Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
Epilogue
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
EVANGELINE, ALONE.
M.A. Styles
Copyright © 2019 M.A. Styles
All rights reserved.
To Kristin, Erin P., Lizz, and Becky. Four kickass women who supported me the whole way and never once made me feel like I was crazy for trying.
CHAPTER 1
Not All Who Wander
“Stop it, don’t mess around! We can’t afford to let another one go, and we don’t have much time now. Aim for the chest, not the head. Stop acting like a goddamned video game sniper, or I’ll just bring Cara next time,” Charlie Miller whispered harshly as he handed the rifle back to his son.
“Alright, I’m sorry,” Harrison said almost too quietly to hear as he settled the rifle back onto the wet stump, once again sighting in his target the best he could.
“Now, take your time, breath slowly, and once you’ve exhaled and before you take another breath, fire,” Charlie whispered much kinder. He looked back at Jack who was sitting against a tree trunk behind them, and shook his head, slowly letting out a breath. Next to him were Laila and Doug. Doug sat looking over his shotgun annoyed by the wait and the kid’s first missed opportunity. Laila stood wiping down her machete, keeping an eye out behind them. She turned slightly and shot a glance and a smirk over to Charlie before he turned back to Harrison.
They all sat quietly hoping one would come back, and waited for Harrison to gain confidence again to take the shot if it did. Finally they all watched as one walked slowly back out into the small clearing by the stream, a few more behind it slowly making their way too. Charlie saw Harrison’s breathing pick up a little, and he gently put his hand on his shoulder, reminding him to relax and breath. It was about to cross the stream when suddenly it stopped and turned its head right in their direction. But Harrison had already fired, hitting it directly in its heart, dropping it to the ground. The others scattered in fear, and Charlie gave Harrison’s hair a messing in congratulations.
“There you go! You just got us all dinner for a few days,” Charlie said proudly in hushed encouragement, still trying to keep his voice down, and Harrison grinned sheepishly from ear to ear.
Jack started to get up, and slung his backpack over his shoulders, adjusting his belt so his holster went back to where it needed to be; the butt of the Colt comfortingly rubbing against his side. He went over to Harrison and slapped him on the back offering him a big smile to go with it. Doug was already walking past the father and son, shotgun slung over his shoulder, making his way down the hill to the kill. Laila took one more scan behind them before she followed, gripping her machete tightly, at the ready.
By the time the three of them got to Doug he had just sliced open the belly letting its innards slide out, steaming a little on the not yet fully thawed ground. He plunged his hands in to yank out any left over guts and then slung the buck over his shoulders with ease, two hooves in each hand.
“I can take it if you need a break,” offered Charlie.
Doug huffed an annoyed laugh, “The kid should be hauling it back being it’s his kill.”
“I’ll take it,” said Harrison even though he knew it would be a struggle for him, if possible at all, but they all knew he would try if asked.
“Well, I’ve already got it, don’t I?” he asked glaring at him as he passed them by heading back towards their truck.
“Alright,” said Jack, “We get it, back off.”
Doug spun around staggering a little from the weight of the carcass on his back, and just as he was about to unleash on Jack, they all heard the crunching leaves and the snapping of sticks. Charlie quickly put his hand up to silence them all, but they already were. They knew what was coming. Laila expertly slinked through the trees ten feet ahead of them making no sound, and stretched her head up just enough to bring her eye line over the small rise in the land. She walked back to them shaking her head.
“It’s best we just take the long way around. Too many wandering close enough to draw them in once we start trudging through,” she said simply.
“Yeah, the long way round,” Doug said annoyed, hiking the buck up more on his shoulders, blood now dripping down his neck and back. “Sounds great,” he snorted sarcastically, and started stomping away like a child. Jack and Harrison followed with much more care to where they were placing their steps.
Laila walked up to Charlie, “Why did you bring him again?”
“We needed meat, and he knows what to do with it,” Laila raised her eyebrow at him, “and Magda may have mentioned the block needed a break from him, just as much as he needed a break from them too.”
“That sounds more like it,” and they both set off after the other three.
They started making the long loop around the hill towards the Cherokee. It was a much longer hike, but all on level ground. It would take them about three fourths of a mile ahead of where they parked, but leaving an easy go along the side of the road from there, instead of over the crest of the hill, bringing more attention to themselves. When they broke free of the woods, Doug let out a pissed off sound of frustration at the distance left to haul the heavy load, more for them to be reminded of the work he’d done than from actual fatigue. Jack looked over his shoulder to give Charlie a roll of his eyes, but something caught his attention, and he stopped in his tracks. Charlie and Laila tried to follow his gaze, and when they saw it too, they all had their weapons ready in their hands.
“Now what?” Doug asked turning around exaggeratedly.
“Shhhh,” Laila hissed in his direction as she put her hand up to silence him, then pointed it back up at the opposite side of the road behind them.
Harrison stood at the backs of the three of them, and Doug huffed in the background as he tried to make his way to them.
“What the hell are we looking at?” he asked confused into Charlie’s ear. Laila then looked up at him from over her shoulder, grabbed his chin between her pointer finger and thumb, and gently adjusted his gaze an inch to the left. She felt his neck stiffening as he caught sight of it.
Just off the road sat an old, rusted pick up truck. What was left of the paint was a forest green, that obviously, blended quite well into the forest. That in itself made it hard for them to decided whether it was purposefully hidden there, or just left, maybe even crashed, depending on the condition of the driver at the time.
Jack and Charlie looked at each other trying to decide what to do next, then Harrison pushed through them, and started walking towards it.
“Get your ass back here,” Charlie said grabbing him by the
shoulder and spinning him around, “We don’t know what to make of that yet.”
“Sorry,” he said a bit embarrassed at his eagerness, and looked for some support from Laila, but she was too busy studying the truck.
Jack turned to look back towards their car, “It’s not very conspicuous, but they didn’t drive it far into the trees. Seems like If you thought someone was out here, like if you heard a couple gunshots,” he looked at Charlie and the deer on Doug’s shoulders, “you’d most likely pulled off the side of the road looking for the people shooting.”
“So, do we check it out, or we walk away?” Laila asked Charlie.
“I don’t know,” Charlie said turning back to face in the direction of the truck. “It’s old, but not abandoned.”
“I know this damn deer isn’t getting any lighter,” Doug huffed as he rearranged the thing on his shoulders again.
“Well, we could really use the truck,” Laila said warily, “but I don’t know if we need it bad enough.”
Charlie looked at her, considering for a few seconds. He looked around and listened, hearing nothing but some chirping birds, which was a good sign.
“Alright, we’re going to check it out, but let’s not be stupid. Harrison, you and that rifle head back to the Jeep and wait inside for us,” he leaned in closer to him. “Anything goes wrong, you head back and get help.”
“Dad,” Harrison implored, looking at him nervously.
“Now be smart, and do as you’re told,” he handed him the keys not fully knowing if his young son could even figure out how to drive it. Then he turned him around, gave a quick pat to his shoulder, and a gentle shove towards their car. Off he went, occasionally peering over his shoulder back at them.
Charlie watched him go for a few seconds, then looked back at the beat up pick-up, “Ok, let’s try and do this quick and clean.”
“I’ll loop around the back a bit, see if there’s anything or anybody,” Laila said as she swung her machete skillfully around once, then twice from the wrist then started across the road, and into the woods. As Charlie gave her a nod, he watched her tall frame as it went over the hill.
“I don’t like this. I know we could really use it, but we don’t need it right this minute, we could come back tomorrow and check it out,” Jack suggested.
“Who says it wasn’t here when we first arrived, we could’ve just missed it,” Charlie looked at him, both knowing that was doubtful. It’s risky, but Jack also knew why he was risking it. They needed an opened back truck like that to move whatever they may need to repair the wall. If they don’t get that collapsed part fixed soon, they might be risking even more. With winter turning to spring, the warming air seemed to bring out the people who made it through the snow, and the ones who didn’t, to their gates. The people who were now desperate for food, and the dangerous ones too, looking for even more than that.
“Alright, let’s get this over with. We’ll check for keys, then supplies, anything useful, then we’re quick to drive away or run back,” Jack said with seriousness.
They turned towards the truck and saw Doug was almost all the way to it already.
“Goddamnit,” snarled Charlie, and he and Jack ran across the road, guns drawn and ready.
Doug slammed down the buck into the back of the open bed, making the truck bob up and down on squeaking shocks. He found an open cooler, and slid it over to himself, peering inside.
“Shit,” he exclaimed, and tossed it back where he found it. “Empty.” Never gaining its balance, it slowly tilted and fell over at them as if to prove it was, showing only dingy, white walls. Doug sat on the rear bumper making the whole truck sag down in the back. Jack and Charlie look at each other with wary expressions, silently communicating that they were both sick of his bullshit. Charlie nodded to Jack to check the rest of the truck bed, and he headed for the cab.
Jack started pulling a torn up and weathered tarp toward himself, giving an extra tug to free it from under the lifeless, antlered head of the dear. As he pulled, he heard metal scraping metal, and leaned in to uncover whatever it was. Flipping away a corner of the plastic sheeting, Jack pulled out some unstrung, old bows and broken arrow shafts. Then he reached as far back in as he could, and came out with a pristine compact bow with a few arrows. He swung it behind his back, looped the string over one arm, up onto his shoulder, and stuck all the usable arrows into his backpack. The fletches stuck out of the partly unzipped opening. Suddenly they heard a stick snap and they look over to see Laila coming towards them.
Charlie came out from the driver’s side, “No keys, but doesn’t exactly look abandoned or bloody, which still doesn’t tell us much.”
“We should go,” Laila said quietly, reaching the hood of the truck, and craned her head around to get a quick view of it. “There’s some kind of small building cluster. I think storage units, a little further up a dirt road over there,” she pointed behind them, and they noticed an opening in the trees, just enough to fit a car… or truck. Laila put a hand on the hood as she caught her breath, then quickly pulled it away looking wide eyed suddenly at Charlie, “It’s warm!”
Doug turned around to them getting up from the bumper, suddenly more interested in what’s going to happen next.
Charlie turned to Jack, “We-,” he stopped as he noticed the well cared for bow around Jack, but it was too late.
“Well, don’t leave so soon on our account,” a man’s voice said, heavy with a backwoods accent. “We were just coming to meet you all, and introduce ourselves.”
The four of them follow the voice across the street where they saw two men, dressed in dirt covered slacks, matching torn sweaters, and ripped pieces of stained fabric covering their noses and mouths. They came from across the street, out of the wood-line, each one pointing a shotgun at them. Charlie instinctively raised his gun.
“Eh, eh, eh,” the one with a tear at the knee in his once khaki pants warned. He shook his finger at him like he was scolding a child, “That’s not how this is going to work.”
They could hear the other man chuckling behind his face cloth as he shook his shotgun up at them signaling for them to put their hands in the air. The four all stole a quick glance at one another, but slowly raised them up knowing the spray from their guns at this close range could tear them all apart.
“Good! I’m glad to see you are all A+ listeners.” He turned to Jack, “but you sir, what in the world are you planning to do with my bow?” The torn pants man sucked his teeth at him, “Just so we’re clear, you did not ask me permission to take that, and I will be getting it back very shortly, but for now,” he looked the rest of them in the eye, “I’m going to be asking you to drop all your weapons into your buddy’s backpack.”
The other man went and grabbed the pack from Jack’s hands, and reached back to snatch his gun from his holster. Next he slid over to Charlie and Laila, each dropped their weapons respectively into the canvas with an open hand. They never took their eyes off of the bag holder, who hadn’t looked away from Laila since he came over.
The man with the rip seemed to be the talker. He turned his attention to Doug, hands still raised with his shotgun swinging from his shoulder.
“Ok, now this man is a thinker,” the other man with Jack’s backpack slid it slowly off. You could see even with the cloth tied around his face he was smirking. “Thank you for being so cooperative and letting us procure your gun. Also, while we’re at it,” the man cocked his head to the side a bit, “thank you for the deer. We’ll be eating well tonight! Now let’s have you all get cozy in the back here,” and he flicked the tip of his shotgun at the bed of the truck.
Doug went first, followed by Jack, then Charlie. All three slid along the carcass to wedge themselves in, making room for Laila right behind them. She stepped up, one foot on the bumper to hoist herself in.
“Oh, here. Let me help you, darlin',” the talker put his hand on her ass, and slid it down and under her. She stood straight up, turning around to stare daggers a
t him, fists clenched. “Thought you could use a boost,” he smirked lecherously as he put his hand up in a kind of surrender. “Now you go and put that sweet ass right down in the truck. This’ll be a nice quick trip.”
He brought his shotgun to his side, and casually started his way to the driver’s seat. His friend stayed at the back, gun pointed straight down the row of them. The truck started to whine a little, then turned over as the key turned in the ignition. The talker patted the dashboard, and turned around to open the sliding back window, sticking the barrel of the shotgun out. The other man at the back of the truck took his cue and headed to take his seat on the passenger side. He slid his shotgun through the window to take his partners place. Jack just stared at him, trying to only show his anger, and not his fear at what might happen next. The man’s pale gray eyes caught him, and crinkled up at the edges as he gave him a giant smile from under his mask.
“Ok, folks. Hold on now, it’s going to be a little bumpy back there I’m sure,” the talker turned back, and reversed the truck out into the road so fast, that all four of them slid into each other as he whipped around to point at the dirt road. Jack winced as he slid into the tip of one of the antlers. The bow pressed into his back, and scraped against the wall of the truck bed.
“So, we’re going to take it nice and slow so you can enjoy yourselves.”
The truck began to creep slowly up the inclining path as the driver whistled happily to himself. His partner still aimed the shotgun at their heads. They started to see the crest of the small hill Laila mentioned before when the driver seemed to see something in front of them.
“Well, we seem to have got ourselves a hitchhiker up ahead folks,” he announced like they were on safari.
His partner looked to the side as best he could to catch a glimpse, and the others all turned to see. About thirty yards ahead, slowly shuffling out, about to cross the peak of the hill, they saw a woman. Skin and bones, long, stringy black hair hanging off her head. She wore only a large, dirty men’s T-shirt, and a grey sock on her right foot alone. She stopped right at the center of the road, and turned slowly in their direction. Her milky eyes and giant black pupils looked right at the truck. Awkwardly, she pivoted her body at them, and began taking slightly quicker steps in their direction.
Evangeline, Alone. (Book 1): Evangeline, Alone Page 1
