“Nope, you’re on your own,” she said walking away.
“Damn it,” I said running a hand through my hair and glancing at the door before walking away. I felt like our situation was starting to deteriorate and it was all because of one girl. I smiled as I thought, How many wars have been fought because of women? How many empires toppled? Helen of Troy was the fabled reason for the Great Trojan War. According to Lincoln, Harriet Beecher Stowe helped fuel the Civil War. Will Jasmine go down in history as the one that destroyed this little group? My thoughts darkened as I came up with an answer to my own question, Not if I can help it. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and went to pick up my book from the coffee table.
After a few slowly read pages, it became clear that I wasn’t in the mindset to read even one of my favorite books. I needed something to do, something to distract my hands and my mind. Cleaning my pistol would occupy my hands but not my mind. So instead of cleaning a weapon, I decided to use my Bow to relieve my tension. I flexed my hands and watched as the scabs wrinkle, they would soon become scars. I grabbed the bow from the armory and snagged a quiver filled with arrows. Rifling through the garage, I found my large, thick foam target that I used exclusively for bow practice. Setting up the target about forty yards away I began to shoot, firing arrows slowly at first, before picking up the pace as the familiar feelings came flowing back. Knock, raise and draw, aim, release. The air was filled with the steady sound of whizz-thunk as the arrows cut through the air and struck the target firmly. I emptied my quiver of its twelve practice arrows and walked down range to collect them. I filled the quiver and emptied it another three times before my fingers and shoulder began to ache. Packing up my gear and target I headed inside to have someone else check on Jasmine. It had been almost forty-five minutes since Liz had checked on her.
This time, I convinced Jessica to check her temp, which had been raised to the normal 98°. “Thanks for checking. I need you to run back in there and tell Sarah and Hannah that they can get dressed and come out. Her temp should be stable, but we’ll keep checking.”
“Ok.”
She disappeared into the room and reappeared several minutes later with Sarah and Hannah in toe. The two girls were fully dressed, but you could tell that they hadn’t had a very pleasant time taking care of Jasmine. Their cheeks were flushed, and their hair was plastered to their forehead with sweat. It had probably been just a little warm under all those blankets. Even though she was sweaty, flushed and angry, Sarah was still the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Though, I’m sure Matt would argue that in favor of Hannah “You two ok?” I asked as if I was walking on the thinnest of ice and these two were holding lead weights, ready to launch them at my fragile footing.
“Oh we’re just peachy,” replied Sarah, laying the sarcasm on heavily.
“I’m sorry that you had to do that, but it was necessary.”
“It’s ok James,” said Hannah. I looked at Sarah for acceptance of my apology, but all I received was a glare. Once she decided that she had sufficiently informed me of her disapproval, she slipped past me. I sighed and watched as she walked away. “Hey. She’ll be ok. She’s just frustrated that you always seem to find trouble.”
“That is not my fault,” I said defensively. “Plus, we don’t know that the girl is trouble,” I said in a half-truth, half-lie kind of way.
“Yeah, but when have strangers every brought us anything other than trouble?”
“Point taken,” I said sighing again.
“Just give her some time,” she said patting my arm, “She’ll come around.”
“Thanks,” I said acknowledging her attempts to comfort me.
“Don’t mention it.”
“You know, Matt was a little…surprised that you were, well, in the situation you were in.”
She blushed, “Yeah I suppose he was.”
I laughed at her reaction, “Don’t worry. I’m sure he’s ok with it.”
“You think.”
“You did something that helped save someone’s life. How can he get mad at you?”
“You did the same thing, and Sarah isn’t that happy with you.”
I laughed again, “Yeah but I have a knack for doing dumb stuff that upsets Sarah. So you can’t really use that as an example.”
“True.”
“Just go talk to him. It’ll be fine.”
“Good idea,” she said before walking away.
I quietly walked into my room and closed the door. Walking over to the bed I looked at the girl who was currently occupying it. She had blonde hair, full lips, and blue eyes. Her skin, on the other hand, was no longer blue, but rather an attractive cream, a pink flush coloring her cheeks. She no longer looked look like she was on the verge of death. I checked her IV and the bag of Saline I had hung and dialed back the flow, we had to stretch what medical supplies we had. I checked her pulse and found it strong. She was recovering quickly and would probably wake up soon. I wouldn’t force her because I suspected that she was exhausted, but I was hopeful that she would feel well enough to get up.
Once she was up, we would see whether she was going to join our little family, be forced to leave or if her recovery proved to be pointless. I looked down at her as she slept peacefully and said to the silent room, “What trouble have you brought with you?”
Chapter 17
The next time I saw Sarah she had cleaned herself up, she was no longer sweaty, and her hair was now out of its customary ponytail. I always loved the way her hair looked when it was down. Before the end of the world, she would straighten it, but I always liked the way it fell in a natural wave. She was beautiful, even when she was glaring daggers at me, like now for instance. She was sitting in the living room reading a magazine, but once she noticed that I had walked into the room, she set it down and did her best to kill me with her eyes. I sat down next to her, her gaze following me the entire time, and asked, “You still mad about earlier?”
“What do you think?”
“I think you might be pretending to be more upset than you actually are. You know I wouldn’t have asked you to that unless it was necessary.”
“I know.”
I picked up her hand that was resting in her lap and began rubbing the back of it gently. I could see her glare falter a little. “Then what’s the problem?”
After a short pause, she answered, “I don’t know.”
“How do you not know?”
“I just have a bad feeling about that girl.”
“So why get angry at me?”
“Because you just can’t help but play the hero can you?”
“What was I supposed to do, leave her there?” I asked honestly as I moved my touch up her arm.
“No but… Would you really have climbed in bed with her if I hadn’t agreed to?”
“No. First I would have asked all the other girls and if they said no then I would have.” She was about to object, but I spoke up first to silence her, “It would have just been to save her. I can’t help it that the best way we have to treat her was a little…risqué.” She smiled as I put it as gently as I could. I finished with her arm and turned her around so I could move on to her shoulders. The gentle pressure I applied earned me a small groan. “How does that feel?”
“Amazing.”
“Good. Still mad at me?”
“I hate you so much,” she said sarcastically.
I leaned in close to her ear and whispered quietly, “Yeah, but I love you.”
“I’m sure you tell all the girls that,” she said and I could hear the smile in her voice.
“Well of course I do,” I said grinning as she turned around to glare at me, “But you’re special.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because I not only love you, I’m truly, deeply, head over heels in love with you.”
“I didn’t know there was a difference” she continued with heavy sarcasm. I stopped rubbing her shoulders “Hey!” she said as she turned around.
&
nbsp; I took her hand and locked eyes with her, “Sarah the difference is that I would do anything for you. There is no force on the planet, not Walkers, not gang members, not even God himself who could stop me from loving you and doing my best to protect you. I love you Sarah Johnson and I always will.”
She smiled softly and leaned in to kiss me. Before our lips met, I caught a glimpse of someone staring and then leaving out of the corner of my eye. I couldn’t be positive, but I was pretty sure it was Michael. We completed our short kiss, and she turned around, “Now finish rubbing my back,” she said demandingly.
I laughed and finished what I had started. Once done she got up and complained of being hungry. She went to the kitchen in search of food, and I went in search of my brother. I checked the whole house for Michael but failed to find him. Heading outside to continue my search I followed a sound that I had not expected to hear, the sound of someone crying softly. The soft sound was coming from the woods behind the Pole Barn. To get to the woods, Michael would have had to climb over the fence that surrounded the property. I did my best to get over the fence quietly but when I landed on my feet and walked into the woods the crying had stopped. Regardless of the now silent Michael, I found him with little trouble. He was sitting on a large rock and holding a small leather-bound book. As I neared, he slipped a small piece of paper into the book and stuffed it into a jacket pocket. “Hey, man. What’s up?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said doing his best to hide his reddened eyes and wipe away any clinging tears.
“Bullshit,” I said sitting on a smaller rock across from him “What’s the problem” He remained stubbornly silent. “I saw you watching Sarah and me.” He raised an eyebrow, “Yeah, I saw you. So what’s got you running off in such a hurry?”
He sat in silence and when he realized I wasn’t going to go away or drop the subject he relented, “You remember earlier when I told you I met someone on the road but that she was gone now?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I heard what you said to Sarah. I wasn’t spying or anything,” he said defensively, “but I heard you.”
“Ok so why the bad reaction?” I asked still confused.
“It was pretty much the same thing I told her before she… left. So much in the last few days has reminded me of her and seeing you two together just brought back a whole lot of memories I wasn’t ready to handle.”
“Hey man, I’m sorry.”
“For what? You didn’t do anything.”
“I know, but I don’t like seeing my little brother like this.”
“Don’t worry. You won’t see him like this again.”
“Dude, it’s ok to cry.”
“Whatever,” he said regaining some of his composure.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“What was that book you had out just a second ago?”
He looked embarrassed before shaking his head and saying, “Just a journal.”
“A journal? I didn’t know you wrote.”
“I never did but then… she said it might be a good idea. To, you know, write down what happens to me. My journey. She said that if everything got pulled together that people might want to know individual stories of survival. So I started writing everything down.”
“Makes sense. Am I ever going to learn the name of this girl?”
He shook his head, and I could see another tear form in his eye, “I don’t know if I can say her name, James. Not yet at least. It hurts too much.”
“No worries. Take your time.”
He smiled and wiped away the incomplete tear, “Thanks.”
“For what? I didn’t do anything.”
“You did, and you didn’t,” he said grinning.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means we should probably get off these fucking rocks and go inside.”
“Agreed,” I said as I stood and groaned, the rocks were not the most comfortable seat around. “Let’s grab some food.”
“Sounds good,” he said happily, all trace of grief gone from his face.
We hopped over the fence and headed towards the house, talking about anything and everything other than what had just happened. I figured we had talked enough on the subject and if he had anything else, he wanted to say he could always come find me.
Back inside we found soup and sandwiches made for lunch. “Oh who should I kiss for all of this?” asked Michael happily.
“It was all Liz,” said Sarah smiling.
“Well thank you, Liz,” he said leaning in and kissing her quickly on the cheek.
I was stunned. It was like the last fifteen minutes hadn’t even happened. Michael was smiling, and I think he might have been flirting with Liz a bit. I didn’t know what to think, he was flipped his attitude like a switch. When we had a second of privacy, I leaned in to talk quietly to Michael “What the heck was that?”
“What?” he asked honestly.
“You kissed Liz. You were flirting with her.”
“It wasn’t really a kiss, and I wasn’t flirting with her.”
“Whatever. You’re worse than a girl.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t figure you out, man.”
“What?”
“Let’s just say you weren’t that happy a little while ago.”
“I can’t let that affect me, I can’t be unhappy all the time. There’s nothing else I can do.”
I put an arm on his shoulder, “You’ve grown up little brother.”
He laughed, “I’ve always been grown up.”
It was my turn to laugh, “Are you kidding me? You used to slam doors and act like a little girl when you got angry.”
“I did not,” he said indignantly.
“Did not what?” asked Sarah as she joined in on the conversation.
“Nothing,” said Michael frowning and interrupting me before I could even get a word out.
“Oh come on,” said Sarah.
“What are we talking about?” asked Liz, who was quickly followed by Carrie.
“James was just about to tell us something about Michael.”
“Ooh what?” said Carrie.
“Nothing,” repeated Michael.
“Come on tell us, James,” said begged Liz.
I glanced at Michael who was giving me a look like he wanted to kill me on the spot. “Look,” I said raising my hands, “I can’t tell you anything without his permission,” I said nodding towards Michael.
“Oh please Michael, be a good sport,” said Liz as she grabbed onto his arm.
He looked pensive for a moment before giving in, “How about after dinner we can sit down and tell all the embarrassing stories about me ok?”
“Yes,” cheered Liz, Carrie, and Sarah.
We finished eating and went about our lazy day. We hadn’t been doing a lot of work lately and so things had slowed down considerably. There were no attacks, no outside threats to deal with and the safety of our home had put everyone at ease. I found this to be a mix of good and bad. It was good for everyone not to be tense and jacked up all the time, but I didn’t want everyone to become too complacent. We still didn’t know what else was out there or if it posed a threat. I was sure there were other survivors out there, I just wasn’t sure if we would ever run into them.
The day seemed to fly by, and before we knew it, we were gathered around a battery powered lantern sitting on the coffee table in the living room. I was holding a glass of room temp Jack and Coke and laughing my ass off as I finished telling my story, “and then after we finished dressing him up in the dress, we couldn’t stop laughing. He finally realized that we were laughing because of him and he got very angry. You should have seen his face,” I said laughing hard again.
“I wish I could have,” laughed Liz.
I suddenly stopped laughing and stood up. “Actually, I think you can,” I said setting my glass down.
“No,” said Michael seriously.
/> “Oh come on Michael.”
“No.”
“What are you two arguing about?” asked Sarah.
“There’s a picture of him in the dress,” I laughed.
“Well we have to see it,” said Sarah matter-of-factly.
“Agreed,” said Liz happily.
“I said no,” said Michael.
“You know what, the story isn’t complete without it. They have to see it now,” I said.
Michael glared at me before sighing in defeat, “Fine.”
“Yes,” exclaimed Liz as I left the room, closely followed by Michael.
“You are such an ass,” he hissed at me.
“Oh, it won’t be that bad. I just hope I can find that pic.”
“Yeah me too,” he said sarcastically.
We walked into the bedroom he had used when he was a little kid. Its purpose was now a storage room for old clothing, sewing material, baby stuff, and everything else we couldn’t or wouldn’t put in the Pole Barn. “You know, we should really clean this stuff out,” I said looking around.
“Yeah, you think you would have made better use of this space,” said Michael.
“Yeah ok. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve had a lot on my plate,” I said defensively.
“Whatever,” he said brushing off my comment. “Let’s just get this over with.” He picked up a box labeled pictures and started digging through them.
I picked up my own box and started looking through the contents. There were pictures from every year just mixed together. Some of were of me when I was six or seven, some were of my dad when he was the same age, it was a big mess. I found a family picture that had been taken pretty close to after Michael had been born. I couldn’t help but grin as I looked over the picture. I grinned even as a tear rolled down my cheek. I shook my head, wiped away the tear and put the picture in my pocket. There would be time for that later, right now I had to find the picture before Michael because I knew he would try to get rid of it. I finished with my box and picked up another. After several minutes of searching, I found exactly what I was looking for. “Ah ha,” I said raising my hand, the Polaroid held between my thumb and forefinger. Michael made a desperate attempt to grab the picture, but I held it out of his reach. “Nope, they’re going to see this,” I said running out of the room.
Survivors Series (Book 2): Heroes Never Die Page 20