Hell's Children: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller (24 page)

If anyone told him Greg could rip insults out of thin air for hours and hours, he wouldn’t have believed them. Back before the Sickness, people made millions of dollars on the Internet doing stuff like that.

He shook his head sadly. A miracle and a curse all mixed together, plain and simple.

Steve found the tape wedged under the passenger’s seat. When he got out of the car, a little boy was standing at the end of the driveway looking at him. About seven years old, and not terribly skinny. Steve recognized him. The kid’s older brother was in the gang.

“Go on, you little shit,” Steve said. “Scram!”

The little boy ran off, and Steve went back inside.

* * *

“
O
kay
, folks, where were we?” Greg said after taping the trigger down. “Oh yeah, I remember: Carter’s mom, and whether or not she’s an alien from the planet Puke-Theta-Z. Word has it she was the one that caused the Sickness when her face mutated the common cold virus in its tracks, causing it to run fleeing across the planet to get away … But before we go there—and we
will
go
there
, I promise you—allow me to tell you a little more about our fearless leader Jack Ferris. Golden haired, wise of brow, tall of stature, and possessed of the Wisdom of Solomon. And unlike Carter, he’s never had sex with his own mom. You remember Carter’s mom, right? She’s the alien from Puke-Theta-Z, who, as I just mentioned, caused the Sickness with her incredibly ugly face.”

And so it went for the next few hours. Then the door burst open and Carter rushed in with a bunch of his friends, all of them armed and surprisingly angry.

As bad as that was, Greg was even more surprised at who was with them: Miguel and his brother, Paul.

T
hey dragged
Lisa through the living room, into the kitchen, and dropped her in a heap in front of the pantry. Someone had nailed boards over the door, which they quickly removed with a claw hammer. The door opened and she caught a glimpse of Greg with his shirt off and Steve, lying on the sacks of grain he’d brought the day he and Molly joined.

“Greg!” she shouted, and was thrust inside. The door slammed, followed by the sound of the boards being hammered back in place.

“Sis?” Greg said.

“Miguel said you got shot. Is it true?”

“Yeah. In the leg. It hurts. All because of that traitor. You know what? I never liked that guy. Now I know why. He used the special beep to sneak Carter and his friends in.”

“Worry about that later,” she said. “Tell me about your leg. Is it bleeding?”

Greg grunted and took a panting breath as he shifted around. “Not too much. I guess I’m lucky. I wrapped it in my shirt. The bullet’s stuck deep, though. Hurts like a million bee stings. I need some of those pills Jack took after … Hey, wait a minute, I heard gunshots outside. Was that you?”

“Yeah,” she said bleakly.

“You okay, sis?”

“I’m pretty pissed off right now.”

Greg snorted. “Who said you were pretty?”

She was glad it was dark so he couldn’t see her smile. The fear in her heart when Miguel said he’d been shot was the worst she’d ever felt in her life. But here sat Greg, alive enough to make jokes.

Lisa reached up and felt her head. Her fingers came away sticky from a cut over her eye.

“Steve?” she said tentatively. She hadn’t seen his face, but recognized his jacket.

“I don’t think he’s awake,” Greg said. “He got beat up, but at least nobody shot him. Not yet.”

“Well, that’s some good news,” she said. “Where are the children?”

“Carter stuck them in Jack’s cabin.” He swore. “He doesn’t like little kids. He kicked one in front of me and laughed about it. Then Brad started yelling at him and he backed down.”

That didn’t make any sense. “Why does he care what Brad thinks? We’re the enemy. Right?”

“Not totally. He wants to recruit them. That’s why I’m still alive—to get to
you
. He wants you to join the Dragsters. Or did before you, um … whatever it was you did outside.”

That was nuts. She’s never join up with him. Not in a million years. She didn’t think anyone else would, either. And when Carter realized that …

“If the children are in Jack’s cabin,” she said, “where are Brad and the others?”

“No idea—I’ve been in here the whole time, except when the bastard murdered Trisha and beat up Steve. God, my leg hurts.”

“
What?
” she said.

Greg didn’t reply immediately. “Carter made us all watch it. He put Steve in a circle, called him a traitor, and took turns punching him. Trisha …” There was a pause. “The son of a bitch called her a slut and shot her in the head. Right there. Said it was for running off with Jack.”

She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to cry, but if she did she worried she might not stop.

Poor Trisha.

They’d saved her from Carter, thinking they were doing the right thing, and now she was dead. Lisa hadn’t gotten to know the girl, but she’d looked forward to long, snowy evenings around the fire after all the supplies were in and everyone was home and safe.

“Steve?” she said. “You okay?” She waited a few seconds. “How bad is he?”

Deeper in the gloom, about five feet away, Steve issued a low moan.

A second later, she realized something and felt a stab of fear. “Greg, what about Molly?”

“She’s fine,” he said. “Brad said if Carter killed her, may as well kill him, too. Everyone else said the same thing. Even some of the Dragsters. Carter wouldn’t dare. Honestly, sis, I don’t know anything else. If it’s okay, I think I’m just gonna pass out for a while.”

Lisa left him alone and settled back against the wall, struggling to find a position that didn’t hurt too much. At first she tried to sleep, hoping it would take the pain with it, but occasional snatches of conversation outside dragged her back. Anything she learned could be of use. She could rest later.

An hour or so later, thumping sounds carried from the door as the nails were pried loose. The door creaked opened and the light turned on, blinding in its intensity after so long in the dark.

“Hah, you’re not dead,” Carter said. He looked directly at Lisa’s cut and battered face for several seconds, as if taking her measure. “Count yourself lucky I don’t shoot you too, after what you did to my men.”

Steve groaned.

“And you can just shut up right now, Steve,” he said hotly. “Only reason you’re alive is because I’m killing you tomorrow—outside, when it’s light. Maybe you too, funny guy. Kind of depends on your sister here. The spic says she’s Jack’s girlfriend. That right?”

“Let me help my brother. I need medical supplies.”

“Shut up until I say you can talk.” He looked from her to Greg. “Well, funny guy? Is she Jack’s or what?”

Lisa’s eyes had just about adjusted to the light. Greg’s leg was wrapped in his shirt like he’d said, and there was dried blood around his nose and mouth. Steve had shifted at some point. His face was a mess of bruises, and both eyes had closed up.

“She’s not anybody’s,” Greg said with some heat. “People don’t belong to other people, you—”

“Yes!” Lisa said, drowning him out. “Jack’s my boyfriend. Now what?”

Carter snorted. “I knew it. Consider yourself mine now. Do what I say and your brother lives. Come on, get up.”

Lisa lay there uncomprehending.
His? His what?

“I said get up!”

Carter reached down, grabbed her by the hair, and jerked her painfully to her feet. Greg struggled forward and got kicked in his bad leg, bringing forth a howl of pain.

“See this?” Carter said, brandishing a pistol and pressing it to Lisa’s head. “Try it again, funny guy, and I’ll shoot her.”

Greg didn’t do anything after that.

Carter pulled her roughly into the kitchen. A boy of about twelve or thirteen stood leaning against the countertop holding the hammer.

“Close it back up,” Carter said.

“I’m starving,” he said. “When can I eat?”

“When you close it back up. Now do it!”

The boy shook his head and grabbed a plank off the floor with nails sticking out of it.

Carter shoved Lisa into the living room with all the mattresses. The lights were on in there, too. Miguel must have shown him the generator out back. About ten teenagers, mostly boys, were lounging around on the mattresses, staring at her.

No, not just staring—glaring
.
All except one.

“Hi, Lisa,” Miguel said in a high, light voice. He sprang off the closest mattress and approached with an anxious expression. “If you think about it, I had no choice. Jack’s crazy—you know that. He can’t lead us. All those little kids?” He shook his head. “And look what happened to Pete. You need a big group, like the Dragsters. These guys are cool, you’ll see.”

“You’re a filthy backstabber, Miguel,” she said calmly. “Get out of my sight before I …” She paused, casting a furtive look at Carter, who looked amused. “Go lie in your bed, dead boy.”

“Buzz off,” Carter told him, and snorted when Miguel jumped back as if stung. Carter threw his arm around her. “Got a proposition for you, uh … what’s your name again?”

“Lisa,” she said through gritted teeth.

He nodded. “That’s right. And stop being so grumpy. Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

The boys on the mattresses gave knowing laughs and leered at her openly as she was led away, offering up suggestions like “stick it in her mouth” and “make her beg for it” and other disgusting things.

The only girl there ran over and said, “Where the hell you going with her? After what she did, why ain’t you gonna shoot her?”

“Out of the way, Cassie,” Carter said. “Like I told you a billion times, we’re through.”

Cassie was a stringy-haired girl with popping eyes, a weak chin, and a frown so deep it looked like she’d been born with it.

“No we ain’t!” she said, and spit in Lisa’s face, stunning her briefly.

“I said back off!” Carter roared and shoved her to the floor.

Tears streaming from her angry eyes, Cassie said, “First Molly, then Trisha. Now her? When you gonna see you got a
real
girl right here? Someone who actually loves you?” She glared at Lisa. “Go on and have a good time up there, stupid ugly slut. When I see you again, I’m gonna cut up your face and piss on it.”

Cassie clambered to her feet and stalked angrily back to the others, who’d watched the exchange nervously.

Lisa noticed the girl didn’t have a gun, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t get one.

Carter grabbed her arm, led her to the stairs, and nudged her up the first few steps.

“Give it to her
one time
,” he said, “and she goes crazy. Would have left her back in town, but she’s with one of the guys now.” He chuckled and shook his head. “
Supposed
to be. Some girls are like that, though.”

Lisa wiped her face again and didn’t reply.

Carter said, “This is a really cool place you guys have here.
Had
here.” He laughed when loud pop music blared suddenly from the great room. “Got a generator and everything. We had one, too. Tried setting it up, and this one dude—forget his name—he fried himself pretty good. After that, nobody wanted to try again. But your spic friend with the loudmouth brother—forget his name, too—he said
you
know all about electricity. Is that true?”

“Yeah,” she said. “It’s … uh … easy. If you know what to do.”

At the landing, he tugged her to the right and made her lead. “Come on, this way.”

Together, they headed to the room she shared with Molly and Olivia. Her back itched the whole way.

Carter locked the door behind them and flipped the light switch. She turned around and saw he had a gun in his hand.

“So what, you’re gonna execute me?”

“Nah,” he said, smiling. “This is just to make sure of stuff. I can’t believe you killed all those guys. You and Jack are totally badass, you know that? Kind of pisses me off, actually. I mean, you’re just a girl. But I guess anyone can pull a trigger.” He bit his lip in thought. “Still, they shouldn’t have just ran out like that. I would have gone around back and approached from the side. But they didn’t, I guess, and you popped them. I had to finish off this one girl because she wouldn’t stop screaming. Didn’t really like her, so it’s cool.” He motioned to the bed. “Go on, sit down.”

She sat down.

“This you and Jack’s room?” Carter said, looking around.

Clearly she hadn’t done a good enough job hiding her feelings for Jack, if Miguel was telling stories. Despite the situation, she wanted to laugh at the idea of her sharing a room with a boy—at her age?

She hadn’t meant to lead on poor Jack like that. She liked him a lot—a
whole
lot. But they had other priorities right now, and making kissy faces at each other wasn’t one of them. Maybe later, after things calmed down and they could feed themselves without worrying about jerks like Carter. For now, the last thing she wanted was a baby on the way. Only an idiot added a medical emergency to the threat of starvation and random violence.

Instead of saying all that, Lisa said, “Yeah, we sleep in here. Together.” Then she nodded her head for emphasis. “Every night.”

Carter glared hotly and aimed his gun at the bed. “Did he do it with
Trisha
in here?”

She looked at him blankly for a moment, and then her eyes widened. “He didn’t steal your girlfriend … or whatever she was. You beat her up and she was sick of it, so she came back with us. That’s it.”

“Whatever,” he said languidly. “I’m putting this away. If you try anything, you’ll regret it. I’d like to think we can be friends. We
should
be friends. It makes the most sense. I mean, you’re sort of pretty, and you know electricity. Also, just remember, I got your brother downstairs. I was real pissed off because of that shit he said about my mom, but I’m cooling down some. It helps that I got to shoot him. So what do you say?”

“Uh … what?”

He sighed loudly. “You gonna try something if I put my gun away? You gonna be good?”

“Yeah, sure.” She shook her head when his eyes narrowed. “Um, I mean no. I
will
be good. Whatever you want, Jesus.”

Carter stared at her a few seconds, working it out, then holstered the gun and sat beside her.

“Easy, now,” he said when she tried to scoot away. “I’m putting my arm around you, all right? Nothing more. Just being friendly.”

Through an effort of will, she stopped moving and let him. She even managed not to cringe.

“See, now? That’s not so bad,” he said softly. “Don’t worry, okay? I can see you worrying. Truth is, Trisha and Molly were mine all on their own. Just like Cassie downstairs, but she’s not pretty enough for me to stick with steady. I never force girls to do it if they don’t want to. I just kick them out. Or maybe someone in the gang wants them. I don’t really pry into people’s personal lives. But you’re special. Know why?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Because you’re his.
Jack’s
. I’m still not gonna force it, even though I could.” He took her chin in his hand and made her look at him. “You know I can, right? I won’t, though. It’s better if you want it, too. I’m gonna tell you why you’d want it. Just listen to my reasons. Okay?”

Lisa breathed steadily in and out, trying to control her hatred and disgust. Her head, back, and ribs hurt more than ever, and she felt like vomiting. Instead of that, she nodded. “Sure. I’m listening.”

Carter smiled and smoothed her hair back, tucking it behind her ears. “Because of you and Jack and your asshole brother, we got openings in the gang now. Possibly for those friends of yours, especially that big guy … dammit, I forget his name, too.” He shook his head in disgust. “I really suck at names. Anyway, we need people. Half the gang split because of your brother and his stupid radio jokes.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “They’ll change their minds when I kill Jack. I figure he’ll be here in a day or so. Or maybe that gang the spic came from will kill him.”