“I hope so,” Anna replied.
We trekked down the desolate road through the falling ash, shivering and rubbing our hands up and down our arms. I watched for any headlights slicing through the soot. I coughed some more, then clamped my lids shut, fighting the sting that festered in both sockets.
I struggled to focus as I battled the elements and the pain nestled in my side and muscles. The longer we walked, the more my body ached and throbbed.
Anna tucked her hands farther under her arms, fighting the cold. She kept her head pointed at the ground. Her hair turned a slight gray from the ash that gathered in the long strands. The gash above her brow and the blood that ran the length of the side of her face had dried.
We pressed on down the road, past the trees and other vegetation that rumbled above us in the growing tumult. With each step we took, the air felt as if it grew colder. I wrapped my arms across my body to trap any warmth, but the wind stole it from me just as fast.
Anna stopped walking, then nudged my arm. “What’s that?” She pointed to an open field we traveled alongside. “Is that a barn or something?”
I followed her finger and spotted what appeared to be an abandoned barn set in the middle of a field. The derelict structure leaned to one side, as if it couldn’t quite stay upright. I didn’t spot any houses or other buildings within the trees clustered behind or around it.
“Yeah. That’s what it looks like,” I answered. “Come on. Let’s get out of this for a bit.”
We worked our way through the ditch and across the open field. Anna huddled next to me as my body blocked the whistling wind. The discomfort in my knees flared, causing me to limp.
The outside of the barn had numerous gaping holes in the walls, revealing the interior of the dark building. Lightning ignited the sky overhead, offering a flash of light that illuminated the rotting wood frame.
“It’s better than nothing, I guess,” Anna said, her hand resting on the grip of the Glock. She walked through the missing door on the front of the barn, leaving my side.
I glanced to the dark clouds for a second, then passed through the opening of the barn. I spotted Anna’s silhouette moving about in the low light. She walked around the defunct structure, looking up through the rafters to the damaged roof.
The wind tore through the openings in the walls. Ash fell through the hole in the roof. The wicked bite of the wind lessened, offering us a reprieve.
Anna lowered the cloth covering her face to around her neck, then leaned forward. She tossed her hair over the front of her head and ran her fingers through the tangled strands.
I pulled the fabric down from my mouth and nose, ran my palm over my face, then head, wiping away the gathering ash. My teeth chattered and my hands trembled from the dropping temperature. I cupped them together and blew inside my palms, trying to warm them up.
“I wish I knew why the temperature is dropping like this,” I said. “It’s not fall or winter.”
Anna stood up straight, then shrugged. “No clue, but if it keeps going down, we’ll need to get some warmer clothes. The ones we have on won’t work for long.”
I skimmed over the barn, looking for anything of use, but found nothing more than dirt and grass. “I’d say let’s get a fire going so we can warm up some, but I don’t have a lighter and I don’t know how to start one without one. I’m not what you would call a survivalist.”
“You don’t say?” Anna replied, putting her hair up into a ponytail. “I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
“That obvious, huh?” I shot back.
Anna massaged her sore shoulder while looking at the barn. “Yeah. You don’t strike me as the outdoorsy type. I pegged you for more of a city guy. The concrete jungle seems more your speed.”
I nodded. “I can’t deny that.”
“Well, if we can find some wood that isn’t rotten, I can maybe start a fire.” Anna pointed at the ground, away from the gaping fissures in the walls and the hole in the roof. “I can dig a pit there. Use some of this dead grass here and any small sticks and such as tinder. Could work.”
“Why am I not surprised that you know how to do that?” I asked, staring at her. “Seems like there’s a lot I don’t know about you. It’s obvious you’re not this frail, helpless teenage girl you’ve been parading around to be.”
“I need for folks to think I am some helpless, frail woman,” Anna replied, walking around the barn with her head trained at the ground. “It’s hard to get close to a mark if they see you coming from a mile away. I’ve had plenty of practice at being the helpless fifteen-year-old damsel in distress. You’re not the first person I’ve worked that angle on. It works pretty much every time. Helps to have a young, innocent face.”
I rubbed the stubble on my chin, watching Anna sift through the grass with her foot. “So, you really are a contractor, then?”
“Contractor, hit man, hit woman, however you want to put it, but yes.” Anna bent down, then reached inside the grass. She pulled a piece of wood from the ground, looked it over, then tossed it to the side.
“So, our first encounter in LA wasn’t by accident?” I asked, recalling the events over the past two days. “Those two thugs attacking you in the alley–”
“Staged, and pretty well if I do say so myself,” Anna answered before I could finish. “I hired those low-life’s you kicked the crap out of. Told them to
