L Akers: Shoot Like a Girl

Sarah backed up. “Well, good-night y’all. Thank you again.”

“You want me to walk you home?” Tucker asked, looking out across the dark street.

Sarah shook her head. “No, I’m used to being alone.” She turned and walked away, cooing to her daughter as she went.

Tucker watched her leave, wondering if she’d meant to say I instead of we . “Sarah,” he yelled. “Do you need more water? I can bring you some.”

Sarah answered without turning around. “No. I’m good.”

How could she be good? She was probably needing more water than most people with a sick baby. Or maybe she’s just using the wet wipes to clean the baby up , he reminded himself. As Tucker watched her unsteadily walk away, keeping an eye on her until she reached her door, she nearly dropped the bag of food on her driveway.

She scooped it up, and instead of carrying it in, she shoved it in her mailbox, seemingly overwhelmed with her burden. He wished she’d have let him walk her home. He could’ve carried the bag.

“Sarah!” he yelled again, feeling as though he’d left something unsaid.

She turned around, cocking her hip and adjusting Sammi on her shoulder. “What?”

“We’ll get through this. All of us,” he assured her.

She gave him a weak smile. “You can’t save the world, Tucker.”

Goosebumps rose on Tucker’s arms. Those were the last words the old woman in the wheelchair had ever spoken—or something very close to that. Grayson had shared that with him after they’d buried the woman with her father and children under her apple tree.

In the next months to come, he’d remember those words, spoken twice in one day, by two different women, often.

Emma slowly lowered the ladder into the grave, the clanking of the metal splitting the air and startling her in the dark. The lantern she’d found in the barn barely lit up the hole enough to see Elmer. But it was better that way. She didn’t want to see his face—or Edith or Mei’s. She could just see enough to make him out, leaned against the side, with Edith in his arms.

“Leave me be, I said!” Elmer yelled when the ladder bumped his foot. “Go away!”

Emma ignored his protests. “It’s been hours, and it’s pitch dark down there. You have to come out some time, Elmer.” She cringed, waiting for his answer.

A moment later she heard him whisper. “There you go,” he said. “It’s just for tonight, love. I’ll dig you a new grave. You’ll each have your own resting spot tomorrow.”

Emma leaned over to see him struggling to move his wife and lay her down with her head opposite Mei. She heard what could only be a kiss, and a moment later his head popped up over the edge. He climbed out and pulled the ladder up, throwing it to the side, and walked to the house stiff-legged.

Emma stood back and gave him a head start, and then followed.

When she stepped into the kitchen, she saw he’d found the coffee she’d poured him. The men had missed the canisters on Edith’s counters; they were full of coffee, flour, and sugar. They’d also ignored the cookie jar. Elmer took a long drink, his dirty hands leaving smudges on Edith’s good China, and sat down at the table with the cup in his hand, staring at the picture Emma had found, next to a plate of Edith’s homemade cookies.

He ignored the cookies, but picked up the picture. “Nice truck,” he said. “Saw it at the farm. Hope they got it running.”

“Those are my sisters in that picture,” she said unnecessarily.

Elmer grumbled. “I know who they are. You think I’m daft?”

Emma pulled her hair into a pony tail, securing it with a rubber band, and leaned against the counter. “No. I don’t,” she said gently. “But Elmer, that picture was clipped to a map. We lost it at the rest area when we first ran into Trunk and his guys.”

“So?”

Emma sighed. “So… they must have the map. That’s probably how they ended up here. He told me he lived not twenty miles from our town and he’d driven through it just before meeting us. And if they have the map, it has our route highlighted all the way home—well, almost all the way.”

“What do you want me to do about it?” he grumbled. “My wife just died.”

Emma rubbed her hand over her face. “I know. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I feel like it’s my fault. If I hadn’t been with you, you might have made it home in time. But my sisters are still alive. We have to warn them.”

“We? You got a mouse in your pocket, girl?” he grumbled, and then more gently, he said, “It’s not your fault. That roadblock would’ve been there even if I’d been alone. Heck, they probably would’ve killed me in the end without you there.”

Emma’s face burned at his left-handed compliment. She took a deep breath and let it out. “Elmer, he’s not going to stop until he gets them for his stupid scavenger hunt. That man is insane.”

Elmer was silent, deep in thought. Finally, he spoke. “That girl out there that my wife was holding onto… do you know why she wanted to die?”

Emma shrugged, not unkindly. “Drugs.”

“ Not just drugs. She thought she’d failed her daughter. That’s hard for anyone to live with; trust me, I know. But it’s especially hard for a mother.”

“What’s your point?” Emma asked.

“The point is, your sisters are grown women. They have their husbands there, too. And those other two women that were stuck there seem like they know their way around a gun. But what about your son? What if something has already happened to your husband, and your son is out there on that island all alone?”

Emma bit her lip and pulled up a chair, feeling weak in the knees. “That’s not fair. Don’t use that against me. We know Gabby and Olivia are in danger… and anyone there with them—if Trunk and his guys sneak up on them.”

Elmer turned up his cup and finished his coffee. “I’m just saying take care not to make the wrong decision. Family is everything … without it, we’re lost .” His voice broke on the last word. He swallowed hard, and cleared his throat. His eyes misted up.

She put her small hand atop his and squeezed. “You’re not lost—and you’re not alone. I’ll go after Dusty and Rickey if you’ll go to the farm and warn my family, and then stay there. We’re your family, now. Gabby and Olivia will feel the same when they hear about Edith.”

He turned his head away and took a swipe at his nose and eyes, pretending he was looking at the mess on the counter. “I must’ve got some dirt in my eye when I was down in that dadblasted hole. I need to wash up and lay down. I’ve got a lot of digging to do when the sun comes up. You need to get some sleep before you get on the road, too, missy.”

Emma nodded, understanding completely. “Yup. I imagine you’ll have dirt in your eye for quite awhile. And that’s okay… you take as long as you need to get that dirt out.”

She waited a moment to let him gather himself and then asked, “And then what will you do, after you bury Edith in the morning?”

He pushed his chair back and stood up, throwing up his hands. “Oh, alright then! Stop your badgering. You go on and ride that bike to Bald Head Island just like you planned, and don’t worry about your sisters. Now go to bed!” he yelled, followed by a quieter, “G’night.”

Emma gave a weak smile. She knew what that meant; and she knew he wouldn’t let her down. What she didn’t know was that he was right… Dusty and Rickey were in grave danger. Unfortunately, by the time she got there, it might be too late.