Beyond all of them was a scattering of mature oak trees. Maybe forty yards away. Each trunk had something tied to it with rope. Wait, check that. Someone tied to it.
There were four naked women, each one tanned and scarred, their heads covered with some kind of brown hood. Burlap sacks, perhaps. None of them appeared to be moving.
“Looks like we’re missing one, Fletch,” the redhaired man said to the bald guy.
“I’m getting to it, Dice,” Fletcher replied. He then leaned in close to Summer’s ear from behind. “Where’s Lipton?”
Summer broke into a frenzy, swinging her arms and kicking her legs as she screamed something into his hand.
Fletcher tossed her body from left to right and back again as if she only weighed five pounds. “Easy now, bitch. That’s how more of your friends will get hurt.”
Summer continued her punching and kicking, apparently not hearing the man’s words.
Fletcher threw her to the ground and climbed on top of her, his hand still covering her mouth. “Stop it or I’ll kill every last one. Slowly.”
It took another second or two, but Summer’s arms and legs ended their resistance, falling limp as if she’d passed out.
“That’s better,” Fletcher said, sliding off and getting to his feet, dragging her with him. “Now, if I remove my hand, will you stay calm?”
She nodded.
He took his hand away in measured increments. “Now, answer my question.”
“Which one?”
“Lipton?”
“He’s not with us,” Summer said. “We left him back at camp.”
“That’s a load of bullshit,” Dice snapped. “We were just there and he wasn’t.”
“Plus, we saw him when we took a shortcut to get ahead of you. So try again. This time, the truth,” Fletcher said, flicking his eyes in the direction of Simms. “Otherwise, wonder boy over there is next.”
Before Simms could react, Horton spoke up. “Fletcher, you don’t have to do this. I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
Fletcher turned his focus to Horton and burned a gaze into him. Then he looked at the red-skinned guard keeping Horton secure. “Archer, if that traitor speaks again, shoot him.”
“With pleasure,” Archer replied.
Fletcher continued, his eyes now aimed at Summer. “So what’s it going to be, girl? Or should I do the world a favor and gut that mangy mutt of yours? Right now, with the dullest blade we have.”
Summer closed her eyes and held still, making Simms wonder if she was playing possum.
Before he could decide, she stuck her jaw out, opened her eyes, and said, “He’s back at our trucks.”
“Is Carr with him?”
“Summer, no. Don’t tell him anything,” Simms said. A second later, he felt something smash against the back of his head, sending him to the ground in a twist. He craned his neck and looked at Summer, hoping she’d follow his suggestion.
Summer nodded to Fletcher. “Krista doesn’t want to let that jerk out of her sight. She doesn’t trust him.”
“Nor should she.”
“Why are you doing this?” Summer asked. “I thought we were all on the same side.”
Fletcher huffed a short breath, as if he were amused. “There are no sides, Summer. Only the winners—us. And the losers—you. It boggles the mind that none of you understand the dynamics at play.”
Summer scrunched her face. “What does that even mean?”
“It means we only put up with Edison and his Trading Post bullshit because of Frost. Now that they’re both out of the way, it’s time to take what’s rightfully ours.”
“Lipton?”
“No, everything. The silo. The tech. The food stores. The fuel. The weapons. Everything.”
Dice laughed before he spoke. “You don’t really think what happened at the Trading Post was an accident, do you? Some random Scab attack?”
Summer held for a moment, then asked, “That was you guys?”
Dice laughed. “Of course it was. How else do you think we knew to bring the repellent spray?”
Fletcher nodded. "You people are far too trusting of random events, when they are nothing even close to random.”
Dice continued, “We knew Frost was planning to take out Edison that day, so we arranged a little stampede of our own. As a diversion, to keep Frost occupied while we moved to take him out.”
Summer held for a moment before responding. “The Scabs? How?”
“With a little help from a friend.”
“Someone in our camp?”
“No. Again, not even close,” Dice said.
Fletcher looked at Dice and raised an eyebrow before returning his focus to Summer. “One way or the other, Edison and Frost were finished that day.”
“It was time for new leadership and a new set of rules,” Dice added. “And none of it involved monthly meets at the Trading Post or any of that nonsense.”
“Now we’re going to deal with Carr,” Fletcher said, bringing his eyes around to the biggest man in the group. “Go find her, Boone. End this once and for all.”
“It’s about Goddamn time, Fletch.”
“Take wonder boy there with you. Carr will get the message.”
CHAPTER 40
Krista finished lashing Lipton to the steering wheel of the truck, pulling the ends of the paracord tight in a double knot. “That should do it.”
“You can’t just leave me here,” Lipton said, his eyes round and flared as she took a step back, leaving the door of the vehicle open.
“The hell I can’t.”
“You’re supposed to protect me.”
“Maybe in the dream world you live in.”
“I heard Summer tell you that I’m supposed to be kept safe at all costs.”
Krista held for a moment, running the conversation with Summer through her mind. “Nice try, Lipton, but you couldn’t have heard that. We were too far away. Not unless you can read lips.”
“Ah-ha,” the man said, his voice energized. “So I am right. You just confirmed it.”
“Shit,” Krista said, mad at herself for letting her lips slip. She checked her stock of ammo and made sure her pistol was ready to fire.
Lipton continued. “Come on, this isn’t right. If the Scabs attack, I’m a sitting duck.”
“Then maybe next time when someone is kind enough to take you in and protect you, you’ll do what you’re told and quit being such an asshole all the time.”
“I’m not an asshole.”
“Oh yeah, you are. Big time. In fact, I’ve never met anyone bigger.”
“What? Because I’m smarter than all of you combined? How is that my fault? I was born this way. I can’t help it if I’m surrounded by dullards with the collective IQ of a crayon.”
“You see, there you go again,” Krista said, shaking her head. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
“What if you don’t come back? None of you? What am I supposed to do? Just sit here and starve to death because you think I’m an asshole? Really? How is any of that fair or just?”