Carnival World Boxed Set (Episodes 1-3) Read online

  Movement in the window made him jump. Ryan stuck his head in. “You better not be eating something. All food is to be noted and shared with the group.”

  Justin flashed him the packet. “It’s just gum. There are eleven pieces, enough for everyone.”

  Ryan plucked the gum from Justin’s fingers. “Fine. But next time tell someone before you hoard it to yourself.”

  “I wasn’t hoarding it, asshole,” he said, “Besides, who died and made you king shit?”

  There was a tick at Ryan’s jaw line. Justin thought the guy looked like he was about to clock him one. And maybe he would have, if Maddie hadn’t shouted out from the car she’d been searching.

  “I found some cans of ravioli.”

  Sam looked up from the pebbles he’d been kicking against the car tires. The shout came from Maddie, the girl with the pretty curly hair. Sam gave himself a mental pat on the back for remembering her name this time. He wanted to stop calling her the girl with the pretty curly hair so he didn’t embarrass himself every time.

  She was across the parking lot holding up a couple of tins and twirling around laughing. That made Sam smile. He liked ravioli and it would be good to get something in his belly, because he was starting to feel sick. It was bad enough that a lot of foods made his stomach queasy but he hadn’t had anything to eat in a long time and he was starting to feel empty. The popcorn ball he ate last night hadn’t done anything to squelch his hunger. In fact, his gut hurt that much more.

  Summer smiled at him from across the hood of a nearby car that she and Nicole were searching. “Did you hear, Sammy? Ravioli for breakfast.”

  He gave her a small smile and then went back to kicking stones at the cars. Soon a shadow crept up on him and he looked up, afraid. But it was just his sister standing in front of him.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  Sam shrugged. He didn’t want to tell her why he was upset. They had already argued about it. He didn’t want to fight about it again. She didn’t believe him about the Barker and what he’d said about going to the town of Warren. And Sam didn’t know how to convince her of the truth. Usually she believed him, but not this time.

  He wondered if it was because of the others. Maybe Summer didn’t want to be embarrassed by listening to her younger brother.

  She ruffled his hair. “Everything will be okay, you’ll see.”

  He shrugged again and kept his head downcast. He didn’t want her to see the fear in his eyes. Because he was really afraid that if they went to Cedar Falls something awful was going to happen. Something so awful it made his chest hurt just thinking about it. His gut rolled over and gave him that yucky taste in his mouth.

  “Why don’t you help out, bud? You can search the backs of trucks. Just climb onto the bumper and look in. If you see something that might be useful, give a shout.”

  Sam nodded, then shuffled over to the nearest pickup truck. It looked just like the one his dad had. He remembered riding in it the last time he'd seen Dad, which had been a couple of years ago. It made Sam sad climbing on the back of it, but he wanted to contribute. He didn’t want to be a burden. He’d heard Summer say that once about him. Although he wasn’t exactly sure what the word meant, he knew it had something to do with the hard part of taking care of him. Something Summer had done a lot of, over the years. Sometimes more than his mom even.

  Once he was up, he climbed right into the bed. Easier to search that way because there was a tarp covering half of it. Lifting the tarp a little, he found a metal toolbox. He unclipped the metal latches and opened it. Inside there was an assortment of hammers, wrenches and other tools he didn’t know the names of. He was certain they could use a few of these things.

  Leaving the box, he pulled the rest of the tarp away and smiled. He found the best thing ever. A red wagon. It was all rusted and dirty but it would be perfect to carry all the things they’d found. Summer would be proud of him for finding it. Maybe Darien would be too.

  “Hey Summer,” he shouted, “I found a wagon!”

  “That’s awesome, Sammy,” she responded from eight cars away. Then she started toward him to help out but stopped when the sound of breaking glass exploded throughout the lot.

  The sudden sound made Sam jump and he fell back onto his rear-end.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Maddie shouted at Ryan.

  The sound of the glass shattering had startled her while she’d had her head in the trunk of a neighboring car. She’d jumped and nearly hit her head. It reminded her too much of the night she and a friend had driven her mom’s car into a tree. The sound had been the same. Smashed glass. Twisted metal. The screeching of bending steel still haunted her dreams.

  Ryan stared at her all wide-eyed and innocent, the steel bar still swinging from his hand. “What? The doors were locked and there’s food in the back seat. Stupid to leave it because of a locked door.”

  She glanced through the now-broken back window and spied a stuffed brown paper bag on the seat. “I guess, but next time could you warn us before you smash something?” She said it with a smile because she didn’t want him to think she was angry. She wasn’t, really. She’d just been taken by surprise is all.

  He gave her a lopsided grin that softened his usual hard and stoic face. He didn’t look so serious now. She liked it. “Sorry about that,” he said, “Got carried away I guess.”

  “Yeah, duh.”

  Through the gap in the glass, he reached in and unlocked the back door. He opened it and grabbed the bag of groceries.

  “Anything good?”

  He pulled out a box of crackers and smiled. “Yup.” He dumped the other contents out onto the hood of the car. More boxes of crackers and two tins of sardines tumbled out. Maddie rummaged through them. Someone must’ve been planning a party, lucky for us. Now they wouldn’t starve.

  “Bonus find,” she said, “I. Am. Starving.”

  “Me too,” he said, as he turned all the boxes the right way up and set them in a straight line.

  As she watched him, her gaze fell to the rod lying on the hood beside the food. “Hey, how did it feel to smash that window?”

  Ryan looked around, as if making sure it was just the two of them without anyone within earshot. He leaned toward her, his eyes alight. “Freaking awesome.”

  “Do you mind if I have a go?”

  He shook his head and handed her the metal bar. “Have at it.”

  Testing the weight of the steel, Maddie lifted it, then lowered it. It wasn’t as heavy as it first looked. She lifted it again, twisting her hands around it to get a good grip.

  She walked up to the car she’d been looking into, lifted the bar to her shoulder and, after taking a deep breath, swung at the back window.

  The impact was hard and the metal vibrated in her hand. She nearly dropped it. The glass had spider-webbed but didn’t break. Disappointment flooded her.

  Justin popped out from the front seat of the vehicle he’d been sitting in. “Maddie! What are you doing?”

  “Relieving a little stress.”

  She hefted the bar up again. She wouldn’t be robbed of her release. She swung with everything she had and every emotion that was swirling like a dark cloud inside her.

  Crack.

  This time the window broke. Pieces of glass fell into the car, making a hole in the window. Adrenaline pumping through her, she smiled. But it still wasn’t good enough. She needed to shatter it completely.

  She took a step back and lifted the bar again.

  “Stop, Maddie. You’re going to get hurt.”

  She glanced at Justin and had an overwhelming urge to throw the bar at him. He was always telling her to be careful, to watch herself. As if she was completely useless or something. Like she couldn’t do anything of importance.

  Teeth gritted, muscles clenched, taking a step forward, she swung as hard as she could.

  The explosion was immediate and unexpected. Pieces flung in the air and to the side, showering her. It was so qu
ick that she didn’t immediately feel the sting on her face. But as she lowered her arms, the strain on her muscles making them quiver, pain shot across her cheek, causing her intake of breath.

  “Shit.” She dropped the bar and touched her face. Her fingers came away sticky and coated with blood.

  Justin was beside her in a flash. “Jesus, Mad. You cut your cheek.” He cupped her chin and inspected her wound.

  “It’s fine. Don’t fuss.”

  “It’s not fine. You’re bleeding.”

  “I’ll live.”

  Justin shook his head and clucked his tongue at her, like their mother had always done when one of them was in trouble. Lately, Maddie was on the receiving end of that judgment more often than not.

  “What’s gotten into you?”

  “I don’t know.” But I like it, she finished in her mind.

  Then her gaze locked with Ryan’s. He was grinning at her. And she smiled back. If they had been alone, she might’ve marched right up to him and planted her lips on his.

  As it was, Justin was still gaping at her. She had to duck her head down to hide the blush on her cheeks that came with thoughts of kissing Ryan.

  Chapter Three

  The road was busted up. It reminded Darien of broken-up sandwich cookies. They walked along the side. Sam pulled the wagon they’d found; it was now laden with their supplies. Darien looked from side to side. It was hard to believe he’d just driven down this road with Nicole yesterday. The power lines were all down. The weeds and grass were four feet high. There wasn’t a sound, not even the chirping of birds.

  At least they weren’t starving anymore. One can of ravioli between them, plus a few crackers. It was only a little bit but enough to stem the hunger in their bellies. Ryan said they had to ration. As much as Darien didn’t want to admit it, Ryan was right. There was no telling where they’d get their next meal.

  Summer was still mad about something, and so was Nicole. So Darien figured it was safer to hang back with Sam and the wagon. Ryan was up front with Maddie and her brother. That left Nicole and Summer in the middle. They gave each other a wide berth and kept their eyes straight ahead. He supposed it was better than the eye daggers they’d been stabbing each other with earlier.

  Darien could only shake his head.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Sam.

  “It’s just stupid,” Darien said. He hoped the girls didn’t overhear.

  “What is?”

  “It’s just high school, you know?”

  He could smack himself in the head. Of course Sam didn’t know. “In high school, some people hang out together and some people don’t.”

  Sam looked up at him, clearly expecting more of an answer.

  “Not everyone in school can be your friend.”

  “But we’re friends,” Sam said. “And Nicole’s my friend.”

  “You’re still a kid. It changes when you get to high school.”

  “How? Why?”

  Darien couldn’t answer. He couldn’t because it was never clear to him either, and it wasn’t necessarily his choice. It had been his dad’s. During middle school his father told Darien he was trying out for the football team. There wasn’t any choice in the matter and for a while, Darien thought it was mandatory. He figured everyone had to try out. After that it was no more cartoons after school, just training and homework. Time to get serious, Darien. You don’t want to be a loser in life. It was only okay to hang out with his teammates after practice.

  Buzz was a teenage criminal but he was okay as long as the coach didn’t kick him off the team. Darien had to be an honors student but he couldn’t really be friends with Summer or any of the others in class. They were brainiacs, soft. If he hung around them he’d be soft too. In a way it was easier, letting his dad make the decisions for him. Now that he looked at it, he wasn’t so sure anymore. He wondered how other kids did it. Did Nicole just decide she was going to be one of the popular girls? Did Summer just decide she wasn’t?

  It couldn’t be that simple. Or was it?

  Sam asked him, “If I was in high school, would we be friends?”

  Darien tussled his hair. Here, wherever here was, things were that simple. “The best, Sam.”

  Darien was just beginning to wonder how far they’d traveled when he saw a familiar shape come into view.

  Sam clearly saw it too and pointed. “What’s that?”

  “The Astro Motel,” Darien answered with a smile.

  He’d been there a few times. It was a small place built in the sixties, with an art deco neon sign. One long building held all twelve units. With its black roof and cream-colored walls, it looked like an ice-cream sandwich.

  The office was a separate building next to the pool. The place was all peeling wallpaper and cracked plaster. But the surly, tattooed clerk never asked questions or checked IDs. Darien and Nicole had spent a few nights there. The bedspreads were never laundered. They stripped everything off, down to the mattress. Then they would strip each other.

  “What’s so funny?” Sam asked.

  “How’s that?”

  “You were smiling just now.”

  “I guess I was,” he said, then his smile brightened. “Hey!”

  Everyone stopped in their tracks and stared at him.

  “What is it?” Sam took a step into his side.

  “The sign,” Darien said, as he pointed. Up ahead was the diamond-shaped sign for the Astro Motel. Its name flickered on and off. A neon rocket shimmered next to the red VACANCY.

  The sign was lit.

  Nicole could barely keep herself from crying. They all ran into the motel parking lot. The pavement was cracked, though not as bad as the road and there weren’t any cars. The buildings looked faded and worn, but they always looked like that. The sign was on. It was definitely on. The neon light was hard to see in the bright sunshine, but it was there. Everyone looked around.

  “Do you see anything?” asked Maddie.

  No one answered.

  “Just because it’s on doesn’t mean there’s anyone here,” said Ryan. “It could be on a timer or something.”

  “There’s no timer. A guy has to come out and turn that thing on at night,” Darien said.

  She hoped no one asked how he knew that. Darien and Nicole saw the guy turn on the sign the last time they’d been at the motel. She didn’t really want everyone to know that she and Darien had sex in this disgusting place.

  Then Sam pointed at the office as two figures trundled out. It wasn’t the big, tattooed desk clerk Nicole remembered. They were a large, round old couple with white hair. The woman wore a long dress with a leather belt. The man was dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt. Despite the heat they looked like they had just stepped out of a Christmas card. They were certainly jolly with their greetings.

  “Oh, father look, children,” beamed the woman.

  The old man chuckled and smiled broadly.

  At first the group was too stunned to speak.

  “Who are you?” Sam asked, hiding a little behind Darien.

  The old couple laughed. “Well aren’t you a dear little morsel,” said the woman. “I’m Mrs. Shanks and this is my husband, Mr. Shanks. Oh, but come in out of the hot sun.” The couple motioned toward the office. “We have food and drink inside. Maybe something sweet?”

  “Thank you. But...” Ryan started. For once the guy looked unsure of himself. Nicole was surprised by his reluctance.

  Mrs. Shanks stepped forward and spread her arms as if she wanted to envelope them all in a great hug. Nicole had to stop herself from walking into those welcoming arms. She desperately needed a hug from someone.

  “You poor dears look like you’ve been put through the wringer. You’re safe now. And soon you’ll be home.”

  Nicole couldn’t contain herself anymore. She hugged the nearest person. That turned out to be Summer, but she didn’t care. Then she jumped into Darien’s waiting arms. Maddie and Justin were laughing. Only Ryan wasn’t excited. If anythin
g, he looked disappointed.

  Sam wasn’t jumping for joy either. His sister was kneeling next to him. They were talking and Sam looked agitated, just as he had when he told them about the Barker.

  “This isn’t what’s supposed to happen,” Sam insisted.

  “It’s okay,” said Summer. “Everything was really scary but it’s over now. We’re going to see Mom. You want to see her, right?”

  “Sure, but—“

  “Come in. Come in, you sillies.” Mrs. Shanks gestured to them from the office door. “Don’t stay outside and roast like little birds.”

  They entered the office. It was as Nicole remembered it. There was a long desk in the front with a room in the back. Near the front desk was a small lounge area with sofas, love seats and a television set. The lounge looked out onto the pool.

  Nicole plopped down on the loveseat. The others followed her lead. It felt so good to just stretch out in a real chair. The memory of sleeping on that filthy picnic table made her shiver.

  Ryan was still moping and Sam looked nervously about. Nicole noticed the chairs and sofa were ratty and the carpet hadn’t been shampooed in years. It was grimier than usual. And there was a smell coming from the room behind the front desk. A smoky odor, like a backed-up fireplace. But there was something else about it. The smell of cooking meat.

  A barbeque?

  “Would you like some lemonade?” asked Mrs. Shanks. She appeared from the back room with a pitcher and glass. “Or perhaps a nice pie. I make a wonderful pie. The secret is using the right kind of fat for the crust.”

  “Thank you,” said Ryan. “What we’d really like are some answers. What happened here?”

  Nicole rolled her eyes. Ryan still had that stupid metal bar in his hands. Why couldn’t he give it a rest? Everyone else was relieved that this weirdness was coming to an end. He looked like he was about to cry about it.

  “Oh, don’t concern yourselves with all that. There will be time. Your parents will be here soon to pick you up.”

  “You talked to them?” asked Justin.

  Mrs. Shanks set the glasses down on the coffee table and filled them from her pitcher. The liquid was cloudy and had no ice.