Free Web NovelChapter 76: Chapter 76 - Found and Safe
Iyisha and Mary crouched alone in the abandoned storage building, knees pressed to the cold floor, breath shaking as they watched through the cracks in the wall.
Almost thirty raiders moved through the yard.
They were a mix of everything the world had left behind.
Some wore coats that still looked new, probably taken from people who once lived warm and safe.
Some had patched jackets, sleeves torn, fabric stained with dirt and old blood.
Others were filthy, hair matted, faces streaked with soot and grime from days or weeks without shelter.
But every single one of them carried a weapon.
Old shotguns. Rifles with taped grips. Knives tucked into belts. A tire iron held like a club. A cleaver dangling from a rope. One man had a hammer hooked to his waistband. Another slung a pistol across his chest even though the holster clearly did not fit it.
Not wanderers.
Not desperate scavengers.
Raiders.
Mary whispered, "There are so many."
Iyisha didn’t answer. Her throat was too tight to form words.
They waited.
Silence crawled over the clearing, tense and stretched thin.
Then shots cracked through the air from the north.
Mary flinched so violently she hit the wall. Iyisha’s breath left her in one sharp gasp.
The raiders reacted instantly.
Heads snapped toward the gunshots.
The men forcing livestock froze mid-movement then the man in a brown coat reached for his pistol.
"Aiden, Trey, finish that," he barked.
Those two scrambled to push the goat up the ramp again, cursing under their breath. The leader whistled once, sharp and commanding. Most of the raiders immediately grabbed their weapons and sprinted toward the northern commotion, shouting as they went.
"Check it out!"
"Move!"
"They are in the hall!"
Only six remained in the clearing.
Two guards pacing with rifles.
Four hauling crates, dragging sacks, tying ropes around animals.
Not safe, but not swarming anymore.
Mary met Iyisha’s eyes. "This is it."
Iyisha swallowed. Her hands trembled around her gun. "We have to move when they look north again."
The moment came fast.
More shouts boomed from the north.
Boots pounded in the snow.
A man screamed for another rope.
Someone else yelled, "Forget it, push her harder!"
The chaos rose in volume.
Mary breathed, "Now."
They slipped from the storage room, staying low, running along the shadows of the buildings. Snow crunched softly under their boots. Their breath fogged in uneven bursts. They crept behind the livestock pens, behind broken fencing, behind anything that could cover their silhouettes.
The raiders didn’t look their way.
They were too busy dragging animals and shouting over each other.
Iyisha and Mary reached the back corner of Ester’s building. Both froze. Both listened. No footsteps nearby. No voices close enough to notice them.
Mary whispered, "Come on."
They slid along the wall toward the entrance, hearts pounding so hard they felt exposed even in the shadows. Iyisha peeked inside.
Clear.
They crouched low and slipped into the hallway, moving toward Ester’s door on quiet, trembling legs.
"When we stand, they’ll see us through the window," Mary said.
"Stay low," Iyisha whispered.
They reached the door and hovered there, breath shaking.
"You push," Mary mouthed.
Iyisha nudged it with her foot.
Nothing.
The room stayed silent.
"Ester," Mary whispered, voice cracking. "Ester. Open up."
No answer.
Iyisha kept one eye on the raiders outside. They were completely absorbed, wrestling a cow into the truck, shouting at each other in frustration.
"Ester," Mary said again, louder but still whispering. "It’s me. Open the door. Please."
A faint voice finally whispered back, thin and terrified.
"Mary?"
"Yes," Mary breathed. "It’s me. Don’t open," she warned. "They’re outside."
Iyisha checked again. "They’re not looking. Open up."
The door creaked and a thin strip of darkness appeared.
They slipped inside fast and silently as the raiders outside shouted. freёwebnovel.com
"Move her legs!"
"Watch the horns!"
"Hurry the truck!"
Iyisha shut the door behind them, heart hammering as the noise outside rose like a storm.
Iyisha looked at Mary and Ester as they collapsed into each other, both shaking, both crying without bothering to hide it. She stepped forward without thinking and wrapped her arms around them too.
Ester stiffened in surprise, then pulled back just enough to stare at her. "What are you doing," she whispered, tears streaking down her cheeks. "You could have killed yourselves. Both of you." Her eyes darted from Mary’s face to Iyisha’s pale one. "You look like ghosts."
Mary wiped her nose with dramatic flair. "Iyisha called me selfish and dragged me here."
Iyisha let out a small, breathy laugh. "Drop it. You came on your own feet."
Mary sniffed loudly as if making a point. "Still rude."
Ester’s laugh broke into a sob. She covered her mouth and cried harder. "Thank you. Both of you. Thank you." She pulled them close again, shaking. "They haven’t found you?"
"No," Iyisha said softly.
"Not yet," Mary added.
Ester swallowed. "I don’t know why but they didn’t come into this building. I think Marshall and his wife are still hiding in their room." She pointed toward the opposite wall, voice trembling.
Mary wiped her eyes again. "Where’s Lando."
"In the room," Ester whispered. "He’s been trying to keep quiet. How’s outside," she asked.
Iyisha didn’t answer immediately. She moved to the window, crouching low, inching forward until she could peek through the smallest sliver between the boards. Her heart hammered against her ribs.
The raiders were still clustered around the truck. The cow was refusing to move, planting its feet firmly in the snow. Six men pushed, pulled, cursed, and slapped at it.
One yelled, "This stupid thing won’t budge!"
Another snapped, "Get behind it!"
A third growled, "I swear if it kicks me again—"
Mary, still hugging herself tightly, muttered, "They’re not getting anywhere with that cow."
Iyisha watched the scene a second longer. The shouting. The frustration. The chaos. The way the raiders were completely focused on the animal.
Finally she whispered back, "They’re distracted. It’s a mess out there."
Ester trembled and lowered herself beside them. "What now."
Iyisha didn’t know.
Mary didn’t know.
No one in the room knew.
They gathered in the room.The curtains were drawn tight and the lights stayed off as all three women sat close to him on the floor, shoulders touching in the dimness.
Lando leaned back against his bedframe, rubbing the stump of his leg through his pants. His fingers moved in small, frustrated circles.
"It itches," he muttered.
Iyisha glanced at him, then down at his hand patting the place where his leg used to be. She said nothing. She did not know what to say.
Mary broke the silence. "You were right."
Ester frowned. "Who was right? About what."
Mary pointed her chin toward Iyisha. "That Clara was a mole."
Ester nodded slowly. "Elmer should have taken your warning seriously."
Iyisha blinked, stunned. She had been right. She had been called paranoid and dramatic and too suspicious, but she had been right.
And she hated that she was.
She wished she had been wrong. She wished Clara had just been strange and secretive instead of dangerous. She wished this moment—this terror, this invasion—had never come.
Raiders were in Heart because no one listened.
Lives were already gone.
Even now, as they sat together in the dark, gunshots cracked in the distance. Someone was screaming. Someone was dying. It shocked her that breathing quietly in a room could feel like guilt.
Lando exhaled heavily. "You seen Elmer?"
Iyisha and Mary both shook their heads. Ester busied herself with cups of hot water.
"Do you think he helped Clara?" Iyisha asked. Even she sounded unsure how absurd it was.
Lando immediately shook his head. "No way. Elmer was one of the early builders of this place. He got his position by backing the right people, sure, but he put everything he had into Heart."
"He is a bastard," Mary muttered.
"He is," Lando agreed. "But he gave his best. It went to his head, and he acted like he owned the place, but no one can say he didn’t work for it. He did everything he could to keep this community alive."
All three women nodded.
They might have disliked Elmer, but they knew the truth when they heard it.
The room fell into a heavy quiet after Lando spoke. Only the distant gunfire broke it, sharp cracks that slid under the door and crawled across the floor like cold air. Iyisha hugged her knees tighter, feeling the walls press in around them.
Mary rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand. "Elmer isn’t perfect," she muttered, voice softer now. "But he wouldn’t sell us out."
"No," Lando said firmly. "He’s an ass, but he’s our ass. He wouldn’t do that."
Ester leaned against her bed, wiping her cheeks with trembling fingers. "Clara, though... I should have known. I thought she was scared of everyone. I didn’t think she was watching everything."
Gunshots cracked again, closer this time.
Lando tensed, grip tightening on his stump. "That’s by the eastern wall," he whispered.
Ester’s breath hitched. "That’s too close."
They all listened.
Footsteps pounded outside. Heavy. Rushed. A noise scraped against the siding as if someone brushed the wall or kicked it by accident. The air thickened.
Iyisha felt her heartbeat climb into her throat.
Mary mouthed, "Stay quiet."
Then a voice roared from outside, sharp enough to cut through the door.
"Open up!"
All four of them froze.
The room went dead silent.
And the shout came again, louder, closer, slamming into their bones.
"Open the door!"
