The Lair (18 page)

“You don’t know that,” she argued. “You don’t know that the guy who owned this Porsche left. Maybe he died trying to protect his kids. Maybe they all left together.”

Ely snorted. “Yeah, right. And maybe the UN is rallying its forces right now, ready to swoop in and take the world back. Wahoo.”

Okay, so Ely was a jerk. And he’d been alone a long time. He’d probably seen shit that was worse than anyone could even imagine, but his attitude still bugged her.

Maybe she wasn’t as cynical as she’d once thought, but there was a tiny part of her that needed to believe that there were other people still out there, who were trying to fight against the Ticks and the Farm system. Maybe it was just a silly fantasy, but it was one she needed to believe in, just like she needed to believe that someday she might be reunited with her mother or her uncle Rodney. Until she had proof, she would continue to believe.

Because the truth was, they had no way of knowing. In a time without radio or TV, without even a postal service, all you had were the people in front of you. All you knew was what you saw with your own eyes. She couldn’t help wondering if this would be the last time she saw Base Camp. The last time she saw Carter, standing off by the door, his hands crammed into his pockets, his shoulders sloped.

The thought brought such crushing grief she almost couldn’t breathe.

Thankfully, Ely didn’t seem to expect her to say anything else. A moment later he said, “Your girl’s finally done.” He slapped the roof of the SUV. “Load up.”

Sure enough, McKenna was waddling over. Her smile was strained as she rubbed her hand over the side of the belly.

“You okay?” Lily asked.

“Yeah. Sure.” She smiled at Ely. “Are we ready to go?”

“Been ready, sweetheart.”

“You take the front seat,” Lily told her.

Ely’s Cayenne looked like he’d been living out of it, which he probably had. Candy wrappers littered the front floorboard, cans of food rolled around in the back, and a hand-crank can opener sat upright in one of the SUV’s many cup holders. The floorboard on Lily’s side held about a case of canned energy drinks. She shoved a pile of trash onto the floorboard to make room, then carefully laid her bow and quiver flat on the seat beside her. With her arm in a sling, she wouldn’t be using it anytime soon, but she wasn’t willing to leave it behind. Her backpack she kept on her lap. Most of the backseat was taken up by Ely’s crap. The entire cargo hold of the SUV was filled with plants. Most of them looked like houseplants. Some she recognized. There was a pothos ivy, like her grandmother used to have in her living room, and a little bonsai plant. Some she’d never seen before.

Something striped and grasslike draped over the back of the seat, tickling her neck.

“What’s with all the plants?” she asked, swatting away the leaf. “You taking up gardening?”

Ely met her gaze in the rearview mirror and smirked. “You’ll see.”

“You don’t throw them at Ticks as you drive around, do you, hitting them like bowling pins?”

Ely just laughed.

Which was great. Nothing like putting your life in the hands of someone who was clearly bat-crap crazy.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Lily

They made it less than an hour north before the snow started falling. At first, Lily didn’t even register what she was seeing. Yeah, she’d seen a lot of snow when they’d first gotten to Utah, but that had been almost two months ago. It was spring now.

She watched the gently drifting snow for several long minutes before saying, “It’s snowing.”

“Ya think?” Ely asked.

McKenna twisted in her seat to look back at Lily. “But we can still drive in this, right?”

How was she supposed to know? She was Texas born and bred. Just like McKenna. And Ely. How the hell were three kids from Texas supposed to drive in the snow?

“Let’s see if it stops soon,” she said to McKenna. And she ignored the snort of derision from Ely.

An hour later, the snow was still falling. Ely had slowed the Cayenne to a crawl. Finally, he pulled the SUV to a stop, the tires skidding on the slick road.

“This is bullshit.”

She had to agree. Just watching the falling snow made her skin crawl with frustration. She had to get out of the car. Do something. Move.

But there was nothing to do but sit here and watch the road ahead slowly disappear.

Damn it.

“Okay, genius, what do you want to do now?” Ely asked from the driver’s seat.

“I’m thinking.” But they were out of options.

“You wanna turn around now or should we just wait here until a snow plow comes to dig us out?”

“Okay, smartass, what ideas do you have?” Lily demanded.

From the front seat, McKenna was just looking back and forth from Ely to Lily like she was waiting for a bomb to go off.

Ely held up his hands in the universal sign for hey-this-ain’t-my-fault. “What do I look like, the world-renowned professor of making shit up?”

“No. You look like a guy who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else, so he doesn’t open his mouth unless he can prove it.”

He gave a snort. “Hey, you’re the chica who wanted to drive up to Canada. In the middle of winter.”

“I’m a Texan. For me, winter is over after Valentine’s Day.”

“You wanna keep driving, I’ll be sure to remind you of that when we’re buried in a snowdrift in Montana.”

“Okay, if you’re worried about this, why mention it now?” McKenna asked. “Why didn’t you bring this up back at Base Camp?”

Ely smirked. “I didn’t think of it then.”

Lily wanted to argue, but what could she say.
She
hadn’t thought of it, either. “Okay, so what do we want to do? Turn around and go back?”

Ely muttered something she almost didn’t catch.
“Gringa estupida.”

She leaned forward. “I had four years of Spanish in school.”

“So?”

“So, if you’re going to call me stupid, then don’t mutter it under your breath in a language you think I can’t understand. Say it to my face and be prepared to tell me why I’m being stupid.”

He met her gaze in the rearview mirror and she saw something in his eyes that might have been a stirring of respect. Or maybe the sun was just blinding him.

“You wanna know what I really think of this
pendejada
? I think you’re betting on the wrong dog.”

“What do you mean?”

He gave another one of those shrugs. “Hey, you wanna go to Canada? Fine. White people trust other white people. I get that. But come on, the Canadians? You really think they were able to keep the Ticks out? They didn’t even let people carry concealed there. There’s no way they could stop the Ticks.”

“Okay.” But it wasn’t okay, because her mind was racing. She hadn’t thought about it like that. Not precisely. “So what? Are you saying you do think we should head back to Base Camp?”

“Nah. I say we should head to Mexico.”

“Mexico?” both Lily and McKenna said at the same time.

Ely ratcheted up the smirk. “Yeah. Mexico.”

“Oh, so you don’t think the U.S. or the Canadian governments were able to stop the Ticks, but you think the Mexican government was able to stop them?”

“I didn’t say the government. The drug cartels in Mexico are better armed than the
federales
. Besides, your dumbass government built that wall all along the border.”

Lily’s mind was racing. “Why bring this up now? Why not say all this back at camp?”

“You were the one rushing to get out of there.”

Her gut twisted around the decision. It didn’t feel right, abandoning the plan she’d clung to for so long. But that was just her gut speaking. She needed to think. To process.

And maybe she needed to trust other people more. Wasn’t that the lesson she’d learned trying to get off the Farm? That she didn’t always know everything? That sometimes you had to trust other people? How much easier would that whole experience have been if she’d trusted Carter from the beginning? But she’d fought him every step of the way and it had created half their problems. Maybe all of them.

Yes, she was smart and she was knowledgeable, but she didn’t know everything.

And what were their options here, really? Either they could sit here in the snow, or they could go back to Base Camp, or they could head for Mexico.

McKenna turned to see Ely’s expression better. “Have you been there? To Mexico, I mean? Do you know for sure that the Ticks haven’t taken over?”

“No,” he admitted. “But I’ve been down to the wall. It’s still standing.”

That would be the ultimate irony, wouldn’t it? The American government had been so determined to control the flow of immigration. And now, instead of keeping the immigrants out, it was keeping the monsters in.

“I don’t know,” she muttered aloud. “The U.S. Army was the best supplied army in the world. I don’t care what kinds of weapons the drug cartels had, they still couldn’t match that kind of firepower.”

But that argument made it simpler than it actually was. The Ticks hadn’t won the war with weapons. The virus itself had done much of the damage, infecting and killing millions. But even that wasn’t the real culprit. No, if Sebastian was to be believed, the real reason the United States had fallen so quickly to the Ticks was because Roberto had had
abducturae
spreading fear and paranoia.

So it wasn’t about weapons or firepower. It was about what parts of the world Roberto wanted to control.

If he didn’t want Mexico, then maybe Mexico was still standing.

“Okay,” she said finally. “For the sake of argument, let’s say Mexico is still standing. If they’ve held the border against the Ticks, then how do we know they’ll let us through?”

“Guess we won’t know until we get there.”

“Great. That’s very helpful,” Lily said.

“What about medical care?” McKenna asked. “Will there be somewhere I can have the baby? Will they be able to take care of her?”

Ely muttered again, something about gringos. “A hundred million people. I think we’ve got childbirth covered.”

Lily knew he was right. At least about that. Ms. Rivera, her Spanish teacher, had lectured all the time that Mexico City was a thriving, major city. So, yeah, if they could get there and if the border had held against the Ticks, then McKenna would be golden. It was a lot of ifs, but she’d faced worse.

Lily looked at McKenna in the rearview mirror. “What do you think?”

“Mexico is a lot farther away than Canada.”

“Only four or five hours,” Ely argued.

Four or five hours didn’t seem like much. Maybe it wasn’t. But it was a drastic change in plans. Lily didn’t like change. But sometimes all the planning in the world wasn’t enough. Sometimes you had to rely on other people’s knowledge and experience. She would never have made it off the Farm if she hadn’t trusted Carter.

If Ely was right about Mexico, this could be the decision that saved all of their lives. Still, four or five hours was a long time. In this world, it only took a minute to die.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Carter

I drove down the mountain into Elderton by myself. Generally no one went anywhere alone, but I guess if the responsibility of being in charge gave me any privileges at all, then the ability to break the rules was one of them.

If this trip down to San Angelo was going to work, I needed help. Supplies, if I could get them. Manpower would be even better. Yes, Armadale had pissed me off, but he obviously knew what he was doing.

Maybe I could talk him into helping us. Or maybe he’d shoot me on sight. No matter what happened, I didn’t want any witnesses. Even if he didn’t shoot me where I stood, I would probably have to beg him not to. And a good leader never lets his people see him grovel, right?

Thirty minutes after leaving Base Camp, I pulled into Elderton. I made one pass driving through town, heading right down Main Street before circling back to the outskirts of town where the Armadales lived. I saw only a few signs of life in town, but the people of Elderton hadn’t stayed alive by sending out welcoming committees every time someone came through town. This time, I wanted people to know I was coming. No sneaking, no surprises.

I parked on the street in front of their house and sat in the car a while before climbing out. Then I leaned against the car door, legs stretched out in front of me, just waiting. I stood there in the cold until the wind burned my cheeks and my fingers started to go numb, even though they were shoved into my pockets. Then I pulled my hands out and held them up as I walked to the front door, like a prisoner about to surrender. I rang the bell. Then I knocked. Then I waited some more.

Finally, I called out, “Come on, Armadale, I know you’re still there. I’m not here to steal from you or ask for any favors.” That wasn’t strictly true. “I just want to talk. I’m alone. I’m unarmed.” And I was out of options. Time to grovel. “Mr. Armadale, please let me in.”

Finally, I heard a door creak open somewhere around back. I purposely hadn’t headed into the backyard. The last thing I wanted was Mr. Trigger-Happy thinking I was poaching.

He took his time meandering around the side of the house. He stood on the porch, his shotgun propped carelessly over his shoulder. His posture was casual enough that I knew he wasn’t out here alone. Someone was watching his back.

Armadale gave me a smile that was more teeth than warmth. “I thought we settled this the other day. I’m not giving you any help, you’re not asking for any, and that way we don’t ever have to come to blows.”

Just like during our previous meeting, Armadale talked with a backwoods drawl that made him sound ignorant. I wasn’t fooled by it. No one who had survived the Ticks and kept their family alive was stupid. “That still stands,” I called out. “But I have new information.”

“Weren’t you here just two days ago?”

I tried not to laugh—not because it was funny, but because it was ironic. A few days ago, the day Lily had been shot, seemed like a lifetime ago now. Now everything was different.

Armadale eyed me for a minute, like he was trying to figure out if I was lying to him. Then he swung around and headed back down the porch, saying, “Well, then, you’d better come on in.”