Broken World (10 page)

Axl shakes his head, but doesn’t say
anything. Joshua grinds his teeth together.

I turn to Trey, who stands behind me
with Parvarti clinging to him. “I’m sorry, Trey. That was rude.”

He shakes his head and squeezes
Parvarti’s shoulder. “You think I’m going to let some redneck hillbilly get to
me? I go to Cornell, my dad’s a doctor, and my mom’s an artist. He’s an
ignorant bastard who enjoys making others feel little. There’s nothing little
about me, and I won’t give him the satisfaction of letting him get under my
skin.”

As much as I dislike Angus, a brawl
isn’t the best thing for our group right now. Not after everything we saw
today. At least Trey can let Angus’s comments roll off his back.

“Let’s get a move on!” Angus shouts,
coming back with the gas can and flinging it at Trey. “I got the gun, you carry
the can.”

“I can shoot a gun,” Trey says. “If you need
me too.”

Angus smirks. “Bet you can. Hold up some
liquor stores, have you?”

Does he even know how ironic he’s being?

Trey turns away from him without a word
and gives Parvarti a hug. “We’ll be back before morning.”

When he leans down to kiss her, I turn
away. Not because I’m uncomfortable, but because she doesn’t seem like the type
who would enjoy PDA. I don’t want to make her feel awkward. She doesn’t seem
like the type to date, if I’m being honest. She seems more like the
study-all-weekend kind of girl.

“Come on,” Angus says impatiently.

Trey pulls away from Parvarti and follows
Angus into the dark night.

12

WE
EAT RABBIT AGAIN. My throat is still sore, so I have a difficult time getting
it down, but Axl frowns whenever I stop eating.

“What?” I ask.

“You gotta eat more.”

“My throat is killing me.”

He gives me a disapproving look, and I
find myself smiling. He reminds me of a worried mother. It’s cute on him.

“Whatever you say, Dr. Axl.” I wink at
him.

He gives me a half smile. “Doctor.
That’ll be the day. Like I could ever be somebody so important.”

“Don’t put yourself down, you have other
skills.”

Axl scoffs. “Like what? Hittin’ a nail
with a hammer?”

“You got us dinner. We’re out in the
middle of nowhere, and you found something for us to eat and cooked it. Not a
lot of people can do that,” Parvarit says. She actually sounds a little in awe.

Axl’s mouth turns up a little more and
he looks away, like he’s embarrassed. Probably isn’t used to compliments. “Not
the same as stitchin’ a person up. Not nearly as important.”

“Depends on what happens tomorrow, or
next week,” Joshua says. His voice is sad. “Who knows what’s ahead for us. If
everything goes to hell, your skills could be just as handy as mine. Maybe
more.”

Axl sits back in his chair and purses
his lips, studying all of us. He looks more relaxed with his brother gone. Is
this what he would be like if Angus wasn’t around so much? It’s nice.

He opens his mouth to say something, but
before he can the sound of footsteps cuts him off. Quick as lightning, he jumps
to his feet and pulls out his gun. “Who’s there?”

No one responds. I instinctively reach
for my purse. My body goes rigid when the footsteps get closer.

Axl raises his gun and turns toward the
sound. “Better make yourself known.”

“We’re just passing through,” a deep
voice calls from the darkness. “No need to shoot.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Axl takes a
step closer. “Step into the light, so we can see ya.”

I don’t move. My hand wraps around the
gun inside my purse, but I don’t pull it out. I don’t want to give away the
fact that I’m armed. Parvarti and Joshua both have that
deer-caught-in-a-headlight look on their faces. They’d be useless in a fight.

“Relax,” the voice says.

Axl takes a tiny step closer to the
voice. His hand tightens on the gun when two figures emerge from the darkness.
Two men, both in the early to mid-forties, walk toward us. They each wear a
backpack and about four days’ of growth on their faces. They look filthy, like
they’ve been walking through the Arizona desert for weeks.

“We’re just passing through. Saw your
fire and wondered if we could sit for a while, that’s all,” the same man says.

So far his companion hasn’t spoken. But
he’s observing. Checking each one of us over carefully, surveying our
equipment, sizing Axl up. Warning bells go off in my head like crazy, and I
squeeze the gun a little tighter.

“Where you comin’ from?” Axl’s voice is
strained and he doesn’t lower the gun. He has no intention of letting these
guys near our stuff, but he’s smarter than his brother. Angus would just tell
them to go to hell. Axl knows how to be diplomatic.

“Small town, no place you ever heard of.
We’re heading to a bigger city,” the same man says.

“Why’s that?” I ask, drawing their
attention my way.

Axl grinds his teeth together when they
turn toward me.

“Everyone else in our town died.” The
silent man finally speaks. His voice isn’t as deep and he sounds less
threatening. But he doesn’t look it.

“Everyone?” Joshua asks. I’m surprised
he was able to find his voice. His eyes are so wide and terrified-looking I’m
actually afraid he’s about to pee his pants.

The men both nod, and the first one
says, “Wasn’t a big town.”

Joshua looks like he’s been punched in
the gut. Not for the first time, I wonder if he’s going to make it, assuming
this is in fact the end of the world.

“Sorry ‘bout your luck,” Axl says. “But
we can’t help you out, so you should just keep on walkin’.”

“Looks like you have plenty. Some nice
camping gear, too,” the first man says.

The second man just nods. He sticks his
hand in the pocket of his jacket. He’s trying to be subtle, but I can tell Axl
notices by the way the muscles in his jaw tighten.

“We gotta think of ourselves first. I’m
sure you can understand.”

“Sure, sure,” number two says. “But you
need to think this through a little.” His voice is calm and soothing, but his
eyes are dark and ruthless. “You’re out here, protecting two girls and a guy
who, no offense, looks like he couldn’t handle a whole lot. We could help.”

He takes one menacing step toward Axl.
Axl’s eyes flit toward me and down to the purse in my lap. His mouth twitches
just a bit. Not enough that the two newcomers would probably even notice. But I
do.

“A shitstorm’s coming, which you
obviously realize or you wouldn’t be out here with all this fancy gear. You’re
going to need some strong allies if you want to survive,” the first man says.

“We’re doin’ good,” Axl says.

The second man gives him a condescending
smile. “Is that right? Doesn’t look like it from where I’m standing. From over
here it looks like you’re about to get your asses kicked.”

The man whips a gun out of his pocket
and pulls the trigger without aiming. A gunshot echoes through the dark night,
and Parvarti screams. My heart races. I take out my own gun as Axl drops to one
knee and returns fire. I raise my gun with steady hands. It barely registers in
my mind when the second man goes down, shot in the shoulder by Axl. The first
man doesn’t look my way. He stares at his friend. His face contorts with rage
when he sees his companion hit the ground, and my stomach tightens. He draws
his own gun, then aims at Axl. The first man struggles to his feet and does the
same. My heart pounds harder. Two barrels point at Axl. He can’t take them
both.

I don’t even pause long enough to think
about it. Aiming at the first man’s head, I take myself back to my days at the
shooting range. I pretend his forehead is my target. I exhale through my nose
and allow my body to relax, then squeeze the trigger. Another gunshot follows
mine. They ring in my ears, hammering my temples. It makes my already throbbing
head hurt even more. Both men fall to the ground with a thud that seems even
louder than the actual gunshots. The second man hit by Axl, a bullet in his
chest. The first by me. Right between the eyes.

“Damn girl.” Axl gets to his feet. “You
weren’t kiddin’.”

I’m frozen. The shock of killing a man
hits me in the gut and knocks the wind out of me. My gun is still clutched in
my hands, still raised like I’m ready to kill again. But I can’t make myself
move.

Axl walks over and tucks his gun into
his belt. He checks the two men over, probably to make sure they’re dead, then
turns to me. A smile of approval lights up his face.

It melts away when his eyes meet mine.
“Vivian?”

I look at him, but my eyes won’t focus.
I can’t speak.

He walks over, hesitantly. “Vivian, put
the gun down.”

“I—I shot him.”

He stands up a bit straighter and takes
the gun out of my hand. “Hell yeah you did. And don’t feel bad ‘bout it. That
son of a bitch woulda killed all of us.”

The truth in his words snaps me out of
it a little. I look around the campfire at Joshua and Parvarti. They both stare
at me with wide eyes, mouths hanging open. I’m not sure if it’s awe or shock or
maybe even repulsion. I’m not even sure how I feel about it except I’m glad I’m
not the one lying on the ground. Dead.

Axl studies me for a moment, and his
face is as expressionless as usual. Then he hands the gun back. “Sit down an’
rest. I’m gonna check out their packs.”

I collapse into the chair. My legs
shake.

“Are you all right?” Parvarti asks.

“Yeah,” I whisper. “I just pulled the
trigger without thinking.”

Parvarti lets out a breath, and a puff
of steam floats from her mouth up into the dark sky. “That was amazing. I could
never do anything like that.”

“Amazing?” Joshua says. “She killed a
man!”

He sounds hysterical and his hands
tremble uncontrollably. He gets to his feet and starts pacing the small area
around the campfire, running his hands through his hair, muttering things under
his breath about the end of the world.

Axl ignores him for a few minutes while
he goes through the supplies left behind by the two men. His back is to me, but
he shakes his head. He’s annoyed by Joshua’s outburst. How will he handle it?
Angus would explode. Tell Joshua to stop being a pussy. But I don’t know if
that’s how Axl will react.

Finally, he stands and walks over to
Joshua. His mouth is tight. “You gotta pull yourself together, understand?
Angus won’t put up with this shit. Doctor or not, he’ll leave your ass behind.”

“What does it matter? If this is the end
I just want it to be over.”

“This is the end for them.” Axl points
to the two dead men. “It ain’t for you. You’re immune. You’re one of the lucky
ones. Get your shit together. People are gonna be dependin’ on you. How many
doctors you think are gonna make it through all this? You’re necessary, so cut
the bullshit.” He doesn’t raise his voice, but there’s a harsh edge to his
words.

Joshua swallows and nods, bobbing his
head quickly. He’s pale and still shaking, but he tightens his jaw in a
determined way. “Okay. Okay, you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” Axl says, turning
away.

***

Trey and Angus stumble back into camp a
little after seven in the morning, just as we’re packing up the tent. They look
dead tired, but they each carry a gas can.

Axl takes the can from his brother, who
immediately collapses into a camp chair. Trey puts his can down next to the car
and goes over to Parvarti, wrapping her in his expansive arms.

“You have any trouble?” Axl asks as he
goes over to the Nissan to gas it up.

“Naw. Town was pretty much deserted.
Lots of bodies, though.” Angus spits into the fire.

“What the hell?” Trey says.

He stares at the bodies with his mouth
hanging open. Axl dragged them farther away from camp last night, but not far
enough.

Angus glances toward the dead men, and
his face hardens. “You have some trouble, little brother?”

“These two assholes came into camp
thinkin’ they was gonna steal our gear. Vivian and me took care of it.”

Angus gets up and walks over to the
bodies, looking them over. “Nice shot. Right between the eyes.”

“Can’t take the credit. Vivian took that
shot. I got the other guy.”

Angus looks over at me and raises an
eyebrow. “You kill this guy, Blondie? I underestimated you. You’re a little
badass in a stripper’s body, ain’t ya?” He smiles. Looks like I’m back in his
good graces. “I’m gonna have to be careful not to get you on my bad side. Be
nice to get you on my good side though, know what I mean?” His eyes roam and he
winks at me. A shudder to goes down my spine.

Axl gives his brother a hard look. He
doesn’t say anything. He gets to his feet and helps Joshua pack the gear into
the back of the Nissan. Parvarti gives Trey and Angus bowls of oatmeal, then
packs up the food. Once again, I feel useless in my camp chair. I’m stronger
this morning, and my throat isn’t nearly as sore as it was yesterday. But Axl
still insists I sit down and rest.

“So what’s the plan for the day?”

“Drive our asses off,” Angus says with
his mouth full.

“Thought you didn’t like to sleep in the
car.”

“Don’t, but I wanna get the hell off
Route 66 and up into California. We got ‘bout eleven hours to go to Sacramento.
That’s close to your place, ain’t it?”

“Yeah, Fairfield’s a little more than an
hour from Sac,” I say. My stomach tightens. We’re getting close.

“We’re just gonna drive. We’ll drop
Ice-T over there off when we get close, so he can get on up to his people. Then
take you on up to Fairfield.”

He gets to his feet and tosses his bowl
and plastic spoon into the fire. Everything’s pretty much packed, so I stand
too and fold up my camp chair.

I glance at Trey. His jaw tightens and
his hands are clenched. It must have sucked, walking with Angus all night long.
Angus is no dummy, he’s careful not to go too far with his racist comments.
Trey’s more than fifteen year younger than him and in much better shape. Angus
has got to know he’ll get his ass kicked if he takes it too far.

“Let’s move out people!” Axl calls.