Meanwhile, Eli and Harper exploded into a sprint. Red blocks fragmented around them, filling their path with chunks of clay. Keeping their heads covered, they zigzagged into the main street. A brick whacked against Harper’s rifle, cracking into three pieces that rolled down her back. The clacking sound of impacting bricks and the volley of death chased them until they were out in the open.
Loud pops filled the air. From the upper-story windows around them, muzzles flashed. Small bullets zipped past the Murphys.
As she ran, Harper slung her rifle to her hip and blindly fired into the window of the nearest building. Large shards of glass smashed to the ground. Together, she and Eli leapt through the frame. Inside, Lionel train tracks and tiny towns surrounded them. They took cover behind a table. Harper set her rifle on top of a small farmhouse and aimed through the glass hole. The brick throwers across the way vanished inside their current building. From her vantage point, the other shooters were out of sight.
Eli struggled to find his breath. “What are we going to do?”
“Hide,” a man said behind them. “Right, Sergeant?”
Harper twisted back to the familiar but far gaunter roguish man and a petite teenage girl with pink hair that had faded around her black roots. Flashes of the bridge out of DC revived in Harper’s mind. She remembered saving this man’s daughter amidst the corpses but never knowing if they’d truly escaped.
“Karla?” Eli said, completely shocked and enamored by the girl’s presence.
“Our reunion can wait,” the man said as he hiked up the stairs surrounded by a train track. “Your friend is already up here.”
Tucked away in the second loft, Dustin paced back and forth. The tin bucket in the corner explained the overwhelming smell of feces. Crudely opened food cans stood next to an incomplete farm scenario on a table. Two sleeping bags were sprawled out across the center of the floor next to a black ash stain with remnants of a small fire.
“Harper. Eli.” Dustin stopped his pacing. Beads of the woman’s blood rolled from the side of his cap and into the sweat on his temple.
“Push the table with me,” the roguish man ordered. The five of them drove the miniature-granges table across the wood floor, stopping at the edge of the stairwell. “It’ll slow the bastards if they try to come up.”
“We need to get Levi and Charles,” Harper stated. “Those supplies, too.”
“They’re dead,” Dustin said, chewing his nails. “Jesus, they are really dead.”
“We don’t know that,” argued Harper. “If there is even a chance they can still be alive, we need to save them.”
The roguish man chuckled and shook his head of greasy, stringy hair. “Good luck. If you think you’re the first to fall victim to the fine citizens of Briersville, you are sorely mistaken. If you weren’t packing heat, they would’ve hit you a lot sooner. You did find their stash, though. I’m jealous. I’ve been looking for that for the last…” He snapped his fingers to recall.
“Four frickin’ days,” Karla finished. Her cheeks were sunken, and her razor-scarred wrists were practically bone.
“Yep…” He smiled spitefully to the universe. His calculating and sunken eyes shifted to Harper. “You and your boy look pretty well fed, though.”
Nibbling on his nails, Dustin jerked his head.
Eli readjusted the shotgun in his grasp and beamed with sudden optimism. “Yeah, we’ve--”
“Gotten lucky,” Harper interrupted, wiping Dustin’s expression off his face.
“Very.” The girl squinted her eyes that were as cutting and turquoise as her father’s.
Quiet filled the stale, open floor.
“I’m going to keep lookout.” Blood hardening on his cap’s bill, Dustin stormed to the nearest window and hunkered low. With a swift motion, he cocked the bolt action of his rifle.
Eli combed his bangs away with his fingertips. “Karla, how’d you escape?”
“Sheer force of will,” the father replied for his daughter, his gaze fixed on Harper. “Your mother’s turret paved the way, of course. Speaking of which, you better help her guard this place. Those vagrants don’t like to leave a job half-finished.”
Harper patted Eli on the shoulder. “Come on.”
Her son looked back at Karla as Harper led him to a window near Dustin’s.
Disappointment and confusion caused a heavy frown on Eli’s tanned face. “Why can’t we tell them about the community?”
Harper pulled him close, making sure the others weren’t listening. “We just can’t. Church doesn’t want any new members. Supplies are too low as is.”
“Well, two spots just opened up,” he retorted.
Harper’s jaw dropped. “Don’t say that.” She pulled away from him and peeked out the window toward the empty street and brick-littered alley. “Keep your safety off. Shoot to kill.”
The man’s name was Sawyer, Harper learned. His daughter was one of Eli’s high school classmates. They were annoyed that their hiding place had been compromised, Harper knew, but hid their contempt well. Without objection, they watched the stairs and back windows, keeping a closed dialogue Eli wished he were a part of. A heavy knot formed in Harper’s throat every time she looked at Sawyer and Karla and their skeletal frames. The man had worn a classy suit and tie in DC. Now his attire consisted of a thin jacket, torn and stained, a T-shirt with a tear at the armpit, roughed-up cargo pants, and scuffed boots. His daughter’s clothes weren’t much better. Cuteness had been replaced with a holey loose shirt and green capris worn for comfort, not style.
Dustin perked up. He fired a few shots into the carless street, failing to hit the small group of runners rushing to the building. He cursed loudly as he fired a shot into the door they slipped inside. “Yeah! Keep running! Keep hiding!”
“Pst!” Karla got their attention. Harper darted across the room and peeked out her window just in time to see another small group of people scurry into an alley. She took aim with her rifle and fired off a warning shot. The noise bounced off the buildings and scared away the crows. Their feathers blackened the skies.
Eli fired his shotgun with a loud boom. He growled at himself and turned back to Harper. “We got more hiding on this side!”
“Here, as well,” Sawyer said, barely peeking out the window frame.
Suddenly, dozens of beastly howls bellowed into the sky. First from the east, then the north, and before long, the bays of wolves resonated throughout Briersville.
“What the hell are they doing?” Dustin screamed over the primal cries.
Harper check her few remaining shots. Her eyes bounced across her terrified comrades. “They’re surrounding us.”
Sawyer grinned, his yellow teeth showing. “Sergeant’s right. They’re trying to scare us into submission.”
“Everyone, calm down,” Harper told them. “When the opportunity arises, we get out.”
“All of us?” Karla asked. “Or just your clique?”
The howling intensified. It was a sound both man and animal, and echoed through the windows of the train museum. The thin auburn hairs on Harper’s neck stood straight. After a while, the beastly call dwindled. Harper and the others scanned the streets and saw no one. As they headed for the fire-escape window at the back, the howling rose up and gripped both them and Briersville.
It wasn’t until sunset that Levi rose from his slumber. He grabbed at the brick wall and pulled himself up. Dragging against the building, he staggered from the alley. A red clump hardened on the side of his combed-over hair. His legs twisted over dozens of scattered bricks as he turned in confusion like a late-night drunkard.
“H-Harper? Dustin?” he yelled.
“He’s going to get shot,” Sawyer said nonchalantly.
Harper pulled back from her window. “Do you have something reflective?”
“Like a signal mirror?” Dustin asked. “No. No glass either.”
“Use this.” Sawyer tossed her a church building from the train set. “For his salvatio
n.”
Biting her lip, Harper flung it from the window. It shattered into balsa-wood shards across the paved road. Levi turned his attention from the broken building to the second story of the train museum. Harper waved him down. Using his hands as a sun visor, the injured man squinted.
A gunshot.
Pebbles of asphalt erupted from the ground a foot from Levi. He jumped back. Another shot sounded. Miss. Levi turned to the alleyway. His foot slipped on a can of green beans, and his chin smacked against the ground. He scurried past the spilled supply cart. A door adjacent to the flower shop flung open. An arm reached out and yanked him in. It slammed shut before Harper could get a clear shot.
Crash!
Harper, Sawyer, and the rest of them turned their eyes to the floor.
“They’re downstairs,” Harper whispered.
Eli pointed his gun to the ground. Footsteps sounded on the wooden floors directly below them. Harper signaled Dustin, Eli, and Karla to keep an eye on the windows and joined Sawyer at the table gently anchored at the top of the stairs.
Sweat rolled into Harper’s eye. She blinked out the stinging perspiration and kept her focus on the stairwell. Sawyer stood beside her. His hands and ribs rested against the table, ready to push.
They waited for an eternity. Nothing happened.
Harper pulled away from the table. “That’s it. We’re going.”
“The supplies?” Eli asked. “Levi?”
“As soon as it turns dark, they’re going to storm this place.” She turned to Sawyer. “Do you know a way out?”
“I have a few ideas. But me and my daughter are coming with you.”
Harper sized him up. “Don’t make me regret this.”
Keeping close, they crawled down the fire escape. Harper laid down suppressing fire at the enemy’s windows while the others kicked down the ladder and dropped to the alley. Harper followed behind. As soon as they got to the back of the building, they spotted a half-dozen vagrants, who shouted and charged.
“Go! Go! Go!” Harper turned them into a tight alley. They passed through an open door to a gift shop and pushed over a shelf of china in front of the path. Vagrants on rooftops bellowed out more wolf howls and tossed rocks and bricks that Harper and the others ducked and weaved. They didn’t waste time shooting. The sprint was all there was.
The sun cast blood red over the clouds drifting off the distant Smoky Mountains. Sawyer led them through the rising and dipping streets, between buildings, and eventually to the residential area. The vagrants followed behind, but when Harper reached the edge of Briersville, the townspeople slowed to a halt and let Harper and the others escape into the woods.
Sticky with sweat, they pulled the camo net off the Humvee. Harper got the back door for Eli and Karla. They slid inside, anxious.
“You think they’ll chase us?” Eli asked.
Harper shook her head. “No.” She closed the door.
Sawyer climbed into the front seat. “Nice ride, Sergeant. I should’ve joined the army.”
“I’ll get gunner,” Dustin said on his way to the gunner station.
Harper grabbed his arm. “Drive.”
“But--”
“Get my son home,” she whispered to him. “Keep an eye on those two.”
“I don’t--”
“I’m not leaving Levi behind,” Harper stated, readying her gun, and headed back to Briersville.
Chapter Six
Mission
In the darkness of night, Harper followed the fire. Its warm glow danced across the walls of buildings and the Ford Mustang she covered behind. The metal lent its cool touch to the back of Harper’s tee. She steadied her breath, but her beating heart could not be tamed.
Down the street, a massive bonfire blazed toward the stars. Wood crackled, and hot-tipped embers leapt out of the flames. The drably dressed people of Briersville sat around the source of living heat on diverse leather chairs and sofas snatched from different buildings. A beautiful woman lay across a couch and watched the fire. Her lover brushed her hair behind her. A gaggle of teenage boys sat cross-legged and bet large stacks of dollar bills over a game of Texas Hold ’Em. Nearby, Levi’s head slumped to the sidewalk. He was stripped to his underwear, and his hands were tucked behind his back and tied around the neck of a chipped lamppost. The Briersville Police Station loomed over him.
Eleven hostiles, Harper counted. Her gun only had five shots, but frankly, shooting would be her last resort. Eli had begged her not to go, but Harper had marched on anyway. Her stubbornness had brought her back to the wolves’ den, and she promised herself that she wasn’t leaving without her abandoned ally. If not for the fire, she would’ve not found this part of town. They’re celebrating…
“… They killed Annie good…”
Harper froze at the voice. On the roof of the local bank next to her, two middle-aged men with generic hunting rifles stopped and shared a smoke.
“Yep. Buckshot to the heart,” the other replied. “We got two at least.”
One small glance meant the end of Harper. She kept still in the cold air and watched the men.
“Wonder what Gretchen is going to do with the survivor?” The man took a drag and blew the smoke into the night.
The other stole the cigarette away. “What she does to the rest of them. Learn then burn.” He took a final drag and examined the smoking butt with sorrow. “Boy, am I going to miss these.”
With a flick, the glowing remnants of the cig tumbled through the air and landed a few yards from Harper. She rested the stock of her rifle on her shoulder and brought the iron sight over the man’s head. He and his companion turned and vanished to the other side of the bank’s roof. Harper lowered her weapon. She scurried between two buildings and beelined for the police station. A chain-link fence ended the alley. Harper slung the rifle over her shoulder and climbed up. Her fingers and boots used the diamond gaps to send her up and over. She toppled to the asphalt, landing with an involuntary grunt. Rising into a crouching position, she brushed herself off.
Low light shone through the windows of the precinct, creating yellow squares on the adjacent building. Inside the fenced-in area, Harper hunkered beneath the police station’s windows. With a harsh scrape, the window to the old station opened. Harper paused.
“Better,” a man said directly above her.
“Miles,” a woman replied from deep within the room.
“Now, you ain’t going to complain no more, right? Otherwise, I may have to cuff you,” the man’s voice trailed as he headed away from the window. The woman giggled playfully.
Harper moved up to the front of the building. Another chain-link fence separated the tight alley from the bonfire. Levi wasn’t far from the other side. His head was positioned to the blaze. She could see the zip ties that bound his hands. Getting up and over the fence and cutting him free would be easy. It was the escape that scared Harper.
Doors opened. Figures approached Levi. Harper hid in the shadows with watchful green eyes.
The crazed woman who threw the first brick earlier today stopped before Levi, but no bloody hole caved in her chest, and her gray hair was buzzed into a Caesar cut. Two brutish men with muscular biceps, tight muscle shirts, and machetes tucked in their belts flanked her on both sides. The one with a cleft palate lifted Levi up by his neck until the captive barely stood on his tippy-toes. Gagging, the bearded prisoner struggled to pull free. The brute’s fist drilled into Levi’s stomach.
“That’s enough, Roy,” the woman said.
“Yes, Miss Gretchen.” The brute loosened his hardy grip from Levi’s neck and stepped back.
Gretchen, only three inches over five feet, looked like a midget compared to six-foot-something Levi. Nonetheless, she glared up at him like a hardened war chief. “I gave Blondie what he asked for, and still he sends you in to steal more.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Levi said hoarsely. “We made a mistake coming here. We never meant to hurt anyone. We w
ere just after food.”
“Maybe you're telling the truth.” The woman grabbed his mouth and turned his head to study his eyes. “Maybe I should be thanking you. You killed my thieving sister, after all. Found her hidden stash, too. You know how many intruders we had to rob and kill for that stuff? Lots. Blondie took most of it, and Annie stole away the rest. From the look in your eyes, I don’t think you care. No. You want to go home. Tell me, handsome stranger. Where is home?”
Levi shook his head. He spoke through her tight grasp. “I-I don’t have one. I’m a wanderer.”
“Shame.” The woman released his cheeks and backed away. She nodded to the thugs. The two brutes beat him while the woman watched with cold eyes. The well-groomed bearded man twisted and turned with every strike. As his body slid down the post, they’d lift him up again and continue clubbing him.
Harper’s stomach churned at every meat-tenderizing punch. Each time Levi lied, they hit him harder.
“Where did your friends go?” the woman yelled.
“I don’t know!” Levi’s red spit dangled from his busted lips and slathered his steely beard.
More jabs in the torso and face. Levi spit out a tooth. The second brute turned to the woman after every solid blow, silently requesting reprieve. Nonetheless, the woman kept them going until Levi sunk to the bottom of the lamppost like a limp sack of potatoes.
Roy and the other enforcer let out wolflike cries to the crescent moon. The others around the fire joined them, followed by the guards on the surrounding rooftops and those far from sight. After the bays died off, the woman spat on Levi, cursed him, and marched away with her two massive lackeys.
The bearded carpenter’s bruised and bloody body slouched at the bottom of the pole. The final hit had sent him ear-side to Harper on the other side of the fence. Blood from the brick wound on the side of his skull caked onto his graying hair. Purple bruises and swelling caused his bleeding lips to puff out and his eyes to close over.
“Levi?” Harper whispered, completely unsure if she was speaking to a corpse.
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