The worst off were the little ones. They stared listlessly at their elders with sunken eyes, long past the ability to complain or weep at the gnawing hunger in their bellies. If they didn’t arrive at their destination soon, this trail would be decorated with bodies as well as shoes. The food scrounged from roadside stops and small mountain towns had given out a day ago. Everyone now traveled by rote movement rather than hope. No one had realized how far away from the city they would have to walk to reach the fabled village of Lindsay Crossing, the place Riddick had babbled about on his deathbed. It wasn’t like they could use cars and vans —most major highways were nothing but automotive graveyards after the panicked exodus from high populace areas. Had the hardship been evident from the beginning, Gwen knew the kids would have remained in the squalor of their crib until they’d wasted away to nothing.
“I think this is it.” Weasel brought her attention back to him. He handed her the binoculars. “Look down there. Does that look like a house?”
She peered in the direction he indicated. “It looks like a church steeple. So? We’ve been through a lot of small towns since we left home. There hasn’t been more than a handful of kids in half of ’em.” She didn’t mention that some had been in worse straits than the Gatos.
“Yeah, but look to the left of that. It’s a house.”
She followed his direction and froze. A wisp of smoke trickled from the brickwork, and she sucked in her breath. Stepping past Weasel, she scanned the valley with intent. “Shit, Weas, there’s lots of chimneys smoking down there.” Hope flared in her heart, a stab painful enough to cause her to tremble. She ruthlessly forced herself to stillness; she couldn’t afford to lose control in front of Weasel, couldn’t show weakness now when she hadn’t done so since Beau. Instead, she turned to stare at him. “You might be right.”
He nodded, his dark complexion paling at her confirmation. His hands shook so badly that he almost dropped the binoculars when she returned them. When he turned away, Gwen wondered if he was going to break into tears. He seemed close to losing it. She scoffed at herself. Weasel had held his crew together with an iron fist. He hadn’t even broken down when his little sister was caught by the Clinton Street Crips and raped to death two years ago. No way was he losing it now.
This pilgrimage in search of a dead man’s home was a last-ditch attempt at survival. If Riddick had been wrong about his people, if they weren’t as generous as he’d claimed, Weasel and the rest of them would die before winter. Gwen stared into the valley.
What if they won’t take us in?
Weasel turned back to his crew. “I think we’re here,” he said in a raised voice. “I know everybody’s tired, but I want to get this over with. The sooner we get down there, the sooner we’ll know whether to keep hoofing or not.”
It was a measure of their exhaustion that none complained at the shortened rest period. They slowly donned their shoes and sandals, dragged themselves to their bloody feet, and prepared to move. A few shouldered packs, others picked up the weakest of the children. A baby whimpered, but even that took too much energy, and it soon fell silent. When everyone was ready, Weasel led his people down into the valley, Gwen at his side.
***
The blacktop had seen better days, but then what hadn’t? Gwen bypassed a large pothole, ignoring someone’s curse behind her as they stepped into it. At least the road wasn’t as bad as the one across that ravine three days back when they feared the bridge wouldn’t hold long enough for everyone to cross. Time, ill weather and lack of repair had caused part of one entire traffic lane to fall into the gorge below, and the side rails had been suspect at best.
It was now close to noon, and the sun beat down upon them. Some of the boys had removed their shirts, tucking them into the waistband of their jeans. Their skin gleamed with sweat in a variety of hues. The needs of survival had precluded racism. Weasel’s crew had been entirely Hispanic when the plague had swept through the world. Now an even mix of blacks, whites and Asians offset the sun-browned skin and Spanish accents. Gwen laughed to herself.
Who knew that plague and famine would be the great equalizer?
As they descended into the valley, Gwen lost sight of the town. Rock canyon walls grew taller to her left, and white water rushed below in the river to her right. It became claustrophobic in places. The road here was in no better repair, boulders and rockslides having succumbed to gravity to bury their path. Most of the kids skirted the obstacles, only a few exhibiting strength enough to climb over them. They walked forever, though it was cooler here in the shade near the water. Closed in, surrounded by forest and rock, Gwen licked her lips, eyes darting from side to side. Narrow as an alleyway between two tall buildings, always dangerous places in the city, this would be the perfect place for an ambush. She wasn’t the only one feeling static. Those boys and girls with weapons eyed their surroundings with equal nervousness, fingering the safety catches. Tension swelled the further they walked. The young ones noticed the prickly readiness for hostility, their eyes wide as they tried to see what had their elders on edge.
As they rounded a bend in the road, the oppressive mood lifted as the way ahead opened up. From here Gwen saw the town again, much nearer than she had expected. She swallowed against a lump in her throat.
I am not going to cry.
A farmhouse sat a few hundred yards further on, and Weasel waved his people forward. She heard a few relieved sniffles from the kids around her and ignored them. There was still the hurdle of talking these people into allowing a bunch of “ain’t-nobodies” into their lives. For all these townies knew, Weasel’s crew was nothing but a bunch of scrubs come to mooch off their hard work.
The farmhouse looked deserted, the grass in the yard long since gone wild with encroaching native plant life. A rusty swing set crouched in the weeds, chains tinkling gently from the slight breeze. Intrigued, some of the more active children approached the playset, reaching out to tentatively touch the flaking paint.
“Go check it out.” When two of Weasel’s soldiers brought their weapons up to bear, he growled at them. “No,
stupidos
! Show some respect! Knock!”
They looked sheepish as they headed for the front porch.
Gwen peered at a broken window.“I don’t think anybody’s there.”
“Me either,
querida
.” Weasel put an arm around her waist. “But we’ve got to make sure. Besides, if there’s anything there we can use, I can’t leave it behind.”
She made a noncommittal sound and pulled away. She ignored his look of irritation at her slight and went back to the road. Things were changing. That meant her relationship with the leader of the State Street Gatos had become a liability. She neither liked nor disliked Weasel, but had pursued him from the beginning. He was a strong and capable leader, and that had meant safety and security. He would be a nobody here in Lindsay Crossing. She had to keep her options open.
She spotted another house ahead—this one with smoke trickling from the chimney—and her heart lurched in fearful anticipation. In the back of her mind, she mulled over her relationship with Weasel.
Will he allow me to leave him?
He had a territorial streak a mile wide that could create problems. She knew her appearance was hardly desirable. Petite at four foot nine, a starvation diet had done her no favors. She looked little better than a scarecrow with half its straw missing. It would take time to fatten up and become attractive once more. She would have to bide her time until then. Breaking things off with Weasel was paramount. Do that from the beginning and her future cut buddy would never have to deal with her sexual history with Weasel. Of course, it all depended on whether or not Riddick’s people took them in.
Weasel raised his voice, and she turned back to the people she had lived and partied with for the last four years. There was no one and nothing in the house. Weasel rounded up everyone, his movements choppy, his countenance grim. He carried a lot of weight on those skinny shoulders of his. Gwen felt a wave of fondness for him despite her mercenary thoughts. She had been content to be his while the situation called for it. Too bad that had to change.
“Let’s go, fuckers!” he harangued. “We’re almost there.”
His voice carried, loud against the silence of the valley. Gwen eyed the next house, wondering if they had heard him too. Her question was answered a few minutes later as the Gatos dragged their sorry asses up the street. The yard was similar to the last, minus the aging swing set, but the grass here was cut down to manageable levels. Standing on the porch were two boys, one with a rifle and the other with a bow and arrow, of all things. A third one, unarmed, stepped out onto the pavement to block their path.
Gwen and the others marveled at him. He was clean, and his skin didn’t hang from his bones. In fact, he had too much paunch on his belly, indicating a love of beer or sweets. His clothes were completely alien, the jeans worn and patched, his shirt holding no logos or smart sayings. His head was shaved, but his beard filled out his face. He had to be one of the elders here to have such a luxurious growth of facial hair, making him no older than nineteen.
The stranger held his hands up, palms out. “Hold it right there.”
The travelers drifted to a halt, some of them edging closer to look him over. Soldiers gripped their weapons with sweaty palms, eyeing the two on the porch. Weasel’s glare of reproach kept them from attacking.
“Who are you?”
Weasel drew himself up though the stranger had him by six inches or more. “We’re the Gatos from the city. We were told by a cracker that there might be a place for us in Lindsay Crossing.” He looked beyond the kid’s shoulder. “Is this the place? Or do we keep walking?”
The stranger studied him a moment. “This is Lindsay Crossing,” he finally said. “Don’t know nothing about a ‘cracker’ or a place for city kids, though.”
Behind her, Gwen heard a gentle moan of despair from some of the crew. She stepped forward to stand beside Weasel. “His name was Riddick.” She cursed to herself when the boy’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Riddick, huh?” he asked loudly.
On the porch, his two friends brought their weapons to bear, scanning the crowd. In response came the deafening click of multiple Uzis locking and loading. The little ones crouched in fear of the coming firestorm.
Gwen silently cursed again. She should never have said his name.
The stranger moved sideways to get a better look at the gathered children. “Riddick! You here with these people?”
“He’s fucking dead.” Weasel blocked his path. “He was dying when he told us about this place. We left him in the city.”
His attention back on Weasel, the man examined him. Evidently believing the news, he waved his hand at his companions who lowered their weapons. “Good riddance.” He spat on the blacktop.
Weasel gave Gwen a look that was part exasperation, and part fear of what could have happened. They both knew a firefight would have gone in their favor; they outnumbered these yokels twenty to one. But any chance of joining the township would have been shattered.
“Look, do you have a leader or something? Maybe we could talk to him and come to an arrangement.”
The boy grunted, scanning the crew again. “You have to lose the guns.”
With a curt nod, Weasel called over his shoulder. “Drop the gats.”
There was some grumbling, but discipline was always tight with the soldiers. Still, Gwen breathed a sigh of relief as safeties were switched on, and weapons put on the ground.
“Grace!”
A child popped up from behind a bush near the porch, a slingshot in her hand. She looked well fed and strong. The kids her age stared.
“Run into town. Tell Dwayne we got company.”
Grace pelted down the road.
The boy smiled at them. “It’ll be a spell. Why don’t you all settle down in the yard? We’ve got good well water and a bushel of apples to spare.”
Gwen’s mouth watered.
Marissa Loomis finished hoeing the row she worked. She straightened to ease a kink in her lower back. Pulling a rag from her back pocket, she mopped her sweaty face. So far the spring looked promising. She hoped to bring in a bumper crop, and the weather had been cooperating nicely. She scanned the garden, over an acre in size, watching the rest of her family doing their level best to remove the weeds.
Rick had shot up over the last winter. At fourteen, he now towered over her. He paused weeding to flirt with his girlfriend working the next row over. The only indication of Heather Elledge’s condition was the slight swell of her abdomen, barely visible at four months. Loomis figured she would have a miserable season with the summer heat. As much as she hoped the pregnancy wouldn’t take a turn for the worse, she knew chances were slim given Heather’s age. One thing Loomis had learned was that the younger the mother, the more dangerous the birth. Rick would be devastated should something happen to his budding family, but Loomis had spent a considerable amount of time preparing him for the inevitable. Lindsay Crossing had lost several girls and a handful of babes to childbirth over the last five years. It was a harsh fact of life with which they had all needed to come to terms.
Their cousin, Cara Chapman, was the same age as Rick. She was the only one wearing a dress. No one else in the family was particularly interested in the feminine aspects of clothing, not even the children. She and Heather kept the home and hearth spotless, something of which Loomis was glad. If she’d had to do all the cooking and cleaning, she would have long ago run off to the city like some had done in the early days.
Cara’s brother, ten-year-old Terry, tore through his row at the speed of his favorite comic book hero, Superman. His strawberry-blond hair hung in two long braids. It looked like they were wrapped with rabbit fur today, in imitation of an American Indian. Loomis shook her head with a grimace over his lack of care. They would be lucky if the weeds were all he took out. She would have to have another talk with him about his responsibilities. His desire to be an Indian Brave was becoming more trouble than the education it provided.