Her hand grazed Scout’s arm as she walked up to Hunter’s front wheel. Scout enjoyed the view from behind. Jolanda had grown up and filled out very, very well.
“Hunter, is it? We’re looking to connect with other survivors and see how we can help each other.”
“So why didn’t you drive in together? Why send in three while the rest of you hide out in the canyons?”
“It’s called recon. We didn’t want to scare the town, and if something happened when the small group went in then the rest of us could make a rescue attempt.”
“All right,” Scout said. “Let’s go to town and everyone can eat a home-cooked meal and sleep in a warm bed tonight. Jimmy and Chase can figure things out from there.”
“Who is Jimmy?”
“He’s the man in charge. Well, him and Vanessa.”
“V! Your sister made it through.”
“Yeah, how do you think I made it? What about Latasha?”
Jolanda bowed her head, scuffing a toe in the dust. She zipped up her coat from a chill that probably didn’t relate to the weather.
“Sorry,” Scout said.
Jolanda continued to inspect the ground. “She took care of me until she turned eighteen. Now I just got the people I hang with. We take care of each other, know what I’m saying?”
“I hear you. It’s the same way for us back in town.”
Scout caught Hunter’s eyes as the last drop of daylight fell into night. The cloudy sky trapped all possibilities of starlight from the heavens. The temperature would soon be dropping as well, making the ride home almost unbearable.
“We better get back,” Hunter said. “Are you guys coming with us?”
“Let me talk to my crew and see what they want to do,” she said. “Chase was real clear about us staying out of town.” She walked back to the truck. All the boys had gathered there, including the bikers. When Jolanda arrived they moved out of earshot.
Scout saw the dialogue was heated by Jolanda’s body language and finger pointing at various members in the huddle. Nobody could have predicted meeting someone they knew from before the world became the Big Bad. Even still, Scout watched as the girl he used to know took precautions.
“They sure are jumpy about something,” Hunter said. “I don’t like it.”
“I know. But it’s better if we get them back to town.”
“I don’t know about that. I’ll tell you the same thing they’re telling her. Keep focused.”
Scout frowned, mad that Hunter thought he could be swayed so easily. He understood the stakes. Jolanda might be a pretty face from his past, but until he knew the score, she wasn’t going to play him.
“Heads up,” Hunter said.
Jolanda approached, smiling and friendly. “Sorry, guys, I think we’re going to be late for dinner.”
“Not if we hurry,” Scout said.
“That’s not what I meant.”
The rest of Jolanda’s group shot past her in a dead sprint. Hunter shouted a warning, but it arrived too late. A couple boys tackled Scout and plowed him to the ground. His face hit the dirt and he coughed and gagged from the rising dust. They roped his hands and feet, tying him up like a calf at a rodeo. Only he felt like a clown; Jolanda had just made him out to be a fool.
They dumped Hunter next to Scout, and his air whooshed out on impact. He appeared pissed off, but his first priority was catching his breath. Hunter would blame Scout for all this later when he got around to laying it down.
“Why are you doing this? It doesn’t have to be this way. We can work something out, Jolanda.”
Jolanda kicked Scout in the body with her heavy boot. His left side went numb with pain, but he didn’t allow her the satisfaction of seeing how much it hurt.
“My name is Raven! Make sure you remember that next time you address me. It’s too bad you guys found us out here because it could have been real simple. Chase is looking for a little girl.”
Hunter said, “Why? He afraid of girls his own age?”
Jolanda ignored him. “She’s about seven years old, but Chase says she will be very mature for her age. You guys haven’t come by any new additions to your town recently, have you?”
Hunter spat. “You mean the three assholes posing as friendly visitors or the six chicken-shits hiding out here?”
Jolanda crossed over and laid her boot into Hunter. “Keep talking trash and I’ll kick lower next time.” She squatted next to their heads. “Chase wants this girl. He’ll burn your whole town to the ground just to get her. Chase doesn’t play.”
“There aren’t any little girls like that in our town,” Scout said.
Jolanda rubbed his head like some dog she might need to put down if he couldn’t be tamed. “We’ll see.” She stood up and motioned toward the others. “Throw them in the back of the truck and let’s go to the house.”
Scout was heaved onto the hard surface of the truck bed duffle-bag style. They delivered Hunter by the same method. The two boys that had ridden in the truck-bed started the captured motorbikes. One complained about Hunter’s handlebars being jacked-up from the crash.
The cold metal of the truck and the jolting action over the landscape made the trip to wherever they were going an aching adventure in bruises. Hunter was passed out by the time they stopped in front of a vacant farmhouse. Their captors dragged them into the house and plopped them down next to each other still tied up in an empty room.
After the door closed, Scout began devising an escape plan so they could warn Jimmy and protect Catherine from Chase and Jolanda’s group.
Meanwhile, Hunter started snoring.
TWENTY
She was so tired of waiting, crying and hitting her pillows. Nothing was going to change what happened today and right now she was just tired. The shade of night dropped and Hunter still hadn’t brought her clothes and things like he’d said he would. Molly looked out onto the landing of her apartment for the hundredth time. She imagined all sorts of terrible acts that he was probably doing to her things. Boys could be so gross. She wanted her stuff back now.
Exhausted, she left her apartment dressed in her winter parka with the hood drawn up against the freezing cold. She passed the bright chaos that was Brittany’s in a hurry, not wanting to be seen or told that the whole town knew she’d been dumped.
Before she realized it, Molly stood in front of the house where Hunter lived. The peeling white two-story structure seemed so familiar, but now felt uninviting. She barely recognized her apartment that afternoon. This place had become her home, but that was impossible now that she had been rejected again.
She trudged up the steps to the dark house and opened the door. It was quiet. The logs in the fireplace had burned down to a pile of cold ashes. She traced her way from memory through the darkness into the kitchen, where she knew candles would be waiting on the countertop. She struck a match and lit a couple, placing them in different spots downstairs. The light helped her feel better about being there.
Every familiar creak on the stairs reminded her of happier trips up and down. She stopped at the top of the staircase, listening for any sounds, particularly Hunter snoring. But she heard nothing. She thought of Hunter hanging out at Brittany’s. Saturday night in Independents, what else was there to do? Hunter was probably having fun figuring out which girl he’d
The thought of Hunter with someone else sent an ache through Molly’s chest, the same ache she’d been battling all day.
She opened Scout’s door first, satisfied that he was gone. Curiosity overcame her and she took a look
