Chapter 13 #2
“Trying to analyze me is the last thing you should waste your energy on.” He clears his throat. “We’re done here. I’m looking forward to seeing you in person again. Try not to get yourself killed in the meantime.”
A wave of dizziness washes over me. I shut my eyes until the feeling passes, and when I blink, I’m no longer on the mountain.
Snoring Raiders lie around the dying fire, and my body aches from being tied to the same tree for hours.
Josh is tied to a different tree, his head bowed as he sleeps.
I go over my conversation with Hector, thinking of the weird substance that showed up at the end.
I can’t even begin to guess what it was.
I thought that speaking with him would give me some answers, but I’m left more confused than before. Whatever shitshow this is turning into, I’m starting to think I haven’t seen half of it yet.
*
I wake up to the sound of Josh shouting.
I look around in a frenzy, blinking through the beating sun, but I can’t find him. His shouts are coming from behind the thick bushes to my right. I catch the sound of nasty laughter from the same direction.
My mouth isn’t gagged, so I scream, “Get the fuck away from him!” They continue to laugh, and Josh continues to shout.
“Jay!”
He comes over from my other side. “Keep it down, Defender. The boys deserve to have some fun.”
“You better get them to stop, or I swear—”
He kicks my thigh. “Shut it! He’s gonna get a lot more action once we’re in Denver.”
I try to pull at my bindings, but it’s pointless, and the rope digs into my flesh. “Hector said that if any of you touch Josh, he’d skin you alive.”
Jay laughs. “Did he know? I must have just missed his visit.”
“He’s gonna start with Linda.”
The laughter dies in his throat. “The fuck you just said?”
“You heard me. He’s gonna skin your fat bitch of a wife. No more fucking her from behind.”
His eyes grow wide, and although he might not fully believe me, there’s enough doubt there for me to scream, “Stop them, or your wife is fucking dead!”
He sprints toward the bushes, yelling at his men to stop. I watch anxiously as they drag Josh back, his shirt torn and his pants loose, but it seems I managed to stop them in time. He’s bleeding from little cuts across his face, as if they dragged him through pointy branches.
When I kill them, Joshy, I will make it hurt. That’s a goddamn promise.
They shove us back into the buggies, sneaking worried glances my way. They must know there’s something strange about Hector if they believe he and I can communicate out here.
We drive for hours under the hot sun, but the wind is strong enough in the open buggy.
I can’t bring myself to calm down, knowing that once we reach Denver, my ability to protect Josh will be gone.
I try telling myself that he’s a capable fighter and a tough motherfucker, but I can’t erase years of instincts to protect him.
It’s rooted in my blood, though it’s ironic since I can no longer trust my own blood.
I’ve no idea how any of this is possible, but at least I’ll get some answers in Denver.
Early in the afternoon, we begin to slow down. I’m at the back of the buggy with two of the Raiders, while Jay’s at the helm. He looks around in concern before slowing to a halt.
“I think I saw smoke from the trees over there,” he says.
“Like another buggy?” the Raider to my right asks.
“Yeah, a big one.”
They exchange worried looks. From behind us, one of the Raiders from the second buggy calls, “Why’d we stop?”
Jay stands up, still in the driver’s seat. “I saw something! We’re gonna spread out until I can be sure we’re not being followed.”
“Alright. We’ll take the left and you—”
The sudden sound of a roaring engine shuts him up.
It comes from the side of the road, though I can only see clustered trees from that direction.
With my hands bound in front of me, I rise to my feet to get a better look.
A pillar of dark smoke seems to be moving toward us, cutting down trees that stand in the way.
Birds fill the sky as they escape, but a buggy can’t possibly cause trees to fall, right?
“It’s them!” Jay shouts. “We need to split up. Drive back until you lose them. We’ll meet you in Denver!”
Like hell I'm letting them split me from Josh.
Still on my feet, I send my bound fists into Jay’s face.
The two other Raiders hurry to force me back down.
I fight like a wild animal, kicking and smashing my head into their faces to stall their escape, even though I’ve no idea what the hell is coming after us.
I can only hope that whatever they’re so afraid of is good news for Josh and me.
By the time they manage to hold me down and Jay is back at the wheel, it’s too late to escape. The roar of the approaching engine is deafening, and once the last line of trees gets toppled, I can finally see what’s causing this chaos.
Calling it a buggy would be a massive understatement.
Ten people can easily fit in there. An iron front loader is what they’ve been using to smash their way through the woods, with sharp-looking round blades attached to the sides.
It’s a monstrous sight, even more so when I realize who the passengers are.
Mutants.
“Drive!” a Raider next to me shouts to Jay as the buggy holding Josh turns the other way.
The driver of the mutants’ vehicle turns his head from side to side, likely debating which one to follow.
It takes me a moment to realize I’ve seen this large mutant before, with his messy beard and green scales on the side of his thick neck.
I’ve never spoken with him, but I fought him and his Raiders on the hill when Finn and I lost Josh.
Months later, I heard all about his actions during the final days of Las Vegas.
As Jay begins to drive, I shout as loud as I can, “Josh is in the other buggy! Buck, go after Josh!”
I don’t get a chance to see his reaction because a fist smashes against the back of my head, filling my skull with lightning. I try not to throw up with the rocking of the buggy as we speed away. A few minutes later, Jay says, “We’ve lost the fuckers.”
Which means that Buck has gone after the other buggy. I tell myself I’ve made the right call, but I can’t help but fear I won’t ever know for sure.