by Tara Brown
I get back to the fire with some leaves filled with berries I know we can eat.
Anna is holding up roots. She smiles, “They taste like potatoes.” I just catch her whisper over the crackle of the fire.
Star comes with full skins. She sighs. “I am starving.”
Anna puts the hare on the spit and turns him slowly. Star mashes the berries on the broad leaf. She swears if we rub it on the cooked hare it’ll taste better. I tie the roots into one of the huge broad leaves with vine. The vine cooks slowly, allowing the leaf to steam the roots.
“That smells good,” I mutter.
Anna smiles and continues to slowly turn the hare. I pull the roots out of the ashes with my boot and let them cool for a few minutes. Star grabs more huge leaves. We’re so hungry we don’t notice that no one talks. We tear the fur from the cooling carcass and drag each bite through the mashed berries. I moan into my bites and Anna wheezes. Star nods. “I told you.”
I laugh and eat a bite of the root. It does taste like potatoes. I give Leo a bite. He chews and walks away. We all laugh. “Guess he doesn’t like the berries.”
“More for us.”
I’m stuffed when I finish off the water in my skin.
Star yawns. “Normally, I’d be too full to sleep, but shit, I’m beat.”
Anna’s eyes are closing, even though she’s sitting up. I nudge her with my boot. “Sleep.”
She nods and gets up. I put more wood on the fire just as Leo finds his way back. He’s licking his chops and has, no doubt, also had a feast of his own making.
We pull boughs and make a bed. The three of us sleep next to each other. I know Leo keeps guard. He always does when we’re out like this. I think it’s why he likes the cabin so much. He sleeps the whole time.
We start back on the road in the morning, eating our stolen dried meats and the last of the berries. When we get to a spot on the road, Star points. “This way.” She heads into the brush, but I don’t see a marker. We cross a field when we get past the initial brush. I see jagged remains of buildings over top of the trees at the other side.
“Used to be my soccer field when I was little,” she whispers.
Anna and I give her a look. “You lived near here?” I ask.
She nods. “There used to be buildings and things. It was a fancy neighborhood, just down here.” We crest a hill and stop. My skin crawls seeing it. It isn’t the first crater I’ve seen.
“Was it nuclear?”
She shrugs her head. “Not a clue. Bern said it was a hydrogen bomb.”
I nod. “That’s a nuclear bomb. We shouldn’t be here. Lenny said twenty years.”
But we don’t move. We stand on the edge of the massive crater and just look.
Finally, Anna whispers, “I think I can feel the dead in the air.”
I nod. “It’s creepy.” I’ve avoided craters my whole life.
Leo is anxious. He doesn’t like it. I follow him out, hoping they’ll follow me and we won't ever have to come back this way again.
We walk to a new road.
“How do you remember this so well?”
Star looks over at me. “I’ve walked it a lot.”
I frown. “Why wouldn’t you get him to drive you?”
Her eyes twinkle. “Trucks make noise. I don’t like making noise.”
We are more alike than I have realized.
She stops on the road and looks. “This is the bomb path. Stay directly behind me the entire time.” She cuts into the woods. My feet are hurting and my legs are exhausted. I can't imagine how Anna feels.
I step where Anna steps as she follows Star in. The brush is dense.
I hold Leo by the scruff and force him to follow my steps. He gets it after a minute and stays in the line.
Star drops to her knees after a while, lifting a huge piece of the land up. It’s a thin, metal sheet with dirt and moss stuck to the top of it. Inside is a small shelter loaded with guns and food. She jumps down and passes me a package. I open it and start to eat too fast. I gobble back the nuts and seeds. Anna is wolfing down a bar. I take a protein bar and start on it at the same time as the nuts. Star is pouring a package into her throat. She’s chewing fast too. She passes us water bottles. The three of us gorge. I don’t stop myself. It’s been lean rations for days. I sit and sigh as it hits my belly with a thud.
“I need to go the bathroom.” Anna makes a face.
I laugh. Star passes her a tissue packet. Anna’s face breaks into a huge smile. “No leaves!”
Star laughs with me. “Can you remember the path back?”
Anna nods and starts back the way we came.
“Bernie thought of everything.”
She nods. “He really did. He set this up as a bit of a fallout shelter. It was in case the house got over taken. He is a smart guy. Not to mention, he had the list.”
I frown. “The list?”
She nods. “Yeah. They were all given a list—the higher ups and the necessary people.”
My stomach sinks. “So only certain people would survive.” I can’t help but think about the lady who saved me in the town, when the others were looking for me. In a sick way, I have to be happy that she was able to save me, so I could save Jake.
Anna comes back frowning, minus the tissue. I smile. I know she hates going to the bathroom in the woods. Leo trots after her. She looks back at him, giving him a disgusted look. I know what he’s done. I hate it too, but he feels the need to clean up the evidence from his family. It’s his nature. I hadn’t even noticed he'd followed her.
Star sighs. “Well, let’s do this then.” She passes me two handguns, leather straps, and four clips. I load a clip in each shiny, silver gun. She straps the leathers around my thighs and places the clips in them. My jaw drops. “That’s cool.”
She nods. “I know.” She pulls out two sniper rifles and passes one to Anna with a belt of ammo. Anna grins. “Best day ever. All that friggin’ walking was worth it.” She shoots a glare at Leo. “Well, except for that. That was nasty.”
I roll my eyes.
Leo whines as he finishes his protein bar. I pour a bottle of water and he drinks from the stream. I pat his head. “You ready?”
He finishes the water and yawns.
I drop my bow and arrow into the hole for safekeeping. I’ll always choose a gun over a bow.
She climbs out of the hole and slaps the lid back down. She turns something I never noticed before and covers it with moss again.
She puts a finger to her lips. I nod.
We walk in a line. They can't fight, not like I can, but they can both shoot like marksmen.
I see the house after we walk for a bit. I see a man in a tree and stop. Star shoots him out of the tree with the silencer on. I love silencers. He falls, making a huge ruckus, and drops to the ground with a thud. His face is slack. When we walk past him, I take his rifle and sling it onto my back.
The closer we get, the more we hear. They’re building or fixing the mess they’ve made when they trashed the house.
Anna’s face is savage, as usual. Star stops us and turns. “From here on out there are no bombs in the woods. Don’t backtrack though. Anna, stay in the trees, no matter what.”
Anna points to a tree and nods once. She walks there, climbing it. If I look carefully, I can see movement. Star takes the left side and gives me a grin. “Good luck.”
I nod.
My stomach is filled with nerves, but the possibility I will see Marshall suffer is driving me on. The need for vengeance is like a magic pill. I have more cunning and energy than I could have imagined.
I slip from the woods and scan the grass. There are men everywhere. They’re moving crates and fixing things like the front door. I don’t see Marshall.
A man’s face lifts from a box. He opens his mouth to scream but he drops to the ground dead. Anna.
I smile and creep across the expansive field. I point my gun to shoot a man walking with a rifle, but he falls dead. They are drop
ping like flies, silently. Finally, as one falls, another opens his mouth, “WE ARE BEING ATTACKED!”
I shoot him, making the first real gunshot ring through the air. At least half of the twenty are dead now.
My heart is beating in my throat, and Leo nudges me constantly. I place my back against the siding of the house as I hear the shots firing. All I can do is pray Anna and Star manage to move before a scope reflection gets them killed.
I slide along the house to the side door. I glance in the window once. Nothing.
I open the door and let Leo inside. He growls and snarls inside of a doorway to the right. I step into the room and shoot the man aiming at Leo, who is devouring someone on the floor.
We walk together through the house, checking rooms. Someone grabs me from behind. I feel a knife slice across my arm when I block the grip on my throat. Leo dives, taking us both to the ground. His face is rage and red froth when his huge jaw snaps at the head behind me. I not only hear his teeth sink into the flesh, but I also feel the breaking of bone. I shudder and stand. My arm is pouring blood. I rip the bottom off my shirt and make a bandage. I wrap it tightly and continue on. Leo looks worried, but I give him a stern look. He walks ahead.
I hear a sound behind me. Turning with my gun ready, I see Star grinning.
We sneak through the house. I hear talking and peek my head around the corner. It’s a man I recognize whispering to two other men.
They’re all very large, close, and heavily armed. I sigh softly and look at Leo; he can't come in there. I nod back behind us. He makes a face. I give him my alpha look. He bows his head and backs up. I jump out, shooting the man whispering in the head. I shoot the second man, but the third man has his gun on me fast. His finger jerks at the trigger but he drops on his back and shoots the ceiling. I look back at Star. She winks. She leaps in front of me, rifle out. I see her finger pull the trigger once before we are in the kitchen. It’s a mess.
“Bernie’s going to be pissed,” she mutters and looks around. “They’re in the cellar.”
I frown. “We can't get in there, can we?”
Her smile tells me I’m wrong when she looks back at me.
A noise from behind us scares me. I slip against the wall, ready but Anna walks in, out of breath and whispering like a mad woman.
I step closer to hear her better. She points.“They’re here.”
My stomach clenches. “Will and Jake?”
She nods and tries to catch her breath.
“Did they see you?”
She shakes her head and gives me a look. I smirk until I see the blood trickling down her arm. I grab at it but she slaps my hand away. “Bullet grazed me. It’s a scratch.”
I sigh. “People die from scratches.”
She rolls her eyes.
Star drops to her knees and fishes something out from under the sink. She passes me her gun and stands up with a round thing in her hands.
She holds it up. “When I open the door, you press this on the side and toss it inside of the cellar.”
I nod. I don’t feel good. I have a bad feeling. I take the round thing; it looks like a grenade. I’ve seen them once. It was in an old military compound where I found my silencer.
I stare at the black button that I have to press and nod. “Let’s do this.”
Leo whines. He sniffs the food a bit and circles. I scratch his head. We walk to the cellar. Anna stays at the top of the stars with her gun ready. Star punches something into the keypad. A beep breaks the silence. I almost jump. She puts her hand on the handle and nods. She pulls back fast, I press the button and toss it inside. Instantly, smoke fills the room. She slams the door shut. I look up at Anna, but she’s gone.
“Trap.”
Leo is gone too. I run up the stairs, knowing the cellar is empty. Marshall is smarter than that.
I round the corner from the kitchen and come to a skidding stop. Through the doorway I see a blonde head. A desperate cry makes an attempt to escape my throat, but the fear has it clogged up. Next to the blonde head is a snarling and savage-looking teenager. I stuff the guns in the back of my pants quickly and hold the rifle like it’s my only weapon. I stumble out onto the front porch. Leo is huge with his hair is standing on end. A large man is holding Anna with a gun to her throat.
I look back at Star. Her eyes don’t show anything. I don’t know if it’s her that’s betrayed us, but I suspect. I know I’ve spent my life on the coward's path, and she is my sister. We share the same pathetic blood.
I grip my rifle, walking forward.
Marshall clasps his hands. “Why there she is. The star of our party.”
I cringe; it was Star all along. The van that drove up wasn’t Jake and Will. It was Marshall. He never was at Bernie’s house. He was walking to my cabin to steal my family. I fake a smile at Sarah, but she doesn’t buy it. I nod at Meg. She snarls and claws at the hand holding her.
“Give us your weapons and surrender, and they live. Fight me and they die.”
I drop the rifle instantly and shoot Leo a sideways glance. He bows his head. As I walk forward, he will retreat to the side of the house. He will run into the woods. He will do as he is told. I have made that choice for him, and he will not betray me. He will live. That’s what it’s always been about. I brought this fight, and he will not die in it.
Something unexpected happens. Star growls. “Why, Marshall? Why do you want her dead so badly?”
He points. “What do you think we’ve been hunting all these years, Star? You think the sole purpose of the fighting camps was stopping the breeder farms?”
I don’t understand, but she gasps. “You’ve been killing the children?”
His eyes harden. “And this one is no different. She cannot be left to live. None of them can.”
She sounds sickened when she whispers, “You’re one of the Lord’s Keepers?”
He nods. “We have a job to do.” He points to the sky. “He kept us safe and alive when our world turned on itself. Only he has saved us.” He looks at me. “We let you live because we needed your help to stop the farms. You were making it so easy for us, bringing the little abominations right to us.”
My breath is hard to get. “Where did you take them?”
He shakes his head. “We just free them. The little bit of soul they have is given back to God.”
Star shouts, “Why? How could you? They were children!”
He gives us a blank look as he slowly walks behind Sarah and grabs her blonde hair. “THESE ARE CHILDREN! THOSE ARE MONSTERS MADE BY MAN! ONE MAN WHO THINKS HE’S A GOD! THERE IS ONE GOD AND HE DOES NOT ALLOW COPIES OF HIS CREATIONS!”
Sarah screams, making me twitch.
Star sounds like she might laugh at him. “So the van filled with children that we freed—those were coming to you, not the city?”
He looked at her. “Yes."
My hands twitch with a longing to hold the steel in my back. I glance around and feel a slight bit of relief at least that Leo is gone. “But you’re a scientist.” I point out.
He shakes his head. “I was a scientist. I have always been a man of faith. I found a perfect harmony in science, nature, and God that most wouldn’t see. When the experiments with DNA started, I believed we were looking for a way to eradicate diseases, like diabetes. But that wasn’t it at all. He wanted to modify what God had already perfected. If there were diseases and imperfections, they too were man-made.”
Meg spits at him. “God would be ashamed of you.”
He backhands her and grabs a gun from the side of the man next to him. I see him contemplate killing Meg. My insides burn until he points it at me. “You come with us.”
Star grips her gun, but I turn to her. “Get them out of here.”
She nods. I see her brain scrambling for an idea, but this is the best one and we both know it.
Sarah is released. She cries out, running to my arms. She grips me. “Don’t leave.”
I drop to my knee. “I love you! No matter what h
appens, you remember that.”
Her blue eyes are filled with tears. I have turned off my emotions though. I can’t feel sad; I’m stuck in fear and hate. I pull her sweaty, little fingers from my clothes and pass her to Star. Star holds her tight.
The man with the gun to Anna’s throat grins at me and tightens his finger. Meg gives me a subtle headshake. She has a plan. I give her a set look. “Go to Star.”
She begs me with her face. I shake my head. “Go.”
She is pushed into the dry grass, crying out from the force of it.
Marshall gives me a cruel, cold stare.
“WOLFIE!”
My head snaps around. Mary walks to us, gripping the little boy. No one holds her arm. No one has forced her to come from the side of the house. She is here freely. Of course she is.
“She has guns in her back, you idiots,” she points at me. I pull a gun, firing at her face. A shot hits my left shoulder but Mary drops onto the grass, spilling the boy from her arms. He screams. Star drops to her knees, pulling Sarah and Meg to the ground.
I roll instantly, shooting the man Anna has hit in the balls. He fires at me; I feel the bullet graze my side. I pull my other gun and force my body to work against the pain. Leo comes running from behind. He has disobeyed me. He jumps Marshall from behind.
I see the gun come up. I hear a scream. I shoot a man coming from the house firing at us.
I look back for Marshall but now there are a pile of them all struggling together. Shots are being fired within the pile. I stand, running as fast as I can. I grab Leo, dragging him from the pile. Meg is on top of Marshall, holding the rifle I dropped. She fires into his chest. She runs to save Leo.
Marshall glares at me. "You'll never stop us. God wants you all dead." I see Marshall’s eyes go slack as he coughs a last bit of blood.
Leo stands, but his back leg buckles. He’s been shot in the hind legs somewhere. He isn’t the one I’m grabbing though. The dark eyes searching my face are breaking my heart. “Is he damned-well dead?” she asks and coughs.
