“Oh, no,” I said as they came closer to the door. I could see the color of her cheek reddening.
They shook off as much of the powder as they could before stepping inside. The second the door closed, Blair covered her mouth and let out a horrible moan.
Her fingers were clenched into tight, white-knuckled fists. She was in so much pain her legs were shaking.
“I’ll get the first aid kit,” Nina said.
Nick and Molly helped Blair out of the rest of her coverings before they wiggled out of their own. They piled everything near the door where Tom had left his gear.
“We saw them,” Nick said handing the gun back to Tom. “Three of them. I couldn’t tell if they were armed.”
“Did they see you?” Tom asked.
Nick shook his head but kept his attention on Blair. “I don’t think so.”
He dashed over to her and helped her down to the ground as Nina ran up to them with gauze and ointment in hand.
“It hurts so bad,” Blair said moving her hand up to touch where the flakes had touched her cheek. Nick grabbed her hand before she could touch her face.
“We got this,” Molly said dropping a backpack near the pile of clothing. There were a few specks of white on the pack but nothing that couldn’t be avoided. “Hope it’s all worth it.”
I could tell Tom was biting his tongue. He turned his attention to Blair, studying the side of her face. After a few moments, he peeled back his gauze and looked at his hand. It hadn’t changed much. If anything, the blisters looked as though they’d turned a slightly darker shade of red.
“The pain doesn’t last,” Tom said pulling the bandage back over his blistered hand. “It should subside soon.”
“You had a speck on your hand,” Blair screeched turning slightly so I could see the marks all over her cheek. “I have it all over my face!”
“I’ll take good care of you,” Nina said as she dabbed ointment onto her face with a gloved covered finger. “You’re going to be okay.”
Blair looked as though she wanted to say something, but she changed her mind. She lowered her head slightly and looked down at her fingers while Nina worked on the marks on her face. Nick was at her side holding her hand. He looked so worried. I didn’t even know Nick was capable of feeling that way about another human being.
Tom was carefully going through the bag of items. He pulled out several t-shirts, every single one of them black or gray with a band name and its logo on the front.
There was a pot, a lighter, and various other items that didn’t impress Tom even a little. He ran his fingers through his hair as he kicked the bag lightly and walked back to the window.
Blair winced as Nina tried to use medical tape to adhere gauze to her face. There was a large patch of blisters on the side of her cheek and several were so close together they made a thick line down to the bottom of her jaw. It was possible to see exactly where the white dust had touched her skin.
When Nina finished, Blair walked away and sat down with her back against the wall. She hugged her knees to her chest and kept her eyes glued to the floor.
Nick’s shoulder rounded forward as he turned away and drew in a deep breath.
“That shouldn’t have happened,” he whispered next to me.
It probably wasn’t the right time to remind him about how confident he’d been. There were so many things that could have gone wrong and one of them did. I should have done more to stop them.
“No, it shouldn’t have,” I said. “But it did. You should go to her.”
“She told me to leave her alone,” Nick said looking at me for one a second. It was all I needed to see how much it must have hurt him to hear those words.
“She doesn’t mean it,” I said. “Give her some time, but don’t give up.”
Nick nodded, but it didn’t seem like he cared to hear my advice. I probably shouldn’t have offered it considering Nick was a grown man that should be able to handle his own shit. I just worried that maybe he couldn’t.
He walked over to the other side of the window and stared out. I wasn’t sure if he was looking at the spot where Blair had fallen or if he was watching the house in the distance.
Molly walked over to Blair and tried to say something to her, but Blair just turned away, resting her uninjured cheek on her arms. The tension in the room was so thick it was almost too hard to breathe. Molly gave up with a shrug and sat down in her spot. She grabbed a new box of cereal and started snacking.
Tom turned his head slowly at the crunching noises. Molly held his gaze as she popped several pieces into her mouth and crunched down on them. I couldn’t help but smile.
Tom turned back to the window. He was going to pick his battles and the one with Molly, at the moment, wasn’t going to be one of them.
“She’ll be okay,” Bronx said stepping up beside me.
“Are you sure about that?” I asked unable to stop my mind from wandering to Jamie. It had taken time for the damage from the cloud to spread through his body. For all we knew, the same could happen to Blair. And Tom.
Bronx shook his head. “Ugh, no, I have no idea, but I wanted to say the right thing. We need to stay positive, right?”
“Yeah,” I said pressing my lips into a tight smile. “I guess we do.”
There was a long silence before I spoke. “She wants space.”
“How do you know that?” Bronx asked.
“Nick told me.” I shook my head. “She’s probably worried about what this stuff is going to do to her.”
Bronx looked at me. His eyebrows pressed together. “As much as I hate to say this, she’s probably more worried about what it’ll do to her skin. If it’s permanent, she’ll probably rather she was dead.”
I turned and looked at him, unable to blink my eyes.
“What? You think I’m exaggerating?” Bronx asked. “I’m not.”
He turned away from me and watched Blair as she lowered herself to the ground and pulled her knees to her stomach. Her eyes were red from the tears that continuously leaked out.
“Excuse me for a moment,” Bronx said lightly touching my arm as he stepped away and sat down next to Blair.
He started whispering to her, but she just stared at the same spot. I hoped whatever he was telling her would do some good.
When I looked away, I noticed Molly was watching me. Our eyes locked and she didn’t even bother to look away.
I turned away feeling slightly uncomfortable. I released a breath and walked over to the window. As I approached, Tom stood and pulled out his gun.
“What are you doing?” I asked taking a step away from him. It was like I could feel rage bubbling up out of him.
Tom checked the gun as if he was worried Nick had removed the bullets. He tightened his grip and pointed out of the window.
I peered through the snow noticing what had put him on high alert. The others in town were coming our way.
Chapter 10
It wasn’t the entire group that had come to us. Only one of them was approaching and when they got close, they raised their hands into the air showing that they were unarmed.
They stopped at least twenty feet from the market and started yelling. None of us could make out what they were saying through the windows or the closed door.
“Take him in the back room,” Tom said speaking quickly to Nina.
She looked worried, but she moved fast. Neither of them gave a crap about the rest of us that was beyond clear.
“Maybe you should go back with them,” Nick said glancing at me over his shoulder.
“There’s just one of them out there,” I said.
“Take Molly and Blair with you,” Nick ordered.
I shook my head. “I’m not leaving.”
“God, you’re so stubborn,” Nick groaned as he waved me away from the window. “At least stay back.”
I took a small step back, but it was enough to satisfy Nick. Or more likely he hadn’t noticed how close I still was to the window.
Nick looked at Tom.
“What? No,” I said shaking my head. They were actually considering it. “It’s too risky.”
“He’s not armed and I am,” Tom said.
“What if he’s one of the men you hate?” I asked
“He’s not,” Tom replied nearly instantly as if he could somehow tell.
I threw my hands into the air. “What if he’s armed under all that fabric?”
Nick didn’t turn around. “Not everyone out there is evil. Some people are like us. They just need help.
“I’m going to see what he wants,” Tom said stepping toward the door. “The rest of you stay back.”
Nick waved his hands at us, but I didn’t move until Bronx grabbed my elbow and gently pulled me back behind one of the shelving units.
“Just in case,” Bronx said gesturing for Molly to join us. Blair was safe on the floor where she was still curled up.
Molly shrugged and carried her box of cereal with her. She didn’t eat, but she hugged it as if it would somehow keep her safe.
Tom stopped at the door and paused for a brief moment before pushing it open. “Stop there. Don’t come any closer.”
“Okay, thank you, I won’t,” the man said keeping his palms in the air. His voice was faint, but in the quiet, I could hear his words just fine. “Just, please, don’t shoot. I just want to talk.”
“Then, talk,” Tom said.
“Right. Okay. We were out there when this all started. We’re just looking for food and water and didn’t mean to invade on your territory,” the man said pausing as if he was waiting for Tom to say something. When he didn’t, the man continued. “We’re just passing through and wanted to ask your permission to stay in the home until the dust stops falling.”
Tom glanced back at us and then over at Nick. He kept his voice quiet so that the man outside couldn’t hear.
“I don’t like it,” Tom said.
“Before you answer,” the man shouted. “Let me tell you one more thing.”
“Go on,” Tom prompted.
There was a brief hesitation. Somehow, I could tell the man was smiling by the tone of his voice. “We know where to go. We know where it’s safe.”
Chapter 11
“Bull shit,” Tom shouted.
Molly took a step forward. “Wait a second. I want to hear what he has to say. Let’s give him a second.”
"It's true. There is a safe zone for all survivors. Any survivors. We saw a sign. Several of them in fact," the man said.
"What kind of a sign?" Tom asked.
"Out there. Telling survivors to go north, to Winnipeg," the man said.
Tom snorted. "How would they have gotten the signs here? It's a trick."
There was a long hesitation. "Well, we don't think so. We're going and you're welcome to join us."
"That'll be a hard pass from us," Tom said. "Thanks, though."
"Your choice. So, can we stay until it's safe to travel again?" the man asked.
Tom glanced at Nick again.
"Tell them they have to stay inside the house. No wandering about," Nick advised.
"The one house. No nosing around." Tom said. "And the second it's safe to leave, you and your travel companions are gone, understood?"
"Thank you!" the man said sounding grateful.
And with that, the conversation ended and Tom closed the door. He was shaking his head almost laughing as he locked the door and walked back to his post at the window.
"What's so funny?" Nick asked.
"Fools," Tom said. "There isn't anything out there. They're walking right into a trap and I have a pretty good guess as to whose trap it might be."
"Oh, yeah? Whose?" Nick asked.
Tom crossed his arms. "The guy I kicked out. Or whoever is in charge of that group of idiots now."
"What makes you think your enemies are behind it?" Nick asked.
"Sounds like something they'd do. Offer hope where there is none." Tom let out a long breath. "Think about it. If help were out there, they wouldn't come down here and post signs all over of the place. They wouldn't have the time and resources to do that. If they were going to do that, they could just go around looking for survivors."
Nick cocked his head to the side. "Maybe they did. Maybe they had to leave when there was another attack."
"I guess anything is possible." Tom snorted. "But I don't think there is anyone out there that can help us. We're on our own. We have to figure this out on our own and rebuild."
"And if you're wrong?" Molly asked. "I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I kind of want to go with them. I want to know for sure."
"I'm not wrong," Tom said. He gestured at the door. "But do whatever you like. That goes for all of you." Tom shot me a look. "Anyone who wants to leave, here's your chance."
I shrugged. I wasn't sure I wanted to rule it out completely either. What Tom said about it being a trick seemed to make sense, but the only way to know for sure was to check it out.
"I'll give it some thought," I said and Molly clapped her hands.
"Yay!" Molly said. "I'd love for you to come along."
This could be my chance to get away from Tom. We'd be able to take some of the supplies. It wasn't like we had to go with the others, but if we told him we were, maybe that would be all it would take and we'd be off, putting distance between Tom and us like I'd wanted since he'd joined us.
That night when Tom went to sleep, we decided to have a quiet talk about our options. We all gathered next to Nick at the window except for Blair. She hadn't moved much since she'd been burned by the white dust, but she was lying on her side that faced us and it appeared as though she was listening.
“I’m not sure we should trust them,” Nick said. “We don’t know anything about them.”
Molly frowned. “I want to find civilization again. This kind of life is not for me.”
“Going with them could be worse,” Nick said.
“But here’s what I was thinking,” I said lowering my voice. “This might be our chance to break free of Tom.”
“Wait,” Molly said squeezing her eyebrows together. “Why do you want to get away from him? Isn’t he your group leader?”
My eyes widened. “Not exactly. He just has a different ultimate vision for the future than we do.”
“Apparently, I do too,” Molly said.
I ignored her comment. “We take this chance to leave. He’s not going to stop us from going. We go with the new folks for as long as we want and then we break free… go our own way.”
“That could work,” Nick said after a long pause.
“We don’t know for sure he’d stop us from going off on our own anyway,” Bronx said. I turned to him, apparently looking harder at him than I had intended. “Well, we don’t know for sure.”
“I guess we don’t know, but he’s armed. And based on my past experience with him, I know what he’s capable of,” I said.
Molly leaned closer. “Oh my God, what is he capable of?”
It was like she was listening to a good story versus something that had actually happened to me. One of my many nightmares.
My lips felt as though they had been glued shut. I wanted to tell her more, but I didn’t know where to start.
“Tom had kidnapped Gwen and some others,” Nick said. “He said he thought he was helping her.”
“He wasn’t helping,” I muttered.
“Which others?” Molly asked.
Nick shook his head. “They’re no longer with us.”
“Oh my God, he killed them? I’m living with a murderer?” Molly asked sounding more surprised than scared.
“Not exactly,” I said turning back to Nick. “I say we leave.”
; “Yeah, I don’t even know where we’re going now, but the idea of finding help is quite appealing,” Molly said. “I’m sorry guys but either way I’m going with them. I’m telling them in the morning.”
“Me too,” I said. “At least temporarily and just to get away from Tom because if I have to see his face another day, I might just throw up.”
Molly smiled. “You’ll see him in the morning. I’m expecting vomit. Don’t let me down.”
“Gross,” I said scrunching up my nose at her.
“Sorry.” Molly shrugged. “Only kidding. If you puke, then I’m going to puke and then we’ll all be puking everywhere.”
“Puking aside,” Bronx said. “Maybe Gwen is right.”
Nick pressed his fingertips to his forehead. “If that’s what everyone wants to do then that’s what we’ll do.”
“Then it’s settled?” Molly asked.
“I guess so,” Nick said looking at each one of us.
There was an unusual creaking noise behind me and I turned sharply. I drew in a sharp breath expecting someone to be there, but there wasn’t anyone there.
“You okay?” Bronx asked.
“Yeah.” I wrapped my arms around my middle feeling a chill. “Thought I heard something.”
“Building must have shifted,” Bronx said placing his hand on my shoulder.
Molly looked at his hand and then met my eyes. She raised her brows up and down and whistled as she casually walked away to her usual resting spot.
Tom was in the back with Nina and Milo. He’d fallen asleep and Nina hadn’t wanted to move him. If it hadn’t been dark, we could have sneaked away at that very moment, but then again, with the white flakes falling from the sky and mounds of it everywhere, it might have been better staying with Tom for the time being.
I laid down on the floor and stared up at the ceiling. What if there really was help out there? What if we could all just go back to our normal lives? I mean, of course, not right away, but eventually.
A place where there were doctors and nurses. Phones in which people could call nine-one-one. No more weird attacks falling from the sky threatening the lives of those that were left.
The Red Sky Series Box Set Page 50