Page 60 of Embers

It doesn’t really matter what she says right now, but it matters to me that she’s there.

It’s several minutes before Faith says quietly, “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want. Forever. We’d love to have you with us.”

“Thank you.”

“But I wonder…” She clears her throat. “Maybe it would help if you get away for a while.”

I inhale and exhale slowly. “I’ve thought about that, but I have nowhere to go. I mean, I can handle myself usually, but I don’t think it would be safe alone.”

“I know. It wouldn’t be safe. But I’ve been thinking too. Mack says Maria and her crew are coming through this way next week. She’d love to have you with them. And it would be different. You’d get to see new things and do different things and be with different people. And you could maybe set aside the whole idea of men for a while and just… just heal.”

I lick my lips. Look at her.

“I’m not trying to get rid of you. I promise. But I think it might be easier for you if you could get away for a while. And joining up with Maria and them—even just temporarily—would be a way to get away.”

I don’t want to join up with Maria. Part of me still blames her for confirming Cal’s hang-ups over me. But I also don’t want to stay here—seeing so many places and doing so many chores that I used to do with Cal. And I definitely don’t want to go home.

I don’t even know what I want. Except I want Cal back, and I can’t have him.

So I reply, “That’s not a bad idea. I’ll think about it.” I gulp over the tension in my throat. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For everything. I’m not sure I would have made it through the last few weeks without you.”

Faith doesn’t reply. Just like me, she’s not one for open sentiment. But she reaches over and squeezes my knee.

It’s enough.

* * *

Two and a half months later, I fall into position behind three other women as we make our approach on an old bar.

It’s around three in the morning, according to the position of the moon, and the voices and activity inside the building have finally quieted.

We’re in the mountains of what used to be West Virginia. For a while now, we’ve heard rumors of a gang who’s been roosting here. They go around and snatch up women and children. Use and abuse them until there’s nothing left.

Most of the decent people in this area have cleared out because of the threat posed by this gang, and so far no one’s been able to stop them.

After enough rumors drifted our way, Maria knew there must be truth underlying it. So we’ve been on the hunt now for this place for two weeks, and yesterday we finally found it.

Tonight we’re going to take them down.

Maria has us train and drill constantly, so there’s no hesitation or missteps from the women on my team. We move silently through the overgrown weeds in the rear of the building. There’s a guard stationed at the back door. He’s leaning against the wall, his shotgun propped casually against his leg. They’re clearly not expecting any sort of assault.

The guard doesn’t see us, even after we move into range. I shoot him easily. Since I’ve attached a homemade silencer to the muzzle of my pistol, there’s only a dull snip of sound. The guard drops immediately, and we keep moving forward until we’re positioned behind the back door.

We wait two minutes until I hear the signal. It’s similar to the hoot of an owl.

Then Kelly, who’s the biggest of the four of us, kicks in the door, and we all move inside.

Two more teams have been approaching from the other two entrances. We converge on the gang simultaneously.

We counted their numbers yesterday. There are fourteen of them. I shoot two before they can even haul their asses to a standing position, and the rest are taken down by the others.

It should have been that easy. That simple. There are a couple of bedraggled women and a teenage boy slumped in a corner, and they straighten up in shock at our violent arrival.

But one of the gang was in the back room with another woman, and he comes out after the rest of the men have been taken out.

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