A Catch in Time Read online

  Laura hoped they would be afraid of contagion and let them pass. Her stomach knotted with tension. They could shoot and loot, but she hoped these men wouldn’t risk the odds that she might be bluffing them.

  The men exchanged a few words, then removed their caps and used them to cover their mouths and noses. One man lowered his rifle a bit. “Go around,” he shouted angrily. “Fast!”

  Laura tossed the makeshift flag to the floor and steered off the road. The slope canted them to the left as she struggled to get the Suburban past the truck. For an instant she was sure they would be shot as they drew alongside them, then they were past, and she fought to get the Suburban back onto the blacktop. At the edge of the asphalt, she pressed the accelerator, and they slewed onto the smoother surface.

  She disregarded all but the worst of the pock-marked surface and held the speeding car to the road, wanting to get far away, fast. Kate shouted at her to slow down.

  “Check Josiah,” Laura said, easing off the accelerator. The rearview mirror showed the other truck’s doors were closed and it was far behind them. A slight curve in the road and then it was gone. Laura breathed easier. Kate scrambled to her knees and leaned over the back of the seat, while Laura scanned the foothills ahead.

  “Aw, shit,” Kate exclaimed.

  “What? Is he all right?”

  “You little shit,” Kate yelled. “Get out here.”

  Laura braked to a stop. “What—” Following Kate’s angry glare, she saw movement in the mound of clothing and blankets in the rear. Her mouth dropped open as Lucas appeared.

  Kate slammed her fist on the seatback. “Goddamn it.”

  “Lucas, what are you doing here?” yelled Laura.

  “I swear to God, I’m gonna beat the shit out of you, you little—”

  “What are you doing here?” Laura repeated. Hastily, she scanned the area around them. They were far too exposed to deal with Lucas right here. Within minutes, she had them off the road and turned into a grove of oaks, where she maneuvered them into concealment.

  Kate, one hand on Josiah’s brow, glowered murderously at Lucas. Laura turned her attention to Lucas as well. He was scrunched into the farthest corner, staring back at Kate. His innocent expression appalled Laura.

  “You think this is some fucking joy ride?” Kate spat.

  “Kate,” Laura cautioned.

  “Don’t give me any shit now, Laura, this is serious.

  What the fuck are we supposed to do with him? We don’t have time to take him home; we’re stuck with him.” She turned to Lucas. “I have a good mind to let you find your own way home.” Cursing with rage, she ordered Lucas out of the car.

  “What are you doing?” said Laura, alarmed.

  “Out. I want him out!”

  “We can’t just leave him here.”

  “We’re not gonna leave him here,” Kate snarled. “I just want him out of my sight before I kill him. We need to figure this out.”

  “We don’t have a choice.”

  Lucas reached for the door handle.

  “Never mind,” Kate shouted at him. “You stay here. Laura and I are getting out. You just sit there, you understand? You just sit there and don’t make a fucking peep.”

  Lucas nodded and settled back, his innocent expression unchanged. Laura couldn’t comprehend it; that look was horribly, dreadfully wrong.

  Kate snatched the keys from the ignition, and Laura followed her as she stomped angrily to the edge of the grove. Near bushes at the base of a large oak, Kate squatted on her haunches. Laura sat cross-legged beside her, careful to keep herself hidden from the road.

  Kate whispered angrily, “What’re we going to do, Laura?”

  “His face, Kate. Did you see his expression?” Was Kate feeling the same fear? Something macabre was so suddenly apparent in Lucas. No, not suddenly, Laura thought, fearfully. It’s always been there and I’ve refused to see it. When did I stop wondering about him? My God, he became a model child. How? Why didn’t I notice? All her earlier distrust of him came rushing back.

  “What did he hear, Laura?” Kate whispered urgently. “What did we say that he could use to betray us in Reno? We talked about fooling the Brotherhood. Do you think he heard us?”

  Laura couldn’t shake the image of Lucas’s innocent expression. Any other child would have shown guilt. Remorse. “I don’t know. Does it matter? He could make anything up.”

  Kate swore. “What’re we gonna do? Keep him gagged? It won’t work. He’ll make noise during the border search and that’ll be the end. Kidnapping. That’s what he’d make them believe.”

  Kidnapping had become the most widespread, and most harshly punished, crime. Healthy, well-formed children were at a premium ever since the mutations began. So many grossly deformed infants had been born since the blackout that many people had stopped having children. But not everyone had access to birth control, so babies were inevitable.

  Society evolved new rules—varying by communities. In some, abortions became as commonplace as sex while, in others, they were forbidden. There were also communities that demanded reproduction, that saw the births as the only method of gauging God’s anger. Which woman’s healthy child would signal an end to the punishment? Grotesque children were often the result.

  Normal children were fiercely coveted.

  Attention was focused on the children born immediately after the blackout, before widespread mutations had become evident. These seemingly normal children became the most highly prized members of their communities, their welfare of utmost importance. But their specialness didn’t last, once the Shaitan were named.

  Shaitan, who slaughtered indiscriminately, whose hideous natures were beyond comprehension. Whose appearance was linked to the second blackout. Look at the eyes, people warned one another, dreading to see that terrifyingly dark, sucking emptiness.

  And then it was identified in the eyes of babies. The bloodbath that followed was the worst catastrophe unleashed by the blackout. Vigilantes searched for Shaitan children—any child born after the blackout—and killed them. Worse, innocent children who were small and appeared to be the right age were killed, along with the hysterical parents trying to shield them.

  By Year 6, young, normal children were at a premium, and committing the crime of kidnapping resulted in gruesome public death.

  Laura and Kate exchanged anxious looks. Was Kate right? Would Lucas betray them, claim he’d been kidnapped?

  “He’s Shaitan,” Kate spat furiously. “He’s always been Goddamn Shaitan. We should have left him back in Reno, when we were first trying to figure out what to do with him, when we knew something was wrong with him.”

  “He can’t be Shaitan, Kate,” Laura said firmly. “It’s not in his eyes. Besides, I thought you didn’t believe in Shaitan.”

  “I’d believe anything about that little fuck,” Kate sidestepped. “He’s not normal and now he’s dangerous to us—to Josiah.”

  “He really fooled us all,” Laura said uneasily. Kate had tolerated him only for John Thomas’s sake. Despite her exasperating stubbornness, Kate was dependable in a crisis, and now it was clear her early recognition of something strange about Lucas had been right. He might already have cost Josiah the small window of survival.

  The air throbbed with danger.

  “Should we kill him?” Laura heard herself say. Stunned, she pressed both hands against her lips.

  Kate stared at her, shocked. Then, grinning hugely, she thrust her face at Laura’s. “Who are you and what have you done with my Laura?”

  “God, Kate, I can’t believe I said that.”

  “Maybe you read my mind.” Kate looked away and added, flatly, “That’s probably what we should do, but we both know that neither of us can do it.” Rising, she said,

  “Come on, we gotta go.”

  “But we haven’t decided anything.”

  “We’ve got to go. We’ll just have to wing it.”

  That evening, while Kate and Laura set up camp i
n a small clearing, Lucas ducked into the bushes. Moonlight flickered through the trees on patches of snow. He moved until he was hidden but near enough to observe Kate and Laura. He would have preferred to remain in the car and play his new game, but the women were too close to it for the game to be safe.

  Finding a tree near a clump of undisturbed snow, he followed their movements while he scooped snow into his mouth. Relaxing, all expression left his face. His eyes gleamed darkly as he settled into his true self.

  He’d discovered his new game unexpectedly, just after Kate and Laura had left him alone in the car. No, not quite alone. With nothing to do, he’d turned his attention to Josiah, drawn by his groans. Crawling to the space near Josiah’s head, he watched the sweat gleam on his face, saw the heated redness of his skin and the pain that contorted his features. A flush of power pumped through Lucas, leaving him light-headed; here was a body, at his mercy. He could do anything he wanted.

  Placing a finger on Josiah’s bandaged shoulder, he’d pressed down and been rewarded by Josiah’s convulsive moan as his head thrashed from side to side. Lucas had glanced furtively around, prompted by years of caution.

  He’d played the game, exploring other pain centers, for as long as he’d dared, until he’d seen the women returning. Then he’d scurried back to his corner, breathing hard, heart thumping with wild beats of erotic pleasure, his first. Unable to regain control of his features, he’d buried his face when the women reentered the car.

  The memory of the game filled him as he hid in the bushes. Eyes glazed, his breath quickened as he relived the intense pleasure, and his hand explored the throbbing in his lap. Mouth open, face slack, he clutched himself, rubbing, pushing, discovering new surges. His painful grip pounded harder and harder, until an explosion burst through him and he cried out, overcome with pleasure.

  “Lucas!”

  Someone had called his name, and he shuddered, trying to reorient himself.

  “It’s okay,” he gasped, unable to keep the tremor from his voice. “Just—just a, a squirrel. It scared me, that’s all.”

  Laura and Kate tried to sleep, curled into their sleeping bags on the hard ground. With no extra bag for Lucas, they’d given him the two-man tent and spare blankets and ordered him to bed after he’d eaten a silent meal of a sandwich and water. His expression of smiling gratitude had filled Laura with disgust.

  The car creaked with Josiah’s restless movements. She and Kate had stopped responding to his moans and delusional babbling, finding they were helpless to ease him further. After tending to his wound and giving him Demerol there was nothing more they could do. The odor from his infected foot was unbearable.

  They would now have to travel over the wintry pass with the windows open. Laura slept fitfully through the last three hours of the night.

  CHAPTER 29

  LAURA EASED OFF THE ACCELERATOR AS THEY NEARED the California/Nevada border. There was little traffic on the road and snow at the shoulders lay in dirty patches. Most of the vehicles she saw were parked and had the Brotherhood logo on their doors: a big red fist clutching a gold lightning bolt. The Brotherhood preached that Jesus Christ now walked the world, but crucifixion would not be his fate this time, not with the Brotherhood ready to kill those who were counter to their holy purpose.

  Seeing uniformed and heavily armed guards, Laura tensed as she came to a stop at the patrol kiosk.

  Kate pinched Lucas, sitting between them, and whispered harshly, “You say one word, you make one fucking move, and I swear you will die.”

  Lucas nodded solemnly. It had taken him some time to settle on the appropriate expression, but he was certain he’d gotten it right.

  As Laura watched one of the guards march toward them, she rehearsed the Brotherhood greeting and response she’d seen on the broadcasts they’d occasionally watched. The Brotherhood channel broadcast twenty-four hours a day, but none of the programming had ever shown the border patrol.

  The guard stopped two feet from her open window, semiautomatic weapon in hand. He wore a khaki uniform, pressed, starched, and adorned with medals and patches, beneath his open, three-quarter length overcoat. His cowboy hat looked incongruous but displayed the Brotherhood logo.

  “The Lord walks,” the guard pronounced, eyes direct and steady.

  “Amen,” Laura responded.

  “The Lord walks among us,” he said, tone subtly rising.

  “Hallelujah!” Laura forced enthusiasm into her voice, willing herself to act for all she was worth.

  “As once He rose, now hath He descended.”

  “Hallowed be that ground.”

  “What say you to Him, Sister?”

  Laura opened her mouth and her mind went blank. What say you to Him, Sister? She couldn’t think, could only hear the question. What was the response? What say you to Him, Sister? Her scalp prickled and she closed her eyes, hiding her sudden fear from the guard’s piercing gaze.

  Kate, hand on Laura’s leg as she leaned across Lucas, responded loudly, “My soul is Thine, O Lord.”

  Laura’s eyes flew open and the guard was staring at her, ignoring Kate. He gestured at Laura with his weapon. Get out, his motion said.

  “Wait,” Kate pleaded, still straining across Lucas’s and Laura’s laps. “Brother, listen.”

  The guard’s attention flicked to her. “She’s exhausted, Brother. She’s been up all night, praying for the Lord’s help. Look. Her husband is dying. We bring him to the Brotherhood, those who have taken the Lord into their hearts and from whom He will not turn.”

  Laura felt a wave of surprise at the cadence of Kate’s words, authentic with religion.

  The guard hesitated, then thrust his head through the open window to peer over Laura’s shoulder. Assaulted by the thick smell of tissue decay rising from the rear, his face wrinkled in disgust. Just as he jerked his head back, he noticed Lucas, half hidden by Kate. The sentry’s expression sparkled, as though he’d just uncovered a treasure, and he spoke to the guards behind him with excitement.

  “Sister Donna!” he yelled. “Over here.” A figure broke from the knot and hurried over, weapon at the ready. The young guard stepped to the side, giving his partner an unobstructed view to the interior. “It’s your pledge, Sister. We can cover for you if you want to take him now.”

  This guard was dressed identically to the other, but her coat collar covered the lower half of her face and the brim of her hat obscured her eyes. All Laura saw was a red nose and a few strands of white hair. What did the other guard mean about taking him now? All that kept Lucas from betraying them was his position, pressed between herself and Kate, and Kate’s empty threat.

  “How old are you, darlin’?” the old woman asked Lucas, tipping her hat back. Her eyes were greedy, as though she could barely restrain herself from snatching Lucas away.

  “Donna?” said Kate, in hesitant recognition.

  Puzzled, Laura wondered what dangerous game Kate was playing.

  “Donna,” Kate said with certainty. “It’s us. Don’t you remember?” Still straining across Lucas, her body hiding a vise like grip on his thigh, she smiled enthusiastically at the woman. “I know it’s been years, but”—her smile faltered and her voice became gentle—“did you ever find her, Donna? Your little baby girl?”

  Memory of the long-ago scene jolted Laura: the near-deserted rest stop, the woman pointing the gun at them, accusing them of stealing her child, the husband … Gary. Gary stepping between them and his crazed wife.

  Sucking in her breath, she saw, in the three-quarter view, a trace of the woman in her memory. Donna’s hair was now white, and her face etched with lines, but her expression was the same, the intensity, the greed. The way her eyes narrowed in suspicion of Kate’s words.

  “Kelly was a Shaitan-child,” she said in a dismissive tone that chilled Laura. “But I don’t remember you. If you’d known Kelly, you’d have known her spirit was taken by the second blackout.”

  “Praise the Lord,” Kate said, switchi
ng gears, “for taking her, Sister Donna. Surely He blessed you with a sign of His coming, removing the unholy from your arms. We’re truly saved now, for He has led us to one of His favored people.”

  Laura could see the effect of Kate’s words on the woman, how her eyes gleamed at Kate’s suggestion of her favored status. A slyness then crept across her features, both puzzling and alarming Laura.

  To the other guard, Donna said. “I’ll take them in, Brother Jimmy.” She pointed to a parked jeep and instructed them to follow her. “We’ll fill out the pledge papers at my house, it’s not far.”

  “Sister Donna,” Kate said urgently, gesturing at Josiah. “My friend’s husband is so ill. Can we take him to the hospital first?”

  The woman hesitated, squinting suspiciously at Josiah. Kate added firmly, “His sickness led us to you. He has placed us all in your hands, Sister.”

  “What’s wrong with him?” Sister Donna asked. Her nose wrinkled at the stench of decay inside.

  “He was shot by heathens,” Kate answered firmly.

  The woman nodded. “Then we’ll go to the hospital.”

  With Lucas between them, Laura and Kate barely spoke as they followed Donna’s jeep into Reno. As Laura drove, her thoughts felt smothered by their predicament.

  The old woman had them at her mercy. They knew nothing about her, and Laura couldn’t shake the strange look she’d seen cross the woman’s face. They traveled now in the wake of Donna’s unknown agenda.

  As they followed Donna along the South Virginia Street exit, Laura considered turning off at a side street and fleeing, but abandoned the thought. There was too much traffic, and every vehicle she saw had a Brotherhood logo on its doors. Their camouflage-painted Suburban was conspicuous. And their mission was to get Josiah to the hospital.

  Once Josiah was in competent hands, they could turn their attention to Sister Donna. And to Lucas. She wished they’d caught him before they’d left home, though now that she understood his true nature she was glad he wasn’t anywhere near Lily. As they drove toward St. Mary’s hospital, she remembered wanting to kill him. The truly unthinkable.