia said and went to get some sleep.

  No one was happy, but that could be dealt with later, hopefully.

  The problem was, the more time that passed, the less hope Clara had of things being resolved quickly or easily. It was stupid to hope to begin with.

  When will I ever learn?

  A few days later, hunger had set in. The guys that had left had taken most of what little they’d managed to fit in their car, so their food ran out a lot faster. By the disgruntled look on Felicia’s face, that she’d worn pretty much since that day, Clara could imagine she regretted bringing any of them along and divvying their stuff the way they had.

  Clara couldn’t even blame her. She was mad herself, that she could show people kindness and they wouldn’t think twice about screwing them over. It was naïve to have thought that it would never happen, but that didn’t make her feel any better.

  Felicia and Clara were out searching for food in a nearby wooded area. They couldn’t exactly ask the towns’ people, when they were the intruders and food was currently more valuable than gold. They didn’t find a wheel for the car, so they couldn’t go any further.

  “It’s useless,” Felicia finally said. “We searched yesterday already and found nothing but trash. Why are we still out here?”

  Clara sighed. She could relate, she didn’t want to do this either. She was a mass of mixed emotions, and, really, she’d rather be back looking after her sister. Tessa had regained consciousness at some point, though not for long, and it had sent Clara into more panic before Felicia told her there was nothing to worry about. She knew people could fall asleep while concussed and never wake up again, but, according to Felicia, that wasn’t something she had to worry about with Tessa. She’d even given some medical explanation that Clara only half understood, but she trusted the other woman and left it at that.

  But they had to do this. So she turned to Felicia with eyebrows raised.

  “Do you have any better ideas?” she asked. “Because if you do, I’m all ears.”

  Felicia gave her an unimpressed look, then scoffed. And grumbled to herself, claiming, “I’m just about ready to shoot some people for a good meal.”

  Clara sighed and moved on, hearing the other woman follow without hesitation. “Don’t be so dark,” she said, a note of lightness she didn’t feel in her voice, though she knew Felicia was only joking—or so she hoped.

  Honestly, she wasn’t sure anymore. Part of her wanted to seriously agree with the sentiment, but then wouldn’t that make her as bad as the people that had killed her grandmother? Killing other people because they had something and you wanted it, without any regards given to them or their situation, was just wrong.

  “If we could just get a little something to tide us over a bit longer…” she muttered.

  Felicia had moved close enough to hear her. “A little wouldn’t do us much good. Everyone is hanging on by their last threads, Clara. If there’s a time to be cautious, it’s now, when everyone’s hungry and there’s no longer food to be had.”

  “So there really is nothing we can do,” she said quietly.

  “But there is,” Felicia said, immediately catching her interest. “We need to move.”

  Clara frowned. “But we can't take the car…”

  “No,” Felicia agreed. “It will have to be on foot, and it will be harder, but it has to be a lot better than staying here and hoping for a miracle. One might not come before the shit hits the fan, and it will be too late by then.”

  “Would the others even go along with this?” she mused.

  Felicia just shrugged. “If they want to survive, they’ll realize we don’t have a choice.” She paused, then added, “If they’re smart.”

  Clara huffed. She didn’t have a good feeling about this, but Felicia was right, she realized. They were quickly running out of options, which was kinda funny, because they hadn’t really had any to begin with, they’d just invented some on their own. But they really would have to leave the area soon. Clara didn’t leave home jut to end up dead on the side of the road, and she didn’t think any of the rest of them would disagree with her. But people weren’t always rational at the most crucial of times.

  They went a little further than the previous day, taking care to go in a somewhat straight line and not lose sight of each other, so they didn’t get lost. Even though they made the effort, it wasn’t worth much, and, eventually, Clara had to concede.

  Clara and Felicia returned from their trip empty handed. Cooper was busy handing out supplies, and Tessa was laid on the now empty backseat of the car, her head wound still healing. Clara shot a worried look her way, wanting to go and be with her sister, but she was probably still asleep. She was sleeping a little too much, and Clara didn’t know whether or not to be grateful she was sleeping at all.

  Felicia noticed her shift in attention, and gave her a pat on the shoulder.

  “I’ll give Tessa some more pain killers, and we can discuss with the group what to do next. We’ve stuck around here long enough as it is.”

  Clara agreed, but she didn’t see anything else they could do. They were parked a little out of the town, which was probably the only reason they hadn’t been attacked or run out yet. It would only be a matter of time, though, before someone got curious and decided to explore.

  A while later, they were all seated on the ground to the side of the car away from the road, with Tessa the only one sitting in the car seat but with the door open so she could be part of the conversation. Clara was just glad to see her eyes open for a change.

  “After discussing with Felicia,” she said, after the other woman explained their situation—as if they didn’t all know it well, “I’ve decided that we can’t stay where we are any longer. It’s just my opinion, but I really don’t think we have much time at this point. The people around us are inhospitable and we need to get moving elsewhere while we still have the strength to.”

  It was better than waiting around to either be attacked or starve. It was so close to the situation they’d faced before—well, save for Clara and her family—that she wanted to cry. They might have escaped death, but their situation was even bleaker than ever.

  “We’ll go with you,” Dante said almost immediately, Michelle nodding her head firmly at his side as they cuddled their two little girls between them.

  “I agree we don’t have much of a choice,” Michelle put in. “There isn’t any food to find, and no one is going to take pity on us because, to them, we’re outsiders. More than anything right now, we need food.”

  Clara looked at Michelle, again surprised that she could be this strong and mature. She hadn’t seen that many great qualities in her before, much like her husband, but Clara was constantly surprised by both of them these days.

  But there were others that protested. A lot fewer than she had thought had actually been in on the plot to leave them, which left way too many people for them to look after, and for a moment, Clara felt so guilty.

  If not for her, they probably wouldn’t find themselves where they did. It was her decision to leave home and seek revenge, only to come back and find themselves under attack. Then all they could do was run, and they clearly picked up the wrong people on the way, considering they’d left their group stranded with so few supplies. She wanted to curse them, and did, even though she felt a little guilty. She would be happy if something bad had befallen them, and really, it was more of a given that something would. They had fewer people to deal with and more food, but the situation couldn’t stay that way for the long term, no
t when every single one of them was so damned selfish.

  The sound of protesting was getting a little too loud, and she raised a hand, shushing them and hoping they didn’t alert anyone. The last thing they needed was to announce to the locals that they were still around.

  She glared at them, wondering what the hell they wanted. She wasn’t hearing any opinions coming from them, just complaints, and it wasn’t her job to deal with them, so why did they think she would? She was looking out for her family, her friends, while most of them were in it for themselves.

  Besides, it would only be better for them if they could move with people they trusted. Her relationship with Michelle might still be rocky, but Clara trusted her and her husband, and Felicia and Barbara. And, of course, her sister and her best friend. They could worry less about another betrayal if there were just a few of them, not to mention it would be so much easier to find a solution to their problem.

  If they wanted to stick around, they could. Clara just had no intention of doing so, and fully let them know.

  “Look, you guys, it’s up to you. If you want to stay here, then that’s fine. But the rest of us that want to go are leaving within the hour after we’ve packed up.”

  Chapter Six

  Again, not everyone was happy, but Clara didn’t care anymore. She didn’t want to leave anyone behind, but if they were willing to be so stupid, Clara wasn’t going to stick around and be stupid with them.

  She looked around at the group, and she could already tell the people that would be staying behind and the ones that would go. She was just glad that everyone she considered a friend would be coming along.

  There was no guarantee that going away would get them any better luck, but it was a lot better than staying in one spot when the situation was already so terrible.

  “Maybe this isn’t the best idea,” she whispered to Cooper, feeling unsure of herself.

  They were standing apart, like an “us versus them” standoff, and it was the last thing Clara had intended.