"Why does Adriana resent Randi so much? There's more to it than Leon's death, isn't there?"
"I'm not sure when it started. Randi tended to be dramatic when she was younger. If a guy rejected her, it was the end of the world. A broken friendship sent her into hysterics."
"You've got to be kidding."
"Nope," Xever said. "She was always a tomboy, but also very sensitive. As the youngest, she was a bit of a princess."
"I'm having a hard time picturing that."
Xever smiled. "I think we've had a hard time admitting Randi grew up while in the Marines. When she came home, her hair was short, she had a few tattoos, and she no longer went into hysterics over little things. Over anything. She turned into a tough, but distant woman."
"Maybe Adriana still sees her as the spoiled little girl instead of the strong, capable woman who has done everything in her power to keep her family safe."
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Randi slung a hunting rifle on her back and headed to do a perimeter check. The thought of killing any more people set her stomach roiling, but what choice did she have? She drove the perimeter, but didn't see any infecteds for once. A large buck stood at the edge of the river drinking. She sighted him in and pulled the trigger dropping the deer.
She threw a rope over a tree, hooked one end on the atv, and pulled him up by his hind legs and bled him out. The blood pooling on the ground sent her back to the parking lot with Leon lying in a pool of his blood. She shook her head to clear the image and gutted the buck. The gore reminded her of the people she'd killed in her life. She stuffed those thoughts into the recesses of her mind, hauled the buck onto the ATV, and secured it to the rack on the back of the vehicle.
At least she could provide fresh meat tonight and make sausage with the rest of the venison. A female goat bleated near the gate. She hooked a rope over her neck and led her inside. Randi took the deer and goat to their makeshift kitchen where her mother and sister were cleaning breakfast dishes. "I think this goat is ready to be milked. We can exchange her for one of the others."
"Good, mija. You brought us fresh venison, too. That'll make a nice supper."
Adriana glared at her. "Thanks a lot." Her nostrils flared. "More work for us while you play soldier." She swept her arm in an arc. "It's enough that I have to take a rotation on watch while you strut around here like you're part of the Mossad, but now you've brought even more work for us. I suppose you expect me to tan the hide, too."
Randi counted to ten to keep from losing her temper. "Everyone in camp rotates through all duties. Tomorrow I have KP."
"Yet, you bring us this carcass to take care of today." Adriana rolled her eyes. "By all means, go about your business while Mom and I work our backsides into the ground."
Randi stepped closer and jammed her finger into her sister's chest. "I'm sick of your attitude. If you don't want to be a part of this family, get out. See if you can survive without the rest of us. Otherwise, shut up. I will not put up with your abuse one second longer. You don't have to like me, but you do have to learn to work with me."
"If you don't get your finger out of my chest, I'll break it off."
"Just try it. I'm begging you." Randi moved even closer to her sister. "You've slapped me once and got away with it. That's it. You try it again, I'll take you down. I don't want to hurt you, Adriana, but I'm sick to death of the way you've been treating me. Now grow up. I've had enough of your spoiled brat attitude. To survive, we work. Period."
"How dare you tell me to grow up when you're the one who always gets her way."
"Adriana, that's enough." Her mother laid a hand on each woman's shoulder. "I'm sorry, honey, but Randi isn't the one being unreasonable here. You've been acting horrible. I know you're hurting since losing Leon, but it needs to stop."
"Because Randi didn't protect him. She left him to die!"
"Did Leon have decreased mental capacity?" Randi asked.
Adriana stared at her. "What? No."
"Then you stop blaming Randi for what happened to Leon." Tears flooded her mother's cheeks. "Mija, Randi loved Leon like a brother. She didn't do this. You have to learn to manage your grief and stop berating your sister."
Adriana crossed her arms over her chest. "It's not just Leon. Randi acts like she's the queen of the land. She orders us around and expects everyone to jump to attention when she walks into the room." Adriana motioned around the compound. "She blows things out of proportion like the drama queen she's always been so she can feel better about herself."
"I've heard enough." Randi held up her hand. "You know what, Adriana? Why don't you go back to your tent? I'll take over your duties today. While you're at it, tell Dad to take you off KP and watch rotations and put me in your place. Then you can spend your time in your tent doing whatever it is you think is more important than keeping your children well-nourished and safe."
"I didn't say I didn't want to do my share. You need to do yours."
"I do more than my part of the work around here, but I'm so fed up with hearing you say how lazy and melodramatic I am, that I don't want you on duty. Period. I don't give a flip what you do, but you won't be a part of the team that keeps us safe or cooks, cleans, and makes clothing." Randi held out her hand. "Give me your apron and leave."
"No."
"Either give me your apron and get out of here, or shut up. Not only for today. I do not want to hear from you again. You either become a productive member of this little society or take your whiny butt to your tent and stay far away from me. Do you understand?"
"Give me a break. Once again you're being a drama queen."
"I gave you two choices. If you decide not to take either one, then I will shut you up."
"Try it."
"Don't push me, Adriana." Randi balled her hands into fists. "I tried to save Leon, yet you think I am responsible. He made the choice to go on the run with me. Now, you're screaming because we have to work night and day. I hate it. Hours on end with no breaks gets old, but we have no choice. If you don't learn to accept it, you won't survive."
"You make me sound lazy." Adriana narrowed her eyes. "I don't want to have pull your weight because you're playing soldier."
"Have you looked at the schedule, sis? You aren't on it any more than anyone else. Josh, Mark, Miguel, and I add extra duties to ourselves to make this place run. What more do you want from me?"
"I want you dead instead of my husband."
*****
Reginald paced. The walls of the miniscule room closed around him. Vixen had taken their car and stuck them in quarters smaller than a dorm room. Mary Anne and the girls continued to sleep, but this place terrified him. If he didn't get his family to their compound, who else would he lose? A key sounded in the door, and Vixen walked in with a tray. "I brought you hot food. We have lots of good hunting just outside our walls."
"When can we leave?"
"Darlin', you don't want to leave. Atlas is the safest place around."
"Atlas?"
"We changed the name of the town to something that signified strength."
"Ah. You're telling me you won't allow me to take my family from here?"
"I'm sorry, but no."
"Why not?" Reginald's gut clenched, and his hair lifted from the nape of his neck. "We have family waiting for us in San Antonio."
"Doll, San Antonio was one of the first cities to fall. I've already explained that to you." Vixen sat in the chair with a feline grace. "If I allow you to leave, it will be on my conscious. You won't make it more than a few more miles."
"We've been through worse than you could imagine." Reginald held eye contact with her. "Besides, it won't be on your conscious if we leave. Mary Anne and I are adults capable of making rational decisions."
Vixen tapped her nails together. "We'll see. Right now, you and your family need rest and food. Later, we'll revisit your request to leave."
Reginald clenched his jaw to keep from slamming the woman to the ground and trying to
force his way out of the prison. If he lost his temper, they wouldn't get far. He had to play it smart.
"You eat up now. We'll have assembly in a few hours. When you're not running on pure adrenaline, you'll come to understand the wisdom of staying in Atlas and becoming part of our family."
Why hadn't he turned around when they first arrived? The guard gave him the chance, but he blew it.
She rose and started for the door but looked over her shoulder. "You aren't a prisoner here Reginald, but you and your family are in our protective custody."
Reginald shuddered as the lock snicked closed. This woman struck terror in his heart in spite of her attempts to reassure him.
"Reg?"
Mary Anne slipped her arms around him. "Are you okay?"
"No. We need to leave."
Mary Anne took a seat in the chair Vixen had vacated. A kitchen chair provided the only seating area in the room. Other than the chair, a full-sized bed and a twin bed filled the space. No windows and only one door. It looked like a prison to him.
"Honey, maybe Vixen's right. Look at what we've been through on our way here. I don't know how much more we can take."
"Something's off. If this was truly a sanctuary, she wouldn't keep us here against our will. The door's locked for goodness' sakes. When someone holds you captive, be scared."
"We need to eat. At least she brought us food." Mary Anne uncovered the plates. "Stew. Dish it up while I wake the girls."
Reginald held her arm to stop her as she stood. "We don't know what kind of meat is in this."
"Venison or rabbit."
Reginald took Mary Anne's hand and lowered his voice. "This place is off. What if they're cannibals? Do you want to take that chance? Feed our daughter human flesh? And how do we know it's not tainted by the virus?"
"You're being ridiculous."
"Maybe I am." He jammed his hand through his hair. "Vixen scares me. The way she locks us in the room..."
"Then why don't we check out the town? We could walk around and look for a way out."
"What about the girls?"
"They need to run and play outside without fear."
"As long as they don't get too far from us." Reginald imagined Vixen or her crew snatching the girls from them, and his pulse rate skyrocketed. "They need to stay in our sight."
"You're overreacting, but if it will make you feel better, we'll tell them to stick close." She glanced back at him as she walked toward the bed to wake the girls. "Keep in mind that no one has threatened us. We aren't prisoners. If we insist, I'm sure Vixen will give us our car."
His sweet Mary Anne. She always saw the good in others. Sometimes to her own detriment.
Mary Anne and the girls ate the stew against Reginald's wishes. "You're being ridiculous. It's wonderful." Mary Anne passed the bowl under his nose. The aroma of rich broth set his stomach to growling. "See, you're hungry. Eat."
He took a tentative bite. Venison. Unless human flesh tasted like deer meat. He couldn't shake the thought, but Mary Anne pushed him to finish the bowl.
Mary Anne gathered their dishes and sat them on the tray, but still no one had shown up to let them out of their cell.
Reginald paced. "Why are we locked in here?"
"Relax. They'll let us out soon enough."
How long had it been? He sat on the edge of the bed and bounced his leg. How did he get his family in yet another mess?
A man they hadn't met yet, unlocked their door. "Assembly's in an hour. Don't be late."
They strolled through the town hand in hand. Homes lined each side of the road. Reginald struggled to look nonchalant. He forced his shoulders to relax and plastered a serene look on his face. At least he hoped he'd achieved serene. He wanted the people there to think they were willing to stay without a fuss.
"It's nice to see you out." Vixen gave her predatory smile.
The woman was everywhere at once. "Just needed fresh air."
"I see." She nodded to the girls. "We have a playground down the street in the park."
"Can we go? Please?" Katie asked.
"We'll walk that way." Mary Anne smiled at the girls. "I'll push you on the swings."
"Let the children run and play. You're safe here." Vixen raised an eyebrow. "Trust me. No harm will come to them."
"We've been through so much." Tears filled Mary Anne's eyes. "We lost my son on the road here, and I'm not ready to allow my girls out of my sight. Give us a few days to adjust."
"Of course. There's no rush." Vixen clasped her hands together.
Her manicured fingernails and spotless clothing struck Reginald as odd. "I have a question."
"Yes?"
"How does Atlas have electricity when the grid went down quite a while ago? And running water?"
"We have incredible engineers. The town runs on generators, but we only have electricity for a few hours a day." Vixen lifted her shoulder. "As for water, we don't have running water. We have a few wells with hand pumps. Everyone takes turns pumping water into the large holding tanks. They're sitting on a hydraulic platform. When they're full, we elevate them and have gravity fed water into a few lines around town."
"Ingenious."
They walked with the girls to the park, and as Mary Anne pushed them on the swings, Reginald searched for a way out of Atlas. Behind the park, the sheet-metal fence had a small gap. He peaked through and saw a dark room with cars in it. If he could find where they stashed the keys, they could leave. He tugged at the gap and the fence gave. They might just get out of this place alive.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Randi stalked away from her sister and mother. She'd never been close to her sister, but now Adriana hated her. Pain seared her heart at Adriana's words. Randi clenched her fists and kept moving. She'd never needed access to her dojo as bad as she needed it this second. Pounding a bag. Breaking boards. Sparring. Anything that required mental and physical acuity might provide a slight balm to her breaking heart. Instead, she wanted to leave. She could take enough supplies to last for a few days and find a place.
"Randi!" Josh ran toward her. "We've got trouble. A family's at the moat."
"How did they get into the compound?"
"I don't know, but I didn't want to confront them alone."
Her shoulders tightened, and the hair along her arms lifted sending a chill through her. "Let's go." They ran across the hard-packed dirt to the gate, opened it, and went outside. Josh swept his hand across his glistening forehead and closed and locked the inner gate before he lowered the drawbridge. As it touched the ground, the family ran toward them.
"Whoa. Stop right there." Randi held her hand up and met them halfway. "How did you get inside our fence?"
"That don't matter none. What matters is you need to let us in. We been walkin' for days, and we're tired, hungry, and scared." The woman clasped her hands together and stared at the ground.
"You don't go anywhere until I know how you got inside." Josh crossed his arms. "If you cut the fence, you've doomed us all. Including yourselves."
"Do we look stupid to you?" The man glared. "I'm bringin' my family for sanctuary. Ain't no way I'd cut no fence. Now, let us in." He pulled a handgun from his pants and pointed it at Randi's forehead. "I ain't tellin' you again."
"You don't want to do that, mister." Randi shook her head.
"Don't tell me what I do or don't wanna do." He cursed Randi.
Josh looked at the weapon and back to Randi. She gave a slight nod.
The man continued to curse and berate Randi.
Josh did an almost imperceptible three count with his fingers. As he reached three, Randi slammed her hands up to grasp the man's wrist. She shoved upwards with her hands, kneed him in the crotch, and dropped him to the ground. The man doubled over with a "whoosh", and Josh disarmed him.
Randi rolled up to a standing position, and put her foot in the middle of the man's chest pushing him onto his back. "You ever hold a gun on me again, you'd better pull the trigger. Otherwise,
I'll kill you. You hear me?"
"Yeah." The man stood and dusted off his pants. "You ain't nuthin' but a scrawny girl. I'd like to see you try."
Seething, Randi stepped behind him and threw him to the ground as she retrieved her Kimber. She jammed the semi-auto in his face. "Don't. Push. Me." She took a deep breath and stepped away from the man. "Get off our property while you still can."
"Please, don't send us away." The woman's face was red and she gripped her kids' arms. "Mel don't mean nuthin'. We've got childrens. You send us out of here, they's as good as dead."
"I'm sorry, but we won't allow someone who threatens us to live in our home." Josh motioned for them to get off the bridge. "I'll follow you to the outer gate. Since you've not bothered to tell me how you got in here, I need to do a full perimeter check."
"Please. I'm a beggin' you. Don't let my kids die out there."
"Fine. If the kids are clean, they can stay, but you and Mel need to leave." Randi continued to hold her weapon at the ready.
Mel growled and slammed his fist into his hand. "I ain't leaving my kids in the hands of no perverts."
"Then take them. Your choice." Randi motioned with her gun. "Go on, now."
The woman fell at Randi's feet. "Please don't do this. Mel only pulled that gun 'cause he's so scared you're gonna let us all die out there. Don't you got no compassion?"
"Do you have any other weapons?" Randi asked.
The woman laid three knives and a revolver at Randi's feet. "That's it. We ain't got nuthin’ else."
"Go back across the moat and wait. We won't make the decision to allow you inside without discussing it. After we have a family meeting, I'll let you know the results of the vote." Randi had no business even taking this to the family for a vote, but for the kiddos. The thought of them trying survive tore at her heart.
"Thank you," the woman said.
"You must abide by whatever decision the community makes. If they decide that you can't stay within the compound, then I'll drive you into Uvalde. There is a store that's cleared out there." Josh crossed his arms and glared at Mel.
Dark Days (Book 1): Contagion Page 23
