Arid by Anne Joyce

Author:Anne Joyce [Joyce, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Post-Apocalyptic | Dystopian
Publisher: Solstice Publishing - Solstice Universe Imprint
Published: 2018-10-21T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“Josh… Josh!” a man’s voice called.

Joshua lifted his head and saw a figure standing in the moonlight in front of his cage. He squinted and rubbed his eyes in total disbelief of what was before him. The man outside the cage was him.

“How are you out there when I’m in here? Unlock the gate!” Joshua sputtered.

“I can’t do that. I’m a figment of your imagination, you fool,” his image said. “You need to act fast. You’re running out of time.”

“I know. I don’t know what to do,” he replied.

“Kill the red-head. He’s the weakest of the three.”

“How am I supposed to do that? He never lets his guard down,” Joshua replied.

“Think about it! What makes him vulnerable?”

“I… I’m not sure,” Joshua stammered.

“You’re not thinking hard enough!” his silhouette shouted.

He was jolted awake so hard that he knocked Maria off his shoulder. Her head fell into his lap. She rolled over and groaned.

“Josh, what’s wrong?” she mumbled.

“It was just a dream,” he sighed.

“Did you have another nightmare about your wife?”

“No, I think this was a warning. My subconscious is trying to tell me something,” he said.

“What do you mean?” She sat up.

“What are you guys talking about?” Danisha stood and leaned against the bars. Julio and Paola slept beside one another.

“Danisha, I know you don’t like to talk about it, but you need to tell me everything you know about looters. How did you and your family cross paths with them?” Joshua said.

“Why would you put her through that?” Xiomara got up and took a sip from the water jug.

“I need to know because it might save our lives,” Joshua said. “I have to find out what makes them vulnerable.”

“I don’t think anything makes them vulnerable. They were scary enough without guns,” Danisha replied.

“Danisha, please just talk to me,” Joshua urged.

Danisha took a deep breath and kicked at a pile of dirt. “We’d heard rumors about a group of thugs killing people, but we just thought it was a made-up story, like the boogie man or something. When everyone around us started disappearing we got worried, though.

“We never found any bodies, but we knew they wouldn’t just leave. They didn’t have anywhere to go. My brothers made weapons out of some old junk and we slept in shifts for weeks. I thought the boogiemen might have gone somewhere else. It felt like everything was going to be okay for a while, but I was stupid to believe that.

“My brother Damon and I were looking for food one day and we ran right into one of them. He came at us with a knife. Damon threw a rock at his head and we took off. We ran back home as fast as we could; he chased us most of the way. When he stopped, he said he was coming for us. We went inside and told Mom and Deshaun. Mom was terrified, but Deshaun said this was our house and we were going to fight for it.

“The next day they came and kicked down our door.

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