Hungry Independents (Book 2) (12 page)

“Close your mouth, silly,” Catherine
said.

Jimmy clapped his mouth shut for the second
time with a definite clapping sound. Then he opened it again. “Why
am I back here?”

Kids started yelling outside and the three of
them were distracted for a moment. The shouts grew louder.
Catherine shrugged. “You probably have a job to do.”

And then she headed for the door. Molly
smiled at Jimmy and followed Catherine. Jimmy glided after them
because he’d been on his own for a long time. It was nice to have
someone to talk too.

Outside, the sunshine blinded him. Jimmy
adjusted his hat to shade his eyes, which did absolutely nothing.
Now he understood why ghosts only spooked at night. He thought
about closing his eyes but didn’t want to accidentally float
through anybody. He opted to tough it out until he discovered who
was making the ruckus. Then he would hurry back to be with his
family.

“You son of a bitch, I’ll kill you!”

Jimmy’s head snapped up. He couldn’t believe
his ears. Sure, he’d heard Scout curse before, just not in the
middle of Main Street in front of all the younger kids.

Mark carted his brother-in-law off like a
duffle bag with twelve angry cats inside. Samuel bent over and
helped Raven to her feet. Blood trickled down her face.

“This has got to be Billy’s doing,” Catherine
said. “He’s been avoiding me like the plague.”

“Billy?” Jimmy said. “You mean that little
kid that Hunter found in Denver.”

“He’s been skipping his therapy sessions with
me lately,” Molly said. “Hunter’s been worried about him ever since
he started hanging around Dylan.”

“Hunter worried?” Jimmy smiled at that.
Paybacks were sweet, even in the afterlife.

“Let’s find out what’s going on?” Catherine
said. “Raven looked like she needed some medical attention, and
Luis has his hands full.”

“Did you want to go back to your family,
Jimmy?” Molly asked him.

Jimmy thought about it and shook his head. “I
think I’ll tag along with you guys.”

“Yeah,” Catherine said. “Ginger probably has
her shirt closed up by now anyways.” She ran across the street,
hooting with laughter.

“She’s something else,” Jimmy said, watching
the little girl go.

Molly stepped off the curb to follow. “You
have no idea.”

Hunter awoke and shot off the ground with
fists clenched. He looked around for someone to punch. A dozen
skinny kids stared at him like he was crazy, and then they looked
at each other like maybe they should run away.

Barbie raced over and grabbed Hunter’s hands.
“It’s okay. It’s over.”

“What? Where’s Tommy?”

Barbie smiled and motioned her hand at all
the Cozad kids. “The cavalry came and your Tommy decided to lick
his wounds elsewhere. You really took it to him with that
broomstick. Where did you learn to fight like that?”

Hunter searched up and down the street,
making sure it really was okay to drop his guard. Even the six
little cannibals were gone.

“Well?” Barbie asked.

“I play lightsaber with the younger kids back
home.”

Barbie narrowed her eyes. “You hit little
kids like that?”

Hunter smiled, and then noticed the tiny mob
of pale skeletons standing around in the sunshine. The Cozad kids
watched him with sunken eyes like he held all the answers.

“Where did Tommy’s group go?”

“We locked them up behind bars in the police
station for now,” Barbie said. “It’s the only way to stay safe. I
don’t know if I can save any of them. They’re too far gone.”

“Are you sure?” Henry asked. “My… my sister
is one of them.”

Barbie took his hand. “I’m sorry, Henry.
We’ll wait until they wake up. Maybe I can undo whatever that boy
did to her.” Tenderly, she kissed his cheek.

Hunter expected to see him breakdown.
Instead, Henry nodded and looked to Hunter. “I can’t believe you’re
still alive.”

“I can’t either,” Hunter said. “I’ll let you
know when I find out how that’s possible. Thanks for coming to my
rescue. That was very brave.”

Henry’s smile reflected the sunlight. “We got
braver as the fight went on. After Barbie knocked out all the
little kids, we knew something big was happening so we came outside
and watched you whack that guy over and over with your stick. Then
when he stabbed you in the stomach, we just sort of knew it was up
to us.”

Henry looked back at his group and they stood
taller and some shook their tiny fists. Combined, all forty-one of
them weighed less than a ton, but they had numbers on their side
and anger in their hungry stares. And now something else—pride.

Barbie gripped Hunter by the arm and
squeezed. “We need to get everyone out of here before Tommy
recoups. He’ll try and free his group first. We probably have until
nightfall, but I can’t guarantee that.”

“All right, Henry, I can take you guys to
Independents. We have food, shelter and no demons. But we have to
find transportation. The town is a hundred and sixty miles from
here.”

Henry scuffed his shoe back and forth on the
pavement. “What about the school bus?”

“Does it run?”

“The last time we drove it was about a month
ago before all this started. We use it to go on scavenging field
trips. We’ll have to charge the battery with the generator. There
should be enough fuel in the tank to get us to Lexington. We can
fill up there.”

“Take me to the bus.”

They walked in a dense herd, following Henry
through Cozad. The children moved faster when the big yellow bus
came into sight. Hunter knew the bumpy ride ahead would be
terrible, but whatever. They needed to get everyone out of town and
this was their only option.

Henry and another kid named Brandon grabbed a
generator and a battery charger out of a nearby shed. Hunter
noticed the oil-stained coveralls draped over Brandon. His hands
were smeared with grit and grime from time spent working on the
bus. Brandon popped open the hood like he knew what needed to be
done.

Hunter stayed out of the way. He looked
around for teeth gnashing monsters and figured they were safe for
the moment. “I’ll be right back,” he said to Barbie. “I have to get
my stuff.”

He ran, blowing past the 100th Meridian sign,
and circled the grain elevator until he found the busted rifle on
the pavement, ruined by the long drop. He continued to the stand of
trees by Interstate 80 where he’d left his KTM. His side cramping
from the hard pace, he slowed before the deep shade of trees, not
wanting to go blindly into trouble. He walked under the leafy
canopy, his boots crunching over fallen brushwood. His eye
adjusted, and there was his orange and black KTM motorbike, right
where he’d left it.

Hunter caught his breath and untied his
backpack from the seat. He broke out his water bottle, took a
couple of deep swallows, and saved the rest. He stripped off his
jacket and held it out for inspection. There were holes in the
shoulder and chest. It had been a rough twelve hours on his brand
new apparel. Hopefully Molly would be willing to patch the
holes.

He dug out a clean shirt that wasn’t in
shreds and tossed the ruined one to the ground. He looked down at
his bare chest and shoulders, expecting to see scars, but none were
found. Packing the jacket and water away, he slipped on the blue
shirt.

He started the bike and gave the throttle a
couple turns, revving up the engine and thinking about going home.
Scanning the sun’s position in the clear sky, he noted there might
be seven hours of daylight left. He popped the clutch and headed
back to Cozad.

* * *

When Hunter rode up, everybody who wasn’t
helping with the automotive repairs was huddled inside the bus with
the windows partway down. He stopped next to Barbie and cut the
engine. The noise was replaced by the quieter hum of the generator.
He propped the bike against the bus and Barbie gave him funny
look.

“What?”

“They thought you’d left. Most of them didn’t
blame you.”

“I’m not leaving unless it’s with everyone.”
He said it loud enough for all to hear. “How is the bus coming
along?”

Brandon tapped the gauge on the battery
charger like the needle would give him the desired answer. His
shoulders slumped as he looked back to Hunter. “We still have about
an hour, give or take.”

Hunter nodded, trying to stay positive even
though sitting around waiting for the boogey man to return was not
ideal. “That’s okay. We’re going to make it out of here. We’ll take
the generator and charger with us, just in case.”

Barbie grabbed hold and hugged him like
they’d been apart for over a year instead of ten minutes. Hunter
liked her hugs. Not as back breaking as Catherine’s and a little
more… grown up. He enjoyed this one very much, until he remembered
Molly.

“I’m glad you didn’t leave us,” she
whispered. Her warm breath tickled his neck.

Hunter moved out of her embrace and backed
away. “We need to make sure everyone is ready to go.”

Barbie tilted her head and smiled. “I’m sorry
if I make you nervous.”

A howl sounded from inside a nearby building.
The tortuous wail traveled the length of his spine and tingled
across his scalp. Gritting his teeth, he eyed the building as
another howl joined the chorus. The battery couldn’t charge quick
enough.

“You don’t make me nervous, Barbie.” Hunter
nodded toward the sounds. “They do.”

He couldn’t ignore it any longer. The noise
had to stop. The possessed cannibal kids continued wailing like
they smelled fresh meat. The other kids—the normal but famished
kids— stayed in the bus, trying not to listen to their former
friends. It was tough, even if you weren’t half starved and about
to pass out.

Hunter took to a knee and opened his backpack
to inventory his essentials. He pulled out his clothes and left the
food hidden in the bottom. Peering inside, he found an apple and
some dried meat and some flatbread. Not enough to share with the
group without a fight breaking out.

Barbie grabbed his briefs from the pile of
clothes. She held both ends of the waistband and gave them a shake.
They were bright red.

“Oh, I like these. Here, try them on for
me.”

Hunter ripped them from her hands and buried
them in the pile.

“Why are you so boring?” Barbie leaned over
and gazed at Hunter.

Her eyes didn’t catch his attention, but her
drooping shirt collar did. He quickly averted his gaze to the pile
of clothes and ignored the urge to look back. “Why do you have to
make this whole situation harder than it already is?”

“What situation? Am I a situation?”

“No. This town and all the kids are the
situation. You’re the distraction.”

She leaned against the bus and arched her
back. “Am I? Oh, I like that.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t. There’s too much going
on here for you to keep messing with me. Plus, I have a
girlfriend.”

“You sound like a broken record.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s an expression.” Barbie shrugged and
held out her hand. “Let me see your backpack.”

“There’s no more underwear in there if that’s
what you’re hoping to find.”

“Good. I really don’t want it rubbing up
against the food more than it already has.” Her face scrunched up
with disgust. “You really should separate your edible items from
the nonedible ones.”

Hunter pulled his pack close to his chest and
looked to see if the starving kids on the bus had overheard Barbie.
With all the howling, most had pushed their windows back up. “I
don’t have enough for everyone.”

“Leave that to me.” Barbie took possession of
his bag and moved to the door of the bus. Hunter followed her out
of curiosity and also to provide protection in case she was mobbed
by ravenous skeletons. She stopped at the steps and bowed her
head.

Hunter thought he heard thunder roll overhead
in the sunny blue Nebraska sky.

Barbie climbed into the bus and moved to the
back. She slowly walked backwards up the aisle and excited murmurs
followed as she handed out the contents of Hunter’s bag. Kids
brightened as she moved past, and then the bus fell silent except
for the chomps and chewing of thirty-nine happy mouths.

She passed Hunter, who stood stunned by the
big round steering wheel. Every kid on the bus had an apple, a
stick of dried meat, and a whole piece of flatbread. He stumbled
down the steps after her. Barbie had given a grateful Henry and
Brandon some of the fare before handing Hunter back his bag. She
bit into her bright red apple. Juice ran across her chin, and
Hunter quickly looked into the bottom of his bag. There was the
apple, dried meat and flatbread for him left to eat.

He didn’t have the appetite at the moment.
“How did you do that?”

“Do you really have to ask?” Barbie said. “I
thought you were used to miracles by now.”

Hunter rubbed his brow like he could clear
the fuzziness from his thoughts. It didn’t really accomplish
anything. He focused on the broomstick lying on the ground nearby.
One of the kids must have brought it along. The dried blood on the
pointy end made him uncomfortable.

First bullets and then the stick shoved into
his guts—would a nuclear bomb stop him? Did Catherine bringing him
back to life cause this invincibility? That had to be it, because
this kind of thing just didn’t happen on its own. Hunter broke his
arm a year ago and that hadn’t magically healed. Well, not until
Catherine magically healed it. What about the pain in his shoulder
that never healed or the blind eye and missing teeth? He wasn’t
regenerating new parts.

“Don’t worry so much.” Barbie patted his
hand. “The answers will come.”