Page 12 of The White Rider
“I still don’t know how you got out. I’m right on top of them. The Bubbas think I’m one of them, and I need them to believe that, at least for now. That’s theonlyreason I’m able to come and go within the heart of D.C. They think I’m this badass hunter, and I bring them rabbits. They are everywhere. Someone surely would have caught you,” Asher said.
“Did you not hear me? Someone did. Those fuckers have Cinnamon. They bring all the kidnapped women to the Washington Cathedral. They are held there until they are beaten down enough to realize their resistance is futile. Once they have a big enough crop, they auction them off to the Bubbas, on the cathedral steps.
“Cinnamon and the other women I escaped with were taking longer to break, so we were still there. They had us locked in this room, with no place to sleep but the floor. The Witch lost a pin from her hair while she was roughing someone up, and didn’t notice. I’m pretty handy with locks. When they locked us in to leave with their Bubbas, I picked the locks, and we snuck out.
“Yeah, there were Bubbas everywhere, but everyone with me managed to survive World War III. We aren’t foolish. We would have all gotten out if someone hadn’t gone back to the cathedral and realized we were missing. Asshole. The four of you might be amazing soldiers that managed to createa vaccine andhave a way to kill the Rage Heads, but don’t knock those of us that managed to survive the Rage Mutation and the war without military training.”
Dice started laughing and smacked Asher on the back of the head.
“You just got owned, bitch! How about you stop grilling the victim who is just trying to help?”
“No, I get it,” Daria said. “If he’s infiltrated them, then he knows the mind games they play. It’s certainly within the realm of possibility that I’ve turned and intend to betray the resistance now that I’m back. Except they didn’t get in my head. I want them all dead. You did it with the Rage Heads. You can do it with them.”
“No,” Asher said.
After listening to Daria, I began questioning my resolve about putting these people on trial. Jails needed people to run them. Prisoners required food and certain necessities. Sure, the Witch couldn’t be bothered to give all those women that in the cathedral something to sleep on, but if we were going to put them in jail, we’d have to care for them better than they cared for all the people they kidnapped and tortured.
Who had time for that when the entire world needed to be rebuilt? And to think, before all this, I was totally against the death penalty.
“Excuse me, what?”Daria demanded.
“The Rage Heads were already dead. They were basically just animated corpses. Wiping them out all at once is different from killing an entire city of living, breathing humans, no matter how awful they are,” Asher said.
“Do I need to go into more detail about what they do to women in that cathedral? Maybe you’ve been hanging out with the Bubbas too long.”
“They are going to pay, Daria,” Dice said. “We’re going to round them up and put them on trial. Every government in the world is now like this—some crazy despot seized control in the chaos. Not all of them have followers as insane as Isaiah's, but they all like being permitted to act up. We can’t kill all those people.
“This is a chance to rebuild the world. Things that didn’t work before, but never got changed because some men decided on it centuries ago can be reworked. Things can be better. People can be better.”
Since when was Dice on board with the trial? Was he on #teamAeron when it came to wiping them all out?
“I thought you wanted them all dead?” I demanded.
Dice just smirked at me.
“They will be after the trial. Everyone wins. Asher and Leif get their trial, the US learns a lesson on how not to handle shit when things get bad, and everyone they hurt gets what they want, too.”
“I thought you were going to put them in jail?”
“Sure. Until we hear the evidence against them. We’re giving them a lot more courtesy than they gave everyone else since the world went to shit. If you were a man and were against Isaiah, they’d put a bullet in your head. You’ve heard what they do to the women,” Asher said.
That was the first I’d heard from Asher about killing them. I guess I’d just assumed he wanted them in jail, but alive. He was so different from his brothers. Maybe I thought he was different in the killing department too. Aeron didn’t hesitate. If it meant keeping me safe, he’d kill everyone. Dice was all about keeping casualties of war down. If killing all those people meant stopping another war, he wouldn’t hesitate.
Leif was all about saving lives, but I knew he was really a big picture kind of guy. He would know what the outcome of one of Dice’s trials when he said that was what he wanted. I trusted these men, but I also trusted my experiences. I might have nearly flunked every science class I ever took, but I loved history classes.
These people likened my father to Jesus. When word got out he was dead, theywouldrevolt. They couldn’t be reasoned with, and there would be another war. People like those in Gabriel’s Haven would get wiped out by the Scooters of the world. Not every state had done what California had done with the walls. I was sure there were other communities like Gabriel’s Haven out there, just trying to survive.
It wasn’t up to me, though. My beef was with my father. I hated the Bubbas for what they had done and the Marthas that helped them, but I had no experience with them.
“Are you okay with that, Daria?” I asked.
“If you’re putting them on trial, I demand it be broadcasted over the radio so the entire country can hear, and I want to testify.”
Dice just grinned.
“It will be. And we want to hear fromeveryone.You’ll be heard.”
“Then let’s do this. I have all their faces etched in my memory. You can use those and their tattoos when you make your move.”
