The Brothers (12 page)

“What happened to these people?” I ask.

Bell shakes her head. “Doesn’t matter. It’s not gonna happen to us. I want you to look out for puddles, windmills, or buildings that might’ve had their own water-treatment facilities. City water is probably shut off, but if we find a place that’s big enough, they might have their own pumps or wells. Might be able to draw water from there.”

I nod and try to do what she’s telling me, but I keep seeing shapes that could be bodies—a lump under a dusty tarp inside a blown-out convenience store, shoes sticking out of a pile of rubble.

Bell slams on the brakes, flinging me forward. My chest smashes into the seatbelt and my head snaps down. The gun clatters to the floor.

“What the—?”

A man is standing in the center of the road. His clothes are tattered rags. His shirt is splattered with blood. He looks barely on his feet, though from blood loss or disease I can’t tell. His desperate eyes search our faces through the windshield.

“Help me.” His eyes are wet, his cheeks sunken.

Bell reaches for the gun that was on my lap, but it’s fallen to the floor. “Get the gun,” she says. “Now!”

I reach down. “But he needs help.”

My hands fish through all the items at my feet until my fingertips brush metal.

Bell revs the engine. “Get out of the road, or I swear I’ll run you down!” she yells out the window.

There’s a click at my open window. When I turn, I come eye to eye with the barrel of a gun.

“Don’t move,” the man holding a gun to my head says. His voice is like a rod of steel. “Turn off the engine and get your hands off the wheel,” he says to Bell.

When she doesn’t move, he shoves the gun into my temple. I gasp.

“Okay, okay.” Bell turns off the engine and lifts her hands up in surrender.

The first man from the road walks over and looks in Bell’s window. Up close, I can see he isn’t near death. His body is lean but underlain with muscle. His dark, wavy hair and tan skin are clean.

“Now what do we have here?” His tone is light, almost gleeful.

“Let us go,” Bell says. “We’ll give you what we have.”

The first man reaches through the window and pulls off Bell’s hat. Her braid tumbles out. He reaches for her wrist, but she yanks her arm away.

“I’d be careful,” the man with the gun says. He presses the muzzle harder into my temple.

“How do we know there are bullets in that gun?” Bell asks.

“Try me,” the man says.

Bell lets her arms droop into her lap. The bloody man reaches in and turns her palm over. He fingers the ahnk brand on the skin of her wrist. “Breeders.”

“Cuff ‘em,” the man says. The gun draws back.

The man at my window isn’t much older than me with short, brown hair and skin tanned to almost the exact same color. His denim pants and coat are brown, too, either from dirt or made that way. Even the newsy cap pulled down around his hair is a shade of brown. He has the same features and bright blue eyes as his counterpart. Brothers, I think. No, twins. Identical twins.

When he looks at me, at the cloth covering the burns on my face, I can tell he despises me.

I tuck my head down and wish I could crawl in a hole. What will they do with us? Will they sell us back to the hospital? I cannot face Houghtson. I pray that he’s dead.

The men bind our wrists with rough twine. The second man works in silence. But the bloody man, who introduced himself as Gabe, chatters as he twists rope around Bell’s wrists.

“So, escaping the Breeders, eh?” he asks Bell. “We haven’t seen many of those lately. Right, Tommy?”

Tommy cinches the rope around my wrist so tight I wince. “They don’t need to know our names. Hurry up.”

Gabe ignores Tommy. “Haven’t been to Albuquerque in a long time myself, but I hear it’s quite the entertainment hub. A fella told me the gambling alone is worth the trip.” He looks at Bell for a contribution but gets a cold glare instead. “Ever been to the night bazaar?”

“Shut up, you dirt pie,” Bell says. “Finish tying the knot so we can get on with it.”

I shoot Bell a warning glance, but Gabe doesn’t lose his temper. “Such colorful language in Albuquerque,” he says, finishing the knot. “We really must visit.” He looks at Tommy.

Tommy ignores him and yanks open my door. “Get out.”

I do, but my legs have cramped from all the riding and maybe from lack of water and sleep. I trip and fall.

Tommy catches me and pulls me up. His face has a hint of pity, but when he sees me looking, it disappears.

“Get in the back.” He helps me around the van and through the van’s doors.

Bell yanks herself away from Gabe’s hands and manages to scoot herself in without help. When the men shut the back door, she begins signing as best she can with bound hands.

Say nothing,
her hands say.
Watch me. Do what I do.

I sign back
yes
and then,
What will happen?

Bell shakes her head. She doesn’t know.

The men drive through town in silence. I watch out the window, my fear climbing. Wherever they’re taking us, it can’t be good. Either they want to keep us for their own purposes or hold us until the Breeders pick us up. I have no idea what will happen if we get sent back to the hospital. If Houghtson survived, he’ll make me pay. If he didn’t, maybe we can talk Dr. Bashees into giving us our old life back.

Who am I kidding? They’d probably make a spectacle of us. Sell us to Rukus, or give us away as a door prize to the most abusive trader. I’m not worth much because of my face, but I am pregnant. That’s worth something.

I think of the tiny paunch that rises beneath my coveralls. These men can’t know. A baby girl would be worth a lifetime’s wages. The thought of having my child cut from my lifeless body freezes me solid. I watch the broken shops we pass and try not to cry.

At the wheel, Tommy drives with white knuckles, his eyes flitting to each dark building in anticipation. If he’s nervous, they aren’t alone. That means these two aren’t the only ones we need to watch out for.

Unlike Tommy, Gabe chatters on about the town, Albuquerque, and gambling. He doesn’t mind that no one answers his questions. Neither of these men seems like the marauders and kidnappers I’ve heard about. Then I remember the gun jammed into my temple.

Tommy turns down a driveway. Trees line one side and large parking lots the other. Up ahead, several adobe-orange buildings fill the horizon. I strain to read signs as we pass. Something about “Admissions” and “Luke Hall.” A metal statue, all angles and sharp points, goes by on my right.

University
, Bell signs.

I frown, not familiar with the word.

She tries again, her fingers flying.
Big school.

I nod and watch as we drive through empty parking lots until Tommy pulls up behind a two-story building with balconies around the second floor. An old bike rack with a well-oiled bike takes up half the sidewalk. Two sturdy chairs sit out front, waiting for visitors. It’s homey. Lived in. This must be where they stay.

Tommy parks and looks at Gabe. “Think you can help me get them inside?”

Gabe winks. “Sure, little brother.”

They walk around the van and open the doors. “Get out,” Tommy says.

We crawl forward on our knees and bound hands. When we get to the edge of the van, they grab our arms and Tommy pulls his gun from his pants. He takes Bell this time and nods for Gabe to handle me. He must think I’m easier. He’s right.

Gabe strides up and smiles. His flashing eyes and movie-star grin would melt my heart if I didn’t think he might kill us. “Shall I show you inside?”

I frown at him. “You act like this is a date instead of an abduction.”

“Aren’t dates just two people getting to know each other better? That’s what we’re going to do.” His smile widens.

“That’s why you held us at gunpoint?” I ask. “To get to know us better?”

“Among other things.” He pauses, looking at the bandages on half of my face. “Looks like you had a bit of trouble. Was it the Breeders?”

I blush and duck my head. “Something like that.”

He frowns.

I feel like dirt.

“This way, please.” His smile is gone now. He gestures toward the building that Tommy has already pulled Bell into. “After you.”

I walk with him close behind. Tommy holds open the main door. Bell stands like a rigid mannequin inside. Her eyes rove over every inch as they wait for Gabe and me to enter. She’s marking escape routes right now. I can’t get my mind to think that way. Maybe it’s from being told where to walk and what to do every minute of my life.

Once we’re inside, Tommy locks the front door. Sidelights on either side have been boarded shut as have all the windows on both ends. We walk a long, dark hallway to another door, open it, and walk upstairs. The second floor is identical to the first with apartments on either side, except the windows aren’t boarded. On this floor, the apartment doors stand ajar, giving the whole place an openness I didn’t expect. As we walk, I glance in the rooms. Past the small kitchens, each apartment is filled with strange collections. One has rows and rows of framed paintings, hung and stacked around the walls. Another apartment has clay statues, pots, urns, and beautifully painted plates stacked on the counters and floor. A third has colorful costumes hung on rolling carts: bright feather boas, longs skirts, and shaggy coats.

Gabe stops beside me and peers in. “My collection. Do you know we could put on every play Shakespeare ever wrote using the costumes in this apartment alone?”

I raise an eyebrow. “What?”

“Shakespeare? Romeo and Juliet?” he asks.

I shake my head.

“Well,” he says, scratching his chin. “Then we have a lot of work to do.”

“Gabe!” Tommy calls from down the hallway.

Gabe glances up and gives Tommy a roll of his eyes. Then he leans toward me. “So uncultured, my brother.” Then, to Tommy, “Keep your pants on.”

Gabe puts his hand on the small of my back and leads me forward. Tommy glares at me as I enter the room at the end of the hall. It’s the only room not wide open, but he’s unlocked it and stands waiting impatiently at the door.

“Hurry up,” he grumbles.

This apartment is the same size and shape as the ones full of art, but it’s nearly empty. I only need one glance around to know that Tommy furnished this one. The furniture is functional and plain. The walls are white and bare. A few dirty plates are stacked by a small sink inside the kitchen and some boots are on their sides by the door, but everything else is shipshape. Past the kitchen, the space opens up into what was probably a living room with a balcony on the far end. A hallway to the left looks like it leads to at least one bedroom and probably a bathroom. The carpet has been worn threadbare over the years, and there’s a hole in the far wall that looks like a fist made it, but this apartment is in good shape. No holes in the roof. No sagging beams. This building has stood for over a hundred years. Someone must’ve been taking good care of it.

Tommy grabs my arm and marches me to a plastic chair with metal legs. He plops me down in one and Bell in another beside me. Then he seems to think differently and moves her across the room.

“Watch them,” he says to Gabe.

Gabe gives him a dismissive wave of his hand.

“No. Really. Watch them.” He gives his brother a hard look.

Gabe rolls his eyes. “Tommy, do you think I was kicked in the head by a mule between now and five seconds ago? I know to watch them.”

Tommy huffs off down the hall. Gabe pulls up a chair and sits by me.

“So I was thinking, we only have a few days and I have so much to show you. You haven’t heard of Shakespeare and that’s just a crime, but then there’s fine art and the studio. Oh, and the sound stages! God, we have so much to do.” He talks a mile a minute, gesturing with his hands.

Tommy makes this feel like an abduction. Gabe makes it feel like summer camp.

“Why do we only have a few days?” I ask.

His face darkens, but he leaps past it like the other uncomfortable questions I’ve asked. “What do you like better: music, movies, or art?”

I decide to play along. “There wasn’t any music in the hospital. Or art. They let us watch old movies and TV shows, though, to pass the time.”

Gabe’s eyes widen. “Which ones?”

“Classic movies in black and white. Nothing controversial or thought provoking. Anything with princesses and romance.
Cinderella.
Singing in the Rain
.
Roman Holiday
. I know every word of that one.
En Español
.”

His bright eyes eat up every word. And he hasn’t stared at the bandages on my face. I’m talking too much and not being guarded, but he makes me feel so at ease. I don’t look at Nanny. I’m sure she’s shooting eye daggers at me.

“Fascinating,” Gabe says, with a wag of his dark eyebrows. “We don’t have electricity, so movies are out, but we have a sound stage with props. You saw the costumes.”

“Enough,” Tommy says, coming into the room. He holds a coil of plastic cable in his hands. “She isn’t going to the sound stage. She doesn’t even need to know about the sound stage.” He grabs Gabe by the sleeve and pulls him close. They whisper heatedly until Gabe yells, “Fine!” and storms out.

What the hell have we stumbled into?

Tommy watches him leave, his hands strangling the cable coil.

After a moment, he turns to us. “I’m gonna tie you up.”

“I have to go to the bathroom,” I say.

“Really? I just… Can you hold it?” When I shake my head, he walks to the other side of the room and uses the cord to tie Bell to her chair and the chair leg to a heavy bookshelf. When he’s done, he gestures impatiently for me to follow him down the hall.

Inside what must be his bedroom—with a chipped, wooden bedframe and a bare mattress, a desk, a matching bookshelf—he leads me to a bathroom. I shoot him a curious look. “What?” he asks.

I look at the toilet. “I can go in here? Does it flush?”

He pushes down the toilet’s handle. It fills slowly with water.

“You have water here?” My throat is constricting at the thought. With all this excitement, I’ve forgotten how thirsty I am. I look at the faucet hungrily.