Chapter 11

"It's just like shooting a mutant. In the head," she said, and he only nodded.

Quickly, Joe grabbed a rifle, as Amanda made sure that her hand gun was loaded and then she grabbed her shotgun.

"Ready?" she asked, and he nodded, as he handed her the keys.

Slowly, they got out of the truck and Amanda pressed the button to lock the doors. Quietly, they ran toward the barn and surprisingly, there wasn't a soul in sight. Evidently, they made it to the small building, gave a quick look around and they walked up to the door.

Nervously, Joe and Amanda looked at each other, and she nodded, as she reached for the doorknob. Quickly, she turned the knob, and swung the door open. Stunned, a large, round man turned around, and he looked at them. Suddenly, Amanda saw the man was reaching for something, and she pulled her handgun.

"Stop, right there!" she stated, as she aimed the gun at the man's head, and he slowly raised his hands.

"Don't make me do this, but I swear, move a god damned muscle, and I will not hesitate! I will put a bullet in your head!" she said heatedly, and the man looked over at Joe.

"I would do as she says," he said, and the man swallowed hard, as he turned his attention back to Amanda.

"Where are they?" she demanded, as she held her gun steady.

**********************

Megan stared down at the floor defeated and then, suddenly, she heard Amanda's voice. She picked her head up, and glanced at the others. DJ, Christie, and Josh looked at her with hope in their eyes, and she took a deep breath through her nose. It was up to her.

Immediately, she pushed herself to her feet, as she yelled as loud as she could through the tape, and kicked the wall she was closest to. Josh began yelling as well, and DJ and Christie joined in the yelling.

******************

At that moment, Amanda heard the muffled screams, and she looked at the man as she smiled quickly.

"Nevermind," she said, and then she pulled the trigger.

Shocked, Joe watched as the bullet hit the man directly in the center of his forehead, and then the man fell back on the floor. Amanda glanced at Joe, and he looked at her as he swallowed hard and nodded. Swiftly, they ran to the door the screams were coming from and opened the door. Relieved, Amanda and Megan sighed, as they saw each other, and then Amanda looked up at Joe.

"Thank god. Come on, help me untie them, before the other psychopaths come running," she said, and he nodded.

After a few moments, everyone was untied and they made their way to the door. Cautiously, Amanda peered out of the door and she saw no one was around. She pulled her head back inside the small little building and she looked at her friends.

"Head straight for the truck," she said, and they all nodded.

Swiftly, they ran out of the little barn, and they stuck close to the perimeter as they made their way to the vehicle. Surprisingly, they didn't see anyone come running toward the barn, or run around looking for them until they approached Amanda's truck. Nick and a few of his men were standing there waiting for them.

"Do you think you can really escape us?" sneered Nick, and Amanda looked at him seriously.

"Get in the truck!" she instructed, and Josh and Christie got inside the backseat.

On the other hand, Megan pulled out two rifles and then handed one to DJ. They both walked over and stood next to Joe and Amanda.

"We are leaving, with or without your permission!" Megan stated ,as she pointed her gun at Nick's head, and he looked at her with gleaming eyes.

"And have you bring back your friends, so you can take over our camp? I think not," he said, and Amanda rolled her eyes.

"Listen, we told you, there isn't anyone else. We are headed west, and we needed shelter for the night. You obliged. Now that our business is concluded, you can either open the gate, or I can drive straight through it," said Amanda, as she aimed her hand gun at one of the other men's heads.

"And you know a noise like that will attract every mutant for miles," added Megan.

For a moment, Nick looked at them thoughtfully, and then he looked at his men. He waved his hand and then the men nodded, as they all started walking toward the gate.

"Let them go."

Amanda and Megan continued to aim their guns at the man, as they backed up, and then they quickly got in the truck. She started the truck, backed out of the parking spot as Nick's men opened the gate, and then they sped through it without looking back.

********************

"Are you guys okay?" Joe asked, as Amanda turned on the highway, and Josh, DJ, Christie, and Megan nodded.

Seemingly, DJ held Christie close to him and Josh and Megan huddled together.

"How did you two escape?" asked DJ, after a moment of silence, and Amanda looked at Joe with a wide grin.

"Because your cousin here is a genius. He stabbed himself with his epi pen after we ate, and whatever was in the food we ate that knocked us out, had no effect on him," she said happily, and Joe smiled shyly at her.

"Also, his quick thinking about rolling in a blanket, and whoever snagged you guys, didn't see us," she added, and Megan looked at her confused.

"They drugged us!" she exclaimed angrily, and Josh pulled her closer to him.

"We made it out alive," he said softly, and she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, well now I want to go back there and burn their whole camp to the ground!" she grumbled, and Josh chuckled as he looked out of the window.

Nervously, Christie snuggled closer to DJ, and he put his arm around her protectively.

"You're okay," he said softly, as he rubbed her arm.

At that moment, Joe looked at Amanda, and gently touched her arm. She glanced over at him, and then she focused back on the road.

"Did you know that your nostrils flare when you are angry?" he teased, and his blue eyes sparkled.

"What?" she laughed, and he grinned at her.

"It's kind of cute," he noted, as he straightened, and she looked at him.

"You are insane!" she exclaimed.

DJ chuckled, and she glanced at him through the rear view mirror.

"What's so funny?" she asked, and DJ shook his head, as he smirked.

*****************

Soon they saw a sign for Las Vegas. Evidently, when it had gotten dark, Amanda had parked under an overpass for protection. They decided that they were not going to trust anyone outside of their group, no matter who they encountered. Josh learned how to use a rifle and a handgun. Christie was already familiar with shooting guns, so she didn't need much training except the fact that she had never shot a mutant before. Seemingly, Joe was a natural, and Amanda thought it was very attractive to see that handsome man hold a gun.

He was born for this, she thought to herself.

********************

"Vegas already?" DJ asked, as he looked out of the window.

"Yeah, what hotel are we staying at again?" teased Megan, and they all laughed.

"We should stop at one," she added, and Amanda cringed.

"Megan, Vegas is a huge city, and that means there are lots of those things running around," stated Amanda, and Megan scoffed.

"It will be getting dark soon," she said, and Amanda sighed a heavy sigh.

"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you," breathed Amanda, as she took the next exit.

"Thank you!" Megan said in a snotty tone, and Amanda shook her head.

Amanda glanced at Joe, and she saw a wide smile plastered across his face, and she couldn't help but smile back. Cautiously, Amanda pulled up to one of the hotels, and saw that it was a very tall building.

Maybe, if we stay on the first floor, we will be safe, Amanda thought, as she looked at the building, and hoped that there weren't any mutants in the place.

"Alright, here we go. Watch each other's backs," she breathed, and they all got out of the vehicle.

Suddenly, they heard a scraping noise, and they all looked at each other nervously. At that moment, a line of chained mutants slowly moved toward them, snarling and growling. Immediately, the six of them raised their guns.

"Don't shoot!" a woman called, as she walked out from behind the chained mutants.

Swiftly, Amanda aimed her gun at the woman's head. She had brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, and she had a cowboy hat on with a western looking outfit. Defensively, the woman put her hands up, as she looked at them.

"So, what brings you folks to sin city?" she asked.

Slowly, Amanda lowered her weapon and she holstered it.

"We are just looking for shelter for the night. We don't want to eat your food, take your supplies, and steal your camp. Just a night where we can rest and be safe," Amanda said, and the woman smiled at her.

"Well, we could help you out with that, as long as it is just for one night," the woman said thoughtfully.

"We would appreciate that," Megan breathed.

The woman glanced at her, and then she turned her attention back on Amanda.

"I am Morgan, and you are?" she asked.

"I am Amanda, and this is my team. We were part of the U.S. Army when all of this went down. I can guarantee that we will just be staying the night."

The woman smiled, as she nodded, and then she turned.

"Okay. Follow me," she said, and Amanda nervously looked at DJ.

He nodded, as he and the others lowered their guns. Carefully, Morgan led them past the chained mutants, and into a side door of the building. Inside it seemed that it was left untouched except for the dust, and they followed Morgan to a stairwell.

"We are on the third floor. Every floor above us is crawling with mutations, but they don't leave the floors."

Curiously, Amanda and Megan looked at each other.

"How can you be so sure?" Megan asked, and Morgan looked at her.

"Mutants are not smart enough to open doors, plus we stay pretty quiet, there are four of us up here," she said, as she looked at Joe and Josh with a shy smile.

"Where did you find those two?" she asked, and Joe smiled at Amanda.

"We are actually family, ma'am," stated DJ, as he pulled Christie to him.

"Really, so you are all related?" she asked, and Megan and Amanda laughed, as they shook their heads.

"No, they guys are cousins, and we are their girlfriends," stated Christie, and DJ looked down at her.

"Oh, so you are my girlfriend now?" he teased, and she looked at him, as she gave him a clipped nod.

"Okay, I understand now," said Morgan, as they reached the third floor.

"My old man can be rude, so I am warning you ahead of time," she said, as she opened the door.

"Morgan! Why'd you bring them up here?" a short, round man with auburn hair asked.

Noticeably, he had a strange sounding Irish accent when he spoke.

"They needed shelter just for the night. So, quit being rude," she said, as they all walked inside the room.

"Like the last ones you brought in? Hope y'all ain't hungry," said another man that was sitting in a chair in the corner.

The man had shoulder-length brown hair, and he was dressed like a biker.

"No, thanks. We ate earlier," said Joe.

Obviously, he was not going to trust food from another person.

"Well, we don't have much, but there is a room with a fairly large bed in the back," stated Morgan, as a girl rushed into the room.

"I heard voices and…"

The blonde-haired girl stopped as soon as she saw Joe, Josh, and DJ, and her eyes went wide.

"This is my sister, Penny," introduced Morgan, as she put an arm around the girl's shoulder.

She must have been at least 19, with sparkling green eyes, and a gentle face. Gratefully, Amanda looked at Morgan.

"Thank you."

"I don't know if they will all fit on that one bed," said the man in the corner, as he eyed the guys.

"Yeah, you three are pretty big," laughed the other man, as he got up and walked over to Joe.

For a moment, he looked over Joe.

"Why are you so big? Were you a bodybuilder?" he asked, and Joe looked down at the man.

"Something like that," Joe stated, and the man nodded.

"Right, well enjoy your stay," said the man, and he went and sat back down in his chair.

"Thanks again," said Megan, and they all walked into the spare room.

"Okay," said Amanda, as she looked at the enormous bed.

"I think we can all fit," said Megan, as she grinned at everyone.

DJ, Josh, and Joe looked at each other and shrugged. Surprisingly, they all fit comfortably, and soon they were fast asleep.