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chapter forty-six

Emily

Thankfully, I’d been to Freddie and Layne’s room and knew where it was. And it was also a relief that it was on the ground floor. I peered in the window I’d just knocked on, a flame flickering to life within the room, and the shadow of a person appeared in front of me. Layne. I took a step back as the window opened and then I put my finger to my lips, her brow knitting before her head turned toward a noise from the street.

Freddie appeared next to her, and Layne shushed him too. I gestured to both of them to climb out just as the distant sounds of people entering the house they were in could be heard from the front. “Come on,” I whispered.

Freddie climbed quickly from his window, and then turned to help Layne out too. “What’s happening? Who is that?” Layne whispered as I led them away from the back of the house.

“Leon’s a Judas. This community is being taken over by his people. They’re armed and they’re going to march everyone out the front gate, except those of Leon’s choosing.”

I’d said all that as one continuous stream of whispered words and now took in a big gulp of air as Freddie and Layne stared at me in shock. But the sounds coming from the streets in front of the homes and now inside many of them as well, told the truth of what I was saying.

“His choosing?” Layne asked, eyes wide.

“Young, strong, I don’t know. They’re his people. He’s the leader here now. The guards at the front are loyal to him and let the others in.”

“Fuck,” Freddie hissed. “I worked with those dudes guarding the gate in LA. I always thought they were sketchy,” he muttered. The low beam of a flashlight flickered next to us, and we all leaned back, using the fence for cover. After a moment it disappeared as though someone out on the street had shined it through the side yard. We waited for a moment, listening before Freddie met my eyes and then looked at Layne. “A number of us have been planning for something like this. There are many here who’ve been gathering weapons and supplies. Some had them in their homes and risked going back out for them. Other attained them in other ways.”

“You were keeping that from me?” Layne asked.

“We didn’t want to offend the original residents. You weren’t here yet, but they wrung their hands even about arming the guards at the gate. They had a whole meeting about it and everything. And I didn’t want to worry you, I know you don’t like guns. But we might end up having some of the last food in the city. We might be very close to that point now.”

He took a few steps and leaned around the fence quickly, surveilling the area and then walking back to us. “Come on, I’ll explain as we walk.”

We left the cover of the fence and started walking across an area of open lawn, finally moving behind a spread of trees and bushes where we could get lost in shadow.

“It was just a contingency,” Freddie went on. “Me, the original staff, and some of the others who have been here longer than you, thought something like this might happen. Even two armed dudes at the entrance weren’t going to cut it if a group of people worked as a unit to overtake them. We didn’t expect it from within, but we figured there’d come a point where we’d have to defend this community and its resources.”

Leon had essentially said the same thing. Only he’d used that belief to enact his own takeover. Freddie and whomever else he’d been working with here had done it to defend these people.

“Where are the weapons?” Layne asked.

“In the gardens. We need to get to the others before they’re rounded up. Our best chance is to surprise them. Asher, who lives down in the old guardhouse, has been gathering ammo for weeks. We have a planned meeting place near the bottom of the hill.”

“Asher’s incapacitated, but unharmed,” I said, repeating what I’d heard Leon say. “I’ll get down there and help Asher. You and Layne start gathering the people you can. Many are probably already being guarded. Gather your own army.” I gripped my clammy hands together. I was simultaneously relieved that others had formed a small army, had a tentative plan, and the ability to fight fire with fire. But it also sounded extremely dangerous. “This could get really bloody,” I said, my voice shaky.

Freddie looked at Layne quickly and then back to me. “Some things are worth fighting for. We have the upper hand in that we all know the lay of this land and they do not. If we can surprise and incapacitate some of them, then maybe we can convince the others to drop their weapons. They’ve got to be weakened from lack of food. But…yes, it will be a battle. It’s either that, or willingly leave, but that’s certain death because there’s nowhere else to go.”

Only that wasn’t true for me.

My eyes met Layne’s in the dim light of the lantern hanging nearby. “Emily…” She put her hand on my arm. “I understand if this isn’t your fight.”

An ache pierced my chest. She knew. She knew how much despair I felt at the absence of Tuck and my parents. This wasn’t my fight. There was only one place I would willingly die to protect. But it also was my fight because these people had taken me in and been kind to me and they were now facing betrayal and starvation. How could I live with myself if I didn’t participate in helping them in some way? How could I ever look Tuck in the eyes again if I didn’t exhibit at least some of the honor so important to him?

I’d learned so many lessons about valor and what it truly meant to have integrity in the last few weeks. I had learned who I wanted to be and the values I would put ahead of anything, even death.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry I can’t stay.” My purpose wasn’t here. And though I prayed with all my heart Layne and Freddie and the rest would be victorious tonight, my home was elsewhere.

“I know,” Layne said. “You have somewhere to go.”

I grabbed her hand in mine. “I’ll help Asher. Then you fight,” I said. “Fight hard.”

“You too,” she said. “It won’t be easy for you to make it home.”

“Some things are worth fighting for,” I said. She pulled me to her and we embraced, holding each other tight before letting go.

I gave Freddie a quick hug too and then they turned and cut through the foliage. I ducked low and ran to the next house, climbing the pool fence and running quietly around the pool, then jumping the fence again on the other side. There was a high stone wall surrounding the garden at the back of the next house and I grunted in frustration. If I scaled every wall and fence from here down to the front gate, it’d take hours. If it hadn’t been discovered we were gone by now, it most certainly would be by then.

I hesitated for a moment, and then turned toward the front, but spotted the sweep of a flashlight from that direction where they likely had at least one guard in front of each house. I couldn’t risk being caught by one of them. I needed to get to Asher.

There was only one good option, and it would get me to the bottom of the hill quickly. I turned, running along the stone wall and heading toward the edge of the cliff. Behind the gates and fences was a small portion of trees, bushes, and foliage that was almost completely shrouded in darkness. It would take me just as long to step carefully through that lightless area. Instead, I squeezed through the back bushes that suddenly opened up to the edge of the cliff and before I could think about it, I stepped down onto the narrow ledge.

I’d spotted this trail as I’d stood staring out to sea, pretending that if I squinted far enough, I could catch sight of my home. The thought of it now spurred me on and I pressed my back to the rock, moving forward.

Distant noises reminded me to hurry. The element of surprise was going to be crucial. The fact that Freddie and the others had weapons when Leon had told his men they were unarmed was going to work in their favor too. Ammunition was going to be imperative.

The moon was just bright enough to see where I was stepping, back pressed against the side of the cliff as I moved slowly and carefully along the extremely narrow trail, moving down and then around, the path widening but not by much.

I caught sight of a solar lantern twinkling in the trees, here and there, and could hear the gentle breaking of waves on the other side of the cliff. I breathed in the scents of sea and earth, and despite my racing heart, I noted again how beautiful this place was, and felt a sweep of rage that Leon had betrayed these people for his own evil, selfish purposes.

Wind whipped, chilling me, even despite the adrenaline pumping through my body. Thankfully, winter in Southern California was mild, but not so mild on this particular night that the cropped jeans and thin sweatshirt I’d donned were enough to keep me warm.

The darkness concealed me, but it also made the journey treacherous and several times I lost traction, slipping for a moment, stopping, and regaining balance before continuing on.

As I moved, I pictured what was happening above. Leon and his troops would still be gathering the residents from the houses, two or more guards with guns making sure they didn’t gain the upper hand. Maybe they’d even start separating those Leon considered of value from those he did not. Perhaps they’d begin marching certain people outside by daylight, leaving them to starve in the street, the action of the usurpers made possible by their hunger and fear. I didn’t kill them , they’d tell themselves. I just took their place. It was that or die. There was no more food.

A muffled scream came from one of the gargantuan homes, and my heart skipped a beat. I didn’t want to think about who might be screaming and why, and so I didn’t because it would do me no good. But it did bolster my decision to try my best to give these people some sort of fighting chance.

I let out a sigh of relief when I stepped onto a larger portion of land, picking up my speed. The journey downhill less precarious, but the sounds of Leon’s men were everywhere now, no longer attempting to be quiet as they went from home to home.

A burst of gunfire sounded from above, my heart jolting with each distant crack.

“Oh God,” I said. Maybe the people Leon had arranged to take over weren’t killers, but they still had weapons and if someone attempted to fight back, they were going to use them. Who was going to try to escape? If you had nowhere else to go, escape meant death just as surely as facing down a loaded gun.

Based on my travel time and descent, I estimated that I was very close to the front gate. That was confirmed when I spotted the roof of the guardhouse.

I moved swiftly around the back of the small structure, and then stood on my tiptoes to look inside. There was just enough light cast by the lanterns nearby to see that Asher was tied to a chair. He spotted me, his eyes widening as he beckoned me for help by gesturing with his head.

I ducked down again and moved quickly among the shadows to the front of the building, peeking around. The guards were there, but their backs were to me. I kept my eyes on them, my heart thundering as I opened the door, praying it wouldn’t squeak, and slipped inside. I released a gush of breath and then I ran to where Asher was, going down on my knees behind him and beginning to untie his bindings. “The guards are compromised. They surprised me in my sleep and tied me up,” he whispered. “I was able to grab one of their walkie-talkies—”

“That was intercepted. This place is being taken over by Leon Lee and a group of armed men you might have heard being let in through the gate. They plan on evicting the elderly by force, if not others too. Leon says they’re not planning on shooting anyone, but I don’t know if that’s true. They’re unaware you have any weapons here though. Freddie and Layne are gathering as many of your people as they can. They said you know where to meet.”

Once Freddie and Layne alerted a few, they could all begin spreading out quickly, already knowing the lay of the land, every row in all the gardens and each wall and terrace. Even the elderly were on their home turf whereas the invaders were not. It was a huge advantage.

The rope came loose, and Asher began freeing his hands. “I never trusted that guy,” Asher hissed before bending forward to untie the bindings at his ankles. “He acted like he owned the place the first day he arrived. They’ll be sorry they ever attempted this. Are you with us?”

“No. I’m not staying. I have somewhere else to be.”

His gaze hung on me for a moment. “If you belong somewhere else, don’t give that up. I won’t forget what you did for me. For us. Thank you.” Asher pried up a floorboard and took out a large black bag. He reached inside and pulled out a handgun. Then he stood and grabbed something off the top of a shelf and handed it to me. I took it. A key. “Do you know how to ride a dirt bike?”

I remembered the bikes that Asher and Leon had used to take Layne and me up the hill that first day. How was I going to get one of those past the guards though? “It’s been a while,” I said.

“Come on.” Asher pulled in a breath and then unlocked the window at the back of the room. This window was older than the one I’d escaped from and didn’t swing open. Instead, he raised it slightly, pausing when it let out a creak. I cringed and looked over my shoulder as though I could see the guards through the wall. But when I heard one of them laugh loudly at something the other said, my shoulders lowered in relief. Asher raised the window higher, pausing and then pushing it up enough that we could squeeze through.

He stepped aside and I crawled out a window for the second time that night, grateful that this one didn’t involve a descent. Asher was right behind me and we both stood, listening again before he whispered, “I have my own bike that’s parked outside the gate, behind some trees on the left.” Oh. Outside the gate. It was where I was willingly heading, but the phrase itself inspired a ricochet of fear. “Wait for the two shots and then come down to the gate. I’ll open it for you.”

I opened my mouth to ask about the two shots but then realized what he meant. He was going to ambush the guards and kill them. Which was necessary. They’d betrayed the entire community. Instead, I said, “A bike is valuable. What if you need it.” It was probably what they used to go out and obtain all the weapons and ammunition they’d been able to score while others searched for food. It was why they had a fighting chance now. Each vehicle was a matter of life and death.

He glanced behind him and then back to me. “Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘burn the boats’?”

Burn the boats? What? “No.”

His mouth gave a small quirk. “Look it up someday.”

“I’ll google it as soon as I can.”

Asher smiled, and then turned, ducking around the building and into the foliage that ended near the front gate. I closed my eyes and hummed so quietly that no one who wasn’t standing an inch from me would have heard. I waited, my hands gripped together until I heard a loud rustle, a pop, and then a yell that was cut off by another pop.

I walked quickly around the guardhouse and to the gate where Asher was already standing. In my peripheral vision, I saw the two guards lying in a heap next to each other but didn’t turn my head.

Asher pulled the gate open, and I slipped through the small space. He closed it behind me and as he was closing it, I said, “Thank you so much. And good luck.” It seemed so inadequate, but it was all I had.

“You too,” he said and then he turned away, off to join the others. Off to fight.

I found the bike where he’d said it would be and then rolled it down the street, getting far enough away before swinging my leg over it and sitting down. Then I turned the ignition, the loud rumble in the midst of the silent night making me grimace.

I released the brake, the bike flying forward, wobbling momentarily as I emitted a high-pitched hiss, certain I was going to tumble off. But I gripped the handles, finding control and speeding off into the night. If I rode fast, and wasn’t stopped, I could be home before morning.