Defending No Where (The No Where Apocalypse Book 3) (18 page)

“We’ll kill them all come fall,” the first man responded. That made my blood stop flowing for a moment.

I felt Jean’s hand grip my leg. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered, trying to sound reassured. It better be okay, that was my life and my family Barster so easily cast aside.

Later, we heard Lucy’s screams fill the night air. Occasionally we heard a slapping of skin, followed by wails I knew I’d never get out of my mind. Then that higher pitched voice pierced the night air. “Oh Momma, you’re so good. Just like Daddy likes it.”

“They’ll be dead tomorrow,” I said, trying to reassure Jean in the darkness. “It all ends then.”

Her only response was a sniffle and a single word, “Yeah.”

As the morning wore on, we witnessed Barster walk outside and urinate in the front yard. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but I noticed Jean’s intense glare held on the man.

“Can you hit him from here?” she asked, nodding at him.

I studied the distance but doubted my accuracy. “I could maybe hit the front window from here…maybe.” If nothing else, I was honest.

She checked our surroundings. “We need to get closer, and it’d be best if those two shit heads came outside without Lucy.”

Almost as if prompted by her speech, Jimmy Darling wandered outside to relieve himself. Chained to his wrist was a completely naked Lucy. I heard a sharp breath from my companion.

“Why don’t you look away?” I asked, diverting my eyes from the emaciated and bruised girl. In dawn’s fresh light, she looked tougher than I had expected. Perhaps even tougher than Jean remembered.

“Keep your eye on the prize,” Jean whispered back. “My dad always said that was the only way to win.”

We both watched as Jimmy pushed her against the side of the house and mounted her from the rear. Finally, Jean looked away. Thank God.

Day 1,107 — continued

After sunrise, the group as a whole emerged from the home. Lucy was still in tow, dragged along by the chain around her neck. Thankfully, she had a shirt and shorts on.

They seemed to be discussing water and who should run and get some more. From my point of view, Barster was winning the conversation. Shortly after a shouting match between the two men, Jimmy and Lucy grabbed two pails and headed north for said water supply.

“I say we move now and take Barster while Jimmy’s gone,” I stated, keeping my voice low.

Shaking her head, I noticed Jean’s scowl. “And if anything goes wrong, we run the chance of losing Lucy. I don’t want to take that risk.”

She studied the house closer. “If we can just get them out here with their backs to us, we can do a sneak attack from the rear.” She must have noticed the skeptical look on my face. “At least we can get closer for a chance to shoot, right?”

I nodded, seeing Jimmy leading Lucy back. In her hands were the two buckets. Apparently, their water supply was close by.

The pair disappeared inside, followed by Barster. “Shit,” I muttered.

Bad guys one, good guys zero.

By mid-afternoon, the pair made another appearance to pee in front of us. Watching them from our hiding place, I noticed Lucy and her chain were absent. I nodded at Jean, she nodded back.

“I swear you’re going to kill that girl,” Barster complained, strolling away from us.

Jimmy’s bladder must have held more because it was a good half-minute until he finished his job.

“Daddy needs loving,” he howled. “And she ain’t all used up yet. So when Daddy wants it, Daddy takes it.”

“I’m gonna kill Daddy,” Jean seethed beside me. “Let’s sneak around the edge they’re headed for. That way when they turn their backs to us again we can take them.”

We backtracked a bit and slid through the woods with fox-like stealth. Even I was surprised at how quiet we were, now that our lives depended on it.

When we crept forward, Barster and Jimmy were directly in front of us, but facing sideways. They spoke in low tones so I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Behind them, the three horses ate green and brown late summer weeds, occasionally sticking their heads in a large trough that was most likely full of water.

We waited for our opening…and waited…and waited.

I became frustrated. Right in front of us were the two remaining members of a gang that had harassed my neighbors and me for the past year. I could almost smell the stink emanating off a man like Barster. Just as rotten on the outside as he was on the inside.

Beside him, the weasel-like Jimmy Darling leaned against a tree, picking at his teeth. Either they were ignorant to their surroundings or Jean and I had the drop on them. I wasn’t sure the options weren’t one in the same.

Barster turned slightly towards the horses and I began to rise. Jean’s hand on my thigh stopped me mid-rise. She looked at me and shook her head. Something wasn’t right in her mind. I crouched again and we continued our wait.

“Here’s what I think,” Barster began in an almost civil tone. “That place south of here is good…” He stroked his scraggly beard. “But there’s better.”

Jimmy took a seat on a nearby pine stump. “Like?”

Barster grinned and I noticed his missing teeth, like every other one.

“That place at the back end of the swamp,” Barster said, winking at his partner. “The one with the high fence and that bald shit that shoots first and never asks questions.”

Shit, he was talking about Wilson’s place. This pitiful man had big plans.

“Now that,” Barster said, poking at Jimmy, “that would be a hell of a place to spend the winter. Don’t ya think so?”

Jimmy looked deep in thought. “I think we may die trying to take it. I like the place on the main highway. Think they’ve left by now?”

Barster shrugged. “Don’t know. But if we kill that skinny-ass man, we can have it and the two women there. You could replace poor old Lucy if she dies soon.”

“She ain’t gonna die,” Jimmy complained.

“You don’t feed her, pretty soon she will.”

Jimmy grinned. “She had a little food few days back. She just needs enough to keep going. At least going for my purposes.”

Both men laughed and turned their backs to us. I saw Jean rise and did the same.

Go time!
I thought.

Day 1,107 — continued

Jean’s gun was at full draw as we dashed out of our hiding spot. Mine would have been as well except it got caught on a pine branch at the last moment. A horse threw its head back and whinnied, giving away our sneak attack. By the time I had my 45 up and ready, Jean fired the first volley of our war.

Though we had tried to be as quiet as possible, Barster saw our approach, aided by the horse’s whining no doubt. “Look out, Jimmy,” he shouted as Jean’s Colt released its bullet with a loud percussion.

I saw his arms go up, flailing as the bullet struck home. The scrawny man fell face forward, struck somewhere in the back by a 230 grain 45-caliber hunk of lead. His legs kicked towards us as I watched Barster hightail it around the corner of the house, disappearing from sight.

I shot once, hoping to hit the man; Jean fired three more times. Pausing against the wood siding, I watched as she reloaded her revolver.

“I don’t think I hit him,” I said, trying to catch my breath. “You?”

She shook her head, spinning her cylinder several times. “I hit something. But if it was him he should have dropped.”

She scowled at the writhing man on the ground at her feet. I could tell she was considering making good on her previous threat.

I laid a hand on her arm. “Don’t, we need to find Barster before we do anything more rash.”

Still staring at the body, she shook her head. “Okay. Let’s get this over with.”

Sticking her head around the corner, she peeked once, then twice, at the last known location of the enemy. When I looked at her face, I could tell Jean hadn’t found what she was searching for.

“No Barster and no blood,” she whispered, looking past me towards the front of the house. “You sneak around back and I’ll do the same on the front. Maybe we can trap him.”

Hugging the outside wall, I inched along the back of the house. When I got to the window, I knelt to the ground and crawled past, just in case Barster had sought refuge inside. When I got to the far corner, I jerked my head out and back trying to spot him but saw nothing.
 

Tiptoeing to the front of the house, I leaned around the corner. A figure caught my attention and I leaned back. Whoever it was looked close. I checked to make sure my safety was off, which it was. I flexed my trigger finger. I needed to be ready when the shot presented itself.

Extending my arm around the corner, I peeked at my target again. Shit, it was Jean.

She shook her head at me in a disgusted fashion. “You planning on shooting me?” she whispered loud enough for me to hear.

It was my turn to shake my head. “Sorry,” I mouthed. In my defense, I hadn’t shot.

She pointed at the front door. I slid my head away from the house and noticed it was ajar. I nodded back at her.

“Nice and easy,” I whispered.

She looked at me, perturbed. “Duh.”

One cautious step at a time, we made our way to the opening. Jean bent down as she passed the front window. What seemed like an hour later, we stood plastered to the house, each of us two feet from the door.

“Give it up, Barster,” I shouted. “It’s over. Come out with your hands held high.”

Several rapid gunshots sent wood splinters flying through the air as he peppered both sides of the doorframe.

“I don’t think he wants to play nice,” Jean said, glancing at the door.

“I’ll come out, but I got a little present with me,” Barster replied, laughing as he spoke. “Back away from the house and stand out in the yard. Straight away from the door.”

I knew what he meant and I’m sure Jean did as well. He still held the upper hand and he knew it. We
had
to do as he said.

Standing side by side with Jean, I noticed movement by the door. The first person out was Lucy, the chain still wrapped tightly around her neck. Around her chest was Barster’s left arm. To her shaking head, he held a gun…my old gun.

The pair stepped outside into the sunlight. Lucy squinted slightly. All she wore was a dirty button-down shirt and panties. No pants, no shoes, and since her shirt was opened in front, I knew no bra either. Jimmy must have been plenty busy again.

In the light of day and up close, the girl looked tough, real tough. Her face was bruised and unwashed. Her hair looked like it hadn’t seen a brush in months. Through the opening in the front of her shirt, I could see bruised ribs. And she had a pronounced limp. A large, black bruise spotted her left foot that looked to be fresh.

Barster hid behind her small frame, tried to at least. While some of his body was exposed, most of his face remained hidden behind Lucy’s head.

“Toss those guns down,” Barster barked. “Half-way to me. I’ll have little Lucy collect them when you do.”

I glanced at Jean and sighed. This wasn’t good, not good at all. I began to think this was my last day on Earth.

Day 1,107 — continued

Lucy retrieved our weapons. A yank on the chain tugged her back to Barster’s side. He inspected the guns before stuffing them in his belt.

“I see you’re both packing 45s,” he mused, studying Jean more than me. “That’s a lot of fire power for little old me and Jimmy. You meant to do us in real good.”

His narrowed eyes met mine. “Jimmy dead?”

Refusing to show him any fear, I shook my head in a tiny fashion. “Don’t know really. Last time I saw him, he was slithering around in the dirt on his belly. Seemed like his natural environment to me.”

Barster chuckled and pointed his gun at me. “Jimmy’s a real piece of work, I admit. And if he ain’t dead after I kill you two, I’ll probably have to finish him off myself.”

The reference to killing brought a rise of emotion from Lucy. “Please, Clyde, don’t hurt them,” she begged, pulling at his bare arm. “Just let them go. They won’t come back.” She looked at us, pleading. “Isn’t that right? If he lets you go, this is all over. You’ll never come back, right?”

I shrugged, but noticed Jean stiffen. “I’m here to get my sister. I plan on killing you and taking her back to where she belongs. That’s the only way this ends.”

Barster smirked at her words, breaking into a chuckle that became an evil laugh. “Oh, I wondered when big sis would come to save little Lucy. Jimmy always said you were quite a looker. He also said you had a mean streak in you a mile long.”

He hooked the chain to a bolt sticking from the siding out of Lucy’s reach. Grabbing the sides of her face, he forced her head up. “Don’t you do anything stupid now. I need to talk to big sis man to man for a bit. You try to unhook yourself and I’ll hurt you worse than Jimmy ever did. Understand?”

Through rivers of tears, Lucy nodded. She tried to speak, but Clyde shushed her before turning his attention on us.

“Kneel, both of you,” he requested in a tone that at any other time would have been considered civil. When we didn’t comply, he waggled the gun between us. “On your knees, on the ground.” He grinned, pointing the gun behind. “Or Lucy gets the first shot.”

Begrudgingly, I knelt and pulled Jean down with me. I noticed she looked more determined than scared. And there were no tears. If she were about to die, she was ready to face her maker without giving Barster any satisfaction of emotion.

He approached with the gun at his side. “I was led to believe that big sis was without a man. But here you are and you have one. Interesting what a pretty girl like you can convince someone else to do just by parting your thighs.”

Maybe Jean planned to answer the filthy soul, but I didn’t. We remained quiet.

He took a stance directly in front of Jean, about three feet away. “It didn’t have to be this way. You could have just stayed put and Lucy would have been fine. I wouldn’t have let Jimmy kill her. I ain’t that rotten.”

I saw the corners of Jean’s lips curl upward. “Could’ve fooled me,” she replied defiantly.

He moved directly in front of me. I stared him in the eye.

“You, I know you from somewhere,” he surmised, scratching his beard as he thought about it. “I’m good at faces. We’ve met before.”