Article 5

He faltered back as though I’d shoved him. His hands went to his short hair.

“What made you do it?” I rolled on. “I know you… cared once. About me and Mom. Don’t even try to say you didn’t.” My fists squeezed so tightly the nails bit into my flesh. The angry bruises on my knuckles sent a jolt of pain up my arms. I was laying too much on the line; I could see it in his face, the conflict raging in his eyes. Did I want to know this answer? Or would it crush me when, more than ever, I needed to be strong?

His mouth opened but then shut. His gaze met mine, a kind of wild desperation in it that begged me to read his mind. But as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t. I didn’t understand. What is it? What are you afraid to tell me?

“What happened?” I asked, this time softer.

His eyes hardened, like glossy stones.

“I don’t know,” he said. “People change, I guess.”

He grabbed the backpack, stuffed with supplies, and headed down the stairs.

The shock doused my rant like a frigid bucket of water.

I laced the new boots as quickly as I could with my trembling hands and followed.

* * *

“WHAT did you find?” I asked Chase at the bottom of the escalator when my breathing had returned to normal. He was gloomy again; I could almost see the storm clouds over his head, which overrode my hurt and rekindled my irritation. People change? Not good enough. Obviously he was different, but that didn’t explain why he’d arrested us or set us free, it just made me want to kick him again. And it made me want to kick myself even more, because despite his secrets, I was worried. I hadn’t made up that crazed look in his eyes. Something dark was inside of him. Something cancerous. That was what was changing him.

He didn’t want to talk about the past? Fine. Probably better anyway. We needed to focus on finding the checkpoint.

“A first-aid kit and a tent. Some dehydrated food that the rats didn’t get.”

I cringed and shoved the extra folded clothes, along with my reformatory sweater, under the flap. He fastened a bulging sleeping bag around the bottom of the sack without once looking up at me.

“We should go,” he said, throwing the backpack over his shoulders.

I didn’t have a watch, but I guessed that it was probably about eight. The checkpoint was still almost two hours away.

Outside, the parking lot was still vacant. I didn’t know why I thought it might not be. The high clouds from the morning were pressing lower and had grown pewter since we’d entered the store. The air, which smelled faintly of sulfur, had a chilly, electric feel.

I followed Chase around the outside of the building and nearly slammed into him when he stopped abruptly.

My body reeled, sensing the danger from Chase before I saw it for myself.

There were two men outside our truck. One was in his late twenties, with unkempt black hair and a hooked nose. He wore a gray hooded sweatshirt and baggy camo pants. A hunting rifle was cocked over his left shoulder. The other man was halfway into the cab of the truck; I saw the dirty skater shoes sticking out beneath the driver’s side door.

“Rick, hey!” hissed the first man. He swung the rifle toward us in a wide, sweeping arc and butted it against his shoulder. I heard the fateful click as he chambered a round.

My heart stopped. Guns were contraband for civilians and had been since the War. Only the MM carried them.

Or AWOL soldiers. Which I was pretty sure they weren’t.

The man I took to be Rick emerged from the vehicle. He was tall, not as tall as Chase but still a head above me. He was thick, too; even through his capacious clothing I could tell he was muscular. His muddy hair was long to his shoulders, and he tossed it back with a flip of his head. There was an eager expression on his face.

“Morning, brother,” Rick called out.

Chase said nothing. His face was as hard as steel.

“Maybe he’s deaf,” said the other man.

“You deaf?” asked Rick.

“No,” Chase answered.

“It’s been too long since you were around people then, brother. When someone says ‘Good morning,’ you’re supposed to respond back.”

“I don’t make small talk when someone’s pointing a rifle at my chest.” Chase’s tone was low, very controlled. “And I’m not your brother.”

Rick looked to his friend, then back to us. I noticed that their skin, and even their eyes, held a yellow tint, which clashed against the gray sky and the gray ash.

“Stan, you’re not making our friends very comfortable.”

Stan chuckled but did not lower the weapon. The hair on the back of my neck prickled.

Rick turned his attention to me. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

My hands squeezed the jacket in my arms. I didn’t respond, trying to think fast. I might be able to reach the gun in Chase’s bag, but not without drawing the attention of the rifle carrier.

“See, Stan, you scared the poor thing.”

Rick stepped forward. Chase shifted deliberately in front of me, and Rick smirked.

“Oh, don’t be stingy, brother. Didn’t your mama teach you to share?”

Stan was laughing raucously behind him. I couldn’t swallow. My throat felt very thick.

Chase took a step toward the truck. I clung to his shirttail.

“Whoa now. Where you going?” Rick swaggered closer.

“We’re leaving,” Chase said with authority.

“You’re leaving. But not both of you.”

“I’m not going with you!” The words leapt from my throat. Chase stiffened.

“Ooh, she’s feisty!” Rick said, as though this was a delicious quality. I remembered how Randolph had groped me and called me “trash.”

Chase shifted his weight. Swiftly, Rick’s hand shot behind his back, reaching for something tucked within his belt. Chase knew exactly where I was without having to look. Roughly, he shoved me back, shielding me completely with his body.

I saw Rick rip the leather case off of a thick, gleaming knife that hooked into a menacing point.

Danger pulsed in my ears. For some reason, the knife scared me more than the rifle had. I couldn’t think why. I couldn’t think anything.

“Leave the pack,” Rick ordered. “I’ll take the keys and the truck.”

“Get in the truck,” Chase told me quietly.

I didn’t know what to do. Chase wouldn’t look at me. He couldn’t possibly think I would leave him here alone against two armed men. Our best chance was together. If they didn’t want me hurt, maybe, maybe, they’d spare him.

He shrugged out of his jacket and backpack, and let them slide to the ground.

“Chase,” I whispered, “I’m not leaving.”

I shouldn’t have said what I did inside the store. Now he was going to try to protect me, to make up for abandoning me before.

“Get in the truck,” he commanded. Stan was approaching us quickly, the gun still pressed against his shoulder. His finger was on the trigger.

“No!” I said forcefully.

“Aw, it’s all right. Daddy will take care of you,” said Rick. Stan laughed.

“Take it easy,” Chase told them, and reached beneath his untucked flannel shirt into his pocket.

“Slowly, brother,” warned Rick.

Both men were close now. They watched Chase’s hands, as did I.

In a flash of movement, Chase tore the black baton from his belt and swung it upward into the double barrel