Cruel World(126)

Everything was silent and still. Unmoving.

“Damnit,” Alice swore, sweeping the entire area with her rifle. Quinn took several steps forward and cupped a hand to his mouth.

“Hello!”

His call echoed across the grassland and returned to them. A crow called from a solitary tree at the base of the hill, its voice mocking.

They waited and then picked their way forward through the divots and piles of blasted steel that they realized had been cars and pickups. Strands of clothing were buried beneath tossed sand, a child’s backpack hung from a twisted fender by one frayed strap. They stopped at the first concrete barrier, and Quinn saw that the top wasn’t painted bronze as he’d first thought.

It was covered in brass shell casings.

They were everywhere. They littered the ground outside the barrier, and inside, they rose like miniature sand dunes. Every ten paces there was a semi-bare spot on the ground, and he realized this was where the shooters had been standing.

“What happened here?” Quinn said, brushing the shells with his palm. They tinkled like steel rain as they dropped to the dirt.

“I don’t want to know,” Alice said, reaching out to grasp Ty’s free hand.

“Let’s go this way,” Quinn said, motioning to the east side of the barriers.

They crossed over a collapsed portion of concrete and walked between the two perimeters. The ground was covered with spent ammunition. Here and there were dried mats of blood turned black with time. Similar stains splashed the higher concrete walls as well. Flies carried on a continuous humming all around them.

The barriers curved and then straightened in a corridor that stretched away and over a short rise. The piles of shells continued out of sight. They stopped near a toppled section as the first drops of rain began to fall. Quinn glanced at Alice who stared back at him, her mouth a pale gash.

“They’re not here, are they?” Ty said. Denver sat on his haunches, his eyes watching the top of the nearest barricade. Alice knelt beside Ty, still holding his hand. She brushed his hair away from his brow and opened her mouth to reply when Denver began to growl.

“Put your hands in the air! Do it, now!” A deep voice yelled from somewhere nearby.

Quinn flinched and instinctually brought his rifle up as he ducked. A shot ricocheted off the pillar next to him.

“I will not ask again! Put your hands up!”

Quinn let the rifle hang from the strap draped around his shoulders and slowly brought his hands over his head. Alice and Ty did the same beside him. There was a scraping rasp and a door painted the exact same color as the concrete, opened in the barricade fifty yards away. A soldier dressed in full military fatigues and boots sidled into the channel, a short-barreled rifle centered on them. Another soldier emerged behind him, his weapon sweeping the area around the barriers and then back to their position. Quinn eased himself around and stood to his full height.

“Don’t f*cking move!” the closest soldier said. The man was near enough now Quinn could see hard, green eyes beneath the helmet he wore. A rash of brown stubble covered a handsome face, and when he moved, it was with practiced fluidity and confidence.

“Thomas, got anything in the area?” the nearest soldier said, never turning his head away from them. The voice from above called out a moment later.

“Negative. All clear.”

“Is there anyone else with you?” the soldier asked.

“No, it’s just us,” Alice said.

The soldier scanned them all again, his eyes flitting to Quinn’s face and holding there for a long time before looking down at Ty and Denver who’s fangs were bared white beneath peeled lips.

“Put your weapons on the ground and step away from them.”

Quinn glanced at Alice who looked back at him, a thousand unsaid words in a single gaze. He nodded, and they stripped their rifles free, along with the revolver and Roman’s pack, laying them on the piled shells.

“I’m going to search you. If any of you move in a way that displeases the soldier above you, you will be shot. Do you understand?”

They all nodded, and Quinn heard Ty draw in a shuddering breath. The soldier moved forward and patted them down while the man behind him kept a bead on them, his gaze locked on Quinn’s face.

“They’re clean,” the first soldier said, stepping back. He lowered his weapon but kept his finger on the trigger. “Where the hell did you folks come from?”

“Maine,” Alice answered. “Can we put our f*cking hands down now?”