The one inside that was still alive was cursing up a storm as Colby re-entered and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and shoved him out so he could lead him over to the third guy who was squirming on the ground. As soon as he saw Colby approaching, he got up and tried to make a break for it, but Colby shot him again, this time in the leg.
Once he reached him, he shoved the guy he was holding to the ground to join his buddy.
“Holy shit, it’s you.”
Colby squinted, his head cocking. “You know me?”
“You should be dead.”
A warm sun beat down on his brow, making him sweat.
“Well, surprise, surprise. How about you tell me where Spider is?”
“He’s not here. He’s in Gustine.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. He travels back and forth.”
“Is he staying in one of these RVs?”
The man smiled then laughed as his buddy groaned in agony beside him. “No, when he’s here, he’s over at the hotel. Runs the whole damn show.”
“Which hotel?”
“On the way in. Hotel Mission De Oro. It’s where he runs his…” He paused. “Hold on, you were with her, weren’t you?”
“Who?”
He started laughing. “You really can’t remember. Shit. That is beautiful.”
Colby shot him in the leg, and the man screamed in agony. “So’s that. And I’ll be more than happy to do the next kneecap if you don’t fucking tell me everything and now.”
The guy was crying like a baby, one bloody hand raised, the other clutching his messed-up left knee. “What? What do you want to know? You were brought in with some woman, some dog.”
“Where are they now?”
“I don’t know.”
He pointed the gun at the right leg and the guy pleaded.
“Please. I haven’t seen them since. I don’t know. Try the hotel. He keeps all the women there.”
Colby’s gaze bounced to the other guy who was reaching down to his ankle. Before he could get the small gun from the holster around his leg, Colby stepped on it. “I don’t think so. Who did this to me?” he said.
They didn’t answer so he repeated himself.
“He told us to. Okay.”
“Shut up, man,” the other one spat.
Without hesitation, Colby fired two rounds into both of their heads, then took what ammo they had, and headed back to the house to release Matthew and his wife. When he returned, the truck outside was gone, and the door was wide open.
Shit.
He must have had some additional gas or had removed a component from the engine temporarily to prevent it from starting when he’d tried it. “Damn it!”
He hurried inside and found the restraints on the floor. Someone had helped them.
Colby returned to get his horse but it was gone. That bastard had released it. He had every intention of keeping him there. No doubt they’d gone to get help.
Making his way back to the RVs to get one of the men’s horses, he noticed movement off to his right, someone darted fast down Pluto Street past several mobile homes. A teen. He took off after the stranger only to lose him in the maze of homes.
Turning 360 degrees he caught sight of the kid again, hiding beneath a mobile home. As soon as he was spotted, he scrambled out and took off. This time Colby went a different way around two homes to cut him off.
He burst out just as the kid was looking over his shoulder.
“Get off me. Get off me.”
“Stop wriggling,” Colby bellowed.
That’s when he noticed it wasn’t a boy, it was a girl, a short-haired tomboy wearing a baseball cap. She couldn’t have been over fifteen. “I’m not going to hurt you, okay?”
“Yeah, that’s what the others said.”
“Others?”
“The ones you shot.”
He stared at her. She had these super green eyes and a nose ring. He noticed she was wearing guy’s clothes, too baggy, too large.
“Where’s your family?”
“Buried.”
“You know what’s going on around here?”
She looked confused. “Of course. Have you had your head under a rock?”
“I guess you could say that,” he said. He looked around and noticed no one had come to help, not even to peer out and see why she was yelling. “Where is everyone?”
“Gone.”
EIGHT Miriam
Humboldt County
Miriam stalked her brother like a mountain lion — always staying just far enough behind that he couldn’t see or hear her. She knew Jessie was hiding something. He hadn’t been acting normal since returning from his last trip into town. At eighteen and the youngest of the family, she was tired of being treated like a baby. She’d been biting at the bit to be given some real responsibility beyond cleaning, cooking, and running errands.
After all, it was 2021, not the 1800s.
Women were capable of doing what a man could, and at times a hell of a lot better. She was tired of seeing her brothers get their hands dirty while she watched from the sidelines. If only her sisters had a little more gumption to speak up, maybe they’d be trusted with more than menial tasks.
She blamed her mother for that.
No, something serious had happened.
It went beyond the blackout, the power grid down, or even the theft at the grocery store. She’d eavesdropped on Jessie’s conversation with Dylan and concluded that Alby had something to do with it. That’s where he was heading that morning.
Her mother had asked her to go into town and take some eggs to her sister on the north side. She figured it was a good enough opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
At the rear of Alby’s home, tucked between the garage and a fence overflowing with bushes, she’d watched Jessie park the ATV in the driveway before pounding on the side door. Alby opened it, a few choice words were exchanged, and then he stepped inside. Alby looked nervous, peering around before closing the door.
Miriam slipped out of her hiding spot and crossed to the
