Bronx nodded. His eyes followed me as I moved to the closet and pulled out a set of clean sheets. He turned and pulled the old sheets off of the bed and balled them up. He stood on the opposite side of the bed and helped me stretch the fitted sheet over the mattress.
“Is it going to be uncomfortable to you lay there?” I asked unable to take my eyes off of Danny’s side of the bed. I could still picture him lying there taking in his slow breaths.
“Nah,” Bronx said. “With the way things are, we don’t really get to complain and fuss about where we sleep because at least we have somewhere to sleep. We have a roof over our heads and food stored up for months. I can’t complain. I’m happy to sleep here… with you. And the others too of course. I’d be happy even if I had to sleep on the floor.”
We finished making the bed and stared at it for a few moments as if we’d forgotten how it worked. Bronx glanced at me before lying down on his back, leaving me more than enough room.
I walked around the bed twisting my fingers in the darkness hoping he couldn’t see how nervous I was. I didn’t even really know what I was so nervous about. He was going to sleep, and I was going to sleep. It didn’t even matter who was on the other side of the bed.
I sat down and stared at the wall for a solid minute before letting out a breath. I curled up on my side continuing to stare at the wall.
“Good night, Gwen,” Bronx said the bed squeaking as he rolled over onto his side. I wasn’t sure which side he’d rolled onto, but if I had to guess we were back to back.
“Night,” I said closing my eyes.
Bronx fell asleep almost instantly, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of the candlelight dancing on the wall. The bed was warm. Cozy. Almost safe.
But those thoughts quickly dissipated when something started tapping at the roof. It was soft at first, but then it pounded harder. Whatever was falling on my grandma’s house was pouring down as if someone had turned on a faucet.
Bronx groaned as he rolled out of the bed and walked over to the window. Apparently, he hadn’t been in a very deep sleep. He pulled open the curtain wide enough that I could see… not that there was much of anything to see.
The black goo was dripping down the windows, but it wasn’t being replaced by more blackness. Instead whatever was falling was clearing it away.
Bronx turned to me, but his expression was unreadable. He swallowed hard before opening his mouth. “Rain.”
Chapter 19
The rain was really coming down hard. Bronx and I were staring out the window into the darkness. It was still quite dark, but I was almost certain the black gunk had been completely washed off of the window.
“Is this good?” I asked quietly. It was like I didn’t want the rain to hear in case it might change its mind and leave the black slime all over the house.
“I don’t know, but I would think so,” Bronx said. “It’s going to take a lot of rain to wash that stuff away.”
I nodded. “Where will it go?”
“I guess I don’t even know if it will go. Maybe it’ll all gather up in a big pile around the house.” Bronx shrugged. “God only knows what this shit will do. Actually, he probably doesn’t even have a clue.”
“Do you think we should wake the others?” I asked.
“They’re all probably already up,” Bronx said. “Go on back to bed. There isn’t anything to do but wait and see what happens.”
I crossed my arms and shivered. It seemed as though the rainstorm had brought cooler air with it. Or maybe the black slime had been keeping the house warm.
“You sure?” I asked. “Not sure I’ll be able to sleep anyway.”
“Yeah,” he said placing his hands on my shoulders to physically turn me away from the window. “If anything changes, you’ll be the first person I wake.”
My shoulder slumped forward. “You won’t need to wake me because I won’t be able to fall asleep.”
“I think you’ll fall asleep in twenty minutes or less.”
“Pfft,” I said almost laughing. “I don’t think I’ve ever fallen asleep in twenty minutes in my entire life.”
“You will tonight,” Bronx said raising a brow.
I shook my head. “Why so sure?”
He leaned closer and looked so deeply into my eyes it felt beyond intimate. “Because I’m here.”
My heart fluttered as he turned away. He sat in the chair at the window just like Danny had hundreds of times before.
Bronx leaned forward trying to look out of the window. I knew he couldn’t see much of anything out there with how dark it was.
My eyes shot up toward the ceiling, and when I found the stain, I stared at endlessly night after night, I almost burst into tears. I managed to hold it together, but I wasn’t sure if it was fair to Danny. He deserved my tears just as much as anyone else. I just wasn’t ready to grieve. Maybe there was only so much a person could grieve before there wasn’t anything left inside.
I rolled onto my side and forced my eyes shut. A single tear leaked out before I fell asleep. Thanks to the illness, stress, and everything else I was feeling, it exhausted me enough that I could actually sleep.
It must have been morning when I opened my eyes. The outside world while still dark seemed a bit brighter. Rain was still pitter-patting against the roof and window.
The clear window.
I sat up so abruptly, it caused Bronx to stir. “What’s going on?” he groaned. “Everything okay?”
“The window…,” I said as I climbed over Bronx and out of the bed. “It’s clean.”
“What time is it?” Bronx asked.
“No idea we haven’t had clocks in quite some time now… remember?”
Bronx pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes. He looked around the room taking it in. “Oh, right. Guess I was dreaming.”
“Good or bad?” I asked as I stepped up to the window.
“Good… I think.”
The ground below was still covered with black slime although it looked as though it had been diluted by the rain. I could see where Danny had started the garden, but it had been destroyed by the black goo.
“The rain is washing it away,” I said as Bronx stepped up next to me.
He pulled on an old t-shirt I’d managed to find in one of the dresser drawers. He stretched it down over his stomach as his eyes scanned the yard. “Going to take more rain.”
“Yeah,” I said pointing up to the sky. “And the sky is still dark.”
“This might be good though,” he said his head bobbing up and down as he scanned the area.
“Hope so,” I said drawing in a deep breath.
Bronx turned and looked at me. “How did you sleep?”
“Fine,” I said. “You?”
“Best I’ve slept in weeks.” Bronx stretched his arm over his head. “When you were missing, that was the worst. I’m not sure I slept at all.”
“Yeah, it was hard for us too,” I said.
“Well,” Bronx said placing his hand on my back as he guided me toward, “let’s go see how the others slept.”
We walked down the hall keeping our steps quiet. Blair was sacked out in my old bed, her hair spread out messily in every direction around her head. We could have stomped down the hall, and it didn’t look as though it would wake her.
“Maybe we should go back up,” I whispered. “Everyone’s still asleep.”
“No. Come on down. I’m up,” Nick said.
I turned the corner and spotting him in leaning forward in the chair. It looked like he hadn’t slept at all.
“Are you okay?” I asked worried that the black good had finally surfaced and was going to take our lives one by one.
“Yeah, I stayed up most of the night keeping watch,” Nick said.
“You could have woken me,” I said.
Nick shook his head.
“Or me,” Bronx said. “I sat up half of the night before I gave up. There wasn’t going to be anyone out in that rain and in the darkness.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think so either, but I got nervous,” Nick said with a yawn. “That rain is washing everything away.”
I nodded as I crossed my arms. “Let me help you upstairs. You can sleep in grandma’s bed. We’ll wake you if anything changes.”
“Nah,” Nick said trying to fight off another yawn.
“You should,” Bronx said. “We need you at the top of your game. Things could change, especially if it keeps raining.”
Nick started to shake his head but stopped after one bob. His body wasn’t going to let him keep refusing.
“Okay, fine, but I don’t need help getting up the stairs.” Nick pushed himself up, looking a bit unsteady on his legs. “Wake me in an hour.”
Bronx chuckled. “Maybe in six.”
“Two,” Nick countered. “And not a minute longer.”
“We’ll see,” Bronx said.
Nick cocked his eyebrow. “I’ll just set my internal alarm clock then.”
“Good luck with that,” Bronx said making a grand flourish toward the staircase.
Nick shook his head as he walked to the stairs. He climbed each step as if each step was a hundred steps.
I sat there listening to his slow footsteps as he made his way down the hall and into grandma’s bedroom. The bedsprings squeaked as he put his weight down on the mattress.
“Want something to eat?” Bronx said jerking his chin toward the kitchen. “I’ll get us some bars or something.”
“Sure,” I said wrapping my arms around my stomach. I didn’t feel hungry, but I should have been. Perhaps the illness still had a bit of control over my body. “Oh, wait, I’m going to go hang our clothes to dry.”
“Where are you going to hang them?” Bronx asked.
“There’s a drying rack downstairs,” I said. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
“You got it,” he said following me with his eyes as I stepped into the bathroom. “Unless you want some help?”
“Nah, I can manage. Thanks,” I said peeking my head out.
I kneeled down next to the tub and started wringing out the soaking wet clothing. It was going to take days for everything to dry in the basement.
For all I knew, Nick and Blair were still wearing nothing underneath their blankets. I’d have to spend some time digging through the closets and drawers later trying to find more clothes that we could wear. I’d found the old t-shirt and the stretched-out shorts for Bronx, maybe I could find something for Blair and Nick too.
I’d just finished hanging everything on the drying rack when I heard Bronx at the top of the stairs. He was breathing heavily. It sounded as though he’d just finished running a marathon.
"Gwen," he said sucking in a breath. "Get up here."
Chapter 20
I dashed up the stairs and into the living room. Nick was making his way quickly down the stairs, his limp was barely noticeable. Blair and Bronx were both staring out of the window.
“What’s going on?” I asked looking at all of their panicked expressions.
Bronx looked over his shoulder, and we locked eyes. The muscles and tendons in his neck looked painfully tight.
“Someone’s coming this way,” Bronx said his voice soft.
“What?” I said making my way to the window. I pushed my way between Blair and Bronx to have a look for myself.
The man out there was still quite far away, but I could tell his head and body were wrapped in several layers of clothing. He wore thick goggles over his eyes making him look like a giant bug heading right for us. The man was making a path through the wetness and slime.
“Maybe he’ll keep going right on by the house,” I said watching as the man kept trudging forward. Every so often he looked to his sides as if he was worried about someone or something sneaking up on him.
“What are we going to do if he comes up to the house?” Blair asked.
“Easy,” I said with a shrug. “Send him away.”
Nick was nodding.
“What if he needs help?” Blair said.
“We all need help,” Nick said. “It’s not a risk we can take.”
“He’s all alone,” Blair said biting her lip. She lowered her voice. “We took in Nina and Milo.”
Nick sighed. “I know, but….”
“But what?” Blair asked.
“Why is this such a big deal?” I asked without making eye contact.
Blair shrugged. “It’s not. But what if it were me out there? I’d want help.”
“We’ll offer him food and water,” Nick said. “He can rest in the barn.”
“If he’s not armed,” Bronx said.
“If he’s not armed,” Nick repeated.
It felt as though it was getting harder to breathe as the man approached. My palms felt sweaty, and my heart was pounding like a bass drum inside my chest.
The man was alone. He was probably tired and hungry. But maybe he was contaminated with whatever the black rain had brought with it.
Then again, if the black rain had brought disease and death, it probably would have taken us by now. Nick had been exposed. In fact, when it had leaked into Nick’s room, we’d all been somewhat exposed.
The black rain seemed to be affecting the trees and shrubs. Many of the trees were just branches, and others the leaves were so weighted down with the slime they looked like weeping willows.
“The rain was to take out the plant life,” I said.
“Could be… but it’s probably also not good for us,” Nick said.
“We can’t let him inside,” I said watching his feet as they glided through the black goo.
Nick nodded. “We won’t.”
Nina and Milo came out of their room. Nina kept Milo behind her as she looked at Nick.
“Someone’s coming?” she asked.
“That’s right,” Nick said.
Nina looked back at Milo. “Go back into the room. Wait there. Don’t come out until I tell you it’s okay. Got it?”
“Yes, Mommy,” Milo said.
Nina positioned herself in front of the door after Milo closed it. Her eyebrows sagged with worry.
We all sat there in silence waiting to see what happened as the man came closer. With each step, it became more and more clear that he was coming to the house.
“We could pretend we aren’t here,” I said quickly.
Nick was shaking his head before I finished my sentence. “No. We don’t want him to break down the door or anything.”
With each passing minute, the air became so chilled it sent a shiver up and down my spine. When the man knocked on the door, it felt as though the oxygen had vanished from the room.
“Anyone home?” the man called before pounding his fist again.
We were all completely silent. Nina cocked her head to the side and took a step forward. She shook her head and stepped back.
Whoever was out there pounded again… harder. He started aggressively shaking the doorknob as if he hoped it would pop open or break off.
“Anyone there?” the man shouted after several kicks to the bottom of the door rattling it on its hinges.
Nick and Bronx exchanged a glance before Nick sucked in a deep breath. “Go away. We don’t have anything for you.”
“Please, I just need a drink,” the man said. “I’m just passing through. Looking for my family.”
Nick looked at me over his shoulder. My throat felt dry. It was hard not to feel bad for the man. He just wanted to survive like everyone else.
“We should give him water,” Nina said taking a step forward.
There was a long pause. I could tell Nick was thinking things over.
“Please,” the man said lightly tapping the door with what sounded like the back of his fist. “I beg you.”
“Water. That’s it,” Nick said.
“Thank you,” the man said sounding as though he believed we’d saved his life. But really all we were probably doing was delaying the inevitable.
Nick shook his head and
sucked in a quick breath. “Go to the back door.”
“Why the back door?” Blair asked softly.
“I don’t know.” Nick shrugged. “I guess because I already opened the back door and that black stuff didn’t come in.”
We all followed Nick to the back of the house. Bronx lingered occasionally glancing back at the front door as if he was afraid the man would break it down and kill us all.
Blair got one of the bottles of water and handed it to Nick.
“Wait!” I said pushing past Bronx. I walked quickly into the living room and grabbed the shotgun. When I returned, they were all looking at me almost looking surprised. I ignored their impressed looks. “Okay. Ready.”
I held the gun up as if I knew how to use it. Nick opened the door and held up his palm.
“Don’t take another step,” he said, and the man bobbed his head up and down slowly.
“I just want a drink,” he said as he started to unwrap his head. He looked up for a quick second glancing around the room. “How many you got here?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Nick said. “You armed?”
The man stopped unwrapping and held up his hands as he shook his head. “You can check me if you like.”
“No need,” Nick said looking the man up and down. “I can see that you’re not. Unless you have it somewhere that will take you a while to retrieve.”
“If I had a weapon, sir, I’d be carrying to protect me from the wild animals,” the man said finally removing the last stretch of fabric from below his goggle.
I narrowed my eyes at the man. His face was hairy, but there was something that seemed familiar.
The second he lifted his goggles I instantly knew why.
Nina gasped. “Tom!”
Chapter 21
I aimed the gun at Tom’s face. My hand was shaking, but there was a confident steadiness to my arm that surprised me.
“Leave,” I said in a firm voice that surprised me.
Everyone turned to me at once. Tom cocked his head to the side, but it didn’t take long for the recognition to set in.
“Get the hell out of here,” I said louder.
The Red Sky Series Box Set Page 41