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Cabin, Kentucky
Holding up the OSB board, Lance watched Denny screw it in. With two screws in, Lance stepped back to look at the RV shed half enclosed with OSB. Picking up another sheet of OSB, Lance moved to the next spot and muscled it into position, holding it there until Denny came over while loading a screw into the impact drill and tacked it up.
Feeling his phone vibrate, Lance groaned. “Kitties, I’m not in the mood,” Lance mumbled, pulling it out. “Hold on, Denny,” Lance said, seeing the message on the screen.
“The pussy cats being bad?” Denny asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
Shaking his head, “No, someone from your dad’s place is calling,” Lance told him. “Will you go make sure Ian and the others got the message?”
“Sure,” Denny replied with a grin and took off running to the greenhouse. Inside, he found the others moving to the door. “You get the message?”
“Yep, headed to the cabin,” Ian grinned, then looked back at the greenhouse. Everyone else was in his group today to set up the hydroponic system, and Ian was certain they could start planting in a week. As always, they did several projects at once and the greenhouse only got three hours a day, but with the extra hands it was moving much faster than even Ian had thought possible.
Denny pulled out his enormous key, running for the cabin with the ladybugs and Jodi behind him. “It’s too hot to run,” Jennifer grunted and then reached out, grabbing Ian’s hand.
Lilly leaned over to Jennifer’s ear and whispered, “Sure would be nice to have a swimming pool.”
“Don’t,” Jennifer warned, throwing up a hand.
“Don’t what?” Ian asked.
“Girl stuff,” Jennifer replied, and Ian didn’t want to know any more.
They walked into the cabin to see Lance talking on the phone. “You’re sure there was a change?” Lance asked into the phone and listened. “Rhonda, I’m not saying you can’t compare pictures, but I don’t want to head out and find out it was animals that moved in the house.”
“Don’t like the sound of this,” Jennifer sighed, letting Ian’s hand go and taking off her gloves.
Lance gave a sigh, closing his eyes, “Okay, what’s the house number?” Listening to the response, Lance’s eyes jerked open. “What the hell are you doing scouting zone two? You’re supposed to scout zone one.”
Seeing Lance’s face get tense, Lilly rolled her eyes. “I’m not in the mood for another tantrum.”
Feeling a tug on her arm, Lilly looked down into Allie’s face. Holding up a finger, Allie curled it to tell Lilly to bend down. Dropping down, Lilly put her ear near Allie’s mouth as Allie whispered. “When they start beating up stuff and you want them to stop, grab something and help them beat up stuff,” Allie instructed. “They always stop.”
Raising her eyebrows, Lilly nodded and then turned to Allie’s ear. “Thank you,” Lilly whispered, and Allie just smiled as Lilly stood up.
“Okay, do we need to lead you in?” Lance asked into the phone. “See you when you get here,” he said, hanging up the phone.
“What?” Ian asked, opening the refrigerator and grabbing a pitcher of tea.
Moving to the table, Lance sat down. “Rhonda, Dwain, and Kathy scouted zone two this morning. House 304 is different from the pictures we gave them.”
Pouring a glass of tea, Ian looked off while bringing up the perimeter map in his head. “You and I scouted that house just four days ago.”
“Rhonda said the front door was open,” Lance replied, looking over at Ian.
Grabbing his glass of tea, Ian moved over to the table before sitting across from Lance. “That door was locked. We used the backdoor,” Ian said, and Lance nodded. “So why were you arguing about animals?”
“I really don’t want them running into trouble. We gave them zone one because the battle bots will keep the stinker numbers down and it’s the easiest to patrol and not be spotted.”
Pulling out the chair beside Lance, Lilly sat down. “Lance, they’re adults.”
Slapping the table hard, “That are acting stupid!” Lance shouted. “We need them to get better so they can help us keep this area covered!”
Timidly, Lori raised her hand and stepped up to the table. “Can I tell my daddy that?” she asked, avoiding looking Lance directly in the eyes.
“I already did,” Lance huffed. “Yesterday, he and Rhonda just drove up to the house of survivors and delivered the meeting time and place in person.”
“Daddy knew Mr. Stanton who used to live there,” Lori replied defensively.
Nodding, “Knew, past tense,” Lance snarled. “That man died two years ago.” Lori stepped back from the table and then moved over, standing behind the ladybugs and Jodi.
“Lance,” Ian said, putting his empty glass on the table. “You know why they are doing it. Heath and Dwain have told us several times.”
“Yeah, so we can keep working, but if they get killed we lose allies and they lose parents,” Lance snapped, waving his hand at Lori, Denny, and Jodi. “If I acted like that, I’d be grounded.”
“Pffft,” Jennifer huffed. “Lance, the longest your parents ever grounded you was two days.”
“I don’t remember Lance being grounded that long,” Ian mumbled, pinching his bottom lip trying to remember.
“You were as well,” Jennifer laughed. “You don’t remember a fight in the middle of the street right in front of your house?”
With his face turning red, “Oh,” Ian jerked, dropping his hand from his lip.
“Jennifer, what’s your point?” Lance asked.
“You’ve told the bear trap group our worries and they listened, but they don’t feel the same. They want to do what they can to help,” Jennifer explained.
Letting out a sigh, “All right,” Lance mumbled. “Ian, let’s get geared up and go check out this house. When they saw it had been disturbed, thankfully they pulled back.”
Standing up, Ian leaned over to kiss Jennifer and then headed upstairs. “Want one of us to come with you?” Lilly asked.
“Nah, still have an hour on the greenhouse and then lessons start,” Lance said, turning to Allie and Carrie. Neither said a word as they grabbed Jodi’s hand and pulled her down to the basement. Leaning over, Lance kissed Lilly and then got up and headed upstairs.
When Lance was gone, Lori leaned over the table toward Lilly. “I think he could spank my daddy,” Lori confessed in a low voice.
“After watching Lance deck Ethan, I don’t know anyone offhand I don’t think he and Ian couldn’t take one-on-one,” Lilly admitted, standing up. “Let’s get back to work.”
Lilly and Jennifer led Lori and Denny back to the greenhouse and continued hooking up the pipes for the hydroponics. Fifteen minutes later, they heard Allie call out over the radio the gate was opening for Rhonda. “Let’s go say hi and then we can get back to work,” Jennifer told everyone.
Walking out of the greenhouse, they saw a quad seat UTV pull around the cabin with Dwain’s wife Kathy driving, Rhonda sitting behind her, and Dwain in the front passenger seat. Lori and Denny moved over and hugged their aunts and uncle when they got out of the UTV.
Dwain looked toward the shop and saw a piece of equipment that had been destroyed. “Isn’t that the pneumatic gun Lance was working on?” he asked, and Jennifer nodded with a sigh. “What the hell happened to it?”
“It wasn’t doing what Lance wanted and he threw a fit yesterday,” Jennifer sighed, rolling her eyes and then glanced back at the mangled pieces. “Now you understand why I don’t let Lance and Ian use the washing machine or those sewing machines. If the machine doesn’t respond like they want, they will destroy the machine as punishment.”
“Um, that happen often?” Rhonda asked, glancing at the backdoor.
“Thankfully, no. Unless it’s something they built. But when it does happen, the destruction is total,” Jennifer informed her. “I’ve never seen them destroy something of the parents, but I don’t want to take the chance.”
The backdoor opened and everyone turned to see Lance and Ian putting the face masks on. “I’m finding a hockey mask,” Rhonda said a little enviously.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Lilly advised. “They might think you’re Jasonette, and they don’t like the Jason family. Come over one day and we’ll show you how to make one.”
“We’re taking our buggy,” Lance said, walking past them while putting his helmet on.
“Lance, what was wrong with the pneumatic gun?” Dwain asked and Lance turned and stormed over to the pile of mangled metal, kicking a chunk ten yards through the air.
“Fucking slow ass bitch wouldn’t shoot fast enough!” Lance bellowed at the pile of scrap, then turned and headed over to the buggy as Ian climbed in.
Rhonda grabbed Lilly’s arm. “The sewing machines Robin promised to send are in the back of our ride. Let them have those,” Rhonda whispered as Lance called Dino over.
Lilly gave a thankful nod and walked over, grabbing the sewing machines. “When you get back, we can eat,” Lilly said, looking over at Dwain and Kathy. They both gave a thankful smile as Lance stood up out of the roof opening.
Rhonda jumped in the front passenger seat as Dwain and Kathy climbed in the backseats with Dino between them. “I told the ladybugs to man control, in case we need you,” Lance told Lilly and Jennifer.
They both waved as Ian drove off around the cabin. “What do you think they’ll find?” Lilly asked.
“Don’t know, but whatever it is better not be looking for trouble because it will find more than it can ever imagine,” Jennifer answered, then headed back to the greenhouse.
Ian never paused as the gates started opening. Rhonda cringed when Ian shot through the gap of the inner gate that was barely wider than the buggy. Cranking the steering wheel, Ian threw up dirt rounding the outer gate and driving along the fence. Rhonda scooted farther in, not liking the rolls of razor wire literally inches from the side of the buggy as the buggy sped up the slope toward the ridge.
“Rhonda, you have the pictures?!” Lance shouted down as Ian neared the corner of the fence.
Patting her vest, Rhonda just handed the camera up and saw Lance had a small tablet in his hands. When Lance took the camera, Rhonda glanced at the razor wire just outside her door with a shiver. The fact Ian was hauling serious ass didn’t help.
When Ian rounded the back corner and angled up the slope, Rhonda breathed a sigh of relief at the end of the razor wire. “Very good you didn’t go in or get closer!” Lance shouted down.
“We knew someone had been in there!” Rhonda shouted up as they reached the crest and the buggy went airborne. Throwing out her hands, Rhonda held on as the buggy hit the ground, but the impact was nothing like what she expected. “That wasn’t so bad,” Rhonda noted, letting go of the dash and her seat.
“The wheels have thirty inches of travel,” Ian replied, slowing as he reached the chute. Rhonda, Dwain, and Kathy all relaxed as Ian slowly moved through the twists and turns. When Ian pulled out of the diversion fence they held on, expecting Ian to take off again, but Ian just drove slowly along the slope not heading down toward the build house.
Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Rhonda turned to see Lance handing the camera back. “You patrolled half of zone two and only found one area changed,” Lance stated, looking down at her.
“Yeah, knew you would want to see it,” Rhonda replied. “We want to help, but damn sure don’t want to piss you off and wake up to find the house surrounded by battle bots.”
Throwing back his head, Lance busted out laughing as did Ian. “We wouldn’t do that,” Ian laughed.
“Don’t want to take the chance,” Dwain mumbled from the back, but was scanning his area. After the dog attack, he and Heath got everyone together and practiced driving around the yard while watching their area. Then they would act like they were under attack by different things from dogs to humans and respond to each attack.
Ian stayed in the trees heading back up the slope until he reached the ridgeline again. The same ridge that ran west of the cabin, just half a mile away and past where the draw started for the build house. “Why didn’t we stay on the ridge and move around the diversion fence?” Dwain asked from the back.
“Didn’t feel like disarming traps,” Ian said over his shoulder. “These on the outer edges are more lethal, so they take longer to disarm and rearm.”
As Dwain shivered, Lance poked his head down to face Dwain. “A person can’t make it to the cabin. Deterrents start half a mile out in most places inside the diversion fence, but others start a little further out. The reason we could let you drive in is we took Lori and Denny on a sweep this morning and disarmed the traps on the rear path. They will have to go out tonight with us and rearm them. Traps on the outside along the diversion fence only cover easy areas to travel.”
“Has Jodi patrolled?” Kathy asked with a worried expression.
“She stays in the buggy until we think she’s ready,” Lance replied, pulling his head up and scanned around. Kathy gave a small sigh of relief as she watched her area.
Half an hour later, Ian coasted to a stop east of Hinkle on a ridge. Turning the buggy off, he climbed out as Lance pulled his feet up and jumped off the roof. “These boys know this area too damn well,” Dwain mumbled, climbing out and saw the boys checking their weapons.
Letting his AR hang, Lance grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows before clipping them to his right side. “We need to practice with bows,” Kathy told Dwain.
“Yep, ya sure do,” Rhonda said, shouldering her M4 and cradling her crossbow.
“You want point?” Lance asked, and Ian shook his head. Spinning around, Lance turned over his shoulder. “Single file five yards from each other and Ian will be at the back.”
The others fell in behind Lance as he moved down the slope behind the house Rhonda had noticed changed. Stopping in the trees at the edge of the backyard, Lance held up his hand and everyone froze. In the backyard right outside the door was a kid’s red wagon loaded with stuff.
Glancing over at Dino and seeing he was panting, Lance waved Ian up. “Stay here,” he whispered to the others and then he and Ian crossed the backyard with Dino. Stopping at the open backdoor, Lance glanced at Dino and then went inside.
“They need to let us do that with them, so we can learn,” Rhonda huffed.
“Rhonda, they want us to learn under controlled conditions, not actual combat,” Dwain explained in a low voice. Realizing what he’d just said, Dwain shook his head. “Teenage boys have more experience and are protecting the adults.” When Lance and Ian came out and waved them up, Rhonda led the others over. They stopped looking at the red wagon loaded with canned goods. Reaching down, Kathy picked up a package of pullups.
“Someone is shopping for a kid?” Kathy asked.
Reaching over, Lance patted her arm. “Very good,” Lance genuinely praised. “And I’m betting it’s a little girl since we found a pile of girl clothes on the couch. My guess is something spooked them.”
“You can’t hear our buggy until we are like twenty yards away,” Dwain challenged.
“No, can’t you smell?” Lance asked and Dwain sniffed. The smell of stinker was always present to a lesser degree, but it was stronger now. As Lance headed to the side of the house, everyone followed. Rounding the corner they stopped, seeing nine stinkers sprawled out.
Moving over to the first one, Lance knelt down to look at a hole in the forehead. He turned the stinker’s head and saw the back of the head was intact. “That’s not a bow,” Ian said, kneeling down. “Look how the skull is crushed at the impact area.”
“It could be a spear,” Rhonda offered, and both ignored her. Wanting them to talk about what they were thinking, Rhonda moved over beside Lance as he inspected the wound meticulously.
“It damn sure wasn’t a gun,” Lance huffed, grabbing Rhonda’s hand as she attempted to turn the head to her. “There’s a divot around the hole like you said,” he told her, pointing at the wound.
Ian moved over to a smaller female stinker and saw the left eye blown out. Turning the head, he found an exit wound. “If they are using a gun, they are shooting light loads, maybe subsonic. Have an exit, but it’s almost the same size as the entrance.”
Leaving the bodies, Lance moved around the yard in a slow circle. Ian moved to the other bodies and then joined Lance walking around the house. “You realize they brought us down this road to that house with all the food?” Kathy asked as they followed the boys to the front yard.
“Yeah, that farm is only half a mile further down the road up the draw,” Dwain answered and stopped, seeing a stinker fall with an arrow in its face. He turned and saw Ian still looking at the ground as Lance pulled another arrow out when another stinker stumbled off the road toward them. “Fucking boys could give Robin Hood a run for his money.”
Pulling back the bow, Lance barely paused before releasing the arrow, hitting the stinker in the face and dropping it. “That was a sixty yard shot and he turned away before the arrow hit the stinker,” Kathy gasped.
“They have killed a lot of stinkers with those bows,” Rhonda stated, walking away as Ian knelt down looking at the tall grass. “What are you doing? There are too many stinkers around to track.”
Letting out a sigh, Ian lifted his head and turned to Rhonda. “Well, Miss Davey Crockett, I guess I shouldn’t tell you I can see where they pulled the wagon off the road,” Ian droned behind his mask. “You keep on interfering and you’ll have to flash your hooters at us,” Ian warned, lowering his head back down to the grass and crawling forward on hands and knees.
Rhonda gasped as her face turned red. Behind her Dwain and Kathy snorted. “I should tell Jennifer,” Rhonda blustered.
“I said us, that meant all of us,” Ian chuckled. “Jennifer almost passed out when Lilly joined us, then you come along and make Lilly look small. I’ve seen her bras and we could launch watermelons with them.”
Rhonda’s mouth fell open as Lance lightly snapped his fingers and everyone turned, but Ian got up and walked over. Stepping up, Dwain grabbed Rhonda’s arm. “Don’t take it personal. They’re picking,” he whispered.
“I know, they’ve picked on me before. The ladybugs told me when they tease like that, they like you for a friend. Lilly and Jennifer told me, I should be honored because they both look at me like a buddy and I am honored,” Rhonda shrugged. “I just want to learn what they know. Hello, they are city boys and look at ‘em. They can do everything I can do but only better, and a million things I can’t even think of.”
With an envious expression, “Well then, you’re the only one they see as a friend in our group,” Dwain pointed out, watching Lance crawl along the ground on his hands and knees with Ian covering him. “I think they see the rest of us as idiots.”
Rhonda turned to Dwain and Kathy with a serious expression. “Dwain, I think; think, mind you; that they are beyond honored that you and Heath entrusted your kids to them to learn,” Rhonda claimed. “I was going to ask Jennifer and Lilly, but just by the way they are acting towards you, that’s what I’m going off of.”
Turning to Rhonda, Dwain nodded. “To be honest, Kathy and I didn’t feel we had a choice. It still takes all of us to work, and we don’t have the time to teach the kids.”
“I know, and in my opinion, you and Heath did the right thing. The kids are safer in that cabin with those two on guard than with a whole division of tanks,” Rhonda grinned, then jerked her head toward the boys. “Let’s see what they are doing, please.”
By the time they reached them, Lance had crawled all the way to the road. “Let me guess, you found tracks,” Rhonda stated in a low sassy voice.
Turning his face up, Lance looked at Rhonda and then at Ian. “Yeah, she keeps on, we better see hooters,” Lance smirked behind his mask.
“Have you ever said that to Lilly?” Rhonda grinned, and Lance jerked his face back to the ground as Ian chuckled.
“Yep,” Ian snorted, scanning around. “I thought Lance was going to pass out before he took off running when Lilly grabbed her shirt to lift it up.”
Dwain snorted with Ian as Kathy elbowed him, biting her bottom lip to keep from laughing. Losing the battle, Kathy spun around and kept watch behind them as she laughed quietly. Lance jumped up, brushing his gloves off.
“My god man, those aren’t hooters,” Lance declared. “They have to be small planets because they have their own gravitational pull. I felt my eyeballs getting sucked out of my skull.”
“So what did you find?” Rhonda giggled.
“Two sets of tracks,” Lance said, and the laughter stopped.
Turning along the path Lance crawled, “I can track animals,” Rhonda said, and Lance reached out to grab her arm and pulled her to the side of the road.
“Look here,” Lance said, pointing down at tracks in the dirt beside the road. “That first one is a size seven, I know because we had to tear apart the area looking for size seven boots for Lori. But if you look close, you can tell the shoe doesn’t fit the wearer very well. The shoe is too big, so we know they aren’t all that big. The second is a toddler. I say this because I can see where they came around the house. The tracks disappear and then reappear like someone was picking the toddler up and running, but then putting them down to shoot.”
As Rhonda stared at the tracks, Lance grabbed her chin and turned it across the road. “See those stinkers? I’m willing to bet they have those weird holes in their heads,” Lance finished. “Did you notice the dead stinkers when you were here?”
Shrugging, “Yeah, but like you, we don’t burn them anymore since the smell doesn’t seem to draw them in, unless they are close to the house. We only do that for our own benefit. We just figured it was some you two had killed,” Rhonda explained.
Moving up beside Rhonda, Ian pointed further down the road. “That’s one we killed on our last patrol. See how bloated it is? That’s because the organism is producing hydrogen sulfide like crazy after the brain is destroyed,” Ian told her.
“What are we going to do?” Kathy asked panting, looking at the tiny footprint.
“Duh, find them,” Lance droned, shaking his head. “Whoever the older one is, she knows what the fuck she’s doing.”
“She?” Rhonda asked.
“Yeah, she. Guys don’t use tampons or douche,” Lance snapped. “I learned that much.”
“Those were in the wagon,” Kathy whispered to Rhonda and Lance stepped over, patting Kathy’s arm again.
“I see where Jodi gets her observation from, but I think she gets her shooting ability from Dwain because you can’t hit a stinker until they are twenty yards away,” Lance chuckled, then turned to Ian.
The two just stared in each other’s eyes for several seconds, making the rest feel left out. “I don’t want to stay out that long,” Ian finally said. “We do have a meeting tonight.”
Pointing at the ridge across the road, “Our perimeter is just over that ridge, less than a half mile. I bet we find them on the border or just past it,” Lance dared.
Glancing at his watch, “We have six hours until sundown, and I’ll give you one hour after that before pulling out,” Ian offered.
Lance held out his hand. “I bet we find them in three hours. If I’m right, you tell Jennifer to get off my ass when you two are having a spat. She can talk to you just as easy as I can.”
“No bet,” Ian replied, shaking his head. “Because you come and tell me what the fuck I did to piss her off. Not one time we’ve had a ‘spat’,” Ian paused, quoting in the air, “I even knew we were having a spat. I thought everything was fine.”
Dropping his hand, Lance groaned. “Fine.”
“Want me to get the buggy?” Ian asked.
“Yeah, take Dwain and Kathy. Rhonda and Dino will stay with me and I’ll see if I can find the trail across the road,” Lance answered.
Rhonda followed Lance across the road as Ian headed back to the buggy. As Lance looked in the dirt along the road, Dino walked past and stopped at one of the fresh stinkers. “Rhonda, can I ask you a question?” Lance asked, staring hard at the ground.
“You just did,” Rhonda grinned, and Lance glanced over and huffed behind the mask. “Yes,” Rhonda smiled, looking down the road. The road they were on fed into a valley below crossing over the road that led to the meeting house. This road continued on through Hinkle, leading straight to the dual battle bots they had put out. She could see stinkers in the distance, but they were all stumbling through Hinkle and following the road leading to the battle bots.
“What’s your question?” Rhonda asked as Lance moved off the road toward Dino.
“Do you wear a size Z bra?”
Scoffing so hard she blew snot out her nose, Rhonda jerked her body back and wiped the snot off. “Have you asked Lilly what size she wears?” Rhonda chuckled, looking around.
“No, and the size isn’t in the damn bra. I found one in the clothes basket,” Lance huffed. “I’m betting it’s like a Q.”
“Lance, when we get a chance, I’ll set down with you and explain how bras are sized, but we don’t have the time now,” Rhonda told him, and watched Dino walk off from the stinker to the tree line at the base of the slope.
“I knew it was fucking complicated,” Lance grumbled, walking past the body still staring at the ground.
“Lance, I think Dino is following the trail,” Rhonda stated, staring at Dino standing and waiting on them.
Lifting his head up and turning to Dino, “Dino doesn’t know how to track,” Lance said.
“Lance, I’ve been watching. Dino is ahead of you and everywhere he stopped you ended up,” Rhonda pointed out. “Tell you what, I tell you my bra size, we follow Dino.”
Spinning around, “Deal,” Lance snapped.
“40DDD,” Rhonda answered.
“Triple D, didn’t know they went past double D,” Lance mumbled.
“Lance, I kept my part,” Rhonda grinned. “And I’ll give you a bonus. Lilly wears something close to a 36DD. The reason they look bigger is her waist is very small.”
“Oh,” Lance said, turning around and heading for Dino. “Wish I would’ve had you for a friend sooner.”
“Why?”
“To explain girl stuff,” Lance sighed over his shoulder. “I wanted to ask Jennifer stuff like that, but was scared she would tell the girls at school. Now I’m scared she’ll tell Lilly, and Lilly will find out I don’t know shit about girls.”
“Lance, you can ask Lilly,” Rhonda replied as Lance stopped beside Dino.
Standing beside Dino, Lance glared down at him. “You’ve been holding out on us?” Lance asked Dino, and Dino just turned walking into the trees. “I should’ve let the ladybugs paint your claws pink last week.”
Hoping the ladybugs didn’t do that, Rhonda stopped beside Lance and looked down at a patch of dirt. She saw the same size seven shoe pattern and the small shoe print. But halfway across, the small shoe print vanished. “So, you goin’ to ask Lilly these questions?” Rhonda asked.
“I don’t want her to know I don’t know this stuff,” Lance mumbled, dropping his head and following Dino up the slope. “I don’t want her to see me as a kid.”
Jogging into the trees to catch up to Lance, Rhonda caught Lance’s arm and turned him around. “Lance, nobody looks at you or Ian as kids. Lilly looks at you like she wants to throw you down and fu-,” Rhonda paused, not sure how to proceed or if Lance was ready for the X-rated version. Then she decided to come down a few levels to PG, “She looks at you like she wants to marry you,” Rhonda finished.
“Rhonda, I found out what a tampon was when we got to the cabin. I asked my dad before they left Hawaii. A man should know shit like that.”
Scoffing, “I’ll bet you my crossbow, here and now, Dwain doesn’t know what size bra Kathy wears,” Rhonda challenged. “I promise you; Lilly would be very happy you wanted to know stuff like that and would be happy, more than happy to tell you.”
For the first time, Rhonda saw Lance as a kid the way he was acting timid about Lilly. Never had he acted this way about anything else. At first, Rhonda had felt a little uneasy when she’d found out the ages of those involved. But she couldn’t lie to herself. When she first saw Ian and Lance, Rhonda thought they were hot, and still did.
“I’ll try,” Lance said, holding out his hand and Rhonda shook it. “Thanks,” he huffed and then turned, moving up the slope.
Rhonda watched the way he glided up the slope with his bow ready and his rifle dangling under his arm. “Lilly dumps him, I’m going after him,” Rhonda vowed with a nod, and followed Lance up the slope.
