Sudden Independents

Day broke gray and cold as Molly sat beside Chase in a truck driving away from Independents. She pressed her hand against the roof because of all the bouncing, fearing she might snap her neck if she got tossed any higher. Her sore butt complained from the squeaky springs in the bench seat and she worried her spine would be permanently crooked by the time they arrived at the place where Hunter was being kept.

“Are we almost there?” Molly asked after a series of bumps slammed her against the passenger window repeatedly.

Chase peered straight ahead through the cracked windshield and ignored her. It had been that way ever since they made their escape.

Kessie shot an evil glance at Molly; her white knuckles gripped the steering wheel. “We’ll get there soon enough. Maybe you could do something useful like find me a better road to follow. You live around here, right?”

Molly shrugged and looked away. “I stayed in town where I was needed.”

“That why you burned that house down?” Kessie asked. “That boy no longer needed you?”

The comment stung more than Molly wanted to admit. Was that really why Hunter broke up with her? He’d get a chance to explain soon enough, she thought. But part of her never wanted to know. She noticed a corner of Chase’s mouth curling.

“You think that’s funny?” she asked him. “Tell her to stop and say that to my face.”

Kessie slammed the brakes and everybody pitched forward, including Patrick, who was watching over Catherine in the truck bed. He pounded the top of the cab. “What the hell!”

Kessie pointed at Molly. “Look, bitch, I don’t know why Chase decided to bring you along, but he doesn’t have to tell me anything. If you want to stay pretty, you better keep your mouth shut. Or I will seriously rip out your tongue and leave it on the side of the road.”

Molly ignored Kessie’s threat and smiled at Chase. “Is she always like this?”

“Pretty much. I wouldn’t want to go up against her.”

“Hear that?” Kessie said.

“Oh, I hear it,” Molly replied. “Too bad, maybe he’d like to go up against me.”

“I knew it! Chase, this chick is trouble. She burnt down her boyfriend’s house and clubbed her town leader. She’s crazy in the head!”

Chase flipped his hand at the windshield. “Let’s keep moving. We have to hurry and meet Raven so we don’t lose our head start.”

“Who’s Raven?” Molly asked.

Kessie stomped on the gas. “She’s another chick that will kick your ass if you talk anymore of that trash.”

Molly braced herself for more bouncing and bruising as she tried to figure out her next move. Obviously Chase was in charge of wherever they were headed. She appreciated the fact that he busted her out of jail and the way he allowed Patrick to beat up Jimmy. Chase was a bad boy and he needed a bad girl like Molly, at least until she got bored. She’d have to wait until he kicked whatever illness made him so pale and sweaty.

Molly knew one thing: People around here better start giving her respect.

Kessie eventually stopped the truck in the middle of nowhere and they waited. Chase grew irritated after ten minutes of silence passed and instructed Kessie to go to the house. Kessie drove faster and faster with Chase constantly telling her to speed up. The trip was brutal.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled in next to another truck and a row of motorcycles at the rear of an old farmhouse. Chase reached a black leather glove across Molly, opened the door and shoved her out. Molly landed on the hard ground, jarring her back even worse. He stepped over her without a word.

Molly used the door for support, squirming to her feet, and brushed the dirt off her butt. “What’s your problem?”

Chase continued toward his destination. He threw the backdoor open with a bang. “Everyone outside now!”

Five boys tumbled out, drawing up to attention like they were in the military. Molly wondered why their eyes widened with fear. Chase was short and a little creepy, but hardly intimidating. Then she noticed Patrick leaning on his toes with his nostrils flaring. After the beating Jimmy received, Molly figured she’d be frightened to if she stood in that monster’s path.

While she found all of this entertaining, she was also starving. She realized she hadn’t eaten at all yesterday and hoped some food appeared soon or she would really get cranky.

“Where’s Raven?” Chase asked. “You were supposed to meet us on the road.”

Three boys pointed back to the house, the others stood there shivering without their coats. Two of them didn’t have shoes on; Molly smiled at how miserable and stupid they all looked.

Chase disappeared inside the house. The boys traded glances with each other and shrugged. They caught Patrick staring them down and dropped their gazes to the ground. Molly wondered if their shaking was related to the chilly temperature after all.

Chase reappeared. “Where are the hostages?”

They all turned toward the one kid who appeared to be the oldest, probably because he was the tallest. He performed a frantic search up and down the line for support. Finally, he resigned with a nervous eye-tick and stepped forward.

“They’re tied up in one of the bedrooms. We tied them up real good.”

“No, you didn’t. They’re gone. Didn’t you keep watch?”

The leader peeked back to four pairs of accusing eyes. He bowed his head. “We figured they couldn’t get out,” he mumbled.

Kessie inspected the motorcycles and then lifted the hood of the truck. “Somebody cut all the belts and hoses. They cut the wires on the motorcycles. They’re all useless.”

Patrick stalked over to survey the damage, and then kicked over a bike at one end of the line. The rest fell over like dominoes. “They f*cking stole my bike!”

Molly finally understood what all the commotion was about. Hunter had escaped. Her feelings were torn between what she wanted. She wished she could have seen Hunter one more time, maybe find out what really went wrong with their relationship and why he acted like such an a*shole. But she was also relieved he was gone, allowing her a clean break. Now she could start her new life without any distractions.

Patrick jumped into the leader’s face with spit flying as he yelled. “They jacked-up the truck and all the bikes! There’s no way we can get them running now! They even stole my bike and left me with this piece of shit!”

Molly recognized the bike, and smiled. Then she cursed herself, wishing she could get thoughts of Hunter out of her head.

Chase chuckled softly. The five boys took a jumbo step backward.

“Where’s Raven?” Kessie asked.

“Don’t know,” Chase said.

The leader spoke up quickly. “She knew the black kid. They went to the same school before the plague. Maybe she snuck back and untied them.”

Chase smiled. “She told me about him when I met with her last night. Nice try.” Chase scratched underneath his chin like he was contemplating murder. “Patrick.”

“Yeah?”

Chase pointed at the leader of the five. The boy’s legs wobbled as though he were a turkey standing in a bowl of Jell-o. Molly really missed Jell-o. Her stomach gurgled.

Patrick’s face stretched into an evil grin. He removed his gloves and pounded a fist into the palm of his other hand as he advanced on his victim.

“The rest of you siphon all the gas tanks and put the fuel in that truck. We’ll find something else to drive soon enough. Leave everything we don’t need; there won’t be much room. Better bring all the blankets and sleeping bags, though.” Chase surveyed the sky. “Snow’s about to fall.”

Molly turned from the brutality of Patrick hammering without mercy on the one kid. She couldn’t stop hearing the sounds though without covering her ears and appearing weak. Patrick’s breathing was hard and heavy. The boy receiving the beating pleaded for help, and then sobbed when the punishment ended.

Molly leaned against the cold, metal side of the truck, thankful she wore her parka, but wishing she had warmer clothes on underneath. She joined this group on the spur of the moment when they broke her out. She would dump them when she got the chance, but for now she’d go along for the ride—anything that took her away from here. She refused to care about Hunter.

“They’re a pretty violent bunch, aren’t they?”

Molly jumped at the sudden voice. She found Catherine next to her, dressed in a pink nightshirt and shoeless. Catherine didn’t seem to notice the cold.

“It’s really sad,” she said.

She was a weird little girl who Molly avoided ever since their first meeting when the town council had gathered to discuss the healings of both Hunter and Vanessa. Catherine walked into the room and headed straight to Molly. The girl’s blue eyes held her captive.

Those blue eyes gazed up at her now. Molly spun around to regard the dismal, neutral-colored horizon. “Would you just leave me alone?”

“No. Be careful with Chase.”

Kessie stared at them. Catherine tugged on the bottom of Molly’s coat.

“What?”

“I forgive you,” Catherine said. The little girl started pawing at her, but Molly was in no mood for hugs.

“Let go of me.”

Molly moved away from the brat and followed Kessie over to where Chase stood watching the clouds. A frost worked through the air, biting flesh and brightening cheeks and noses. The clouds were rolling up dark and gray, as though they were attending a funeral.

“Chase, we can’t leave Raven,” Kessie said. “We have to rescue her.”

“I got what I came for.”

Chase’s dark eyes resembled a savage animal seeking prey. Molly was not crazy about the way they made her cringe.

“But they’ll force her into telling where we’re going.”

“It won’t matter.” He patted Kessie’s shoulder with a gloved hand. “She got caught. What can we do?”

Kessie didn’t offer any suggestions. She crossed her arms and looked back the way they’d driven in from.

Molly smiled her way into the conversation. “That’s one less mouth to feed, right? You wouldn’t have anything to eat, would you?”

The sky exploded, sending huge sparks of pain though her nose. She hit the ground at Chase’s feet.

“Say one more thing!” Kessie yelled at her, “and I swear I’ll beat you to death!”

Chase chuckled while Molly lay in the dirt, hurt and embarrassed. “Welcome to the club, Molly. You can ride in the back until you learn your place and keep that mouth of yours from getting you into trouble.” He stepped over her again. She stretched out for his ankle, but he kicked her loose and took Kessie’s hand, leading her away. “Boys, help our new member into the truck and keep her warm.”

Molly slapped the first one that touched her and stood up on her own. She climbed into the truck bed and watched Kessie, Chase, Catherine and Patrick nestling warmly inside the cab. She slumped against the rear window down to the bed as she lightly touched her nose. The five boys piled in around her. Molly glanced up into the face of the leader, who showed her his new smile, minus one tooth. Her eyes swelled with tears and all the boys laughed at her expense.

The truck engine belched dark smoke out the tailpipe and her butt quickly went numb from the frozen metal surface she was forced to ride on. Soon her entire body became one giant receptacle of pain and cold.

The boys huddled together under blankets, and it wasn’t long before she slid into their midst for whatever warmth she could gain. Molly slapped the first one that touched her.





“So you broke up with her, huh?”

Hunter rested his head on his folded arms; it was a lousy substitute for a pillow. He sat at the dining room table that also doubled as a hospital bed for his immobile brother. Jimmy’s face resembled tenderized hamburger and yet, he kept up with the questions.

“Why did you have to do it today?”

“I didn’t. It was yesterday.” Hunter closed his eyes. The darkness was nice. He drifted into the solitude and smoothed out a quiet spot to lie down. Twelve hours in this dark spot would be awesome.

“When are you leaving?”

“Hmm? What?” Hunter’s eyes fluttered open. The light in the room, though dim, was horrible. He focused on Jimmy’s face and the coals of fury rekindled in Hunter’s heart. He wrapped his rage in a tight package, waiting until he found the kid that did this to his brother; then he’d deliver.

“You guys should probably get going.”

“We will as soon as Scout rounds up enough help.”

“Nobody under fourteen goes.”

“We know. Don’t worry about it. There’ll be plenty of volunteers.”

Slowly, Jimmy rolled his head over so he could look into the adjoining living room. Gauze and tape covered his various injuries, giving him the appearance of a partially wrapped mummy. Only time could heal him now.

Hunter scratched his shoulder blade and yawned. The fire in the hearth crackled as the logs shifted, filling the house with needed warmth. Ginger and Luis dozed where they’d fallen on different ends of a sofa.

Hunter followed the line of his brother’s sight. “You and Ginger, huh?”

Jimmy smiled carefully. “Yeah. Somehow Catherine knew. Now it’s as if Ginger and I were always meant to be, you know?”

Hunter gave his recent relationship with Molly an inner glance and found their final moment together displeasing. The way he’d dumped her depressed him more than he was willing to admit. He shoved a quick answer into the silence. “Not really.”

Jimmy eased his head back toward Hunter. “You and Molly didn’t feel the same way? You guys seemed pretty inseparable.”

“It wasn’t like I had a choice. That’s why I broke up with her. She was clingy, and bossy, and a pain most of the time. To be honest, the only good thing was her looks but that doesn’t replace a decent personality.”

“Better keep comments like that to yourself. I think Mark is shaken up more than anyone right now.”

“She’s seriously twisted. Why didn’t I notice that before all this happened?”

“Who isn’t twisted right now? We’re lucky to be halfway sane after everything we’ve lived through. Top that off with the plague and were lucky someone’s not burning down a different house every night.”

“Maybe it would be better if Mom and Dad were here to tell us what to do.”

Jimmy sighed. “Even without parents, no one has the right to be reckless. Everyone needs to be accountable”

“That’s asking a lot of some people.”

“Those are the ones we help.”

“How?”

Jimmy closed his eyes. “We need to learn that before it’s too late.”

Hunter leaned back, struck by a sudden ugly thought. He squinted hard at his brother. “Were we just talking about me?”

Jimmy cracked a smile through his busted lips. “Were we?”

“Damn, Jimmy, that’s not funny.”

After a chuckle rolled from Jimmy’s chest, he coughed a little blood onto his chin.

Hunter swabbed the blood away with a damp towel and gave him a sip of water. “I’m going to kill that son of a bitch after we track him down.”

“Why?” Jimmy asked. “He causes pain to escape his own.”

“What are you trying to be some kind of Saint?”

“I’m just saying. So this kid beat me up. It’s over. He’s gone. I’m not dead.”

“But we’re going after him, aren’t we?”

“No,” Jimmy said, looking like a possessed raccoon with his matching set of black eyes. “You’re going after Catherine and that’s it. I don’t want you fighting that Patrick kid for me. If you have to go through him to get to Catherine, make sure you have lots of backup with you. It was all I could do to keep that guy down as long as I did.”

“What about Molly?”

“She made her choice.”

“What about Mark?”

“He’ll have to make his. I wish he wasn’t going, but I understand why. I’d be going if it were you.”

Hunter ruffled his brother’s hair. “Aw, you’re so sweet.”

Jimmy winced. “Careful, that’s where your girlfriend whacked me.”

“She’s not my girlfriend. At least she didn’t burn your house down. I still can’t figure out why she’d hit you like that though.”

Hunter tracked Jimmy’s gaze again to Ginger curled up on the sofa. Hunter liked Ginger. She was sweet, good natured, and attractive in different ways than Molly. Molly talked bad about Ginger, but she talked bad about everyone so that was nothing new. He guessed Molly’s main problem with Ginger was jealousy. Ginger was far and away more talented at sewing than Molly, but he’d known better than to track down that conversation with his former girlfriend. That would have been suicidal.

“So why did she hit you?”

Jimmy looked at Hunter, and then at the ceiling. “The night you found Catherine, I went out to make sure Molly was all right after the little blowout she had with Vanessa.”

“Yeah, I heard something about Ginger making baby clothes. Typical Molly crap right.”

“Yeah, well. When I found her… Look, let’s just forget about it.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s typical Molly crap.”

Hunter sat back. That was about as close to profanity as his brother ever walked. “What happened? Did she throw herself at you or something?”

Jimmy continued staring at the ceiling.

“You got to be kidding me.” Hunter laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“You aren’t exactly her type.”

“And you are? Who did she run to after I told her I liked someone else?”

That thought swam around Hunter’s mind until it surfaced like a hungry shark ready to take a massive bite of gray matter.

Jimmy played lifeguard and kept him afloat. “Like you said, it’s typical Molly crap.”

“So you’re saying the only reason she—”

“I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry.”

“No, no, that’s all right. Really it’s okay. It’s kind of cool.”

Jimmy raised an eyebrow.

Hunter smiled. “I was used. That’s awesome. I don’t feel nearly as bad for dumping her the way I did. Now I realize she had it coming. I mean really, hitting on me because my big brother shot her down. How twisted is that?”

Someone across the room coughed. “Uh, guys, we’re ready,” Scout said from the door.

Mark stood beside him, looking like an axe murderer wishing for a chainsaw. He crossed the room, snatched Hunter from his seat and pinned him to the wall.

Hunter gasped as the air was forced from his lungs. He couldn’t breathe from Mark shoving him against his chest and his back hurt from where it slammed into the wall.

Mark’s heated face loomed an inch away. “Why don’t you tell me just how twisted my sister is, Hunter? I really want to know since you’re the one who’s been sleeping with her for the past three months! Did she put out enough for you? Did you like turning my sister into a slut?”

“It wasn’t like that at all! Get your hands off me!”

“Then tell me what it was like! You were the last one to talk with her before she torched your house and knocked Jimmy across the head!”

Hunter slapped Mark’s hands away and shoved him back; his anger rippling through him like a turbulent red tide. “I’m not telling you shit!”

Hunter dodged Mark’s fist that sailed over him and punched a hole through the drywall. Scout arrived with Samuel and they wrapped Mark up and hauled him back struggling and reaching to get another shot at Hunter before finally giving up and going limp. He slumped on the sofa, hid his eyes with a trembling hand and cried. His body shook. His legs kicked in a spastic fit.

Jimmy managed to sit up and was hacking blood onto his chin. Ginger and Luis rushed over and coaxed him into lying back and settling down; tending to him before he made his injuries worse.

Hunter straightened his sweater into place and brushed his fingers through his hair. He stared at the floor, ashamed of playing a part in Mark’s pain. Mark resembled his sister so much it was eerie in a way that made Hunter even more sympathetic. A part of him ached for Molly despite his thoughts on her personality. He never considered how their relationship affected Mark. Obviously, Mark had never approved.

Everyone waited, allowing Mark enough time to work through more of his grief. After a while, Jimmy broke the silence.

“You better get going. Take care of each other before anything else.”

Hunter snatched his leather jacket off the chair and crossed the room. Scout handed him his ski mask, gloves, scarf, and goggles. A gust of cold air slapped him in the face as he pushed through the doorway. Two SUVs waited at the curb with eight different boys packed inside, everyone wearing grave expressions. Hunter and Scout would ride their motorbikes so they could track and follow the trail of Catherine’s kidnappers.

Scout walked up behind Hunter as they both slipped on their winter gear. “Those clouds aren’t going to hold for long, and when they dump, we’ll lose everything.”

Hunter pulled down his goggles and swung his leg twice before sliding onto his new motorbike. Mark passed him without comment.