Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 125531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 628(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 628(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
“I’ll hold her here while you get the kids,” Cage said.
After another quick glance at the burner phone, Whip entered the cabin to see both kids standing in the center of the cabin, their arms wrapped around each other, their eyes wide as they stared at him.
They probably hadn’t had a bath in a while since their skin was dirty as were their clothes and their hair was a complete mess. The older boy even had a bruise on his cheek that appeared to be a handprint.
Fuckers.
Whip hoped to fuck that they saved those boys from future abuse by taking out Elvin.
“It’s gonna be okay,” he assured them, holding his empty palms up. “Not gonna hurt you.”
“That’s not what you told our momma,” the older one said, his bottom lip quivering and his eyes shiny. “You touch us, I’ll kill you.”
“No you won’t. We’re takin’ you and your momma away from here and to a better place. C’mon.”
Both kids stared at his outstretched hand suspiciously.
“Your momma’s right outside and waitin’ for you so we can all leave.”
“Get the brats and let’s go!” Cage yelled into the cabin. “Tick fuckin’ tock.”
Whip grabbed the youngest kid and pulled him from his brother’s arms. He picked up the crying boy and told him to hang on. He turned back to the older brother. “Let’s go, kid. You don’t gotta choice. You’re comin’ with us whether you wanna or not.”
“My daddy’s gonna kill you.”
His daddy wasn’t going to do shit besides soon be splattered matter. “Let’s go, kid.” He got a better grip on the boy he was carrying and put a hand on the older boy’s back, nudging him toward the door. “We don’t got time to waste.”
“Where’s my daddy?”
“Go outside.”
“I don’t like you,” the kid yelled.
I don’t fuckin’ care, Whip answered in his head.
“You’re mean.”
“You’re welcome to your opinion,” Whip told the oldest boy. “Now, come with me.”
“My daddy’s gonna be real mad.”
“I’m sure he will be. But he told me he’ll be even more mad if you don’t go with your momma.”
The kid wiped his palms down the side of his homemade pants as he shifted from dirty bare foot to dirty bare foot, then he began to wring his hands together. “Like get the strap kinda mad?”
Oh fuck.
“Yeah, kid. He told me to tell you that you need to listen, yeah? Then no strap.”
Without taking this boy away from the Guardians of Freedom he wouldn’t have a great future, but Whip still felt like he was fucking with the poor kid’s head by lying to him.
Even so, he had no choice because they needed to get moving five minutes ago.
He finally said, “Your momma’s leavin’ and your daddy already left. You wanna stay up here alone with the bears and coyotes? ‘Cause I’m takin’ your little brother with us. Stay or go. Don’t care,” Whip lied and left the cabin carrying the four-year-old.
Cage had the mother up on her feet with one hand on her arm to keep her from running off. “Where’s the other snot monkey?”
“Inside,” Whip answered loud enough to be heard in the cabin. “He wants to live up here by himself. It won’t be long ’til the coyotes come and eat him as a snack.”
The kid appeared at the doorway, pulling boots on over his bare feet. “I’m goin’ with my momma.”
“Good choice, kid,” Whip said. He turned to Cage. “What about…” He tipped his head toward the car. They were supposed to leave all male Shirleys in the buildings by dragging them inside or dropping them right there on the spot.
“Fuck it. Once this place goes, that cage is gonna go with it, takin’ out anythin’ around it. Plus, shit’s gonna burn. It’ll take a while for these woods to recover from that fire.”
The whole side of the mountain going up in flames was a real possibility. Actually, more like a reality. What the explosives didn’t take out, the fire would. At least until the surrounding area fire departments could respond to get it under control.
That wasn’t his problem right now. Right now, he and Cage had to get the five of them to the van.
Still hauling the four-year-old on his hip, Whip took the gun Cage had on him as well as the one he himself had tucked in his waistband and went back into the cabin, hiding them in a cabinet. Now they’d only have their damn knives for protection.
He rushed back out and told the six-year-old, “Hold onto your momma’s dress as my buddy helps her down the lane. It’s gonna be dark and you could trip.”
By the time they reached the main level of the compound, it looked like it had been cleared of anyone still breathing.
The Shadows were nowhere to be seen, of course. They had warned that they would ghost as soon as the men were dealt with and prior to detonation.