Back to Paradise

Chapter 4

Paradise Ranch

Abel

Keeping his back against the wall, Abel watched as Mason stood stiffly nearby, one arm across his chest, the other propping up his chin as he stroked his gray beard thoughtfully. He was a rugged man with weathered skin that had spent years exposed to the sun. Despite his age, he was lean, as anyone had to be in these times, but Abel still wouldn’t pick a fight against him. Mason was one tough son of a bitch.
“The sun’s almost down.” His voice hid none of his worry.
“It’s too dangerous to send anyone after them after dark.” Abel told him quietly, picking at a piece of grass. All around him, Paradise Ranch was still bustling with activity. This small corner of the world had seemingly been untouched with the heartache that followed every beating heart of the world. He knew it was there, but somehow, Paradise was different. They were the truest family he’d ever seen, related or not. They looked to hope, to the future, they looked to build and keep building. Everywhere Abel had ever been had just been surviving.
Not here. Here, they lived. They still remembered the simple things.
Everyone had a job, they grew their own food, kept their own livestock, and traded with other communities for everything else they needed. They hunted often to keep their food stores full and lessen the need to produce livestock. They even had electricity.
Then there were scavenger parties, like the one they were sitting here waiting for. The more the sun fell, the more Abel started to think they weren’t coming back. Not today anyways. Mason’s brother, Landon, put his hand on his shoulder and said, “I’m sure they’re okay. If they got caught up somewhere, they’ll find a safe place for the night.”
“Sky promised me they wouldn’t do that. They were only going to the junkyard across the bridge and back.”
Going out was always dangerous, but Abel was inclined to believe Landon. The scavengers had some of their best. Jackson and Garret and Sky. Hell, he’d put money on those three alone. Jackson had been a fucking Army Ranger, which was apparently a big deal B.Z., Before Zombie. He’d trained combat for everyone in their community, which was now required at Paradise Ranch after the war with the True Survivors.
Garret, while not the leader of Paradise Ranch, was one of their most esteemed members. Abel had heard the story time and time again after his arrival here. Several years ago there’d been a bad drought. It’d caused a bit of a famine. Less animals, harder to grow gardens. It’d been a bad time for everyone, probably the scariest time anyone had had since the start of the zombie apocalypse. Communities previously on friendly terms were suddenly stealing from each other and at war, people grew more desperate.
Garret had been nineteen then and he’d stepped up. When Paradise Ranch fell under attack, he’d thrown himself into the fray and saved his people’s lives. That was the day he’d been amplified in everyone’s mind here and had become their future leader. Everyone knew when Mason stepped down, Garret was taking over, with Mason’s daughter at his side. Those two were inseparable and Sky was possibly more dangerous than either Garret or Jackson.
Sky was smart. Manipulative. Trained. He’d seen her put Jackson on his back with a few well timed moves that left everyone in awe while she pranced like a little girl who just won the tickle war.
“Mason!” A voice called from atop the roof of the ranch house.
“Shakasta?!” Mason tilted his head back and Abel pushed off the wall and to his feet.
“I see people at the first gate.”
He spotted Shakasta on the edge of the roof, her sniper rifle pulled into her shoulder, her head bowed over the scope. She’d cut her black hair all the way down to her scalp and he had to admit, it was a good look for her. The yellow shirt she was wearing really stood out against her black skin and he loved that too. She was the best sniper they had with gun or bow. She could nail a rabbit from farther than anyone else and she was the only sniper he wanted at his back if he needed it.
“It’s them! I see Garret.”
They were already walking away from the house, looking down the long driveway that led to the gate, but Abel didn’t see any horses. That was a bad sign. Abel ditched his spot by the wall and started jogging towards the fence with Mason and Landon on his heels. A few others joined them almost immediately and by the time they reached the inner gate, Garret and his group had already made it through the first gate and were opening the inner.
“What happened?” He called quickly and scanned the group. They looked ragged and sweaty, Garret and Jackson’s faces were busted up and…and Sky was missing. “Where’s the horses? And where’s Sky?”
He helped push the gate open, but just as he was looking back to them, Garret was only a few steps away. Abel didn’t have time to react as he slammed into him roughly, swinging him around and pinning him against the gate by his throat. Several people shouted all at once, but Abel heard none of them as he lifted his arms to knock back Garret’s chokehold. “What the fuck—”
Garret grabbed him and slammed him down onto the top edge of the gate and he felt the metal cut into his back. Abel closed his fists then and popped him in the jaw, planting his feet and attempting to drive him backwards so he could get off the fence. Everyone was still shouting and trying to get between them and Abel could feel his back grinding against the metal, warmth spreading down his spine, when he finally got a proper hit on the nose and Garret’s hands loosened from around his throat.
Then Jackson wrapped Garret in a chokehold and pulled him back and Abel kicked to get him off and straightened up, pain shooting through his back in waves that throbbed through his chest.
“Garret! What has gotten into you son?” Mason grabbed onto him as Jackson released him, facing away from Abel and several people crowded against Abel.
“Are you okay?”
“Oh my god, let me see.”
“Seriously, Garret?” Veronica snapped at him.
Landon turned Abel and he heard a collection of gasps and reached behind him. A hand smacked his, “Don’t touch it,” but he didn’t listen. He could feel blood all over his shirt and his hand came away slick with it. “Come on, you need that looked at right now.”
He was still high on adrenaline, not even sure who was speaking but he pushed them away and glared at Garret. “What the fuck was that about?”
“Abel, stand down.” Mason warned. “You need a medic right now. Garret, where’s Sky?”
“What happened?” Landon questioned.
“They took her!” Garret finally turned back towards Abel but he didn’t pounce again. “Your fucking people took her!”
“When you said talk to Abel I didn’t think you meant this.” Jackson shoved his shoulder. “Get your head on straight!”
“Took her?” Mason grabbed his face this time but Abel felt a sick feeling descend in his gut. Your fucking people took her.
He was heaving for breath, but he spoke before Garret could answer Mason. “The True Survivors? They’re back?” Silence fell around them, everyone’s face horror stricken.
Garret’s tone became more desperate and less accusing, “How do we get her back? We gotta get her back, Abel, and you’re going to fucking help us!”
“Of course I am!” He shouted back and took a step towards him but Landon set his hand on his shoulder. “You didn’t have to attack me to make it happen!”
“I know…I’m sorry.”
Abel stared at him for a long moment, trying to steady himself while blood poured down his back. “How many times do I have to prove myself to you Garret before you believe I’m one of you?” Garret’s eyes flashed with rage, but Abel didn’t think the man would ever forgive him. Afterall, he was the one that kidnapped Sky the first time they’d encountered the True Survivors. “I’m not that person anymore, but it’s okay if you don’t forgive me. She already has and she’s all that matters right now.” He turned his eyes towards Mason. “We’ll get her back, Mason, even if I have to turn myself over to them. We’ll get her back.”
Mason shook his head and reached for him, squeezing his arm. “No. I told you once, boy, they get none of our people. That includes you. Sky would never allow it anyways.” Those words, coming from Mason, brought great satisfaction to his soul, but he wasn’t willing to dwell on it when there were more important things right now. “Come on, let’s get up to the house, we’ll get your back taken care of and you—” he whirled back to Garret, “no more attacking people like that. You know better.”
He wasn’t fazed but they all remained silent so Mason made a bid for the house. As they walked, Abel could feel the tug of pain with each movement in his back as his mind reflected on bitter memories.
He used to be a True Survivor. He used to play their games, fight their fights, but that all changed the day he met Sky. He hadn’t known it then, but she was the smartest person he’d ever met. He caught her alone, separate from her scavenger group. She wore her mark out in the open and so did he. The moment he laid eyes on it, he knew it for what it was and his training kicked into place.
She’d been bitten, just like him, the scar on her arm for him to see and he’d used that to get close to her. She was smart to be wary, but she’d let him close out of pure curiosity to see his own bite. The moment she was distracted, he knocked her out and stole her away.
That’s what the True Survivors were. Their leader was a sort of fanatic. He believed they were all special. His right hand man, Jay, followed his every order, hanging on the edge for the next directive. Together, they collected people that had been bitten by zombies and survived, whether they wanted to be collected or not. Anyone that was brought into the group was subsequently brainwashed. Heavily. Made to believe they were invincible. If they had families…the True Survivors often killed them so there was nothing left to go back to. Nothing but the True Survivors.
After taking Sky, a bad storm had come and he’d been forced to go into hiding with her instead of returning immediately to his people. With her tied up, alone in that house, she’d slowly worked her way under his skin. She’d asked him questions about the True Survivors, about him, slowly picked him apart until she realized he never really wanted to be there and she exploited that…and he didn’t even realize she was doing it until he was letting her go and she was asking him to come with her.
He didn’t. Not at that time, but it didn’t take long for the True Survivors to beat out of him where he’d been and that he’d found another True Survivor and then lost her. That’s when their leader came for her. He attacked Paradise Ranch mercilessly, declaring his intentions to make Sky part of his group and Abel felt…guilty. Paradise Ranch had been better equipped than most of the communities they came up against though, and they’d fought back well. Not well enough to outlast the True Survivors, and Abel knew it.
Then one day they caught Mason, held him, threatened to kill him if Paradise Ranch didn’t turn Sky over to them and he knew she’d do it. For some damn reason, Abel couldn’t let that happen, so he released Mason and he left with him.
Life was better now, better here.
“Hey,” Shakasta was off the roof and moving towards him now that they were at the house, pulling his mind out of his past. She was almost to him when she turned and slapped Garret so hard that the resounding pop made everyone turn and look, even the people that were several yards away. “I don’t know what the fuck happened out there, Garret, but if you ever come at him like that again, I will snipe you from the roof, no fucks given!” She pushed off his chest and turned back to Abel and took his hand. “I’m taking you to Thia right now.” She drug him past Mason and the rest of the group and he didn’t complain, in fact, he felt an uncharacteristic smile spread across his face.
“I didn’t know you cared.”
“Just because I said I wasn’t ready for a relationship with you didn’t mean I don’t care.” She pulled him inside the house and called for Thia, heading towards the section of the house they reserved for their one and only doctor…of sorts. Thia had been in her first month of residency to complete her doctorate in medicine when the world crashed. She never got much experience working under doctor’s but she had the book knowledge and it’d done them well in the apocalypse. “Thia, Garret’s crazy ass done went psycho on Abel.”
“What happened?” Thia asked calmly and Shakasta whirled him around. “Oh. Abel, sit.”
“Am I a dog now?”
“If I say you are.” Shakasta encouraged him to sit and unfortunately let go of his hand, but it was so she could look at his back.
“You’re going to need stitches.” She made a low whistle. “Abel, honey, this is kinda bad, what is this? Did Garret knife you?”
“Close enough.” He muttered and looked towards the door as none other than the man himself came in with Mason and Jackson at his heels. He heard scissors and didn’t complain as Thia cut through his shirt. He was sure it was already beyond repair anyways.
Shakasta glared at Garret as he spoke, “We need to start planning. I have questions, Abel.”
“You going to hit him again?” Shakasta demanded. “Look at what you did to him!”
“I know, I’m sorry. We just got our asses handed to us out there and I…I’m sorry, I blamed you. I needed to take my anger out on something—someone—and I’m sorry.” His words softened by the end and he bowed his head. It was the most sincere he’d ever heard Garret sound and he sighed.
“It’s okay man. Let’s start at the top. What do you want to know?”
His eyes were suspiciously red when he lifted his head to look up at him. His dark hair was still sweat soaked. The entire group had been ragged when they arrived, suggesting they’d run the entire way here. They must’ve been really outnumbered to be able to get Sky away from Garret.
Abel licked his lips, pondering how to answer but there was no easy way to say it. They’d heard it all before, loose details of how the True Survivors were, but this was different. They had one of their people now. They weren’t just talking about a stranger in their custody, they were talking about Sky.
“They’re going to start by torturing her. Anything to wear her down mentally and physically. And then he’s going to come in. Every time it happens, he’ll be there, offering a way out. With each beating, with each bruise and cut and burn, he’s going to be her only source of comfort. He’ll lie. He’ll tell her everything will be okay if she listens to him. He’ll make her believe she’s stronger than her attackers, make her believe she can do anything…as long as he’s there. And she’ll believe him, because there’s no alternative, because when the door to her tiny room opens, she’ll hope it’s him bringing food or water or a gentle hand instead of them. He’s the better option. He’s safe. Then she’ll take his offer and she’ll never leave his side.” Because that’s what they did. All of them. When they finally believed in Dean, they never left his side.