Dark Paths: Apocalypse Riders (14 page)

Again, though, she didn’t dare bring it up with Call.

He arrived home late that night, though before she’d gone to sleep for once. “Clean scissors,” he said, holding the shiny instruments up like a prize. “Go on and take your shirt off and lie down.”

She did as he said, discreetly keeping her eyes on him as she stripped. He showed no sign of even trying to catch a glimpse of her removing her shirt. Apparently untying his shoelaces required his full attention.
He’s always been a gentleman,
she reminded herself,
This doesn’t mean he’s disinterested.
She tried to convince herself, at least.

Once she was settled on her stomach, he knelt next to her on the bed. “Shouldn’t hurt too bad,” he said, “I could fetch some moonshine first if you want, though.”

A joke!
She smiled to herself. “I’ll be all right.”

She sighed when his fingers pressed against the skin of her back. It hardly hurt at all, and his warm and gentle touch reminded her of their time together before she’d rejoined the minister. He trimmed the threads in silence. She wondered what he was thinking but was too shy to ask.

“I know what you’re wondering,” he said as he pulled the last threads free from her skin. She wanted him to keep touching her but he withdrew. “You can visit your minister in the morning.” It wasn’t what she’d been thinking at all, but it
was
something she needed to do.

“Thank you.” She rolled over and tugged the sheet with her, testing how it felt to lie on her back. The skin felt a little tight but otherwise healed. “Are you angry with me, Call?” she asked. She didn’t mean to say it but the words slipped out. “I know I broke my word but you couldn’t expect me to stay away from my family.”

“I’m not. I didn’t.” He looked lost as he stared down at his hands. “I came looking for you every day. Twice a day. The minister told me you never wanted to see me again. Amongst other things.”

“He never told me you came around.”

Call nodded. “I didn’t think so. He’s… well, I’m not gonna say anything else to upset you. Anyway.” He sighed and shook his head. “I’ve got to go.”

“Wait!” She grabbed his arm. The sheet threatened to slide away but she didn’t care. She didn’t know what to say, either - she just stared up at him, mouth flapping uselessly as she searched for words. Instead of saying what was really on her mind, she blurted out something that Father Speer had brought up - something she’d nearly forgotten after he’d whipped her. “What about the camps?”

“Camps?” he asked. He looked genuinely confused.

“Father Speer said there’s breeding camps.” His expression darkened as she spoke. “I mean, I know you wouldn’t be involved in something like that. I just
know
it, Call. But something had to plant that idea in his head, right? Do you know what he’s talking about?”

Anger twisted his features. A wrath that she didn’t think he was capable of settled in his eyes. “I would never let you end up there,” he growled. He leaned over her, pressing her back into the mattress, weighing her down, cupping her jaw with one hand. “Never! Tell me you know it. Say it again.”

“I know you wouldn’t,” she squeaked. “You wouldn’t do anything to hurt me.”

His face twitched as he struggled to contain his fury. She wasn’t afraid of him, even then - she was afraid for anyone else who encountered him like this, though. “Mean it.”

“I mean it, Call, I never doubted you.” She reached up and ran her hands through the dusty blond waves of his hair. He sank and nuzzled against her neck, his stubble scratching her sensitive skin, his breathing ragged. His strong reaction frightened her - she hadn’t meant to upset him so badly.
I was just curious! I really need to re-learn how to keep my mouth shut.
She held him there, grasping him to her. Her heart raced at the contact, but he pulled away all too quickly, mumbling apologies.

“Devil’s Ashes has nothing to do with any breeding camps.” He said it as if the words tasted bad in his mouth. “That’s Satan’s Remains business. Have you heard anything of a king?”

“Not a thing,” she said, still stinging from the loss.

“There’s another compound, good and far from here but inside the state. Assuming state borders are even a thing anymore…” he shook his head. “He’s declared himself king of the area. Real fucked up dude, I saw him once. He’s not crazy, though, he’s
smart,
and that’s worse. He’s not the president of Satan’s Remains, but their guy has his head so far up this king’s ass that they may as well be the same man.”

“And they run these camps?” she asked.

He nodded. “We tried to raid ‘em a few times, we were working on a plan. Unfortunately that mile-long herd of corpses keeps on drifting in our direction, so we’ve been a little distracted, to put it mildly.”

He stood, moving further away from her. At least his rage seemed to have calmed as quickly as it had ignited. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” she said, “I just… it sounds too awful to be real at all.”

“Walking corpses used to be too awful to be real.” He was tying his boots back on already.

“Do you have to go?” she whispered. She wrapped herself in the sheet and stood.
Please, just kiss me again. Anything.
She was lonely already and he hadn’t even left.

Boots on and ready to go, he finally looked her up and down, reading the sad desperation on her face. “We can’t just pick up like nothing happened, Lia,” he said, “I ain’t mad, I understand. But you’re trapped between worlds right now, and I’ve got a lot of people depending on me. It tore me up when you left and didn’t come back…” he trailed off, his eyes drifting from her as he remembered. “A lot of people depend on me,” he repeated. “I’ve got to go. Might be a couple days. Everyone here’s friendly, you should be okay to get out and about now if you want.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but he left.

The door clicked shut quietly behind him. She flung herself down onto the bed, beating her fists against the mattress.
I’ve made a real awful mess of things, haven’t I?
Call was through with her issues. Father Speer was locked up. The girls were scattered around the compound - and they would know she was to blame. She’d never felt so alone - and after the apocalypse, that was really saying something.

Lia finally emerged from the apartment and into daylight the next morning. If Call was going to be away for who knew how long it was just silly to remain inside like a recluse. If this was going to be her home, she needed to get to know it.
I guess I’ll have to talk to someone about finding another place to stay,
she thought sadly. No way Call was going to put up with her much longer - not after the way he’d left things on his way out.
Maybe I’ll settle in somewhere before he even gets back. He won’t have to deal with me at all.

The square wasn’t nearly as busy as it had been the night of the funeral but there was plenty of activity. People passing through with sacks and with wheelbarrows and with guns, people sitting and chatting on the benches, passing in and out of the buildings, bustling about. Some gave her odd looks and she wondered if they knew she was part of that “little cult.”

She didn’t know whether to count herself lucky or unlucky when she came across Ripp again - he walked across the square with a woman. She was carrying a shovel and wearing gloves. He waved her on ahead of him and broke apart to approach Lia. “You look much better than the last time I saw you,” he said.

She mumbled “thank you,” not quite sure how to respond.

“Call wanted me to keep an eye out for ya’. Said you’d probably want to visit that minister friend of yours.”

“If you don’t mind,” she said, “I won’t be long. I just need to see him.”

She followed him towards the smallest of the buildings. “We didn’t hurt him, if that’s what your checking on,” Ripp said. She offered no reply.

Inside, they turned into what may have once been a dentist’s or doctor’s office. An armed guard nodded at Ripp as they passed through the open doorway. All four girls were seated in what used to be the waiting room, sitting on cushioned chairs that were somehow miraculously clean. As soon as Lia entered the room, they stood in unison and turned their backs.

“Guess they ain’t happy with you,” Ripp said, raising and eyebrow.

“I don’t blame them.”

The minister himself was in an examination room. It had been mostly emptied of furniture except for the cushioned table - she was relieved to see he at least had somewhere comfortable to rest. His hands were bound by handcuffs, which were padlocked to a chain, which was padlocked on the other end to the pipes along the ceiling. He had enough slack to move around the room and lay down wherever he liked, but that was all.

Upon seeing her face, he turned his back as well. “There, you see?” Ripp said, “Safe and secure. He’s being fed and watered, ain’t you, buddy? Got a nice clean bucket to piss in. Hell, he’s damn near royalty.” The minister didn’t respond. “We treat him this nice and he still thinks we’re all devil worshipers or somethin’.” Ripp shrugged.

“Father,” Lia said, her voice cracking, “I didn’t mean for you to end up like this. I just wanted you to know that.”

“There are special corners of hell for those who turn on their families,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“I know,” she whispered, “And I’m sorry. I just couldn’t stand to see anyone get hurt. They would have let you walk out, Father, you wouldn’t have needed to murder anyone. I just hope you can forgive me someday.”

He scoffed. “Have your demonic lovers set me free. That is the first step towards your atonement.” He glared over his shoulder. “There will be many steps, Lia. Only someone whose soul has been utterly blackened would do what you’ve done.”

She fled. She was aware of Ripp following on her heels but she ignored him as she barreled back outside the building and into the sunlight. Would she ever be able to make up for what she’d done to them? It was the right thing, wasn’t it? It had seemed like it at the time, but she was drunk and in pain and not thinking clearly.
Am I thinking clearly now? Call would say no…

“Come on, darlin’” Ripp said, his voice gruff, “No one around here gets to do nothing for long.”

She shook her confused thoughts away and focused instead on the grizzled old biker before her. “You mean like a job?”

“Yeah. An assignment. Whatever.” He grinned. “If your shooting is half as good as Call says then we’ll give you a post at the walls eventually. Not until you demonstrate for me and the VP of course.”

“I can shoot,” she said. She knew it was an understatement but she didn’t want to brag, either.

“Well, we’ll see about that. We’ll leave you in the gardens with my wife for now,” he said.

She blinked. “That actually sounds kind of nice”.

The “gardens” were located behind Call’s building. The area had been a parking lot once, and a few men with pick-axes were working on breaking up and clearing away the asphalt. It looked like a slow process. At the furthest end, though, closest to the fence, plants grew and thrived. Ripp’s wife, May, was a middle-aged woman with a kindly face. Something about her stance though suggested that she tolerated very little nonsense.

“Glad you have you,” she said, wiping her hands on her jeans before shaking Lia’s hand.

It was sort of amazing - they were, in fact, growing edible vegetables. Something Lia herself had failed to do on a farm, they’d accomplished in a broken-up parking lot. As Call had mentioned it certainly wasn’t enough to feed a significant portion of the population of the compound, but from what Lia could tell, they’d get there eventually. Probably sooner than later. May and her crew seemed to be a very resourceful bunch.

“My tomatoes all just sort of died,” Lia said as she watched the woman work, pruning away around the tall plants. They’d harvested a few cucumbers, checked on some carrots, watered the spinach. It was a lot of hard work but it would become very necessary once the canned and jarred goods ran out. That day was still far in the future, according to May, but she didn’t seem to be the short-sighted type.

“I’ll bet you overwatered them. I’m assuming you didn’t plant them out of the sun, right?”

“No, they had plenty of sun.” The water theory sounded about right. Some days she just hovered around and watered them without thought just to appear busy.