Badlands (Spent Shells, #1) Page 6

  “How long will it take?”

  “A few hours, but returning to the road so soon would be a mistake.”

  “Why is that?” Neri mutters.

  “The Black Sun cocksuckers are searching the entire fucking state. You won’t make it far if you’re on the road.”

  “There were only four of them, and they followed us for hours.”

  “They were just biding their time while you drove straight toward another one of their compounds. Now they’re dead, and their friends will be looking for you. Best to lie low for a few days until they think you’re out of their territory.”

  Neri and I share a worried look. The sooner we’re out of the US, the better, but we don’t know this place like Cobain.

  “If those people have a network, they’ll know our car.”

  “We have plenty. Take one. Or two. I don’t give a shit,” Cobain mutters and then adds with a little sneer, “Your daddy made clear how he expected us to save his babies.”

  Neri looks around the large room, which is far homier than the outside indicated. “Where can we sleep? Also, we need a bathroom.”

  Cobain doesn’t respond. He just turns around and walks deeper inside the house. We follow him and end up down a dark hallway where the bedrooms are located.

  I don’t like the idea of remaining in the US. Ideally, we could drive to the largest nearby city and grab a flight tomorrow. However, if the enemy is watching the airports, escape could prove impossible.

  SUNNY

  An hour after we arrive, the large man takes a picture of Anika and then one of me. We’re not supposed to smile, which is easy since I’m anxious, and Anika only wants to nap.

  Though used to feeling like an object to be moved around, I’m still agitated by how little I understand about what’s happening. Kai and Neri speak in Spanish a lot. I don’t think they trust the man. More people were supposed to be at this place. I’m unsure if we’re in danger.

  Cobain surprises me when he says there are other homesteads belonging to the Children of the Black Sun. My world felt very small, and no one told me anything. Many days, no one spoke to me at all. Even when we were alone, the women didn’t talk to each other.

  Neri chooses a room for Anika and me in between one for her and another for Kai. We carry inside the pillow and blankets and then organize the bed. Anika immediately wants to nap. She didn’t sleep well last night, often waking to touch my face and check her toys.

  Now she wants to cuddle in bed. I sit next to Anika and watch Neri searching through the bags to separate her clothes from what she bought for us.

  “Are we safe here?” I ask, wondering where Kai went.

  “I think so.”

  “Who is that man?”

  Neri looks up at me and holds my gaze. “Do you find him appealing?”

  I don’t answer because I’m afraid to give her the wrong answer. Should I insult him or say he’s handsome? What is the right answer in this world?

  My silence causes Neri to narrow her dark eyes, and I’m reminded of how easily she killed the men at the vegetable stall.

  “No,” I whisper.

  “No?” she asks.

  “No,” Anika whispers.

  I look at my daughter, who waits to be told to hush. Smiling, I ask her what she named her duck. She doesn’t understand.

  “You have to give it a name,” I explain and poke the doll in her grip. “Everything has a name.”

  “Duck,” she says.

  My heart hurts at how much she still doesn’t understand. She’s been exposed to so little and lacks creativity. At her age, I had dozens of stuffed animals with names and personalities. I could play alone for hours, but Anika just stares at her toys without knowing what to do with them.

  I give her a smile and pretend “Duck” is a good name for her doll. Despite how many times I’ve failed her, my daughter trusts me and smiles back.

  When I look at Neri, I find her still watching me full of suspicion.

  “Do you find him more appealing than my brother?” she asks, moving closer. There’s nothing friendly about Neri’s pose. She looks ready to hurt me.

  “No.”

  “Are you saying that because you think that’s what I want to hear?”

  “I don’t know,” I whisper, my voice failing.

  “My brother is golden,” she says in a strange voice. “If he suffers, others should too.”

  My breath catches in my chest as I stare into the eyes of a woman who saved me but now is very clearly willing to withhold her help. I don’t know what to say to make her happy. At the homestead, silence is always the answer. Unless I could snitch on someone and gain favor. Otherwise, I knew not to speak. Now I need to find the words.

  “He’s beautiful,” I whisper.

  “Who?” she demands, stepping closer. Startled, Anika presses her chin to her chest to submit.

  Feeling my baby’s future slipping away, I’m struck by intense shame. Enough for tears to spill from my eyes. Crying is bad. Emotion is always wrong, but my daughter is about to lose everything because I can’t think of the right words.

  Then Kai appears at the doorway and swoops in to save me. I don’t know what he says to Neri, but she steps back.

  I still stand weakly, unable to speak. Kai wraps his arms around me, and I’m struck by how warm he feels. I only then realize I’m shaking. He’s a rock, hard and unmovable. Kai soothes my fear without saying a word. I look up at him and think to smile. I don’t know if I do, though. I feel strange—both numb and jittery.

  “Is that your duck, Anika?” Kai asks when he finds her head lowered.

  Her dark eyes lift to meet his, and she glances at me for permission to speak. When I nod, she instantly perks up in bed.

  “Duck,” she says proudly.

  “What color is that?” he asks, sitting on the bed and patting for me to join him.

  I crawl between them while Kai tells her the answer and has her say it. Then he points at different things in the room to see if she knows the colors. I’m embarrassed by how she can’t identify them. Unaffected by her ignorance, Anika repeats every word he says.

  No matter how hard I focus on Kai and Anika, I feel Neri watching us. She’s still angry at me. Though I’m still not sure what she wanted me to say.

  “Do you want to sleep?” Kai asks a yawning Anika, who immediately nods. “Why not rest a little while? Later, we can go outside and look around.”

  Anika waits for me to climb under the blanket with her. Smiling, she keeps an eye on Kai standing up to talk with his sister.

  As usual, they speak in Spanish. That’s the language they speak in Nicaragua, but I’m not sure I can learn it. My schooling ended at ten. I can barely read English. How can I learn a whole other language?

  After Neri leaves the room, Kai sits in a chair in the corner and smiles at me. I find myself smiling back. His face is perfect, and I feel the need to copy everything it does.

  That’s why when he closes his eyes, I do the same. Anika is already dozing, and I curl up around her like back at the homestead. I peek a few times to see if Kai is still resting his eyes. When I find them closed, I finally stop checking, and I’m asleep soon.

  NERI

  Sunny is a broken woman with a damaged child. I’ll do what I can to protect them, but she better not hurt my brother by ditching him for a “better option.” I have killed people for less than messing with my family.

  Kai can’t see Sunny’s flaws. Papa is the same way with Mama. I was born into a home where both males coddled the only female. Fortunately, our mother is a treasure with a good heart. I can’t be sure the same is true about Sunny.

  “Stop scaring them,” Kai admonishes me in Spanish while the woman and child look scolded nearby.

  Lifting my chin, I pretend as if my brother’s words don’t put me in my place. “You are not my master.”

  “Go speak to Cobain and feel him out for information.”

  “Why me?”

 
“He’s out here alone, and you’re very beautiful.”

  “Both true, but what if he doesn’t like women?”

  Kai gives me a sly grin. “Then, I’ll feel him out for information.”

  Anger fading, I share his smile. “What do we want to know?”

  “Where are these other people Papa spoke of? If Cobain killed them, we should worry about our safety.”

  “He helped us today.”

  “Yes, but you and Sunny are young and attractive. The child has value too. What if he’s a trafficker? Or insane? We can’t trust anyone.”

  I glance at Sunny and then back at my brother. “No, we can’t.”

  “Your code name can be Water Nymph.”

  “Like a mermaid or a dolphin?”

  “Why would I suggest a dolphin?”

  “I don’t always understand why you do what you do.” Again, I glance at Sunny before frowning at my brother. “And you’ll remain Hatchling Number One?”

  “If there’ll only be one, I can simply be Hatchling.”

  “It’s an awful code name.”

  “There are worse things in the world than being a younger, smaller version of our father.”

  My brother undoubtedly speaks the truth. Smiling, I leave him with Sunny and Anika.

  Down the hallway, I enter the main room where the large black dog returns to growling at me.

  “Where is your human?” I ask the animal.

  “Why?”

  I turn to find Cobain filling the doorway with his large size. His thick black hair is pulled back in a loose ponytail, showing off his strong cheekbones and full lips. Why are the worst people often the most beautiful?

  “My brother expects me to apologize to you.”

  “Feel free to do it while on your knees.”

  I ignore his comment and glance at the dog. “Why does it growl but not attack?”

  “He’s old.”

  “So are you, but those men are just as dead.”

  Cobain narrows his dark eyes at me, which causes me to smile. “What happened to your apology?”

  “I already gave it.”

  “I must have missed that.”

  “No doubt being alone plays tricks on the mind. How long have you been here with only an old dog for company?”

  Cobain turns away and disappears down a dark hallway. I follow him, mostly out of a desire for answers but partly out of an urge to irritate him.

  The house has many small high windows in the bedrooms, but the inner section of the house is dark, and the hallways lack lighting. For a potential shootout, this layout offers an advantage to those with knowledge of the floor plan.

  I push open a door and find myself outside. The wind swirls around the rough landscape, kicking up dirt as I join Cobain at a back table.

  “What?” he loudly growls.

  “I missed you.”

  Glaring fiercely, Cobain must realize I’m not intimidated because he shrugs and returns to digging a hole in the wooden table with a large bowie knife.

  “Did you kill Nilsson and DeMarco?” I ask while resting my gun on my lap.

  Cobain doesn’t look up at me. “I wouldn’t put it past me.”

  “How long have they been gone?”

  “A while.”

  “And they’re on a mission?”

  “Mission?” he taunts, smiling at my word choice. “Yes, they’re off killing.”

  “Together?”

  “No.”

  “And they’ve been gone a long time?”

  His dark eyes flash angrily at me. “Why do you keep asking me that?”

  “I want to know if loneliness explains your gruff demeanor or if you’re simply an asshole.”

  Holding my gaze, he mutters, “Both.”

  “Thank you for the honesty,” I say, and he nods. “Did you work with my father?”

  “Your father’s been retired for decades. How the fuck old do you think I am?”

  “Sixty?” I say, adding twenty years to my real guess.

  “I’d think you were twelve if not for your tits.”

  “Thank you. So, if you aren’t old enough to have worked with my father, how do you know what he looks like?”

  “I don’t.”

  Now I narrow my eyes, squinting hard at his amused expression. “Then why did you say that awful thing about my mother?”

  “I sensed you were a bitch. I decided to set things straight between us right out of the gate.”

  Exhaling, I ask, “How are your balls?”

  “They could use some attention if you’re offering.”

  “I don’t think you’d like what I’d do to them.”

  “No, likely not,” Cobain says and glances toward the road in the distance. “Who is the woman to you?”

  “My brother wants her.”

  “Why?”

  “She’s beautiful and broken,” I say and then add, “Like our mother.”

  “Is your brother certain this woman is worth the trouble of dealing with the Black Sun fucks?”

  “Who are they?”

  Eyes widening, he shakes his head. “Do you really not know?”

  “Until yesterday, I didn’t know they existed.”

  “This state has less than a million people in it. Might be less than half a million. Hard to know. Only one small city, a lot of nothing towns, and nearly a hundred compounds full of crazy motherfuckers. Religious nuts, anti-government militias, end-of-the-world preppers. Shit, there’s a group west of here that’s full of dipshits waiting for zombies to show up. If you and a few buddies want to buy land cheap and wait out some crazy shit, this is the state for it.”

  “And the Black Sun people?”

  “They’re all that crazy shit wrapped into one. A well-armed militia sect, their faith is a mix of Christianity and Nordic mythology, with a big pile of Nazi shit dumped on top. They have a website full of hateful shit, but their actual teachings aren’t common knowledge. Might be different at each of their five compounds.”

  “Five? How many people are we talking about?” I ask, suddenly worried I’ll never watch a sunset on the beach with my parents again.

  “Hundreds, but a lot of them are women and kids. The actual number of useful men could be anywhere between fifty to a hundred. That’s why I asked if the woman was worth it.”

  “What can they do? It’s not as if they know where we are, and we just need to get out of the state.”

  “They’ll be watching all the roads.”

  “For one woman and a child?”

  “No, for you and your brother. You’re commie Muslim invader terrorists who killed their family and stole their property. Some shit like that. They’re babbling about it on their radios. I don’t think they know how easy it is to listen in to their bullshit. The local law doesn’t care, and the Feds gave up on this place long ago. The cult doesn’t need to worry.”

  Standing up, I scan the landscape around us. This house feels so isolated that we might as well be the last people on earth.

  Cobain watches me size up our situation. His dark gaze holds no emotion, and I wonder if he fears what we’ve brought to his home.

  “What if they come here?”

  “I have an idea about that,” he says and then smiles in a way that inspires both the urge to kiss him and the desire to punch him. Doing neither, I reveal nothing to this stranger who asks, “Do you trust me?”

  “Not even a little.”

  “I should get some kind of fucking credit for saving your ass today,” he mutters.

  “My brother and I had it handled. Your help was appreciated. That’s why I thanked you earlier.”

  Cobain surprises me by throwing back his head and roaring with almost crazed laughter. I grip my gun and wait for him to calm down or force me to defend myself.

  “You’re fun,” he says and stands up. “Hopefully, I won’t watch you die.”

  “That’s my hope, too.”

  Crossing his thick arms, Cobain wears a strange expression a
s if frozen between amused and annoyed.

  “The few days spent here before making your escape will allow your brother the chance to get to know the woman who’s put a target on your backs.”

  Cobain walks off but doesn’t return to the house. He stalks toward the desolate surroundings. I have no idea what he might do out there—piss on a bush, commune with nature, or something weirder.

  I hang back and think about our current situation. Inside the house, Kai spends time with Sunny and Anika. Knowing him, there’s nothing they can say or do to change his feelings. Like our father, Kai is a man who sets his mind to something and never wavers.

  KAI

  After so little rest last night, sleep tempts me, especially when I see how blissful Sunny and Anika look during their nap. However, this house feels both secure and exposed. I trust my father’s judgment, but Cobain is a stranger, and we are far from home.

  “Are you safe?” Papa texts as he has every hour since we called him yesterday.

  “We’re at the safe house.”

  “But are you safe?”

  “Are the people here not safe?”

  “They’re killers.”

  “So are we.”

  Papa immediately calls me, and I answer on the first ring to avoid waking Sunny and Anika. Leaving them, I move to the hallway.

  “Tell me what’s happening,” Papa mutters in Spanish. “Should I travel to you?”

  “No.”

  “No, what?”

  “Don’t travel here. It’s the middle of nowhere, and there's nothing you can do.”

  “I can do plenty.”

  “What do you know about Cobain?”

  “Has he caused trouble?” Papa growls, and I smile at how much this man loves his family.

  “No, but he’s here alone.”

  “The others work, and there are not many jobs in that part of the country.”

  “Then why live here?”

  “To train in peace,” Papa says and then asks, “Where is your sister?”

  “She’s trying to get information from Cobain.”

  “Alone?”

  “You trained her to shake down people.”