Forsaken World:Coming of Age (2 page)

“Do not.”

“Ian, you’ve said a hundred times you would kill kittens to be with her,” Lance cried out.

Nodding, Ian looked away. “Yeah, I’m not going to deny that,” he mumbled.

“Then you go in there and find out what she’s pissed about.”

Letting out a long groan, Ian looked at Lance with pleading eyes. “Lance, you talk to her better than I do,” Ian whined.

“Huh,” Lance said, dumbfounded.

“You talk to her all the time.”

Blinking with a blank stare, Lance mumbled, “You have talked to her every day since this shit started, sometimes for hours.”

“Not when she’s mad,” Ian snapped.

“Fine,” Lance said and spun around, storming toward the cabin.

Ian took off after him. “Just don’t make her madder.”

“Oh, now I have limits.”

Groaning as Lance bent over to use his key around his neck on the back door, Ian grabbed his shoulder. “Please,” Ian begged.

“Hey, I’m going to speak
guy
to her. How her female brain interprets
guy
language is not on me.”

Walking in, they found Jennifer putting pans on the stove. She wasn’t slamming them down, but she was using more force than necessary. She turned and saw Lance storming at her. Her grumpy expression was replaced by panic when she saw the hostile look on his.

Backing away from Lance as he stormed over, Jennifer bumped into the counter. Grabbing Jennifer under the arms, Lance picked her up and sat her on the kitchen island. Dropping his hands to her sides and holding the edge of the counter, he leaned forward. “What the hell is wrong?” he snapped.

Seeing the panicked look on Jennifer’s face, Ian groaned. “I didn’t want you to scare the shit out of her.”

Ignoring Ian, Lance locked eyes with Jennifer. “Hey, we aren’t mind readers, so spill it. We talk to you every day about what needs to be done and include you.”

Her expression hardened. “You never once said, ‘We need to clean the Hummer in the middle of the night,’” she snapped.

Pushing off the island, Lance nodded. “On that, you’re right. But yesterday, we did say it needed to be done,” he said, and Jennifer nodded with a smile. “But,” Lance said, holding up a finger, and the smile dropped off her face. “I woke up to pee and looked at the monitors and saw how bright it was outside and realized it could be done now, so I woke up Ian and asked him if he wanted to help.”

“That’s what I mean,” Jennifer groaned. “Neither one of you ever ask me to help like that. I’m not doing anything to help us here.”

With a stern yet blank expression, Lance shook his head, and Ian covered his face with his hands, knowing that look. “Oh shit,” Ian mumbled.

“Are you on your period?” Lance asked bluntly, and Jennifer’s face and neck turned instantly red.

“NO!” she snapped, wanting to hide.

“Jennifer, there has to be an excuse for you to be acting this stupid,” Lance snapped back, and the embarrassed blush turned to rage. As she opened her mouth, Lance raised his hand. “You have helped every day since you have been with us. Shit, we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you!”

“Just how in the hell do you figure that?”

“Because Ian and I would still be fighting about who was going to Uncle Doug’s!” Lance yelled, and Jennifer gawked at him, never expecting that. “If you wouldn’t have been there, we would’ve ended up dragging Allie out, and if both of us went after Uncle Doug shot himself—he was going to, you remember— we wouldn’t have taken the Hummer. We wouldn’t have taken all the shit at his house. We would’ve taken my dad’s truck and gotten killed on the way here.”

Staring at Lance in shock, Jennifer just blinked. “Let me continue,” Lance said, lowering his voice to a normal level. “When we shot at those guys chasing us, you were aiming down the middle of the road, Ian the left, and me the right. They had nowhere to hide. If it would’ve been just Ian and I, they could’ve gotten away. Either running to the ditch or just coming right at us.”

Feeling lightheaded, Jennifer just stared at Lance with her jaw hanging open. Seeing her speechless, Lance turned to Ian to find the same look. “Big help you are,” Lance mumbled and turned back to Jennifer. “You help,” Lance said. “You watched our asses from in here. If you weren’t here, one of us would have to be in here with Allie, or we would have to take her with us outside. I can tell you that fence would still not be up, and those assholes would’ve stood a good chance of getting close to the cabin. They would’ve spread out and just waited because we would’ve never seen them because the other cameras and motion detectors wouldn’t have been up. Need I go on? Because I can.” Lance narrowed his eyes.

Shaking her head, Jennifer closed her mouth and looked at her lap. “I just feel like I’m not doing enough,” she mumbled.

“Join the club,” Lance said, throwing up his hands. “That’s why we were outside.” Snapping her head up, Jennifer gasped. “Yes, Ian and I feel like we aren’t doing enough to make us safer.”

“But…” Jennifer started and turned to Ian.

“Yeah,” Ian sighed. “That’s why we started early today.”

“You two do everything,” Jennifer moaned.

“Oh, like move a hundred boxes by yourself when the others are working on the fence? Like fixing food for everyone when they are outside? Stocking shelves in the basement and unpacking and finding a place for the mountain of shit we brought from Doug’s that we didn’t even need? Looking over what’s in the computer and teaching the girls how to watch the monitors?” Lance droned.

Looking down at her lap, Jennifer sighed. “Okay, I was being a bitch.”

Smiling, Lance pulled Ian over beside him. Lance put his arm around Ian’s shoulder as he reached out, lifting Jennifer’s chin so she was looking at them. “Hey, we love ya. You are a great friend and lots of help. Besides,” Lance paused as his face broke into a shit-eating grin, making Jennifer smile, “you showed us our first real hooters.”

Jennifer’s jaw dropped as her face turned beet red, and Ian took off running to the basement. “I can’t believe you said that!” Ian cried out when he started down the stairs.

Launching herself off the kitchen island, Jennifer almost knocked Lance down as she took off running to the bathroom, covering her face. “Hey, that was a good day!” Lance called after her as she shut the bathroom door.

Chapter Two

After hiding in the bunker, Ian eased back up the stairs and poked his head out. He saw Lance setting plates on the table. “Dude, I can’t believe you said that shit,” he cried out, charging to the table.

“Just wanted to let her know she’s valuable and a buddy,” Lance said, putting down a plate of bacon. “And very easy on the eyes.”

Shaking his head, Ian went to the fridge and pulled out the pitcher of tea then opened the freezer, getting a can of frozen orange juice. “Lance, I worry about you sometimes,” Ian chuckled, putting the tea on the table as Lance set a plate of eggs down. “Uh, what the hell is that?”

“Powdered eggs.”

Looking at the yellow pile, Ian was unconvinced. “Can I just snort mine then before they turn into yellow snot?” Ian asked.

“Be glad we got the eggs here from Doug’s.”

“That was like two cases,” Ian said, turning around. He grabbed a pitcher and dumped the concentrated orange juice in. “I can’t believe they are already gone.”

“Well, I’m not running to the damn store for more,” Lance said as he pulled biscuits out of the oven.

“We read Doug’s outline, and that’s addressed,” Ian said, filling the pitcher with water.

Hearing a door open, they turned to see Jennifer walk out of the bathroom with her chin held high. “Can I help?” she asked, walking over. “Without showing my hooters?” Ian dropped his head as he grabbed a spoon and stirred the orange juice.

“Hey, we didn’t ask for that,” Lance said, putting the biscuits on the table.

Laughing as she walked to the fridge, she said, “I know, and I’m sorry for being bitchy.”

Stirring the orange juice with intense concentration, Ian mumbled, “You are a huge help here, and we really need you.”

Pulling out jars of jelly and some butter, Jennifer set them on the table then went over to Ian and hugged him. “Thank you, Ian,” she said and looked up to see him blushing furiously. “My word, Ian, you didn’t blush that bad when Ginger Nelson asked to see your tally whacker.”

Lance busted out laughing as Ian’s face got redder. “It didn’t help when she tried to throw him down and shove her hand down his shorts and Ian punched her,” Lance howled.

“I was ten, guys,” Ian moaned. He walked around Jennifer without looking at her and put the pitcher on the table. “I got grounded for busting her lip.”

As Jennifer grabbed the silverware, Lance came over, grabbing Ian’s shoulder and chuckling. “Ian, after you punched her out, you climbed on top of her, punching her in the face and yelling, ‘It’s mine.’”

“Dude, I thought she was going to pull it off. It won’t grow back.”

Becoming serious, Lance nodded. “I thought she did and that’s why you were punching her in the face.”

“I’ll get Allie and Carrie,” Jennifer chuckled, walking past. She stopped and turned around. “You two remember that fight I got in with Ginger not long after that?” Jennifer asked, and they both nodded. “That’s why I beat her ass.” She smiled and spun around. “Nobody messes with my mud-playing buddies.”

When Jennifer walked in the girl’s bedroom, Lance shook his head. “Ginger still almost makes two of Jennifer, and she beat Ginger down in the playground like she was a little baby.”

“And got suspended for three days,” Ian grinned. “Man, what a woman.”

Lance patted Ian’s chest. “You going to tell her why you beat up Chad?”

“Nope,” Ian said, spinning around and grabbing glasses. “Unless you tell her why you beat up Oscar.”

“I saved Oscar’s life,” Lance said, sitting down. “You would’ve killed his ass after you found out he was saying Jennifer was a slut.”

Setting out the glasses, Ian said, “You’re probably right. But I wouldn’t have beat up his best friend just because he was there.” Lance looked away as Ian grinned at him.

Hearing dragging feet, Lance turned around to see Allie coming out and rubbing her eyes. “Hey, ladybug,” he said, holding out his arms. Smiling, Allie walked over, and Lance hugged her tight. “You sleep good?” Lance asked, kissing the top of her head.

“Yeah, thank you for getting the snowman movie and letting us watch it last night,” Allie said, climbing into her chair.

Half asleep, Carrie walked by, yawning. “Carrie, I can’t have a hug in the morning, little ladybug?” Lance asked, holding out his arms.

She spun around, slinging her red hair around her head, and trotted over to Lance, smiling. Lance wrapped his arms around her, and she grinned up at him. “Thank you from me too for the snowman movie.”

“You bet,” Lance said, kissing the top of her head. Carrie bounced over beside Allie and climbed in her chair.

“I don’t get a hug?” Jennifer asked, walking over to Lance.

“Nope,” Lance said, grabbing the pitcher of orange juice. “You turned the volume all the way up on the snowman movie and sang with them. I can handle it at normal levels.”

Jennifer laughed and sat down. After grace, she looked up and curled her lips as she took a spoonful of cooked powdered eggs and put it on her plate. “So are we still going to start on the second fence today?”

“We pulled all the shit out yesterday; you’re damn right we are,” Ian said, cringing as he loaded his plate up with egg slop. “You know we passed checking out the area before putting up the second fence,” he said as he hesitantly put another spoonful of what looked a lot like yellow snot on his plate.

“What is that?” Allie asked as Ian put some egg on her plate.

“Eggs,” Ian said with some uncertainty.

“Um, from what animal?” Allie asked, poking at the pile with her finger and making everyone laugh.

Ian looked over at Lance. “So you want to check the area first?”

“Yes and no,” Lance said, putting jelly on his eggs. “You gave me an idea.” He put the jelly down, and everyone reached for it.

With a cheer, Allie grabbed the jar first. “I’m kind of scared to know, but what idea?” Ian asked, watching Allie cover her eggs with jelly.

“Doug’s list has someone going to Donald’s to buy chickens. We already have a chicken coop built here, and we know Donald’s not there, and those chickens are going to die.”

“Aw, we can’t let the chickens die,” Allie whined, handing the jelly to Carrie.

“Allie, shh,” Ian said, looking at Lance. “So you want to head out today to get them?”

“No, tomorrow,” Lance said as he put a spoonful of jelly with a little bit of egg in his mouth. He nodded as he chewed. “I read some stuff last night, and we need to get ready before we leave.”

“What did you find out?” Ian asked.

“Hold on, Ian.” Jennifer raised her hand and turned to Lance. “What do you mean you read last night? Did you get any sleep?”

“Yeah, I got some sleep,” Lance said, getting up and heading for the stairs to the basement.

Rolling her eyes, Jennifer turned to Ian. “Did he sleep?”

“Yeah,” Ian scoffed.

Seeing that Ian wouldn’t look at her, Jennifer sighed. “Did you sleep?”

“Of course I slept.”

Leaning back in her chair, Jennifer crossed her arms over her chest. “What time did Lance wake you up?”

“He didn’t; I was already awake going over the list of books and instructional DVDs,” Ian said, shoving a biscuit in his mouth. Feeling Jennifer stare at him, he tried to shove another one in.

“What time did you two get up and start?” Jennifer asked as Ian shoved another biscuit in his mouth. He looked like a chipmunk. “You have to empty your mouth at some point.”

Slumping in his chair, Ian grabbed his glass and took a drink. “Midnight,” he mumbled then filled his mouth up again, grimacing at the eggs with no jelly.

Lance ran back up the stairs carrying his notebook and sat down, looking at Ian pouring jelly over his eggs with a full mouth. Glancing up, he saw Jennifer staring holes in him. “What the hell now?”

“You two started at midnight?”

Turning back to Ian, Lance shook his head as Ian loaded his mouth with jelly and egg. “Brother, did she like…pull out pliers while I was gone to get you to talk?” Lance asked, and Ian shook his head but wouldn’t look at either of them.

“Lance, you two could’ve woken me up,” Jennifer said, leaning over the table.

Putting the notebook on the table, Lance rolled his head uncomfortably. “Well, we did go in your room around two, but you were drooling on your pillow, and we thought you needed some sleep,” he murmured.

Jennifer smiled, leaning back in her chair. “That’s so sweet. You wanted to include me but thought I was tired and let me sleep,” she said.

Swallowing his mouthful, Ian glanced up at her. “We didn’t think you were tired; we knew you were,” he said and shoved food in his mouth.

“I could’ve gotten up,” Jennifer said. “Now I’m really sorry for being a bitch.”

“Jennifer, you were snoring really loud. You were tired,” Lance said, and Ian just shook his head, wanting Lance to shut up.

“I don’t snore,” Jennifer said, grabbing her glass.

Carrie looked over at her and nodded. “Yes you do,” she said. “I can feel the walls shake sometimes.”

“Carrie, hush. You’re on my side,” Jennifer said in a low voice. “So what did you read?” Jennifer asked, looking down at Lance.

“Well, we were going over the list of things to do, and Ian was looking at the inventory list. When the internet was here, I had it downloading several chat rooms. I found several posts of people saying camouflage works,” Lance said, opening his notebook. “Stinkers’ eyesight is as good as ours but not their reasoning. They can pick out human outlines very well, but if your outline is broken up really good, they don’t see you.”

“That just stands to reason, Lance,” Jennifer said. “Camouflage works on humans; that’s why armies use it.”

Lance looked up at her. “They’re dead and walking around; we don’t know shit about them and can assume nothing.”

Not liking the harsh tone, Jennifer jumped back in her chair. “I was just saying. It stands to reason that you can hide from them.”

Shaking his head, Lance stared at her. “There was no way they knew we were inside Ian’s house. Yet Mr. Oliver dragged his dead ass up there with a shit load of others and pounded the windows in.”

“Maybe—”

“Don’t,” Lance snapped at her, holding up his hand. “They don’t remember anything. I can pull up a million posts that tell you first hand. They can’t open doors, figure out simple problems, or anything like that, so don’t,” he said and turned his eyes to Ian then Allie.

“I know that, but I was going to say maybe they saw us run over,” Jennifer said, feeling really bad for Ian and Allie. She was so glad Lance stopped her from saying something about their older brother, Jason.

Feeling stuffed, Ian leaned back in his chair. “No, there were none that could’ve seen you from the front.”

“That’s what I mean; we can’t assume anything about what they can and can’t do,” Lance said, looking down at his notebook. “We—” he started then froze. Everyone stared at him as Lance jumped up, knocking his chair over. “Oh shit!”

“What?” everyone shouted, jumping up as Lance spun away with a look of shock.

“Oh shit!” Lance yelled. “I’m so fucking stupid I need to be in special ed!” As Lance wandered into the living area, everyone moved down to his notebook, thinking he read something, but it was turned to an empty page.

Jennifer picked up Lance’s butter knife. “I’m going to stab him,” she declared, looking at the others as Lance kept hollering in a chant, “Oh shit.”

“No, you’re not,” Ian snapped at her as he reached over, grabbing Allie’s butter knife. “I’m stabbing his ass.”

“Allie, Carrie, snowman time before work,” Lance called out.

“Yeah!” they shouted, running to the living area and climbing over the back of the sectional as the big screen came on.

Ian dropped the butter knife when he saw Lance come at him with a wild look in his eyes. As it clanged to the floor, Ian tried to back away, saying, “Dude, I wouldn’t really stab you.”

Lunging, Lance grabbed Ian by the arms, shaking him. “What happened before Jennifer came over that would’ve put a sign post out for the stinkers?” Lance almost screamed.

Not liking the wild look in Lance’s eyes, Ian started thinking. “Well, we hid after hearing shots then Ja—” Ian stopped as his eyes got wide, and his jaw dropped. Snapping his mouth closed, Ian cried, “Oh shit!” as he spun away from Lance. “I’m so fucking stupid!”

Getting really fed up with the boys, Jennifer picked the butter knife off the floor then held one out in each hand toward the boys. “I’m going to cut both of you. I don’t speak boy, so one of you better interpret,” she warned, narrowing her eyes.

Lance turned to her, brushing the butter knives aside and grabbing her arms. “Jennifer, they smelled Jason from his room. He was gone, but his room still smelt like a stinker. They were just following their noses,” Lance said hysterically. “We know they follow the smells of other stinkers!”

The knives clanked to the floor as Jennifer’s eyes got wide. “Oh shit,” she mumbled, looking at the monitors beside the big screen. “We killed those people at the front gate, and they’re gone,” she whispered.