Yellow Heat - A Post-Apocalyptic Novel (The Red Sky Series Book 6) Read online

  It was my turn to laugh.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” I said as Molly came back into the room.

  Molly sighed. “I’m going to need new pants.”

  “We’ll see what we can find,” Nick said clearing his throat.

  “Oh and what is he being ridiculous about?” Molly asked turning to me.

  Nick caught my eye and moved his head side to side ever so slightly. The second Molly’s eyes shifted over to him, his head stopped moving and he smiled at her.

  “Nick wants to try boiling and then drinking some water,” I said.

  Nick rolled his eyes and groaned.

  “What? Like I’m not supposed to tell her when you’re talking about doing something stupid?” I asked not expecting an answer.

  Nick turned to Molly. “We’re going to need to know. Fewer places have bottled water. This could be a matter of life and death.”

  “No,” Molly said shrugging a shoulder. “That’s not going to happen. We’ll be in Winnipeg soon and they’ll have water.”

  “What if we don’t find anything before then,” Nick asked. “We need it. You need it.”

  “I’m fine,” Molly said. “The next house will have something.”

  “If we don’t find something in the next twenty-four hours, I’m going to test the water. We have to,” Nick said staring into Molly’s eyes. He wanted her to see just how series he was.

  She shook her head as she let out a breath. “We’ll see.”

  Molly knew that he wouldn’t do it without her okay. She pulled out a chair and took off her shoe. Her fingers dug deeply into her flesh.

  Nick and I both stared at her. She looked up at us and narrowed her eyes.

  “What? My feet are sore,” Molly explained.

  “We should get a move on,” Nick said glancing nervously out of the window. “I hate being in one place for too long.”

  Molly’s head tipped back as she sighed. “I hope Winnipeg is as great of a place as that Peter guy says because I’m sick of walking. So, sick of walking.”

  “We all are,” I said rolling my eyes.

  Molly pulled her shoe back on and placed her hand on her stomach as she stood. We took two steps out of the front door when someone walked out from the side of the home.

  “Hey,” the big burly man said in a gruff voice. It sounded as if he’d smoked for his entire life. There wasn’t anything to his tone. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t surprised. The man was just saying hello. “Were you just inside my house?”

  “Um,” Nick stammered.

  “It’s okay if you were,” the man said holding up his hands. “Is there something I can do for you?”

  Nick shook his head. “Just passing through.”

  “Passing through?” the man wiped his hands off on the sides of his pants. “Passing through to where?”

  “Just passing through,” Nick said tensing his jaw.

  He casually moved his hand behind his back. The knife was in its sheath tucked into his back pocket.

  The man pulled out a pistol. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  “I’m not doing anything,” Nick said holding up his hands. “We just want to be on our way. We were looking for help but we can see we won’t be getting that here.”

  “Are you being a smart ass?” the man asked. “I just asked what I could do for you.”

  Nick shook his head. “Not at all. We just don’t want any trouble.”

  The man’s eyes darted to Molly’s stomach. “I can help. But you have my bag.”

  “Oh,” Nick said. “Sorry. We really don’t want any trouble.”

  “Neither do I,” the man said lowering his gun. “Name’s Ellsworth.”

  “Nick.”

  “You know, Nick, there are a lot of bad people out there.” Ellsworth scratched his gray beard. “I’m not one of them.”

  Nick stared at the man before snickering. “Trust me, man. I know that. I also know not to believe someone when they tell me they’re one of the good guys. People lie. They lie, cheat, steal, torture, you name it, and they all think they are one of the good guys.”

  “So, are you the good guys?” Ellsworth asked with a half-smile.

  “That’s right,” Nick grinned.

  “Well, believe it or not, so am I. If there was anything I could do to prove that to you, I would,” Ellsworth said.

  “We just want to be on our way,” Nick said.

  Ellsworth took a step forward. “And where is it you’re heading again?”

  “As far as I can get from here,” Nick said.

  The man chuckled, but the laugh instantly fell from his face. “Not many people come around this way and those that do are headed north, to Winnipeg. Are you headed to Winnipeg?”

  I realized instantly that we were face to face with the man Peter had warned us about. He’d seemed friendly, right up until he said the word Winnipeg. It was like he had a personal vendetta against the place.

  “And if we were?” Nick asked. I closed my eyes and bit back my sigh.

  “Then I would stop you,” Ellsworth said.

  Nick chuckled. “How could you stop us?”

  The man raised his gun up again. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect you from them.”

  Five

  Molly whimpered next to me. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach as if that would somehow protect her baby from a bullet.

  “Why do you care where we go?” I asked.

  “I’m trying to save your lives. They’re… they’re bad people,” Ellsworth said. “You have to see that.”

  I blinked rapidly as I realized something. My lips curled upward.

  “Then… then you won’t pull the trigger,” I said trying not to smile any bigger than I already was.

  Ellsworth’s eyes curled upward. “Who says I won’t?”

  “I do,” I said confidently. “If you’re trying to save us, you wouldn’t shoot us. Killing us wouldn’t make any sense.”

  “Being dead would be better than what they are doing to people up there,” Ellsworth said.

  “What do you think they are doing to people up there?” Nick asked. “What could they do that is worse than death?”

  Ellsworth stared at Nick. He hesitated before snorting. “They’re the ones behind all this, you know.”

  “You think the people of Winnipeg started all this? That they’re behind these attacks? Why would they do that?” Nick said unable to hold back his snicker.

  “You won’t make it to Winnipeg. It’s a trap,” Ellsworth said. “They won’t stop until they get what they want and we’re all dead.”

  It was clear to me that Ellsworth was crazy. He had his conspiracy theory and he was sticking to it. There was no way he’d listen to reason but then again, it wasn’t like I knew he was wrong.

  “Okay, well, we won’t go to Winnipeg,” Nick said.

  “You… you won’t?” Ellsworth said but as he started to lower his gun, someone jumped out from behind a bush and launched themselves at Ellsworth.

  They both crashed to the ground roughly rolling twice before they came to a stop in the dirt. It didn’t take more than a few seconds after they stopped moving for me to recognize it was Peter on top of the man.

  “Arr!” Peter growled as he pressed his blade to Ellsworth’s neck. His voice was low but I heard his whisper. “I should end this.”

  Kellan moved quickly. He bent down and grabbed the pistol out of Ellsworth’s hand and handed it to Peter. He moved his hands up and down Ellsworth’s body checking him for other weapons.

  “He’s clean,” Kellan said.

  “And you two are dirty scoundrels,” Ellsworth said with little droplets of spit sprinkling out from between his nearly pursed lips. “I told you two to stay off my property!”

  “We’re not going to let you hurt them,” Peter said pressing the blade down harder. If Ellsworth swallowed too hard, it looked as though the blade would slice into his skin.

  Peter’s hand was shakin
g. He was struggling to stop himself from cutting through the man’s flesh.

  I took a step forward but Nick pulled me back. I bit my lip and shook my head.

  “You guys don’t understand,” I explained. “He was lowering his gun. He wasn’t going to hurt us.”

  “Not, you don’t understand,” Peter barked. “This man has killed others like you. I’ve seen it.” He aggressively gestured at Kellan. “We’ve seen him do it and we’re not going to let him do it to you.”

  “I’m not going to do anything! I’m helping them,” Ellsworth said trying to rock Peter off of him.

  Peter laughed. “You said that the last time you old, crazy man. Now, look at us. Here we are again.”

  “Don’t shoot me,” Ellsworth begged.

  “I’m not going to shoot you unless you do something stupid,” Peter said.

  “Then what are you going to do?” Ellsworth asked.

  Peter took in a breath and pulled his hand back slightly. “You’re going to go inside and you’re not going to look out the window until tomorrow. If you do, I will shoot you in the face.”

  “You’re going to take my gun again?” Ellsworth asked.

  “Yes,” Peter said. “It’s the only way I know you won’t shoot us in the back as we’re walking away.”

  “Maybe I have more guns inside,” Ellsworth said.

  Peter shook his head. “You really are a stupid old man, aren’t you?”

  “I just don’t like being pushed around by you two hooligans,” Ellsworth said weakly.

  “And I don’t like being threatened,” Peter said grabbing Ellsworth’s shirt tightly. He pulled him up with him as he got to his feet. “Plans changed.” Peter met Nick’s eyes. “Wait out here.”

  Nick stood there with his mouth hanging open. He looked stunned as Peter dragged the man inside the house with Kellan following close behind them.

  Kellan held up his palm and smiled in our direction. “It’s okay. We’ll just be a minute.”

  The front door shut and Molly grabbed Nick’s arm. “Should we make a run for it?”

  Nick shook his head.

  “What? Why not?” Molly asked.

  “I think they just saved our lives,” Nick muttered.

  “Then we should make a run for it!” Molly said her voice squeaking.

  Nick touched his thumb to his lower lip. “They have a gun.”

  Molly narrowed her eyes. Neither she nor I was following Nick’s train of thought.

  “I want that gun,” Nick said.

  “They’re not going to just hand it over,” I said.

  “No, no they won’t,” Nick said. “But until I can figure out a way to get it or we arrive in Winnipeg, I think we’ll be better off with them.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “This doesn’t sound like you.”

  Nick turned toward the house and stared at the window. I could hear Ellsworth whining about something.

  “They saved us and maybe on the way to Winnipeg they’ll save us again,” Nick said. “We don’t have any weapons, hell, we barely have any supplies. I think we’re better off with Peter and Kellan for now.”

  “Suddenly, we trust them?” I asked.

  “I don’t trust them,” Nick said. “At least not fully. We’ve stayed with them overnight and they didn’t do anything suspicious. They didn’t hold us against our will or do anything out of the ordinary. And now, just now, they probably saved our lives from that guy. I think this is our smartest move right now.”

  My brow tensed. “Are you sure about this?”

  “Sure enough,” Nick said.

  Molly hugged his arm. “I trust you. I know you’ll do what’s best for us.”

  “I don’t know what’s the best,” Nick said patting her hand. “All I can do is make my best guess. Winnipeg isn’t that far.”

  The front door opened. Peter and Kellan both wore unreadable expressions. I couldn’t even make a guess as to what had gone on inside of the home.

  “Well?” Nick asked.

  “He’s been taken care of,” Peter said.

  Molly gasped. “Taken care of? Is that like how they take care of people in the movies?”

  “No, not that kind of taken care of,” Peter said with a laugh.

  “Then what kind of taken care of?” I asked.

  “We tied him up,” Kellan said and Peter’s jaw stiffened for a brief moment.

  I crossed my arms. “Well, we can’t leave him like that.”

  “Why not?” Kellan asked.

  “He’ll die,” I said.

  “Then he won’t harm anyone else,” Peter answered quickly. When he saw my horrified reaction, he waved his hand. “He’ll be able to get free. It’s just duct tape which is why we should get moving.”

  Kellan put his hands on his hips. “Yeah, it won’t take him long to break free. I’m sure he’s got plenty of knives in there.”

  “The offer still stands to come with us,” Peter said. “I mean, why not, right?”

  Nick thought for a moment even though I already knew what he was going to say. He nodded. “Right.” Nick gestured in front of himself. “Lead the way.”

  “That’s great,” Peter said slapping his hand on Nick’s back as he walked by him. “This way. Let’s move.”

  We traveled quickly away from the house. I could hear the man shouting for them to come back. He cursed Peter and Kellan. And then I couldn’t hear him any longer, either we had gotten far enough away, or he’d gotten free.

  Ellsworth didn’t strike me as the type to chase us down but that didn’t stop me from occasionally looking over my shoulder. Peter and Kellan set a rather quick pace but even with the pain in my heel, I was able to keep up.

  The sun above was hot and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. It made me sweaty. It made me tired. And worst of all it made me thirsty.

  We’d taken some water from Ellsworth’s house but we would have to ration it. And out of all of us, Molly would need it the most.

  “Hot day,” I said looking over at Nick. Droplets of sweat had beaded up at his temples.

  “Yeah,” Nick said. “Getting hotter every minute it seems.”

  We’d been walking for about an hour when Peter slowed his pace. He looked up at the sky and down at the ground. Peter drew in a sharp breath.

  “I probably should have mentioned this sooner,” Peter said.

  “Mentioned what?” Nick asked exhaling slowly.

  Peter focused on a spot on the horizon. “We need to make a stop.”

  Six

  Nick stopped abruptly and stuck out his arms in front of Molly and I. His shoulders had risen higher as he drew in a deep breath.

  “I think maybe it’s best we part ways here,” Nick said.

  “I should have mentioned this sooner,” Peter said rubbing his hands together. There was a sudden softness in his eyes. “I understand your concerns but this is what we do. We help people.”

  I expected Nick to say something but he didn’t. He just stood there.

  “There is a woman I bring medicine to,” Peter said. “It’s on the way. She’s all alone. She depends on me. Please, it won’t take long.”

  “She’s not armed,” Kellan said.

  “Why doesn’t she go to Winnipeg? Isn’t there medicine for her there?” I asked.

  Peter nodded. “Yeah, there is, but this woman is… well, she’s stubborn.”

  “That’s putting it lightly,” Kellan said.

  “She’s a good person,” Peter said. “You don’t need to worry. Plus, she’ll make us a good meal. She’s a wonderful cook.”

  Kellan nodded as he patted his stomach. He looked like he could already taste the food.

  “We can’t make you come with us,” Peter said. “You’re more than welcome, in fact, we hope you stay with us but the choice is ultimately yours.”

  “Yeah, no,” Nick said looking down at the dead grass before looking over at Molly nervously twisting her hair between her fingers. “We’re with you. Unl
ess I get a weird feeling, then we’re out.”

  Peter’s head bobbed up and down. “I wouldn’t want anything less. Your safety comes first.”

  Peter’s eyes locked on to each of ours before briefly settling on Molly’s belly. She noticed his gaze and placed her hands over her stomach.

  “It’s only a couple miles before we get there,” Peter said.

  We kept walking. The ground beneath our feet was drying quickly from the heat and sunlight. It had soaked up all the melted ice turning everything that had been green to a dark brown color.

  My legs were sore and my feet were painfully tired. The warm air felt like there was a car heater blowing in my face making it hard to take in a fresh breath.

  I was worried about stopping at the woman’s house but there was a part of me that was looking forward to the break. It was just too bad that there wouldn’t be any air conditioning because I wanted to cool down. After the cold weather we’d endured not that long ago, I never thought I’d be hoping for cold air again.

  “Just up ahead,” Peter said pointing to a hill.

  There was a chain-linked fence but I didn’t see a building, at least not until we got to the top of the hill. The climb had been intense and I was sweating so much the back of my shirt was damp.

  I looked up at the sky and was terrified about where my thoughts had drifted. There were no signs but I wondered when the next attack would be.

  We’d gone longer than ever before, months in fact, but I couldn’t let myself relax. There was no way we were in the clear.

  The sky was clear — clearer than it had been before the sky had turned red killing off nearly all of the population. Perhaps it was because there was less pollution from cars and factories. Despite the poisons that had been in the air, it was clearer.

  At the top of the hill, set back deep within some tall leave-less trees was a small home. Peter struggled for a moment but he got the fence open.

  “It sticks,” he said turning to me as if he owed us an explanation.

  “Are you sure she’s expecting you?” Nick asked.

  The house had dark siding with dead weeds climbing up the building. The overgrowth helped the house blend into the surrounds like it was camouflage.