Crashing Down - A Post-Apocalyptic Novel (The Ravaged Land Series Book 3) (18 page)

It was bad enough everyone in the camp had seen me standing next to him. They probably already thought I fully supported him since we had come here with him. Which of course I didn’t.

I didn’t know Mira well enough to judge her leadership abilities. For all I knew she was a great leader, but this was still the resistance. I didn’t want to be here and wasn’t on anyone’s side. But no one knew that.

The crowd started to dissipate once the drama came to an end. No one had come to Mira’s defense, not even Harvard. But I didn’t think that had anything to do with Mira, I think that had more to do with Dominick. Harvard didn’t seem like the type to speak up.

Sienna, Penn, Dean and I went back inside the trailer. We all sat there together quietly, no one said anything, although I imagined everyone had something to say about what had just happened. For all I knew Dominick and Dezzie were sitting outside the trailer listening to see if we said anything.

I wanted to talk about the tremors. I wanted to talk about Mira. I wanted to tell them about what I saw between Dominick and Mira. I wanted to talk about how insane and volatile he was, but I didn’t. Instead we just sat there staring at the walls, likely thinking about the same things. And one of those things was how the hell we were going to get out of this place?

Eventually Dominick and Dezzie came back inside, but they didn’t look as though they were any more suspicious of us than usual. They disappeared to the bedroom without saying a word.

That night we took turns keeping watch as usual. I was startled awake at one point because I was certain I had heard one of the mines go off, but Penn had been on watch. He convinced me that it had only been a dream. If a mine went off the whole camp would be awake. I looked at Dean, and then Sienna and they were both still sound asleep.

He was probably right. So, I went back to sleep and didn’t wake until I heard the screaming and shouting outside.

A
t first I felt confused
. Maybe I was still dreaming, but I could tell by the looks on the other’s faces that I wasn’t. Penn was standing by the window looking out, squinting at something.

“What is it?” I said swallowing down the bad taste in my mouth. I wasn’t sure if we should be running for our lives or barricading the door.

“Not sure… here comes Dezzie,” Penn said as he reached over to open the door for him.

“What’s he doing outside?” I asked rubbing my eyes.

“They left earlier,” Sienna said with a shrug and I wondered if she had been the one on watch when they left.

Dezzie stepped inside breathing heavily. He looked at us, his face contorted. It looked as though he might get sick on the floor.

“Are you OK?” Penn asked.

“Fine… just,” he said holding up his palm while he tried to catch his breath. “It’s Mira… she’s… dead.”

My eyes met with Dean’s and I could tell he was just as confused by the news as I was. She had been fine a few hours ago. It didn’t make sense. I coughed lightly to clear my throat, “Dead? How?”

“It kind of looks like a suicide… or maybe a set up… Dominick’s there now assessing the scene,” Dezzie said as his breathing started to normalize. “He wants you guys there.”

“What? Why?” I said not sure why he would want us there. It wasn’t like we’d know what to do. The last thing I wanted to see this early in the morning was Mira’s dead body. I wanted to know what had happened, but I didn’t want to see it.

“I don’t know… get your thoughts? Just come,” he said gesturing towards Mira’s trailer.

We followed Dezzie. I walked at the back of our little group. Everyone was already gathered around, but Dominick wasn’t letting anyone near her trailer, not even Harvard.

Harvard was crumpled up into a heap at the side of the trailer crying into his hands. He didn’t care at all who heard his wailing.

The door to her trailer was wide open. Even though I didn’t want to look I saw her laying there on the floor. The blood from her wrists had already coated the flooring with its dark red color. Her eye was red and swollen, and there were some red marks on her neck. I wasn’t a detective, but this didn’t look like a suicide. Not to mention the fact that, other than her fight with Dominick, she hadn’t seemed emotionally unstable.

It looked more like she had been beat up, struggled against her attacker and ultimately was strangled. And then maybe cut after the fact to make it look like a suicide.

I turned to Dean, “I don’t think she—”

“Yeah, I know, shhh!” he said, and I received his warning loud and clear.

Dominick looked at us as if he could sense what we were thinking. He actually looked quite broken up. Tears were dripping down his face, yet I couldn’t help but think he was somehow behind it.

The leader from his last camp had died in his sleep. At least that’s what Dominick told me. I wasn’t sure how it had happened, but I was willing to place a bet on who was responsible. Did he really want to lead so badly that he’d kill his ex just to attain the role?

And even if he had killed her what could I do with that information? I doubted I’d be able to convince anyone else, and even if I could what would they do about it? For all I knew it could end up getting me killed.

Dezzie and Dominick were the ones with guns. Well, besides us. I’m sure there were others that were armed too, but who were they and could they be trusted?

I looked out over the sea of faces and each one of them looked scared and close to the edge of outright panicking. But they weren’t doing what I thought they would have done. I thought they’d turn to Harvard for guidance, but they hadn’t. Of course it didn’t help that he was having a breakdown in front of everyone. They were looking to Dominick to explain. To fix things. To take care of them… to lead them. I felt sick.

When I looked at Dominick again something was different. It was as if he was looking through me. I turned around, and I saw Penn standing behind me. When I turned back Dominick was already moving past me.

Dominick was only inches from Penn before he pushed his palms hard against Penn’s chest. The shove moved Penn back a few steps and he clenched his teeth.

“You did this, didn’t you?” Dominick said, his voice loud enough so that everyone could hear his accusation.

I raised my arm up to grab Dominick’s sleeve but Dean was quicker. He grabbed my hand and held it down. He kept his eyes on Dominick ready to jump in if necessary. I looked at Dezzie and he looked just as confused as the rest of us. Dominick was just looking for someone to place the blame on before someone placed the blame on him. But choosing to bully Penn was a mistake.

“No, of course I didn’t,” Penn said almost laughing.

“Ever since you showed your face, everything has just gone to shit.” Dominick pushed him harder.

Penn’s hand shot up so fast. He grabbed Dominick’s finger and gripped it so hard it looked like he could break it if he decided that’s what he wanted to do. Dezzie didn’t do anything to intervene.

“He was with us all night!” Sienna said loudly, she too wanted to make sure everyone heard. She didn’t want these strangers to think anything negative about Penn. We all knew he hadn’t killed Mira. Even Dominick knew it.

“Come on Dominick, you know he was in our trailer,” Dean said.

“Oh no, I don’t know that! I wasn’t in the same room… he could have left,” Dominick said turning only halfway in our direction. I could see the pain Penn was causing him and he deserved every little bit of it.

“He never left the trailer,” Dean said letting go of my hand and stepping towards them as if he had enough. Dezzie followed his lead.

Penn dropped Dominick’s finger and took a step away from him. I was worried about the look on Penn’s face. He hadn’t killed Mira, but he did look like he could kill Dominick.

“Well then it could be only one other person,” Dominick said and to me it sounded as if he was grasping at straws. It was almost a weird game of Russian Roulette to see who he’d pick next. I couldn’t even make a guess. Everyone was fair game, but then when I saw his head turn back to the trailer I knew who he was going to choose. Harvard was still curled up into a ball sobbing and didn’t realize he’d be the unlucky winner. “He was the only one with her! It had to be him!”

Dominick marched right over to Harvard and twisted his shirt into his fist. He raised him up off of the ground as if he weighed nothing. Harvard was flailing his arms frantically, like a bird trapped in a net. His eyes were wider than I thought possible. It was like even he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“What? I didn’t do it!” he said as the tears dropped down on his shirt and made little wet circles. His eyes were bloodshot and filled with sadness… and fear. “She didn’t even know… I never got the chance! I loved her! Why would
I
do it?”

“You shared the trailer with her, man. What’s your alibi? Where were you if not inside with her?” Dominick demanded as he tightened his grip.

“After what happened,” he said sniffing after each word, “she said she wanted to be alone for a little while.”

“Where did you go? Can someone vouch for your whereabouts?” Dominick said as he slammed him up against Mira’s trailer. The flimsy metal siding rattled and rang out like a broken bell.

“In the supply shed,” Harvard said holding out his shaking finger towards the small wooden building. His shoulders slumped down.

Dominick chuckled and put on a fake smile. “Right. Of course you were. And who saw you go in there? Hmm?”

“I’m not sure…,” Harvard said looking around at all the faces hoping someone would step forward. But no one did. I didn’t know if it was because no one had seen him go into the shed or if it was because they were afraid of what Dominick might do if he didn’t find someone to blame. And no one wanted it to be them.

Then again, maybe they actually believed Harvard had done it. He did have access after all.

Dominick turned to Dezzie, “Get the rope.”

D
ezzie pulled out a long
, thick rope from behind the seat of the pickup truck. He carried it over his shoulder and tossed it on the ground in front of Dominick. Harvard’s sobbing increased when he saw the rope..

“Know what we do with traitors?” Dominick said looking at the rope that was already tied into a loose noose at one end.

Harvard shook his head vigorously when he saw it, “No! You can’t! I didn’t do anything! This doesn’t make any sense!”

I didn’t know what to do. If I felt like there was anything I could do that wouldn’t have gotten me or my friends killed, I would have done it. But I couldn’t think of anything. It seemed clear to me that Harvard was innocent and Dominick was likely guilty.

“You’re the only one that had access, smart guy,” Dominick said looking out at the crowd, but they all wore blank expressions. Either they also felt helpless, or they just didn’t care. “My friends, there is no other way. This man killed our beloved leader Mira.”

I coughed, and it stopped Dominick long enough to interrupt his speech and look at me. Was he contemplating a way to try to include me in this mess? Maybe he wanted to get rid of me too because I knew about their disagreement. I knew he was trying to get her back, and she refused him.

“She was a sweet person… so kind and gentle,” he said as he turned back to address Mira’s people. “She took care of you all day after day. If we don’t stop him now, you or your loved ones could be next on his list. This is for the safety of the camp as a whole,” he said threading his fingers together to make a laced ball shape. “I know you don’t want this. My friend Dezzie doesn’t want this and I certainly don’t want to do this, but it’s the only way to keep you safe. I will do whatever it takes to ensure your safety, just as Mira would have. This is what needs to be done.”

“We have to stop this,” I whispered to Dean. I pressed my forehead into his shoulder.

“I don’t think there is anything we can do… he’ll kill us too,” Dean said, the frustration showing on his face.

Penn must have been listening to us. He turned his head slightly to the side, “He’ll turn this whole camp against us in less than thirty seconds,” he said, his lips barely moving.

“I can’t watch this,” I said and pulled my hand out of Dean’s. I waited until Dominick was looking elsewhere and then slipped away from the group.

My plan was to stay close enough to hear everything, but I didn’t want to see anything. I wanted to stay near my friends just in case something went wrong. But there was no way I was going to stay and watch Dominick hang an innocent man while I sat there unable to do anything about it. Not doing something felt almost as bad as doing it myself. Even though Penn was right, he’d turn everyone against us in a heartbeat.

After Dezzie put the noose around Harvard’s neck and tossed the rope over the thick branch, I turned away. I only knew it was over when I heard the horrific gasps and sobs from the camp members.

Dominick had them all fooled into thinking he was a good guy and was doing it all in the best interest of the camp. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that it had been Dominick that had killed Mira. He was the one that should have been hanging from that noose.

He’d probably done it sometime last night… after he yelled at her in front of everyone. Dominick and Dezzie both had disappeared for a while. Would they have had enough time to kill her and set it up? Then all they’d have to do is go back in the morning and find her the way they had left her. Dead.

If I had it right, what could I do about it? I could try. I could say something. But I didn’t want to risk my life. More importantly, I didn’t want to risk the lives of my friends. The men and women in the camp didn’t know us. They didn’t even seem to like us. At least they’d seen Dominick with Mira before. They knew he was the leader of the other resistance camp.

I had absolutely no power here. They would take anything he said over my words. All I could do was think about how to get us the hell out of this camp and far, far away from Dominick.

“I’m sorry you all had to see that,” Dominick said bowing his head as he clasped his hands together. “Before you all leave I’d like to just say that from now on things will get better. We’ll work hard to get more food here. Dezzie and I will do everything in our control to keep you all safe. Now that the internal threat has been vanquished, we can work towards a better future for all of us. I want this camp to get stronger, so that when HOME comes, we will be ready for them.”

I looked out over faces in the crowd but no one seemed motivated or moved by his words in any noticeable way. Everyone looked like they were in some state of shock. First Mira, then Harvard, and now they had a new leader all in less than twenty-four hours.

Dominick just stepped forward as if it made perfect sense for him to take over. No vote or anything. He just stepped right in to the role and no one argued. I guess he assumed that since he’d been the leader of another camp, he’d just naturally do it again. Which probably had been at least a partial reason for taking Mira out of the picture. He wanted to lead again.

“Tomorrow I’d like to explain how things are going to be around here. I’ll make a few changes just to streamline things. I’d also like to get to know you all better. Your strengths and interests. I’ll conduct interviews in the morning with each one of you. You’ll get to know me too… it’s the first step in making this camp a new and better place for all.

“Before long you’ll all be thanking me… for stepping forward during this extremely difficult time,” Dominick said acting like some kind of politician. I could barely stand to look at him.

He turned around and pushed at Harvard’s swinging legs. It disgusted me. I couldn’t figure out why he would have done that. Maybe it had been to check to see if Harvard was really dead, but it looked awkward and I wondered if anyone else had noticed.

“Take the rest of the day off… mourn, collect your thoughts, whatever you need to do because tomorrow we get back to work. This will be a better place!” Dominick said with a wave. When no one moved, his expression turned back into the more annoying one I’d seen hundreds of times before. He started flapping his hands as if he was trying to shoo away pesky mosquitoes.

As everyone apprehensively vanished into their trailers, Penn, Dean, Sienna and I made our way back to our trailer. If only we could take this opportunity to escape. Maybe at the very least we could start to work on our plan because I wanted out of this resistance camp as soon as possible.

This place wasn’t any better than being at HOME. The HOME army was large and organized… deadly. The resistance group was wild and unpredictable… deadly.

When we were back inside the trailer, Penn locked the door behind us. He disappeared back into the bedroom and then came back after ten minutes or so.

“What were you doing?” I asked squinting up at him from the chair by the window.

“Just checking,” Penn said rubbing his fingertips against his thumb. He looked like he was in thought.

“For what?” Sienna asked seemingly just as curious about what he had been up to as I was.

“I don’t know really, clues… anything about them, but I didn’t find anything,” Penn said laying down on one of the blankets on the floor.

“You can sleep in the bed,” I said shrugging my shoulders.

“Do I have to?” he asked raising an eyebrow. He put his hands behind his neck as if to show he was fine where he was.

I shook my head, “No, I just thought you might be more comfortable is all.”

“I like being close to you guys,” he said shifting his eyes towards me. “Just in case.”

It did make me feel better to have Penn with us. He was far more experienced at this type of thing than any of us were. Each day that went by helped me regain trust in him. I trusted him far more than anyone else at this camp, well just after Dean and Sienna.

“What are we going to do about Dominick?” Penn said closing his eyes.

“Or more importantly, how are we going to get out of here?” I said glancing at Dean who was looking out the side window. Then I looked at Sienna who was sitting on the sofa hugging her knees and nodding at me.

I thought maybe Penn would have an idea, but he didn’t say anything. He must have felt as stuck here as I did, but after today it wasn’t a matter of wanting out, it was a matter of needing to get out.

The day switched to night so slowly I thought it wasn’t ever going to happen. Dean had gone out to get our dinner, and the portions seemed even smaller than when Mira had been in charge. I wished I could have seen the portions Dominick and Dezzie had taken for themselves. But I knew without even seeing them that they were both likely feasting.

“I’ll think of a way out of here. I will get us out,” Penn said confidently, and it sounded as if he was making us a promise. At least I hoped he was.

“Let’s just get some sleep. Big day of listening to Dominick’s nonsense ahead of us tomorrow,” Dean said standing behind me. He put his hands on my shoulders and tried to relax my tight muscles. But it didn’t work. He kissed the top of my head, “I’ll take the first watch.”

I tried to stand up, but he held me in place. Sienna turned around on the sofa so her back was to us and Penn’s breathing was already slowing. Everyone was exhausted.

Dean leaned down next to my ear, “If Penn doesn’t get us out of here, I will.”

I smiled as his warm breath danced across my bare skin. He lightly pressed his lips against my neck and I shivered. I leaned back into him as I exhaled. My whole body loosened up a bit and for a second I forgot where I was. Time alone with Dean would have been very much welcomed, but we needed to keep watch. It probably would have been safe to sneak away with the door locked, but we couldn’t take the risk. No matter how badly I wanted to.

Of course Dean knew all that. It wasn’t like he would even suggest such a thing, even if he wanted to too. He squeezed my shoulder as if it was a signal to stop things before we got carried away. I heard Sienna and Penn’s slow breathing and knew they were both asleep, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was what could happen out there in the camp. I stood up and looked into his eyes.

We faced one another and were only inches apart. When he looked down at me, my heart started to race. I slid my hands around his neck at the same time he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. He kissed me so hard I almost couldn’t stand it. I could tell how badly he wished we were alone… somewhere safe. And I wanted it too. My fingers twisted up into his hair and his hand glided down my backside. Our bodies were pressed together so tightly I thought we’d melt into one.

He backed me up against the trailer door and slipped his hand inside my shirt. His touch sent a jolt of electricity through my veins.

Dean glided his hand upward and I let out a small gasp as my breath caught in my throat. I tilted my head back against the door and hit it a little too hard. It must have knocked some sense into me because I remembered where I was. And who else was in the room with us.

My whole body craved him, but I forced myself to take a deep breath and step to the side. I tried to regain control of my breathing as I looked him in the eyes attempting to send a telepathic message. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be with him, I did, more than anything, but it couldn’t happen.

I was pretty sure he got the message when he tilted his head downward and shifted his eyes upwards. He flashed me a soft and sexy smile that sent shivers down my spine. Dean was absolutely gorgeous and it was beyond frustrating that this was how our relationship had to be.

“One day,” he said his voice low.

“Is that a promise?” I teased and kissed his cheek. Everything about this world was more difficult. Even getting alone time.

“I’m not exactly sure how it all happened, but I love you… you know that right?” Dean said his voice low, but I knew he didn’t care who heard him.

“I know. I feel the same.” And even though I didn’t show it as much as I probably should have, I loved him too. With my whole heart. It was just that this world had forced me to put a hard shell around myself. It encapsulated me… it protected me.

Dean sat down in the chair and looked out the window. I smiled as I laid down on top of my blanket on the floor.

“We just need to get out of here,” I whispered and let out a lengthy sigh.

“We will.”