Page 5 of The Commander

“I told you I care about you, honey. But it’s out of my hands. You can’t come into town again, either. Danov had a fit when he found out. If you come, you have to bring Red and be ready to work.”

Red, Andy called her. Cara hated the nickname and the way his eyes lingered on her skin, as if imagining it flushed with something other than anger.

“I can’t do that! You don’t want me to do that. I’m pregnant,” Brenda shouted.

“If you take them back, you should take us back,” someone called from Mighty Joe’s direction.

“You lot had your chance. None of you could pull your weight,” one of Andy’s men called back.

All of them. The men with Andy held clubs, and Cara didn’t doubt they’d use them.

It was a mess. Brenda hung on Andy like moss on a tree while his shoulders grew straighter and his eyes gleamed as if he liked the attention she gave him.

“Cara, maybe we can make this work?” Brenda asked.

“You know why they need more people to work? Because half of them have taken jobs that don’t pay any alien tax. I told you what that disgusting pig said to me, Brenda.” Cara shouldn’t have to remind Brenda, but the woman must be so afraid of being alone in this world while she was pregnant that she would do anything to find protection. That had to be why she was climbing over Andy.

“You said you wanted an easier job,” Andy said over Brenda’s head at Cara.

“We’ll make it easy on you, Red. Can’t wait to see if you get red and pink all over,” one of the men said, a grin splitting his pimply face.

“Danov told you that you and Brenda could take the lay-down job, which would free up someone else to work in your places for the alien tax. We’ve got a real treaty with the muzzles. They won’t bother us as long as we pay their tax, right? We have a fair rotation for our tithe—three months a turn.”

“You’ll love it,” the other guy leered.

“It’s easy work. You’d do it for me, wouldn’t you, honey?” Andy tipped his head down and wheedled at Brenda.

“After. I said after the baby. If you still really wanted that. But I know you won’t.” Brenda rubbed her face against his chest as if she were sure.

In Springfield, none of this type of stuff happened. There was no tithe, no rotation, no lying on your back having sex with whoever someone told you to have sex with. This was the type of wanker, asshole stuff Cara’s dad had wanted to save her from.

“What do you say, ladies?” Andy tried to push Brenda away from him.

She clung. “Take me with you. You have to take me with you, Andy.”

It devolved from there. Brenda wouldn’t let Andy go. When Cara tried to help, one of his men came around to push her away. She grabbed a stick from the fire to make him back off. Brenda started screaming, and Mighty Joe began yelling.

Cara clenched the burning stick tighter, the glow of embers warming her hand. Around her, Mighty Joe’s group muttered quietly, their eyes darting between the three men and the woods where the muzzle head had been.

“You’re causing more trouble than you’re worth. Put that stick down, Red. You don’t want to make this worse.”

“My name’s Cara,” she bit out. She didn’t lower the stick.

Andy’s lip curled in a smirk, his casual stance that of a man who thought he held all the power. “Alright, Cara, but you’re the one causing waves.”

“You can leave any time,” Cara added as much mock sweetness to her tone as she could manage. She could almost choke on it.

“Keep poking the giant, and it’ll be real hard to stay under the radar.” Andy gestured broadly toward the woods.

Was he talking about the muzzle head? It was strange that he’d appeared right after that thing. That wasn’t normal at all.

She held her stick firmly, ready to fight. If this group thought she’d surrender to them and give up, they were wrong. “We were just trying to survive. No one asked to be part of monthly rotations. Find someone else. Or better yet, handle your mess of a town instead of dragging us into it.”

Andy barked a laugh. “Brave words for someone with zero leverage.”

As they spoke, sunlight brightened the morning further, and Cara felt time slipping away. She needed to get rid of them and resume her search for food before the chance to set traps and range farther away vanished completely.

“Brenda. Come on. He hasn’t changed his terms.”

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