In a Handful of Dust

Lucy burst into the lobby and came to a sudden halt. She had no idea where Lynn would be. She could assume Lander and Ben would live on the first floor, as the rising heat would make it unbearable to live any higher. They would probably have Lynn nearby to keep an eye on her, but Lucy could hardly go down the hall knocking on doors when she didn’t even know which room Lander and Ben used.

“Shit,” she said to herself. Lucy peered into a window, teeth sinking into her lip as she thought. A fat drop of rain hit the glass, sliding down to leave a streak in the grime, and inspiration struck. Lucy raced outside, looking for a fluttering curtain. Even though nights were cool, the trapped air inside still baked with the heat of the day long into the night, and Lucy slept with her window open, anxious for the freshness of outside air.

She could only hope Lynn did too.

The face of the hotel stared at her blankly, curtains drawn. A rumble of thunder rolled through the desert, shaking the ground beneath her feet. Lucy’s panic grew with it, taking over her body and sending a spasm of fear down her spine. She ran to the back of the hotel, tripping over her own feet in her haste and flying out of control, skidding on her knees and crying out as her jeans gave way and then her skin.

Lightning flickered and she pulled her knees up to her chin, the black threads of blood mixing with the tattered denim. Tears of frustration pooled in her eyes, and Lucy swiped at them viciously as she tried to stand. The thunder boomed again, seconds after the lightning, and this time the vibration was so great Lucy could hear thousands of windows rattling in their panes.

Movement caught her eye and Lucy lunged for the Taser, springing to her feet. Only a few feet away a white hand was pressed against the window, aching to touch the fat spattering of raindrops as they struck the glass.

“Lynn,” Lucy breathed, but the other woman hadn’t seen her yet, only drawn to the window by the storm. Lucy shuffled toward her, wincing with pain as the newly exposed pink skin on her knees stretched with every movement. The top of her head barely reached the windowsill, and she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach the glass, her own hand spread against it.

Soon she felt the answering warmth of Lynn’s hand pressed against hers from the other side.

• • •

There was a guard at Lynn’s door, a man whom Lucy had exchanged nods with as she passed him in the city from day to day. He was asleep, and the gray line of light that fell from Lynn’s cracked door made his spasms all the more gruesome as Lucy tased him. She hadn’t been able to see the grimaces of pain on Nora’s face, only hear the bucking as she convulsed in the dark. When he was still, Lucy looked up at Lynn, hating the tears that ran down her face as she did.

“Huh,” Lynn said. “I guess those things are useful after all.” She was dressed in her clothes from the road, her backpack drawn tight against her shoulder blades.

“We have to be fast,” Lucy said, as Lynn dragged the unconscious man into her room and shut the door behind them. “I knocked Nora out too. Once they find out, we’re dead.”

“Probably,” Lynn agreed. “But we can’t leave without my gun. There’s more danger between here and Sand City. We can’t face it with two Tasers that’ll run out of batteries.”

“Shit, Lynn,” Lucy said. “We have to go now! They’re…” Her words failed, cut off in her throat by the memory of dark red against white sand. “They’re drinking people. We’ve been drinking people.”

Lynn took one Taser from Lucy, face grim. “I’m not going to ask what you mean by that until we’re out of here. In the meantime, I’m sorry if this hurts much.”

“If what hurts?” Lucy asked a second before Lynn zapped her.

Lucy felt a strange vibration coursing through her body, and her wounded knees gave out underneath her as she slid to the floor. “What the hell?” she asked Lynn, curling into the fetal position.

“I set it real low, but you’ve still got a mark from it. Can you stand?”

“I think so.” Lucy pulled herself to her feet using the foot of the bed. “So now what?”

Lynn’s mouth set in a grim line as the storm clouds enveloped the moon, leaving the room one shade above black. “Now we go get my gun back.”

Lucy sank back against Lynn’s strength as they stood before Lander’s door, the metal prongs of the Taser biting deep into her neck.

“Knock,” Lynn said, and she did, the sound echoing eerily down the empty hall.

Lander answered quickly, already awakened by the storm. If finding Lucy held captive on his doorstep in the middle of the night threw him in any way, he did not show it. Instead he smiled at Lynn over her shoulder.

“I’ve been hoping you’d come to me in the night sometime, but not quite like this.”

“I want my gun, and I want keys to one of the cars,” Lynn said. “I know you’ve got both of them squared away in your room, so let’s make it easy and be done with it.”

Lander shrugged. “Or what?”