“Then we have to leave tonight,” David said. “Before they get here. We’re sitting ducks in this RV. Shit. How are we going to get it out? There’s no room. We’re jammed in.”
“We can’t,” I said. I wasn’t going to mention Bernie’s camper or the fact that we’d all fit in the back easily now that we’d emptied it. That was not the direction I wanted to steer this. “That’s why we have to head to the dome. It’s the safest place for us.”
“What?” Lonan, Reiny, and David blurted in unison.
“This storm that’s coming will be the perfect cover,” I explained. I could already hear rain tapping on the roof. “Everyone will be tucked into their tents. No one will see us. And the dome is the most secure place we could possibly go.”
“Secure?” David laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me. That dome is exactly why the CAMFers are here. They came to take it back. That’s the last place we should go.”
“I’ve already told you,” I said. “Olivia and some of my people are in there. They’ve kept this entire mob out for days. That place is a fortress if you know how to lock it up tight, which they do. But we can’t stay out here, and running is too risky. Up until tonight, this gathering was more of a coincidental festival than a protest, but that’s about to change. When the CAMFers get here, there will be violence. The police are already overwhelmed, which means someone’s going to call in the military. We need to be safely inside the dome before that happens. Kaylee is the one most at risk here.” I knew that would get David. He was fixated on keeping Kaylee safe. “But it’s the safest bet for all of us.”
“Lonan and I have a responsibility to the tribes,” Reiny insisted. “Gordon left that in our hands. You can’t expect us to just run away when innocent people might get hurt or killed.”
“We have to warn them,” Lonan said, “and the other groups too.”
“You’ve been seen with Kaylee,” I pointed out. “That makes you a target.”
“Well, I’m not going,” Reiny said, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at me. “Lonan and I will stay out here and risk it. We’ll deal with the CAMFers when they come. We can take care of ourselves.”
“I’m sure you can,” I agreed. I couldn’t let them stay behind, though. They were too much of a liability. I’d known this would be a hard sell, but I still had one ace up my sleeve. “Ultimately, it’s your choice. But before you make up your mind, I think you should know Pete’s in the dome.”
“Pete Hardy?” Rainy said, all the blood draining from her face.
“Olivia and her group found him when they arrived, injured and dehydrated, but alive. He never displaced. He was unconscious at the time and that somehow blocked the process.”
“How long have you know this?” Reiny asked, her eyes drilling into mine. I had never seen her so angry. For a moment, I thought she might lunge at me. But instead, her rage suddenly turned to sobs. “I thought he was dead,” she choked out, burying her face in Lonan’s chest as he wrapped his arms around her.
“You are a bastard,” Lonan said, glaring over his sister’s head at me.
“I know, but I’m the bastard who’s going to keep us all alive.” The rain was splattering against the windows, and pelting the roof. I’d expected Jason to be back by now. We couldn’t wait much longer. I had to get this crew ready to go so we could leave as soon as he arrived. I knew I had Reiny, and Lonan would follow wherever she went. Kaylee would follow my lead. I was confident of that. But I had to let David think he had a choice. “Listen, the decision is yours,” I said. “If you’re coming, pack light—just clothing and weapons, if you have any. The dome has everything else you’ll need. Oh, and wrap that in trash bags and bring it along.” I gestured at the portrait of Kaylee propped in the corner. “I don’t want anything left behind that links this RV to PSS.”
“So, how do we even get in if it’s so secure?” David asked. “Are we just gonna waltz up and ring the doorbell?”
“Pretty much,” I said. “It’s already been arranged. You have ten minutes to get ready, and then we’re out of here. I’m going to go check on Jason. He went to get our stuff from the camper, but he should have been back by now.”
I stepped out onto the RV steps, scanning the night, the awning protecting me from the worst of the rain. The weather was already pretty nasty, and there was no sign of him. I couldn’t afford to go looking for him either. I had to keep this group busy and focused or they might change their minds and scatter on me. Fuck. Where was he? I’d been counting on those guns. Well, there was nothing for it. We had to go and we had to go now. Better to leave one behind than lose the whole group. I tapped out a quick message to Chase on my phone, letting him know we were coming.
Then I stepped back into the RV, relieved to see that everyone was suited up in rain gear and David had the bag-wrapped painting strapped to his back. Lonan held a rifle and I had my favorite pistol in my underarm holster. Hopefully, that would be enough. “I sent Jason ahead to make sure the way is clear for us,” I lied. I couldn’t have David or Lonan going all no-man-left-behind on me. Wherever Jason was, he’d scrape by. I was confident of that. “Let’s go,” I said, gesturing them toward the door. “Lonan, you take up the rear, and let’s keep Kaylee in the middle and out of sight as much as possible.”
I led the way out into the blustering storm, Reiny and Kaylee behind me, Marcus and Lonan behind them. I knew the general location of the entrance we were looking for, but the closer we got to the dome the tighter the tents and cars were packed, requiring us to navigate between them. Plus, the wind was so strong and the rain was coming down so hard it was difficult to see more than a few feet. But no one was out and about, thanks to the weather.
I stopped for a moment to get my bearings, and Reiny and Kaylee almost ran into the back of me.
“We’re close,” I told them, raising my voice over the storm and pointing in the direction we needed to head. There was a large encampment full of trucks and RVs between us and the dome, but once past that, we would be in the clear.
Reiny nodded, wrapping her arm more tightly around Kaylee. She was still pissed at me about the Pete thing, but she’d get over it. They’d tried so hard to keep their little romance at the compound a secret, but it had been obvious to me. You couldn’t mask attraction like that, and there was no point trying. But love always made you vulnerable and put you at risk.
Even with the rain battering down on her, Kaylee smiled up at me from under the hood of her poncho.
Case in point. Would I be doing any of this if it weren’t for Kaylee? Probably not. And when we entered that dome, she’d finally be reunited with her real family, and where would that leave me? But it didn’t matter. I would not fail this child no matter what it did to me.
David came up and joined us, with Lonan right behind him. Then I forged ahead, leading them all through the tight maze of tents and vehicles at the edge of the dome.
We easily cleared the final camps and entered the open area surrounding the compound walls.
“Where’s Jason?” David asked, glancing around. “I thought you said he was ahead of us?”
“He might already be inside. That’s the door.” I pointed to a small service entrance on our left. “Let’s go.” A glance at my watch told me we were right on time.
The moment we stepped up to the door it swung open and I was staring my little brother in the face, T-dog standing behind him.
“Get in here,” Chase said, smiling broadly and pulling the door open a little wider.
I ushered Reiny and Kaylee in first, then David and Lonan. As I stepped in, David asked again, “What about Jason?”
“He’s either here or he’s not,” I said, as Chase closed the door, punching in a code to lock it.
“Did someone else get here before us?” Lonan asked Chase. “A young man about your age.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Chase said, shooting me a look. “But T-dog can stay here in case he shows up.”
“You said
he was ahead of us,” David said to me, accusation in his voice.
“T-dog will wait for him,” I said. “He’ll make it.”
But I was pretty sure he wouldn’t.
27
JASON
When I came to, I was sitting in a chair with my hands tied behind my back and a canvas bag over my head. Something warm trickled down my neck, and my skull was throbbing.
Someone had hit me hard enough to knock me out.
Fuck. How had they gotten the jump on me?
I’d taken the dirt bike back to the camper like Palmer had told me to. I’d parked it outside and gone in to change my clothes and grab the bag of guns. I’d stopped for a minute in the bathroom to drain the snake and wash the blood off my forehead, and then I’d stepped outside into the growing storm.
That’s the last thing I remembered.
No, there’d been a girl.
She’d come around the corner of the camper just as I’d stepped out. And she’d smiled at me, a sort of wicked little smile, and then pain had exploded in my head and I’d gone down.
She’d been the decoy, the distraction while someone else came up behind me.
I could hear them arguing, a guy and a girl, their voices echoing as if coming down a long tunnel. Obviously, they hadn’t realized I was awake yet, so I took the time to try and figure out just how fucked I was.
The air was cool and dry against my damp clothes and skin, so we were indoors, but not someplace heated. An abandoned building maybe, but I couldn’t hear rain on the roof or the sounds of the camps around the compound. If the plan was to kill me, they would have done it already. They hadn’t even searched me thoroughly. They’d taken my gun, but I could still feel the outline of the bullet in my pocket. Plus, they’d left my feet untied and the ropes around my wrists weren’t tight. Whoever they were, they were amateurs. Not my old man’s people, that was for sure. So, I could definitely get out of this alive if I played my cards right. But first, I had to find out who they were and what the hell they wanted.
Slowly, I lifted my head and called out, “Hello,” trying to sound as pitiful as possible. Let them think I was afraid. Let them think they had the power. “Please, let me go,” I pleaded. My voice was muffled by the bag, but they’d get the tone.
“Good. He’s awake,” the girl said, coming closer, but her voice still echoing strangely. “Let’s find out who this fucker is.” She yanked the bag off my head, grabbing a handful of my hair with it, pulling me up even straighter in the old metal chair I was tied to.
It was the same girl I remembered from the camper. She was about my age, with shoulder-length red hair and freckles, not bad looking, but she wasn’t smiling anymore. She was also wearing black padded dirt bike gear that I vaguely recognized. A tall, skinny guy, also about my age, was standing behind her holding a baseball bat that I would have bet had my blood on it.
Before they could ask me anything, I blurted out, “Please don’t hurt me. I don’t have any money.” As I said it, I scanned the room behind them, but it wasn’t really a room. It was more like an old train tunnel or something, which explained the weird echoes. The concrete roof curved over us and there were no windows. Behind the girl and her boy-band-reject friend, there was a metal, vault-like door in the distance, with some kind of weird ventilation system built into it.
“Please, cut the crap,” the girl said, frowning down at me. “You had a bag of guns, Mr. Innocent.” She pointed into the shadow of the nearest wall where they’d tossed Palmer’s weaponry like a bag of dirty laundry. “We’re not the thieves here. You are. And we’ll ask the questions, starting with why you attacked me, stole my bike, and left me in the desert to die.”
Wait, she’d been the one on the bike? I’d jumped a girl? Fuck. That’s where I’d seen her biker gear before.
“Come on. Allie. You wouldn’t have died,” her friend said. “If I hadn’t found you, you just would’ve had to walk back, and you hate walking.”
“Shut up, Matty,” she snapped, glaring at him. “I told you to let me do the talking. He attacked me. Not you.”
“Yeah, listen, I’m sorry about that,” I groveled. “I thought you were a guy. I never would have jumped you if I’d known you were a girl.”
“Really?” She did not sound happy. “How noble of you. But that doesn’t answer my question. See, I already know you’re an asshole. That’s the one thing about you that’s painfully obvious. What I don’t know is what you were doing out there at the fence tonight with this.” She brushed aside her jacket revealing my chest holster with my gun in it. She pulled out the weapon, brandishing it in front of me. “Did you come with those bastards from the city who opened fire on a bunch of high schoolers? Is that what the bag of guns was for, to kill us all?”
Oh shit. This wasn’t good. Matty must have seen me at the fence. Then I’d taken this girl’s bike and they’d somehow tracked me back to the camper where they’d found me with Palmer’s guns. No wonder they were so fired up.
“Those aren’t my guns,” I stammered. “And I wasn’t with those guys at the fence. I was just trying to get away. But then I told my friend about it, and he thought we should do something to stop them. Those are his guns. I was taking them to him. That’s all.”
She stared at me, mulling that over, then holstered my gun quickly and efficiently. She knew how to handle a weapon. Too bad she didn’t know how to tie a knot worth a damn. I was already halfway out of the ropes around my wrists.
Suddenly, there was a strange roar from outside and something banged against the door. She jumped and Matty whirled around.
“Go check on that,” she told him. “I think it was just the wind, but better to be sure.”
That’s when I realized where we were. We weren’t in a tunnel. We were in one of Umatilla’s old underground bunkers, lit only by a couple of camping lanterns set on the floor near the door. Other than the lanterns and the chair I was in, the place was completely empty. But the walls were covered in graffiti, things like “Megan is a slut,” and “I lick balls,” scrawled all over them. The locals obviously spent a lot of time here. But, hey, who could blame them? There probably wasn’t a lot to do in a small town like Hermiston but lick someone’s balls.
“You really expect me to believe you were bringing these guns to help us?” Allie asked, as Matty went to the door and stuck his head outside, the wind gusting in around us. “I don’t buy that for a second. You knew those armed fuckers were coming. That’s why you paid to have the fence held open. Then, you wrestled me off my bike and burned my leg on the exhaust.” She pulled up her singed pant leg and showed me a nasty red welt on her lower calf. “And I saw your leg,” she lowered her voice, moving closer and reaching toward me. “You have PSS.”
It was a mistake.
Not just to get close to me, but to reach for my leg. That leg.
Even if I hadn’t already been planning it, I would have kicked the fuck out of her just for that. As it was, I caught her off balance as I swept my right foot up and hit her in the gut, knocking her onto her back.
She landed so hard I heard the air whoosh out of her lungs.
“Hey!” Matty yelled from the door, but I was already up, tossing the loose rope off my hands and reaching for my gun inside her jacket.
Her hands batted feebly at mine, but she was still gasping for breath.
I grabbed the gun and I pointed it at her head, her eyes widening as she looked up the barrel. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Matty, obviously torn between helping her and bolting out the door.
“Tell him to come here and I won’t kill you,” I told her. He’d take it better from her than me. He’d do what she said.
She nodded, taking one ragged breath and opening her mouth. “Matty,” she exhaled. “Run!”
I turned and took a shot, even as he was scrambling at the door mechanism. It didn’t hit him. I didn’t want it to. But it did ricochet off the metal and make a terrifying racket.
Allie sat up a
nd tried to knock me aside, so I pushed her down and sat on her.
By the time I turned back to the door, it was slamming shut with a loud bang. The handle on the inside turned and something clanked into place with an unpleasant finality.
“He just locked us in, didn’t he?” I asked as she squirmed under me.
“Yes,” she panted, baring her teeth and smiling that wicked smile again. “He’ll go get my friends, the ones with the baseball bats, and then you’re screwed.”
“More like they are,” I said, getting off of her and checking the chamber of my gun. “How many friends you got?” I asked, “Because I have seven bullets left in this gun and a shit ton more in that bag over there.”
“You—you wouldn’t,” she said, sitting up.
“Naw, you’re right. I’ll just invite them in to beat the shit out of me.”
Outside, a dirt bike started up and peeled out, buzzing off into the distance.
“Really?” I said. “Your boyfriend would just run away and leave you here? And you thought I was an asshole.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she huffed, standing up and dusting herself off. “He’s my cousin.”
“Maybe he’s your cousin.” I crossed to the door and yanked on the handle, but it didn’t budge. The metal was thick. There was no way I could shoot it open. “But I guarantee, he still wants to fuck you,” I said, turning back to her.
“Why, because you do?” she snapped, then she clamped her lips together and suddenly looked terrified. It was written all over her face. She’d just realized we were locked in a bunker, I had a gun, and I might rape her. But I would never do that, and I suddenly wanted her to know that.
“Listen, I’m not going to hurt you,” I said. “I didn’t let those guys with the guns through. Believe me, that’s the last thing I’d do. You have your bike back, and I have a lump on my head, so I think we’re even. Just get us out of here before your friends show up, and we can go our separate ways.”
“That’s the only way out,” she said, gesturing at the locked door, except her eyes said differently, the way they slid off of me like oil off water. She was lying.
Ghost Hope Page 18
