Lia encouraged me to wear their clothes, but I slipped back into my jeans and t-shirt. It felt safer somehow.
When I went upstairs, I found Harlow in the kitchen, mixing something in a bowl. She wore one of their ill-fitting garments, a pale yellow dress, and her hair had been pulled back in an intricate braid, matching several of the other girls’ styles.
Harlow laughed and smiled brightly at me with flour on her nose, and I realized sourly that she thrived in this environment.
Really, I should’ve known. She had done wonderfully in the quarantine. Harlow had been the girl that everyone liked. I kept to myself a lot, and that’s that probably what drew me to Vega. In the kitchen, several girls ran about to cook or do things, but Vega was nowhere in sight.
Nevaeh forced me to eat some kind of weird tasting toast. I was about to ask where the boys were when Lazlo rushed in from the dining room. His skin had gone pale, and his wide smile managed to look relieved and terrified. Like me, he stuck with his street clothes, and he had a hand shoved in his back pocket.
“Did you sleep okay?” Lazlo asked and ran a hand through his hair. His eyes darted around the room, trying to keep sight of all the girls flitting about, and he stepped closer to me.
“Yeah. Slept great,” I gulped down the toast without really chewing. It tasted sour and flat, and I didn’t even want to know how they made it. “How about you?”
“Yeah,” Lazlo said, staring intensely at Nevaeh as she left the room.
Lia had been wiping a counter with a rag, but when Nevaeh left, she moved a bit closer to us. She stopped, twirling the rag in her hands, and smiled sheepishly.
“Did you get enough breakfast?” Lia asked him.
Lazlo was too preoccupied to read how she looked at him, all doe-eyed and dreamy. I don’t think she recognized him, but he was an attractive young guy, and she was a very sheltered young girl. He took her gazing offensively, though, and moved closer to me.
“Yeah. ” Lazlo nodded, refusing to even look at her.
“Good morning!” Korech boomed and appeared in the kitchen doorway.
Lia blushed and lowered her eyes. Korech walked over to us, and Lia mumbled an excuse and hurried away.
“Morning,” I said, still trying to swallow the awful toast.
Lazlo moved so he was almost behind me. He bowed his head, looking as if he wanted to disappear into the cupboards.
Korech glanced at him diffidently before settling his gaze on me, and I forced a thin smile at him.
“I trust you slept well,” Korech said, putting a strong hand on my arm.
To onlookers, it probably appeared to be a comforting, warm gesture, but I only felt him trying to show his strength and dominance over me.
“I was just telling Lazlo that I slept fantastic,” I smiled as wide as I could and leaned back against the counter, pulling my arm away from him. He was much stronger and bigger than me, but that didn’t mean I would let him dominate me.
“That’s excellent news. ” Korech crossed him arms over his chest. “We’re going to be having our morning worship shortly, and we would love it if you joined us. ”
“Yeah, I’ll be there,” I nodded. I wasn’t ready to rock the boat quite yet, not without talking to Harlow, and I didn’t even know where Blue was at. “I should just check on Ripley, the lion, first. ”
“I’m sure she’s doing alright. Shiloh fed all the cats this morning when she went hunting,” Korech said. I must’ve looked confused, because he continued, “The women hunt every day, usually killing small game like rabbits or coyotes for us to eat. They also find the occasional zombie or other food not meant for human consumption, and they bring that back to feed the tigers. ”
Other food made me swallow hard, because I’m sure that meant bodies of the uninfected human variety.
“I’d still like to check on her,” I insisted with a plastic smile.
“As you wish. ” Korech made no attempt to hide the displeasure in his voice.
The kitchen had several girls in it, but as the tension thickened, the room fell silent. Harlow watched me as she helped make more of the sour bread, but I couldn’t read her expression.
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Korech stood directly in front of me, and he took a small step back so I could get by. I nodded and slid past him. Lazlo said he’d go with me, following directly on my heels, and I half-expected Korech to stop him, but he didn’t.
In the front room, Nevaeh straightened the pillows and couches, and Blue helped her move the furniture. He smiled at us but didn’t come with.
As soon I stepped outside, feeling the warm breeze, I took a deep breath.
“Ripley! Kitty kitty!” I shouted, stepping off the porch into the sunlight. Lazlo stayed right with me, glancing back at the house. “Ripley!”
“We should just get in the SUV and go,” Lazlo whispered. He leaned in close to me, his dark eyes intense and worried. “Do you have the keys?”
“Of course I do. ” I had taken them with me and locked the SUV behind me. I didn’t trust Korech, so I made sure to keep the keys on me.
“Let’s just go. ”
“We’re not leaving Blue and Harlow here,” I brushed him off and looked around for Ripley. I saw a tiger a few meters away, eating what I hoped was a zombie arm, but that was all. “What happened that has so you freaked?”
“I don’t know. ” Lazlo kicked at the ground. “You know the other ‘boys’ who live here? There are only three of them, and they’re twelve, nine, and five. ” He looked at me, waiting for it to sink in. “Korech is the only adult male here. ”
“I get it,” I said in a hushed tone and stepped further from the house. “But Harlow likes it here. ”
“Then leave her here,” Lazlo said without missing a beat.
“No,” I scoffed.
“She is safe,” he pointed out. “They want her. They love her. And as much as this place creeps me out, it’s the safest place I’ve been to since this whole zombie thing happened. She’s not gonna get killed or infected here. She might even be happy. ”
“Being indoctrinated into a cult?” I shook my head, and pushed away any of the points he made.
“Maybe it’s not a cult,” Lazlo shrugged, but I don’t think he even believed that. “It doesn’t matter. The world is a different now, Remy. Food, electricity, water, safety, those things might all be worth staying here for. ”
“If you really believe that, then why are you telling me to leave?” I asked. “If it’s worth it to stay, then why shouldn’t I?”
He met my gaze but didn’t answer right away.
“You wouldn’t survive,” he said finally. “Even if you weren’t trying to find your little brother. Korech can’t break you. ”
“Let me talk to Harlow. I can’t leave here without her. ” I squinted up at the bright sunlight. “Until then, stop acting like such a spaz. He’s not gonna kill you right in front of everyone. ”
“How do you know?”
“I won’t let him,” I promised, and that actually seemed to calm him down. “We better go back inside before the worship thing starts. I’ll look for Ripley later. ”
“So you really just found that lion on the side of the road?” Lazlo asked as we walked back to the ranch.
“Yeah. Why? Did you just think that I had a pet lion?”
“Kinda,” he shrugged.
“You’re an idiot,” I sighed.
The worship wasn’t quite as disturbing as I had expected it to be. They sang a few songs, and it all sounded like basic evangelical music. The sermon, however, got a bit weird.
Korech read from the Bible, but he related all the passages about the second coming of Christ to himself. While he didn’t exactly say it, he clearly insinuated that he was the Messiah.
I sat on the couch next to Lazlo, since he refused to leave my side, and Harlow and Lia sat on the floor in front of us on pillows. I tried to see how Har
low took all of this, and she seemed to be going along with whatever everybody else did.
Blue sat on the other side of the room, and the only person who would sit by him was that Vega girl. She and Blue kept similar expressions throughout the worship – as neutral and blank as possible. Whatever was happening here, she stopped buying it.
Lia kept looking back at Lazlo. She tried to be inconspicuous, but Korech caught on. He called her into the middle of the circle and preached about temptation and casting the demons out. He laid a hand on her forehead and talked in tongues.
At that point, she sobbed and all the other girls chanted.
Lazlo took my hand and squeezed it. I couldn’t remember the last time I held hands with anyone, and I tried to concentrate on that instead of the scared, sick feeling growing in my belly.
After it was over, Korech took Lia back to his room for “private prayer,” and while that didn’t sit well with me, I didn’t know what I could do about it. I tried to sneak in a moment alone with Harlow, but Nevaeh followed her around like a hawk.
With Korech out of sight, Lazlo distracted Nevaeh by “accidentally” lighting a kitchen curtain on fire. It wasn’t a serious blaze, so I only had a few minutes with Harlow. I got her outside by convincing her to go with me to look through our clothes in the SUV.
“Nevaeh is going to show me how to make a dress today,” Harlow told me as I hurried out to the car. I kept glancing back over my shoulder as if someone would come drag me off.
“That’s great. ”
“And you have to try the bread I made,” Harlow said as I unlocked the back of the vehicle. I had to look like I was doing what I said I would do, in case somebody came out.
“Don’t you wanna get out of here?” I asked.
“Why would I wanna do that?” She unzipped one of her bags and sifted through it, oblivious to my ulterior motives. “They have everything I need here. ”
“Maybe. But doesn’t it seem weird here to you?”
“No weirder than most places I’ve been lately,” Harlow shrugged. She pulled out her panties, most of which consisted of lace and satin.
“They won’t let you wear panties like that. ” I tried to appeal to her keen sense of fashion and her rebellious nature since logic seemed to be failing.
“Yeah, they will,” Harlow sneered at me. “Didn’t you see the underwear they had there? Nevaeh said that our body is our temple, so we need to cover it and protect it. But our bodies are beautiful, so under the humble clothing we need to dress it up. ”
“Wait. What?” I gaped at how cavalier and unfazed Harlow sounded. “They’re encouraging you to wear sexy lingerie? That doesn’t seem weird to you?”
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“Yeah. It does,” Harlow said. “I’m not an idiot. I get that they’re probably crazy, but they’re nice, and I can shower. I can have friends and a life here. Nevaeh said that we can be a family. ”
“We?” I asked.
“I know that you’ll leave to find Max, but we don’t have to. ”
“Lazlo and Blue won’t stay here. Korech won’t let them,” I told her firmly.
“That’s not true,” she said but refused to look at me.
“Lazlo is scared to death of him. There’s no way he’ll stay here even if Korech doesn’t make him leave. ”
“No. Lazlo is just scared because you are. He trusts you. ” She kept trying to sound casual, but her voice had gotten small and tight. “Just leave Lazlo here. You don’t need him to find your brother. He’ll only slow you down. ” She paused before quietly adding, “We’re all slowing you down. ”
I couldn’t argue the merits of that. It would be easier for me to simply leave, letting Korech take care of them.
The only people who had been prepared for an epic disaster had been the zealots living off the grid, leaving the rest of the straggling survivors to barter with them. The cost of everything was so much different now.
I didn’t want to leave Harlow here, but it wasn’t my decision to make, especially not when Korech could offer more protection than I could.
“I won’t force anybody to leave,” I said finally.
“Good. ”
“But I won’t force anyone to stay either,” I said.
She stopped going through her clothes and just stared down at them for a minute.
I heard the front door slam shut, and my whole body tensed. I leaned back, peering around the SUV, expecting Nevaeh and afraid of Korech. But it was only Blue, his hand shoved in the pockets of his jeans as he walked towards us.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Blue asked when he reached us.
“Nothing,” Harlow shoved her panties into the pockets of her dress. “I need to get inside before Nevaeh starts looking for me. ”
She went back to the house. I wanted to stop her, but I couldn’t think of a good enough argument.
“What’s with her?” Blue watched her walk away, and I just shrugged. “I thought you guys might be making your escape or something. ”
“I wish,” I sighed.
“We are leaving, right?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “I just don’t want to leave her behind. ”
Ruth came out, telling us we needed to come in to help her with lunch. Reluctantly, I shut the back of the SUV and headed inside.
I ended up peeling about fifty potatoes, and Blue and Lazlo got conned into helping clean a rabbit and fox for dinner. Lazlo didn’t last very long, because he threw up, and then he got to go lie down in the living room.
We all ate lunch at the table, including the three little boys that lived here. The only one missing was Lia. When I asked about her, Korech informed me that she was fasting to get closer to God. Other than that, the meal didn’t seem that different from any other family dinner. Lots of talking over one another, even laughing.
Blue kept getting suckered into doing manual labor, like fixing a hole in the roof and the rickety backdoor. Korech tried on several occasions to get a moment alone with me, but I always made some excuse.
It helped that Lazlo followed me like a shadow. Harlow spent the whole day learning how to be domestic, and somehow enjoyed it.
After supper, I caught sight of Ripley running by, but she was very far away. The tigers kept her at bay, and I didn’t like it.
That night, I allowed myself one more shower, even though I had to take it with three other girls. I didn’t want to condemn Harlow to this life, but she wasn’t my responsibility. She wasn’t my sister.
I didn’t want to leave anyone unless I had to, but I had my brother to think about. He needed me more than she did. I couldn’t stay here much longer.
I was curled up in bed, getting a good night’s sleep while I still could. I thought I heard something, but when I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see anything in the darkness of the windowless basement.
I closed my eyes, settling back in to sleep, and then the bed started to move. My heart stopped as fear spread over me.
– 9 –
I rolled onto my back so I could punch whoever had crawled into my bed. I hoped to catch sight of them, so I could figure out where to fight back.
“Remy,” Lazlo whispered, realizing just in time that I was about to hit him. “It’s me. ” I finally started making out the contours of his face.
“What are you doing?”
“We gotta go. ” Lazlo looked back over his shoulder.
“Now? Right now?” I asked.
“Yeah, Blue is upstairs being a lookout, but we can’t stay. Korech told me. I’m sinful and corrupting the girls, and if I stay, he’s going to have to take action to cleanse me,” Lazlo informed me hurriedly.
“What does that even mean?”
“I didn’t want to know, but Blue asked, and all Korech’d say was that people don’t always survive a cleansing. ” He shivered, his body shimmering like a mirage in the darkness.
“He basically
threatened to kill you?” I struggled to keep from shouting.
The thought of Korech just talking about hurting him enraged me. I felt surprisingly protective of Lazlo.
“Yeah. Unless I leave. So… we gotta go. ” He’d been leaning on the edge of my bed, but he stood up.
“Is that the truth?” Harlow asked quietly, her voice coming from the bed behind me.
“I haven’t lied to you yet, kid, and I’m not gonna start with this,” Lazlo said. “If you wanna come, you gotta do it now. ”
“I’ll go with you,” Lia piped in, shocking all of us, I think.
I looked up at Lazlo, but it was too dark to see his expression. If she wanted to come with, I wouldn’t stop her.
I sat up and threw my feet over the edge of the bed, feeling around in the dark. My clothes were folded on the end of the bed, but I didn’t bother changing into them. If we had talked loud enough to wake Lia, I’m sure we had woken other girls. It was only a matter of time before they sounded the alarm.
“Harlow, get your stuff,” I commanded.
She didn’t say anything, and for one unnerving minute, I was afraid I’d have to drag her out of here against her will. Then I saw her silhouette as she sat up, and I let out relived breath as she gathered her own clothes from the end of the bed.
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Despite what I’d said earlier about not forcing anyone to leave, I couldn’t leave Harlow here, not with a man who had threatened to kill Lazlo. I didn’t know what I’d do if she tried to fight me on leaving.
I sent Harlow up the stairs ahead of me, and I hurried behind her with Lazlo at my heels. I didn’t check to see who was following us. I didn’t want to know.
Part of me felt guilty for leaving any of the girls here, but I didn’t really have a choice. I didn’t have time to argue and convince them, especially when most of them wouldn’t be convinced. Besides that, I couldn’t ignore the fact that Korech had kept them all alive thus far.
Moonlight shone through the kitchen window. Blue waited by the basement door at the top of the stairs, watching out for Korech or Nevaeh. I looked back to see who had come with us, and Lia had followed, along with Vega, whose dissension made more sense than Lia.
Without saying a word, we rushed through the house. It was dead silent, and if we made a sound, Korech had to hear us. I held the screen door open as everyone else ran outside, and I gently closed it behind them, making sure it didn’t slam shut.
“Get in the car,” I whispered as they darted out into cool night air. “Blue, you drive. ” I had my jeans in my hand, and I pulled the car keys from the pocket and then tossed them to him. “But don’t start it yet. I gotta get Ripley. ”
“You’re gonna look for Ripley now?” Lazlo asked as Blue unlocked the vehicle.
“I’m not leaving her. ”
“Hurry. He’ll notice us missing soon,” Vega warned, but she didn’t look scared. I wasn’t sure if I found that comforting or creepy.
As the girls crawled into the SUV, Blue paused and exchanged a look with me. I had to look for the lion, but I didn’t want to risk the safety of everyone else. At the first sign of trouble, Blue needed to get out of here, protecting the girls, even if I wasn’t ready.