Chapter 22: When It Rains...

Late evening sunlight, colored in vivid shades of burnt-orange and magenta, washed through the open doorway. A single, hidden cricket chirped incessantly, giving enough ambient noise to ease the ever-present ringing in Eli's ears due to years of firing guns without ear protection. The humidity had increased drastically throughout the day, and a wall of dark, ominous gray clouds loomed on the southern horizon. The temperature outside abruptly fell when the storm clouds appeared, and the light breeze was picking up speed. Rain was coming. A thunderstorm. 

Eli leaned against the doorway, smelling the freshness in the air that always precedes a heavy storm, watching the horizon for lightning strikes. 

"Hell yeah," He mumbled, smiled bitterly, then pushed off the door frame, "Perfect weather for a capture mission." 

A small, two-seater roller whipped into the parking area and stopped beside Eli's car. It was an old clunker of a vehicle, with large patches of rust expanding from the many dents and scrapes that covered the exterior. The passenger door was a light blue color underneath the dirt and rust, making it stand out against the faded beige color of the rest of the car. The junky aesthetics weren't helped by the total lack of armoring or lights that was common of the militia vehicles Eli was accustomed to seeing. To top it off, all four tires were a mismatch of different treads and widths. 

Eli raised an eyebrow in surprise at the junkyard style of the roller, and grimaced as the driver door swung open with a loud screech of bent, rusty hinges. Sophia stepped out and closed the door. Well, tried to, anyway. The shit-heap of a door didn't close right until she threw her shoulder against it and jammed the latching mechanism into place. She straightened up, tucked her loose hair behind her long ears, then noticed the sour expression on Eli's face.

"What?" She asked defensively. "Got a problem with Rico?"

"Rico? You named your car Rico? Uh, no, no problem." He shook his head. "I'm guessing the loud door is why you decided to hide, um, Rico so far away from the motel when you noticed it was occupied?"

"My sister radioed," She blatantly ignored the comment about her beloved car, "She said they're almost here."

"Nice. We just finished getting our weapons ready. We're good to go as soon as we get our car charged up." Eli said, following Sophia into the motel room where his mother and sister were finishing their evening rations.

"We can get your roller charged, no problem." Sophia said. "But how do you plan on finding a scouting team? They could be anywhere between here and Lancaster, if they even sent out any scouts yet."

"They've sent scouts." Vivi mumbled with a mouthful of less-than-adequate veggie lasagna, earning an exasperated look from Julie. "Even if they're not looking for other settlements, they're definitely looking for us."

"And that's how we'll find them." Julie added. "By now, they'll have found the tracks we left, and they'll surely be following our trail. We had a good head-start, so the tracks shouldn't lead them very far before the wind erases them, but they'll know our general direction. All we have to do is backtrack our escape path and we'll come across a group of scouts at some point."

"Hmm... okay, and how will you deal with-" She cut off mid-sentence and tilted her head toward the highway, her eyebrows scrunched in concentration, and Eli didn't miss the subtle twitch of her left ear. "The caravan is here."

Eli walked outside, and was promptly joined by his family and Sophia. Vivi stood so close to him that her shoulder was leaning against his arm, and Eli chuckled to himself at her obvious discomfort over the prospect of interacting with Lauren again. Apparently, the long-eared beauty couldn't take the hint that Vivi just didn't swing that way, and her flirting was more obnoxious than endearing.

A large SUV, pulling an oversized, boxy, patchwork trailer made from sloppily welded sheets of scrap metal, veered off the main road and cruised down the off ramp toward the dingy motel. What Sophia's car lacked in protection and firepower, the caravan's SUV more than made up for. Attached to the front end was a rusted yellow blade from a bulldozer, and protective steel plates covered the wheels. Swivel-mounted spotlights were positioned by each of the front windows, which were reinforced with iron bars. Most surprising, however, was the roof mounted ballista. Yeah, a fucking wood-and-iron ballista.

"Welcome to the Thunderdome." Eli mumbled to himself and laughed. He'd seen the caravan's vehicle many times over the years when he worked security at Lancaster's gate, but it always reminded him of Mad Max. The only thing it needed to complete the look was a hideously deformed mutant with a flamethrower/guitar strapped to the trailer.

The caravan kicked up a plume of dust behind it as it rolled to a stop in the middle of the parking lot. The armor plating on the doors wasn't balanced correctly, causing them to creak and groan on their warped hinges when they opened. Five women piled out of the makeshift tank, stretching their stiff legs and necks in the process.

The driver, a middle aged woman with light brown skin and long black hair pulled into a tight ponytail, reached into her long cowboy-style duster coat, pulled out a small cloth pouch, and proceeded to silently roll a cigarette while eying Eli with a mix of surprise and skepticism. A pair of twins who looked to be in their early twenties were whispering rapidly to each other in a language that Eli recognized as Spanish. The short-haired twin stole a quick glance at Eli, smirked, then whispered something to her sister, who giggled and nodded her agreement. Eli's Spanish language skills weren't great, just barely good enough to pass an undergrad Spanish language class and a few slang words he picked up while working construction jobs during the summer, but he caught the words for "money", "fuck", and "dick".

Lauren wasted no time marching over to her sister, Sophia, and pulling her aside for a hushed conversation of their own behind the caravan's trailer while the last remaining passenger moseyed over to greet Eli and his family. The woman was taller than Eli, had a stern look on her face, and deep wrinkles marked her chocolate brown skin. Her short hair was buzzed close to her head, and a pale scar made a trail from the side of her head down to base of her neck, a testament to the injury which must have been the reason she lost half her left ear. She stopped in front of Julie and stretched out her burn scarred right hand, which Julie shook firmly.

"Julie." The woman said in a surprisingly gentle voice. "It's good to see you again. Although, I hear our meeting isn't under pleasant circumstances."

"Jahmelia." Julie said. "It's nice to see you, too. I hardly recognized you without your hair, though."

The woman grinned and released Julies hand. "Jahmelia? What, are we strangers now? Call me Meli. And, yeah..." Meli ran a hand over her head, "I miss my locks. A damn spitter caught me off-guard a few weeks ago, burned it all off. The fucker would've melted my face too if I hadn't gotten my hand up in time." She held up her burned hand for emphasis.

Eli was hung up on the term "spitter", but didn't have time to ask about it before Meli turned and grabbed his hand in a firm shake.

"So you're Elias." It wasn't a question, and her deep brown eyes stared into his own with a look he could only interpret as fascination. 

"Yes ma'am, but I prefer to go by Eli. It's nice to meet you." Eli said.

"Hmm. Well mannered, I see. You can call me Meli, and I'm the leader of this outfit." She dropped his hand and held out her left hand palm-up, into which the caravan's driver placed a rolled cigarette and a bulky oil lighter. Meli slipped the cigarette between her lips, lit it, and took an exaggeratedly long drag before passing the lighter back to the driver and offering her thanks.

"Now, I hear you folks are in need of some assistance." She said, exhaling a cloud of thick, pungent smoke.

"Eli, sweetheart, why don't you and Vivi help these people get settled into their room while I speak with Meli." Julie gestured to where the twins were unloading supplies from the back of the armored SUV.

"Yes ma'am." Vivi said, then pulled Eli along to the caravan while Julie and Meli disappeared into the darkened motel room.

"Hey." Eli said to Vivi. "You ever meet her before?"

"Meli? Yeah, a few times. I don't think she likes me very much, though. I'm pretty sure she's in love with Lauren, and she sees me as an obstacle between them or something. I wonder if she'd warm up to me if she knew about us? Maybe that would prove I'm not going to steal Lauren away from her." She winked playfully at Eli.

Eli knew she was just teasing, so he didn't bother warning her about the possible consequences of telling people about their relationship. Unfortunately, he knew that info had probably just leaked. Vivi may have not noticed, or forgotten about Sophia's seemingly superhuman hearing, but he was very much aware of it. 

"Hey." Vivi called out to the twins. "Need a hand with your luggage?"

The long-haired twin dragged a heavy case from the cargo area and dropped it to the ground with a thud.

"Sure, thanks for that. These four cases need to go inside." She pointed to the three on the ground and the one her sister was heaving out of the back of the SUV. 

"Got it." Eli said, picking up one of the huge cases. Vivi grabbed one as well, the twins got the last two, then the small group headed for the empty motel room, the one without all the wolf blood and guts, of course.

"What's your name, handsome?" The short-haired twin asked as she walked closer to Eli's side.

"Eli." He replied, nodding his head in greeting. "And you?"

"I'm Valentia." She smiled at him.

"And I'm Maria." The long-haired twin added from his other side.

"So, is it true?" Valentina asked. "Did you really escape an attack at Lancaster?"

Her innocent question sparked a jolt of fury that raced up Eli's spine. Remembering how his family, his friends, were slaughtered and tortured made his stomach twist with vengeful rage. He reigned in his boiling emotions as quickly as they surfaced, but apparently he wasn't quick enough to hide it from the twins, who both stopped smiling and distanced themselves from him as they walked.

"Yeah, it's true." Eli grunted. "Which brings up a question I have for you two." He stopped walking, and the sisters also halted before turning to face him. Eli studied their facial expressions and body language while he asked them, "Have you ever heard of the JSU?"

Maria shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

Valentina's eyes briefly widened and darted to the room where Meli and Julie were talking, and her posture stiffened before she replied. "Never heard of them." She said.

Well, fuck. She definitely knows something, she even said "them" instead of "it". They both probably know about the JSU, but it looks like only one of them is a good liar. And I'm betting Meli knows something too, based on they way Valentina looked in her direction. Shit. The question is; do they only know about them, or are they working with them....

Striding past the twins, Eli dropped the heavy supply case onto the floor of the empty room, turned on his heels, and side-stepped past the girls as he rushed outside. The door to the room he shared with Julie and Vivi was still open, and he could hear muffled conversation coming from inside as he approached. He hastily entered the room and stood near the doorway. The assault rifle was still leaning against the wall by the door, so he positioned himself close to it, where he could quickly grab it if shit hit the fan. Julie and Meli sat facing each other on the chairs by the window, and they both turned their heads his way and stopped talking at his sudden intrusion.

"Eli? Is something wrong, sweetheart?" Julie aske, sensing his tension.

Meli's brown eyes squinted, and her smile morphed into a frown while she observed Eli, who was silently studying her in return. Julie, reading the atmosphere, slowly stood and moved toward the bed, where her weapons were laid out. Meli's left eye made a subtle twitch, and she twisted in her chair to face Eli head-on, taking the opportunity to move her hand to the revolver strapped to her hip.

"You need something?" She asked, her voice low and threatening.

Oh, this bitch is one of them, for sure.

"Eli?" Vivi called as she jogged into the room. "What's going on? Why'd you take off so fast just now?"

Vivi's abrupt appearance startled Meli into action. She rose to her feet and drew her revolver in one fluid motion, aiming it directly at Julie's head.

"Sorry Julie, but it looks like your son's too perceptive for his own good." Meli sneered.

"What the fuck's going on?" Vivi demanded.

"They're with the JSU." Eli said grimly.