“Give me a shout-out when you all get to the other end.” Luther waited for the okay and stared down the growling faces lusting over him on the other side of the flimsy wire-mesh.
When Justin shouted the all-clear, Luther pulled the pin and rolled the grenade through the meshing. One of those stinking nimrods better not pick it up. And toss it back.
A curious one eyed the grenade and seemed to pry into his brain. It reached for the grenade. Bam! He shot its hand. Outrage swept across its decomposing face. For a split-second, Luther almost seemed lost in its fury.
“Uncle Luther!” Twila yelled.
Luther scrambled for the end zone. He dove to the ground as the grenade’s shockwave ripped through the tunnel. An unreasonable fear warned that the light at the other end of the tunnel was a damn zombie train.
Chapter 38
Estella Marie Vasquez-Chen rocked baby Mateo back to sleep after a quick feeding. Silently, she thanked the Virgin Mary for giving her the courage and strength to make it this far. She didn’t know how they had made it without any fatalities. Someone must be watching over them.
She glanced warily around the dilapidated train station, something right out of one of those vaquero movies Papa used to binge-watch when his back had gone out. They had stumbled upon it during their moonlight hike down the canyon. From what she could tell, everyone still slept except Justin and Luther, who were outside on guard duty.
Hiking across the crappy desert at night, Ella fumed. Dean must have had brain damage from his fall. And why hadn’t Scarlett and Twila warned them about the horde on the bridge? She still couldn’t believe they had escaped that one. Her mood simmered to a full boil as she mentally discredited Twila and Scarlett’s cryptic cosmic connections. What good were these metaphysical abilities?
Twila poked her head up from the sleeping bag next to her. Her drawn-out yawn turned into a frown. “It’s not my fault. Honest me.” She rubbed her golden-flecked eyes. “Ooh, they make me sooo mad. They tricked me!”
Ella immediately felt guilty.
“I did use my third eye. All I saw was a pretty meadow of sunflowers and butterflies with glittery rainbows and sparkly fairies.” Twila kicked off her sleeping bag. “I’ll never be that stupid again. Please, don’t be mad at me.” She stuck out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout.
“Lo siento. What do you see now?” Ella was dying to know when they’d make it out of the desert. More like, if they were making it out of there. Alive.
Twila squeezed her eyes shut as dramatically as possible and held her head. Oh well, she would be meditating for a while. Used to Twila’s antics, Ella gazed at mijo and let his love fill her heart. At least he was oblivious to their dire situation. With Mateo nestled in the sling against her chest, she gently pulled the poncho over him. Bonding time. She cherished those quiet moments when his tiny heart beat against hers.
Dean cried out in his sleep. Scarlett jumped to her feet with gun in hand at the same time Justin and Luther ran inside with pointed guns.
“It’s okay,” Ella said in a low voice, trying not to laugh at Twila’s simmering scowl. Poor Dean. He was in obvious pain. His fall must have been petrifying. Still, he had refused Mateo’s tea since she only had one bottle left. They were almost out of water. Then what?
“Good morning.” Dean propped himself up on his elbows. “Feel like I got run over by a train.”
“Just the bridge,” Luther zinged back.
“How’s your ankle?” Scarlett asked.
Dean struggled to his feet. “Dadgummit, I’m walkin’ today. Even if it kills me.”
Luther darted to him. “Settle down.”
Dean made a few wincing steps before stopping. “I’m thinkin’, if I had a walking stick. Better yet, I’ll fashion a crutch out one of those one-by-fours.”
“We can hang here for a day,” Luther suggested. “Do some hunting.”
“For what? Rattlesnake?” Justin mocked.
“Ew.” She didn’t know what was worse, looking for snakes. Or actually eating them?
“Jeez Louise,” Twila moaned. “I can’t meditate with all your talking. Everyone, listen to me. We have to leave.” She rushed to Scarlett. “Mommy, please tell them. If we don’t go this very minute, we’ll get there too late.” She sobbed into Scarlett’s hip.
“Now, I don’t want you all stopping on my account.” Dean massaged his ankle. “Say, Justin, hand me that board next to you.”
“Sure.” Justin tripped his way over the partially collapsed roof.
Mindy and baby Starla sat at the opposite end of a cleared section of the room in silence. “Do you sense anything?” Ella asked.
Mindy stood up and straightened out her rumpled clothes. “All I’m getting—” She looked deep into Ella’s eyes. “Is this compelling urge to keep going. When that happens, I listen.”
“This just might do the trick.” Dean put a board under his armpit. “All I need to do is whittle down this top piece, wrap one of my shirts over the top for padding, and it ought to make a suitable crutch.”
“You sure?” Luther flashed him an odd look.
Dean laughed. “Don’t look at me in that tone. I may be old. But it’ll take more than a bum ankle to keep me down.”
Luther cracked up. “Remind me never to get in a barfight with you.”
“Folks, take care of your personal business while I MacGyver this into a crutch.” Dean grabbed a knife from his tool belt. “Fortunately, I didn’t lose all my tools in the fall.” He reached up again to adjust his lost cowboy hat. He must miss it.
With time on her hands, Ella washed out yesterday’s dirty diapers in the sandy dirt
