Beauty and Dread

by Nicki Huntsman Smith

  The last place she wanted Sam was here.

  She kept an eye on the creeping blanket lump for a few moments before continuing her whispered campaign of persuasion.

  “Where do you want to be, Martin?” Her words hung in the chill air. It must be in the thirties; cold as hell and miserable for anyone that wasn’t acclimated to it. “If you could be anywhere in the world, where would you be at this moment?”

  The eye twitching stopped, replaced now with a dreamy expression.

  “On a beach. The sun is shining on my skin. There’s not another person for miles. Just me with my feet in the sand. The ocean is turquoise blue and warm as bathwater. Crystal clear too, not like shitty Galveston. I can see tropical fish in it and sometimes a shark. There are a lot of sharks in the Keys.”

  “Ah. You’re in Florida. Nice choice. Well, if you really want to be there, go kill those two guards. Do it now or I guarantee you’ll never get to your happy place.”

  The dangling carrot was more effective than the stick. The strange man blinked once, then half-stood from his squatting position and moved toward the other two guards. Moonlight gleamed off a blade in his right hand.

  Thirty seconds later, the deed was done. There’d been no resistance from either, so they must have been asleep – a lucky break.

  The next moment, Martin sliced the cording at her wrists and ankles.

  Once Isaiah’s lieutenant made up his mind to do something, he got the job done quickly and quietly.

  She squatted on the ground, rubbing the feeling back into her hands and arms while scanning the surrounding area. The blanket lump was only ten yards away now. A gauzy layer of vapor hung over the camp, the product of dozens of sleepers exhaling into the cold air. Above it, the cloudless night sky glittered with stars, creating a perfect backdrop against which moving figures would be easily seen.

  It couldn’t be helped.

  The blanket lump, having witnessed the dispatching of the two guards, cast off its camouflage and covered the remaining distance to Dani’s side in no time.

  “Oh, Sam. I wish you hadn’t come.”

  He reached for her face, holding it between his hands, then kissed her protesting mouth before she could get another word out. Then he pulled away and studied her wounds with the unhappy expression she knew so well.

  “Pretty ugly, huh?” She had been dreading this moment, but at least Isaiah hadn’t had more than a couple of days to play.

  “How can you say that? You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever known. Do you think it matters what your face looks like?”

  Dani snorted softly.

  “I’m just mad at myself,” he continued. “If I’d let you kill Isaiah back in Texas, we wouldn’t be in this can of worms.”

  She smiled. “Yes, but that isn’t you, is it Sam? You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever known too, and not because you’re so handsome. It’s because you have the kindest heart on the planet. Now, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

  “Not so fast.” The voice, a haunted house door creaking open in the night, came from behind Martin.

  The next moment the throat of Isaiah’s lieutenant was smiling. Blood, glistening black oil in the moonlight, rushed to flee its fleshy prison.

  Martin slumped to the ground. His eyes no longer twitched but remained open and unblinking. Perhaps they were finally seeing that Florida beach.

  “Well, fuck me,” Dani whispered.

  Lily’s grin stretched unnaturally far, clown-like and utterly disconcerting. Dani’s mind raced, formulating then dismissing several plans to address this new development. Two heartbeats later, she decided her next move, but before she could launch herself at the strange, rag-clad woman, Lily spoke.

  “Not so fast, I said. You didn’t want Martin. He’s a spineless fool and a murderer of innocents. I’m your golden ticket.”

  “What the fuck does that mean?”

  “It means that I’ll help you escape.”

  “Why would you do that? Your Isaiah’s weird little minion, plus you have a huge hard-on for him.”

  The noise that came from Lily sounded like air leaking from a balloon. It took Dani a few seconds to identify the bizarre squeaking as laughter.

  “That’s what I want him and everyone else to think.” Moonlight glittered off a toothy, macabre grin.

  Dani shivered from the cold, but also because this broad creeped the living shit out of her.

  “You’re her boyfriend,” Lily continued in her low, raspy voice, shifting the focus of those dilated pupils from her to Sam. It was a statement, not a question. Dani had the sudden urge to stand in front of him, blocking him from the woman’s spooky mojo.

  Pale fingers sprouted from the tattered rags, like unquiet bones escaping a shallow grave. Even the normally friendly Sam seemed hesitant to shake the hand extended in his direction.

  “I know people find me off-putting. I don’t mind. Actually, I’m happiest when it’s just me and my baby.” A doll with corkscrew curls and bobbing eyelashes appeared in the other hand, was kissed, then tucked back into the rags.

  Some vague memory scratched at the inside of Dani’s brain. She ignored it, focusing all her attention on the woman in front of her.

  “But before I can be alone with my baby, I have an important job to do. And you are going to help me. It’s our shared destiny. I knew it when I saw you again here in Isaiah’s camp.”

  “Again? I’ve never seen you before in my life. Trust me. I’d remember.”

  More of the escaping balloon air.

  “You didn’t see me. I saw you. You were in my house before the tornado hit. You and him, and that other man with the red hair. The house fell down on top of you, and my baby too. I’d left her there to keep an eye on things while I was out looking for food. Fortunately, she survived. And so did the two of you.”

  Dani remembered now. The doll had been propped up in the entryway of the house in which they had sought shelter. Sam had been wounded and the storm had been bearing down on them.

  “I saw you all go in. I was about to come and get my baby, but the tornado happened too fast. Afterward, I watched you drive away in the blue truck. When I saw you again, I knew you must be important to the plan.”

  “What plan is that?”

  “To corral all the evil ones. The murderers of innocents, the pedophiles and child abusers. Gather them all together, then kill them. Kill every last one of them.”

  Dani shot Sam a look that said, We have a live one here. He gave her the barest hint of a nod.

  “And how are we going to do that?”

  “That’s why I need you. In exchange for allowing you to escape, you must agree to help purge the world of these monstrosities. You and your boyfriend, if he’s agreeable...he feels like one of the rare good ones. It is God’s will.”

  “By ‘monstrosities,’ who do you mean?”

  “After almost everyone died, I realized that many of those still alive were vile, loathsome creatures. There was a group that had set up a barricade on the highway. I was with them briefly, until I discovered how terrible they were. Then I left with my baby and lived in the house that you people found. When the tornado happened, I had hoped it also struck the area near the barricade where so many awful people were concentrated. That’s when I had the epiphany, which was God whispering in my ear: gather up all these evil ones and destroy them. It was soon after that when I joined Isaiah’s army. So many terrible people brought together by the very worst of them...it seemed the perfect opportunity to do God’s work. I was prepared to begin the task when Isaiah set his sights on your town, when again, I had an epiphany. God said I should wait until we’ve reached it and kill two birds with one stone.”

  Lily winked. “Of course, he didn’t use those words, but that’s what he meant.”

  “Let me get this straight. Your plan is to kill everyone? Not just Isaiah and his army, but the people in Liberty too?”

  “I can only assume the people that live there
are monstrosities too. That seems to be all that’s left these days. So you’ll have to stay with the army until we’ve reached the town. I’ll make sure you’re freed so you can help me.”

  “I’m free now. What’s to stop me and Sam from making a run for it?”

  The strange high-pitched titter again.

  “You won’t get far. I’d make sure of that. I’m too fast for either of you to keep me from sounding the alarm.”

  Dani shook her head. She looked into the black orbs of the woman and saw not one shred of sanity in their depths.

  “Of course that means you’ll have to suffer Isaiah’s ridiculous reckoning for a few more days. That can’t be helped.”

  Dani sighed. She scanned the sleeping camp, estimating where the night watch should be, plotting their best escape route through the slumbering bodies and calculating their odds of making it out while Lily screamed the alarm.

  The probability of success was minimal. If it had been just herself, she would take the chance. But Sam was with her and she would not put him at risk.

  “If I agree to this, Sam gets to leave now.”

  “I suppose that’s okay. He doesn’t seem like the type that has the stomach for this kind of wet work anyway.”

  “That’s not going to happen, Dani,” Sam whispered, his face a portrait of anguish. “If the tabletops were turned over, would you walk away from me?”

  “You know I’ve already done the logistics. It’s our best chance. You can shadow the army for the rest of the journey, but you have to promise not to get too close. Some of these soldiers have ninja moves too. Then when we reach Liberty, we’ll be together.”

  “After we purge the monstrosities,” Lily interjected.

  “Right, after we purge the monstrosities.”

  “Because if you betray me, your boyfriend will be the first to die. I promise you that.”

  The words were spoken casually, but Dani understood the utter conviction behind them. This crazy bitch would go for Sam the second she caught a whiff of dissent.

  “Got it. We kill everyone,” Dani said.

  “Good. Now tell your boyfriend to bugger off and let me replace your restraints. It has to look like you’re still an unwilling prisoner.”

  Sam shook his head. “No. I won’t leave you here.”

  “It’s the only way, Sam. Please leave before someone wakes up. Go now. It will make me very unhappy if you don’t.”

  “I’m not going.”

  Dani gritted her teeth. It was a damn inconvenient time for him to be immune to her ace in the hole. She thought of another approach that might work, but it would be painful for both of them.

  “Sam, there’s something you should know. I realize this isn’t the best time to tell you, but I need to get it off my chest. I’ve fallen in love with someone else.”

  The heartbreak in his eyes was instantaneous. Seeing it felt like a fist slamming into her belly. She had to continue though or he might not take the bait.

  “He’s very smart. We share a love of books.”

  It was the cruelest thing she could say to someone who had a learning disability. He had always been aware of the disparity in their intellects; he loved seeing her happy, but she knew it bothered him to see her curled up with a book – a joy they could never share.

  “Who is it? It must be that Pablo guy. He’s a reader and you picked him to go on the scouting mission instead of me.”

  “Yes, it’s Pablo. I’m sorry. It just happened.”

  The imagined fist in her belly grew claws.

  “Okay, Dani. I understand. I think you’re better off with someone smarter than me anyway. I always knew I wasn’t good enough for you. I’ll go, but I’ll be nearby to keep an eyeball on things. Just because you don’t love me anymore doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”

  The next moment he was gone from her side. She watched him glide through the tents and sleeping bags like a phantom, then lost him in the infinite shades of gray and indigo that colored the night. She was good, but she would never have moves like that. Nobody but Sam could have infiltrated the camp in the first place.

  Nobody but Sam would ever love her so unconditionally.

  And she had just broken his heart.

  “Listen to me, Annie Wilkes,” she hissed the next moment, pivoting to face Lily. “When I give my word, it means something. You hurt one hair on that man’s head and I will crucify you. Are we clear?”

  Twin black orbs blinked in the gloom, then came the odd squeak of laughter.

  “Annie Wilkes. That’s funny. Yes, we’re clear,” Lily replied. “I know what you did just now. I hope he still loves you after your face is ruined. Now turn around so I can tie you back up.”

  Chapter 45

  “Aren’t you supposed to be working on the perimeter defenses?” Maddie said in a weak voice. Any reserve strength she had was used for fighting the headaches and keeping food from coming back up. The tonics Cate gave her didn’t seem to be helping with either of those ailments, but she continued to drink them under the watchful eye of Pablo. And her blood pressure wasn’t improving, a fact that kept him in a constant state of alarm.

  “Yes, but that can wait. There’s nothing more important than you.” Pablo kissed her forehead, noting the clammy feel of her skin. She was lying in her ‘day bed,’ the third bedroom of their tiny home. She liked the view from that room and the light was better for reading.

  She was still months away from her due date and at the rate she was declining, she wouldn’t make it. Both Amelia and Cate said there was nothing more that could be done. Maddie would just have to ride it out, get as much bed rest as possible, take the prenatal vitamins and drink Cate’s tonic unfailingly, and hope for the best. A premature birth was likely, Cate said. Considering Maddie’s health, it was even preferable. The baby may be underweight, but able to live outside the mother’s womb as early as eight months; possibly less, with the help of the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit which would be powered by a backup generator and a ration of gasoline reserved for that purpose. The gas had been a blatant bribe from Steven to convince them to stay. Pablo still hadn’t decided whether to hate the man or admire him. Usually he ended up doing both.

  Maddie frowned.

  “What? What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “You. You look like someone just told you Santa Claus isn’t real.”

  He took a deep breath and forced a smile. “Wait. What are you saying? Of course Santa Claus is real. Who do you think eats the cookies and drinks the milk on Christmas Eve? Next you’ll be telling me the Easter Bunny isn’t real either.”

  “Oh, that dude is legit but he’s not the original bunny, you know. He’s like the thousandth generation Easter Bunny. Bunnies don’t live long and they like to screw like, well, bunnies.”

  “I didn’t realize that. What about the Tooth Fairy?”

  “The Tooth Fairy is real but he’s no longer doing that pillow gig. He’s got his own cabaret show in Vegas.”

  “You’re an adorable little bigot.”

  Maddie chuckled. “I’m no bigot. I’m Irreverentia, the anti-angel of political correctness.”

  “I see.”

  She sighed. “Please try to not be so worried, Pablo. I know it’s hard for you, but worrying does no good. It only sucks energy that could be spent on more important activities. Like helping with the perimeter defense. So go. Be gone with you. I’m fine.”

  “You probably have some stud coming over the second I leave.”

  Maddie chuckled weakly. “You’re the only stud I need in my life. I love you, Poet Fellow. Now get the hell out.”

  “I love you, Angel Girl. I’ll see you tonight.”

  He closed the door softly behind him. Amelia was waiting for him in the living room.

  “She’s only getting worse,” he said. He didn’t bother hiding his misery from her.

  “I know,” she replied. “I wish there was more we could do.”

  “Cate wants to move her to
the hospital, so she can keep an eye on her.”

  Amelia shook her head. “Not yet. There’s nothing she can do for her there that we can’t do here. It would only make her unhappy to be away from home, and that is not in her best interest.”

  “I agree. I just feel so helpless.”

  Amelia pulled him into a bear hug. The top of her braided head only came to his collar bones.

  “She’s going to make it, Pablo,” she said with an intensity that had become commonplace these days. Gone was the tranquil, unflappable Amelia, replaced by this fierce, grim, resolute version.

  “I hope so. I won’t be able to live without her.”

  Small hands pushed against his chest suddenly, surprising in their strength. Amelia shoved him again, knocking him off-balance and onto the sofa.

  The old-soul eyes were blazing. “Don’t talk like that. I won’t have it. Life is the most precious thing there is, and you will not marginalize it by saying yours is dependent on the existence of someone else. If the worst happens and Maddie doesn’t make it, you will live, damn it. You will bear the pain and you will heal. You will spend the rest of your life nurturing your soul, writing beautiful poetry, being kind, and watching spectacular sunrises. You won’t waste a moment on regret or self-pity because those ugly indulgences will destroy you like a carcinoma, from the inside out. You will mourn because sadness and loss are part of life. For a while. But then a day will come when you will feel less sad and you will begin to again embrace all those simple joys that make being human on this planet – living in this world – the most wondrous experience any sentient creature may ever have.

  “You will not piss that away. I won’t let you.”

  Pablo had never experienced such vehemence from Amelia. He felt cowed by this person who was a foot shorter and half his weight. He didn’t know what to say as she loomed over him from where he sat on the sofa.

  “It’s okay, Pablo,” Jessie said from the kitchen. “She gets pretty riled up these days. I think she’s been drinking too much coffee.” She giggled, breaking the spell Amelia’s outburst had cast.