Linda Andrews - The Meltdown

Audra read their numbers as they passed. Seventy-nine. Twenty-eight. Thirty-nine. Forty-eight. These were her people. She glanced down to make sure her feet still touched the floor. Her fingers tingled. Life was good. “Where do you suppose they are?”

A shriek rattled the windows.

Eddie yanked hard on the steering wheel and slammed on the brakes.

Pigtails flying, a little girl in a red jumper dashed in front of the bus.

Audra caught herself on the front divider. Closing her eyes, she braced herself for the thump of a body hitting the bumper. Nothing. She peeked through her lashes.

The little girl jumped up and down in the middle of the street. “They’re here! They’re here!”

Audra rose from her seat; the girl had disappeared to the right. Children climbed on monkey bars and swung on swings. Older folks held the young ones on bright painted animals attached to the ground by metal springs. “It’s a park.”

The children were playing in the park. Why did something so normal seem so strange?

“Looks like it’s just us and a few new additions.” Eddie killed the engine, grabbed the lever and opened the door.

Audra’s happiness dimmed. “No soldiers?”

Tina squeezed her hand. “We’ll catch up to them tonight.”

They needed to have reached them now. They were low on gas and had only had one MRE in the last twenty-four hours. Her stomach growled and she flattened her hand over it.

“I’ll see if I can catch us some rabbits.” Eddie winked at her. “Hopefully those coyotes haven’t eaten them all.”

“Thanks.” She leaned over to kiss him.

Turning his face, he cleared his throat. “Your mother is behind you.”

“Good.” She grabbed his ears, angled his face up to her and planted a wet one on his lips. Just as his lips parted, she pulled back. Ha. That’ll teach him.

“Audra!” Her mother hissed.

“Good morning, Mother.” Audra straightened. She arched an eyebrow, daring him to say anything.

Eddie grinned. “I should call you Princess Tease.”

Her cheeks flamed. “If anyone heard that—”

“Too late,” Mrs. Rodriquez barked. “And we’re not changing her name in mid-stream. Now stop playing kissy-face and get off the bus. Some of us need to pee.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Audra stumbled down the steps.

Her mother grabbed her by the arm and dragged her toward an oversized picnic area. The metal pergola shaded half the tables. “We need to talk.”

Audra waved to the people who called out to her. “If this is about Eddie—”

“What? No. For such a blunt spoken young man, it certainly took him a long time to screw his courage to the sticking point.” Her mother wrung her fingers.

Her mother knew and approved?

Audra stumbled backward. Good Lord, it really was the end of the world.

Eddie paused five feet away and pulled something out of his pocket. His eyes narrowed as he raked her mother from head to foot. “Everything all right?”

“Yes. We’re good.” Audra hoped he picked up on the double meaning. Her attention dropped to the red scrap in his hands. “Is that my bra?”

Her good one, with the Belgian lace? The one extravagance she’d allowed herself before the Redaction hit six months ago?

“No.” He attached the hook and eyes. “This is a double barrel sling shot. And these will make fine skinning knives.” He flashed the two black underwires.

She covered her face with her hands. She’d loved that bra.

“I’ll be back with some rabbits.” He kissed her ear. “Then you can have it back.”

She winced as the sound bounced inside her skull. Men just didn’t understand. She bared her face, watching him walk into the field across from the park. Well, shoot. Then again, she had more bras and, as long as she didn’t have to sacrifice another, it was a small price to pay for real meat. “It better be a fat rabbit.”

Her mother waved her hands in front of Audra’s face. “Please get your mind off Eddie and the rabbits. We have something more important to discuss.”

The hair on Audra’s neck stood up. Her mother had used that tone only once in her life—when Audra’s father had died. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “What’s wrong?”

“While you were… away, we picked up a stray.”

Cold slithered down Audra’s spine. Away, what a quaint euphemism for kidnapped. She rubbed at the cold sweat on her upper lip. She was safe now. That was all that mattered. Eddie had told her over and over last night that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her again.

She believed him.

She needed to.

It helped that she wasn’t as helpless as she appeared.

Taking a calming breath, she stared across the park grounds. Half a dozen new faces glanced at her, they quickly turned away. So did a few old ones. What was that about? “Are we short on food?”

“No. In fact, we’re gassed up and ready to go but…” Her mother turned her to face her, blocking out the rest. “It’s this new stranger. This Trent Powers. He’s convinced Stuart not to join the soldiers but to find a small town and set up shop there.”

“What!” That was ridiculous. They had to join the soldiers. Few of the people here had practical skills. Heavens, aside from Eddie’s dubious efforts, almost everyone here hunted food in the grocery store. “We can’t survive without the soldiers.”

“I know that.” Worry pinched her mother’s blue eyes. A strand of hair escaped her bun and she didn’t quickly tuck it back. “And that Trent Powers has some peculiar notions on women and their proper place. I tell you, Audra, no Southern lady has felt like this since Sherman marched through Atlanta.”

Audra blinked. Good Lord. Given that the Union general had burned his way to the sea, that was serious. Very serious indeed.

And…” Her mother nodded to a building across the street. “And I think he raped one of the girls. She’s won’t say so, but her wrists are bruised and she’s walking funny. But even without her testimony, I witnessed him smack Anna for bringing him cold coffee.”

Audra’s fingers curled into fists. That behavior would not be tolerated. Trent Powers had to go. “I’ll talk to Stuart.”

Her mother hugged her quickly then smoothed her hair. “I knew you would. You’ll fix everything, just like your father.”

Her father had his money, family name and connections to make things happen. She was on her own. “Where is Stuart?”

“In the football field with that man.” Her mother pointed beyond the cafeteria. Small blue boxes lined the space behind the bleachers.

Stuart obviously hadn’t recovered from his stomach upset.

Audra shook her hands as she walked. If Stuart didn’t want to go with her. That’s fine. She’d offer his people the choice then be on her way. But the buses were hers. Stuart could find another way to reach his utopia.

When she was about a hundred feet away, a man exited the toilet.

He smoothed his blond hair and smiled at her. His eyes focused on her breasts under her lightweight jacket.

If she’d had anything in her stomach she would have vomited on him. This had to be Trent Powers. Mother was right to be concerned. “Stuart? It’s Audra. We’ve arrived.”

“Audra?” Stuart’s voice was muffled despite the ventilation in the top of the portable toilet.

“I’ll talk to her, Stuart.” The man sidled closer.

She checked the ground for an oil slick. None.

“Why don’t we walk a bit and chat? I’m sure Stuart would appreciate the privacy in his condition.”

“Fine.” She straightened her shoulders and stomped toward the baseball diamond, out of the wind squeezing through the row of toilets. But it would be a short conversation.