No Man's Land (Defending The Future) by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Dark Quest
Published: 2011-09-29T04:00:00+00:00

Late afternoon made for long, dark shadows, easier for getting through town without any Sharks seeing them. They made it to the machine shop without incident, and Kit left Tom, Samuel, and two other men to work the fabricator.

She was halfway to the ethanol plant, only one more street to go, when she found more human bodies.

Three lay on the road in the shade of a huge tree, two men and a woman. As Kit already knew from their stillness, all were dead. Kit rolled the woman over, and bit back a low moan.

It was Agnes Danielson, the first person on New Hope to treat Kit with any degree of warmth, to be a friend, to laugh and chat and bring cookies. This kind and generous person, a pacifist in the best sense of the word...

Kit’s promise of no killing wavered.

A fly (similar enough in form and function to an Earth fly to get the name) landed on Agnes’s cheek. Kit swore and brushed it away.

A pile of small sacks lay scattered on the ground next to the bodies. Kit poured their contents onto the dirt and used the sacks to cover the faces. “I’ll come back for you,” she said. “But first I have some business to take care of.”

Kit stood, her lips and eyes tight in determination.

There was a scraping sound behind her. Kit whirled, stepped deeper into the shadows, crouched. She pulled out the wrapped Kappel dart.

“Kit?” a girl’s voice said. “Is that you?”

Kit stayed in the shadows. “Yes. Who are you, and where are you?”

“It’s me, Lacy Danielson.” One of the high school girls, a cute, redheaded tomboy. “Oh, thank God, someone is here. I’m coming down.” Her voice quivered with fear.

A large tree rustled as Lacy descended. Similar to an elm, its drooping branches extended all the way to the ground, making a good place for a terrified girl to climb and hide. How much had she seen?

Lacy landed with a thump and ran, throwing her arms around Kit in a tight, trembling hug, spewing out her story of terror and Sharks and guns and screams and blood and trees and why didn’t anyone come for her?

Kit wasn’t a huggy person herself, but didn’t interrupt or push the girl away. She did watch the street, and she did wonder what she was going to do with a hysterical teenager in her wake.

Finally, Lacy took a deep breath and loosened her hold, her face chalk white, eyes red and swollen. “Are we the only ones left alive?”

“No, no,” Kit said. “There’s a bunch at the Meeting House, safely underground in the bunker.”

Lacy started to cry again, a quieter cry of grief rather than fear. “They came when we were leaving. I was staying here with Aunt Agnes, and we were leaving. We were going to the Meeting House, like Mr. Stimpel said to.” She hiccupped. “And I was slow, and Aunt Agnes and Uncle Peter already came out the gate but I was still in the yard, and the Sharks came, and they didn’t see me.

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