A World Without Trust

Chapter Thirteen

Salk Lake City. We drive up the motor way passing deserted cars and smoking buildings. Ashton gives me directions to his house as I weave the car carefully through the streets. We finally come out of the city and into the urban area. Big modern houses line the wide roads closed in by white picket fences.

“Take a left up here and it’s the big white house with the blue window shutters on your right.” Ashton says anxiously. I can tell he truly believes that his family is all right and that we will be greeted by them as we pull up the drive. I turn the corner onto his street and look over at him.

“What will you do if they aren’t there?” I ask hesitantly. I go quiet as I see the horrifying look on his face. The terror in his eyes causes me to follow his gaze. My foot hits the break, our bodies propelling forward. I look back to Ashton, his eyes now filled with tears and his hands shaking in his lap.

I take Ashton's hand in mine as we walk towards the horrendous scene that we have been faced with. We stop just outside the gate and Ashton collapses to his knees, tears running down his face. I kneel down in front of him and pull his head into the crook of my neck, placing my other hand on his upper back. He leans into me and wraps his arms around my torso sobbing violently.

Two bodies lie in the front yard almost unrecognisable. Blood paints the grass a sickly brown, indicating that they have been this way for a while. The smell is unbearable and the flies have beaten us to them.

His mother holds a gun in her hand which means she at least went out with a fighting chance. What makes me the angriest is the beat up body of Ashton’s younger sister. You know the world has gone to hell when killing children doesn’t faze these criminals.

I pull away from Ashton holding his head in my hands and wipe the tears from his eyes with my thumbs. He looks at me with big sad eyes and I can feel my heart breaking. I know what he is going through, every last feeling and I have to control my own emotions as I think of my own family.

“What about your brother? Father?” I question, trying to lighten the situation by feeding him some hope.

“I-I don’t have a father…and I don’t know about my brother. I don’t want to know.” He sobs as he falls against me again.

“Ashton, I don’t want to get your hopes up, but he could still be alive…he could be at that camp my brother was taken to. Do you want to search the house?” He pulls away from me and nods. I stand up and pull him up with me, guiding him towards the front door.

We sit in his old room in silence, no sign of his brother at all. I scan the walls observing the Blink 182 and Green Day posters strewn over his walls. A drum kit sits in the corner of his room, dust gathering on it from the lack of attention over the past year.

“I want to bury them.” Ashton finally says.

“Okay…when?”

“Now…in the back yard beneath the blossom tree.” I nod and give him a small smile. He returns one but the smile doesn’t reach his eyes and I can tell he forced it.

I offered to do the dirty work of gathering the bodies. The stench causes me to throw up in their garden and I pray Ashton didn’t see. I head into the garage and find a wheel barrow to collect the bodies in to take around the back.

Ashton has dug a wide hole for both bodies to go into, wiping the sweat off his brow he looks at me, his eyes puffy from crying as he walks over to help me with his mother and sister.

Once we are done I leave Ashton alone to say a few words and spend some alone time with them. I find a bathroom and try the tap which to my surprise works. I quickly wash my hands and face before the water stops running.

“Shit.” I say out loud. I head into the kitchen and try that tap. No success. Ashton will need some water to wash off the dirt, so I find a bucket below the sink and head to the next door neighbours to try their water supply.

“What are you doing?” Comes a familiar voice behind me as I am in the middle of filling the bucket up.

“Getting you some…” I stop talking as I turn around and am faced with the last person on earth I wanted to see again. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Nice to see you too!” Harry replies with that all too familiar smirk on his face. He walks into the room, hands in his pockets, calm as can be. I go to grab my gun out of my belt. A horrible feeling shoots through me as I discover that it isn’t there. Then I remember I had left it in Ashtons bedroom. “Jesus Essie, I’m not going to hurt you! Stop going for your gun every time I talk to you.” I almost laugh when he says he won’t hurt me.

“How did you find us?” I ask confused.

“Well, I was there when the plan was made to head to Salt Lake City and that Ute isn’t exactly a common vehicle.” I silently curse at myself for not swapping the car back in Trinidad.

“This city is so big though?”

“Yes, I realised that as I drove around it for almost a whole day.” He says sarcastically, leaning against the kitchen door blocking my only escape route.

“What do you want Harry? Why would you bother coming to find us?”

“I didn’t go out of my way to find you both…I went out of my way to find you.” The way he says it is so sincere that the hair on the back of neck stands up sending a shiver down my body. “I regret trying to get you arrested. I didn’t want to in the first place, but it was my job. I like you Essie, I have ever since the first day I set eyes on you in Tallahassee. I want to help you. Help you get your brother back.” His voice is so serious it scares me. He seems so genuine that I almost want to forgive him then and there.

“No.”

“What?” He says frowning.

“No. Leave us alone.” I say tears welling up in my eyes as I remember that feeling of betrayal.

“Essie…”

“You attempted to KILL me!” I say cutting him off. I grab the bucket and walk towards him and the door. To my surprise he moves out of my way, but still follows me. I reach the front door and my heart nearly leaps out of my chest as a black van drives down the road. Harry pulls me away from the door and we duck into the lounge to watch it out the window. I put the bucket down and look towards Ashtons house. I feel like being sick as I see Ashton walking along the side of his house towards to road dragging a shovel behind him. Panic rises in me and I bash on the window. He looks up towards me, his eyes empty. It’s too late though, the van stops and two men in black fly out sprinting towards Ashton. I scream out and quickly look at Harry’s belt to find a gun. I grab it and aim it at the two black figures. Click. WHAT! I try again. Click. No, no, no, no, NO! NOT NOW!

“GIVE ME SOME BULLETS!!!” I scream at Harry who fumbles around in his pockets and then his bag.

“Nothing.” He says with a worried look on his face. I watch in horror as Ashton gets dragged to the van thrashing around trying to get out of their grip. I start to cry as I feel the world around me crumble, feeling as hopeless as the day my brother was taken from me.

“Give me your keys!” Harry takes them out of his pocket and I take off out the door to see the van taking off down the road. I sprint to the Ute and jump into the back to grab the bag with all our guns and ammo in, then head to Harry’s car which he is already standing by. I start the engine and take off down the road after the black van. I will kill those sons of bitches. They will not take away another person in my life that I care about!