Clay fished around in a box for a moment, then produced a tall can of dry roasted peanuts. “Anybody like these?”
Adam couldn’t speak. He held out a hand for the peanuts. Clay laughed and handed them over.
“It’s really okay for us to take this?” Adam asked. He was already prying the top of the can. “Don’t get me wrong, I definitely want it, but…I don’t want to get in trouble on my first day here. I don’t want to get you in trouble. If this is going to cause a problem—”
“It’s no problem,” Clay said. He reached into the box again and pulled out a baggie of sesame sticks. “Come on, let’s keep going. There’s more to see before I take you to your tent.”
He led them out of the dining hall and back into the open air. Adam glanced up at the nuclear towers again, feeling edgy. They were like something out of an old sci-fi movie. As happy as he was to be here, looking at those shapes reaching up into the sky made him feel slightly uncomfortable.
Ella took him by the arm and pulled him back a few feet, allowing Clay to get farther ahead of them. He tipped the canister of peanuts toward her, and she held out her hand, allowing him to pour out a few nuts into her palm. “I don’t know about this place,” she whispered.
“I knew you were going to say that.”
“Come on, Adam. Can you honestly say you trust these people?”
“Of course not,” he said. “When was the last time we met anybody we could trust? Did you trust the Birkins when you went to the Santa Joaquina with them?”
“Well, no,” she admitted.
“Of course not. But you stayed. You stayed because there’s safety in numbers. And that’s even more true on the mainland, where there are God only knows how many survivors.” He poured out a few peanuts for himself. “These people have food, Ella. You saw that pantry. They’re talking about cultivating crops. There’s a future here.”
“Can you be sure of that?”
“I can’t be sure of anything,” he said.
She sighed. “I can’t stop thinking of all the violence we saw on the road,” she admitted. “The pile of dead bodies. Remember that? There were children, Adam. Children.”
“I know,” he said heavily.
“And all those corpses around Julie’s place. Whoever did that wasn’t acting in self-defense. They were having a party.” She shuddered slightly, as if her very blood was chilled. “That’s not the act of a military with the best interests of the citizens in mind, and you know it.”
“Yeah,” Adam agreed, keeping his voice soft, slightly worried about whether Clay could hear what they were saying. “That’s why I don’t think it could have been these guys, Ella. You heard what Clay said about the grocery stores.”
“Did you hear what he said? They went in and took places by force. He was laughing about it.” She shook her head. “You know that’s exactly the kind of thing John was defending against when we found him in his bunker. Maybe he wasn’t as crazy as we thought.”
“He thought you were his daughter, Ella!”
“Okay, but aside from that—”
“There’s no aside from that. And Clay said that when they captured food sources, they brought the people they found back here to join the militia.” Adam spoke firmly, trying not to let her see the few niggling doubts he still had. Ella was the doubter, and that meant that he had to be the one to trust these people. He had to be the one to show her that this was safe.
She shook her head. “What about that boy we met?” she asked. “Tucker, remember? The one who thought he’d rather jump off the roof and kill himself than be taken by these soldiers?”
“There’s no reason to think he was talking about these soldiers.”
“How many soldiers do you think there are?” she demanded.
“What Tucker described sounded like a band of renegades, though,” Adam pointed out. “This is a huge regiment. There are thousands of them. Do you really think an organization this big could be capable of that kind of evil?”
“Obviously you’ve never heard of the Mafia.”
“This isn’t the Mafia, Ella. Clay told us the general they’re following was a member of the US Air Force. That’s legitimate.” Adam shook out a few more peanuts. “Anyway, I’m not saying let’s sign our lives over to them right out of the gate. I’m just saying, you know, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. We don’t know anything about them yet.”
Ella folded her arms across her chest.
“What?” Adam demanded.
She signed. “Well, look, we can agree that someone is causing intense violence out there, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Someone is murdering people—kids—and they’re doing it for fun.”
“Yes.”
“And terrorizing the survivors to the point where they’re willing to literally kill themselves to stay out of the aggressors’ hands?” Ella prompted.
“Yes,” Adam said. “But I don’t know what point you’re making.”
“My point is that these people, this militia, has all the manpower and all the guns and could probably do something to stop all that, even if they’re not the ones causing it,” Ella said. “Martial law was declared. That means the military is in charge. That means not only do they have the power to stop street gangs from murdering people, they have a responsibility to do that. But it’s still happening.”
“They had an encampment by Julie’s house,” Adam protested.
“They admitted themselves that they hadn’t been able to catch whoever was responsible for that,” Ella said. “They said they thought it was us.”
“That doesn’t make them bad people, though,” Adam pointed out. “Maybe they just haven’t been successful yet.”
“Yeah, okay. Maybe. Maybe the thousands of soldiers with heavy artillery can’t manage to stop a bunch of highway bandits. Maybe they really did think you and I were responsible for that murder spree. Or maybe they’re not quite who they say they are.” She met his gaze. “I think there’s something else going on here, Adam. It doesn’t feel right.”
“Ella—”
“It doesn’t feel right,” she repeated urgently. “One of two things is happening here. Either this militia has failed to stop the violence—which seems really, dramatically unlikely to me—or else they’re not trying to stop it. They’re directly causing it. Now look around at this place. Look at the strength of this army, and tell me which of those two things you think is happening.
Adam took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. The truth was, her argument made sense.
And it wasn’t at all what he wanted to hear.
He lowered his voice so that it was barely above a whisper. “Listen,” he hissed. “Whoever these people are, whatever they’re doing, whatever they’re capable of doing…we have to take advantage of this. They’re giving us a place to stay. We’ll be safe here.”
“How can you say that?” she shot back. “How can you call this a safe place when we don’t know anything about these people? That man is about to take us to a tent and tell us we can sleep there tonight—how am I supposed to fall asleep when I’m surrounded by what might be violent murderers?”
“I know it’s creepy,” Adam agreed. “But come on. They’re not going to murder us in our sleep.”
“No?”
“With the number of people they have on this base?” Adam shook his head. “They’re not killing people in their sleep. They’re keeping them alive. I believe what Clay said about assigning newcomers to different groups, giving us different jobs. Whatever else they might be lying about, I think that part was absolutely true. They want us here because we can contribute to their cause, and that means they want us alive.”
Ella frowned. She didn’t like it, Adam could tell, but he knew she was considering what he’d said. She was smart enough to recognize that he had made a good point, even when it was point she didn’t like very much.
“But we don’t know what it is they want us to do for them,” s
he pointed out. Her tone was doubtful now, though. Her argument had weakened, and she knew it.
“He said we wouldn’t have to fight,” Adam pointed out.
“As if I have a problem with fighting.”
“So then what?” he asked, risking a little grin. “You don’t want to get kitchen detail?”
“Well, no, I don’t, actually.” She sighed. “Not that that would be a deal breaker or anything, of course. But they must have people doing things other than cooking and standing guard. This is a big place. It’s a big army.”
“What are you worried about?” Adam asked. “What do you think they’re going to ask you to do?”
“That’s the thing,” Ella said. “I don’t think they’re going to ask. Look at what’s happened so far, Adam. They brought us here at gunpoint. I know they were nice to us, and it’s easy to overlook a lot of things when you’re hungry and someone gives you a plate of spaghetti, but when you strip away all the set dressing, they held us at gunpoint, loaded us into military vehicles, and kidnapped us.”
“That’s putting it dramatically,” Adam said.
“No, it isn’t,” she replied. “It’s literally what happened. And I’m worried you’re going to lose sight of that because you’re so relieved at the idea of being somewhere you think is safe.”
She might as well have plucked the idea out of his mind.
Adam shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “What’s so wrong with being safe?” he asked. “What’s wrong with wanting to relax, finally, after all this time living in danger?”
She looked at him, and her expression softened some. “What’s wrong with it is that it’s only any good to you if it’s real,” she said. “And I’m afraid what we’re looking at here is an illusion. That’s all.”
Up ahead, Clay had stopped walking and turned around to wait for them to catch up. Adam gave Ella a quick nod, hoping she would understand by the gesture that he had taken her meaning and would think about what she had said. They couldn’t very well continue the debate with Clay listening in.
“You two must be tired,” Clay said as they pulled even with him. “Can’t even keep up with me walking?”
Adam felt a momentary stab of exasperation. He wanted to like Clay and the rest of the militia members, but did everything have to be a joke? It was nice that they had enough food to eat here on the base, but that didn’t change the fact that people were dying in the rest of California, not to mention the world. It felt odd to be laughing at stupid things with Clay.
Then again, it seemed like the kind of thing Artem would have endorsed. It’s okay to be happy, Adam reminded himself. It’s okay to find joy in simple things. In fact, it’s important to be able to do that. If we can’t be happy, why are we even alive?
So he smiled at Clay. “We are tired,” he said. “I don’t know when the last time was that either one of us got a full night’s sleep. We’ve been on the road for a while.”
Clay nodded. “I understand that,” he said. “I’ll take you to your tent real soon. First, though, I bet you’d like to see the nuclear reactor?”
Ella stared at him as if he’d grown an extra head. “Why would we want to see that?”
“It’s probably the best one left in the world,” Clay pointed out.
“But you said it doesn’t work,” Adam said. “What’s the point of it? Is it just a museum piece? Or is it good for something?”
“We’ve actually got scientists working on that very question,” Clay said.
“You have scientists?” Adam asked, surprised.
Clay nodded. “This is why we bring everyone we can to the base,” he said. “You never know what talents someone will bring with them, or how those talents might come in handy.”
“That makes sense,” Adam said, glancing back at Ella to see if she agreed. Her face was a mask.
Clay led them to the dome that sat between the two tall towers.
“Do we need some kind of protective gear? Adam asked.
Clay shook his head. “You’re completely safe. Doctor Varner,” he called to a woman who stood at a desk with her back to them. “We have visitors.”
The woman turned toward them and gasped, her mouth dropping open, her eyes as wide as if she’d seen a ghost.
Behind Adam, Ella whispered, “Julie?”
Chapter 3
There was a long pause, during which the two women merely stared at each other.
Then Ella pushed past Adam, crossed the room in two strides, and was caught up in her sister’s arms.
“This is Julie?” Adam asked dumbly, stunned by the turn of events, but neither of the women paid any attention to him.
Clay looked every bit as confused as Adam was. “What’s going on?” he asked. “You all know each other already?”
“They’re sisters,” Adam said. “At least, I’m pretty sure they are. I know Ella had a sister named Julie. She wasn’t sure her sister was still alive. That’s what we were doing when your unit picked us up. We were trying to find Julie, to check up on her and her family.”
“Oh,” Clay said. “That’s a pretty wild coincidence.”
Adam nodded, watching the women embrace. They were both crying now, neither of them paying the least bit of attention to Adam or Clay. “I suppose it is,” he said.
The truth was that he suddenly felt less sure of himself. Was it a wild coincidence?
He remembered again the scene that he and Ella had found when they’d arrived at Julie’s house. Mutilated corpses littering the yard, and Julie and her family nowhere to be seen. And then, moments later, the militia had shown up in that exact spot and had taken them into custody.
This was starting to feel like too many coincidences to be believed.
At any rate, he thought, at least now they would be able to gain some insight into the workings of the militia. Julie would know something about who here could be trusted.
“Do you mind if we take a minute?” he asked Clay. “Maybe you could wait outside or something. They haven’t seen each other in a while…” he trailed off and waved a hand apologetically, as if to say that he knew he was asking a lot.
“Oh, yeah,” Clay said. “Of course. I’ll stand outside the door and wait for you guys. Take as long as you want.” He smiled at Adam, and Adam thought that Clay seemed like he was probably a nice guy at heart.
He really hoped the guy could be trusted.
He turned back to Ella and Julie, who had detached from each other now and were looking each other up and down as if desperate to confirm that the other one hadn’t been harmed. “I’m so sorry to interrupt,” he said, walking over to them.
“Oh, God,” Ella said, wiping a few stray tears from her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I got so carried away. Julie, this is Adam. He’s been traveling with me for a while.”
“You’ve been taking care of her?” Julie asked him.
“We’ve been taking care of each other,” Adam said.
Julie smiled, but it was a smile that didn’t reach her eyes and barely cracked her cheeks. “That sounds right,” she said. “My sister’s a fighter.”
“We were coming to look for you,” Ella said. “We went to your house…”
Julie’s face crumpled suddenly, and her eyes welled up with tears again. Adam, thinking of the scenes of horror they’d found at Julie’s house, wondered if she was about to tell them what had happened there.
She closed her eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath.
“They killed William,” she whispered. “They killed him right in front of me. Put him up against the wall and shot him.”
Ella sucked in a breath. “Why?” she whispered.
“It was my fault,” Julie said.
“I’m sure it wasn’t.”
“They wanted me to come with them, but I wouldn’t,” she said. “They showed up at our house in one of those black nightmare vehicles they have. You’ve seen them, right?”
“Yeah,” Ella said. “They brought us here in one.”
&n
bsp; “They came to the house and pounded on the door,” Julie said. “I didn’t want to let them in, but William opened the door. He thought we should work with the military. He kept saying that martial law had been declared and that they were the rightful government, and maybe they just wanted to help.”
Ella glanced briefly at Adam but didn’t say anything.
“Once they were inside,” Julie said, “they said they were going to take me with them. They’d gotten my name from the university records—don’t ask me how they got those, but they had them—and they said they needed to bring someone in who was qualified to work on the reactor here.
Adam frowned. “That isn’t what Clay said. He made it sound like they happened to find a scientist.”
Julie laughed bitterly. “That guy who came in with you, you mean? He’s been here for about five minutes. I don’t know why they have him giving tours, except maybe that he’s too green to give away how fucked up this place really is.”
“Wait,” Ella said. “So what happened? They told you they were going to bring you here—how does that lead to William getting shot?”
“I refused to go with them,” Julie said. “I didn’t want any part of working on a nuclear reactor during wartime. Which is what this is, and don’t listen to anyone who says any different. This is war, and there is no good reason for anyone to have nuclear power of any kind. I wasn’t going to touch it.”
“So they shot your husband?” Adam asked quietly.
Julie nodded, pausing for a moment to wipe the tears from her face. “Right in front of me. One of them took our little boy and walked him outside—asked him to show him the back garden—and the others turned my living room into a firing range. Then they loaded me and Matty into their car and brought us here.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I knew that if I resisted any more, they would shoot Matty next, and I couldn’t let that happen. It would have killed me.”
“Of course,” Ella said, wrapping an arm around her sister’s shoulders. “Of course you had to come. No one in your position would have done anything else.”
“But if I’d just come when they’d first asked…William…”
Escape The Dark (Book 4): Caught In The Crossfire Page 2
