A Lawless Land

A Force Stronger Than Men

Leo had spent several hours every day in their watchtower, watching and waiting. He could do little to calm his anxieties. Brent took notice.

"Everything okay, boss?"

Leo let out a long sigh, "I told you not to call me that. And I'm fine."

Brent saw Leo's hand rub restlessly across his chest. A gesture he had only seen a few times before, when he was genuinely worried.

"Nah, I don't believe that. Something is eating at you, I can tell," Brent stared him down as he thought about it, "could it have something to do with a certain badass chick?"

Leo glared at him, "don't talk about her like that, show some respect."

"Aha, nailed it. I think you're catching some feelings, am I right?" Brent teased and was answered with another glare, making him laugh, "you do. Can't blame ya, she really kicks ass, and doesn't look too shabby either."

Leo rolled his eyes, "are you finished?" He was answered with Brent's boyish smirk and a shrug of his shoulders, he shook his head dismissively and continued on, "something is bothering me, but it has nothing to do with feelings I may or may not have about her. There's something off. I just have this weird feeling something is gonna happen. Something that could change everything."

"That sounds ominous, you know, I've noticed some kind of electricity in the air. Think maybe there's a big storm coming?"

"Dunno, maybe. In any case we better prepare ourselves for anything. Get a group to cover up the garden, and spread word for everyone to shelter up, I don't like the look of those dark clouds coming in," Leo gazed off into the distance one last time before leaving the watchtower, giving himself a mental shake to stay focused.

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Queen had found a dusty old pile of wood next to the fireplace in the creaky worn living room. She shooed away a few spiders before she began working on building a fire on the hearth. The thunder rumbled, vibrating the walls, and the rain tapped the windows and roof, she thought she might've heard a dripping somewhere.

"Darren, go find the leak and find something to catch the water in," she turned to Joni and her kids next, "better get comfortable, it's going to be a long night. Steer clear of the doors and windows, do not venture outside for any reason, that storm will be merciless."

Darren listened to her voice as it got further away while he looked through the house for something to hold water, and whatever else they could find to use. He found a metal bucket in one of the old bathrooms, he peered carefully into any room he passed, in case they were not alone in the house, even though Queen said it had been empty for a long time, it didn't mean no one else could've stumbled across it and made it their own. The lack of destruction was unnerving and eerily quiet despite how creaky the floors were.

There was definitely a musty smell to it, but he assumed it was due to the age of the structure. So far, he had not found much of anything. Another smell intruded his nose as he ventured up the staircase and deeper into the halls upstairs, a smell that he recognized and knew all too well. He held his arm to his nose as he reached the last door at the end of a hallway. The smell of mothballs and decay. He touched the rusted knob, debating with himself if he really wanted to confirm what he already knew must be behind that door. He finally worked up the nerve and tried turning the door handle. Pieces of paint and rust fell from it as it turned, but it wouldn't give way to him.

Queen finished building the fire, and sighed, wondering what was taking Darren so long to come back. She found ragged blankets as she made her way around the first floor, giving them to Joni and her family, then went in search of Darren. Finding him at the bedroom door he had been working on trying to open.

"What's going on?" As she got closer, she was hit with the smell and felt her stomach turn.

"Well, I think I found the leak, but I don't think we are going to find an empty room with a wet floor," he stepped away from the door and shook his head, "can't get it to budge."

She bit her lip in thought, exchanging an uneasy look with him, "I'd leave it alone if I wasn't worried about the floor rotting and caving on us, so it's best to just get this over with."

She tested the strength of the door with her booted foot, finding the weak spot, then grabbed the doorknob and place a hand to the wood as she tried forcing it open with her shoulder. When that still wouldn't do it, she took a step back and kicked at it with all her might. Splinters flew in various directions as the door slammed open, revealing a master bedroom with large and steady drops of water had indeed drenched the hardwood floor, but what stood just beyond that water damaged part of the floor had her stomach twisting in knots. There stood a four poster bed with the rotted remains of a man and a woman.

"Guess now we know what happened to the owners," she spotted the rifle between the corpses and the black splatters of old blood all over the pillows and headboard. "More people who gave up hope."

She wished she could say it was rare, that she hardly ever saw anything like that, but she would be lying. In fact, in all her travels, it was the one thing that remained constant. Death. Suicide, murder, starvation, any and every type of death you could think of, and no one around to make it better, or trying to prevent it from happening again and again. Especially in a world ruled by cold-blooded killers and psychopaths.

She had to shake herself from her thoughts before it triggered her PTSD. It was hard enough being caught in the middle of a storm that reminded her of her days stuck in warzones, months trapped in one place because stepping out the door meant death, the one thing she was all too familiar with. She took the bucket from Darren and placed it underneath the leak, then quickly searched the room for anything they could use, deciding that it was useless if everything smelled like mold and decay.

"We will just seal off this door and stay away from this part of the house," she muttered as she briskly walked past Darren and out of the room.

Darren was more than inclined to agree. He helped her haul a wardrobe from one of the other rooms and block the door after forcing it to close again. She made a mental note to burn the house to the ground if it survived the storm that night.

Once they were back in the living room with the others, they decided not to mention what they had upstairs, convincing them all that the house was not as sturdy as it looked and that the upstairs wasn't safe to be in.

The storm had continued raging and ravaging the outside, flashes of lightning filled the sky and nearly blinded them, they heard a few crashes on the upper level of windows shattering and large branches hitting the siding and the roof. They kept to the middle of the room as they shared cans of food and stale crackers that they had found. While everyone later on slept, Queen sat erect in her chair, petting the large furry head that had taken over her lap, listening to the storm and for any other noises that signified unwelcome visitors. Her stress was high, her mind alert and anxious, but contained as she focused on petting Duke's head.