If I was faster, I could have tried to stop the government men from killing Papa. Today, I’m quicker than Rusten. Once Myles shoots at Anders, the big man uses his own gun and puts a big hole in the Volkshalberd’s face.
Rusten hollers in rage and points his demon gun at Anders. I jump on the young man’s back, knocking him to the ground. I hit him with a rock until he stops fighting.
I don’t care if Rusten dies. I never believed the Volkshalberd’s views about death and what happens to us afterward. I am a Dandelion. Rusten can live his story again in another world. His time here is over. In his next story, I hope he’s smart enough to avoid hurting my blond bear.
“Fuck,” Anders growls when he realizes the men are dead.
I wipe my bloodied hands on my skirt and think about the food Anders brought. I should run to the Village and give it to Mama. If the men find me first, she won’t eat. Future is getting so thin. Hunger makes Dove only want to sleep. If I’m about to die, I need to give them the food.
But Anders takes my arm and pulls me toward his big bike. Panicked for my family, I yank free.
“What?” I cry when his angry face scares me.
“There could be more of those assholes. They’ll kill us both. We have to go.”
“I need to give Mama food.”
“We’ll come back for them. First, I need to talk to someone.”
I glance between the dead men and Anders. Even with his big scary face raging like a beast, I know he won’t hurt me. He’s got a baby bear’s heart in a big bear’s body.
Thinking I hear the horn in the distance, I start moving away from Anders and toward the bodies. I take the demon guns and bring them to the giant man who looks ready to yell.
“They can’t shoot us with these if we take them.”
Anders’s face does something that makes me think I’m missing an important step. He doesn’t explain. Instead, he takes the demon guns and shoves them inside a pouch attached to his bike. Then he picks me up like a toy and puts me on the seat.
“You need to hold on,” he demands as he slides over the middle part of the bike.
I wrap my arms around his waist and smile at him. Anders doesn’t need to know I’m scared. His heart is stormy, while mine can seem calm. I decide to pretend I’m not scared at all as the bike rumbles between my legs.
We ride so fast away from the Village. As the sun begins to set, I think of Mama worrying. Then I imagine Dove unable to sit up. Future will cry without food. I need to go back.
But I can’t jump off the bike. I don’t know where we are. Is this still Elko? I only know the few shops the Volkshalberd frequented before the Executioners locked us inside the Village. Where am I?
The buildings are big, and many have flashing signs. I see the big highway we used years ago to arrive in Elko. All that concrete reminds me of the government place we went to after Papa died. The world here is hard and sharp. There’s less grass and trees, more people and noise.
As my heart pounds, I want nothing more than to return to the Village. I don’t care if I’m hungry, or John Marks hurts me. My family is back in the place where the cicadas are louder than the traffic.
Anders slows down near a metal gate and waves at a man in a booth. Then the loud bike roars faster, forcing me to hold on tighter to avoid falling off. Anders races us up and down roads lined with big buildings. These aren’t stores, but I’m not sure what this place is or why we’re here.
“This is my house,” Anders explains after his bike rolls into a strange room with a door that slides down. “I need to figure things out.”
He climbs off and waits for me to do the same.
“I’ll stay here,” I insist, too cowardly to see what’s on the other side of the house’s smaller door.
“I can’t think if you’re in the garage.”
Anders picks me up and carries me like a baby into another part of his house. This area is cold and bright. The gray wood floor feels chilly against my bare feet. The ceiling of one room is so high that even Anders can’t reach the top. The walls are very white, and the furniture is very black.
Once curiosity takes over, I forget to be nervous and start exploring.
“This is where you go when you leave me?” I ask, looking back at where Anders paces back and forth near the inside fireplace.
“Yeah.”
“Do all the biker men live here?”
“No. Just me.”
Frowning, I doubt he needs all this space. Of course, he is very tall and has the biggest shoulders. Maybe he just likes to stretch out a lot.
“I’ll feed you, and then I’ll call them,” he mumbles, nervous even though he’s in his home.
Anders takes me to a refrigerator. Finding little food inside, I wonder if he’s poor like us at the Village.
“Crap. I don’t keep a lot of food here,” he says, rubbing his neck too roughly.
I slide my fingers over the skin he scratched raw. “I have the food from the road.”
“No, you need more.”
Glancing out the large, glass doors, I see a grassy park. What is this place? I notice a pool like the one near the apartment building the government told us to live in after the Collective was no more. There’s a metal fence around the pool and then a wooden one around the grassy area.
The sun has finally gone down, and I imagine Mama worrying about me. “My family needs to see my face. Take me back on the bike.”
Anders startles me by putting his big hands on my shoulders. I
