For the third time, the helicopter rumbled from above. Peyton kept count, drawing tally marks in the dirt. They came roughly once ever couple of hours, meaning they'd only gone through six of their first forty eight hours. Unless Amelia was counting the time before contact. He betted that she wasn't. Her resolve was equally admirable and frustrating.
The engine's beating grew fainter. Peyton stretched his legs out in a different position, careful not to nudge his wife accidentally. Her scowl deepened as whispers started across from them.
"Absolute silence," she hissed.
"The chopper's gone," Mischa protested.
"You don't know if they were overlooking the area or dropping people off to search. Thirty minutes. That's the rule."
"Can I at least stand up? I can't feel my legs anymore."
"Quietly."
A bang and curses rang out as the girl forgot how low cave ceilings truly were. Peyton gave Amelia's leg a squeeze to hopefully keep whatever expletive she had for the teen in check. The man and wife interactions didn't go any further. To an outsider they were nothing more than strangers, not two people who had built a life together and been separated for months.
Once thirty minutes had passed on the official watch, whispering resumed.
"I'm sorry I didn't come for you sooner. I didn't know where to look until I stumbled upon the new facility," Peyton said. Maybe she was upset about that.
"What makes you think that facility is any better than this one?"
Peyton sighed. Amelia was always too busy playing defense to take a moment for herself. "It's communal and people are free to come and go as they see fit."
"That's not completely accurate. He will strongly advise you against leaving," Alex interjected.
Peyton sighed. He had kept his head out of Alex and June's fights, but the man couldn't be bothered to return the favour."But, he won't stop you. He also trained and equipped us with supplies before we left. He had no obligation to do so, but he wanted to."
Amelia sat up taller. "That reminds me, next time there's an attack I want you to act. We almost lost that kid over the edge. We have numbers on our side and we need to use them."
The dark outline of the teen across from them shifted. "I'll be fine next time. The gun surprised me."
"They'll all be armed, Quinton. If you're not able to handle that, it's alright. You just need to stay back."
Peyton wondered why he wasn't given the same choice. Given the situation, he'd likely freeze despite all of his training. His resolve to not hurt another human being would kick in and the attacker would take him down.
"I can handle it," Quinton replied. The boy had more guts than Peyton did. Peyton had no doubts his wife was comparing the two at the moment, berating her own husband's usefulness.
Three more hours went by and the cave begun to stink of sweat and urine. Bottles were too valuable to waste and sunlight too dangerous to visit. The uninspired chatter continued despite Amelia's protests. The teens hardly stopped as the fifth helicopter made its way over their position.
"Mischa and Quinton, that is enough. If you cannot stop, you'll have to leave."
"That's rather flawed logic considering they'd find us, then you even easier. The helicopter will mask this sound," Mischa said.
Peyton stepped in, knowing how well his wife handled confrontation. "No one is leaving. We just need to take our precautions seriously."
"There haven't any people dropping from the helicopters in the past and I doubt they'd start now. We can whisper to keep ourselves sane."
One of the rocks scraped against the others at the entrance. Mischa hushed up immediately. Alex extended an extra blade to Peyton, but he refused it. He intended to use the subduing techniques that Mr. M had trained him with. They wouldn't kill the men but allow them to be taken out, especially with Amelia wanting an offensive position. He'd prove that less lethal techniques were just as valid.
Light flowed through the section where the rock had been removed. Alex and Peyton stood along the circular interior entrance to the smaller cave. It was on the same side as the rock wall and avoided having the light reveal their position.
"Hello?" A voice echoed and the shadow of a man appeared in ray of light.
"Why are you calling it out? Someone will hear you."
"I know. I'm more worried about finding bears and mountain lions than people in here."
Peyton held his breath and waited for the men to place the rock back and continue their search. Good karma had to factor into his fate. The light grew brighter as another rock was removed, then another.
"Get ready," Alex whispered in his ear.
The outsiders stepped inside the cave and their heads moved from side to side. Alex would attack right away given his stance and outstretched knife, unprovoked, despite Peyton's desire to only attack once his safety was compromised. Right now they had the advantage of the men's vision impaired by the dark.
Alex lunged forward, low to the ground, and sent the knife into the intruder's calf. The injured man howled and grabbed his leg. He lowered himself to the ground. He made no move for a weapon, only held up his uninjured foot up to keep Alex away.
The breath was forced out of Peyton's lungs as the second intruder collided with him. Arms wrapped around Peyton's neck. His wind pipe tightened and his eyes began to water. He pushed forward until he knew there was enough space behind him and flipped the man over. The intruder's body slapped hard down onto the rock, much more audibly than when practising with Mr. M and Cynthia. Peyton let out a few breaths as he regained his footing and the use of his lungs. He couldn't detect any movement from his peripherals. The technique must have worked.
"Were there only two?"
"Yeah," Alex muttered as he took away the groaning man's radio and secured his hands. "Where are your weapons?"
"We're not guards, we're just doing patrols to look for escapees."
Peyton's breaths continued to slow. "Do you have anything else to tie his hands up?"
Alex looked from the man who hadn't yet moved to Peyton. "Don't think you'll be needing that." His eyes rested on the other intruder.
Peyton glanced back down at his assailant. A growing pool of dark oozed liquid from the man's skull. Peyton's skin went cold and his stomach churned. He tore the shirt off his back and held it to the other man's head wound. Small pieces of rock were embedded in the broken skin. The most important part was to cover up that wound. He held his t-shirt against the injury and applied strong pressure.
"I need you to stay awake. Keep breathing. Keep those eyes open." He kept muttering reassuring phrases and apologizing to the man on the ground. The blood continued to flow onto his hands and drip from his wrists as he pressed even harder. People had gallons of blood flowing, the damage could still be mitigated.
"Peyton." Amelia placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Help me sit him up. I forgot we need to elevate the wound."
Amelia didn't budge. "Peyton, we need to go, now."
"We can't leave him here like this. He'll bleed out. He's an innocent man, Amelia." His eyes searched hers and his hands trembled.
"He was gone the moment he hit his head on that rock. We're just wasting time now." Her voice: cold, calculated. A man's life at stake. How could she justify her actions or even his?
"No..."
"He attacked you. It was self-defense," Alex added.
He pressed harder on the sopping shirt. "No, self-defense would have been to push him away. He didn't even have a weapon." Why did they keep defending him? All he wanted was enough help to save this man's life.
Two sets of arms lifted Peyton off the ground and out the mouth of the cave. In the sunlight, his eyes remained focused on the dark red color staining his hands. It penetrated every crevice, every line, every pore.
"Let's go. We'll move for maximum an hour. Look out for a possible new shelter. Eyes and ears open. We'll likely be followed. April and Mischa, I want you two in the middle," Alex instructed.
As much as Amelia wanted him to forget about his actions given her haste, every time he looked down to check his footing he saw the dark stains on his knees and shoes. Killer. Keep running before they catch you. Thank goodness, his daughter was no longer around to see the man he had become.
They continued to scale the mountain, sliding down more dangerous sections than they normally would to zigzag their path. The gravel tore open his palms as Peyton tried to slow the most recent decent. He deserved to shed blood for what he had done and didn't act to stop the pain.
"Careful, Daddy," came her soft voice. He didn't have the energy to fight the voices.
Added to that ache was the hot afternoon sun, burning against the pale skin on his bare back.
Alex stopped and tapped Amelia on the shoulder. "We're veering off course, Amelia. This won't take us to Pagosa Springs."
"We'll double back for your wife. It's more important that we make it out of their search zone alive than take the right course."
The path narrowed as they walked until it began a small ledge. From the vantage point, Peyton could see a lot full of green vehicles. He squinted harder to see if there were any moving objects among them, none at the moment. A large gray landing pad with a large 'H' inspired little confidence.
"Amelia, we're in trouble."
His wife's smile grew. "No, hun, we're right where we want to be. Keep your eyes out for a cave at this level."
Alex found one five minutes later, a short climb down, with more space than the last. They settled in, stopping for food and water after an afternoon of being on the run. The food kept the teens quiet and pacified, but failed to have the same effect on Alex.
"We need to go through Pagosa Springs," he repeated.
"You'll only be able to help out your wife if you make it out of here alive. If we can smuggle a ride without their knowledge-"
"You have no idea where they are going and if it's more dangerous than being here." Alex's voice was harsh and firm.
"He makes a good point, Amelia."
Amelia sat tall. "We gather intel so we aren't going into this blind. I am the one who orchestrated this escape."
"We all helped with escape. Quinton and Navjot did a lot of the work," Mischa interjected.
"Yes, and their efforts were vital to our success."
Mischa rolled her eyes. "Now it's our success."
Amelia stepped toward the redhead. "Do you have a problem with the current situation?"
"If it's our escape, why have you been calling all the shots? I, for one, don't want to jump in a company van with some guy with a gun who will probably ship me back up the mountain."
Amelia's eyes narrowed. "How many of you feel this way?"
All hands went up except Peyton's. Someone had to support her, even if her ideas were a bit farfetched. Silence consumed her after the vote. He wanted to comfort his wife but when he looked down at his palms all he saw was the blood of another consuming them. He used some of his drinking water to clean them up before grabbing food. Even with most of the red stain gone, he could still feel it dripping through his fingers. He was a killer and she a tyrant. What had become of them?
He fought off slumber and possibility of horrific dreams by watching the camp below while the others napped. At least the image of Lily sitting on the cliff ledge was calm, if he neglected the fact that she was a hallucination. One of the vans had taken off into the desert. The helicopter was back in its resting spot and the human activity had subsided after the shift change an hour ago. Peyton shook his wife awake a few hours after sundown.
"Let's get closer," he whispered.
Her eyes didn't light up the way they used to, but she still shuffled around to get her bag ready. She handed him another shirt to replace the one he had left with that innocent man. He took it with shame resting heavy on his heart.
They scaled down the steel rock to the next ledge fifteen feet down. It looked large enough to break their fall, although not pleasantly should their grip fail. The descent continued at a less dangerous pace until they made it to the bushes near a small guard shack. Two guards were posted in green, military-style uniforms. One stood up to check something in the back and revealed the weapons Amelia and Peyton had suspected.
"Bang, bang," came Lily's whispered voice. Peyton shuddered and looked at Amelia. Her trained eyes confirmed that he was the only one suffering this fate. "It's alright, daddy. It's our secret."
He missed the days when the statement had to do with gifts, meals and birthdays instead of this.
Twenty minutes later, a jeep drove in from the desert drove up to the guard stand. Peyton and Amelia were careful not to stray into the illumination of its headlights. The guards and the driver exchanged a few words. He was delivering supplies up the mountain and indicated that another driver would be returning before sunrise. The jeep passed with minimal inspection, only flashing a security pass to get by.
Peyton looked to Amelia and they exchanged a nod. They began to retrace their steps up to the cave to get a better view of the vehicle's course. Once out of sight of the guards, they walked the roads and looked for the most vulnerable sections: sharps curves, limited visibility, and sufficient room to carry out an ambush. Amelia found the ideal location and they both worked to roll down some large boulders to the side of the road before they returned to the cave.
"Listen up," Amelia called out to the sleepy company. "Peyton and I are going to ambush the next vehicle that returns from the colony. You can stay here or are welcome to join us. It makes no real difference, but we are beginning the stakeout now."
Alex sat up and straightened out his back. "Do you know where the vehicle is heading?"
"There's a navigational system onboard from what we could tell," Peyton said.
"Then they're likely to track them."
Amelia gathered up the scattered garbage and unopened food. "We take it as far as logical, then we can fake an attack on the car or accident."
"Alright," Alex said and he gathered a few of the bags.
"You three?" Amelia turned to the teens. "We can get you as close to your destination as we can."
Mischa looked at her two friends and they shrugged. "We're going wherever you are," Quinton said to the redhead.
"Then let's go. Make sure you have a weapon," Alex instructed.
He handed out a few knives and an ax. Peyton took one in hand with gulp. He had tarnished his soul by killing once today. What was to stop him from doing it again?
Alex, Amelia and Peyton rolled the boulders out onto the road in a location that the driver would hopefully spot before hitting them. They didn't want a damaged vehicle to carry their weight. April stood on a tall rock as a lookout, high enough to conceal her location.
Animal and insect cries rang out through the cool air. The group rested, driven into silence by a sense of purpose and direction. Amelia crouched at the roadside and kept adjusting her grip on her stolen gun. An hour later, three long whistles cut through the cricket's chirps and the group stood at the ready.
Instead of the jeep they had seen earlier, a dark van with tinted windows pulled up to boulders. The doors cracked open as two men stepped out from either side. They were armed like the guards, only with slightly larger guns. Quinton went to make a move but Peyton held him back. The van passenger held his gun out in one hand, flashlight in the other, and walked around the area.
"Who's out there?"
His footsteps grew closer and closer to the brush. Alex kept the group waiting on his signal. Peyton's breaths grew faster at the thought of having to attack another. A few rocks tumbled from above their position and landed near the van. The passenger pointed his gun up to the origin of the noise.
"It's just a rock slide. You know how this weather's been. Help me move them before the rest comes down."
Peyton gave April a thumbs up for her quick thinking. The armed passenger stowed away his gun and the two officials both set to work rolling the rocks over the edge of the cliff. As they worked to move the last two, Alex gave the group the signal and they crept up behind the colony men. The running engine masked the sound of their footsteps.
"Don't move," Alex said, using his harsh voice to his full advantage.
Alex and Quinton surrounded on man, while Amelia and Peyton took on the other. The drivers made moves for their weapons and Amelia clicked off the safety.
"This place isn't worth dying for. Radio and wallet, that's all we ask," Amelia said.
"Like hell."
Peyton knocked the man to the ground as his hand went for his weapon. The two struggled, rolling around under the driver broke free. Peyton starred down the barrel moments later. His heart pounded in his ears, Karmic retribution. Peyton wasn't sure he wanted to fight it.
"We're bringing you in, dead or alive makes no difference."
"It would to the commander. He's not a man who likes to have decisions made for him," Amelia said.
"This man is an outsider and I'm authorized to neutralize threats."
A quick black blur crossed Peyton's eyes and the gun went flying over the cliff. Alex stood over the now unarmed man with a scowl.
"Radio and identification or we'll make life much more miserable. I've been hunting most of my life. I know which arteries to avoid to prolong suffering."
The other guard had been knocked down, tied up and gagged. Given the supplies Quinton held, the second man had complied. The unrestrained man's eyes flickered around before he handed over his wallet and radio. Peyton brought the supplies over to April and Mischa who had sneaked into the van already. He instructed them to lie down in the back under a blanket. He and Alex were the only two with unknown faces at this point. He gathered up his dreadlocks with an elastic and hid his telling hair under a spare hat.
Amelia and Quinton hopped in the back soon after the sedated guard's bodies were dragged off into the bushes. It wouldn't buy them too much time, but enough to leave the colony and ditch the vehicle. The guards supply belts were a blessing in themselves.
Alex brought back a pair pants, glasses and security badges. He hopped in the driver's seat while Peyton riffled through the wallets to find a gas card and a few pictures of the man's family. He had to keep reminding himself that they were all just people, going through this experience together. Alex extended the pair of pants to Peyton who looked down at his own stained ones. Best shed all traces of his cruel actions.
The crew in the back were deathly silent as they passed by the guard station. Peyton's blood ran cold when he saw Lily sitting in the back of the shack, wearing the stained dress they had found her in the day she died.
"Busy night?" Alex asked.
Peyton's focus pulled back to the scene at hand and he kept his gaze on the dashboard.
"No more than usual. Where is it you're heading?"
"Oh you know." Alex turned his head to the GPS coordinates. "Back to Farmington."
"Hope those bastards aren't rioting as much this time."
"Makes me happier to come back to this place each time. Wasteland out there."
"We'll just need your badges."
Peyton passed them both over. He would be eternally grateful if the darkness passed off the foreign identities into their own.
"Looks good, guys. Stay safe. The last driver said the service station in Durango is still out of commission so you best fill up here and in Farmington, if you can."
Alex took back the badges, pulled away from the guards and drove off to the service station. Peyton let out a long breath and unclenched his fists. Maybe, just maybe they were out of hot water and could make it the rest of the way without hurting others. But if northern New Mexico was anything like Albuquerque, there'd be enough scavengers to fend off.
Peyton looked onto the roads in wonder. They were paved, untouched, smooth. How could Albuquerque be in such shambles and other areas fare so well? There were a few other stops along the way, but the darkness offered the van passengers the protection they needed. Card scans satisfied the check-stop guards.
"How long do you figure before those guards wake up and report the theft?" Peyton asked.
"Two to three hours tops. Enough time to get to Farmington and trade the vehicle," Alex said.
"For what?"
"Hopefully another one. I'm keeping the gas card to barter."
They arrived at Farmington, surrounded by barbed metal fences. The guards at the check stop stood very stiff and still. Alex went to extend the security cards and the men shook their heads.
"Just drive, and get out of here after you get what you need, quick," the guard's speech was clipped. Their own bags and weapons were at the door as well. The riots must have escalated.
Alex took the invitation and rolled into the city with care. Screams and shouts tore through the night along with cheers. One of the buildings lit up the night as flames tore through it. Peyton's stomach lurched as Alex turned in that direction.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting rid of the evidence of our escape. Where there's chaos, there are greedy rebels."
Alex changed out the uniform they had been using to fool the guards and back into a t-shirt. Peyton did the same and urged the rest to come out of hiding from the back seats. Alex parked the van and slowly stepped out of the driver's side, his weapon within reach.
When Peyton stepped out, four men wielding pipes, knifes and sharp metal rods eyed him up. With Amelia and the others stepping out the side door, he felt quite underprepared to defend any of them. He would be eaten alive in hand to weapon combat.
"Well, well, looks like the government finally decided to show up after all." A man in a dirty baseball cap said.
"We won't be silenced any longer by your type," spoke the man missing a front tooth.
Alex stepped around the corner. "If you think the government was any better to us, you're horribly misinformed. This van is yours if you can tell us where to find another vehicle."
The men all started to laugh. "There aren't any that weren't seized by your people in the beginning. What kind of sick joke are you running?"
Alex's brow furrowed. "Any kind of transportation running between here and Colorado?"
"Keys first," said missing tooth.
Alex handed over the keys and reached for his knife. One of the rebels clubbed him in the stomach and another in the face. Amelia pulled out the gun and pointed it at the assailant.
"We are not the ones you want to a fight with. Take the van and leave him be."
The four men lowered their weapons, hopped in the van and drove off, while keeping their eyes on Amelia as well as Quinton who had drawn a knife.
Alex spit out a mouthful of blood. "What have you done?" he cried from his position on the ground.
"If you get caught, you're of no use to you wife. Those men had no intention of giving you information, only making you suffer. Let them have what they want. Now let's get the hell out of here."
They ducked through a dark alley to evade the stares of the other rebels. The space stunk of urine and feces and it wasn't long before the ground alternated between firm concrete and the soft tissue of bodies. Alive or dead? He wasn't sure he wanted to know.
April screamed from behind his position. In the shadows, hands crawled up her legs, grasping whatever flesh they could. Peyton doubled back, gave the ground a swift kick and tugged the girl free. She hugged her arms around her body and hurried in front of Peyton, who had let her pass. As they continued to walk and fight off the lurches of dark shadows, he realized that his days of thinking of these attackers as people had ended. Their group had become 'the other' to this population as soon as the van rolled through town.
It was like starting from day one all over again: finding shelter, allies and good neighbourhoods. Except the advantage of knowing the city was completely shot. Farmington wasn't huge, but big enough to be a problem to navigate.
Peyton seized a piece of sharp metal from the hands of a fresh corpse.
"What are you doing, Daddy?" her voice floated through the air.
He fought the bile rising in his throat. This was survival. The man was dead and shame was a wasted emotion. Each step they took away from the rebels and the flames, left the streets less crowded. Hateful stares faded in to curious ones and the city became more and more like the Albuquerque he had come to know.
"They have rivers," April said, holding her sweater tight to her body. "We should take advantage of that. Wash up and drink."
"We'll just have to keep an eye out for check-stops. I don't think movement is as free as we have it further south," Alex said.
Peyton's eyes trailed on April, who kept searching the ground and dark shadows.
"How are you doing?"
She didn't look at him to answer. "I didn't expect this. I don't know what I thought was out here, poor desperate souls, but it's... maybe it gets better during the day."
"Albuquerque is a bit safer and less populated, all things considered."
"I just don't get it. Why are they all being kept in this city? What advantage could it possibly offer?"
"Not one I want to be a part of."
They glanced again at the barbed wire fences put up around the city. Mischa and Quinton went to scout out the guard station to see if anyone was supervising this section. Minutes later, the signaled for the group to join them. The guards must have been off in fear of their safety or to deal with the riots. They and a few other locals took advantage of the situation and headed for the river banks before making the long trek back to Albuquerque.