Hungry Independents (Book 2) (28 page)

“What?” she said at Hunter’s look of
disapproval.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Hunter met a
very perturbed Barbie at the door. He took her arms and led her
back to the street before a real fight broke out.

“She can’t do that to me!” Barbie cried.

“How long have you known her?” Hunter
asked.

Barbie looked up at him. “Centuries. Why?
Just because she looks like a little girl doesn’t mean she is one.”
Barbie yelled past Hunter’s ear. “She’s older than all of us.”

“I’m trying to concentrate in here!”
Catherine yelled back.

“I really don’t like her,” Barbie said.

Hunter smiled. “She’s been a pain in my butt
since I met her.”

“Still concentrating.”

Scout and the others were helping the newly
awakened Brittanys from their shared fog of possession or whatever
Tommy the Perv did to make them crazy. The youngest Brittany had a
huge gash on her forehead from her flight out the RV window. Jimmy
had already removed his shirt and pressed it against the wound. The
other Brittany sitting on the ground kept apologizing.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Scout said.
“It’s not your fault.”

“He waited in our house. He came into my room
with the others and he put his hands on me. They didn’t even try to
stop him.”

The haunted look in her eyes filled Hunter
with regret. He had to stop Tommy now, before more people got hurt.
Like Cozad, Independents wasn’t prepared for anything as monstrous
as Tommy. His presence would terrify the community.

“We have to secure the town and get everyone
accounted for,” Jimmy said. Hunter regarded him. “Now,” his brother
added.

Hunter nodded and waved off the funny look
Scout gave him. “Billy’s right. Dylan, get the older guys together
and have them do a sweep through town. And find someone to ring the
town bell for an emergency so we can get everyone here.”

Dylan passed the Cozad kids, who milled about
in confusion. Then he ran up to the Independents kids, who were
doing a pretty close impersonation of the Cozad kids. He stopped
long enough to instruct the older boys about what Hunter wanted and
the smaller group split off to perform the sweep. The town bell
started ringing and both the Cozad and Independents kids wore
startled expressions.

“Scout and Billy, help the Brittanys over to
Luis’s. He can take care of Brittany’s head.”

“Couldn’t she do it?” Jimmy said, with a look
to Barbie.

“She could, but I need her and Catherine
fresh when we find Tommy.”

“I’m coming with you.”

Hunter sighed. “This isn’t going to be a fist
fight. You’ve seen him. He’s not natural. He’s not the same Tommy
the Perv from Denver.” Jimmy’s new face twisted in a familiar
frustrated expression, but Hunter continued, “Plus, I’ve been
through some changes after my trip in and out of death.”

“What are you talking about?” Scout asked.
“And why does Billy here want to go after this Tommy so bad? Who is
Tommy?”

“Tommy is the one causing all this mess. I
think he’s another Chase.”

“What was Chase?” Scout asked.

“Seriously, Scout?” Hunter said. “We’ve been
in the middle of this for a year now. Haven’t you figured it
out?”

“Figured what out?”

Barbie gave Hunter a small shove. “Give him a
break. You didn’t know anything until I told you this morning.”

“What did you tell him?” Catherine asked.

She stood in the open doorway of the RV,
looking exhausted. Henry held up Chef Brittany, who looked even
worse. They all stepped out in a bunch.

“Maybe we should talk in private,” Barbie
said.

Catherine looked around at the gathered
group. “No, we can talk here. Scout needs to know, as well as some
of the others.”

Hunter knew she spoke of Jimmy.

Barbie released her hold on Hunter. Scout
grinned at him like he knew something was up. Hunter shook his
head.

“We were attacked by hellhounds last night,”
Barbie said.

“You too,” Scout said. “Molly and Samuel
fought off five of them yesterday morning. They barely made it out
alive... but Catherine helped.”

Hunter’s pulse sped up. “Is Molly okay?”

“She’s fine,” Catherine said. “Go on,
Barbie.”

“Thank you,” Barbie said, most likely
indicating her appreciation for Catherine calling her by her chosen
name. “Well, Michael’s alter ego finally appeared and saved us
all.” Apparently chosen names were not as important for others.

Catherine stepped over and placed both of her
tiny hands on Hunter’s face. She pulled him down. “You got your
wings. I wanted to be there with you the first time. Did it
hurt?”

“Like a son of a bitch.”

Barbie punched him in the shoulder. Hunter
bit his lip through the pain.

Catherine smiled at him and kissed his
forehead. “I guess you realize how important you are now.”

“I was important before being implanted with
an angel.”

“That was self importance,” Catherine said,
patting him on top of the head. “This is different.”

“Excuse me,” Scout said. “What the hell is
going on around here?”

Barbie and Catherine shared a look. Catherine
released Hunter and took another step into the circle of the small
group gathered by the RV. The Brittanys sat in a huddle together,
the older ones helping the youngest with her gash. A shirtless
Billy stood by their side with his hat tilted back and his thumbs
hooked in his belt loops. Hunter was amazed no one else could tell
that the little kid was Jimmy. Henry, Wesley and their sisters
swayed in the heat with hungry looks in their eyes. Scout stood in
front of Catherine with his arms crossed.

Catherine raised her head and stared straight
at Scout. “Hell is what’s going on. Chase was only the first and
now we have to deal with Tommy. He won’t be the last, but we have
to take them as they come.”

“Take who as they come?” Scout asked.

Hunter knew what she was going to say, and he
still didn’t want to believe it.

“Tommy is Famine, the second horseman of the
apocalypse.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me.”

Everyone looked at Billy, who shrugged bare
shoulders and lowered his hat to block the morning sunshine from
his eyes.

Hunter’s laughter sounded crazy, even to
him.

Independents’s greenhouse was now a frame
without substance. The cloud of grasshoppers had destroyed the
plastic panels that allowed sunlight in and kept the cold out.
Samuel’s expression worsened every second he scanned over the
broken bits of his labors. Margaret knew what it meant—no food and
a lot of hard work to regain what they had lost. The problem was
time. The growing season was over, and before long kids would get
hungry.

“So, uh Margaret, right?”

Margaret looked at Samuel and smiled. “That’s
right, although I do remember my entire life as just Molly, so
don’t feel like I’m not the same person you’ve always known.”

“Oh, okay. It’s just I want to apologize for
all the immoral thoughts I’ve had about you over the years. I mean,
now that you’re a saint and all. I just wanted to ask for—”

“Forgiveness,” Margaret said. “You’re
forgiven, but not by me.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I can’t grant you forgiveness for
thinking dirty thoughts about me.” Margaret couldn’t keep the
warmth of discomfort from rushing into her cheeks. “But since you
selflessly gave your life to protect me, and Catherine was able to
bring you back, then I’m guessing He forgives you.”

They left the ruined greenhouse and walked
three blocks to the corner that led to Mark and Vanessa’s home.
Flowers surrounded the brown house, untouched by last night’s bug
storm, and two giant trees stood on either side like posted
sentries. What worried Margaret was the door standing wide
open.

She started to jog, and Samuel stumbled after
her before catching up. They crossed the front lawn, heedless of
the walkway. Margaret leaped the steps to the porch and tumbled
through the threshold, landing on her knees in the living room with
a thud. Samuel’s clump-clump sounded right behind her. He
accidentally stepped on her foot, but hopped off quickly.

“Molly, are you all right?” Mark asked as he
bent down and lifted her up. “Most people knock first, but since
you’re family, I guess its okay for you to charge inside.”

Margaret stood with the offered help, feeling
too stupid to string words together.

“I think we’re all a little jumpy after last
night,” Samuel said. “Where’s momma bear and baby bear.”

“They’re in the back sleeping,” Mark said.
“It was a long night for everyone.”

“Why was the front door open?” Margaret
asked.

“I wanted to take a look around outside the
house and came back in to get my sunglasses. Didn’t realize leaving
the door open was such a big deal.”

“You know how it is, Mark,” Samuel said.
“Some crazy dude rides a hurricane of bugs into town. He slashes
your throat and the bugs destroy our food supply. That kind of
stuff puts people on edge.”

Mark stared at Samuel then switched over to
Margaret. “Point taken. So what brings you guys here?”

“I promised to come by and have a talk with
you,” Margaret said. “And what Samuel just mentioned about the more
serious problem with the food. We need to start figuring out what
we’re going to do.”

Mark played his fingers across his throat
where not even a scar remained after last night’s slashing. “Okay,
Molly. How are you able to deliver babies and heal people?”

“Don’t forget the lightshow,” Samuel said.
“She turned Dylan and me into a couple of bug zappers. Speaking of
which, can you do that again sometime? That was a blast.”

“Samuel, please let me talk to my brother for
a minute,” Margaret said. Samuel nodded without comment, which was
unusual for him. Margaret was thankful since she was stressed out
enough already. “Mark, I’m still your sister and have always been,
but I’ve also lived before as someone else.”

Mark’s face showed the proper skepticism.
She’d seen it on Samuel’s face a half-hour ago. The only cure was
to push on.

“My name is Margaret. I was martyred for my
religious beliefs and later canonized as a saint by the Catholic
Church. I’m known as the patron saint of pregnancy. Catherine and
I, along with Saint Barbara, are the Three Holy Maids.”

Mark fell onto the couch and Samuel found a
seat on the opposite side. Neither he nor Margaret knew exactly
what her brother would do or say once the initial shock wore
off.

“You really are crazy,” Mark said.

Margaret sighed. “No, Mark. I’m not.”

“You sure sound crazy.”

“And you had your throat slashed open last
night by a tall dude with bad hygiene,” Samuel said. “Maybe you
should take a moment to reflect about how it felt to lay dying in
the street before calling your sister crazy.”

Mark flexed his hands, giving a sideways
glance at Samuel. Then he touched his throat again. “What was that
thing, Molly? Was it the devil?”

“No. That was Famine, the second horseman of
the apocalypse.”

The town bell rang across Independents and
Margaret looked out the open window, seeing only sunshine and green
grass. Mark and Samuel stood up from the couch and walked outside.
They left the door open, expecting Margaret to follow.

Vanessa came out of the bedroom with a
handful of David wrestling in her arms. She held him securely like
any loving mother would. “Why is the town bell ringing?”

“Don’t know.” Margaret waved at her nephew,
who smiled back and stretched for her fingers.

Vanessa stared at Margaret. “I heard what you
told Mark. I believe you. How can I not? I saw how you helped
Ginger deliver her baby. I just don’t understand it. There are a
lot of things I don’t understand these days, but I know miracles
are happening. I also know that the Big Bad still has plenty for us
all to worry about. Is it really the Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse? Can we stop them?”

Margaret shrugged. “This is only the second
one. It’s a process we’re going through. We have to try.” Margaret
tickled David’s chin and he squirmed, giving a giggle and a bigger,
chubby cheeked smile that revealed a bright row of baby teeth.

“And you’re here to stop them, along with
Catherine and this other one?”

“No. We aren’t powerful enough, but we can
help.”

The bell rang with more fervency, clanging
out its desperate call across Independents. She stepped to the
door. Samuel and her brother were talking to some of the other boys
in town, now wielding their baseball bats once again. At least they
were all fully dressed.

“If you can’t stop them, who will?”

“He will.”

Vanessa nodded and followed Margaret outside.
Vanessa was a spiritual person. If anyone had faith that God would
save them in their hour of need, Vanessa did. Margaret just wished
she had some grasp of the overall plan. Her seventeen years of
amnesia clouded her mind in a tumult of Molly decisions. The
purpose was so unclear that Margaret had to believe it was a part
of His plan. That didn’t make her any more confident in her
abilities to help save the world from total destruction.

They approached the boys in the street just
as the ones with baseball bats took off. Samuel and Mark
waited.

“Hunter got back into town not long ago,”
Samuel said.

Relief filled Margaret, and then settled into
a happy, although guilty, contentment. Her discussion with Hunter
was a lot closer than she’d wanted, but at least he was safe. “Is
he okay?”

“He’s fine. They just had a run in with the
Britts. Apparently this dude, Famine, can turn kids into possessed
killing machines.”

“Are they all right?”