Hungry Independents (Book 2) (5 page)

Samuel cranked out the rest of the hole,
taking it down another four feet in a quarter of the time it had
taken Scout to complete his part. When he finished, he laid his
shovel over the top and leapt up, pushing himself out. He removed
his gloves and beat the dirt off them on his cut-up jeans.

“Luis ruined my favorite pair of button fly
Levi’s. I hope you or Hunter can find me another pair in my
size.”

Scout just nodded.

“Let’s get these dogs in the ground. The sun
will be up soon and the last thing we want is smelly dead dogs
lying around when the kiddos come out to play.”

Scout followed Samuel to one of the beasts
Molly had killed. Samuel put his gloves back on and they each
grabbed legs. The big dog’s head fell back and its snout dragged
the ground between them.

Samuel one-armed the creature and covered his
nose with the other. “This smells worse than Hunter’s underwear
after he’s been out riding for a week.”

Scout smiled because it was true.

“See, I knew I’d get you to smile if I bagged
on Hunter.”

“I’m picturing you sniffing Hunter’s
underwear.”

Samuel grinned. “You shouldn’t knock it.”

They heaved the carcass into the pit and left
to find the next one. Around the front of the house, they
discovered Molly was now awake, sitting up on the porch with a
shirt on, thankfully. Of course the thankful part depended on
whether or not her brother was still around—which he was.

“Hey there, Molly,” Samuel stopped cold and
Scout bumped into him, but he barely noticed. “Is that my Nirvana
concert T-shirt?”

Molly pulled down the front where a naked
baby boy swam after a dollar bill. “Mark gave it to me.”

“But it’s never been worn. That shirt is a
classic.”

“What’s a classic?” Molly asked.

Samuel looked around for support but his
friends were all blank faced. His head dropped in defeat. “First my
parents, then Greg, and now this…”

“Don’t be so dramatic. I can wash it.”

“Don’t wash it!” Samuel’s voice cranked up an
octave.

Everyone looked at him like he was bonkers.
Scout sort of understood. He was slightly bonkers about his own
special stuff, but that was baseball gloves, not some stupid
shirt.

“Just bring it back the way it is after you
take it off.” Samuel took a deep breath and released it slowly. “I
guess I should be thanking you for saving my life.”

“It wouldn’t have needed saving if I had gone
inside the house when you told me too. I’m sorry. I have this thing
about dogs.”

“Well, those dogs had a thing about you that
didn’t end well for them. But what I’m really upset about is
missing all the good parts.”

“What good parts?” Molly asked.

Samuel waggled his eyebrows at her and
Molly’s face turned as bright as a tomato.

“Knock it off, Sam,” Mark said. “I shouldn’t
have even told you.”

“Yeah, right, because now I’m all
disappointed and stuff.”

“Not to mention deprived,” Scout said.

“Good one,” Samuel said, offering Scout a
fist bump.

“Are you guys done digging the hole?” Mark
asked.

“Yeah, we’re rounding up the doggies now,”
Samuel said.

“They’re hellhounds.”

Everyone looked at Catherine, who had propped
herself up and was stretching her little hands above her head. Her
mussed blonde hair required a good brushing. Bags under her eyes
showed her need for more recovery time from her latest healing.

“Hellhounds will turn to ash when the sun
comes up.”

“Wish somebody would have told us that before
we dug the hole,” Samuel said. “I guess I could plant a tree or
find some treasure to bury.”

“Why don’t we fill it with water for a
swimming pool?” Scout said.

Samuel nudged him in the shoulder. “You’re
two for two, bro.”

Mark stared them down into silence.
“Catherine, when you say hellhounds, you mean…”

“Exactly the way it sounds. Those hounds were
sent here from Hell to hunt. Judging by who they attacked, I’d
suggest Molly keep her night wanderings to a minimum.”

Catherine shifted her attention away from the
group. “Well, hello there! When did you get here?”

Scout searched the direction Catherine spoke
toward and found no one else in the hazy dawn.

“Yes, yes, I won’t say a word. I think you’re
right. Secrecy would be best right now.”

“Who are you talking to?” Scout asked.

Catherine combed fingers through her hair,
pulling out the tangles without answering the question. Her eyes
grew big and she pointed behind the small assembly. “Lookie,
lookie!”

Everyone followed her excitement and turned.
The first rays of sunlight found the hellhounds. Their bodies
smoked, a dark purple swirl drifting in the sun’s rays. The skin
under their fur bubbled and boiled and the reek from their bodies
smelled like Brittany’s the morning after chili night. Daylight cut
a bright path through the end of nighttime. The dogs popped with a
concussive blast, and a blinding flash made everyone cover their
eyes. When it was safe to look again, they found four piles of
purple ash sitting on the ground, topped by wisps of smoke.

“What about the dog we threw in the hole?”
Scout asked.

“Hellhound,” Catherine corrected him. “Will
the sun hit it?”

“I kind of doubt it,” Samuel said. “I guess
we could just bury that one.”

Catherine shook her head. “No good. Once the
sun goes down it will just claw its way out and go hunting again.
You better drag it out into the sunshine.”

Scout turned to finish the gruesome task. “I
should have stayed in bed.”

Hunter’s weary eye burned when the first rays
of sunshine shot over the east. Thankfully he sat facing south on
top of the grain elevator with his back against the metal building,
staring at Interstate 80 running parallel to the muddy Platte
River.

Barbie stirred under his arm where she slept
after exorcising the demon from the little boy. Hunter stayed up
all night watching over them both, half afraid that the demon would
return. That thought alone was enough to keep him up, but he
couldn’t stop thinking about his new special ability.

Was he truly invincible? And how did one test
the extent of invincibility without carrying it too far? The demon
thought the hundred foot drop from the grain elevator wouldn’t kill
Hunter. And how the hell did the demon know that?

The little boy lay on the concrete with his
face to the sky. The same position he was in when the demon was
ripped out and dissolved in a screaming fit as it was sent back to
wherever. Hell? Hunter never used to believe in Heaven and Hell,
but too many unexplainable things had happened in the past year for
him to ignore the possibilities.

Hunter worked free of Barbie and laid her
against the sheet metal wall, making sure she wouldn’t fall over.
He draped his jacket, now full of holes, over her and she continued
sleeping huddled inside. Hunter stretched his back. He walked
around stiffly, trying to jumpstart the feeling in his legs. His
shoulder ached, but that was no surprise.

Sunshine crept over the tower’s edge,
illuminating the little boy. His eyes popped open and he hollered,
“I’m me!” He burst up and lifted his arms towards the blue sky.
“I’m me again, I’m me! Yippee!”

Hunter smiled. You didn’t see a lot of
ecstatic joy these days in the Big Bad. If Hunter didn’t feel like
hell, he’d consider sharing the boy’s excitement by jumping around
and giving his own shouts of jubilation.

The boy raced around the grain elevator,
sprinting back and forth while steering clear of the edge. He
passed Hunter a couple of times before giving him any notice and
slid to a stop. He flashed Hunter an innocent smile that looked
very different from the soulless milky eyes and the pointy teeth
that tore into his shoulder earlier.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Hunter. We helped you out of your…
trouble.”

The boy grabbed his hand with his two tiny
ones and pumped it like he was airing up a flat. “Thank you so
very, very much!” The child pulled hard and wrapped his arms around
Hunter, giving a tight hug that reminded him of another little
kid.

“Who’s giving out the hugs?”

Barbie stood and held out her arms. The boy
broke from Hunter and rushed over to greet her.

“Hunter said you guys saved me. Thank you so
much!” He squeezed and she squeezed him back. Hunter was happy he
hadn’t been caught in the middle of that embrace.

“You’re very welcome. I’m Barbie. What’s your
name?”

“Wesley, but you can call me Wes. Only my
sister calls me Wesley anymore. Oh gosh! I hope Carissa is
okay.”

“Do you guys live in Cozad?” Hunter
asked.

“Yes. We came here after the plague.”

“Well let’s climb down and go find her. I bet
she’s worried about you.”

“Climb down? Where…? Oh gosh!” Wes scrambled
away from the edge like a pack of giant spiders had crested the top
looking for food and he was it. He pressed his back against the
metal building. “Oh gosh, oh gosh! Too high! Too high!”

Hunter and Barbie shared a look. “I think Wes
is afraid of heights,” he said to her.

“Guess you’re going to have to carry him
down.”

Wes closed his eyes and kicked his feet,
shoving back against the building so hard that the sheet metal
warped and popped. Given enough time, he might have torn a second
hole in it.

“I don’t suppose we could knock him out for
the trip down? It’s going to be hard enough without him squirming
in fright.”

“Leave everything to me,” Barbie said. She
caressed Hunter’s cheek with her index finger. “Big boy.”

“I have a girlfriend.” Hunter blurted the
statement out for two reasons: he wanted her to know so there were
no misunderstandings, and he needed the reminder.

Barbie paused, turning her head back to
regard Hunter. “I’m sure you do.” She looked him over, toes to top
and back again. “Jealous.” She laughed and continued walking.
Hunter swore her hips swung wider on the trip over to where Wes was
still trying to escape the scary distance to the ground.

Barbie knelt and laid her hands on the sides
of his head. “Wes, we’re going to need you calm so we can get down
from here.”

“Down! I’m not going anywhere!”

Barbie bowed her head and her hands crackled
with electrical sparks. Wes looked shocked. Hunter expected the
boy’s head to explode, releasing a hardboiled brain, but Wes smiled
up at her as his feet stopped squirming and his eyes drooped. She
helped him stand and leaned him against the building.

“Time to go,” she said.

“How long will that last?”

“Long enough, but let’s not dally.”

“C’mon, Wes. Let’s go find your sister,”
Hunter said.

“Okay,” Wes said, sounding half-asleep.

Hunter led them to the taller building that
capped the end. He jiggled the doorknob and bumped it with his good
shoulder to break the lock, but nothing doing. They were going down
the hard way. He looked over a different ladder than the one on the
opposite side, figuring out how the hell he would climb down with a
limp body draped over him. Wes stood close by, oblivious to the
dangerous height.

Barbie opened the locked door with a simple
turn and whistled Hunter over. “Hey, I think there’s some stairs in
here if you want.”

Hunter patted Wes on the back. “What do you
know? Something is going right.”

Wes gazed at him in an open-mouthed
stupor.

“Never mind. Just stay close to me.”

Hunter led the way inside where a control
panel for operating the grain elevator occupied one wall and the
smell of rotten grain overpowered everything. He lifted his shirt
to mask the stench. No help. Murky light crept in through filthy
windows, but the light was enough to navigate the flight of stairs
leading down. Hunter went first, followed by Wes, then Barbie.

The trip ended with ease as Hunter found the
unlocked door that led outside.

“Fucking great,” he said. “I didn’t even try
this door. I thought the ladders were the only way up.”

Barbie narrowed her eyes at him.

“What?”

She covered Wes’s ears. “I wish you would not
use language like that, especially in front of the child.”

Hunter frowned, but conceded with a nod.

Barbie’s hands crackled on the side of Wes’s
head. The little boy’s eyes opened wide and he smiled when he
noticed the ground. “Hey, how’d we get down?”

Hunter wiggled his fingers at him. “Magic.”
He used his best mysterious voice.

“Don’t tease him.” Barbie punched him in the
shoulder.

Hunter dropped to his knees and screamed.
“Motherfucker, don’t hit me there!”

Barbie took Wes’s hand and dragged him away.
“C’mon, Wes, let’s give Mr. Potty Mouth time to recoup.”

Hunter’s face hovered an inch from the ground
as he sucked in air, blinking back tears. Pain spiked in his
shoulder. Half of him wanted to die and the other half wanted to
ride home and leave freaking Cozad and crazy Barbie in the dust.
But he couldn’t. Samuel needed information or they’d risk losing
their food crops to a bunch of grasshoppers and starving through
the winter.

He stood on shaky legs, rubbing his hurt
shoulder with the opposite hand, and staggered after Barbie and
Wes. They were stopped in front of a sign that Wes pointed out.

“This is the 100th Meridian sign. I’m not
sure, but I think it’s important.”

“Oh it’s very important, Wes,” Barbie
said.

“Why the…” Hunter coughed. “Uh, why is it
important?”

Barbie gave him a blank look. “Well, duh.
It’s the 100th Meridian.”

Barbie and Wes began walking again.

Hunter waited a moment until they were safely
away. “Stupid bitch.”