And then another voice called out, muffled and distant.
In unison, the three lifted their heads and looked at each other. “You heard that right,” Ramon asked.
Maria and Allie nodded, their eyes wide and terrified.
Ramon turned and stared up at the church, and within seconds, the voice boomed again, this time with absolute clarity.
“Help!”
“Gloria?” Allie asked quietly to Ramon, and then realizing she was right, she shouted her name with what little of her voice she still had. “Gloria, it’s Allie!”
“Allie?!” Gloria begin to cry, her sobs a combination of emotions that included joy and fear, confusion and disbelief. “It wasn’t me! I swear to God! I know those people are trying to use me, but I didn’t do anything! I don’t know why they’re doing it, but I swear I’m not involved!”
“It’s okay, Gloria, we’re coming!”
Before the chopper had landed, Gloria was free, and the four survivors made a pact simply to tell the truth of what had happened the morning of June 12th in Garmella, Arizona, though each would have slightly different versions of the events, especially Gloria Reynolds, who spent most of the day locked in a cell in St. Patrick’s Catholic Church.
And if no one believed them, well, that wasn’t any of their concern. Josh and Deedee knew the truth, and certainly other survivors would be found as well, though perhaps that wasn’t so certain after all. As of yet, they hadn’t seen a soul.
And there was Tehya, of course; how much she would tell, Ramon couldn’t know, but he was beginning to re-think his position on waterboarding.
Ramon walked with Allie from the grounds of the church to the street, where the chopper had set down, idling.
“Do you believe him?” Ramon asked.
Allie didn’t hesitate; she knew what he was asking. “I guess we’ll know in a hundred years, right? If I’m playing racquetball with my great-great-grandkids and everyone else I know is dead and gone, that’ll be the answer.”
Ramon laughed. “I guess.”
“But if those things are really dead, maybe that means ‘the reward’ dies with them.”
Ramon shrugged. “Are you gonna tell Josh?”
Allie nodded, as if she’d already thought about the question. “I don’t know.” She squinted and cocked her head. “Something tells me he already knows. I think I would have known. Whether Zander told me or not.”
Ramon pursed his lips, giving the statement its due consideration, and neither spoke another word as they walked to the rescue helicopter rumbling in the middle of Interstate 91. Within moments, the chopper was off the ground again, preparing to carry away the only known survivors of a town that had been suddenly cursed, capriciously, as if on the impulse of some malicious god whose wish it was to thrust Garmella, Arizona into the middle of a nightmare.
As the chopper rose quickly into the air, Ramon kept his eyes focused on the ground below, watching the sinkhole that had kept his town hostage shrink until it was little more than a puddle in the middle of the interstate. He raised his head and stared at Allie and Gloria, both of whom were also studying the ground below.
Ramon glanced at Maria, who was already fast asleep, and a thin glaze of tears welled in his eyes as he speculated about her dreams in that moment.
Ramon then closed his own eyes, and within minutes he was also asleep, dreaming of puddles and the splashing of raindrops.
DEAR READER,
Thank you for reading THEY CAME WITH THE RAIN. I hope you enjoyed it. I’d be grateful if you would leave a review for it on Amazon. It doesn’t have to be long. A simple, “I liked it!” is enough. That is, if you did like it, which I hope you did!
OTHER BOOKS BY CHRISTOPHER COLEMAN
THE GRETEL SERIES
Marlene’s Revenge (Gretel Book Two)
Hansel (Gretel Book Three)
Anika Rising (Gretel Book Four)
The Crippling (Gretel Book Five)
THE THEY CAME WITH THE SNOW SERIES
They Came with the Snow (They Came with the Snow Book One)
The Melting (They Came with the Snow Book Two)
The List (They Came with the Snow Book Three)
THE SIGHTING SERIES
The Sighting (The Sighting Book One)
The Origin (The Sighting Book Two)
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They Came With the Rain Page 27